"Why on earth would you bite someone?" Michaela, slightly exasperated and shaking her head, questioned Colleen. She paced slowly as Colleen sat in one of the brown leather chairs which was inside of the headmaster's office at school. That was a question that Michaela never imagined that she would ask her daughter. In her mind, she was raising a future professional woman, hopefully a young doctor, who also gracefully danced ballet. She wasn't raising an ankle-biting wild animal.

"And you!" Sully added in, scolding Zachary. The young boy sat across from him in a chair that was identical to the one that Colleen was sitting in. The office had four identical brown leather chairs. Sully was sitting in one that was across from the two children. Michaela paced next to him, leaving her purse in her chair that was next to his, "Why would you get in a fight with a fourth grader? You're in the sixth grade, Son. He's younger, smaller, and weaker than you are."

Other than the four chairs, there was also a small conference table on the far side of the office where Jared McAllister and his father were sitting. The last major piece of furniture was a large oak desk, and the headmaster was sitting behind it.

"Dad!" Zachary whined, "Why don't you ask him why he would pick on a first grader?" Gesturing to Jared McAllister across the room, "He's the one who started this anyway! He even said he started it!"

"I don't care who started it!" Sully lectured as he pointed at his son, "You shoulda walked away."

"And let him pick on her?" The boy questioned his father, now gesturing to Colleen.

"No…" Sully sighed and looked down. This was a tough one. He didn't think it was right for Zachary to fight with someone two years younger than he was, but he was also proud of him for defending Colleen.

"You haven't answered me, Colleen," Michaela reminded her little girl. She could see Matthew doing something like this, especially if he'd been with Zachary, but Colleen?

"He pushed Zachary down on the ground," Colleen explained, not understanding what she had done wrong. She was just looking after Zachary the way he looked after her. She had been picked-on before at Colorado Springs Elementary, but she never had anyone stand-up for her the way that Zachary had that day. She believed that Matthew would have stood-up for her too, but he wasn't around when the kids were teasing her. "I didn't want Jared to hurt Zachary, so I bit him."

"Yeah, she got him good too. Right in the back of the leg!" Zachary said with a laugh, Colleen joined in and started laughing too. Both children seemed to reminisce fondly over what had just occurred on the playground.

Michaela scoffed aloud, embarrassed by the children's carefree attitude about what had gone on. Sully hid his feelings behind tight lips and an emotionless look in his eyes, but unlike his girlfriend, he found the children's attitudes to be endearing. Colleen and Zachary were truly forming a sibling-like bond and that made Sully very happy.

"Dr. Wooden," Michaela said seriously to the school headmaster, "I'm very sorry about this."

"What kind of consequences are we lookin' at?" Sully inquired, hoping they wouldn't throw the kids out of school, but figured that they probably would give them some sort of suspension.

"Fighting is forbidden on campus, no matter who started it," Dr. Wooden explained to all of the parents in the room, "They will each have a two-day suspension, starting today."

Michaela let out a sigh and finally took her seat next to Sully.

"Understood," Sully answered, beginning to plan out in his head what Zachary's next two days were going to look like.

"What are you two so upset about?" Peter McAllister, Jared's father, questioned, getting everyone's attention, "At least your kids can hold their heads high, my kid couldn't even take a six-year-old girl!" The father crossed his arms, almost as if he was pouting.

Sully suppressed a laugh, but Michaela shot the man a dirty look and then answered him, "Getting into a fight and being suspended isn't something that I want my child to be proud of. Nevertheless, I would be much obliged if you would have a talk with your son at home. The security cameras and all three of the children agree that he started this conflict, and I would appreciate it if he wouldn't try to 'take' my daughter again."

"Ma'am, I assure you that he will never try anything like that again," Jared's father promised, "I honestly don't know what he was thinkin'."

Michaela was satisfied with Mr. McAllister's answer until she saw him look down at his son and heard him say, "Especially if ya can't get the job done. I just can't believe this. Startin' a fight with a first-grade little girl and can't finish it. What am I gonna do with you?"


Snowbird finished testing Mia for the day and then allowed the girl to go outside to play so she could score her test, "As I expected," Snowbird said to herself when she read the results of the test. Mia certainly didn't have a language disability. Snowbird also suspected that her IQ testing and adaptive behavior scales would be within normal limits as well. The problem that Snowbird saw was when the testing came back normal, and she truly believed it would, what would they do next? Mia needed intensive one-on-one instruction to catch up. The only way she would get that is if she was homeschooled.

