Ben woke up on and off for the rest of the afternoon and evening, sometimes confused and scared about where he was, but mostly in good spirits. He didn't mind when Avery hugged him and wouldn't let go, or when Colton asked him to describe the entire ordeal over and over again. He cracked jokes and asked weird questions just like normal and if it wasn't for the hospital setting, no one would know that he'd just undergone surgery.

Just before bedtime the doctor had him get up and walk, just a few steps across the room. He was scared to do it and he whimpered the entire way, but he managed it pretty well and looked very proud of himself as the blankets were tucked around him again.

"I'll be back to check on you in the morning Mr. Ben," the doctor said, patting his hand. "Get some sleep."

"Thanks doctor. I 'preciate it."

Avery was starting to get fussy again, rubbing her eyes and picking at her clothes while groaning. Her hair was a mess, she'd had snacks all day and no meals and she'd never gotten the nap she needed either.

"Who is gonna stay with me here tonight?" Ben asked expectantly, his eyes drifting from Lindsay to Adam and back again. "Whoever will gets to hang with me!"

"Oh, could I stay here tonight?" Colton asked, the thought just occurring to him. "I will keep Ben company and he won't be alone!"

"No, it's gotta be me or mama."

"Well… that's not very fair," Colton muttered, sitting down next to Ben. "I just want you to know that I would like to stay with you Ben."

"I know that Cole. I'd like you to stay too but maybe we would be talkin' and laughing too much for us to get rest."

"You're probably right," Colton agreed, placing his arm around his brother's shoulder. "I love you Ben."

"I love you too Cole. And sissy, I love you too."

She stopped her whining for a moment to smile up at her brothers, then went back to fussing and griping.

"Hey Cole?"

"Yeah?"

"Someday when you are a doctor, I will let you fix me when I get sick."

"Thanks Ben! That means a lot to me."

"I know you will be a good doctor. Know how I know? Because the doctor I got is real nice. And he reminds me of you. So I know you will be a good doctor."

"Wow! I hope I don't disappoint you."

"You won't. Brothers don't get disappointed. They just play together."

Colton laughed and nodded.

"Okay it's a deal between you and me Ben."

"Deal."

They shook hands on it, sealing their promise.

"Ben, mama's going to stay with you tonight," Adam said, coming over to the bed to tuck Ben in better.

"Okay daddy. You stay with me the next night?"

"Yeah, we'll plan on that. Right now I've got to take Colton and Avery home so they can go to bed too."

"Alright. Mama will be here for me. I love you daddy."

"I love you too Ben. I'll see you in the morning."

Colton and Avery said goodnight too and were wrestled into their coats before being ushered out the door.

"Mama, did you got jammies?"

"Jo brought me a bag with all my stuff in it."

"Jo-Jo was here?"

"She and Mac came to drop Colton off earlier."

"Oh. Did they see me?"

"Yeah. You were sleeping pretty hard."

"I been sleepin' a lot today," he sighed while she stretched out on the bed next to him. "Can we call Dunner? I really want to see him. Please mama?"

Lindsay checked the time and bit her lip, remembering the slight tiff with Austin at the crime scene this morning. She didn't really feel like calling her now, but Ben looked so cute with his pleading eyes and his love for his best friend that she couldn't say no.

"Alright, I'll call them but they might not be able to come, okay? You might have to wait until morning."

"That's okay mama. I just need to speak with him."

She smiled and found her phone, dialing Austin's number and waiting through four rings, wondering if she was even going to answer.

"Hey Lindsay."

"Hey. Do you have a minute?"

"I always have at least a minute for you Linds. I might even have two."

It would have sounded sarcastic to the untrained ear, but Lindsay knew it was a comment that said their earlier gruffness with each other was forgotten.

"So um, Ben's in the hospital."

The screeching on the other end told her that dropping a bomb like that wasn't acceptable and she spent the next few minutes trying to get the entire story out while Austin berated her for not calling sooner.

"He's doing fine now, he's been out of bed and he kept some juice down."

