The journey back from the mill had been filled with chatter, Brona pointedly teasing Nate to keep his mind off his worries as they traveled back to the Dugan farm. And just as she had promised him, there was no need for him to worry. Eli's horse was in the paddock as they drove up to the barn, and to Brona's delight, she saw an unfamiliar pair of horses turned out beside those she knew. There was only one person who could have left those there.

"See, I told you everything would come right," she nudged Nate. "Even my brother came ..." And then she remembered something, her voice trailing off as her eyes widened. Mahon didn't know who Cody and Eli were. Mahon had come home to find his son in the care of strangers. She was off the wagon bench within a moment, stumbling to keep her footing as she gestured back toward Nate. "Put the sacks away! I'll sort it out!"

Nate was understandably relieved to find his brother's horse had returned, assuming his brother had returned along with it. It was Brona's reaction to her own brother's return that puzzled and worried him though, realizing they were strangers to him - strangers who'd been left alone with the man's son. "The sacks can wait," he replied as he pulled the wagon to a halt and hopped off with her. He knew Eli could be a hothead, and if it came down to a confrontation, it was likely Cody would put himself in the middle of it in hopes of maintaining peace, putting himself at risk.

Offering just one glance over her shoulder as she heard Nate's footsteps at her back, Brona pounded up over the porch and burst in through the main door of the house. She didn't know what she was going to find, but she sincerely hoped it wasn't going to involved an injured brother, friend, or fiance.

Things were pretty quiet for the moment, no sound of altercation or shouting of any kind. It was likely either the calm before or after the storm. The first person she ran into was Eli, who was busy putting an ice pack on his face. He turned as he heard footsteps on the porch, relieved to find Brona had returned with Nate following close behind. "It's about damned time," he grumbled, sounding more grumpy than relieved. "You wanna tell your brother we're not trespassers and we haven't touched a hair on yours or Aedan's heads?"

She pulled up short as she found herself looking at Eli ministering to himself. "What happened?" she demanded, raising her voice to let everyone in the house know that it was her who had come in. "Please tell me the two of you didn't fight each other in front of Aedan."

"Don't blame me ....Your brother threw the first punch," Eli informed her, pulling the ice pack away from his face to show her the shiner Mahon had left him with. He wasn't too sure where Aedan was at the moment. The boy had disappeared as soon as the first punch had been thrown.

"The barn," Nate said, making a quick assessment of the situation. "I'll find him, Brona. Don't worry." He turned on his heel to go search for her nephew.

Relieved that Nate had taken her only real concern so seriously, Brona nodded to him as he left the house, rubbing a hand through her hair. She winced sympathetically, bending to check on the impressive bruise that colored Eli's cheek. "If I'd known he was coming back so soon, I wouldn't have gone out," she apologized quietly. "I've got something we can put on that when the swelling goes down a little." She squeezed his shoulder as she straightened. "Glad you're back safe, anyway."

"You might want to check on your brother. I think I broke his nose," Eli replied, just a little smugly, though Mahon had his own woman to tend to his hurts, both his nose and his pride. "Ran into mutants and had to hole up for the night."

"Serves you both right," was Brona's less than sympathetic response to learning that her brother hadn't come out of the fight in one piece, either. She nodded to Eli. "I thought you might. Okay, I'll go and see what?s happening in there, then."

She patted Eli's shoulder gently and headed for the main room, her eyes immediately going to her big bear of a brother. He was, as Eli had suggested, nursing a broken bleeding nose, and given the rather rough way the woman at his side was mopping him up, Nemone wasn't all that impressed with the outbreak of violence the moment she'd stepped into her new home. Brona moved over to stand by Cody, stroking her hand gently over his back. "Not interrupting anything, am I?"

Cody was sort of standing guard so that Mahon didn't go after his brother again, though from the look of things, he was too busy licking his own wounds to chase after Eli. Cody breathed a sigh of relief as soon as Brona walked into the room. "No," he replied. "I was just explaining the situation to your brother." As if it wasn't bad enough having one hothead in the house, now they had two.

