Autumn had come to the Brambles, and with it the falling leaves of the orchards, painting the scenery in reds and golds. Marin loved this time of the year, when the bonfires burned at night and the days were noticeably shorter, though it meant that often Evan was out in the darkness of the evening, Still, with less trouble from Rogier, there was less to be concerned with, and she had enough to be concerned with at home.

Maggie's unexpected appearance had thrown everyone into a tailspin for a while, with Bill taking a trip into the Earth of Evan's past to discover what had happened. The farmstead where Evan's sister-in-law and her husband had lived had been burned to the ground, the locals having assumed that little Maggie had perished in the flames with them. There was nothing to trace there, no apparent reason for the attack on the peaceful little family. But Bill had returned with a grim expression, sharing his suspicion that it had been Rogier's henchman, Chad Dobson, who had traveled back in an attempt to steal Maggie and use her against her father somehow.

For now, however, there was little they could do, either for revenge or retaliation, and their priority was the little girl who had been so unceremoniously thrown into a new world. It had taken several days to convince Maggie to let Evan do anything out of her sight, and several weeks until the routine on the Brambles could return to normal. Thankfully, the little girl was very taken with her little brother, and under the watchful eyes of Evan, Marin, and even Jodie, they often spent long hours in the garden attached to the main house, playing at make-believe together. Both blonde-haired and blue-eyed, there was no mistaking that they were siblings, both seeming to take after their father in looks. Marin was grateful for that similarity between them, not minding so much that she didn't seem to be so obvious in her son. So long as they were happy together, she was happy for them.

Once Bill had returned, Evan had been livid, full of grief for the loss of his late wife's sister and her husband more so than the loss of the house and the land. It had taken all his self control to keep his rage in check, especially in front of the children, but Marin knew him well enough to know he was seething inside. He'd sworn more than once than that both Rogier and Dobson would get their comeuppance, but he'd also promised her that he wouldn't go after the men in cold blood, especially since there was no proof.

It was Marin and the children who were his saving grace, and he had put his desire for vengeance aside for their sake, at least for now. Except for that, he was happy - happier than he'd ever been, content even. He spent his days working in the orchard or the barn, coming back to the house for meals and to check in with the little family he and Marin were raising there. Sometimes he brought gifts back with him from the orchard or the garden - a butterfly for Maggie, some flowers for Marin, a toad for Cal. Today was no different, though what he brought home with him today might not please the lady of the house so much.

It was one of the last warm days - well, warmish - before the cold weather really set in, and Marin had joined the children on the porch to fill their afternoon with a little project she and Maggie had cooked up to keep Caleb busy for a couple of days. Set across the porch was a collection of things the toddler and his older sister had gathered from the garden and stables, things that reminded them about autumn - piles of leaves, fallen horse chestnuts and acorns, feathers from moulting birds, a forgotten chrysalis that had been left behind when the butterfly emerged. And from this, the two children were concentrating fiercely on sticking everything to a piece of paper in some kind of collage to present to their father when he got back from his chores for the afternoon. Marin was really only on hand for giving out praise and helping with the glue, but she was just as absorbed as the two blonde heads leaning over their masterpiece.

Evan came upon them quietly, his hands carefully cupped in front of him as if he was holding some precious treasure inside. He smiled at the two blonde heads leaning over some project Marin must have set them to, his red-headed wife looking as intent as her children. Their little family meant everything to him - they were the reason he woke in the morning and what he gave thanks for every night. He came to a halt just in front of the porch stairs and quietly announced his arrival. "Maggie, Caleb, I got something to show you."

Three heads looked up, surprised by his quiet appearance. Marin's lips curved in a faintly suspicious smile as she noted his carefully cupped hands and the invitation for the children to come and look. At least it wasn't a pony - she had a feeling she was definitely going to lose that ongoing battle come spring.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes with one sticky hand, Maggie grinned at her father, nudging Caleb. "Lookit, Cal, Papa brung us somethin'," she cajoled the toddler, letting Marin help them both up onto their feet before taking her little brother's hand. "C'mon, let's go see."