"You could have opened with that! Geez Lin, I'm over here sweating bullets for no reason!"

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. He's really fine?"

"Yeah. He's been begging to see Junior for hours."

"I can bring him by for a little while."

"You don't have to do that."

"Hey, Ben just got himself all sliced up, I think the least I can do is bring his best friend to see him."

"Okay. We'll see you in a little while."

They hung up and Lindsay yawned, brushing Ben's hair back from his face.

"Well?"

"Austin's going to bring Junior by in a little bit."

"Okay. Will you tell me a story while we wait?"

"What kind of story?"

"A story you really like. One what makes you happy when you think 'bout it."

"Did I ever tell you what it was like the very first time I saw you?"

"Don't think so."

"You were so handsome Ben. You had no hair and you had really chubby cheeks and you looked just like your daddy. You looked up at me with those big wide eyes of yours and I couldn't look away."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. You just had some special kind of magic."

"I had magic? Was I wearing a hat with a rabbit in it?"

She laughed and kissed his cheek.

"No, you weren't wearing a hat."

"Maybe I really are Harry Potter! Could I get a owl? And a broom what's for playing cabbage?"

"Quidditch, honey, and no you're not Harry Potter. That's not the kind of magic I was talking about. There was just something in your eyes Ben, I felt like you could read my mind. I felt like you knew me better than anyone else in the world could ever know me."

"I like that, mama. Like how I know when you're sad even if you're laughin'."

"How do you know it Ben?"

"Because," he sighed trying to think of how to put it into words. "Some of your beautiful goes away."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't really know mama. Mostly when you smile when you're sad, I don't see all your teeths."

She snorted and started to laugh, finding herself more amused at the total seriousness in his voice than in the words he actually said. There was no reason to think that he wasn't telling the truth. He wouldn't make up something like that, and that was possibly what made it more amusing.

"Ben I love you so much I can't even describe it."

"I know. You tell me and kiss me all the time."

"I can't help it. You have the most kissable cheeks known to humankind."

"That's what they say," he sighed with a shrug, as it was somewhat of a burden.

She smiled and they fell into silence for a while, watching each other, holding hands and letting the day calm around them.

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"I wish daddy was here too. Life is best when we're all together. I like when sometimes we take a nap together, all of our home family. I love how we are all close to each other. That's my favorite."

"Mine too, baby."

"Whoa Binyin!" Junior said in a whisper, surveying the room. "All this junk to keep you alive?"

"Yep! They taked somethin' out of me what they're not gonna give back!"

"My goodness," he replied with a shake of his head, sounding like Jo. "How are ya feelin'?"

"I feel loopy. Because of the medicine."

"Where is the thing they taked out of you?"

"Dunner, no one will tell me!"

"Ma, can you lift me up there to sit next to Binyin?"

"Sure sweetie," Austin said, lifting him up and putting him on Ben's good side. "There, don't be rowdy."

"Okay ma."

"Ben I think I need to kiss ya," Austin said, hugging him tightly.

"I think mama already kissed my cheeks until they're gone, but you could kiss right here!" he suggested, pointing to his forehead. She laughed and kissed his forehead a few times before looking into his eyes.

"I'm glad you're okay little man."

"Me too. I would not feel good 'bout dyin' right now. I still gotta go to kindergarten."

"Yes you do."

He turned and started talking to Junior, so Austin moved to one of the chairs next to his bed.

"How are you doin' Lin?"

"Fine. It'll hit me in a few days."

"Did you have a cry yet?"

"A little one, but then he woke up and started crying too so I had to stop."

"Did the doctor say the surgery went okay?"

"Yeah, for the most part. They had to give him some extra blood though, and that part freaked Adam out."

"You and Ben are both bleeders, huh?"

"Yeah. But the rest of the surgery was fine, they said it was really fast and not complicated or anything. He had a hard time waking up, he was really confused and drowsy and then all the sudden he was crying and sad. It was like a teenage girl."

"Poor little Binyin."

"He's okay now. Doesn't mind staying in bed and having broth to eat. He might be my hospital baby but he's a good patient."

