I know this is super late and I apologize. Life has been extremely crazy plus I have been dealing with depression which hinders my ability to write. Thank you so much for reading this story. I do hope you enjoy this chapter. 

"Found Ezra?" Stephen repeated slightly confused. "I thought he was..."

 "Ezra is my adopted son," Kanan chuckled.

"Never would have guessed that. He looks so much like you," Stephen remarked sitting back in his seat.

Kanan shook his head and grinned. 

"He sure does. Heh, he even acts like I did at that age. Kind of scary, actually." 

"So what happened?" The older man chuckled. 

"It was about an hour after the shooting..." 

Flashback 

"Boy, not that I am grateful, but what you did was stupid," Janus chastised wrapping up the graze. 

"I couldn't stand by and let you get killed," Kanan winced. 

"I've lived a long time, Kanan," the man said before sighing. "I did a lot of stupid things as a young man. Things that I regret but I have asked for forgiveness and I've been trying to live right." 

"But you're the only family I have left!" Kanan cried tears forming in the corner of  his eyes. "I lost my home, my friends, my Mother! I can't lose you too!" 

"Kanan," Janus soothed squeezing his shoulders. "Kid relax, it's okay, I'm here. Take a deep breath." 

After a few minutes the teen's breathing returned to normal. 

"You good now?" 

Kanan nodded. 

"Good. Now, let's get out of here. I still want to check out that land."

Together, the two saddle their horses and rode out of town. 

"Wow!" The teen exclaimed when they reached the property thirty minutes later. 

"Mighty fine country," Janus remarked. "I could definitely see several head of cattle and maybe even a few horses too." 

Kanan's grin widened at the thought. He could raise and train them. It was going to be awesome! However, he was brought of his thoughts by a small cry. 

"Did you hear that?" He asked turning to Janus. 

"Hear what?" 

Kanan closed his eyes straining to hear where the cries where coming from. . 

A second louder cry called out from the side.

"There it is again," he said jumping down from his horse. 

"Kanan what are you doing?" Janus asked. 

"I can hear a baby and it's close." 

Stalking forward, the young man could hear the whimpers more clearly. 

Janus dismounted as well and went to join when he spied what looked like broken branches. He decided to investigate and felt his heart drop. Kanan meanwhile kept walking toward the sounds and finally found it the source. A crate laid on its side and when Kanan looked inside he found a small baby boy. 

"Hello there Little One," the teen whispered picking up the crying infant. "Where are your parents? Huh?" 

The baby stopped crying, gazing up at Kanan with wonder. 

"Hey you're pretty cute," Kanan said glad to see that there wasn't anything wrong physically. 

Glancing down he spied a blanket with the name, "Ezra" embroider on it. 

"Ezra?" Kanan whispered causing the boy to giggle. 

"Ezra," Kanan said again and the boy laughed.

"Okay, Ezra it is," he said grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around the small child. 

Walking out of the bushes, he saw Janus with a grim look on his face. 

"Janus, what's wrong?" 

The man turned to his horse and grabbed a small shovel from his pack. 

"Is the infant alright?" His voice gruff. 

"Yes, he's fine. Janus..." Kanan trailed off realizing what had happened to the parents. 

"They're dead, aren't they?" 

Janus nodded and stepped over to the two. 

"It happened a short time ago. The horse broke loose and the wagon went crazy. There was nothing the two could do." 

Kanan looked at the baby who had snuggled against him and went to sleep. 

"The father was barely alive when I reached them. He said he wanted to make sure his son was safe. As of right now we are the only people that cares about what happens to this kid," Janus sighed at the last statement. 

"I'll come down and help," Kanan offered. 

"No," Janus ordered. "Take the little one back to town and wait for me." 

Kanan went to argue when Janus grabbed onto his ponytail. 

"Kid this is not up for debate. I feel a storm coming on and I don't want the little one out in it."

Glancing up the teen finally noticed the dark clouds that had started to gather. 

