The week passed fairly slowly and Lindsay settled into a decent rhythm. She had to make sure the ranch was taken care of so coordinating schedules for the few people her father employed had been her first task. Her brothers were stepping in to pick up the slack and everything was getting done except for the morning milkings and feedings. She had taken that upon herself, and enjoyed the cold bright of the morning. She usually took a few minutes to call Adam and Colton to check on them and it made the rest of her day go a little better. Usually by that time David had shown up to take over the duties and she went inside to get cleaned up and eat. Then it was off to the hospital for most of the day.

Her dad was getting better, was off a lot of the machines and sitting up in bed. He still had one IV in him, and wheeled it along with him if he needed to go somewhere. He looked more tired than anything and she could tell he was itching to get back to normal. Being cooped up did not suit him. He didn't have so much pride that he was trying to rush his recovery though, and looked at it more as a chance to spend some extra time with the family.

She was now a pro at finding a good parking spot and navigating the small hospital so to avoid the more crowded floors before ending up in her dad's room. He smiled when she came in, his mostly eaten breakfast sitting on the tray in front of him.

"Morning daddy."

"Mornin' baby girl. You look bright eyed and bushy tailed."

"I went to bed early. Four a.m. comes fast."

"You're preaching to the choir."

She smiled and sat down in the chair, propping her feet up on the side of his bed. He gave her a look and she shrugged, then stole the newspaper off the table.

"Anything going on around here I should know about?"

"Same old, same old."

"Boring."

"You're restless here, aren't you?"

"No, not really. It's a good life, you know? Simpler, healthier. But it's the same every day."

"That's your mama talkin'."

"You've always been happy with predictability."

"And you have a yen for chaos that you never want to admit to."

"Maybe so."

"Speaking of which, how are things back at home? Are they surviving without you?"

"For the most part. Adam says that he thought he was doing half the work but now he thinks I do more than him. Which isn't true, I just have my methods so it takes me less time than it's taking him."

"Does he even change diapers?"

"He might change more diapers than I do actually."

"He's a good man."

"Yes, he is. Did mama come by this morning?"

"She had breakfast with me and then it was off to do whatever volunteer work she's got going today. Is she doing okay with all this?"

Lindsay sighed and picked at her now completely bitten down nails.

"I think she's alright. Every time I ask her she waves me off. She's been talking to Jake though, so at least there's that. She's not hiding it."

He gave her a look.

"I'm fine too, daddy."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

"And you promise?"

"Yes. Adam makes me talk to him about it every night. I'm okay."

"Alright, I'll take it."

"You want to watch some TV?"

"TV, Lindsay Joy? Am I that boring?"

"No, it's just that there's a lot of good stuff on."

"Like what?"

"I could find you a fishing show."

His eyes sparked with interest and she grinned, taking the remote and flipping through the channels until she found what she was looking for.

"There ya go. There not going to use Cheetos for bait like we do, but it's entertaining nonetheless."

"You're my favorite kid."

"I keep hearing that."

"Yeah Bruce, I understand the payment was due on that day, but you have to understand that you have a verbal agreement with my father and he was basically unconscious at the time the payment was due, so you're going to have to cut me a little slack here," Lindsay said, cutting a sandwich in half and handing it to her niece. "Yes I know that but… No, you don't seem to get it… Bruce, how long have we done business with you? More years than your IQ apparently. And in those years how often has my father let a few payments of yours slide? So I'm going to take a flyer here and bet that you're going to just wait until morning when I can have David bring the check by?... Now see that is how we do business in Montana, Bruce… Yeah, I'll tell him… No, I don't want to be a lawyer… Yes, he'll bring the check first thing in the morning… No it's not a hot check, my dad had a heart attack, he didn't spend the week in Vegas!... Yes, he'll be there. Bye."

"Aunt Lin?"

"Yeah, Tessa?"

"Is Mr. Potts kind of a mean guy?"

"No, he's not mean, he's just old."

"Like granddad?"

"Way older than granddad. Older than God maybe."

"Aunt Lin, that's impossible," she said with a shake of her head. "By the way, where's grammy?"

"She had to go grocery shopping."

"Why didn't she wait for me so I could go with her?"

"Because your daddy was running late dropping you off."

"So you're stuck with me all afternoon, huh?"

"Every single second Tink."

"Cool. Want the other half of my sandwich?"

"No thanks hon, I ate already."

Tessa nodded and pulled the crust off her sandwich, dropping it on the floor for the dog.

"Tessa that's going to leave a mess."

"Nu-uh, Reggie licks it all up!"

"Oh my dear stars you are your father's child."

"Well duh!"

Lindsay smirked and put the peanut butter back in the cupboard, then wiped off the counter. Sometimes she wondered what possessed her to leave this life, with the family always being around dropping in unannounced, involved in every aspect of her life. And then she remembered the part about the family always being around and dropping in unannounced and being involved in every aspect of her life. She was a little more into privacy than they were. She loved them and loved having them around, but she needed to run her own life.

"Anybody home?"

"Thinking of dropping in unannounced," she muttered. "We're in here Riley."

"Uncle Riley, Aunt Lin made me a peanut butter and pickle sandwich! Have you ever tried these things?"

"Where did she get her sense of taste?"

"I think from the other side of the family," Lindsay answered as he came into the kitchen.

"Hey I brought something for you."

"If it's a swirlie again I'll pass."

"I'm too old for that kinda stuff. Maybe it's a noogie."

"Riley, you are eternally ten years old."

"Do you want this surprise or not? It's good, I swear."

"Oh alright."

He stuck his head out into the other room and nodded and a few seconds later Adam and Colton came through the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well we had a long talk and figured since we've got the next few days off we should probably come out here. We missed you a little."

"I missed you too," she said, walking over to hug him and feeling that all was right with the world.