Austin was quiet for a moment while they watched the boys have their own conversation.

"Lin, something else is going on isn't it?"

"Yeah," she confessed with a sigh. "It doesn't really seem important right at this minute though."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Adam got a job offer in D.C."

"So that's what it feels like when the rug is pulled out from under you."

"He hasn't decided if he's going to take it or not but… we might move."

"Does Ben have one of those pink barf buckets over there? I need to throw up."

Lindsay stayed silent while Austin breathed deeply and tried to line everything up in her head.

"Is it a good job?"

"Yeah. It's a lot of money. But I don't know if that really matters much."

"Lin, you guys can't leave."

"I know. Believe me, I don't have any desire to go. But I've been thinking that if we do, we can still visit, there's still phones and Skype and we can still vacation together sometimes too. It won't be terrible. It's not an entire world away. It's a four hour drive, we could meet about halfway in Wilmington sometimes. And none of that really makes me feel much better."

"Me neither. Ten minute walk to a four hour drive. I'm not happy about this. When does he have to decide?"

"He needs to let them know by next week."

"What do you think he'll decide?"

"I don't know. I don't think he knows either. It's a great job, he would be good at it and if it was here, he probably would have taken it already. He's just trying to decide if the perks outweigh the moving part of it."

"They don't."

Lindsay just nodded sadly, her heart constricting.

"I don't want to go."

"Maybe you won't have to. Maybe he'll decide to stay here."

"Yeah. I'm trying not to worry too much about it."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Austin asked after a moment of silence.

"Because Adam didn't want anyone influencing his decision. I wanted to tell you so much but…"

"It's okay. I won't tell him I know, but if he decides you guys are moving, I will hold it against him forever."

"Okay."

"I should take Daniel home, it's getting late."

"Yeah, Ben needs his sleep, no matter how much he claims he's not tired."

As if to agree with their observations the nurse entered the room at that moment to check Ben's vitals before bed.

"Nurse Shirley, this is my best buddy Junior but I call him Dunner."

"Hi Junior. Are you keeping Ben company?"

"Just for now. My ma said we could only stay a few minutes."

"Yeah, it's getting late," she agreed, sticking a thermometer into Ben's mouth. He wrinkled his nose but kept it I there until it beeped, showing no fever.

"Okay Ben, looks like you're ready to go to sleep. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No thanks nurse Shirley. You've been very helpful."

She smiled and gathered her things before leaving the room.

"Daniel, time to go."

"Just a little while longer ma?"

"No sweetie. Ben needs sleep and so do you."

"Okay ma. Bye Binyin. I will see you when you get home to your house. I hope you feel better real, real soon."

"Thanks for comin' to see me on such short notice Dunner."

They shared a hug and Junior climbed down from the bed to join Austin by the door. The boys gave each other a little wave and a smile and soon Ben and Lindsay were left alone.

"Well I think I am going to change clothes and go to sleep. How 'bout you baby?"

"Will you lay in my bed with me and hold my hand?"

"For a little while."

"Thanks mama. You're a special lady."

Two days later Ben was allowed to go home, much to the relief of everyone except Ben himself, who had found that he very much enjoyed telling all his stories to the new audience of every doctor, nurse and orderly that would listen. It was as if he felt that his entire duty in life was to tell stories and he took the whole thing very seriously.

Once they got home he crashed hard into bed, holding his stuffed animals and sleeping as if he hadn't slept in weeks. Avery was very upset that he couldn't play, and threw a tantrum in the hallway, indicating that she would need a nap as well. Colton on the other hand was content to sit on the bedroom floor with a book, looking up at his brother every few minutes to make sure he was okay. He'd become even more protective over the last few days and had admitted that he was very mad that they had not taken him out of school immediately so he could be there for Ben.

For their parts, Adam and Lindsay were both exhausted beyond measure, both physically and emotionally and as they lay sprawled on the couches Adam could do nothing but let out a wry laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Babe, we're not moving."

"What?" she asked, wrinkling her forehead. She hadn't thought about the job offer in days.

