My chest felt like it was filled with helium, I was that happy to finally see my old friend again. Seriously, somebody had better tie a string on me—I might float away if I got any lighter. My cheeks felt stretched by the width of my grin as I walked down the steps to greet him.

Two boys ran past me, making a beeline right for the fence that surrounded the cow pasture. Typical kids, I smiled to myself. Laurie looked shocked to see me, which made me wonder if old Harry had told him I was working here. Either that, or I'd changed a hell of a lot more since high school than I’d realized.

The pretty little blonde-haired girl smiled up at me with her daddy’s bright blue eyes before running off to join her brothers, her ponytail bouncing in the breeze. Laurie closed the van door and turned with a welcoming smile.

"Dean? Is that really you, or are you an older MacIntosh brother that I haven't met yet?" Laurie winked, letting me know he was teasing.

I took another step and pulled him into my arms for a big hug. "Is that a jab at me looking older, squirt? Because you don't look a day older than you did last time I saw you. You sure those three kids are even yours, or did you pick them up on the road somewhere?"

Laurie gave me a hard hug then took a step back. "No, those are all mine. I have the stretch marks to prove it—but don't worry, I don't flash my tiger stripes. You'll have to take my word for it."

"Laurie? Get your ass on up here boy, let me get a look at you." Old Harry said from the porch behind us.

"Why does Gramps sound like he's slurring his words a little? He hasn't been hitting the wine this early in the day now, has he?" Laurie asked softly as we turned to head to the porch.

"I take it he didn't tell you about the stroke?" I asked quietly.

Laurie stopped in his tracks and turned back with an anguished look on his face. "No, he most certainly did not. Or I would've been here, no matter what. Was it serious?"

I hated the shakiness in Laurie’s voice, and wanted nothing more than to sit down and tell him everything… but knowing how Harry hated to hear anyone discuss his condition, I gave a slight shake to my head.

"Let’s talk about it tonight when your gramps is in bed, okay? Meet me out here in our old spot."

Laurie nodded with an ear to ear grin. "Same bat time, same bat channel?"

"You know it, Robin."

Laurie elbowed me in the side as we neared the steps. "Please, I'm totally Batman. I thought we agreed to that in the seventh grade."

"You may have, but I didn't agree to any pussy shit like that," I snorted.

"Excuse you, that's a rude word to use in the presence of a lady," my cousin Tanya said as she stood from the porch swing.

"Find me a lady, and I'll make sure not to use that word," I said.

Tanya ignored me and went straight to pull Laurie into a hug. "Oh, damn! But is it ever good to see you! I know you probably want to say hi to your granddaddy, but I just had to slip in a hug first. After you and Mr. Harry get caught up, maybe you could introduce me to those adorable little angels out there?"

"I don't know about any angels, but I'll be happy to introduce you to my kids." Laurie grinned as he hugged Tanya back. "By the way, life must be treating you good, little girl. You're still as pretty as a picture."

Laurie leaned back and smiled appreciatively at Tanya before he continued. "Yeah, it sure is good to see you again. It's nice to see friendly faces period, if I'm being honest. It's been a heck of a week," Laurie said while he stretched his neck from side to side, as if trying to work out the kinks from the drive.

Tanya grasped Laurie's hands and looked seriously at him for a moment, before speaking in a voice just above a whisper. "I'm sorry for your loss, babe. I know Mr. Harry didn't care too much for your husband, so please take any of his comments with a grain of salt. He's a little forgetful these days, and doesn't always mind his manners."

"That's okay, I didn't care for Tristan too much myself these past few years. But that's a story for another day and at least three beers. And you guys will have to catch me up later on Gramps, apparently there's a lot that I've been sheltered from hearing."

"Are you assholes over there filling my grandson’s ears full of bullshit?" Old Harry demanded.

"Gramps!" Laurie gasped, as he stepped around Tanya to go greet his grandpa. "Since when do you talk to our friends like that? If I’d called a friend an asshole when I was younger, you’d have washed my mouth out with dish soap."