"Please be careful," he said. 

The older man chuckled patting him on the shoulder.  

"Don't worry about me; you make sure this one is taken care of. I'll meet you back at the room." 

Kanan sighed before nodding. Janus helped him mount and waved as the teen took off. 

Present

"Does Ezra know what happened that day?" Stephen asked curiously. 

"I told him," Kanan answered. "He accepted it and we've been happy since." 

"So is Janus still around?" The older man asked nervously. 

Kanan shook his head sadly. 

"He was right about the storm. Janus had made back just as a twister struck. He rushed up to our room and got us down the stairway when the hotel was hit. He was hurt severely and I stayed with him as he died. I remember Janus thanking me for being his friend and for believing in him. Said it was because of my mother's kindness that he turned his life around. He said that I would know what to do and take care of Ezra. I promised and he passed away shortly after that.  I debated leaving Ezra with a nice family but every time I moved out of sight, he cried. I knew I couldn't do it, so I packed everything I could, grabbed the horses, loaded them up and we rode out town. We made it here to Prairie Rose and never looked back." 

Stephen sat back not sure what to say. He felt horrible for the things his son went through and he wasn't there to help them. He also was grateful that Janus stood by the boy and didn't let anything happen to him. Guess people can change. 

"Father?" Kanan questioned knocking from his musings. 

"I'm sorry," he quickly apologized. "I...I..I just can't fathom all the horrors you went through. What Ezra must have went through." 

"It was hard at first but we've made it so far and even gained a few new members along the way." 

Stephen went to ask when a woman in her late twenties burst into the office. 

"Kanan!" 

The deputy cringed before standing. 

"Hi Honey." 

Hera glared at him before crossing her arms. 

"Don't hi Honey me, I have been worried sick about you and Ezra. Now where is he?" 

"With Zeb, he said that he didn't have any chores so I told him he could ride back with me," Kanan offered walking over to her. 

"I gave him and Sabine the day off but I expected that you would have been back  an hour ago," Hera said relaxing a bit. 

"I'm sorry," the man apologized giving her a hug. "I got held up."

Hera opened her mouth to ask when Stephen cleared his throat, gaining their attention. 

"I'm afraid I'm the reason. My apologies Ma'am," he said taking his hat off. 

Hera studied the ranger for a few seconds causing the man squirm slightly under her gaze, feeling like he was a young boy about to get scolded. 

"Since I don't see Zeb, I'm guessing this isn't official marshal business," she remarked turning to Kanan. 

"Well," Kanan drew out the word rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a long story but um...this is actually Texas Ranger Stephen Dume, my father." 

"WHAT?" 

Hera gaped slightly staring between the two men. 

"Your father?" She asked after a few minutes. 

Kanan grinned shrugging his shoulders. 

"Surprise?"

Shaking her head, Hera stepped up to the ranger and extended her hand. 

"Hera Jarrus, it's nice to meet you." 

"Likewise," Stephen said taking it. "If I may say so, that is quite the gaze you have. You must be a school teacher." 

"Hera's the best," Kanan stepped in. " I know mine and Ezra's life has gotten better since she arrived." 

"Always the sweet talker," she smiled at him. 

"That's cause you like it," he smirked. 

Hera rolled her eyes turning he attention to Stephen once more. 

"If you are staying in town for a few days we would love to have you out for dinner." 

Stephen nodded his thanks. 

"That's mighty kind of you Ma'am, but I must admit that I am not traveling alone. My daughter an I are on the trail of several bandits." 

"You're at least a day ahead of them, besides I would like to talk more about what we were discussing," Kanan said leaving no room for an argument. 

Stephen huffed a small laugh and shook his head. 

"You're just like your mother. Alright you talked me into it." 

I do hope you enjoyed this. Again I'm sorry that it is late. I'm gonna start doing first point of view in the next chapter. Have a wonderful day!!!!!!!!