A/N: I am sorry for my posting paucity.

The bulk of the snow hit late that afternoon, gigantic flakes that were nearly as heavy as fog. A deep windchill came with it and brought all the kids shivering inside, even Ben and Daniel who were determined to tough it out. Sarah and Avery were snuggled up on the couch with a book while the boys raided the game closet and Isa set the table for dinner. The parents argued over the food, sniping good naturedly at each other as they tried to navigate the kitchen. Austin had already burned herself twice and Adam had cut his hand on the cheese grater, which meant that Lindsay was administering first aid while Danny put the finishing touches on the food.

"How come we only ever have Disney band-aids? I mean, would it kill you to buy regular?"

"Normally the only child I have to bandage is Avery. On the off chance that the boys need one, they think it's funny to sport an Ariel on their finger."

"I'm not complaining," Austin supplied, waving her Elsa and Olaf fingers in Adam's face.

"That's because you're actually three years old."

"I'm hungry," she said, changing the subject. "Is dinner done yet?"

"Give it a minute," Danny replied, tossing a hand towel over his shoulder before taking the bread out of the oven.

"A minute? I can't wait a whole minute!"

"Go stand outside."

The gesture she flashed in his direction was not meant to be seen by the kids who chose that exact second to wander in.

"Mama! Austin gots to put money in the swear jar! Even though that was not a word. Actions speak louder."

"What do you say you give a girl a break?"

"You are not a girl. Girls is young. You are a lady."

"Ouch, dagger to the heart."

"You have my Frozen band-aids."

"Yes, I do."

"But you are not young. You should not get hurt."

"Tink, have you ever met Austin?"

"Daddy! You got my Tiana on your finger! There will be no princesses left next time I get in an accident!"

"It's okay sissy. Mama will buy you more. She always comes through on things like that."

Once everyone had the drink of their choice, the ten of them gathered around the table, passing plates until everyone had some dinner in front of them. The kids dug into the pasta, voracious from their earlier adventures in the snow. None of them had uttered a word about Sarah's daredevil move out the window but Isa kept miming the incident, then smothering her giggles with her napkin.

"So," Daniel started, halfway through his meal and finally coming up for air. "Are we stayin' here tonight for real?"

"Until our power comes on, or your Uncle Cupcake kicks us to the curb."

"I hope your power never comes on!" Ben hollered, jabbing his garlic bread into the sauce. "It would be like a party every day!"

The boys exchanged a high five, which Avery tried to join, but misjudged how far it was across the table, and ended up losing her balance and slamming her hand down onto the table, which tipped over the closest candle.

"OH NO FIRE!" she screamed, even as Danny quickly righted the candle before it could do much more than drop some wax onto the table.

"Averylin," Sarah started with a smile. "Sometimes you really don't live up to the "Grace" in your name."

"Neither do me or ma," Isa supplied with a shrug. "Maybe we were born to be ironic."

"Yeah Sarah. Maybe we were meant to be that word Isa said that I never heard before."

"Must be," Sarah giggled.

"Besides," Avery continued, snatching an olive out of her salad and dropping it into her mouth. "I get my klutziness from daddy. It is something me and him share. Also our blue eyes."

She coughed suddenly, choking on the olive for a moment before she managed to work her mouth around it properly.

"Averylin, maybe you should just sit still and eat your dinner so we don't have any more issues," Lindsay suggested gently. "I'm going to have to tuck your napkin into your collar if you get any wilder, okay?"

"I understand."

"What should we do after dinner?" Colton asked, scraping his plate. "COPS is on, could we watch it? They're doing a better job of bleeping things lately."

"I guess that would be fine, if that's what you really want to do."

"It is!"

"What's COPS?" Sarah asked, her brow furrowed.

"You've never seen it? It only has the greatest theme song ever! It's just what it sounds like. It's a bunch of cops in different cities doing their jobs. And sometimes they run into funny problems, but most of the time it's actually serious. You'll love it!"

He started to get up, but was directed back to the table to take his place into the kitchen, and was then given a clean-up task as well. After a long suffering sigh, he did as he was asked and the rest of the kids followed after, old enough now that they could put most of the leftover food away, load the dishwasher, and make the kitchen look semi decent again. There were definitely parts of watching them grow up that weren't bittersweet at all.

Everyone had settled into the couches, chairs, or floor, snuggled up in blankets and sweatshirts, all with easy access to a bowl of popcorn. The Ross kids were singing along with the popular theme song which was amusing to their counterparts, and would have been embarrassing in any other setting.

"Oh good, they're in the south tonight," Colton said, pulling his knees up to his chest. "These are the best ones."

"Why?"

"Well don't tell Jo this but… a lot of the people there don't have class."

"Or much teeth," Avery added, eating a handful of popcorn.

"Lookee here," Lindsay started in the deepest southern accent she could muster, taking on the supposed character of the woman on the screen. "We done got our air conditionin' unit hooked to our house with bungee cords."

"Why did y'all go and do that?" Adam replied, joining in the riffing.

"I was fixin' to secure the daggum thing with some duct tape, but all of that's tied up in other projects."

"Why didn't y'all go to that hardware store there and get yourself some more duct tape?"

"Well I done did that but then I seen them bungee cords and I figured they was a nice color and I'd try them out."

"Dang. How's it workin'?"

"I'll let ya know when the wind starts a-blowin'."

"Now then, how did y'all 'ford such a big air conditioner?"

"I didn't say I 'forded it."

"Well then where'd ya happen upon it?"

"I done procured it off the back of the Piggly-Wiggly."

"Dang, I shoulda held off. I found mine on the back of the Waffle House. It works great but every time I turn it on the whole house smells like hotcakes. Then them kids of mine think I been making them bacon and eggs to and I gotta remind them we don't raise ducks."

