Author's Note: Finally, this is complete. I started off thinking this was going to be a fluff piece, like most of my stuff. But this one took hold of me, and required extra effort. Thank you all for reading, and the lovely reviews. I hope it has made as much sense to you as it did to me.

All it took was an afternoon. Just a few short hours and their family changed forever. A hasty lunch together as a family of three, then back into the world for medical calls and final preparations for the choir competition. Now, as the sun began to slip beyond the horizon of the sitting room windows, they sat close together, a family of four.

From the moment Patrick placed the tiny girl into his wife's arms, he knew how very right this all was. Just as he had been completely certain his life should be with Shelagh, he knew this baby should be theirs. No other baby would do, for she was their daughter. This past year with all its trials and triumphs had placed them all exactly where they were supposed to be, ready for her.

The pink and white bundle in Shelagh's arms began to stir. She made a sweet sound and pursed her rosebud lips. Shelagh sniffled. "She'll be wanting her bottle soon." She caressed the downy head and looked up at Patrick. "You can have her now. There's something I have to do first." Wiping her eyes behind her glasses, Shelagh smiled up at her husband. "What a wonderful day."

Patrick bent down to kiss his wife before gently shifting the baby in his arms. "Hello, baby girl," he cooed. "I'm your daddy."

"She winked at you, Dad!" Timothy whispered. So far, his new sister had settled in quietly, but Tim knew enough about babies to realize a startled infant could easily disturb that peace and quiet.

"Of course she did. She is my daughter, after all." He rubbed his thumb over the soft skin of her forearm. "You could wink right away, too, you know. You were practically a prodigy."

They laughed bounced his sister's tiny feet. "This is very good, Dad. Much better than a choir competition!"

"Just you wait, Tim. I have a feeling we'll be having a few late night concerts of our own. You might not prefer them."

Shelagh returned, carrying a small wooden chest. As Timothy took it and placed on the floor by his father he noticed her cheeks were again wet with tears. "Are you going to cry all the time?" he teased.

Shelagh laughed. "I can't help it. I've been given everything I ever dreamed of." She reached out and hugged him hard. "I love you, silly boy." As testament to his devotion to his stepmother, Timothy put his arms around her and hugged her back. Shelagh pulled away and asked, "Can you get it for me?"

He nodded. "In a jiffy," he grinned and took off for the hallway.

Patrick looked to his wife. "What are you two up to?" he asked, curious.

"It will make sense in a moment," Shelagh told him. She settled next to her husband, wrapping her hand around his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. A broken sigh escaped her lips. "I am the luckiest woman in the world." Her fingers grazed over the baby's feet and she bent to kiss the tiny toes.

"I've got it," Tim announced, returning to the room. "Should we put it in the chest?" He held in his hands the bright felt sunflower they had found on the cot at the end of the row.

"How did you get that?" Patrick asked. He couldn't remember much from the nursery, only the feel of his daughter in his arms and the look on Shelagh's face when she held her for the first time. They had gone directly to Mrs. Litchcroft's office to sign the papers that made Angela theirs, and soon after, they were home.

"Timothy asked about it when you went to bring the car around." Shelagh took the flower in her hands and smoothed it on her lap. Her shoulders began to shake as she tried to control her emotions. Patrick put his arm around her, comforting her.

"It's all right, sweetheart," he soothed. His eyes closed against his own tears as she pressed her face into his shoulder.

"I wondered why none of the other cots had one," Tim told his father, "so I asked the nurse that brought us some supplies. She didn't know, she said the babies never usually had anything like that."

Shelagh looked up. "I realized it must be from her mother." Another tear slipped down her cheek.

Patrick smiled at his wife as he pulled her closer. "You're Angela's mother, sweetheart. We are her family. We were put together for a reason."

Shelagh gave him a watery smile. "Yes, dearest. I feel that way, too. But that poor girl…" She struggled to find words, fighting tears. "That poor girl must have such an enormous hole in her heart. To have to give up this precious gift. And she'll never be able to fill that emptiness. It breaks my heart to think what her life will be like."

"Love, she did a brave thing. She put herself second to her child." Patrick tenderly wiped tears from her cheek with his thumb. Shelagh would save everyone if she could, he thought. How blessed he was that she had chosen him. "Her gift to Angela is so much more than this sunflower. She gave her hope. Now it's our job to help fulfill that precious legacy."

Shelagh beamed up at him and he knew he had said just the right thing to ease her distress. She reached up and caressed his cheek. "I'm so very lucky to have you, Patrick."

"Um, this is all very nice, but I'd feel lucky if you could wait for the kissing part until later, maybe?" Tim interjected.

His parents laughed. Shelagh wiped her eyes again, and handed her boy the sunflower. "You do it, Timmy. You found her first treasure, so you should put it in her memory box."

Timothy opened the old wooden box and placed the felt flower at its satin-lined bottom. "There's a lot of space in here. I suppose that's because it's all in front of us now, isn't it?"