"I think I've done all I can do today," Austin announced, poking her head into the room and finding Lindsay staring at a computer screen. "And I'm leaving. So shouldn't you be ready to leave like half an hour ago?"

"Mm-hmm," Lindsay answered absentmindedly, giving a short nod.

"And yet you're not ready. What are you doing?"

"Just my job."

"Linds."

"Sorry. I think I need to step away from this for a while. My eyes hurt."

"What are you doing?"

"Reading every encyclopedia entry I can find about cotton. I'm at a dead end with the evidence and I'm just kind of waiting for something to jump out at me. I figured reading up on all the trace I have couldn't hurt."

"Boring."

"I never said it wasn't," Lindsay chuckled, logging off the computer and grabbing her coat off the back of her chair. "But my ability to sit and read is the reason I do this and your inability to stay still for twelve seconds is the reason you carry a gun and spend your days running all over town."

"And our mutual need for balance is why we're best friends."

"All is right in the universe," Lindsay chuckled, shutting off the light as they walked to the elevator. "So, did you get any special deliveries today?"

Austin laughed and wrapped her arms around Lindsay, hugging her tightly.

"Only you would send me chocolate Halloween flowers in the middle of the day because you know I was stricken with PMS, even though I didn't say a word about it."

"My special power is knowing when you're hormonal."

"You should wear a cape. Super Hormone Detector. You may well have saved Flack's life today."

"I've always wanted an indentured servant for life."

"Flack's a pretty good one. He never complains about bringing you a milkshake."

"Maybe that's because his milkshake brings all the boys to the yard."

Austin's laugh was loud and brought tears to her eyes and didn't stop until they'd gotten to the parking garage and were buckled into the car.

"Linds. Why?"

"You can't say milkshake to me and have me not think of that song."

"I am actually crying."

"All I can picture is Flack going "He-eyy!" and shaking his butt."

"Linds, stop. It's too accurate."

"Really?"

"Remind me to show you pictures from high school."

"Oh yes please."

They giggled as they made their way through evening traffic, taking almost forty-five minutes to get home.

"So last year was Harry Potter, what do you think the guys dreamed up for the kids costumes this year?"

"I don't know, but I bet it's good. Adam bought a wig for Isa but he wouldn't tell me what it was for."

"Isa's going to love wearing a wig."

"Yes she will. Ready?"

"To swipe the kids candy after every house? Yeah."

Lindsay chuckled and they walked up the porch steps, then opened the front door.

"They're here!" came an excited Sarah-giggle from the front room. Suddenly music started, a well known theme song that certainly gave away the theme of the evening.

The kids were dressed up as the Brady kids and not only were they singing along to the theme song, they were all poking their heads through a cardboard cut-out that had been made to look like the opening credits of the show. That is to say that the oldest three were singing along; Ben was making up his own words and Junior was bouncing his head to the beat while Avery reached around the side of the cardboard and waved happily.

"Hi mama! I Cindy!"

Lindsay laughed and crouched down to look at her pig-tailed daughter.

"Cindy was always my favorite."

The kids stepped out from behind the cardboard, clad in 70's era clothing and hair styles. Ben even had freckles drawn across his nose just like Bobby Brady and Junior had a set of plastic buck-teeth like Peter.

"You like our outfits? Don't I look awesome with blonde hair?" Isa asked excitedly, barely able to stay in one place. "I'm Marsha. Do I look like Marsha? I don't act like Marsha."

"No, you certainly don't."

"Uncle Adam told me to say that Marsha did it again, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" Sarah explained. "I don't know why."

"Because Adam has watched the Brady Bunch way too often," Lindsay answered, lifting Avery into her arms.

"Yeah, but it made for awesome costumes."

"I just want to know which one of you is dressing up as Alice."

"Hey, Halloween is for the kids, Montana. Don't go gettin' no wild ideas that we're dressin' up as anything."

"Oh because I was thinking that Adam could be Alice and you could be Sam the Butcher and Austin could be Cousin Oliver."

