It might have taken a few years, but Marin had finally worn Evan down far enough that he trusted her to drive him in and out of Rhy'Din in her sturdy four-wheel drive. And this was just as well, because it was highly unlikely that the orphanage would have allowed them to finally officially adopt the newest member of their family if their only means of transportation had been horseback. As it was, their new baby boy was nestled into his car seat on the backseat as Marin drove up the main road toward the gate to the Brambles' sprawling acreage, dozing quietly almost in preparation for coming home for the very first time.

Though Evan was quietly nearing his 40th birthday, Marin seemed confident the man still had enough life left in him to handle a third child - and a little one, at that. They'd been debating the idea of adoption for a few years now and had finally decided that it was either now or never. While Evan was thrilled to be a father again, the looming 40th birthday made him a little nervous about the prospect.

"You sure we're doing the right thing?" he asked his ever-patient wife for about the umpteenth time. "I ain't gettin' no younger, yanno."

Marin glanced over at him with a faint smile. "I seem to recall this being your idea," she pointed out. "We wouldn't be bringing him home today if the professionals didn't think we could give him everything he needs. Stop thinking life ends at forty - you'd be surprised by how many people become parents for the first time in their forties."

Evan snorted in amusement. "Yanno how old I'll be when he turns twenty?" he asked, though it wasn't too hard to do the math. He couldn't deny that it had been his idea, though he almost wished they'd decided sooner. Still, better late than never, he supposed. And Rhy'Din was not Texas of the 1800s. He'd noticed people tended to age slowly and live to a ripe old age here.

She rolled her eyes, smiling as she turned the wheel to take them onto Brambles' property. "You just need to let go of worrying so much about things you can't control," she reminded her husband. "And I'm pretty sure Maggie and Caleb don't care how old you are; you're their father."

"Reckon I should learn how to drive this thing," he grumbled, more to himself than to her. More often than not, Evan appeared to be a little grumpy, when he really wasn't. It was just his nature to speak his own mind. He smiled at the mention of their children. "Maggie's gonna be over the moon," he said, knowing how much another sibling meant to their oldest. Maggie wasn't Marin's daughter by birth, but she'd raised and loved her like her own.

"She begged to come along to pick him up today," Marin said with a low laugh. "This little man is going to be the most spoiled little brother in the history of little brothers." Caleb was just as excited as Maggie about the new addition to the family, after all.

Evan chuckled, as he glanced behind them at the "little man" contentedly sleeping in the back seat. "Not to mention the most spoiled son," he told her with a grin. Despite his sometimes cantankerous moods, there was no denying he adored his children. "He reminds me a li'l of Cal when he was a young'un," he added thoughtfully.

She chuckled along with him, careful not to hit the worst of the potholes they were going to have to do something about once the snow had thawed. "What, angelic when he's asleep, and a screaming nightmare when he's awake?"

Evan smirked, hoping for their own sanity that that wasn't the case. "I meant the way he looks," he clarified. The little boy had blond hair and blue eyes, just like his older brother, even though they weren't related by blood.

"I think that's the best we could have hoped for," Marin admitted, carefully drawing the car up to the space right in front of the farmhouse. "They're all going to look alike."

"He's a fine looking boy," Evan said, once again more to himself than to her, a soft smile on his face. It was probably as close as the man was going to get to admitting how enamored he was of their new son.

"He's our boy," she agreed quietly, twisting in her seat to look over at the sleeping infant. "Seems a shame to disturb him. But he can't spend his whole life in the car."

And it wasn't going to be long before Caleb and Maggie came rushing out of the house to meet the newest member of the family. "I'll take him," Evan volunteered, confident he could untangle the little boy from the baby seat without waking him - if he could figure the dang thing out.

Marin's smile was just a little on the smug side; she knew her husband well enough to provide him with the subtle prods he needed from time to time. "I'll get the bag," she volunteered, moving to open her door and jump out onto the packed snow.

He caught a glimpse of that smug smile, though he didn't admit it, letting her think she was getting away with something. He managed to figure out how to get out of the vehicle and into the back seat. It took a little longer than necessary for him to sort out how to get the little guy out of the car seat, but he eventually managed it without cussing, carefully easing the boy out and onto his shoulder. For such a large, gruff-looking man, he had a surprisingly gentle touch as he stroked the little boy's back and cooed to him quietly.

