All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are mine alone. Gifts were inspired by - or just plain copies of - ones I've seen online.

I flew down to pick Julie up after Christmas, but that's the last part of our vacation plans that went as planned. Life is seldom fair, and this month showed us exactly that.

"This is such a shitty thing to have happen so close to the holidays," Steph said, for the fourth time in twenty minutes.

"It is," I agreed. "But you could also argue that Mabyn's father held on long enough to celebrate Christmas with the two people he loved the most."

"Maybe. I'm glad they got Christmas, but it seems so cruel ... not to mention really wrong. They get to celebrate with him but have to mourn him at almost the same time."

I didn't know what to do except hold out my arms to her. She came to me willingly, and her hug is bordering on painful. How strongly she feels for everyone is evident in how upset she is about what Mabyn is going through now. Although her father's death wasn't exactly unexpected, it's completely devastating to their family nonetheless.

"Do you think he waited to let go until he was sure Tank would be here to take care of Mabyn?"

"I wouldn't let her hear you say that she needs someone to take care of her. But answering that as a father, I would say yes. Tank will watch over Mabyn, she'll take care of her mother, and we'll be there for all three of them."

"This sucks," she said into my chest, a sniffle barely being restrained.

"It does," I told her.

"It hurts even more now that I've gotten to know my own dad. I can't imagine losing the man who was literally his daughter's first love." Her head jerked up, and her eyes narrowed down to slits at me. "You'd better not hurt Olive or Julie like that. They wouldn't get over losing you."

"They would. I have no doubt that both possess a level of strength I couldn't buy them, but I'm not dying any decade soon."

"You'd better not. We need you."

"Not as much as I depend on the three of you for survival."

"I don't suppose your people have figured out a way to make me and you immortal, so the girls will be stuck with us forever?"

"When they do, you'll be the first one to experience it."

No way am I going to live a life I can't share with her.

Thankfully, I didn't have a chance to dwell on that bleak existence because our daughters are making their way to us. Julie was ahead of the parade since all she was doing was holding Mado. Olive, being an exact replica of Stephanie, chose the path with the most resistance and was tugging Gunner down the hall with her via a Snowman-themed tug-toy neither was willing to let go of.

Stephanie is covered from neck, to wrist, to knee in a soft black fabric, but still looks incredible. Julie went with a less severe take on her funeral attire, choosing a short-sleeved dress in a navy blue that almost appeared black, with a matching sweater and flat shoes that have age-appropriate ankle straps. I also chose all black for my suit out of respect for the family.

Olivia, however, is pretending it suddenly turned into summer and is currently wearing a sundress that looks like it was ripped right out of a coral reef.

Steph waded through the mayhem and freed Gunny. After picking up our squirming baby, she turned to our eldest.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep Olive and your grandmother company? A funeral isn't the best way to top off a holiday vacation."

"I have to go. It's not like Uncle Tank will accept hugs from the guys, but he lets me hug him as much as I need to without complaining too much. He'll never admit it, but I know he'll need some comforting too."

"He does seem to really like Mabyn."

"I've never met someone Uncle Tank's interested in, so I'm guessing it's gone beyond like if Mabyn's been hanging out with the family."

Steph actually appeared sheepish for a moment. "That was mostly my fault. I was curious about the woman who snagged his attention so quickly, and sorta butted in and introduced our family to her."

"Steph, do you honestly think you could force Tank to do what he doesn't want to?" I asked.

"No. He's almost as bad as you are when it comes to being stubborn."

"It sounds like the pot is trying to call the kettle black again."

"I'm not stubborn. I'm just … persistent. Or maybe determined is a better adjective. Anyway, you are a brilliant young lady, Jules. I'm not much of a hugger either, except for when it comes to you girls and your Dad, but I did try to give your Uncle Tank one after he told us about Mabyn's father. You'd think my arms were radioactive or something the way he backed away from me, but Olive got him in a headlock that he didn't resist. So … I left the comforting to the experts and aimed my hug where I knew it'd be appreciated."

"Dad?" She asked.

"Yup. I'm not in Tank's boots, but I really like Mabyn and I hate that she has to go through this."