Sully worked full-time, and even if he didn't, he wouldn't know where to start. She only worked part-time, but her schedule would still get in the way of homeschooling a child.

"Grey Eyes!" Snowbird said aloud and then pulled out her cell phone to send her sister-in-law a text message.

After the message was sent, Snowbird decided that it was time to check on Mia.

She walked outside and traveled to the swing set area that Sully had set up. Instead of finding Mia playing on the swings or in the little sandbox, she found Mia sitting on the edge of the slide. Wolf was sitting next to her, but on the ground, and her cat was in her lap.

"Mia?" Snowbird called aloud, "Oh dear." When Mia turned around and looked at her, it was clear that she had been crying. Her eyes were red and a little puffy, and so was the end of her nose.

Snowbird got closer and took a seat in the rubber belt swing that was closest to the slide.

"What are you thinking about?" Snowbird asked softly.

"Nothing," the little girl sniffled out.

"Nothing?" the older woman replied, "Those eyes are telling me that you're thinking about something." Snowbird remembered when Sully first came to live with them. She always had to work hard to get things out of him. However, when Sully was upset, he got very quiet, and Mia's emotions were already showing through. Snowbird didn't think she would have to work that hard to get Mia to talk. Well, she may have to work a little bit, but if she could get Sully to talk, she could get anyone to talk, "I think you'd feel a lot better if you'd tell me what it is."

Mia didn't respond, she turned away and began petting her cat.

"You have to trust someone," Snowbird coached, "and I'm here to listen and to help."

"I miss last year," Mia cried.

"Last year?" Snowbird was expecting a lot of things, but not that.

"Last year, when I was in kindergarten the first time," she explained, "I had a lot of friends and a boyfriend."

"A boyfriend?" Snowbird questioned, feigning shock, "You're too little to have a boyfriend."

"I'm not too little," the little girl complained, as if she'd been insulted. She turned to look at Snowbird, her eyes brightened up and her voice became clear, "I had a boyfriend for a whole two weeks."

"Oh really? A long-term relationship, was it?" Snowbird couldn't help but smile, especially when Mia nodded as if she was bragging about a great accomplishment, "What made him your boyfriend? I mean how was your relationship with him different from the relationships that you had with any of your other friends?"

"We sat next to each other at lunch every day," Mia explained.

When that was the end of her explanation, Snowbird inquired, "That's it?"

"It's a big deal!" Mia insisted, trying to convey the importance of sitting next to her boyfriend at lunch.

"Didn't you sit next to all your friends at lunch?" she questioned.

"Yes, but he was my only boyfriend," Mia explained.

"I see the difference," Snowbird said. She didn't quite see the difference, but thought it best to humor the child, "What happened after two weeks?" She asked curiously, and she truly couldn't wait to hear Mia's explanation.

"Susie Sparks sat next to him at lunch, and he let her!" Mia explained, "I broke-up with him before lunch was even over!"

"Good for you!" the older woman cheered, "You don't have to take that kind of disrespect." Truthfully, Snowbird was glad that the girl knew how to stand-up for herself.

"That's what my mommy said," Mia informed her, "She said that Susie Sparks is a little slut-in-training too."

Snowbird's eyes widened, "Slut isn't a nice word. Let's not use that word," She couldn't imagine anyone calling a five-year-old a slut, but it was clear that Mia's mom was one-of-a-kind.

"I won't say it again," Mia promised, she was starting to like Snowbird and didn't want to upset her.

"Good," she nodded, "So, tell me, why were you so upset just a moment ago?" Snowbird asked, getting back on track, "What was so important about last year?"

Feeling relaxed, she decided to open up to Snowbird, "Last year I had lots of friends," Mia explained the best way she knew how, "But this year, all my friends went to first grade, and I got stuck back in kindergarten. Then my mommy went away, and then Nana went away."

Snowbird expected Mia to cry again, but she didn't. Instead, it was like someone turned out the lights behind her eyes. Snowbird didn't like that one bit, "You must not despair, Mia."

"I don't know what that means," the child confessed.

"Do you know what having hope means?" Snowbird inquired.

