THE WALKER RANCH

"Let me see," Khaat said, taking the puff from him. She looked over the little purring ball of fuzz quickly. "Its a boy. Sometimes with all that fuzz, its hard to tell. I can see why you would have a tough time with that. Mom, do any of them seem to have name preferences?"

"Not at this age," Katherine said, "they're too little. They'll adjust to pretty much whatever you want to call them. But they're ready to go to new homes whenever someone wants them. If you're ready for it, I'm sure you could take him tonight, John. Just don't let it lose in the house until you get it trained. Otherwise, they can be really hard to find. They can fit in all kinds of places--especially when they're little like this."

John smiled "can we dad?" he asked holding the fluff ball close to his chest as he looked at his dad weho seem tot o him lost in a day dream "Dad?" he asked knudging his leg.

Steven felt the nudge and looke down at John "humm, sure but you look after it , I'll biuld an encloshure in the barn" he said and sighed risding his cup only to find the coffee now cold.

"They eat almost anything," Katherine said. "By now, they're eating bugs, leftovers from your dinner, or anything else they can get ahold of. Just make sure you keep them in their cages when you go to bed. You really don't want them wandering the house at night. So, what are you going to call him, John? There's hot coffee in the pot, Steven. Help yourself."

Steven looked up ather his face confused "ow right sure sorry off in my own world I guess Khaat " he said tiping out his old cold coffee and poring a fresh cup.

John smiled "Fred" he said grinning "and I have ann old hamster cage he could stay there till he grows out of it" he said "I have todd the frog and Fred the rabow pigmy puffball " he chucked as he looked at Andrew "you gonna get one?" he asked

"I don't know," Andrew said. "I'm only allowed one pet at Hogwarts, and I already have Frog. If I got a puff too, I'd only get to see it on breaks. I'm not sure. I might just enjoy yours for now. They're great, and all, but it doesn't seem fair to have a puff I would only see part of the time." Andrew yawned. His stomach was quite full, and he was warm, and this, so far, felt like a safe place. And he didn't have to look behind his back every few minutes. He didn't have to be on guard.

John srugged his shoulders " ok what ever , its your choice , you can play with fred" he said smiling seeing Andrew yawn he too yawned feeing now very tired.

Steven saw the two boys yawn " seems I have two very tired young boys , what shall i ever do?" he said mokingly he drank his coffee, he knew of corse they would eventually fall asleep and he would have to ask some one to help get them home.

"Leafve them here, Steven," Robert laughed. "I am quite sure we have more than enough spare rooms. You could pick them up in the morning. But that's up to you, of course. They're welcome to stay. They might like the same room you had. It wasn't that far from Kates and mine. Whatever you think."

Steven looked t both boys and smiled " sure I think they would like that" he could not help but yawn himself ether "ow my" he said covering his mouth as he did "Its contagouse " he said grinning though he knew he would get back home, or so he hoped.

Khaat stood up. "Come on, Boys, before we have to carry you to bed." She led both boys inside and down the hall to the room that Steven had had and showed them around the room. She conjured their clothes into pajamas and helped them into bed. She tucked them in, and turned out the light, leaving the door open just a crack for a little light. She wasn't surprised when she didn't hear a peep from the room as she left to rejoin the others.

"I think they were both asleep before their heads hit the pillows," Khaat said, sitting down at the fire ring again.

Steven smiled ,but felt his own tired ness creeping slowly over him, he could not help think back once more to his time with janet and how in love he had been, he knew nothing could replace her he undertood that, but he wondered if he would find another he could love , or even if he could love again that was the qquetion that danced in his mind s he looked into the swirling brown liquid that sat in his cup.