No, it wasn't a pony he had hidden in his hands, but Marin was probably right. Maggie was dying for a pony, and it wouldn't be long before Cal was big enough for a ride, so long as he wasn't alone. He was constantly bringing them gifts of all sorts, though now that it was autumn, it was getting harder and harder to find anything interesting. Still, acorns and chestnuts and even different colored and shaped leaves were often enough to make the pair happy. Today, however, he had a special surprise. "Be very quiet. He's a little skittish," he warned as the small pair came near, hand in hand. Caleb had taken an immediate shine to his big sister, following her around like her shadow. Evan was relieved they got along so well. Though he knew it would take time, Maggie's nightmares were fading, and he was hopeful she was happy here.

"He?" an amused drawl sounded from his wife as she twisted to sit on the porch steps, watching the children down and onto the path to greet their father. She had a sudden moment of prescience, wondering how long they were going to be living with something small and furry in the house.

Maggie took her time, making sure Caleb was keeping pace with her as they approached Evan, looking up at her papa with bright eyes. "What's it, Papa?" she asked, her voice an exaggerated whisper.

Evan shrugged, catching his wife's gaze at her question with a small smirk of his own. She might not like the gift he'd brought the children, but he had a method to his madness, so to speak. "He, she....Ain't sure which really." He crouched down onto a knee so that he was closer to the ground and his children's size and slowly opened his hands, keeping them curled enough so that whatever he held there didn't escape. He needn't have worried - the baby mouse in his hands was too small to have attempted an escape. "I found him in the barn, cold and scared. Think maybe a cat got his mama, and he's all alone in the world now. Thought maybe we could take care of him 'til he's big enough to be on his own."

"Awww ..." Maggie's little exclamation was barely above a whisper as she peered into her father's hands, utterly charmed by the tiny little thing that cowered there. "Can we really keep him, Papa?" she asked hopefully, raising her eyes to Evan's.

Behind her, Marin rolled her eyes. She'd already lost, purely because they'd seen the bloody thing.

Her little hands reached out, cupped together like his, eager to be allowed to hold the precious little bundle that was beginning to calm down. "We're gonna take of him real good, Papa," she promised, nodding enthusiastically. "An' we'll get him all big and strong and make a house for him and everything."

"Once he gets big enough, we'll have to let him go," Maggie," he continued, looking at her solemnly, as he held his hands out expectantly, but didn't yet hand her the mouse. "It ain't right to keep a wild thing captive for too long. Once he's big enough to be on his own, we'll let him go, so he can find a lady mouse and make babies of his own. Can you do that, darlin'" Can you let him go when it's time?"

Her lower lip quivered for a moment, but she nodded. "I c'n do that, Papa," she promised. "Might be he sticks 'round, right' 'Cos we'll be like family, and all." It was a quiet hope, certainly, but of the two children, Maggie was the one who would miss the little mouse the most when it came time to let him go. "Mama said there might be more."

The way her lower lip quivered nearly broke his heart, and he relented. It was no big secret that Maggie was a Daddy's girl. They were all each other had left of their old life, though they were making a new life here in Rhy'Din with Marin and Caleb. "There might. If there are, maybe it wouldn't hurt so much to keep just one," he told her with a soft smile as he very carefully laid the tiny thing into her cupped hands. "I reckon, he's gonna need a name if he's gonna be part of the family."

She beamed happily as he gave in, beginning to be aware that she had her Papa wrapped around her little finger. "Just one, if there's lots and lots," she agreed merrily, drawing her cupped hands to her chest to cuddle the tiny mouse gently, very careful not to squeeze her fingers at all. "S'got a name. S'called Mouse."

"Mouse," he repeated, with a small chuckle as she cuddled the mouse close, amused with the honest simplicity of such a name. "All right. Mouse it is," he agreed. The name fit, after all. "Now, you keep an eye on him while I look for something we can make into a home," he instructed as he moved to his feet to tower over her again. Confident she had the mouse well in hand, he turned to lead the way into the barn to look for an old crate or a box they could line with straw.