"So who started the fight?" Brona asked outright, leveling a less than impressed look directly at her big brother. "Or maybe I can guess. Someone rode up, walked in, and rather than actually think for a moment, just assumed that strangers had taken over the house. Because obviously I would leave my nephew with people I didn't trust."

Beside Mahon, Nemone found herself smirking at the sarcastic welcome he was getting from his sister. She would have gone to find Aedan herself, but the boy didn't know her.

"How am I supposed to know what the hell went on while I was away?" Mahon snapped back, wincing at the pain in his nose caused just by talking. He wasn't a stranger to pain, but it hurt like hell. "I don't suppose you have any ice," he said, in a sarcastic tone of voice.

"What, you don't think anyone would have told you if I'd moved off the farm or been pushed out?" Brona snapped back at her brother. "Don't you give me that, Mahon. You just scared the crap out of your own son, just because you acted without thinking. You gotta grow up, you're in charge of the farm now."

"Grow up?" Mahon practically growled. "Do you have any idea what we've been through?" he asked, getting angry now, though he wasn't really angry with her. "I come home to find strangers with my son, and my sister nowhere to be found. What am I supposed to think?"

Eli stepped back into the room, taking the ice pack from his face and tossing it to Nemone. "Here, I think he needs this more than I do." Though he didn't say so, Eli was referring to Mahon's temper more than his nose.

Easily the smallest person in the room, Brona didn't give an inch as her brother growled at her. "The whole world is not out to get you," she informed her brother, glaring at him as she stepped around Cody, her hands on her hips. "Believe it or not, these men are our friends. They've been through a hell of a lot, just to settle here and help out with the farm while they're doing it, and if you'd given them a moment to explain, you wouldn't be blubbering at me through a noseful of blood right now!"

Catching the ice pack, Nem's lips twitched as she looked between the brother and sister, glancing over to the two men in the doorway. They didn't seem dangerous, but then, Mahon had simply reacted, and she'd gone along for the ride.

Mahon grunted in response to his sister before replying grudgingly, "I suppose you expect me to apologize now?"

"If you'd have given me a second to explain, none of this would have happened," Eli pointed out. It was almost like watching two bulls with their horns locked.

"You could have answered him when he asked who you were," Cody pointed out, not really wanting to go against his brother, but it seemed to him that both men were at fault. "I'm gonna go check on Aedan. Are you gonna be okay here?" he asked, turning to Brona, his expression softening. Though Mahon might not notice the subtle change, Nemone probably would.

"Hey, I know you," Brona pointed out. "I know him, too. You're both to blame, and neither one of you is going to apologize about it, so just put it to bed and carry on like it never happened. Or I will so spank both of you, right out there on the porch for everyone to see."

Mahon grunted in reply, trusting she'd carry out her threat if he pushed her to it, though he doubted she'd be able to manhandle either himself or the man with the shiner. "So, they're staying here then?" he asked, thinking the house was going to be a little crowded with all of them there.

Like she would have to manhandle them. She had both of them so conditioned to do as they were told when she spoke in a certain tone of voice that they'd be out there bent over like schoolboys if she pointed. "For now, yes," she told her brother with a quiet sigh. "Give it a month, and I think Nate will be moving out. I don't know about Eli. I don't think either of you is gonna be comfortable living in the same house, but I don't want him feeling like he has to get out just because you're back, okay?"

"You're asking me to be nice," he said, reading between the lines of what she was telling him. He knew the two of them had gotten off to a rough start, but he could at least try to be polite to the other man, so long as he was a guest under their roof. "Uther and Han are with Gia in the valley. Things are kind of a mess there," he said, his turn to explain what had happened while he'd been gone. He started with the attack on Nemone by her own mother and finished with Gia taking charge of the valley. He left out the part where they had wanted him to stay and share leadership - all he and Nem had wanted to do was get home to their son.