As they approached the porch, the door banged open, and Cal came running out, flushed with eagerness to see the brother they had all been a part of deciding to adopt. Maggie was a second behind him, getting her hand over his mouth before he could yell out his welcome and wake the baby up.

"A welcoming committee, hmm?" Marin teased them both. "Mind if we all come in first?"

"Easy, Cal," Evan warned his eldest son quietly, cradling the youngest member of the family protectively in his arms. "He's asleep," he explained simply, though he might not be for long considering all the people who'd be wanting to welcome him.

"We made lunch," Maggie offered, pulling her younger brother backwards into the house to let their parents in. "Well, Jodie made lunch, but we helped."

"It smells wonderful," Marin complimented her, letting Evan get inside first so the baby could acclimatize faster.

"Smells delicious," Evan echoed Marin's praise, his stomach grumbling loudly to remind him he hadn't eaten since breakfast a few hours ago.

"Can I see him, Papa?" Caleb whispered excitedly, trying very hard not to be too loud. This was even more exciting than when their father had given them pet mice, a few years ago.

Evan smirked at the good-natured teasing between his children. "I s'pect not, Caleb," he said, choosing to call his son by the full version of his name on purpose. "Can you please hand me a hunk of bread ....Margaret"" he asked, that smirk still on his face.

"Why, certainly, Father," Maggie responded, passing over a hunk of the bread onto Evan's side plate. "Would you like me to feed you, too?" She subsided from her sarcasm at a warning glance from Marin.

"Only if you'd like to sleep in the barn tonight," Evan replied with a sweet smile back at his daughter. It was obvious they were only teasing, as most families who were comfortable with each other did from time to time.

"Don't be silly, Papa. S'too cold to sleep in'na barn," Caleb pointed out helpfully, with a mouthful of bread.

"You're right, Cal," Maggie agreed. "If he kicks me out for being cheeky, guess I'll just have to go and ask Ms Mara if I can sleep with Rob tonight."

Marin, who had only just started to swallow, abruptly choked on her mouthful, groping for her water as she spluttered with laughter.

Evan's eyes narrowed as his eldest tread on dangerous ground. He was well aware that Maggie's feelings for Rob had grown deeper than mere friendship - all one had to do was see them together to glean that.

"You are too old now for sleepovers with Rob," he pointed out. "But there's plenty of room in the barn for both you and Cal," he added, trying to smooth over the mild scolding with a little teasing.

Maggie grinned, knowing she was pushing her luck, and winked across the table at Cal, who was probably wondering why he'd been included in the threat to kick Maggie out for being cheeky.

Marin cleared her throat finally, rolling her eyes at all of them. "No one is sleeping in the barn," she said firmly, her eyes flickering to little Jack on Evan's lap as the baby boy started to stir.

Cal's eyes widened and he was about to protest, when his mother stepped in. Though he had no reason to fear his father, he visibly relaxed, relieved he'd be allowed to spend the night in his own warm bed. Summer was the time for sleeping out of doors, not the dead of winter.

Evan bit the inside of his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the children's reaction to his threat, though he was secretly worried about Maggie and Rob's so-called friendship. If the two became any closer, they'd have to get married, and he thought Maggie was still too young for that.

"Well, it seems your little brother is gonna be wanting lunch, too," he remarked, having only eaten half of his own lunch, thus far.

"Can I feed him, Papa?" Maggie asked, her cheekiness gone in a sudden rush of hopeful enthusiasm.

Marin left that one to Evan, rising from her seat to grab a small pot of chunky mush that was mainly sweet potato and pork from the fridge to warm it in the microwave as the infant woke up. Jack looked around blearily, rubbing his eyes as he took in his surroundings with a solemn expression.

Evan might have glanced to Marin for help in answering, but she had already turned away to get the little one's lunch. "Have you finished your soup?" he asked, as he shifted his hold on the small boy on his lap.

Shoveling the last spoonful into her mouth, Maggie nodded, setting her bowl to one side. "Now I have," she promised, for once the first person at the table to have inhaled her food before anyone else.

