A/N: I've been meaning to for a long time and I haven't because I am so stinkin' lazy, but I want to take a second and thank all my reviewers. Sometimes it's hard to come up with anything to say but you guys always write reviews of substance and I appreciate that more than you know.

Colton reached as far as he could down into the bottom of the toybox, getting the last few items out and throwing them on the floor, crouching down to line them all up.

"What are you doing there buddy?" Lindsay asked, sighing because she had just gotten his room in order.

"I cleanin'," he said with a shrug.

"Don't you think cleaning means you should put it away?"

"No."

"Can you at least make sure your toys are put away before your Auntie Hannah gets here?"

"She play too," he decided.

"Yeah, she might want to, but let's put them away for now."

He sighed and stared down at the row of toys and then back up at her.

"Alright, leave them out, but before you go to bed we're going to put them away. Deal?"

"Deal mama," he said reaching his hand out to shake.

"My little negotiator. You gonna be a politician someday?"

"No mama I be a doctor."

"A doctor, really?"

"Uh-huh. I fix people."

She smiled and watched him as he carefully lined up the toys again, this time sorting them by color.

"Mama, when Hannah coming?"

"Daddy went to pick her up at the airport. They should be back soon."

"We can go outside?"

"Yeah, after lunch we'll go play outside."

"In the dirt?"

"Why not?" she chuckled.

He smiled at her and stood up, walking over to hug her legs, his forehead resting against her stomach.

"Baby come soon?"

"We still have a while to wait buddy."

He sighed.

"Tomorrow?"

"I wish. But it's still gotta get bigger."

"It kick me," he giggled at the slight movement.

"Yep. It's just saying hi to its big brother."

"Hi baby," he said. "Get big fast."

She smiled and crouched down to hug him, overcome with how much care he was already showing for his unborn sibling.

"Mama, the baby sleep in my bed?"

"No, the baby is going to sleep in the crib. Remember, that's why we had to move, so we could have more room."

"Crib in here," he clarified.

"Yes, in here."

He nodded and wiggled out of her arms.

"Baby need toys," he said, tossing a handful of miscellaneous toys into the crib.

"Colton."

"What?"

"Oh never mind."

"Baby bed, Colton bed, Hannah bed," he said, pointing to the crib, the toddler bed and the twin size.

"Yep, for now. I need to go make some lunch, are you going to stay in here and play?"

"Yeah."

She went back out to the kitchen, glad they had been able to get completely moved in and organized before Hannah's visit. It had helped that the new place was in the same building but just on a different floor, so the move hadn't really been that hard. And because of her early nesting tendencies, she'd ended up throwing out and giving away a lot of stuff that they had absolutely no use for.

She opened the windows, loving how quiet their neighborhood was in the morning and how sometimes she couldn't smell so much of the city on the air. Summer was so peaceful here, especially in the morning when things were slow and lazy. Things became a lot simpler when the birds chirped outside.

The door opened and Adam and Hannah came inside, laughing together over something that probably wouldn't make sense to anyone else.

"You know how grandma is, Adam. Don't pretend you're surprised."

"She's kooky, but you got her genes."

"Hey!"

She punched his arm and he tweaked her hair, renewing their sibling battle of picking on each other.

"Hi Lindsay!"

"Hi Hannie. Has Adam been picking on you the whole way home?"

"Yep," Hannah grinned, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's okay, I'm better at it."

"That's my girl."

"Daddy home, daddy home!" Colton hollered, running out of his room and crashing into Adam's legs.

"Hey bud."

"Hi daddy. Hi Hannah. You come play."

He grabbed her hand and drug her into the other room, chattering excitedly while she tried to figure out what he was saying.

"I told Colton we'd go outside after lunch. Now I'm thinking about eating lunch outside because it's way too nice to be stuck in here."

"Sounds like a good plan. Hannah wanted to know if you would teach her how to make that apple pie you made when we were down there."

"She remembers that?"

"She claims it blew her mind."

"I'd love to teach her."

"Want me to help you make lunch and we can get out of here?"

"Sure."

"So what are we making?"

"I don't know."

"Sounds like a plan," he smiled as Colton ran through the kitchen.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Shh, I hidin'," he said, holding a finger up to his lips.

"Whoops, sorry."

Colton shrugged and continued his escape, most likely hiding under the blanket on the couch.

"She's going to be playing this non-stop for five days," Lindsay said. "Should we warn her?"

"Tomorrow."

"Okay."

They continued their search through the fridge and cupboards, coming up with enough ingredients to make a fairly healthy lunch that didn't include one ounce of take out.

"I'm kind of surprised at us for this," Adam commented.

"It if wasn't for the killer pregnancy heartburn we would at least have some pizza in here."

"So heartburn makes us healthy?"

"Apparently so."

"And how is the little garbonzo bean this morning?"

"First, you're going to have to think of another obscure food to compare our offspring to, and second, currently in love with rolling over."

"Box of butter."

"What?"

"A box of butter weighs a pound and so does fetus."

"I like that you're on board with never using gender specific pronouns for fear that we might let slip what's in there, but don't ever say fetus again, it sounds like the Discovery Channel."

"Developing progeny?"

"Sure, we'll go with that."

"Are you the only woman on earth that doesn't gain weight when pregnant?"

"I wasn't meaning to be snippy."

"I know, and I wasn't meaning to placate you. I just really think you're beautiful."

"Now you're meaning to make me swoon," she accused with a smile.

