"No Ben, you don't get to go. You have to stay here with daddy and the baby Aves. Me and mama are having just a day together."

"Wanna go!" Ben protested, putting his shoes on. "Day with mama and Cole and me too!"

"No Ben. You can't come. I done telled you that three times."

"Mama! I wanna go with Cole!"

"Sweetie, not today," Lindsay said, crouching down and sliding his shoes back off. "You and me can have a day to ourselves soon, alright? Pretty soon your sister is going to go down for a nap and then you can have daddy all to yourself."

Ben crossed his arms over his chest, letting his glasses slide down his nose because he knew how sad it made him look.

"Why you love Cole more? Why he get to go and not me? Not fair!"

"Benjamin, you get to spend time with me and daddy when Colton is at school. You get to do that every day. I don't love Colton more than I love you and you know that."

"But mama!"

"What?"

"Wanna go!"

"I'm sorry, Ben. Not today. I will plan a day for just us soon. Deal?"

Ben sighed and stood up from the bottom step, stomping off to hide behind the couch. He knew they were right but his little heart still hurt. He hated being left out. Colton was the oldest and Avery was the baby and he was always forgotten about, unless he was having a nightmare. Then they just wanted to get him back to sleep.

He heard them getting their shoes and coats on, peeked around the corner of the couch and watched Adam kiss them both goodbye. It was really happening. They were really leaving him for a whole day.

A grubby hand appeared on the floor next to his and he looked up, giving his sister a half grin.

"Beb!" she hollered happily. "Pay!"

"I don't wanna play, sissy. I am sad."

She tipped her head to the side and patted his knee then hollered with joy when she found an old pacifier on the floor. She popped it into her mouth then climbed into his lap, resting her head against his chest.

"I love you too, sissy."

He hugged her tightly and she giggled, sucking ferociously on the pacifier. They were trying to break her of the habit and it always excited her when she found one.

"I am a little less sad now. I will play with you. Wanna crawl and race?"

She nodded and they moved from behind the couch and got down on all fours, Ben making racecar sounds.

"Okay sissy. Mark. Set. GO!"

They crawled off quickly, in through the dining room and kitchen and back to the living room. Avery laughed heartily with her tongue hanging out the entire way, her hands slapping down on the hardwood floor.

"Hey, what are you two doing?" Adam asked as they crawled through the second time.

"We's racin' daddy. I'm gonna win sissy."

"Alright, go for it," he chuckled, turning back to the research he was doing on the computer.

"Okay daddy. Sissy, turn on the turbo boosters!"

Avery hooted and crawled after him, determined to at least catch up. They went through three more rounds until Ben stopped and stood up.

"My knees is tired, sissy. How you crawl all day? Stann'up and walk."

She tipped her head to the side and looked at him curiously while he held his hands out for her. She took them and he helped her to her feet, dropping one hand and walking beside her. It took her a while to get her balance and they walked slowly around the room for a moment.

"Now sissy, I gonna drop yours hand. Gonna walk on your own."

She gave him a serious look and he let go of her hand and walked away.

"Okay sissy. Go for the gold."

She whimpered a little and he took one step closer, crouching down a little to look into her eyes.

"I catch you if you fall, sissy Grace," he promised. "Jus' walk."

She took one hesitant step, then another and another, wobbling a little as she followed him.

"Daddy! Sissy's walkin'!"

Adam peeked around the corner and grinned at his toddling daughter. Her face was set in steely determination and she looked so much like Lindsay that he couldn't help laughing.

"Daddy!" she said with a smile, carefully turning in his direction.

"Hey Tink! Are you walkin' like a big girl?"

"Ahhh!" she replied, quickening her steps to reach him. He swung her into his arms and kissed her cheeks while Ben clapped for her.

"She walked, daddy! I help her do walkin'!"

"I know. You're such a good big brother."

"Yep, I am. C'mon sissy, let's go walkin' again. This time fast."

Adam settled her back on her feet and she waddled after Ben, laughing the entire time.

