Jillian had the next day off. She made a vow to enjoy it, too. Her sister Carrie and her family were on their way down from St. Louis. Jillian was going to ensure that the guest rooms were ready. After that, she had to prep for the cook-out her father wanted for that evening.

Her father loved nothing more than having all five of his children together and celebrating. Jillian didn't mind it, either. Carrie's family wasn't coming alone. Paige, Ari’s sister, and her family were coming as well.

They would be taking Simon home with them when they returned to St. Louis. If she wasn't mistaken, she’d heard rumors that Luc might just join them. It wouldn't surprise Jillian if they didn't all arrive in Luc's private jet. Sometimes being connected to the wealthiest man in St. Louis—who happened to be her brother-in-law Houghton's close friend—had its perks. It did mean that she got to see her family quite often.

If Houghton's father hadn't taken Carrie to Oklahoma and kept her safe they would've lost Carrie forever.

Jillian was just glad she had the opportunity to know her sister now. They might not ever be close, but she and Carrie were still sisters, and that mattered in so many ways.

"Hey Jilly-Bean," Chance said as he came into the back door of the kitchen. “I heard you had some excitement last night. You okay?"

Chance cuddled baby Sara Anne close. Jillian immediately held out her arms. There were only two little girls in the world who were as gorgeous as their mothers—Brynna’s Sara Anne and Carrie’s Maddie. Chance handed the baby over like a good brother-in-law.

"It was just a little fender bender, Chance. I'm okay and so is ...Rafe."

She wasn't going to think about it, not today. Today was for her family.

"About Rafe… Listen, I need your opinion. I know how he feels about his biological family. And you have to understand, his parents—his adoptive parents—they made no secret of the fact that he was their second choice after Marcus was born. They didn’t think they could have another kid, so when they had Travis they sort of pushed Rafe aside. They hurt him far more than they should have. Rafe and I haven't always gotten along, but the way my aunt and uncle treated him was flat out wrong. Add in what I know about his biological family now, and I can understand why he's leery of making that connection. And I don’t like the idea of him sitting over there all alone. But I also don't know how to get him over here knowing the biological family he wants nothing to do with will be here soon. Do you have any ideas?"

Jillian looked at her brother-in-law, then at the baby down her arms. It was amazing how much she resembled Brynna. Even the fuzzy hair on top of her head already had an orange tint to it. She'd expected the baby would've gotten Chance’s almost black hair. But Sara Anne hadn't. Genetics could influence everything.

Genetics.

Genetics would tell, wouldn't they? And Rafael Holden-Deane shared damned fine genetics with some of the best people Jillian knew. Whether she liked him or not, they all deserved to figure it out for themselves. She handed her favorite orange-haired newborn back to Chance. "I'll go over there. Talk to him. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try."

"They should be here soon. The LT jet is scheduled to land at the Barratt ranch in less than fifteen minutes. Marcus will be here in half an hour. And I'm sure Travis and Lacy are already on their way. I don’t want that cousin of mine sitting over there all alone, brooding. Rafe’s a champion brooder. We used to say he pouted a lot as kids. Comes from being younger than Elliot, Marc, and me. Everyone kept lumping him in with baby Travis.”

“Gee, not hard to picture him pouting at all.” Jillian knew what Chance was getting at, though. “I’ll go get him. Do my best. He may stick me in a pot and boil me for dinner, though.”

Chance smirked, then snuggled his daughter closer. “Hey, there are some things I don’t want to know about your love life, kid. Just don’t want to know.”

“Oh, please. As if that would ever happen.”