Mia nodded at Snowbird. She had certainly heard the word hope before, so she thought she at least, sort of, knew what it meant.

Accepting the nod as a yes, Snowbird continued, "To despair is to lose all hope. To despair is the same as turning your back on God."

"My mommy told me that God isn't real," Mia said openly, "But everyone at church says he is real. I don't know who to believe."

"That is why you're falling into despair," Snowbird mumbled aloud, "But, not to worry," she told Mia clearly, but in her mind, she was thinking that not only did this child need homeschool, but she also needed religious training, and she would make sure she got it.


Michaela opted to ride with Sully to the school, in his truck. Now, Sully was driving everyone back to the clinic so Michaela could pick up her vehicle, and then they were returning to their own homes. Michaela sat in the front passenger seat and was staring out the window as she contemplated what Colleen's consequence was going to be. She did believe her daughter's heart was in the right place, when she bit that boy, but she didn't want her to think that that kind of behavior was okay. Colleen and Zachary were sitting in the backseat of the truck with Hanna's empty car seat in between them. Colleen was, of course, sitting in Mia's booster seat.

The truck was dead silent. Sully had more experience dealing with his son's behaviors than Michaela had dealing with her daughter's. For the most part, Michaela's kids hadn't been in trouble the way that Zachary had, and Sully knew it was difficult for Michaela. He thought it would be good to get her talking, and intended to break the silence, but he didn't have to. It was suddenly broken with a ring of Michaela's cell phone.

As his girlfriend was retrieving her phone from her purse, Sully asked, "Who is it?"

A smile formed on Michaela's face when she saw who was calling her, "It's my sister. Hello?"

"Michaela!" Rebecca cheered happily into the phone. Skipping all pleasantries, Michaela's older sister gleefully shouted into the phone, "GUESS WHAT!"

Michaela flinched slightly at the loud noise and then asked, "What?"

"Your nephew is getting MARRIED!" Rebecca sang.

"Which one?" Michaela joked; she could already guess which one was getting married.

"Which one do you think?" Rebecca laughed and joked back, "Gardner proposed to Cornelia over the weekend."

"That's wonderful news!" Michaela cheered, joining in her sister's merriment. She always figured that her nephew Gardner was going to be the first of her mother's grandchildren to get married. Momentarily forgetting that Colleen was in trouble, Michaela turned in her seat and jovially told her daughter, "Colleen, your cousin Gardner is getting married!"

"He is?" Colleen questioned happily, sitting up straight. Her face immediately lit up.

"He is!" Michaela confirmed with a big smile and turned back to face forward in her seat, "Have they set a date or planned anything out?"

"Their plan is to set a date this weekend when they book the church," Rebecca reported to her younger sister, "I'm glad that you have Colleen close by because that reminds me... Cornelia would like to have multiple flower girls and ring bearers in the wedding, and she wants Matthew, Colleen, and Brian to be part of it."

"Yes, certainly!" Michaela agreed immediately, but then paused, "But...aren't my boys the wrong ages?" she asked, thinking that Matthew was a little old to be a ring bearer and Brian was a little young.

"The official ring bearer will be Jamie, as the best man," Rebecca explained, "They didn't want to give the responsibility of holding the rings to any of the children. I suppose Brian is a little young, but Cornelia didn't want to leave him out. As for Matthew, well, she wants Whitney, Camden and Dylan to be in the wedding too. She thinks that Mandy should be a bridesmaid."

Michaela nodded her head silently when she heard the names of her nieces and nephews. Whitney and Camden were Maureen's children. Whitney was eleven just like Matthew, and Camden was nine. Dylan and Mandy were Claudette's children. Dylan was also eleven like Matthew, his sister Mandy was fifteen. "I hope she asked Eliza to be a bridesmaid as well," she responded, having not heard her eldest niece's name yet.

"Yes, of course," Her sister replied with a small giggle, "Cornelia would not leave out her sister-in-law to be. Listen Michaela, we're about to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate, so I will have to talk to you later."

"Yes, give them a kiss from me," Michaela told her older sister, "Give them my congratulations."

"I will!" Rebecca replied, "Look out for your invitation in the mail!"

"I will," she responded, "Goodbye, Rebecca, I love you."

"I love you too," the happy mother of the groom-to-be sang, "Goodbye!"

Michaela clicked end on her phone and smiled down at it.