"And what would that make you?"

"Sherwood Schwartz."

"You watch too much TVLand."

"Next year the kids should go as the characters from Gilligan's Island."

"Adam, you ever tried an intervention with this one?"

"Yeah, I tried to take the remote away and she bit me."

"Oh I did not! I just nibbled your hand a little."

"You two are gross," Colton said, handing Avery her doll.

"Yes, but we are gross together."

"See what I mean, Isa?" he asked with an arch of his eyebrow. "Disgusting."

"I dunno, I don't think it's that gross, Colt. Flirting isn't gross. Love isn't gross."

He stared at her for a long second before shaking his head.

"I forgot that you are actually a girl."

She sighed at him and shook her head while he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well you two already look married," Danny chuckled.

"Hey did you guys know that Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick actually had a fling during the years that they played Greg and Marsha?"

"Did you know that when they mowed their lawn it was actually Astroturf?"

"Shut up Danny!"

"And this is our dog Qwerty what's playing the role of Tiger!" Ben announced as the patient home-owner dropped several pieces of candy into each bag. He was making sure that every home they stopped at knew exactly who they were and even Avery was starting to get annoyed with his happy proclamations. The kids said thank you for the candy and hopped off the porch steps and down the sidewalk while Ben asked them all what they'd gotten.

"Hey Ben," Colton started in the kindest voice he could muster. "No offense, but you're gettin' kinda obnoxious."

"Obnoxious? What's that mean?"

"It means shut up," Isa supplied, shooting him a look. "Of course I mean that nice."

"Oh. Okay."

He was quiet for the next few houses, no matter how much he wanted to speak up, and by the time they had rounded the corner to head back to the house, his head was dropped and he watched the ground as he straggled behind the group. It wasn't so much that he was hurt by what the kids had said as he was having a few moments of deep self-examination, something most people don't do until college or well beyond. He was trying to see himself the way they saw him, walking a mile in another person's skin, like Atticus Finch said. Maybe they were right. Maybe he did talk too much.

"Ben, you comin' buddy?" Adam asked, stopping and holding his hand out. Ben nodded and walked faster to catch up, giving a half smile when he was lifted off the ground and into his daddy's arms.

"Gettin' tired?"

He just nodded, feeling confused, rejected, and angry with himself. Obnoxious seemed like an awful word and the more he thought about it, the worse it felt.

"Are you going to be ready for dinner in a little while?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is something the matter?" Adam asked, having not heard the kids conversation beforehand and being utterly confused as to why his normally unstoppably verbal child was so quiet.

"No daddy. I'm just thinkin' 'bout bein' obnoxious."

"Who said you were obnoxious?"

"Cole did. But he was not mean for it. I do talk lots."

"But Ben, that doesn't mean you have to stop talking."

"It's okay daddy. It's my cross to bear."

Adam sighed, knowing that there would be no arguing with Ben's conclusion right now. All three kids had Lindsay's stubbornness and it was hard to talk them out of anything they'd decided on, even things they didn't want to do.

"Well then let's go home and have dinner."

Ben nodded as they all made their way home, the rest of the kids excited to dig through their candy and start swapping it. Ben joined in half-heartedly, letting Junior make his trading choices for him, which worked out just fine anyway. Avery was so happy to be included with the big kids that she was jogging in place.

"Avery, do you want to use the potty?" Lindsay asked, realizing how long it had been since she'd changed a diaper and hoping that maybe, just maybe Avery would want to try and be a big girl.

"No mama. No potty. I dance."

Lindsay and Austin exchanged amused glances, then collected the candy and took it into the kitchen while Danny and Adam settled the kids down and started a movie. Ben wandered into the kitchen with them, watching as they got pizza toppings out of the fridge.

"Hey Ben the Dude. What's going on?"

"I have a question," he said, lifting his arms so Austin could pick him up.

"What's your question?" she asked, rubbing her nose against his.

"Do you guys think I talk too much?"