"Sit down, boy. I can't talk to ya if I gotta crane my neck to see you," Harry patted the bench next to him. "Now tell me again, did you bring that asshole husband of yours with you? And how long are you visiting this time? I sure hope you brought the baby, I’d like to have more than five minutes with you, boy."

Laurie sat down, and I noticed for the first time how haggard he looked. The dark rings under his eyes looked older than from what could be accrued from a long road trip; he was also a lot skinnier than he'd been back in the day. I wondered just how bad life had been for him back in that city, and if maybe his husband really had been the asshole that Harry believed him to be.

I saw the boys trying to climb on the fence, and the little girl bending down as if to go under. "Hey, Laurie. You get caught up with the old man. I'm gonna go take your kids to see the animals before they get hurt. They won't mind talking to a stranger, will they?"

Laurie shook his head. "No, not here on the farm. I've been building you all up to them the whole way here. I even told them about you and how we grew up together, so they were already expecting to meet you. I was a little surprised when Gramps told me that you're running the place now, but if he had to hire anyone on, I'm glad it was you. Shit, I'm babbling–sorry. It's been a long trip, and I don't often have adults to talk to anyway, so don't mind me."

I grinned. "So what you're saying is that not only will the kids talk to me, but so will their dad?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he agreed with a laugh.

"Good to know," I said with a wink. "Okay, I'm gonna go get those kids away from the cows and give them the mini-tour. I'll catch up with you in a few."

"You want some company, cuz?" Tanya asked.

"Sure, there's three of them–seems to me that having two of us would be smart since we don't have the same experience their dad here does."

Laurie chuckled. "Just remember that you're bigger than them, that’s what I tell myself anyway. I figure that'll work until they’ve outgrown me. Or at least are big enough to double up on me? I probably have another year or so before I have to worry about that though."

I shook my head. "You're a brave man, Laurie. Three of them and only one of you? I never would've made it a week."

"You'd be surprised. When you don't have a choice? You either man up or give up, as Gramps here always used to say. I chose to man up, simple as that."

Laurie smiled as he looked out over the porch railing to where his children were still climbing the fence. "But trust me, I'm no martyr. Those guys are worth every second. You'll see, they're good kids—just don't try and drive eight hundred miles with them in a closed vehicle."

"Hell, boy. Any fool could have told you that was a bad idea. Car rides with a bunch of kids are enough to drive their parents to drink. Shit, one kid on a long car ride will make you want to drink."

I grinned at Harry's words, and tipped my chin to Tanya. "Come on, girl. Let's give these two a little privacy to catch up while we go meet those rugrats over there."

Tanya and I walked over to the kids just in time for me to catch the little girl when she was halfway under the fence. I snagged her by the waist and pulled her back out, lifting and settling her firmly on my hip for a little heart-to-heart.

"Hey, you can't pick up my sister like that, mister. You need to put her down, please." The older boy looked up at me with his chin jutted out stubbornly, his bony arms crossed over his chest.

I smiled at the little princess on my hip, and stretched out a hand to her brother. "Hey, buddy. I'm Dean, and this is my cousin Tanya. We go way back with your dad. In fact, I've known your dad since we were younger than you are now."

The boy looked at me thoughtfully, before giving a consenting nod as he reached to shake my hand. "Okay, I remember my dad mentioning you. You should probably know better than to pick up other people's kids without asking though, no offense."

I bit back a grin at this kid’s gumption, I couldn't help but like him already. "That's good advice, young man. I'll keep it in mind for the future. Now how about you introduce yourselves to me, and then I can take you around and show you all the different animals we have around here."

"I'm Matty, this is my brother Chris," he motioned to the other boy. "And my sister's name is Kiki. Actually, it's really Kimberly–but we call her Kiki for short."

"All right, then. Now that we all know each other's names, let's go see some animals. While we walk, let me tell you the number one rule of the farm. You don't go near the animals without having an adult with you—that rule is non-negotiable. When you're a little bigger, and you've been around here a little while longer, we can revisit that. But for now, I need you to be safe. That's why I grabbed Kiki here, I didn't want her to get under that fence and out where the cows are. Do you guys all understand?"

The middle boy didn't respond, but Matty and Kiki both nodded respectfully. When the younger boy saw me looking at him, he smiled shyly but didn't speak.