Lindsay suppressed a smile as she looked over the top of her book at Colton, who was sitting in a chair across from her, reading so intently that a bomb could have gone off and he wouldn't have noticed. He had his feet up in the chair with him, his fingers curled around the chapter book and his mouth silently forming the larger words as he read. He'd been wanting chapter books a lot more lately, and hardly ever asked them for help. He was partway through a Hardy Boys book that he'd left at home, but she was afraid they were going to have to buy the book he had in his hands now too. He found most of the books at school to be boring, though he would read them to Ben every night. What they'd told him so long about learning to read so he could go on adventures had really stuck with him, and he was reading at a level way beyond what most kids were even interested in. She was proud of him, but she was worried he might get bored in class and start causing trouble. He was excelling in math as well, but writing was his hang up. He hated book reports even if it had been the best book he'd ever read. His handwriting was terrible and he often got worse marks on assignments because what he wrote couldn't be read.

"Hey mama?" he asked suddenly, sliding off his chair. "What is this word?"

"Population."

"I know how it sounds. What does it mean?"

"Population is the number of people living in a specific area. Like the population in our house is five."

"Nu-uh. It's seven. You forgot Chewy and Qwerty."

"Oh yes. Seven."

"I get it. Thanks mama."

"Hey, do you want to stop reading for a bit?"

"Let me finish my chapter."

She chuckled as he climbed back into his chair, burying his nose in the book again. The bookstore had been her idea, but he'd requested the one that served coffee and had board games too. He'd ordered a hot chocolate but it sat next to him nearly untouched for as caught up as he was in the world of fiction. Lindsay's coffee was long gone and her book was halfway finished, so she couldn't blame his literary fervor without scoffing at her own.

He'd chattered all the way to the bookstore telling her about things at school and how he and Isa wanted to do something for the talent show but they couldn't come up with anything that they actually knew how to do. She'd suggested another dramatic reading of The Night Before Christmas like they'd done at Mac and Jo's on Christmas Eve, but he'd just given her a look that said he wasn't amused.

"Okay, I can stop. Can we play a game?"

"Sure, go pick one out."

He walked over to the bookshelf and spent a few moments looking at all the games before picking one and running back over to her with it.

"Here. I get to be the banker."

"Alright," she chuckled, setting the game board up. He organized all the money and handed her a small stack then triple counted his own. She let him roll first and within minutes he was sucked into the game, probably planning strategies for buying property and putting houses on it.

"Hey buddy?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uh-huh."

She rolled the dice and moved her marker before she spoke.

"How come you didn't tell me and daddy that you were getting picked on at school?"

He shrugged.

"Not important to life, mama."

"What makes you think that?"

"Someday I will never see him anymore. I should not worry about it now."

"But honey, if he's hurting you then-"

"It's okay, mama."

"No Colton, it's not."

He looked up at her, his eyes narrowed just slightly.

"If he gets in trouble he is gonna beat me up. That's what he said. And if he beats me up, then who will protect Isa? I can't tell. I let it slip on accident. You can't tell no one, okay?"

"Honey-"

"No mama. You can't. He will kill me until I am dead."

"Colton, you listen to me. If someone is hurting you, I want you to tell. No matter who it is and no matter what they said to you. If it's another kid or a grown up, I want you to tell me and daddy right away. Sometimes when people hurt other people they threaten to hurt them more if they tell. That's a lie, okay? If you tell, daddy and I can keep it from happening ever again."

"Mama, you don't have to be in school with him! He is a real big mean kid! If you tell the teacher and the teacher tells his mama and daddy and then he gets in trouble, he will make my life a nightmare!"

"If someone was hurting Isa, would you tell us?"

"Yes."

"Then why won't you tell for yourself?"

He looked down and a tear splashed onto the game board.

"I want you and daddy to see me bein' brave. I didn't wanna be a wuss! I wanted you to be proud of me!"

"Oh Colton. Daddy and I are always proud of you. But you have to tell us things like this right away. That's part of being brave, asking for help when you need it."

"I didn't know that."

"Well now you know it."

He looked up at her and sighed, walking over to her and climbing into her lap.

"Mama, Zach is really mean. He hurts me on the playground every day. He calls me mean names. He says I am stupid. He teases Isa for bein' a girl and likin' boy games. He calls her dumb. He said somethin' mean to her and she cried."

"She cried?"

"Yes. It was really, really, really mean, mama. She cried mad tears and I hugged her so the angry would go away. She was gonna hurt him back but then recess was over."

"Why did he start picking on you two?"

"Because I am a shorty and Isa is my best friend and boys and girls is not supposed to play together. That's the rules when you're a kid."