"Too much?" Lindsay clarified, kneading the pizza dough Adam had made earlier and spreading it around one of the big pans. "You talk a lot, Ben Ry, but that doesn't mean it's too much."

"Yeah, one of my favorite things is listenin' to you talk," Austin assured. "I love when you tell me stories."

"The other kids don't like it. I'm obnoxious."

"Benjamin," Lindsay said, taking his face in her hands. "You are not obnoxious. Maybe the kids didn't like that you explained your costumes at every house, but that's just their opinion. You keep being you. Don't let anyone else tell you not to be yourself. You are the most perfect Ben Ross in the world. Understand?"

"I understand."

"I love you."

"I love you too, mama," he said, some of the light coming back into his eyes. "You love me Austin?"

"You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you," she said, pressing kisses all over his cheeks. He laughed at the feeling and wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Love you so much Austin. I'm not a obnoxious boy! I am just Ben!"

"No, you are Binyin!" Junior chuckled, sliding on his sock feet into the room. "Come sit with me on the couch and watch this 'Laddin movie with us."

"I gots a idea 'bout that movie," Ben started, wiggling down from Austin's arms. "I was thinkin' that the guy at the start had that lamp what was the Genie's house. So maybe that guy at the start, you know, the one selling his wares? I think he is the Genie after he got freed."

"I bet it is, Binyin!"

They raced off into the other room and their mothers chuckled as they watched them.

"They remind me of us," Austin mused, finding a cheese grater. "They don't even question their friendship, it just is."

"It's better not to question the best things in life."

"I'm one of your best things?"

"Adam and the kids, cereal, you."

"I'm that close on the scale to cereal? Be still my heart."

Lindsay chuckled as Austin started to grate the cheese and cringed when she felt like Austin was going to grate her own fingers.

"Hey Goose maybe you shouldn't do something that includes sharp edges. Here, put the pepperoni on."

"I'm not five, Lin."

"You are wearing a Powerpuff Girls band-aid that you picked out because you tried to cut your fingernail in a pencil sharpener. You're right, you're not five. You're two. Stop blinking at me."

"You're mean," Austin said with a sneer, moving over to place the pepperoni on the pizza.

"I am very concerned for your safety!"

Austin just laughed and they made two large pizzas before putting one in the oven to cook.

"When I was younger I used to think I wanted to travel. Leave this whole city and never come back. I wanted to do everything and see everything and soak up the whole world."

"You did? Austin, I never thought wild motorcycles could drag you away from this town."

"They could have. But now, I don't think I could ever leave. Every good thing is right here, in this house, in this city. I've never felt that before. My life's happiness doesn't depend on out there. It's kind of a freeing thought."

"Well I'm glad you're here because I don't feel like chasing you all over God's green earth. I mean, I would do it. I just don't feel like it. I can't fit all my favorite clothes in a suitcase."

"Lin, we're awesome."

"Okay Colton, it's really time for bed now," Lindsay sighed, seeing that he hadn't moved off of the couch in the ten minutes since she'd warned him before.

"But mama, this is interesting!"

"It will be on again."

"But they're findin' junk and makin' money out of it! I could do that too! I could find lots of junk in daddy's side of the closet! It could be worth money!"

"Colton."

"Alright, alright," he sighed, turning the TV off. "Can I ride on your back up the stairs?"

She wanted to tell him no, that he was much too big, that she would topple over backwards, but she couldn't deny him this little joy, especially since every day that passed brought them closer to the time when he wouldn't enjoy these things anymore.

"Okay, hop on."

He laughed and held on tightly while they went up the stairs and she dropped him onto his bed.

"I will see you in the morning bright and early."

"Who is taking me to school?"

"I'm taking you. Daddy has to work really, really early."

"Okay. I love you mama."

"Love you too."

She kissed him and made sure the blankets were tight around him, then moved over to say goodnight to Ben.

"Honey why are you wearing a hat to bed?"

"Because. You an' Austin say I should be myself. This is myself."

