Kaiden watched Katie as he and his mother did their usual back and forth. She smiled as he pulled out her chair at the table. Somehow the action felt right; it all felt so right. Katie fit in perfectly with his life and his family. She didn't look at his mother like Clara was crazy and he appreciated that. Clara had lot of quirks but crazy wasn't one of them. He couldn't say the same about his ex-wife. Cara never seemed to really belong. He felt happy and relaxed despite the fact that he really was there to work.

"Hello!" a voice called from the front hall. "Y'all awake in here?"

"Keegan!" Clara called back. "We're in the kitchen! Come eat!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Kaiden's twin brother announced, appearing in the door to the kitchen.

Kaiden met his brother with a handshake and man hug—that sort of half hug where they pat each other on the back. "Good to see ya, man."

"You too, brother." Keegan walked over and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Morning, Ma."

"Good morning, my handsome son. I hope you are hungry."

"James men always have room for a good meal." He walked over to Katie, his hand outstretched. "Hi Nurse Katie, it's good to see you again."

Katie accepted his hand with a smile. "Nice to see you again also."

Once again Kaiden marveled at how at ease Katie seemed with his family. "Want some coffee, Kee? There's regular and then Ma's on the stove."

"Ugh, you still drinking that turpentine, Ma?"

"It'll put hair on your chest, son." She took a sip from her mug. "Mmmm… good stuff."

Keegan poured a cup and sat at the table with Kaiden and Katie. "So, tell me, brother, what's the plan?"

"I went over some pictures and things my boss emailed me. After we eat, I'll show them to you. Local law enforcement will meet us there in case we need back up but they know this should be a pretty peaceful take."

Clara placed a large platter of bacon and eggs on the table and a second plate stacked high with toast. "Eat first, talk shop later."

"Smells delicious," Katie said as she reached for a serving of eggs. "How do you get these scrambled eggs so light and fluffy?"

"Ancient Chinese secret, dear."

"Pretty sure the Chinese are not responsible for egg scrambling secrets, Ma." Kaiden took the serving spoon from Katie and piled his own plate nice and high.

"Maybe, maybe not," Clara replied as she sat in a chair next to Keegan.

As they ate, he stole glances across the table at Katie. He loved the way she laughed and joked with Keegan and their mother as if they had known each other their entire lives. She had a great smile.

There was a lot he didn't know about Katie. When the case was all wrapped up he definitely intended to rectify that.

"Kaiden, dear?"

"Yes, Ma?"

"Have you forgotten all the manners I taught you?"

Confused, he replied, "Um, no. Why? What did I do?"

His mother indicated his shirtless chest. "At what time is it ever appropriate to sit at a table with ladies without being properly clothed?" His twin laughed around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"I completely forgot I wasn't wearing a shirt."

Keegan started choking on his food as he tried not to laugh. Kaiden shot him a nasty look.

"Umm… hmmm… I don't think so. Go get something on before you continue eating at my table."

"Yes, ma'am." Kaiden felt the heat in his cheeks as he pushed his chair back. Keegan had finally managed to swallow his eggs and bust out laughing as he headed to his room to grab a t-shirt.

"I hope you blow eggs out your nose," he mumbled as he left the room. That made Keegan laugh even harder.

Sometimes having a twin could be such a huge pain. Kaiden grabbed a shirt from his bureau—Clara kept a full set of clothes for all her boys and now Angelina—at her place so they never had to worry about anything except showing up. Pulling the top over his head he ambled back toward the kitchen and the rest of his meal.

"Much better." His mother greeted him with a smile of appreciation.

"Sorry, Ma," he grumbled, picking up his fork and attacking his plate of food. Through the entire exchange, Katie hadn't said a word. Now she sat there smiling at him and nibbling on a piece of toast.

"What?" he asked her as he stabbed a piece of bacon.

"Nothing." She smiled more broadly and took a sip of her coffee.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed the show." He shot his mother a not-another-word look as Clara opened her mouth to speak.

"In my day…" she began.

"Yes, Ma. I know. In your day, a gentleman never came to the table half naked. In your day men respected women and manners and…"

"All of the above!" Clara chuckled as she stood and carried her plate from the table. "I raised you and your brothers to have manners and I expect you to use them at all times."

"Brothers?" Katie asked.

"Ma considers our cousin Logan to be one of her sons. She raised him like a brother to us and honestly, we feel the same," Keegan replied.

"That's nice for Logan. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my parents and be all alone in the world as a child."

The room fell silent for a moment before Clara spoke. "Yeah, well, in Logan's case, it was nothing short of a miracle. That boy deserved a better life than…" Clara stopped abruptly and left the room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset your mother." Katie looked stricken. Kaiden went to her and gave her a hug.

"She always gets upset when Logan's childhood comes up. It kills her that Logan has to live with the fact that his father murdered his mother after years of the old man abusing both of them."

"It was a blessing that Logan escaped a life with that man," Keegan added. "It was tough at first for all of us, he had so much anger and pain but after a while he became one of us. We really do love him like a brother."

Clara returned then, her eyes red but her smile bright. "Well, now, don't you boys have a job to do?"

Keegan rose from his seat, empty plate in hand. "Yes, ma'am, we do. Kaiden, why don't you go do what you gotta do to get some real clothes on and then we can talk shop."

Kaiden nodded. "All right. Katie? I hoped to ask you a few questions about the Marks family before we head out."

"Okay. Lead the way."

Kaiden stopped and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "You are a good mom, you know that, right? To all of us."

Clara smiled, a hint of sadness still in her eyes. "Thank you for that, Kaiden. I love you and Keegan and Logan more than anything. I am proud of all of you. I hope you know that."

"We do," Keegan added with a hug for his mother as well. "We have had a great life and we are the men we are because of you."

Kaiden saw his mother's eyes moisten as she waved them away. "You all get on with it. I'll clean up in here." She turned her back on all of them. He had nothing left to do but go get ready for the day's mission. Steering Katie toward the hall, he tried to catch Keegan's eye. His brother was lost in deep thought though so Kaiden walked out of the room.