On Evan's lap, Jack was studying the faces around him, his own little face lighting up in a smile as he recognized them one by one.

Cal grinned a greeting at the little boy. "Jack, you're gonna live with us now and be part of our family!" he told the toddler, as if he'd understand what he was saying. "We're brothers now, ain't we, Papa?" he added, as he reached over to give the toddler's little hand a friendly shake.

"Yep," Evan confirmed. "Maggie, can you help me with the high chair?"

As Maggie got up to fetch the high chair and make it ready for use, Jack clamped his little fingers around Cal's hand and giggled, shaking it up and down.

Marin chuckled as she stirred the now warmed mush, pausing to put together a sippy cup for the baby as well. "Best big brother ever," she complimented her older son fondly.

Cal beamed proudly at his mother's praise. He'd been happy being the youngest, if a little bit lonely, and was eager to become a big brother himself.

"Why don't you grab his sippy cup, Cal?" Evan asked, as he moved to his feet and stepped over to the high chair to ease the toddler inside.

"Here, you can put his bib on him, too," Marin added, offering Cal the soft cloth designed to protect Jack's clothing from the inevitable mess about to happen.

"Okay, Mama," Cal replied agreeably, setting the sippy cup down on the table and taking up the cloth designed to act as a bib. "You're gonna like it here, Jack," Cal told the boy he already thought of as his younger brother. "We gots goats and chickens and sheep and cows and pigs and even some horses. I like the horses best, but they're too big for me to ride by myself. Papa said if I'm good, he might get me a pony come spring. Maybe when you get bigger, you can have a pony, too!" Cal rambled.

Jack obviously didn't understand a word of this, but was happy to be chatted to as he was set in his high chair and made ready for his own lunch, gabbling randomly along with Cal through a big smile. There was the suggestion of words in there somewhere, but he was only ten months old at this point. He could be excused being a little behind on his development.

Now that the little one was settled in his chair, Evan gave Maggie a nod and stepped out of the way to reclaim his seat and his lunch. He couldn't help but smile at Cal's chatter, and Maggie's eagerness to help. He had a lot to be thankful for these days, and it was all because of Marin. He might have drawn her onto his lap, but with the children around, he could only smile and wink at her, before turning his attention to his soup, before it got cold.

"In a couple of days, maybe," Marin said thoughtfully. "We need him to start looking to us when he needs reassurance, rather than anyone else, before we start taking him out to places where he might need it."

"It's gonna be you he counts on most," Evan pointed out, as was to be expected, given the fact that she was the toddler's mother now. Though it was winter, Evan still had work to do maintaining the farm and keeping it running.

"It'll be all of us," she told him. "The main problem will be stopping Jodie from trying to parent him."

She chuckled gently, but it was a genuine worry. Despite going through all the instructions about getting a child settled into their family, Jodie St.Clair was still going to have to work hard to stop herself from mothering Jack for a good long while.

"Jodie is the closest thing he's gonna come to a grandma. She's family," Evan pointed out. So long as Jodie didn't decide to adopt him right from under their noses.

"I know, darling, but he needs to associate things like that with us first," Marin pointed out. "I'm not going to cut her out - gods know, she's the closest I have to a gramma myself - but this is all very new to him."

"I reckon it'll all work out," Evan remarked, confident of that fact. It had all worked out so far, and he had no reason to think it wouldn't going forward.

"Hey, Pa?" Maggie interrupted, looking hopeful once again as Cal wiped his little brother's face clean. "Can we take Jack out to see the animals" We'll wrap him up warm, promise."

"Um ..." Evan muttered uncertainly, looking to Marin for an answer. "What d'you reckon?" he asked, unsure how to answer that. He didn't think much harm could come from it, but he wasn't too sure she'd agree.

"So long as you're not out too long, it should be okay," Marin said thoughtfully. "It'll be warm in the barn, at least." She smiled faintly, meeting Evan's gaze. It wouldn't do any harm.

"You keep a good hold on him, you hear?" Evan warned, trusting Maggie and Cal, but knowing accidents sometimes happened. It wouldn't be long before little Jack was chasing after his siblings, but he had to learn how to walk first.