"Okay, I understand but you're not going to sleep well with that hat on."

She moved to pull it off but he clamped his hands down over it and started to whimper.

"Ben, what's going on?"

"Nothin'! I didn't make a mistake!"

She was almost positive what she was going to find under his hat, but she peeled it off anyway.

"Adam… you'd better come in here and look at your son!"

"What's going on?" Adam asked, coming down the hallway and poking his head into the room. "Ben! What did you do?"

Ben started to wail loudly, throwing his arms over his head so they couldn't see the horrible haircut he'd given himself.

"I didn't think ahead!" he said while Lindsay pulled his arms away and tried to inspect the damage. It was very, very bad. It looked like he had started on one side of his head and clipped away. There were patches of regular length hair and patches of very, very short hair. He'd started on the other side too, but it wasn't as bad as the first. The only way to fix this would be to buzz it completely.

"Honey, why did you do this?"

He sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes while Adam turned the light on so he could look at it for himself.

"Well the other day when we was in the store, I seen a kid what had his hairs just stickin' up in the middle. And I thinked to myself "Hey Ben, I like the look of that hair!" And then tonight mama, you and Austin telled me to just be me. And I thought that me would like to have hair like what that kid gots. So I tried to do it! And now I look like a monster!"

"Ben," Lindsay started, not even sure what to say. "When did you do this?"

"When I was in the bathroom. I taked all my hairs and I putted them under the sink so maybe we could glue them back on."

"Where did you find scissors?"

"In Cole's desk," he admitted, shrinking down against his pillows. "I shoulda had a professional do this."

"You thought to yourself "Hey Ben?"" Adam asked, not even sure what else to say.

"I always think my name to myself. Otherwise myself won't know who I am talkin' to!"

"Ben, you have school in the morning. We don't have time to get this fixed beforehand."

"Oh no! What am I to do? Tomorrow is show and tell! Everyone will be lookin' at me!"

"Well maybe you should have thought of that," Lindsay sighed, brushing his hair back to see if she could do a little damage control. She'd warned the boys about cutting their hair so many times and she was beginning to think it wasn't going to be a problem. At least it wasn't Avery's perfect baby curls on the floor, but this wasn't exactly no big deal either.

"Are you mad at me, mama?"

"I don't know why you thought this was a good idea."

He dropped his head and rubbed at his eyes while Colton got out of bed and threw his arm around his little brother's shoulders.

"You know somethin' Ben? You are much more brave than me. One time I wanted a haircut and I was afraid to do it myself because I thought it would turn out bad. But you just went for it! I kinda admire that."

Ben turned slowly and gave Colton a strange look, then pointed to his new hairdo.

"Cole. You wanna look like me? I am a fool!"

"Nah, you're just misinformed! It's okay Ben. Hair grows back. And it's not the end of the world. By the time you're my age, this will be a distant memory!"

"I like that idea," Ben said, running his hand over his hair. "How about we just keep this a secret with ourselves. No one 'sides us gots to know about me doing it."

"You still have to go to school in the morning," Adam reminded him gently.

"Maybe for my show and tell, I will tell the kids how it is not a good idea to cut your own hair. They will see it for themselfs."

"That's a good idea, Ben. Like how Aves learns from our mistakes, now your friends can too."

"Yep. Mama, that what it means when Jo say the thing about making lemonade when life gives you lemons?"

"Yeah, that's what it means."

"Well alright them. I will go to school and tell the kids what went wrong."

Lindsay and Adam shared a short, amused look before tucking the boys back in and saying goodnight. They checked on Avery, who was clutching her new doll tightly against her chest as she slept, then went upstairs, where they found every bill for the month and the checkbook on the bed.

"Adam?"

"I was paying the bills. I got distracted."

"I thought we were never supposed to bring finances into the bedroom," she teased, starting to put the papers into a pile.

"Hey wait, I have a method."

"You do?"

"Yeah."

"Is that method to be a mess?"

"Hey, how many times have we overdrawn our bank account?"