"I will," she promised, very slowly creeping forward to sit herself down on the piled hay in the corner, out of the way of her father's wanderings in search of a suitable home for Mouse. "You're gonna be all fine now, Mouse," she promised the tiny thing huddling in her palms. "We're gonna look after you, and if there's any more of you's in here, we're gonna look after them, too."

Finding an old crate that wasn't being used for anything wasn't much of a problem. Before long Evan had it lined with clean straw, all ready for its newest tenant. The real trick was figuring out how to make sure the little thing got proper food and water. Evan wasn't really sure what to do with a baby mouse, but he was pretty sure if he was left on his own, if the cats didn't get him, then the elements would.

"Lookit, Mouse," Maggie was murmuring, totally engrossed in charming the tiny thing out of its fright. "Papa made you a house, and it's all big and safe, and Mama and Cal're making you food, and you'll get big and strong and nibbly in no time."

"Why don't you see if he likes it?" Evan suggested once he'd brought the crate over to where Maggie was sitting and set it on the ground. "And then we can see if he has any brothers or sisters."

Perhaps it was the smaller hands, or the persistent voice, but the little mouse was tentatively peeking out through the gap between Maggie's thumb and finger when Evan brought the crate over. She looked up at him, triumphant. "See, Papa" He likes me!" Happy with her own interpretation of the creature's behavior, she edged forward, very carefully laying her hands into the straw that lined the box.

"Course he does!" Evan replied, beaming a smile back at her. It warmed his heart to see her so happy, even over such a small thing as this. They hardly ever spoke of the fire or the life she'd known back home in Texas, not unless she wanted to talk about it. Even when she woke with nightmares in the middle of the night, all she seemed to need was to know that she wasn't alone. "Let's see if he likes his new home."

It took a while for the tiny mouse to venture away from the warm hands that he was sitting on, but once he did, he was quick to burrow into the straw, disappearing from sight. Maggie giggled at the sound of him burrowing around, watching the straw twitch with delight. "I think he does."

Evan crouched down to watch the little thing make itself at home, but it was really the look on Maggie's face, the sound of her giggle, and the sparkle in her eyes that held his attention. "Let's see if we can find him some company," he told her, moving to his feet again and offering her his hand. The mouse would be fine there alone, now that he had a suitable home.

She hesitated, loath to leave her new furry friend, despite the fact that he was now hiding deep in the straw. "He'll be okay on his own, right?" she asked worriedly, even as her little hand tucked into her Papa's.

"He'll be fine," he assured her. After all, the only predators he had to worry about right now were barn cats, and he doubted any of them would go poking about in a crate rather than having an afternoon nap. "I found him over here," he told her, as he lead her toward a small corner of the barn where they kept some apples and other treats for the horses.

Hand in hand, she followed his lead, pottering along over the stamped down straw and earth that made up the floor. "You think Mama's right?" she asked curiously. "If the cats gotted the mommy, you think there's more babies?"

"I s'pect there might be. Mice usually have more than one baby at a time," he told her, as he crouched down once again, this time to have a look around at the floor. Though to some it might seem like he was looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack, if the mama mouse had given birth nearby where he'd found the baby mouse, it was likely there might be more mice to be found there.

Beside him, Maggie knelt down on the ground, laying her cheek to the straw to look around curiously. "Oooh!" Her hand snapped out, pointing at a patch of straw that was moving in a familiar fashion. "Is that it, Papa?"

The two of them quietly watched and waited for a few minutes before Maggie made her discovery. Evan smiled as she pointed out the moving patch of straw that seemed to prove Marin's theory. He'd noticed something moving beneath the straw almost immediately, but hadn't said anything in hopes that she'd notice it, too. "I s'pect it might be. Should we have a look?"

Evan laughed outright at that suggestion. "I don't reckon Jodie would appreciate that much," he told her, brushing his hands off on his pants as he moved to his feet before bending over to pick up the crate holding the family's new pets. "Let's go show Cal what we found."

She giggled, scrambling up onto her own feet, straw sticking every which way from her tights as she wriggled a hand into her father's belt once again. She paused at the doors, looking outside with a certain amount of understandable trepidation. "S'gettin' dark awful early here, Papa."

