July had come and gone as the beginning of August rolled around and Jane Letty was filling her suitcase. She was having a bit of trouble pulling the zipper closed.

"You need a little help?" Jane turned to see her foster siblings in the door. The one who had spoke was Amy, the oldest of the children, she was turning 18 in a week and was about to leave the foster home.

"Yes please," Jane said quietly.

Her foster siblings smiled and walked over to help with the bag, "You know, we are really happy for you. We know it's been hard, being separated from your siblings and all."

"This is just a visit though, I'll be back in no time," Jane half smiled, not sure if this was a good thing or not.

"What happens if you get adopted and your sister doesn't," A younger kid asked.

"Leo!" Amy scolded.

"It's alright, I've thought about that before, but I think God wants us together," She explained, "We haven't been adopted yet."

"That's a good way to think about it," Amy smiled, "Are you ready for me to drive you to the airport?"

She nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather bounced up and down in anticipation. Lily, Aubrey and Jenny had all helped her get ready. Her blonde curls were up magnificently and she had on a very pretty white lacy dress that fell to the top of her knee high boots. She looked breath taking. All of Heather's foster family and the Marshalls had gathered at the ranch for the excitement. She was sitting in a room upstairs, accompanied by Lily, Aubrey and Jenny. The Marshall boys were waiting in a room across the way.

"Why can't I see them now?" Heather asked again.

"We want you to all see each other together. It's been almost two years." Aubrey explained.

"Besides, the boys aren't here yet." Lily added.

Heather thought she might die if she waited any longer. Fortunately, she found herself getting a bandana tied around her eyes as a blindfold and being walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

She was pulled behind the table when finally, Miss Dorothy announced, "Blindfolds off in 3...2...1!"

Heather tore off her blindfold and nearly screamed. It wasn't real, it couldn't be. Life couldn't be this good. It hadn't been this good in nearly two years.

Heather ran into her siblings arms and stayed there for a few minutes. She looked up at Luke, who was (and always had been) taller than her, but now he seemed to be towering over her. His dark hair was tousled and messy, like it always was, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. Then there was Ben. He was only 5, but he seemed so much older since the last time she'd seen him. And lastly Jane, beautiful, graceful, Jane. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders and her smiled match that of her father's which made Heather want to cry even more.

The Marshall brothers smiled in the corner. These were the people they had been filling in for. Seeing the siblings together made them question how good of a job they had been doing, surely nothing could come close to the bond between siblings. Inside, you can be sure, they shedded a few tears, but of course, that didn't show on the outside.

They had lunch, specially cooked by Mrs. Marshall and Miss Dorothy. They told stories and reminisced over past things. A little while into the lunch Jane made a special announcement.

"Heather," She grinned, "Luke, Ben and I have a surprise for you."

Heather waited for her surprise.

"If it is alright with your foster family, we've got permission to move to Maine and live with the boys! They said they'd give us another chance!" She cried in excitement.

Heather's entire face lit up. Everyone in the room cheered for the happy family. The Marshall boys exchanged glances and tried to cheer and clap with equal enthusiasm as the rest of the room, but Heather's surprise wasn't quite what they had wanted to hear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Andrew pulled aside his brothers at the party, "What do we do?" He hissed low.

"She has to go. This is a once in a lifetime chance," Craig said.

"But, she's ours."

"No, Andrew, she's theirs." Jeff subtly pointed to the Letty family.

"You have to remember, we were just filling in," Craig reminded.

"We set this up, we arranged her siblings to come, I didn't think they'd take her." Andrew crossed his arms.

"This is coming from the one who detested the idea of having a buddy to begin with," Jeff pointed out.

Andrew scowled.

"We can't let her stay," Jeff said, "I'll miss her too, but we've got to let her go."

"We'll see about that." Andrew began to make his way towards Heather but Craig caught his arm.

Andrew looked at his brother who shook his head. All hope was lost.