The radio was on and playing at a medium volume, while the TV fluctuated between loud and silent as Ben played with the remote. The sink was clogged and had somehow overflowed in the twelve seconds it had taken Lindsay to put the milk and eggs back in the fridge. Colton was running from room to room, happily engaged in a game of his own making, shouting and giggling while his shoes slapped against the floor, and the cats watched him warily from their spot under the table.

Lindsay was quite frustrated, not so much about the noise and the mishaps, but more because it had all happened before ten a.m. She finished mopping and caught Colton right before he ran over the clean floor, carrying him to the couch and setting him down. He matched her serious look, his eyes boring into hers until she chuckled.

"I need you to please play a quieter game for a little while."

"Oh, okay. I can play my cars."

"Good idea. Just let me get life under control."

"What's Ben doin' on the TV?"

She turned around and sighed, seeing that he had somehow ordered a movie on Pay-Per-View. Luckily it was before anything much happened, so she reached down and snagged the remote from him, turning the TV completely off. He wailed at the loss of his toy but was fine when she gave him something else. He rolled over onto his back and chewed on it, drooling out the side of his mouth and looking up at her with a smile.

"You're a stinker," she said, reaching down and wiping his face.

"Daddy say that too," Colton informed her. "When is the girls getting here?"

"Uh, sometime," she answered distractedly, giving the clock barely a glance. "Could you do me a favor and feed the cats?"

"I give them one scoop," he said, going into the kitchen and opening the plastic tub that held the cat food. He gave them each a scoop and closed the lid, then dusted his hands off on his pants.

"Mama, Fluffy not coming out to eat," he reported, coming back into the room.

"She'll eat later. Did you make your bed?"

"Yep. I fix Ben's bed too. He a messy sleeper."

"He sleeps like daddy. All over the bed and messing up the blankets."

"Hey mama, how come you and daddy gotta share a bed?"

"Because we're married."

"But why?"

"Why do married people share a bed? Well… because it keeps them married sometimes."

"But daddy snores."

She chuckled and shook her head brushing her fingers through his hair that was ready to be cut again.

"You snore too."

"I'm really like daddy, huh mama?"

"Yeah, you really are."

He gave her a huge grin, nodding proudly.

"When I grow up I'm going to be just like daddy 'cept a doctor. I will drive a blue Jeep and play video games."

"Really? What else?"

"I will marry a pretty girl. We will have cake for dinner. And no bedtime."

"That sounds like a really, really good life buddy."

"You will still be my mama, right?"

"I will be your mama forever."

"Okay, good."

She pulled him into her arms and stood up, swaying gently while they held each other. Sometimes it struck her that he was hers, and how much she loved him and she could do nothing but hold him close and breathe him in. It wasn't like she didn't have these moments with Ben too, but Colton was still her first baby. He was the one that had stopped her life and stolen her attention.

The door opened and Colton wiggled down from her arms excitedly, running across the room and throwing his arms around Isa.

"Hi Sweet Thing! I bringed you a present from Totana! Wanna see?"

"I love presents," she confirmed, clutching her hands together and nodding. "What's it?"

"It's a filly," he said, taking the knitted stuffed animal off the counter and handing it to her. "I pick it 'cuz your mama and my mama say you's like a wild filly. The lady say it's named Birdie, but you can give it 'nother name."

"Okay. I think 'bout it."

"Sarah, we get somethin' for you too," he said, handing Sarah the keychain that had her name written on a Montana license plate. "You can wear it on your finger like all the other ones."

Sarah's eyes lit up as she took the keychain and inspected it. Austin's keys were just about her favorite thing in the world, and she'd managed to acquire quite the collection of keychains before she was even two years old.

"What do you girls say?" Austin coached, moving Junior to her other hip.

"Thank you," Sarah said softly, hugging Colton as tight as she could. "Thank you."

"Thanks, let's play," Isa said, running off towards Colton's bedroom.

"You gonna come, Sarah?"

She nodded and smiled and he took her hand before they ran into the other room.

"I don't think inseparable is quite the word anymore," Lindsay chuckled, sitting down on the couch and watching Ben out of the corner of her eye as he got up on all fours and looked like he was going to crawl. He rocked back and forth for a moment, then dropped back to his stomach and grabbed at the teething ring he'd discarded earlier. Austin set Junior down beside him and the boys regarded each other for a moment, then smiled.

"So how was the trip? You're really tan."

"Trip was good. Still suffering jet-lag, but other than that."