"We can't move. We'd never survive on our own. Can you imagine trying to juggle two kids and a third in the hospital with none of our friends to help us? There is no way."

"I don't want you to make this decision right now, Adam-"

"Linds, I've already made it. The money doesn't matter, the job doesn't matter, what's best for our family is staying here. The only reason I held out this long is because you told me to really think about it."

"But… don't you want the job?"

"Sure I want the job, but I also want to be headmaster of Hogwarts and that's not going to happen. I would rather have our family be happy than be able to produce a powerful patronus charm."

She laughed and rolled off her couch to join him on his, kissing him softly with gratitude for his decision. She'd promised to support him if he decided to move, but she was so glad he'd decided to stay and she wouldn't have to fight off resentment.

"Adam, I don't know why you are the way you are but I'm glad that you are."

"Well… you're welcome."

"You know I would have gone with you right?"

"Of course. Divorce is expensive and you hate paperwork."

"Adam Ross."

"Yes, I know."

She smiled and closed her eyes, feeling like a huge weight had lifted off of her, a weight that she hadn't realized was quite so heavy. She wanted to say something incredibly mushy that sounded so stupid in her head that it almost embarrassed her and she would have said it anyway if it weren't for Colton hopping down the stairs and climbing up to lay across the back of the couch. He sighed lightly and looked down at them with a face of concentration then yawned a little.

"What's goin' on in your world bud?" Adam asked.

"I've got a problem I need y'alls help with."

"I like your use of y'alls. What's the problem?"

"Well, you see it might be more like a dilemma," he started, resting his head on his arms and sighing deeply. "I have these two friends at school. And one of them is my best friend in the world. And the other one is a girl I got a crush on."

"So it's Isa and another girl?"

"Yes. See, me and Isa always hang out at recess because we don't have class together. I love Isa a lot. Like really a lot. Well you know how much. And I want to play with her all the time. But here comes the dilemma. The girl I got a crush on, her and Isa don't play together much. They like each other just fine. They are nice to each other. But the problem is that they like to play different stuff and I want to play with both of them; Isa because she's my best friend and the other girl because I like her a lot and she makes my heart do this funny beating thing that feels good. So what do I do? I don't want to make Isa mad by not playin' with her. And I don't want the other girl to think I don't like her because I am playing with Isa. So now what?"

"Well buddy I didn't have a problem involving two women until I was… well actually I never had this problem. You're quite the Casanova son."

"Yeah, except that doesn't exactly solve my problem daddy."

Adam and Lindsay both laughed, feeling guilty for it because this was something very important to Colton.

"Honey have you talked to Isa about this?"

"I'm kind of afraid to."

"Why?"

"Because mama. I don't want her to be jealous. I don't want her to be mad. I don't want her to think I don't want to be her friend anymore."

"I don't think Isa will think any of that honey. You've been friends your entire lives and I don't think there's anything that could make you two stop being friends so easily. And it's always best to be honest."

"Okay. How should I tell her?"

Adam and Lindsay exchanged a brief look, silently battling over who was going to have to field the question.

"I think maybe what you should do is tell Isa that you have a crush on someone. If she gets mad you don't have to tell her everything right then. And if she seems okay, you can keep telling her about it. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. So I just gotta roll with the punches."

"That might be your best course of action."

"I feel better talking about it. I'll tell Isa next time I see her. Thanks for helping me."

"Hey Colton," Adam started, grabbing his hand before he could slide off the couch. "Thanks for letting us help you. You know you can ask us for help anytime, no matter what, right?"

"Yep I know. I'm gonna go check on Ben."

He ran quietly upstairs and Lindsay smiled as she watched him go.

"We've got pretty good kids, huh?"

"They're quite astounding, especially taking their parentage into account."

"Hey we're not so bad. A little nerdy. Easily amused. Definitely not the cool parents."

"I don't know about that, we might be. Guess we're going to have to wait and see what we're up against."

"I guess so."

He smiled and squeezed her tightly while pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Up against the world, just another day."

"Wouldn't trade it for anything."