"Someone's gettin' married?" Sully questioned, having heard Michaela's side of the conversation.

"My nephew, Gardner. He's 23," she explained, "He's been with the same girlfriend since high school."

"That's good news," Sully responded, pleased to see Michaela happy.

"It certainly is!" she sang. The news of her nephew's upcoming nuptials put her in a very good mood. She knew that Gardner and Cornelia were a great couple, and she was so happy that they were tying the knot. Michaela turned around in her seat and said, "Colleen, you get to be a flower girl! Just like you were for Miriam's wedding."

Colleen had very few memories of her mother's friend, Miriam Tilson. She was only four when Miriam got married, and after that the woman moved away with her husband. She did remember the pictures her mother had taken of her in her flower girl dress. It was light blue, and Colleen thought she looked just like Cinderella, "Do I get another Cinderella dress? "

"I don't know what the colors will be," Michaela replied, "But it will be beautiful and so will you!" She turned around in her seat again and smiled gleefully.

Sully looked in the rearview mirror and watched Colleen smile to herself. The little girl was as excited as her mother. Sully didn't have a reason to be unhappy with the news, why would he care either way if Michaela's nephew was getting married, but something inside him stung.

"So…" Sully began, "Do they live in Boston?"

"Gardner and Cornelia? Yes, of course," Michaela answered, dreamily wondering if her other sisters and her mother knew about the engagement. She would wait for her mother to call her to give her the news, and then ask if everyone else knew. It was Rebecca's news to share, not hers, and she didn't want to accidentally tell the other members of the family before Rebecca could tell them.

Sully felt his chest getting heavy. Michaela was going to return to Boston. She and the children were leaving…going thousands of miles away. He needed to get a hold of himself, or he was going to start hyperventilating. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. They weren't moving away. They were attending a wedding, not moving. This shouldn't bother him.

BUMP! BEEP! BEEP!

Sully had run over a reflector in the middle of the road and scared a driver in the lane next to him, causing the driver to honk his horn.

"Sorry," he said to the passengers in his truck as he got his head together and gripped the steering wheel, holding it straight.

Michaela and the children jumped slightly when Sully almost caused an accident, but the small adrenalin rush was soon over when Zachary asked, "Where's Boston?"

"It's the capital of Massachusetts and on the East Coast, like the Atlantic Ocean," Colleen answered, showing off her school smarts.

Michaela let out a small giggle and turned in her seat to face Zachary, "It's where we're from. It's about 2,000 miles away."

"I think it's a really famous place. We're learnin' about the Boston Tea Party in school," Zachary announced.

"Yes, that happened there." Michaela confirmed smiling widely. The Boston Tea Party is what many people, young and old, who had never been to Boston thought about first if a conversation about Boston came up. That was likely due to the fact that most children learned about it in school. "It is one of our oldest and most famous American cities."

"Is it the oldest city in Massachusetts?" asked Zachary. He was getting excited that they were talking about something that he had a recent connection to. Even if the connection was just a history lesson.

"No," Michaela applied, "In Massachusetts, Plymouth is older–"

"Like Plymouth Rock?" the young boy inquired energetically before Michaela could finish.

"Like Plymouth Rock," Michaela confirmed with a smile. She was loving Zachary's excitement.

"We've seen Plymouth Rock before," Colleen announced, "in person."

"It's located in one of the state parks," Michaela explained.

As Michaela was having a conversation about Plymouth Rock with the kids, Sully's mind was racing. He knew that this was just going to be a trip, but he didn't want Michaela to go anywhere without him, even if it was only for a couple of weeks. He couldn't help himself. He didn't want her gone and he didn't want the children gone. What could he do about it? He couldn't exactly tell her that she couldn't go.


A few days had passed, and the kids were back in school. Sully had planned to put Zachary on stable cleaning duty as a consequence for being suspended, but Snowbird said she needed her floors scrubbed and her rugs vacuumed, so Sully put Zachary to work at her house instead. Sully heard from Michaela that she gave Colleen the task of washing the clinic windows as her consequence. The small child was too young to stay home alone, and Dorothy was still in recovery, so Michaela brought her daughter to work with her. Sully assumed that Colleen's consequence didn't last too long. Michaela was overcome with the joy of the news of her nephew's wedding, and she'd been spending much of her time on the phone with her mother and sisters discussing it.