"Mama hi!"

"Hi baby," she greeted, taking him from Adam and kissing him. "Did you have fun with daddy?"

"Daddy, Ah Ah, Nee!"

"Daddy, Austin and Danny huh? Did they let you eat junk food?"

"Nah, he just ate about a whole thing of applesauce. I told Austin he could just share my chili but she said she didn't hate me enough for that."

"What were you doing over there?"

"Remember that report you had to do for Mac?"

"Oh no. I totally forgot."

"It's okay. Danny and I finished it for you."

"You did?"

"We had Stella look it over before we turned it in, don't worry. All your information was already there, we mostly just had to type it up."

"I'm spoiled."

"Don't say I never did nothing for ya."

She grinned and hugged him again.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Me too. How's your dad?"

"A lot better. I'm going to go visit him again in about an hour."

"We'll go with you."

Colton sighed and wrapped his arms around her neck, a sure sign he had missed her. She cuddled him close then moved back into the kitchen, preheating the oven for the roast her mom had asked her to put in for dinner.

"Well I've done my duty," Riley said. "I should get back to work. I'll see you at church in the morning."

"You gonna wear a tie?"

"Only if you're gonna wear a dress."

"When pigs fly."

"That's my girl. Later."

He left the house and Tessa brought her plate to the counter, sliding it up and into the sink.

"Dude," Lindsay admonished.

"It's plastic, it won't break."

"Oh brother."

"Can I watch a movie?"

"I don't know, Babs."

"I'm not a Babs Aunt Lin, how much I gotta tell ya?"

"At least three more times. What do you normally do in the afternoons with grammy?"

"Well sometimes she lets me help her cook and sometimes I watch cartoons and sometimes I play outside. Sometimes she paints my toes too cuz we're being girls cuz there's no boys around for once in our lives."

"Alright, go ahead and watch a movie but you have to promise me that you'll do all your homework later tonight."

"Every last bit, I swear."

"Okay."

"Can cousin Colton come with me? I never even got to play with him before."

"We'll see. He's kind of sleepy right now."

"Okay."

She drug a chair over to the counter and turned on the small TV while Adam gestured for Lindsay to come into the other room. They sat down on the couch and he held her tightly, kissing her forehead and enjoying the feel of her in his arms.

"We do not do well apart," he commented. She nodded and he tipped her chin up and kissed her.

"Are you really doing okay?"

"Yes. I don't lie anymore, remember?"

"I know. It's just hard to read you over the phone."

"I'm alright, Adam. It was scary for a while, but he's fine. I'm fine. Did you really think I wasn't?"

"I thought that maybe you felt fine but you really weren't. I think I just had to see you."

"And what is the conclusion?"

"I think you're fine."

"Good. How long are you staying?"

"We're going to fly back with you on Monday morning."

"We're using up our time-off, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but it's okay."

"I really wanted to have a real vacation."

"I know. It'll happen sometime."

"How was Colton on the plane?" she asked, looking down at their now sleeping son.

"Way better than last time. He just sat and played with his toys and we read some books and he had a snack and that was that."

She nodded a smile breaking across her face.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"Really what?"

"Nothin' just… it'll be nice to cuddle with you tonight."

"I think so too."

"Colton are you excited to meet your papa?"

"Papa?" he queried, tipping his head to the side.

"Yeah, your papa," she said, adjusting him on her hip and opening the door. "Anyone awake in here?"

"Yeah, I'm awake."

"Up for some visitors?"

"Always. Who's this little critter you're toting around?"

"Hi!" Colton greeted happily, giving him a little wave. "Mama."

"Yeah, that's your mama," Dale agreed, his voice full of pride for his daughter.

"Colton, you wanna show papa your Mo?" she said, placing him down on the bed. He happily crawled over to his grandpa, handing him his sock monkey.

"Mo," he said with a nod.

"Is this your favorite?"

He giggled and chewed on the monkey's arm.

"So who do you two think he looks more like?"

"I think he looks like Adam."

"But he's got Lindsay's eyes. And her pout."

"Hey!" she chuckled, smacking his arm.

"Not that it's not cute or anything."

Dale grinned and tuned out the rest of their banter, focusing all his attention on his youngest grandchild. He always thought Lindsay would have a family, but every year that passed he wondered if she wanted it for herself, or if she was content just being the daughter and the sister and the aunt. Not that there was anything wrong with that, or that it was less of a life, but he believed so much in her ability to raise a family that he felt she would be cheating what could have been if she didn't.

He remembered meeting Adam and seeing them together, and thinking that this could finally be it. Several months later she had called him just to talk and had mentioned in passing that Adam had helped her change the spark plugs and headlights in her car. It was something she could do alone, probably with her eyes closed, but that she had let Adam that close to such an independent part of her life had made him stop in his tracks. He knew in that moment that the life he saw her in was coming, it would just be a matter of time.

She'd always made him proud. Every moment of every day, even when her life was spiraling so far out of control into the darkness that he didn't recognize her, he was unfailingly proud of her ability to hold on through the storms. He'd sent her off to New York with a smile and a hug, but inside he had been torn apart watching his baby girl walk away without him. He'd been in a funk for days and it had been worse when she'd called and told him how homesick she was, that this had been a terrible idea and she needed to turn around and come back. And as much as he had wanted to have her run into his arms again, he told her to stay. It wasn't much longer before she started working and getting into a groove, found her own place and started to call the city her home.

He loved his sons unconditionally and was so proud of the men they had become. But there was something about his little girl, some special way that she had completed their family, and completed him as a father. That moment when she was born and he looked down at her it was like his world finally had its full meaning.

He watched her now and he knew she felt that too, and that was worth so much more than he could even describe. His heart hurt a little, but for a totally good reason this time.