"We will, Pa," Maggie promised, flashing a grin at Cal. "Let's find his snowsuit," she suggested to her brother, carefully releasing Jack from his high chair and lifting him up.

Cal nodded in enthusiastic agreement and hurried off to help his sister find their little brother's snowsuit.

"It's in the bag behind the couch !" Evan called after them, as the pair rushed off, hoping they'd heard him before they tore the house apart in their search.

Marin rose, gathering together the bowls and plates with a smile. "It's nice to have a baby in the house again," she admitted, half an ear on the giggles and squeals as the new baby of the family was wrestled into his snow suit for an outing to the barn.

"So, why'd you resist for so long?" Evan asked, moving to his feet to help her clean up from lunch. It seemed Jodie and Bill had gone out for the day, leaving them alone to get little Jack settled in with his new family.

"I guess I wanted Cal to be old enough to make the decision with us?" she said, though she didn't sound entirely certain. "And it did take a lot of nerve to approach the orphanage in the first place, you have to admit that."

"Maybe we were just waiting for Jack," Evan suggested, though that meant it had been more a matter of Fate than of choice. He gathered up what was left of the dishes and brought them over to the sink. "I'd like to think he was meant for us ....Or us for him, wouldn't you?" he queried. It was sad that the boy had lost his birth parents, but Evan was confident they would give him a happy home.

"That's a nice way of looking at it," she agreed, smiling at that thought. She glanced toward the door as Maggie came back into view, wrapped in her own coat and hat, with Jack on her hip, enveloped in his warm snow suit.

"We're gonna go out now," the teen told them, keenly aware that she had to let her parents know where they were going. "We won't be long."

"Don't go too far," Evan warned, though his daughter had already assured them that they were only taking Jack out to the barn to let him meet the animals.

"We won't!" Cal agreed, practically hopping up and down on his feet with excitement again as he rushed to get the door for his sister.

Marin chuckled as the little group left the house, already elbow deep in hot water to wash their crockery. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen Call this excited about anything before."

Evan grunted in reply, as he picked up a towel to help dry the dishes. "He's been asking for a puppy," he said of their son, wondering which Cal would rather have - a little brother or a puppy.

"Mmm, the farm cats just aren't enough for him," Marin laughed, handing him dishes as they came out clean. "Let's see how we go with the baby first, though. And the inevitable pony in the spring."

"Neither were the mice," Evan remarked with a grin. That little experiment had turned into something of a nightmare. Who knew that mice reproduced so quickly"

She snorted with laughter, rolling her eyes at him. "The mice were a learning curve, admittedly. But we survived it!" She grinned back at him, pulling the plug out of the sink as the last clean dish was handed over.

He took the dish from her, wiping it dry before returning it to the cupboard where it belonged. "Every little boy should have a dog, Marin," Evan told her. "Don't have to be a puppy."

"Are you suggesting that we get one dog each for the boys?" she asked innocently. "What do we get for Maggie, in that case?"

Evan smirked at her questions. "Jack don't know the difference yet, and anyway, he ain't old enough to take care of a dog. It would teach Cal some responsibiity," he argued, leaving the question about Maggie unanswered for the moment.

"Right, I remember," he said, though he still looked a tad confused, probably because he wasn't too sure what either of those jobs entailed and had been too embarrassed to ask.

Of course, Marin - who had been a professional musician for a few years - knew exactly what both of them meant, but she didn't want to insult her husband by explaining unless he asked her to. So that was a bit of an awkward silence for a moment. "Anyway, both of those require her studying and learning in college for at least a couple of years."

"I do have faith in her, Marin. I just don't want nothin' to ruin her plans," he said. Though he didn't say it outright, they both knew what he was really worried about was his daughter getting pregnant before she was ready to be. And yet, this wasn't the 1800s anymore, and he was aware it was possible to take precautions, just as he and Marin were doing.

"Do you want me to talk to her about being careful?" she asked him head on. "I was going to wait another few months, but if it's worrying you this much, maybe I should do the talk sooner."

"I dunno," he replied, frowning again. Just because he was worried about something didn't mean it was going to happen, and he did have faith in his daughter to make the right decisions.