"You still mad at Adam for making you go?"

"No, he was right. I needed to go."

"You saw Brian."

"Yeah. That part kind of sucked."

"Did Adam get jealous?"

"No, he was good about it."

"You're very succinct in your answers today, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm still tired. And there's not that much to tell."

"You sound really down."

"I'm not, I promise," she said, fighting a yawn. "The boys have been staying up late and getting up early. I told my dad not to put Colton on a farm schedule but he did and now I'm paying for it."

"How early?"

"He got up just before four this morning."

"Oh man," Austin groaned, shaking her head. "Isa gets up early but not that early. Why did your dad get him up so early anyway?"

"To milk the cows. Colton thought it was the greatest thing ever. And my mom thought it was a great photo opportunity so I'll have to show you some pictures."

"Does he want to be a cowboy now?"

"Nope, still a doctor, though I wouldn't be surprised if he became a veterinarian instead."

"The world is his oyster."

"I hope so. What happened here while we were gone?"

"Uh… Sarah's potty-trained."

"There is more to this story."

"Well it started out okay. She was doing pretty good and then Isa decided that she needed to help. I figured what could it hurt, right? So I just let them go together. And then they discovered the soap and the toilet paper and Sarah forgot about going to the bathroom and pretty soon she was having accidents at every turn."

"Not so much fun."

"No, and she was so embarrassed she would hide it as long as she could and then come to us crying. Eventually we got it all under control and she's out of pull ups even at night."

"And she's not even two. Smart cookie."

"Girls are easier I guess."

"And I have two boys. Great."

"Well you can give me tips when Junior's- Linds where are the boys?"

"They were just here! And they're not even mobile."

"Did they ride a cat?" Austin asked, half joking as they got off the couch and went in search of Ben and Junior. They found them in the kitchen, crawling across the linoleum together and giggling at their newfound freedom and cleverness.

"Benjamin Ross!"

"Daniel Messer!"

Both boys turned around, more at the sounds of their mother's voices than at their names, grinning from ear to ear.

"Cory, Shawn, are you two going to be trouble?" Lindsay asked, picking Ben up and kissing his cheek.

"More like Mutt and Jeff."

"Joey and Chandler."

"Harry and Lloyd."

"Fred and Barney."

"Alfalfa and Spanky."

"Zorro and Bernardo."

"Abbot and Costello."

"Yes, they'll take after us."

Austin chuckled and bent down to get Junior, who clutched at her hair and laughed as they moved back into the other room.

"So they've taught each other to crawl, how long before they figure out how to pick locks and hot wire cars?"

"Depends on how long it is before they find some girls they want to go meet."

"We're in for it. We're so in for it."

"Hey, I'm home."

"Daddy!" Colton shouted, running across the room and launching into Adam's arm. "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"

"I'm pretty darn happy to see you too bud."

"Can we play now, please?"

"Yeah, let me talk to mama for a bit and then I'll be right in there, okay?"

"Okay. Don't be late, daddy."

Adam grinned and watched his son run off into the other room before going in search of Lindsay. She was in the kitchen chopping vegetables for a salad and he snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her hair.

"Hi gorgeous."

"Who are you talkin' to?"

"Who do you think?"

She chuckled and turned to face him, kissing him properly.

"You look a little worn out babe. Everything okay?"

"Just a long day. I'll tell you about it later but for right now, I think I just want to stand here with you."

"That works for me. I missed you."

"I wish we could all just be together all day, every day but I am pretty sure we would go crazy."

"And absence makes the heart grow fonder or some such nonsense."

"I don't think it's possible for me to grow any fonder."

"You talk so good," she said, leaning into him and sighing. They stood there for a minute, just holding each other and breathing before he pulled away.

"The honor of my presence has been requested in the bedroom of our son as he embarks on a journey of imagination."

"Okay, you're also a major dweeb."

"Thanks for the love baby."

"Hey, before you go in there, can you go and check on your cat? She's been acting funny."

"Fluffy? She's always acting funny."

"She wouldn't eat and then she spend an hour curled up on my lap. She hates to be touched and she hates me even more so that was kind of a big deal. She hid out under our bed for the rest of the day. I think she's still in there."

"I'll go check. She might be sick."

Neither one of them said what it probably was. Fluffy had been with Adam since college, was going blind and had a limp. She'd gotten even more cantankerous in the past few months, not even wanting Adam to touch her. She only liked the boys and then only just after she'd been fed. Lindsay loved that cat because she was Adam's and because she was a part of their lives before their lives had even come together. She loved Fluffy because Adam loved her, and that is as simple as it was.

