As Donna, Robert, Mark, Delilah, Michelle, and Bill walked out of the office, Bill spoke.

                  "You know kids, if you're serious about getting married as soon as possible, I can talk to Steve. I'm sure he'd do it wherever you decide to have your wedding, and he'd charge as little as possible."

                  "Who's Steve?" Asked Robert.

                  "Dad's judge friend. He stays at the farm every now and then." Replied Donna. "We'd love to have him, Dad." She replied.

                 Bill nodded. "So what else do you need? You have your dress, you have your license, I'll get Steve on the phone tonight, so you got your officiant, do you guys know where you want to have the wedding?"

                 "If it's okay with you, we wanted to have it on the farm, in the yard." Replied Robert, squinting at the bright sunlight. "It's okay with me," Bill said with a shrug.

                "I think the only thing we need is to make sure he'll do it, and maybe to get some food from the grocery store, I hear the bakery at the store makes decent wedding cakes for short timeframes, and then, oh wait, Robert do you have a suit?" Asked Donna.

                 "I got my blue suit. The one I had since high school, still going strong." Replied Robert with a grin.

                "Then yeah, that's everything." said Donna.

                "What about a honeymoon?" Asked Michelle, unable to conceal her smile.

                "We can't afford that Mom," said Donna, glancing back at Robert.

                "Of course you can. It doesn't have to be expensive. Just, take a drive somewhere, stay in a little roadside motel, see something you haven't before." Michelle suggested.

                "Just between us, I'll raise your pay for a few weeks so you can afford it." whispered Bill to Robert. "Thanks," Robert whispered back.

               "Robert, what do you think?" Asked Donna, as she approached the passenger side of the truck.

                "I think we can do it." said Robert, going around to the driver's side. They followed Bill and Michelle back to the farm.

              Once back home, the group filed into the house. It was a Saturday, but farms never stopped needing tending to, so Robert asked, "What do we gotta do today?"

            Bill thought for a moment. "The animals need to be fed,  you have to herd the sheep and the cows, I got a field that needs plowing, and Donna, I'm gonna need you to vaccinate Hubert." He'd said, referring to a recently purchased pig.

           "Got it," said Robert, and he and Donna headed out the back door.

           In the barn of the horses, Robert decided to seize his moment alone with Donna. "So what's going on, what are you thinking?" He asked as she placed her saddle on Ella.

          "Me? Nothing, why? Is there something on your mind?" She asked, not really looking at him.

           "I just wanna know how you feel about everything. Everybody just kinda got caught up with the kids being able to stay, no one's really asked about you." He said, putting a saddle on Experience and mounting her.

          "Well, I mean, I don't know what I feel. Or, what I should feel. I guess the only thing I've been thinking about is our wedding, and the kind of things we'll be taking over. Like the bills, the mortgage, the kids and their school, you know?"

           "That's not what I mean." He said, watching her mount Ella. "I mean, are you sure it's worth it to you? Have you seriously considered everything you won't be able to have anymore if you do this? You won't get to be a teacher, you won't get to move to the far South..." He trailed off, reminding her of the heavy price that would come with being his wife.

         "I  already made that decision when I jammed a keyring on your finger in front of CPS." She'd said with an uncomfortable laugh that Robert shared.

        "What about you? I mean, think of the stages you'll never play, the girls you'll never meet," She mused.

         "No matter what, I know that foster care isn't an option for Mark and Delilah. I'm willing to pay that cost." He replied.

        The pair rode out to the sheep barn in silence. Robert couldn't help but think about his resurrected feelings for Jean. Why did he have to still be in love with her? Why was she everything he ever wanted? Why did his feelings for her outweigh his buried feelings for Donna? Why was this keyring so damn tight?

        Donna thought about the only thing Robert didn't list when he'd read off the terms. Kids. Her kids. She would never get children of her own, no one could ever call her Mom. Mark and Delilah had their own parents. At best, she would be like a stepmother. Loving from a distance.

        The two stopped outside the barn, and looked at each other, completely silent. And then they both started to cry.