"No, that's not the rules, Colton. You can play with whoever you want to play with."

"Well he thinks they are the rules and he is the biggest kid so those are the rules."

"Oh, so whoever is the biggest gets to do whatever they want and you have to just deal with it?"

"Yeah. Isn't that how it works? You gotta do whatever the boss says?"

"Not if the boss tells me to do something wrong. Not if the boss is hurting me."

"If Mac was mean to you, what would you do?"

"Mac doesn't have the ability to be mean. But if he was I think I would tell him he was being mean and he needs to stop it."

"What if he didn't?"

"I would tell daddy."

"What if he was still mean, mama?"

"Then we would have to talk to him and his boss at the same time."

"So I gotta find a bigger bully than Zach?"

"No. When he picks on you and Isa, you need to go find a teacher."

"And they will fix it?"

"I hope so. Sometimes teachers think you're tattling or they just don't want to deal with it. Keep trying, okay?"

He nodded and sighed heavily.

"First grade is so much hard work, mama. And that's just recess time."

"I know, honey," she said, hugging him tightly. "You just keep doing what you know is right, okay?"

He nodded against her and she kissed the top of his head, amazed that her little boy was growing up so fast and so well.

"All the other kids think I am a bad kid because I got suspendered."

"Suspended," she corrected. "It doesn't matter what they think. You did what you believed was right."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, Colton. Daddy isn't either. I wish there had been another option but we understand that you two couldn't think of one and you were trying to protect each other. We're very proud of you for that, because that's something we've wanted to teach you your whole life. You stick up for the people you love."

"If Zach hurts Isa's feelin's again I want to punch his ugly face."

"You might want to, but what will you do instead?"

"I will go find a teacher. But that doesn't mean I stop wantin' to punch him."

"Okay, that's fair."

"What about when Hermione punched Malfoy? Was that right or wrong?"

"Well… You know, Malfoy wasn't hurting her. Even though he's very mean and he calls her names, he wasn't doing anything right then. So punching him was probably not right."

"But she's Hermione! She doesn't do anything wrong!"

"Even the good guys can do wrong things sometimes. That's what makes them humans."

"Then mama, how come I spend all the time tryna be perfect if I don't have to be?"

"Because daddy and I taught you to always do your best and that's what you're trying to do. I don't want you to think that being good isn't worth it. It really is. But it's okay to mess up sometimes. Daddy and I have both messed up in our lives and we wish we hadn't, but it doesn't make us bad people. Okay?"

"I think I understand now."

"Good. So what are you going to do next time you run into trouble on the playground?"

"I am going to tell the mean person it is not right and then I will tell a teacher."

"That sounds like a good plan. Do you know that I love you and I'm very, very proud of you and I think you are going to be a very good man someday?"

"Yeah, I know. That was what I was aimin' for, mama."

"Howdy-ho, we're home!" Colton hollered as they entered the house later that evening. There was no response and he lifted his eyebrow and gave Lindsay a look.

"I wonder where they are," she said, hanging their coats by the door and putting the shopping bags on the floor.

"Maybe upstairs?"

She nodded and they started up the stairs, peeking into the boys room. Adam, Ben, and Avery were all asleep on Ben's bed, looking like they'd crashed there several hours before. It was dark outside already and there was just starlight streaming through the window.

"They look really peaceful, huh mama?"

"Yeah," she said with a little chuckle. "They do."

"Should we wake 'em up? I wanna give Ben his present."

"Yeah, we should."

She shook Adam's shoulder a bit, smiling at the way his arms tightened around the kids as he woke up.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"You guys been asleep for a while?"

"What time is it?"

"Almost five."

"Yeah, we've been out for a few hours. Did you two just get home?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about dinner. Want to come help me?"

"Sure."

"I will wake the kids up," Colton offered as Adam stood from the bed. "Hey Ben! Hey Aves! Time to wake up now!"

Both kids stirred and rubbed their eyes, disoriented for a few moments.

"Come downstairs so me and mama can show you what we got today."

Ben stood up and followed him while Lindsay lifted Avery into her arms and kissed her cheek.

"Did you miss me today, puddin'?"

"Mama. Hi."

"She walk today," Ben reported as they started down the stairs. "She show ya later."

"Did you really walk today baby?"