Sully still didn't like the thought of Michaela and the children going away to Boston, but he kept those thoughts at bay by working on a business deal with the Barry Ranch from Montana. That was the ranch that he was renting a portion of his land to. He was currently in talks with George Barry, the owner. Sully was far from making a final decision but was interested in knowing what Mr. Barry was willing to offer him, if he were to sell him his cattle.

Within the previous few days, Snowbird had finished testing Mia and now she was in Sully's office with the results. The mother and son sat at the table that was in there. Snowbird placed a laminated bell curve in front of him and started explaining the results, "The average IQ score is between 85 and 115," Snowbird pointed to the numbers printed under the bell curve to give Sully a visual of what she was talking about, "Mia's IQ is 112, placing her at the high end of the average range. Her receptive language is in the average range, her expressive language is in the high average range, her adaptive behavior scales are in the average range, her processing and memory–"

"What does this all mean, Ma?" Sully interrupted. He didn't care about the details of the results, he just wanted to know how to move forward with Mia's education.

Snowbird nodded and got to the point, "It means there is nothing wrong with her and her low academics can likely be attributed to neglect in the home. We can correct this if we intervene now."

"That's what I wanna do," Sully said, "How do I do that?"

"You're not going to do it, I am," she informed him.

"Ma," Sully complained and rubbed his left temple. Before dismissing her idea, he said, "Tell me how."

"I think the fastest way to get her back on track is to keep her out of school. We'll work with her one-on-one at home for the next few months, then we'll ask the school to test her again," Snowbird explained, "We'll get her ready for the first grade, trust me."

"How are we gonna homeschool her?" Sully questioned, thinking Snowbird had not thought this through, "We both work!"

"I only work part time," his mother countered.

"Who is gonna look after her while you're workin' part time?" Sully demanded to know, "Mia cannot be left to her own devices for four hours a day. She's way too young for that."

"I know that, Sully. That's where your Auntie Grey Eyes comes in," Snowbird said with a nod.

"Grey Eyes," Sully huffed, not impressed, "You hate Grey Eyes! You called her a seductress and a Jezebel."

Snowbird scoffed, "I was just angry when I said those things because she used to flirt with Cloud Dancing all the time. As you know, I handled that a long time ago when I introduced her to his brother," she insisted with a content smile of a job well done, "When she became your Auntie, all the flirting became water under the bridge," When Sully didn't look convinced, she added, "She's a good teacher, she's retired, so that means she isn't working, and she is willing to do it as a favor to me. By the time we are done working with her, Mia will be ready to go to the first grade. She will only be one grade level behind her peers, but not really because she has a late birthday. I do believe this is the best option for her, and since we have the power to do it, we should."

Sully believed and trusted Snowbird, but he had questions, "Are ya sure ya wanna take this on? It's A LOT of work."

"If you are going to take her on, then that means I should treat her like I would treat my grandchildren and I would do this for Hanna and Zac without question," Snowbird vowed.

"I know that, Ma," Sully said. He was very thankful to be blessed with someone who cares for him and the children the way that Snowbird does, "It's just gonna take a lot of your time."

"I have plenty of time," she insisted.

"Even though you have a new boyfriend? What's his name?" Sully asked, attempting to seize an opportunity to learn information.

"Nice try," she stated firmly, shaking her head.

"Why won't you tell me who it is?" he questioned, "Why is it such a big secret?"

"Because I'm not ready for you to know. I want to keep him to myself for now," Snowbird replied, "I'm allowed privacy too."

Sully said nothing, but he scowled and let out a low growl.

"Why don't you worry about your own relationship and leave me to worry about mine?" Snowbird snipped at him.

"I know my girlfriend isn't a serial killer," Sully argued, "I'm not sure that I can say the same about your boyfriend."

"He's not a serial killer," Snowbird shook her head again and laughed, "I think you've been watching too much T.V."

"Speakin' of my relationship," Sully stated, seizing another opportunity, "Can I get ya to babysit the day after Valentine's Day so I can take Michaela out for her birthday?"

"I would be happy to," Snowbird agreed.


To be continued. Please review =)

I was finally able to move the story ahead. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm currently working on the next chapter.

How do you think Sully and Michaela will deal with him not wanting her to go to Boston? Who do you think Snowbird is dating?