Page 61 of Their Little Foursome

That was not the same young man who stood before him now. This boy’s stance was relaxed, his feet weren’t shuffling as if in preparation to bolt. His smile came easily and reached his eyes as he looked from the man who’d taught him to trust his instincts and just draw to the man who’d given him a chance to find not only himself, but a family before turning to address those who’d gathered to be a part of this moment.

“When most people think of the Musketeers, they think of three, but there were really four. D’Artagnan left his home to find a place where he belonged, just like I did. When he gets to Paris, he joins the Guard, and meets three Musketeers whose names were Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. They were known as ‘The Inseparables’.” He paused to look at where his family stood. “Just like those men, Gordon, Beverly, and Lori were a trio, a family, before I even knew their names. Then Beverly came to the Ranch and became my Mommy. We were happy, but there was something missing. The day when Gordon and Lori came and I saw them all back together, I thought they were just like the men D’Artagnan had met, the three were enough.”

Gordon heard Beverly give a soft cry and squeezed her hand, trusting their boy to tell his story.

“But I was only partially right. I’ve learned that while Mommy did need Gordon and Lori back in her life, she needed me too. They all needed me as much as I need them.” He gestured toward his drawing. “Just as D’Artagnan learned, as four, we are even better together. All for one and one for all.”

The applause continued long after Blake’s story ended. Lori reached him first, and once again, Gordon held out his hand to help their boy up after he’d been bowled over by a li’l bit of a girl he proudly called his sister.

While Gordon shook Gavin’s hand and thanked him for his generosity with all the Littles, Beverly claimed the rights of a Mommy by smothering Blake with hugs and kisses until Erika took her arm and guided her to stand in front of the desk.

“Come along. We need to take the picture for the?—”

“Scrapbook,” Jared supplied, taking Gordon’s arm and moving him to stand beside Lori. “Perfect, Oh, wait. Who’s got the camera?”

Gordon watched as Derek looked over the top of the counter. Gavin walked around it before returning empty-handed. “It’s not there.”

“Listen, I think I hear it coming,” Erika said.

Huh? How did oneheara camera coming?

Gordon had no time to think of an answer before he heard Lori gasp and saw her point. He looked up to see a procession pouring out of the Littles’ Wing. Musketeers of all sizes marched toward them.

“Good lord, I see Littles every single day, but when you put them all together in one place?—”

“It is rather overwhelming,” Jared finished for him.

“As long as I’m not seeing unicorns, turkeys, goats in pajamas, or pigs flying, I’m good,” Derek said.

“Unicorns? Pajamas? Pigs?”

Travis chuckled. “Those are just a few things we’ve been subjected to by Littles who love to play pranks.”

“Be glad you weren’t here to have your perfectly planned menu destroyed by Brussel sprouts disguised as cake pops or milk that is green,” Connor offered with a huff. “A kitchen is a chef’s kingdom, my ass.”

“Don’t worry, if you run out of wooden spoons, I’ll be glad to carve you some more once I’ve got Gordon and Beverly’s house plans drawn,” Colt offered.

“Now that you’ve accepted my offer to stay, I’m sure you’ll witness things you can’t even begin to imagine,” Derek said.

Gordon was having a hard time keeping up and had no clue what in the hell was going on until he yelped and slapped a hand over his forearm.

“Sorry, Daddy, but I didn’t want you to miss it!” Lori exclaimed.

Blake chuckled. “I told you she pinches, Daddy.”

Gordon’s attention was captured again as swords that had been clasped across their chests, most likely to keep Beverly from having to run to the infirmary for bandages, were now lifted high to point toward their audience. It wasn’t until the Littles got closer that he could see that the crest each one had pinned to their chest matched the one in Blake’s drawing.

The crest was divided into four sections that branched from the center. Each individual quadrant contained a name of one of the four depicted in the sketch. In the center, the spines of four letter “Fs” made the arcs of a heart, their arms reached into the center to touch like fingers of hands linking together.

His throat threatened to close. What had started as a horror story became a fairytale worthy of the Brothers Grimm as the Musketeers moved to surround them. He slid his arm around Beverly’s waist, each of them drawing their Littles close as they became the nucleus of a circle composed of what had to be every Little on the Ranch.

He was startled and jumped a bit when suddenly swords raised high to form a canopy over the heads of his family and feet stomped as one in a thunderclap as they came to a halt.

Derek lifted Everly off her feet, before setting her down a bit to the right. “Oops,” she whispered, trying to hold her sword higher by going up on her tiptoes.

“No worries, darlin’,” Derek said, gesturing for Nanny J and Moses to step into the circle now that the path was clear.

Moses was carrying not only the biggest trophy Gordon had ever seen, but one that only went toward proving the people on this Ranch loved All Hallow’s Eve more than any others he knew. Cast in silver, the bottom of the trophy was a broom. A cat that appeared to have fangs sat on the bristles while a witch and a wizard stood side by side on the handle. Each held one wing of the giant bat hovering above a cauldron front and center of the trophy.

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