Marin eyed him for a moment before smiling again. "You do realise your name doesn't come into that conversation, right?" she pointed out affectionately. "It's a girl talk thing, and the kind of thing a mom should be talking to her daughters about around this age anyway."

"Oh?" he asked, brows arching upwards in surprise. "Course I knew that," he quickly added with a shrug of his shoulders as if it went without saying, though he had obviously not thought of that before.

Marin couldn't help grinning at this. "Darling ....you do know your daughter has had her monthly for over a year now, right?" she said teasingly. She'd been very discreet with those conversations, but surely Evan had noticed the additional paraphernalia in the bathrooms"

"Ahem, um ..." Evan cleared his throat, clearing not feeling comfortable with the way this conversation was going. Men in his day didn't talk about such things - not with their wives and certainly not with their daughters.

"Aww ..." His embarrassment emboldened his wife to reach up and gently pat his cheeks between her hands. "This isn't Texas, or the 1800s, you know," she teased, turning his words back on him purely to watch him squirm.

"Thanks for the reminder," he said sarcastically, scowling at her while she patted his cheeks. "Anyway, that's talk for mothers and daughters." At least, he hadn't said "womenfolk".

She laughed, lowering her hands once again. "So let me handle Maggie and her romantic leanings, okay?" she suggested. "It'll be better coming from me than from you."

"I tell you lately how much I love you?" he asked, touching his forehead to hers, a soft smile on his lips. Not only had she allayed him of his worries, but she'd volunteered to talk to Maggie. He hesitated a moment, unsure if he wanted to say what he was thinking or if she was ready to hear it, but maybe it would be a good thing. "Ellie'd be glad you're takin' such good care of Maggie," he told her, hoping she didn't take what he was saying the wrong way. "You're good for her, Marin. You're good for all of us."

Her smile softened as he leaned down to her, proud to hear that he thought his first wife would be pleased with the way her daughter was being raised. "We're family, darling," she said gently. "I'll mother Maggie as long as she'll let me, just like I will with all our children."

"She needs a mother," Evan said, repeating something he'd told Marin years ago. "She needs you," he added, a soft smile on his face as he leaned in to touch a kiss to her lips.

"She's got me," she murmured, answering his kiss with her own tender response. "You've all got me." A raucous cackle from the porch announced the return of the children, making her laugh quietly. "Sounds like Jack had fun."

"An' we plan on keepin' you," he said, one arm around her waist, a grin on his face, even as he turned to the sound of children's laughter. It was a sound he'd thought he'd never hear again. How did the saying go' It was like music to his ears. Though he might not be the kind to shed happy tears, there was no denying his heart was full of a father's love and pride.

With the chatter of Cal and Maggie coming back inside mingled with their new brother's giggles, Marin happily cuddled under Evan's arm, her smiling eyes on the doorway into the kitchen. Cal's head came into view first, bent forward so his face was completely out of view, drawing the eye down to Jack who, clinging to his brother's hands, was taking his first steps with a wild grin of absolute delight.

"Jack!" Evan exclaimed, obviously surprised to see the little boy on his feet and walking with the help of his big brother. "He's walking!" he declared as if it was nothing short of a miracle.

"Well done!" Marin declared, delighted to see the infant toddling along, albeit with a lot of help from Caleb.

Behind the boys, Maggie leaned in the doorway, grinning proudly. "We figured we'd give him a chance to try it out," she explained.

"I don't reckon he's ready to do it on his own yet," Evan put it. That much seemed obvious, but he was proud of his boy just the same. His boy - his son. That's what Jack was now, and it hit him right in the gut to realize it. A proud smile found its way to his face for all his children. "He's gonna be chasing after you both before too long."

"We're going to have to get you some proper shoes," Marin agreed, bending to sweep up the baby boy and kiss his cheek, settling him on her hip to hug Caleb with the other arm. "And how did your little tour of the barn go?"

Caleb grinned with pride, not only because of his parents' praise but because he was proud to have helped his little brother take his first steps. "He laughed at the pigs!" he told his mother, leaning into her embrace.

"Well, they're funny little oinkers," Marin agreed cheerfully, unsurprised when Jack's head dropped onto her shoulder. It was cold outside, and walking did take a lot out of a little person.

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Jack Samuel Lassiter