"Me, too," Julie said, putting Mado down to try to distract Olive when her baby sister started to tug on one of the earrings she'd given Stephanie for Christmas.

I credit Rachel and Ron with how amazing our daughter has turned out. Stephanie wasn't the only one who was fighting strong emotion when she opened Julie's Christmas gift and saw a pair of pear-shaped opal drop earrings set in a card that read 'You didn't give me life, but life gave me you. You're a badass bonus mom and I'll always love you.'

My gift didn't make me feel any less emotional because I can almost picture the expression on Julie's face when she saw them. As she said last time she visited, Stephanie has taught me - and allowed me - to laugh more. My daughter had given me a bronze plaque acting as a trophy with the inscription … 'Dad, this is the award you've earned the hard way for teaching me how to be a (Range)man even though I'm your daughter'. Plus, a two-circle keychain saying 'Dad's Keepers' on one and Julie and Olivia's names on the smaller circle to answer the unasked question. She couldn't have been more accurate if she'd tried.

And although Stephanie teases me about it, I keep the personalized 'I am Daddy's girl' book 'Olivia' gave me in my nightstand. And I'll continue to keep it there, likely even after Olivia's our age.

"My mother, and I'm guessing also my father, should be pulling up soon," I told my ladies. "Would you like to wait for them here or downstairs?"

Julie looked down at her sister's bare shoulders, legs, and feet. "Won't Olive be cold if we leave the apartment?" Julie asked, losing her grip on her sister minutes after she'd finally captured her.

"Nope," Steph answered, opening up the door for the hall closet. "We have an emergency system in place. Olive! Daddy coat time!"

She pulled out one of my Rangeman windbreakers and used it to wrap our baby up in it like it's a roadside emergency blanket.

"Shoes," I reminded her.

"Boots," my wife replied, picking our daughter up and standing her bare feet into a pair of pink Winter baby boots we keep by the front door.

My little family, mutts included, arrived on the ground floor just as Mabyn and Tank were on their way out. I'd bet their appearance here would be Ella's doing. She never lets a hurting heart go unnoticed or unfed. Mabyn's arms were full of white roses and a bakery box that probably held all of her favorite foods that Ella believes will help get her through this.

No surprise, Olivia noticed her GodTank. And after Steph stepped between our dogs to get to the couple, Olive's lower lip stuck out predominantly when she saw the tears spilling down Mabyn's face. She leaned over Steph's arm and tapped Mabyn's cheeks with her hands.

"No cry," she said over and over again, in between the sympathetic taps until Mabyn's lips trembled with a small smile instead of a sob she didn't want escaping.

"Mabyn's really sad right now," Steph explained to our baby. "She may need to cry to rinse some of the sadness out."

Our daughter was having none of that. "No sad," she ordered Mabyn.

"It doesn't work that way," I told Olivia. "Some hurts are so big ... they take a long time to feel less sad over."

"It's okay," Mabyn told us. "Thank you, Olivia. You did make me feel a lot better."

"Betta hug," she replied, spreading her little arms out wide.

As soon as she was holding our daughter, that's when Mabyn's sobs became uncomfortably audible. I caught Tank's eye and he was already moving to wrap his arms around both of them. The somber moment was interrupted when Olivia started tapping her GodTank's head in an attempt to stop the tears he isn't actually shedding.

"Olive!" Steph called. "You may want to be gentle with GodTank's head. We don't want its insides scrambled like your breakfast eggs."

That definitely got a brief laugh out of Mabyn, but Tank still looked concerned when he raised his head from where it'd been resting between Olive and Mabyn's.

"I've been preparing for this moment for a while. I really am okay," Mabyn told everyone.

"You're not, and no one expects you to be, but you will be alright," Tank said quietly to her. "I'll make sure of it."

"Ummm," Steph interrupted. "Maybe we should go and leave you two alone. It feels like we're intruding on a private moment."

"And that started bothering you when?" Tank asked her.

"When it involves more than just bugging you. We love Mabyn," she said turning towards the woman, "and I don't want to add to how much you're hurting right now."

