Five and a half months later, Charlotte's sitting on the couch, leaned against Cooper, as they watch American Idol reruns on TV.

Cooper suddenly sits up, displacing his wife's head, which was resting on his shoulder. "Char." He shakes her.

She slaps his hand. "A little warnin' woulda been nice."

"Madelyn's crawling."

She turns her head towards her daughter. "Would ya look at that? Our baby girl is crawlin'."

"Shhh. Don't disturb her."

"She's not a damn zoo animal, Coop." She watches Madelyn lunge towards the steps, reaching up, trying to climb up the gate.

The doorbell rings, which startles Madelyn. She stops crawling and tears well up in her eyes, her bottom lip quivering as a few loud sniffles and sobs escape.

Charlotte stands up and hoists her daughter in the air, setting her on her hip. She checks the peephole and then unlocks the door. She opens the door wide and blinks. "What're you guys doin' here?"

"You never come visit us, so we decided to come visit you." Landry walks into the living room and looks around. "Nice place, Charlie."

Duke walks in a minute later. "Miss us, Charlie?"

"Oh, you have no idea," she jokes.

Duke and Landry look at Cooper. "Hey."

Cooper nods, offering a wave and a 'hey' back. He stands up and walks over to Charlotte, pressing a kiss to her cheek and messing up Madelyn's blonde hair. "I'll be back later. I have to go pick Mason up from Luke's house."

"Great. You're leavin' me alone with these knuckleheads. Thanks."

Cooper laughs. "I'll be back." He looks between her brothers. "Be nice." He runs upstairs and two minutes later, he's out the door.

Charlotte eyes her brothers' suitcases. "How long you plannin' to stay? Ten years?"

"Very funny and the second suitcase is stuff from the house. Momma thought you'd wanna have some of your old crap." Landry looks at the infant in his sister's arms. "Is that my niece?"

"It sure is."

"Let me have 'er."

"You been drinkin' today?"

"Had one on the plane." Landry pauses. "I ain't drunk, Charlie."

Charlotte hesitantly hands Madelyn over to Landry, smoothing down the hair Cooper had tousled. "Don't drop her."

"I've held babies 'fore, sis. You know how many of our cousins have popped a kid out since you've been out here in LaLa land?"

Madelyn squirms and starts crying.

Charlotte rubs her daughter's arm and presses a kiss to her cheek. "It's ok, baby girl. This is your Uncle." She leads her brothers to the couch and sits down on the chair. "She doesn't like strangers, right now. Hates them, actually. She's goin' through a phase."

"She looks more like you in person than she does in the pictures you've sent us," Landry observes, lifting up Madelyn's arms as she clutches his fingers.

Charlotte nods. "You two hungry?" She glances at her watch. "We can go out for an early dinner when Coop comes home with Mason. I'm sure you're starvin'."

"I could go for a burger."

"You want a snack to tide ya over?"

"Whatcha got?"

"We've pretty much got everythin'." Charlotte pauses. "You can go take a look."

Landry stands up and hands Madelyn back to her mother.

Duke follows him into the kitchen and they search the pantry.

Charlotte adjusts the infant after she starts whimpering and shakes her head. "We're gonna have an interestin' few days, Blue." She presses a kiss to the top of her head and disappears into the kitchen. "Come out on the deck when you find somethin' to eat." She opens the doors and steps outside.

Charlotte's pushing Madelyn in her swing when Duke and Landry emerge from the kitchen. "You two plannin' on stayin' here?"

"If ya got room for us."

"There's one extra bedroom in the main house and another bedroom in the pool house. You can fight over which one of ya gets what bedroom."

"Rock-paper-scissors," Landry suggests.

"What are you twelve?" Charlotte pulls back the swing and lets go.

Madelyn kicks her legs and holds on, smiling and giggling as the wind blows through her hair. She babbles and smacks her lips together.

"Havin' fun, baby girl?" Charlotte smiles and glances at her brothers. "I can't believe you're really doing rock-paper-scissors."

"I win!" Duke shouts.

"It's best two out of three, you bonehead."

"Fine. I'll just beat ya again."

"What bedroom you playin' for?"

Duke shrugs. "Whoever wins gets to pick. If I win, which I'm gonna, I'm gonna pick whichever bed is comfiest." He looks at Landry. "Rock-paper-scissors-shoot." He flattens his hand. "Paper beats rock. Ha. I win." He disappears towards the pool house to try out the mattress.