Evan paused in the doorway to look up at the sky a moment, seeing it was already getting dark. It got dark early this time of year here, and Maggie wasn't accustomed to it yet. Rhy'Din was a very long way from Texas, after all. "Nothin' in the dark that ain't there in the daylight, Magpie, 'cept the moon and the stars." He looked down at her with the curious arch of a brow. "You want me to carry you?" he asked, unsure just how frightened she was. She had been through a lot, after all, and she was far more important than a couple of baby mice.

The little girl shook her head. "No, 'cos you got the mices to carry," she told him, her hand tightening on his belt. "C'n we go inside now?" She was making a lot of adjustments to her new home - to the abrupt change in season, to having a brother and a new mother, to sharing her new home with the other family that worked on the farm as well. The seasonal darkness was just something she would have to grow used to as well.

"You stay close, you hear?" he asked her, knowing she would, but feeling the need to say it anyway. "You know you can tell me anything, right, Mags?" he asked as they started off toward the house, shortening his stride so she could keep up.

Holding tightly to his belt, she hurried along beside him, short little legs working double time to keep up even with his shortened stride. She seemed a little confused by his query, not really knowing what he meant. "I talk t'ya all the time, Papa."

"Yeah, I know, but I just want you to know that you can talk to me anytime you want, about anything. You know that, right?" he reiterated, tilting a glance down at the little girl, who obviously had her father wrapped around her little finger.

She looked up, trusting blue eyes full of adoration for her father as she smiled in the gathering gloom. "I know," she promised, skipping to keep up.

The sound of a window opening in the house ahead of them heralded Jodie's voice calling across the land. "Evan Lassiter, you keep those dirty things out of my kitchen, you got that?"

He smiled down at his daughter, chuckling just a little when he heard Jodie's voice giving him an ultimatum, wondering if he should have left the crate in the barn with the horses, but that would have been a little too tempting for the cats. Though he was the master of the house, it was clearly Jodie who ran the show. "Hmm, where should we put 'em so Jodie don't get mad?"

"They gotta stay warm, else wise they'll get all stiff and dead, and we don't want 'em to die," the little girl pointed out fervently. She was, however, just a little shy of Jodie, and if put up against the woman, would cave instantly.

"We'll find a place," he promised her simply. If he didn't, he knew Marin would. He knew she wouldn't be able to go against him and break the little girl's heart, and he suspected it wouldn't be long before the mice were grown and set free to fend for themselves anyway.

From inside the kitchen, they heard Marin laughing at Jodie's insistence, catching a glimpse of her closing the window as she held Cal on her hip. Maggie's expression relaxed at the sight of her new Mama keeping Jodie in hand. "She's sorta scary," she confessed quietly, walking close to his side in the gloom.

"She ain't that scary. You ever hear the saying that someone's bark is worse than their bite" That's Jodie. She don't mean nothing by it," he told her. He didn't find Jodie so scary, and yet, he knew better than to cross the woman.

"Don't no one argue with her but Mama," Maggie pointed out as they continued on their way to the house. "Can't no one get a word in edgewise." She had a point - Bill didn't bother arguing with his wife, and Daniel didn't dare stand up to his mother. Marin, on the other hand, didn't seem to be in the least bit wary of Jodie, standing her ground with enviable confidence in the face of some truly forceful rants.

Not even Evan dared argue with Jodie. She had been around longer than him, after all, though he doubted she'd give him much grief about the mice so long as they were kept out of sight and none of them got loose. "She's the closest thing you got to a gramma," he pointed out, since both his and Marin's parents had passed away long ago. He'd never known his father, and his mother had died when he'd just been a small boy.

"Does that mean Bill's my grampa?" There was a pause as she removed her hand from his belt, turning her attention to getting up the steps of the porch without tumbling over. She only needed a few more inches for the steps not to bother her so much anymore.

"Yeah, I reckon it does," he replied after a moment's consideration. "Or at least your aunt and uncle." No, they weren't related by blood, but as far as he was concerned, they were family, and not just because they lived in the same house. They were like family to Marin, and that was good enough for him.