His little sister listened as he spoke, absorbing what he needed her to know as they sat together, appalled by the state he had found his wife in but relieved to know that Nem had come through it relatively unscathed. "No regrets?" she asked Mahon quietly. "You could have stayed, we could have brought Aedan to you if you'd wanted to. Are you sure you want to be a farmer, Mahon' You have a choice, for the first time."

The gruff man's expression softened, perhaps for the first time since he'd arrived home. "This is my home, Brona, not the valley, and so long as I'm welcome here, this is where I'll stay." Of course, Nemone had a voice in that decision, as well, but she had seemed more than ready to leave the valley behind. All they wanted now was to raise their son in peace.

"Of course you're welcome here," she told him firmly. "And this house is big enough for all of us, for now. Cody and me, we might build something, or fix up the old cottage for us, but we won't be going far. And Nate and Eli ....they're as much family now as we are, no matter where they go. We'll look after each other, all of us."

"So, tell me about this boy of yours while I make a cup of tea," he told her, as he got up from the couch. It had been a long trip and he was craving something wet and hot to slake his thirst and warm his bones. "When's the wedding?" he asked, feeling just a little bit guilty about not having waited for her to tie the knot himself, but he and Nemone had waited long enough.

Pushing herself up to follow him, Brona finally discarded her shawl, glancing out through the window to make sure the boys and Nem were behaving themselves. It was Eli she was most concerned with, to be honest, but she couldn't make him stay. She just hoped he didn't up and disappear, that was all. "We were hoping to do it quietly, before the social that's being planned in town," she admitted to her brother, moving to investigate the larder. Dinner was definitely going to be a strained affair, but she could at least make sure there was good food on the table to ease the difficulties. "I know it must seem kinda sudden, but ....sometimes you just know, you know?"

"What's stopping you?" he asked, scowling a little at the thought of a social. He wasn't exactly a social butterfly, and he didn't have much experience when it came to parties and dances and socials. He hardly remembered his life before he was taken to the valley - it almost seemed like another lifetime to him, like it had been someone else's life, not his.

She paused, her hands full with a dish of pork she'd set aside for his first night back only the day before. "I wanted to wait for you," she told him simply. "You're my brother, you're the only blood kin I have left. It wouldn't have felt right, to have you come home again and my name already be different."

"I didn't wait for you," he confessed solemnly and a little remorsefully. "Nem and I ....We've been waiting a long time, and ....I'm sorry, Brona. We just couldn't wait any longer." Not that it mattered really. They had made their vows to each other years before. For them, it was a minor detail really, a mere legality.

"You've been waiting five years," she reminded him. "I knew you wouldn't come back without a wife, Mahon. It was in your eyes every time you talked about her. So stop apologizing, okay' And budge over, I need counter space."

"I'm making tea, woman. Can't you wait?" he asked, bumping his hip against hers. Was that a smirk on the big man's face" It seemed it was, as he was wincing again at the way the smile made his face hurt. "How's Aeden doing?" he asked, turning serious. He was sorry the boy had seen his outburst earlier, but he'd try to explain later.

She snorted with laughter, hustling him out of her way with her own hip, wince or no wince. "He's been good," she assured her brother. "He missed you, when you went away. Had a few nightmares about you not coming back, but I think he finally decided just to trust me when I promised him that you were. He's been real excited about meeting his mama, too."

He had put the kettle on and was spooning tea leaves into two mugs - one for himself and one presumably for her. He frowned thoughtfully a moment, feeling guilty for his earlier outburst, if only for Aeden's sake. How was he supposed to make the boy trust him when he was witness to such violence" "I missed him, too," he said quietly.

Brona looked at her brother from the corner of her eye, smiling faintly. "Well, you don't have to miss each other anymore," she told him in a quiet tone. "You're home now, and you're a proper family for the first time. He won't hold it against you."

"He might hold my arrival against me," Mahon pointed out, taking up the kettle to pour hot water over the tea leaves. Or more, accurately, the little altercation he and Eli had gotten into upon his arrival. "So, I'm to have a brother-in-law. How soon do you want to make this happen?"