"I'm not really that animal savvy," Adam said, coming back into the kitchen with Fluffy in his arms. "But she's not looking very good."

Fluffy gave a soft meow and closed her eyes, her breathing quite normal, but a little more shallow than it should have been.

"Do you want to take her to the vet?"

"I don't know. I guess… I suppose we should."

"Adam, would it be better for you if I took her?"

He sighed and looked down at the cat, petting her affectionately.

"Yeah, it might. Would you do that?"

"Yeah, I can. I'll take her right now."

He handed the cat over, without protests from anyone, scratching her behind the ears and at the middle of her back. She looked up at him but didn't make a noise and he knew that she was very close to being gone.

"I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"I don't. I'll just stay here with the boys."

"Okay. I'm sorry sweetie."

"I'm alright. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Where's this train going?"

"Um, I think to the park. It gonna zoom 'round for the people to ride."

"How fast is it going to go?"

"Like Speedy Gonzales, daddy. Faster than all the world."

Adam chuckled and finished putting the new batteries into the train, then set it on the track. Lindsay had called a few minutes earlier to tell him she was coming home. The cat wouldn't be with her. He was okay with that, he knew it was her time to go, but it still made him feel crummy.

"Benjamin, no putting toys in your mouth!" Colton snapped, yanking the toy out of Ben's hands. Ben sat there for a second, looking like he was going to cry, then crawled off and found something else to do.

"Okay, the train's ready to go. Is it going to carry cargo on this trip?"

"Nope, just peoples."

"Will they serve dinner?"

"Uh-huh. The peoples gotsta eat! That what Jo say."

"Jo says that the people gotta eat?"

"Uh-huh. She say that why she make so much food."

"Oh, I see."

"I seen her kissin' Mac."

"You did?"

"Yep."

"When was that?"

"I dunno."

"Where was it?"

"In her house. We was eatin' dinner. I goed potty inside. They was in there kissin'."

"Kissin' how?"

"Like you and mama. And they's laughin' too. They could get married right?"

"Well I don't know about that, but as long as they're happy we're happy."

"Yep. Like if mama not happy then nobody happy huh?"

"Kind of like that."

Colton giggled and used one hand to start his train moving while he kept the other on Ben's arm holding him back from infant destruction.

"Lookit the train going, Ben," he said, sitting back and putting his arm around his brother's shoulders. "See how it can make beliverties?"

"Deliveries," Adam corrected with a chuckled, using the controls to make the train deliver its load.

"Yeah, them things. Watch it go up the hill and then down, Ben! Watch!"

The boys cheered as the train crested the hill, then sped down the other side, taking a corner quickly before returning to normal speed.

"Daddy, you teach me the controls?" Colton asked, crawling over beside him. "Please?"

"Sure. This lever right here will make your train stop. Go ahead and try it."

He pressed the lever determinedly, his jaw dropping when the train actually did what he wanted it to.

"Ben, see what I do?"

Ben grunted and crawled away into the kitchen.

"Now what's this one?"

"That one makes it drop its delivery. So what you want to do is stop the train when it gets to a building and keep holding the stop lever while you hold the delivery lever too."

Colton concentrated hard, watching the train and stopping it just before it got to a building.

"I did it too fast."

"That's okay. It's actually good because now we can get the train exactly where we need it to go."

They worked together to make the delivery, Colton letting out a sigh of relief when it was done.

"That was hard work daddy."

"Yeah, it was. But that's what you've gotta do in life. Hard work."

"I like hard work. But I like to play too."

"Well then you have to find a job that's hard work, but hard work that you like to do."

"You like to do your hard work, daddy?"

"Yes I do. I'm pretty lucky. Mama likes her hard work too."

"Why you have to do hard work?"

"Because we earn money. And we need money to pay for food and clothes and toys for you kids, and anything else we might need."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"If I not need toys, you not work so much?"

Adam chuckled and sat up, pulling Colton into his arms.

"It doesn't quite work that way buddy. There's other things mama and I need to pay for. I wish I could stay home and play with you all day every day, but I can't. And that's okay, because it means when I am home we don't take it for granted."

"That mean it more special right?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

"Besides, someone has to help catch bad guys."

"Yep. You is a good bad guy catcher, daddy. And mama too. And unca Danny and Austin and Flack and Jess and Mac and Jo. You catch all the bad guys in the whole world."