"They's all fambly, huh?" she grinned cheerfully, hooking her hand into his belt once again as they gained the porch. "An' Mouse has fambly, and now he's our fambly too, so does that mean Jodie's like Mouse's gramma?"

Evan chuckled at the child's logic. "In a way, I s'pect it does." He wanted to see the look on Jodie's face when Maggie, in her innocence, told Jodie that. He took the stairs slowly and carefully so that she didn't fall until they reached the porch, balancing the crate on his hip so he could get the door.

Maggie was in through the door as soon as it was open, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Mama, Mama, we found four more mices, an' Papa says Jodie's my gramma, and I c'n put a mouse up her skirt!" A gale of laughter from the main room made it perfectly clear that Bill was within earshot.

Evan rolled his eyes at his daughter's mischievous proclamation, which only partially true. He didn't recall saying anything about putting a mouse up Jodie's skirt, anyway. He wondered if he was going to catch hell for it anyway. "Not a word!" he called back at Bill, upon hearing his laughter as he lugged the crate into the house.

Evan smirked into the kiss at the sound of the giggle, knowing they were being watched, but he made no apologies for it. He was neither overly demonstrative with his affection nor was he stingy, unafraid to show the world how he felt about his wife and children. If God intended for them to have more children, then so be it, but he wasn't about to push his luck. "And just what are you giggling about, little missy?" he teased, turning toward the doorway and bounding that way to snatch first one child, then the other up into his arms for a good tickling.

Maggie squealed as she was snatched up, selfless enough to try and save her little brother even if the effort was completely futile. "Papa! Noooo!" Flailing, she grabbed Evan's hat and started to beat him with it, fully aware that not so very far away, Mama was laughing her *ss off at the silly scene the three presented to her.

It would take more than a hat beating to stop him. He dumped both children onto the couch, paintbrushes and all, and gave them both a thorough tickling until they were all laughing so hard they were crying, and then he collapsed on the floor with a hard thump. Poor Jodie and Bill would just have to put up with the ruckus going on above their heads.

Always the last bastion of defense, Marin found herself being hugged about the knees and waist by two giggling small people, laughing at the sight of Evan flat on the floor. "You three are going to turn me gray before I'm thirty," she accused her little family with a chuckle, taking the little box of paintbrushes out of Caleb's hand before he stabbed her with it again.

Evan laughed as he looked up at the three of them from the floor. "We can go gray together," he told her, having already found a few strays in his own hair. He wasn't overly concerned about it though - he wasn't that vain, and if they were going to grow old, at least, they were growing old together.

"All four of us," she grinned, tweaking Maggie's hair. The little girl looked horrified by the thought, her hands rising to hold onto her hair as though protecting the wheat blonde locks from the threat of going gray. Chuckling, Marin rolled her eyes, crouching beside the mouse crate. "All right, you two," she said. "I want you to pay attention, okay' This isn't as difficult as it might seem."

Evan chuckled at Marin's teasing, knowing how ridiculous it was to think that Maggie might grow gray with them. Cal had said little through all of this, following his big sister around like he was her shadow, deferring to her in all things. He made his way over to his mother now and leaned against her as she showed them what to do to take care of the mice. Evan sat up on the floor and crossed his legs to watch as Marin gave them both a lesson, pushing a hand through his hair, now that Maggie had removed his hat.

Drawing Caleb into her lap, Marin wrapped the little boy's hand around a paintbrush, and reached into the crate to locate one of the mice, holding it carefully in her own small hand. "Now, Cal, dip the paintbrush into the saucer, and hold it close to the mouse's nose," she told him gently, not letting the toddler hold the creature until she was sure he wouldn't squeeze in excitement.

Caleb's face took on an expression of extreme concentration as he did what his mother was told, though in his excitement, he dipped the paintbrush a little too deeply into the saucer and came away with a dripping brush, which splattered the mixture all over the floor before he got it anywhere near the mouse's nose.

"Oh ..." Marin laughed gently, catching the little boy's hand before he started flicking the mixture of very diluted baby formula all over the mouse as well. "Gently, sweetheart," she told him, kissing his curls as she guided his hand to where it needed to be. The mouse didn't need much encouragement, leaning forward to lick the mixture from the soft bristles eagerly.