I figured I would just have to keep an eye on them at first, even good kids got tempted when animals were involved. At least, until they got old enough to do chores.

Which reminded me, I'd have to remember to ask Laurie later if he wanted me to help him find the kids some jobs to do around here. Even simple things like gathering eggs would be a help, and they would probably get a kick out of it.

“Can I get down now, Mister Dean?” Kiki asked sweetly.

“Sure, baby girl. But remember to stay close and don’t pet the animals unless I say it’s okay.” She nodded at my words and skipped a few feet ahead as we made our way to the barn.

I kept a close eye on all three of the kids as we met the horses, chickens, goats and cows. When I showed them the pigs, I warned them to never come back here without me. I hated to break it to them, but pigs were assholes and not safe for kids without supervision.

"So, tell me which animals you guys liked the best," I said as we got to the end of our little tour.

"Obviously, they’re going to pick the goats," Tanya said.

Kiki giggled and petted the young goat that was now walking between her and the younger boy. She looked up at us with a sunny smile. "This goat is cute, but I like the chickens the best."

"See, Tanya?" I teased. "You're the only one who thinks these idiot goats are the best."

Tanya shook her head and looked at the boys. "Come on, guys. Back me up here. You need to tell my cousin that the goats are the best."

The younger boy, Chris, still hadn't said a word, but Matty was quick to answer. "Heck no, sorry. The horses are the best ones, if you ask me." He turned to his brother and began quickly moving his hands in sign language.

Oh, crap. That explained it. Now I felt like the world's biggest prick. I’d had no idea the boy was deaf, and here I'd been talking his ear off this whole time. I turned to Matty.

"Nobody told me that Chris was deaf, I'm so sorry for excluding him from our conversation. Will you tell him that for me? And maybe, you guys can teach me a few words one of these days, if you don't mind?"

Matty's face lit up. "Really? You want to learn how to talk to Chris? I'll teach you, it's easy once you learn. Most people think he's stupid just because he can't hear them, but they're the stupid ones. Chris is awesome. And by the way, he likes the goats the best. He wants to know what this one’s name is."

Tanya knelt down in front of Chris and began to sign. I'd forgotten that my cousin knew sign language, and the kids were all overjoyed to see her communicating with Chris. She spoke as she signed, probably for my benefit since the other two kids both seemed to know how to sign.

"We don't name all the animals on a farm, but the goats and horses are okay to name. This is Taffy. Can you think of why we might have named her that?"

Chris shook his head furiously. Tanya smiled as she continued. "Goats will eat anything. And this little girl found a package on the front porch filled with salt water taffy for your Grampa Harry. She ate the whole thing, even the box!"

The kids all giggled at her story, while I rolled my eyes in memory of that day. Old Harry hadn't been too pleased about that one, as I recalled.

"Hey, you guys, come on back and help me unload the van so I can start dinner," Laurie said from the porch. “I’m sure Dean has better things to do anyway than to let us take up all his time.”

Tanya rushed over to help old Harry up and into the house. "I'll give you a hand with cooking, that's part of my job anyway. Let me help your grandpa get settled first. He'll want to take a short nap while we fix supper," she explained to Laurie as she passed him on her way to help the old guy.

"Throw me your keys, man. Don’t worry about my time, I’m having a ball. I'll use the kid power to help me unload, while you do that. You don't need to unload your car after you've been driving for two days, and then cook for all of us too. In fact, I'd be happy to help toss something together if you wanted to sit down and take a break?"

Laurie shook his head. "Trust me, after sitting on my ass for two days? Standing in the kitchen doesn't sound like as much of a chore as you'd probably think it would. And after the last few days, I'm kinda looking forward to just zoning out in the kitchen. Send the kids in if they get on your nerves though."

I reached over and ruffled Matty's hair before grinning back at Laurie. "Nah, if they start getting on my nerves, I'll put them to work. There are plenty of things to do around here that even Kiki could handle."

Laurie's face lit up with a smile. "Don't I know it? In fact, once we get settled in maybe you can help me find a few good chores for them. That's one good thing about being back on the farm—it will give my kids a chance to learn a little more responsibility."