"So how's what's her name? Janna—was that it?"

Landry nods. "We broke up."

"Bummer. I thought she was wife material—if you overlook the fact that she's old enough to be our momma and she's still married."

"Hey! I loved her and she was separated and going through a divorce. I did nothing wrong." Landry pauses and takes out his cell phone. He shows Charlotte his background picture. "This is my girl, Amanda."

Charlotte takes the phone to get a better look at the picture. "She's cute. Don't screw it up."

"Why do you assume that I always screw it up?"

Charlotte twists her mouth and raises an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna answer that. I don't have to." She pauses. "Is it serious? With you and this girl?"

Landry nods. "Pretty serious. We've knocked boots a few times."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh, you mean like do I love 'er?"

Charlotte nods. "Do you feel somethin' for her or is this just another hit and run?"

"I like her. I really like her."

"Then I repeat—don't screw it up."

Landry just rolls his eyes. "How're you and Cooper?"

Charlotte smiles. "We're great. It's been an adjustment for sure, but we're doin' great."

"When momma came home from your weddin', she was convinced you made a mistake. I'm glad she was wrong. I wouldn't want what happened with Billy to happen again."

"Aw, you didn't wanna see me get hurt again?"

Landry rolls his eyes again. "Shut up."

Charlotte laughs and stops the swing. She lifts Madelyn out and sets her on her hip. "I'm gonna go change her real quick. The guest bedroom is across from the kitchen in case I'm not downstairs by the time Duke comes to test the bed out." She looks at Madelyn and gives her a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Let's go get you changed, Blue." She walks into the house and heads up the steps.

Charlotte's in the kitchen, giving Madelyn her dinner, when Cooper walks in. "Mason didn't want to come home, did he?"

Cooper laughs. "Nope, but he had to 'cause Luke's going to San Francisco tomorrow to see his dad." He pauses. "What's for dinner?"

"I was thinkin' we could go out to eat since my brothers are here. Nothin' fancy, just somethin' simple like the diner."

"Sounds good to me." He drops a kiss on the top of Madelyn's head. "You're enjoying those peas and carrots, aren't you, Blue?"

Madelyn tilts her head back, turning it slightly, and looks up at her father, giving him a toothy grin. She babbles and turns back to Charlotte when she sees the spoon out of the corner of her eye.

He can't help but smile. "Eat up." He looks at Charlotte. "Where are your brothers?"

"Landry's takin' a nap in the guest bedroom and Duke's takin' a shower. We'll leave in about a half hour."

"Are you happy they're here?"

She shrugs. "I'll answer that the day they leave." She wipes the corners of her daughter's mouth and feeds her another spoonful.

"Fair enough." He pauses. "I'm gonna let Mason know what we're doing for dinner."

"Ok." She focuses on Madelyn again, cleaning her up as she feeds her.

Cooper smiles and heads upstairs.

All six of them are circled around a table at the diner, waiting for their orders. Charlotte's keeping an eye on Madelyn, who's drinking from her bottle. "Slow down, Blue, or you'll get yourself a tummy ache," she warns, not that she expected her daughter to obey or understand her. She takes the bottle out of the infant's mouth and sets it in front of her.

Madelyn squirms and whimpers, reaching her arms out. She burps and some milk dribbles down her chin.

The server comes over to the table and sets each of their plates in front of them before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Charlotte stares at her cheeseburger and her mouth waters. She's starving. Her appetite's just too large for her usual salad. She wipes Madelyn's mouth and slips the bottle back into her mouth.

Madelyn sniffles and holds her bottle in place.

"I was just givin' you a break." Charlotte picks up her burger and takes a bite. "Yum." She catches a glimpse at Mason. "Can you use your knife and fork, please?"

Mason picks up his knife.

"Thank you." Charlotte goes back to eating her cheeseburger.

Cooper rests his hand on his wife's thigh and slowly inches upwards.

Charlotte pulls back the cheeseburger, turns her head, and arches one eyebrow. She drops one hand and slaps his away. "Not HERE, not NOW," she emphasizes.

Cooper smirks and cuts his burger in half.

Charlotte swallows and tries to focus on her dinner.

Landry snickers, looking up from his burger.

"What're you laughin' 'bout?"

"Oh, nothin'." Landry pauses. "But I do want to remind you that there are small children at this table—your small children."

"Hush." Charlotte sets her burger down and takes a sip of her water.

"I think Charlie needs a lesson in proper dinner etiquette, Lan," Duke adds.