Evan watched his little family with an obvious look of fond affection on his face. He could never quite get enough of them, especially the children, and Marin sometimes caught him up watching them sleep in the middle of the night. With Marin's help, Cal managed to get some of the milk mixture into the mouse's mouth, and he grinned with pleasure, bouncing up and down on his mother's lap in excitement.

"There, see?" Marin smiled at Cal encouragingly. "He'll only drink what he needs, and then we'll help him go to the toilet before we put him back in the crate. Maggie, do you want to give it a try?" She looked at the little girl, who beamed happily back at her, inching closer to peer into the crate to try and locate another mouse.

Evan wasn't quite sure how they were going to help the mice go to the toilet, but it would be interesting to watch. Marin was far better with the little creatures than he had anticipated, though she had warned they'd be having a discussion about it later. He watched as she gave both children a lesson in feeding the little creatures, and one by one each of the mice's tiny tummies was filled, saving them from starvation.

Making the mice poop was a new experience for everyone but Marin, who was going to have to admit to having done this before at some point. Maggie giggled like a drain as she watched her Mama stroke one newly fed mouse's tummy with a third paintbrush, until it evacuated into the tissue she was holding underneath it. "Eww ...Papa, lookit!"

He arched a brow at Marin, realizing this couldn't be the first time she'd nursed starving newborn mice back to health. He wasn't quite sure, but maybe she'd done it as a child herself. Evan chuckled as one of the mice did what Marin was encouraging him to do. "I see, Maggie!" he replied, wondering what she'd think of horses, who were much bigger and smellier.

Chuckling, Marin handed over a paintbrush to Maggie, hugging Cal on her lap as the little girl very carefully wrapped her hand in tissue before selecting a mouse to do the same with. The expression on Maggie's face was half-grimace, half delight, as she copied her Mama's actions, snickering at the small explosion that erupted from the mouse's rear end. "That's so funny!"

"Every creature under God's green Earth does it, Maggie," Evan reminded her, chuckling a little in amusement at his daughter's reaction to the mice. He was glad she found them amusing. It was good to hear her laugh, especially after everything she'd been through.

It didn't take long to settle the mice once again, a bag of rice heated in the oven by an obliging Jodie wrapped up in a towel providing the close heat source the little creatures needed as they settled down to sleep once again. Marin stretched, stepping back from the crate to watch as brother and sister leaned over the edge to watch the straw shifting about, whispering to each other. She smiled affectionately. "Something tells me it's going to be a long time before they surface again."

"The children or the mice?" Evan whispered back, assuming she was referring to the two heads huddled over the crate. "Reckon it was a silly idea," he admitted with a small frown, wondering what would happen if the little things started breeding.

"No, sweetheart, it wasn't a silly idea," she assured him, turning to look up at her husband with a gentle smile. "But if those mice had been any younger, we wouldn't have been able to let the children handle them. As it is, we've got a couple of weeks before they're old enough to be set free, and Maggie and Cal can decide where we'll do that. It's enough time to wean them onto solid food and teach them how to forage."

"How do we teach them that?" he asked, curiously. He had never raised mice and had no idea what to do. Thankfully, Marin had solved that little problem for him. He hadn't really thought about that before he'd brought one of them home. He slid his hand into hers, charmed by the sight of the two children conspiratorially whispering to each other.

"It's instinct, mostly," she murmured, her fingers entwining with his as she leaned into him, her eyes on the two blonde heads. "We can get them on solids over the next few days, and after they're eating proper food, we start hiding it in the crate and letting them find it for themselves." She glanced up at Evan with a faint smile. "My dad helped me rescue a couple of nests when I was a kid," she confessed quietly. "I learned a lot about mice that summer."

That bit of information didn't really surprise him all that much, though it did make him envy her childhood a little. "You were lucky to have that," he said, not meaning the mice, but the love of both parents, at least for a time. It was his goal to give that same kind of love to both their children. He only hoped he was the father - and husband - they all deserved.