"That's what got us into this."

"Hush, your sister can hear and she's not clueless."

"She's ten!"

"She's not clueless."

"How old were you when you became not clueless on the whole birds and the bees issue?"

"I had brothers and I went to public school. I was never clueless, but it took a long time to separate the fact from the fiction."

"I don't think I'm comfortable with my sweet baby sister knowing anything about that. I'm going to convince her of the validity of the stork."

"Right, while I stand here five months pregnant."

"You have no idea of my powers of persuasion."

"Yes I do. That's what got us into this the first time."

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Have I mentioned how much I love our conversations where we never really say much?"

"Well you never said you do, but…"

"Thanks for keeping up with the mental hyperactivity."

"You're welcome."

"What are you watching?"

Adam turned around at the voice, finding Hannah standing by the couch, one of her dad's old t-shirts falling well past her knees.

"Old reruns of The Cosby Show. What are you doin' up sis, I thought you went to bed."

"I did, but then I woke up. I kind of had a bad dream."

"Wanna tell me about it?" he asked, patting the couch cushion next to him.

"No," she sighed, sitting down next to him. "Where's Lindsay?"

"She went to bed a while ago. She has to be up pretty early. Wanna watch with me for a while?"

"Yeah."

He could feel homesickness coming off her in waves, and he wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders. The excitement of going to the city all by herself for vacation had worn off and he knew she just wanted to go home. She'd be fine by morning.

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"When I grow up are you still gonna love me?"

"Of course, squirt."

"Even though I won't be your little sister anymore?"

"You'll always be my little sister."

"But I won't be little."

"Little sister is more a state of mind than a state of being."

"What?"

"Let's put it this way. Every time I look at you, I still see a tiny, fat cheeked newborn with big blue eyes, wrapped up in a pink blanket and looking like a chubby burrito. And that means you're always my little sister."

"How old were you when I was born?"

"Twenty-four."

"How come mom never had any other kids?"

"I think it's because I'm a handful enough. She had to get me raised and out of the house before she could risk it."

"She did not."

"Yes she did. And then she had you and realized that you're a handful just as much as me."

"I'm not either, Adam!"

"Yes you are and we both got it from her."

"You mean mom was a handful?"

"Ask great-grandpa next time you see him. He'll tell you."

"Okay," she giggled, snuggling into his side. They watched TV for almost a whole episode before she said anything, sitting up and tucking her hair behind her ear.

"But for reals, how come?"

"How come mom didn't have other kids?"

"Yeah."

"My father wasn't a very nice guy, squirt. He was the complete opposite of your dad. It's kind of a long story, but it was a good idea that mom didn't have more kids until she got to you. Okay?"

"Was he mean to mom or mean to you?"

"He was mean to both of us. Now that's enough of that story."

"Is that why you call my dad dad even though he's not your dad?"

"Yeah."

"How old were you when they got married?"

"I was twenty-two."

"Did you like him right away?"

"Yeah. He makes mom happy and he loves her and that's the most important thing. Plus if they never got married, I wouldn't have you, would I?"

"Nope. And I'm one of a kind."

"We're just trying to figure out what kind that is."

She chuckled and leaned against him again.

"Adam, do you love me as much as you love Colton and the new baby?"

"I love you different than I love them. You are the only sister I have in the whole entire world. And I love you the most that I possibly can."

"Promise-trust?"

"Promise-trust forever."

She nodded and yawned forgetting the homesickness while the old sitcom played out in front of them. She missed her big brother terribly when they were apart and would rather be with him than almost anyone else in the world.

She gave in to sleep a little while later, and Adam turned the TV off before pulling her into his lap and standing up. She was so much heavier now than she had been ten years ago, but he held her against him just as he had that night, feeling a surge of love and protectiveness all over again. Carefully he laid her down in her bed, tucking the covers around her and pressing a kiss to her cheek before checking on Colton and leaving the room.

Lindsay was curled up in the middle of the bed, having commandeered his pillow and most of the blankets even though it was the dead of summer and there was no reason to have blankets in the first place. He slid in next to her, moving her gently so he could have his pillow back and she could use his shoulder for the same purpose. She sighed and snuggled into him and he laid still, hoping she wouldn't wake up.

"What time is it?"

"Go back to sleep."

"But what time is it?"

"I said go back to sleep."

"And I said what time is it?"

"It's midnight. Now go back to sleep."

"Is Hannah okay? I heard her get up."

"Starting a conversation is the very opposite of what you're supposed to be doing right now."

"I don't do what you say."

"Don't argue with me."

"Okay."

He chuckled and reached down to rub her stomach lightly.

"Don't wake up the baby."

"Why?"

"Because then there's movement and I can't sleep."

"What's it feel like?"

"Now you want to start a conversation?" she mumbled with a yawn

He didn't answer, just grinned and kissed her while she rolled her eyes.

"It feels like… um… the same way it feels on your hand but on the inside."

"Well, yeah. But what does it feel like?"

"I don't know. Like your heartbeat has a purpose. A dancer."

He just stared down at her in wonderment and jealousy of her description.

"You're really poetic for being only half awake."

"It's part of my charm."

"Well charming, can I kiss you goodnight?"

"Only if you know what's good for you."

He covered her lips with his, engaging her for just a little longer than he had planned.

"Goodnight, love."

"Night."

She drifted back to sleep and he held her close, happy to have his whole world together in these four walls.