"You can't add to it, but I appreciate the thought," Mabyn told her. "I know my life just changed completely, but it's like my mind won't let me picture just how different it is. I've woken up every morning after he didn't, having to ask myself if this really did happen … and crying uncontrollably when reality sets back in and I feel the same hole reopen in my chest."

"Start with getting through today," I told her. "And tell yourself the same thing tomorrow."

"I may have to. Thank God for small mercies ... I feel numb from the inside out right now."

"Then Olive isn't doing her job," Julie said to her. "Everyone can feel her hugs."

"I'll take one of yours," Tank said to my daughter.

She flashed a 'See? I told you I get special privileges' look at Stephanie, and then circled her arms around Tank, Mabyn, and Olive. That's the scene my parents walked in on.

"Oh no," I heard my father say right before he pulled a fresh handkerchief from his pocket and handed it quickly over to my mother.

"Mabyn," my mother said, dabbing at her eyes, "we are so sorry to hear about your father. We want to be there for you at the church, but …"

"Olivia would be too much of a distraction there," I reminded her, hoping to head off the waterworks before it started Mabyn - and possibly Stephanie - off again.

Julie was the first to recover, reaching for Olivia before my mother could untangle her from the group. "Yeah, that's an understatement. We should probably get going. Grandma, you get custody of Olive. Mo, Gunny?! Elevator with Olive and the grandparents!"

Steph leaned in close. "Has Ella been giving Jules lessons on wrangling our herd?"

"According to her Christmas gift to me, I've taught Julie how to be a Rangeman, which means she's an expert in crisis management."

I hugged my father, kissed my mother's cheek and then both of my daughter's heads, and waited for Steph to do a variation of the same. We had brought our things down with us so the two of us and Julie followed Tank and Mabyn out into the garage.

"Thank you for all your company has done for us," Mabyn said to me. "You made the time my father had left, quality time between us. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if he couldn't have stayed in the home he loved."

"No, you made his last months the best they could be," Tank told her.

She gave him a small smile for saying that, but it never made it past her lips. Her eyes are a shade of sad no woman's eyes should ever be.

"Whatever you need, you have," I assured her.

This time Tank thanked me, but only with a slight nod of his head. Nothing else is needed. He has helped me keep my woman safe and secure even before she admitted that she is mine … and there's no way I wouldn't return the favor when he finally allowed himself to fall for the right someone.

The church was packed when me, Julie, and Steph walked in, and I felt Steph's slight hesitation, believing she wouldn't be well received in any house of worship regardless of the occasion. Normally, I would've teased her about this particular paranoia of hers, but today's atmosphere is too solemn for even that small release of tension.

Tank and Mabyn made a detour on the way here to pick up her mother, who we learned was so distraught, she didn't want to have to stay in the church surrounded by people any longer than necessary. Tank told me last night that before he'd made himself part of their family, it had been just the three of them due to Alzheimer's destroying the life - and many friendships - they'd had before the diagnosis. And her mother felt it should be just their core group here to mourn her husband's passing. He's in a better place, but they're left here … already missing him in a way that can be physically felt by all those gathered here today.

I watched Mabyn walk in holding on tightly to her mother, Tank behind them with a hand on each of their shoulders. I knew immediately that Mabyn hadn't been exaggerating about how their lives have been hollowed out. As I studied her mother's face to gauge how worried we need to be, the devastation in her eyes hit me hard. A fear took hold of my body before I had a chance to brace for it. My blood turned to ice and a fist squeezed my heart tighter than a vise could.

Having a past that doesn't need to be kept hidden away, Mabyn has shared many stories about her life and family, one being how her parents met. It was a twist on the classic boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy decides on day one that he's going to marry said girl. It would place high on a romance rating, but it's still a fairly common story plot.

Meeting my wife had been anything but ordinary, both the situation that brought us together and the reaction I had to her, which was oddly grounding but also more powerful than anything I'd felt before her. Watching Mabyn's mother try to deal with having to bury the love of her life terrified me, because now I know that if I ever have to say goodbye to Stephanie, there won't be anything left of me for our girls.