Charlotte rolls her eyes and glares at Cooper. "Thank you, by the way."

Cooper throws up his hands in defense. "What did I do?" He laughs.

Charlotte makes a conscious effort to ignore them. She focuses on her dinner, trying to enjoy every last bite.

Later that night, Charlotte's sitting up in bed, going through the boxes her mother sent up with her brothers. She pulls out a picture and laughs. "Why did I ever think that hairstyle looked good?"

Cooper walks out of the bathroom and peers over the shoulder. "Oh man, you look hot."

She turns his head and slaps him on the leg with the photo.

"Ow." He rubs his leg and crawls into bed. "What's all this?"

"Some old stuff my momma sent up with my brothers. It's all my horseback ridin' ribbons, honor roll certificates, some notes from when I was in high school, and a whole bunch of pictures."

He grabs a picture from the top of the disorganized pile. "Who's this?"

She takes the picture. "One of the guys my daddy hired to tend to the stables on the weekends."

"There's more to that story, isn't there?"

"Yes, but that's none of your business." She stuffs the picture back into the pile and picks up another one.

"How old were you in that picture?"

"Six."

"You look so cute in all your riding gear, especially 'cause that helmet is way too big for you."

She laughs. "It kept slidin' down."

He takes another picture out of the box. "Who are these people?"

She looks over at him. "That's a picture of my parents on their weddin' day. I guess my momma wanted me to have a copy of it." She takes it from him and looks at it more closely. "Wow. Big Daddy looks so young." She smiles.

A picture buried in the pile catches his eye so he retrieves it and looks at it. "I remember this."

She takes the photo and looks at it. "That was at Big Daddy's funeral."

He nods.

A thin layer of moisture coats her eyes and she feels tears pool into the corners. She blinks and sets the photo of the two of them on top of the pile.

"Charlotte?"

Her thumb brushes against the photo she has in her hands, her parents' wedding picture, and blinks rapidly.

He moves the box and scoots closer to her. He lies beside her, his body touching hers, and wraps his arm around her shoulders and drapes his other arm across her waist.

She hasn't thought about her father in a while, but she's usually ok when she does. She's sad, but it fades. This is the first time she's really let herself get to this point—tears, heavy breathing, a slight quiver of her body.

He rubs her side. He doesn't know what to say to her because his parents are still alive. He doesn't understand. All he can do is lie there and be her silent support.

She rubs her eyes and turns her head, their noses bumping into each other. She smiles and presses her lips against his, angling her head slightly. She melts into him and rolls onto her side. She wraps her arms around him and rests against his chest. A few tears leak out and she steadies her breathing.

He rubs her back and hugs her tighter. "You wanna finish looking at these pictures?"

She separates from him and whisks away the tears. She nods. "Um, yeah."

"You ok?"

She nods. "Just had a moment. I'm ok."

He brushes his thumb against her cheeks and kisses her on the lips delicately.

She curls her toes, feeling the kiss surge through her body. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He searches through the pile of pictures, looking for one that will either make her laugh, smile, or embarrass her—either one will help get her mind off her father and that's exactly what he wants to do. Perfect. He finds one where she's half naked, wearing her diaper on top of her head.

She immediately snatches the photo from him and stuffs it under her butt. "Erase that from your memory."

"Sorry, no can do."

She scowls and pushes him. "Maybe I should call your mother and have her send me your baby pictures. We'll see who's laughin' then."

He shuts up quickly, his mouth going completely straight.

She sniffles and looks at Cooper. "I'm tired of looking at pictures."

"Ok?"

She sets the box on the floor and clutches the hem of his shirt in her hands. She moves closer to him and their lips meet.

He gives in to her advances and pushes her sweatshirt off her shoulders. His goal was to cheer her up, but he managed that and more.

She pushes his shoulder down against the mattress and rolls on top of him. She looks down into his eyes and smirks. She's said it before, but she'll say it again. She's grateful she has him. He managed to cheer her up, make her mad, and get her in the mood all at the same time—he's got skills.

He shifts, rolling over, so she's on the bottom. He glances at the door, making sure it's locked, and then kisses her. "This is much more fun than looking at pictures."

"Mmhmm," she mumbles against her lips and pulls on his hair.

"I love you," he whispers between kisses.

She nods and shifts on the mattress. She pulls back a little and presses her finger to his lips. "Shhhh."

"Yes, ma'am." He laughs and gets back to kissing her.

The End

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