"Tomorrow?" she laughed, her knife at work to peel and cut vegetables and throw them into a pot to stew with the pork. "I'd need to talk to Cody about it. And maybe give it a few days to let things settle down a bit. Too many changes for Aedan all in one go might be a bit much."

"It won't be tomorrow, then," he pointed out, setting a cup of tea near at hand so that she could sip at it whenever she wished. "When is the social?" he asked further, remembering she'd said she'd like to be married before that. He didn't think Aeden would mind so many changes, so long as they were happy ones, but the truth was she knew the boy better than he did.

"Thank you." She smiled at her brother, pumping water into the pot before she turned to hang it over the fire to stew. Now ....what to make for pudding, that was the real question. "Mm' Oh, it's not for a couple of weeks," she told Mahon with a faint smile. "And I happen to know that Nate has a date for it, too. Who knows" Maybe all the boys on the farm will have someone to take dancing for a night."

The straw in the stall behind her rustled a little, and Nemone smiled faintly. She could guess why the little man was still hiding. "Everything is changing, and it's scary, isn't it?" she said, her voice still soft as she spoke to her son, longing for him to come out to her, but not prepared to force him to. "Uther and Han have gone to be with my mother, your grandmother, in the valley where we were born, and you've got to know three more uncles since your papa left to bring me here. They didn't mean to frighten you, Aedan. They both thought they were protecting you. They won't do it again."

Mahon came close enough so that Nem could see him and know he was there, but not close enough for the boy to see him yet. There was a worried frown on his face, and he was feeling a little ashamed of his own behavior, even though Nem was right in that he - and probably Eli - had only been trying to protect the boy.

Sensing movement, Nem raised her eyes to Mahon, almost ashamed of the way her gaze glistened. She'd longed for years to be able to see her little boy, but she had never once considered that he might hide from her. "Papa's here, little man," she said, still speaking to the hidden child. "Come to say sorry for scaring you. You want me to go?"

Mahon frowned, remembering what it had been like the first time he'd been reunited with their son. It had taken Aeden a little while to warm up, and Mahon just hoped his temper hadn't cost him the boy's trust. "Don't go," he told Nemone softly, as he came into view to join her in the barn. He crouched down so that he was at Aeden's level and offered a soft smile. "Hey, Aeden. I'm sorry about what happened back there. It's hard to explain, but I was being an idiot. I promise it won't happen again. Would you like to come out and say hello to your Mama" She won't bite. I promise. She's been waiting a long time to see you."

The straw rustled a little more as Nemone slid her hand into Mahon's, needing his reassurance more than ever right now as a tiny voice spoke up from his hiding place. "You not mad no more?"

"No, son, and I was never mad at you. Your Mama and I love you. It's why we sent you here - to keep you safe - but we're here now, and we want to be a family. Do you think you'd like that?" he asked as gently as he could.

Nemone didn't dare turn her head as she heard the straw rustle once again, trying to swallow the resentment that Aedan would speak to Mahon but not to her. It would take time, she knew. As much as she wanted to hold her little boy and know he trusted her, she couldn't expect it overnight. That little voice spoke again, worried eyes peering at Mahon through the straw. "A whole fambly?" Aedan asked, his voice quavering.

Mahon leaned back on his heels as he crouched low, still towering over the boy, but not by so much now. "A whole family," he replied. "You and me and your mom, and Brona and Cody," he said, not yet mentioning a future sibling, until he had a chance to confirm it with Nemone. Though their first meeting had been a little rocky, he had at least caught Brona's fiance's name.

Aedan emerged from his hiding place, covered in little bits of straw, his eyes red from frightened tears. "An' Eli an' Nate?" he asked hopefully. He'd come to terms with Uther and Han leaving - they'd had weeks to coach him about that, to promise him visits - but he was already attached to the Mullens, and the outburst earlier made him wonder if only Cody would be welcome.