"Never."

"How many times have we missed a bill?"

"Never."

"Then my method must be working right?"

"Can you teach me?"

"Why? I thought you never wanted to do the bills again."

"I don't. But someday I might have to and what if you don't have time to show me how you do them and then I mess them up?"

"Linds-"

"Just like you have to know how to do all the stuff I do too. Just in case."

"No one is going to die babe," he said, trying to put his arms around her. She shrugged him away and gave him a look that made him realize she wasn't joking.

"Don't say that, Adam."

"I'm sorry. C'mere, let me show you the ways of the master."

She smiled and they sat down on the bed together and he picked up the checkbook and a pencil.

"First thing I do is write a check for the mortgage, but I write the amount in pencil."

"Why?"

"Because after I pay the rest of the bills, I add ten percent of what we have left in checking to the mortgage payment. That way we're paying more on the principal every month and we'll be out from under it faster."

"Okay, then what do you pay?"

"Utilities next, then car payments which are almost done, cell phones, cable and internet, Ben's school and then I put money in the kids college accounts."

"How much are you putting in there every month?"

"Fifty each every month but that will go up once the car is paid off. Then after that I put money into savings, finish the mortgage and I'm done."

"Then how come it takes you so long to do the bills?"

"I hate spending money. I look at all our utilities to see what went up, I calculate how much we've paid on the mortgage and how far ahead we are. I research other cable plans, I look into putting the kids college money into other types of accounts. I stress myself out."

"I'm glad you do. This isn't easy work."

"I figure you making dinner mostly every night is more labor intensive than me doing the bills once a month."

"I guess it's a pretty fair trade then. You know I don't like math."

"Exactly."

She smiled and leaned against his shoulder while he finished up writing checks and making the bills as paid. With her hours cut back so she could spend more time with the kids, he was the primary source of income for the family. He didn't just provide the money though, he set it up in a way to keep them financially secure in the event that they lost their jobs or had huge medical emergencies or anything like that. He looked for way to improve things, and his care didn't stop with their finances. He cared for them in every other way, just as diligently. When they had first started dating she wondered if he was ready for a wife and kids and a house and everything that came with it, but more and more she was seeing that he'd been preparing and planning for things long before he'd even met her. That thought made her mind a lot less that he did so little cleaning around the house and that it took two days to get him to mow the lawn. He was pulling his weight, more than pulling it, and she vowed to never nag him again. As much as she felt like he didn't see all the work she did, she began to realize that she didn't see all the work he did.

"Hey babe?"

"Yeah?"

"I really love you."

"I really love you too," he chuckled, gathering up all the papers and setting them on his bedside table to file later.

"You're the best man in the world."

"Where is this coming from?"

"Where it should have come from a long time ago. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the things you do anymore, really."

"Babe if this is about the bills and stuff, it's nothing special. I wanted a family and I wanted you and I signed up for it all. Taking care of you and the kids is what it takes to deserve the reward of having you."

"Do you ever feel like you want to just let go of the responsibility for a day?"

"Not really. Sure, sometimes it would be nice to go play hockey again or something but I know that the second I'm out there, I'll be thinking about being here again."

"Do you think that I shouldn't go out without the kids then?"

"No, I think you need that because of the way you're wired. When we're at home with the kids we can both be fully engaged in everything, but when they need something they're asking you. Sometimes you need to go and not be mama for a while."

"If I was doing something wrong, would you tell me?"

"Yeah. Like right now, you're overthinking things and you're going to start to doubt things that you have no business doubting."

"Okay."

"Lindsay, I am happier with you and the kids than I would be alone. We can get through anything that life throws at us and I wouldn't change a day. You got it?"

"I got it. But don't tease life like that."

"Like what?"

"Don't be all "Come at me bro!" because someday it might."

"Okay, okay," he chuckled, shutting off the bedside lamp and scooting down under the covers with her. "Now go to sleep. It's easier to keep your mind corralled that way."

"I love you too. Goodnight."