"We do our very best."

"Hey who let the baby escape," Lindsay said, coming into the room with Ben who was chewing on her hair.

"He was in my way mama."

"Oh I see. What do you have going on here?" she asked, sitting down and wrapping her free arm around Adam. He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Well this is a town and this is a train and these are buildings and the train makes deli… um deliveries?"

"Yep, deliveries."

"Deliveries. And the train is blue."

"That sounds like fun."

"Yup, it is."

"Buddy can we talk to you for a minute?"

"Okay."

He crawled up into her lap and smiled, looking from her to Adam, wondering what they were going to say. Neither of them really knew where to start, they hadn't discussed a plan of action either and didn't know how much he could handle.

"Colton, you remember how Fluffy was acting strange today?"

"Yeah, she was tired huh?"

"Yeah, she was really tired. But she was also very sick and very old."

"She's sick? She throwed up mama?"

"No, it wasn't that kind of sick. See when animals get really old like Fluffy was, their bodies get tired. They start walking slower and sometimes they're not as healthy as they were before."

"So we give Fluffy vitamins? Like my racecar ones? She could share with me!"

"No son, vitamins won't help her," Adam said gently. "The thing is that sometimes when animals get old like that, they um… they die."

"Like the dinosaurs?"

"Yeah, like the dinosaurs."

"And they never come back like the dinosaurs?"

"Yeah. And buddy, Fluffy got really, really old, and her body was tired and she didn't feel good and she died."

"She's not comin' back?" he asked, his eyes growing large and filling with tears.

"No, she's not."

"But she's our kitty!"

"I know that. I really know."

"But the doctor? He fixed her?"

"He tried, buddy," Lindsay said. "But sometimes there's nothing a doctor can do. Sometimes it's better just to let her go in peace."

"No, the doctor gon' fix her! It his job!"

"Buddy, sometimes doctors can't fix things."

"Yes they can!" he shouted angrily. "They fix Fluffy and she come home and sleep in my bed!"

"No honey, they can't. They can't fix Fluffy now."

"I want my kitty!" he wailed, throwing himself against her chest. "She mine! She mine!"

Lindsay held him tight for a moment before he tore out of her arms and ran out of the room. Adam followed him and caught up to him at the door.

"I go get her. I bring her home and I fix her."

"Colton, you can't."

"Yes I can too!" he screamed, grabbing the doorknob. Adam picked him up and held him close until his rage tears gave way to sad ones.

"It's okay buddy. Fluffy might be gone, but she's in a place where her body will never get old and she'll never get sick. She'll have a lot of toys to play with, and lots of other cats for friends. We'll miss her and she'll miss us, but it will be okay. It's all going to be okay."

"I want my Fluffy, daddy."

"I know. I wish she was still here too. But we don't want her to be sick all the time, do we?"

"No."

"It's okay to be sad, buddy. Mama and I are sad too."

"Okay."

They sat down on the couch and Colton sniffled, wiping his eyes before chewing on his finger.

"Daddy, only animals have to go away forever, right?"

"It's not something you need to worry about right now, okay?"

"Okay, daddy. Is Chewy gonna go away?"

"No, Chewy is younger than Fluffy was. And he's healthier too. Chewy is going to be just fine."

"He will miss Fluffy though huh?"

"Probably."

"I will hug Chewy so he don't feel sad."

"That's a good idea. It will help you to feel less sad too."

"I could call Isa and say Fluffy's gone?"

"Maybe later. For now, let's all go in the other room and have some dinner and then you need a bath."

"I not hungry, daddy."

"Well then come and sit with me and mama while we eat. Maybe you can have a glass of milk."

"Okay, I have that. I can sleep in the big bed tonight?"

"We'll talk to mama but I think that will be okay."

He nodded and they went into the kitchen, finding a glass of milk on the table with a funny shaped straw in it. Colton smiled and wiggled down from Adam's arms, then climbed into his chair and took a drink of the milk.

"You maked me chocolate, mama?"

"I thought you might like it."

"Yeah," he said, taking another drink. "I maybe will have some dinner too."

She brought him a plate, then stooped down to wipe his tear streaked face.

"I all better mama. Fluffy not hurtin' no more."

"Okay."

She kissed the top of his head and sat down next to him, silently correcting the way he held his fork.

"I will sleep in the big bed tonight please?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me."

"And Ben too? We be all together, okay?"

"Alright. We'll be all together."