Avery nodded proudly and wiggled down to the floor once they were off the stairs. She held her hand out for Ben and he took it until she steadied herself, and then he let her go. She did several shuffling steps across the room, then turned around and gave them a huge smile while she clapped.

"That was twelve steps," Ben reported. "That's the most she done today."

"You've been counting?" Lindsay asked as Avery started back across the room again.

"Yup. I teached her and I coached her."

"Oh really?"

"Yep. C'mon sissy, you could do it, if you put your fat into it!"

Lindsay and Adam both laughed and Avery clapped for herself again, obviously feeling like a big kid now. She was very excited about it, even if her mama was having a lot of mixed emotions at the moment.

"Hey Ben, we brunged you something cool," Colton said, rooting through the bag from the bookstore.

"Really?"

"Yup. We know you like books and dinosaurs so we got you a dinosaur book."

"Oh wow! Can I see?"

"Now Ben," he started, holding the book behind his back. "We are not rewardin' your bad behavior and poutin' from a'fore. We just wanted you to know that we was thinkin' about you and we love you and also this book was on sale."

Ben nodded and Colton handed the book over.

"I looked at it real fast and I could read it to you if you want me to."

"Yes!"

They climbed up onto the couch next to each other and opened the book, immediately shutting the rest of the world out.

"We have some pretty awesome kids, don't we?" Adam asked, hugging Lindsay from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Yes, we do. I think they take after both of us, but only our good parts."

"All three of them got your stubborn."

"And your ADD."

He chuckled and nuzzled her neck as Avery made her way to the couch, climbing onto it and settling herself into Ben's lap.

"You're heavy, sissy," he commented, adjusting her a little bit while she leaned forward, sucking on her pacifier and staring at the book as if it was the most intense thing she'd ever seen. Colton read the story dramatically, throwing in pauses and high pitched voices so the other kids were totally entranced.

"C'mon, let's go make dinner," Adam whispered after a moment. He pulled her into the kitchen and she smiled, leaning against the counter as he started to pull things out of the fridge.

"So what are you makin' daddy-o?"

"I was thinkin' about the Adam Ross special, with an assortment of cheeses."

She snickered and hopped up to sit on the counter while he put together some grilled cheese sandwiches and got a can of tomato soup out of the pantry.

"So how was your day with Yacko?"

"Good. Sometimes he just talks and talks and talks and other times he's just silent for the longest time. He's hard to figure out. How were Wacko and Dot?"

"They're kind of a strange duo. Ben tries to protect her and teach her things but she's so determined to do it on her own that she pushes him away and then he gets his feelings hurt and he hides behind the couch and she goes over and hugs him and he tries to help her again and… well, there you go."

"Your stubborn comment is not off base."

"Didn't think so. Do you want the sandwich with the cheese tongue?" he asked, pointing his spatula at the sandwich that was spilling cheese over the side.

"Adam, how long have you known me?"

"Over ten years."

"Name a time when I have ever rejected the cheese tongue."

"Never."

"So this question would be?"

"Superfluous."

She nodded and reached out for his hand, tugging him over to her and pressing a lazy kiss to his lips.

"The amount of love I have for you is crazy, ridiculous, and insane."

"Ooh, the trifecta."

She replied with a half giggle, half snort and he smiled, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear.

"The amount I love you is astronomical, infinite, and unquantifiable."

"We're so pretentious."

"We could be worse."

"Like what?"

"We could be politicians."

"Touché."

"I missed you today."

"I missed you too."

He grinned and leaned in to kiss her again, smiling when she clutched at his shirt and didn't let him go.

"Babe, dinner's going to burn."

"Hmph," she replied unhappily.

"It's not my fault you always want to make out when there's a burner on."

She gave him a lopsided grin as he moved away to flip the sandwiches over.

"It's not my fault you're irresistible even when there's a fire hazard."

"I can't respond to that, Linds."

She gave him what she thought was a sultry look, but he just laughed.

"You look like your eyebrows are having a seizure."

"Shut up," she giggled, shaking her head. He reached over and squeezed her hand and they fell into comfortable silence, amazed that after all this time it was still a delight to be together, that each day was something new.

"Adam?"

"Yeah babe?"

"Thank you."

He smiled and leaned over to kiss her again. Every day was perfect now, because at the end of every day, they were still together and happier than the day before.