Mahon wasn't too sure about Eli and Nate or what their plans were yet, but he didn't want the boy to think they were unwelcome or that his father had chased them away. "They're welcome to stay with us whenever they want, but they might want homes and families of their own someday," he replied, neither confirming nor denying whether the other two Mullen brothers would be part of their household. He would have reached for the boy, but he didn't want to startle him, like a frightened rabbit, waiting for the boy to come to him in his own time.

This seemed to be enough for Aedan, who ventured a little bit closer. Nemone could almost feel his eyes on her back, aching to turn and embrace him, but knowing that if she did, she'd lose her chance to do just that. "She's got hair like me," she heard him say, and her expression relaxed into a tearful smile, watching Mahon's face for his response to their little boy.

"That's 'cause you're her son," Mahon explained with a soft smile, "You've got her eyes, too. Aeden, we're not gonna take you away from any of the people you love or take them away from you. You're still gonna have Brona and Cody and Uther and Han and everyone else you love, but now you've got a mom and a dad to love you, too. Do you understand?" he asked, surprisingly gentle for a man such as him.

The little boy nodded, tentative steps tucking him into Mahon's arms as he hugged his father tightly. Nemone watched, her throat tight with the urge to cry. She'd never been this emotional before; she'd prided herself on being able to set aside any wish for tears or anger and simply act. But she didn't seem to have any control over that feeling, deeply touched by the long-yearned-for sight of Mahon with their son in his arms.

Mahon wrapped the boy in strong, protective arms, looking up to find Nemone watching them with tears in her eyes. He hugged his son close for a moment, blinking back tears of his own. He and Nemone had dreamed of this day for so long, and now that it was here, they were both overcome with emotion, hoping their son would let them be the family they'd so longed for. "We missed you, lad. Both of us. Your mother, too. Not a day went by that we didn't think of you or wish we could be together."

The little boy nodded, his eyes turning toward the unfamiliar woman who had done nothing but speak to him since she had come to the barn. He liked her voice, but she was a stranger. A stranger they said was his mother, someone he had wanted to know for a long time. But now she was here, he felt shy. "Why's she cryin'?"

"Because she loves you and she's missed you, and now she's here, she wants to know you. She wants us to be a family," Mahon explained, looking from the boy to Nem and back. "Do you remember when I first came back" How scared you were of me at first' But then we got to know each other, and you're not scared of me anymore, right' Do you think you can do the same with your mom' She loves you and she's missed you so much."

"I 'member," Aedan nodded solemnly, listening closely to every word his father said to him. He was only three, but he knew other children had a momma and a poppa, and he'd only had his Aunty Brona and Grandpa and Uncle Han. A shy hand reached toward Nemone. "Hullo, Momma."

As her fingers closed gently about the little hand offered to her, Nem felt the first tears sliding down her cheeks as she laughed softly. "Hello, Aedan," she managed softly. "I've been waiting a very long time to hear you say that."

Mahon scooped the boy up and set him on a bale of hay so that he was more on a level with his parents, keeping an arm wrapped around him so that he didn't fall. He said nothing but merely watched as mother and son got acquainted, his own face wet with tears.

They were silent for a long time, looking into each others' eyes as each noted the similarities between them and the man sat with them. Then Aedan twisted a little, seeming to have made his mind up, and he crawled into Nemone's lap, tucking his arms about her waist. "Don' cry, Momma," he told her innocently. "Papa's not goin' away again."

Sniffling, Nemone wrapped her arms around her son in the first embrace they had ever shared, pressing her lips against his hair as she clung to him. "I know, baby," she promised him quietly. "No one's going away again. We're all here to stay now."

Mahon wrapped his arms around the both of them, touched by his son's honesty and innocence, and the knowledge that they were at last a family. He touched a kiss to each of their cheeks, smiling through his own tears. He and Nemone had longed for this day for so long, through all the long days and nights in the valley, through all the pain and the heartache. At long last, they had come home, and they were a family.

((Things never go entirely smoothly in this world, do they' Here's hoping no one throws a punch over dinner!))