"Shoot."

"Hey, you said you got some duct tape in other projects? What you workin' on?"

"Well that white lawn chair over yonder, I gotta fix that. Every time Jolene sits down she slips right through the hole. And my daggum truck is leakin' transmission fluid all over my got-dang garden."

"Looks like you got your work cut out for you Billy Jean."

"Ain't that the truth Cletus."

"Are you two done?" Danny asked, eyebrows raised in semi-amusement.

"We're never done," Lindsay giggled, returning to herself.

"Is this really what you two do at night?"

"Basically."

"Mama and daddy just make each other laugh," Avery explained. "That is the best things in life."

"Someday I will marry a lady that makes me crack up all the time," Ben added. "Laughter is the best medicine and I figure if she makes me laugh then I won't ever have to take cough syrup!"

"That's a good plan Ben!" Daniel laughed. "I hate cough syrup. I would rather feel crappy."

"You guys are weird," Colton muttered with a shake of his head. "I don't think you can laugh yourself out of pneumonia."

"I'd sure like to try it out."

"You want to get pneumonia, Benjamin?"

"Isn't that a romantic disease?"

Daniel made a gagging noise. He should have seen this coming.

"Pneumonia isn't a romantic disease," Adam laughed. "Your mama got it right after we got married and let me tell you, the amount of snot…"

"Adam!"

"Anyway Ben, I think you're talking about scarlet fever."

"Yeah, that's the one they talk about on that Masterpiece Theater that sissy likes."

"I enjoy the way those fancy ladies speak. And their beautiful dresses. Mostly I have no clue what they are talking about though. But someday I would like to go to a ball like they do. Who will be the very handsome gentleman that will take me?"

"Aves, you know that daddy is supposed to be the only man in your life."

"Daddy will cramp my style," she said seriously.

"Mimo, you're fantastic."

"I know that Danny. I know."

Adam woke the next morning feeling incredibly cold. He remembered making sure the heat was on before they went to bed last night and they'd turned the third story heat down a lot as to warm the rest of the house better, but he never thought it would be this cold. Yawning, he stretched and found that he was without blankets. They had been commandeered by his two favorite furnaces, who were snuggled up together, sleeping hard. He managed to tug part of the comforter back, then settled down next to them, chuckling inwardly at the way they were laying, mirrors of each other. Avery's hand was tangled in Lindsay's hair and Lindsay had a gentle grip on the little girl, her lips pressed to the small forehead in a permanent kiss.

He vaguely remembered Avery crawling into their bed in the wee hours, upset that Sarah and Isa were talking about things she couldn't understand. She hated being left out and instead of rolling over and going to sleep, she'd come up here to see them. Seven years old and she was still going to them for comfort. There was a part of him that wondered how long this would last, but most of him worried it was going to end soon.

He watched as she stretched and rubbed at her eyes before turning over and smiling at him.

"Good morning daddy."

"Morning Tink."

"Boy it is warm in here."

He chuckled and leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Can we go downstairs and make breakfast?"

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Waffles! I will help you! I like to watch it sizzle in the thingie!"

"Sounds good. Let's go."

He scooped her up and she threw her arms around his neck happily. Just as when she was a baby, she loved to be carried around and held. As her feet hit his knees, he wished he could stop time for just a moment and keep her little.

Quietly they made their way down to the kitchen where he settled her on the counter and began to gather ingredients for breakfast. Avery hummed to herself, counting the eggs he handed to her.

"Daddy, how many do we need?"

"They say about two eggs per person."

"I don't think I have enough fingers to count that."

"So how else do we figure out something like that?"

"Well ten people each need two."

"So that makes ten eggs twice."

"That is twenty! We need twenty eggs! This thing has eighteen in it. So we are short on eggs. That is okay, I will not have much."

"We have eighteen more eggs in there sweetie, that'll be enough."

"How many does that make? All together? I need paper!"

She clambered down from the counter and found a piece of paper and a pencil working the math problem quickly.

"Thirty-six! We have thirty-six eggs. That is three tens and six leftover. That is a lot of eggs. Those chickens worked hard."

He laughed and measured out the flour, pouring it into a large bowl.

"Geez you two are loud."

"Hello Danny, good morning. Daddy and I are making waffles. Would you like to help?"

"I'll make the coffee, how's that?"

"That is good. Mama and Austin will be most happy."

"Thought so."

Just then the rest of the kids paraded loudly down the stairs, happily discussing the new snow that had fallen.

"Kids be quiet, people are sleeping!" Lindsay hollered down to them.

"No mama!" Avery shouted back. "Only Austin is sleeping an' she can sleep through anything!"

"Do you guys think that the snow will last a few more days? I like having everyone here," Ben said with a nod, pulling a drawer open to gather the silverware.

"That would be fun. We'll have to go out and carve our trails though," Daniel added. "I bet they're all filled up with snow."

"I do not want to go out," Avery sighed. "It is wet and cold. I would much more enjoy staying inside and cuddling and having hot chocolate with a giant marshmallow."

"That sounds great, Averylin. I think I'll join you."

"Good. Then you can 'splain to me what you and Isa was whispering about last night."

"Uh… I don't think you really want to know," Sarah whispered, her face coloring, just as Isa's did. "Believe me, you'll find out in 5 or 6 years or so."

"And you'll be reminded every month after that."

Danny choked, Adam stuck his fingers in his ears, and the rest of the kids remained conveniently confused.

"Reminded of what?" Lindsay asked, coming into the room.

"Periods, Indy. We're talking about periods."

"Oh. Carry on."

"You know," Austin sighed, dragging into the room with her hair sticking up every which way. "I think that extended time together is not always a great idea."

"You can't go against the family," Ben reasoned.

"Yeah Austin. We own you."

"This is going to be a long, long life."

"We hope so!"