The white haired man sat in the old rocking chair on the veranda, surveying the picture before him. The snow capped mountains in the distance sweeping around, marking the borders of his kingdom on one side whilst away to the other side, a green and yellow patchwork quilt spread out as far as his eyes could see spotted occasionally with darker green splashes of colour where trees and bushes grew.In the yard the sound of children’s voices gently murmuring like the water lapping the shores of his beloved Lake Tahoe, every so often bursting through his quiet reverence as the infectious giggling spread it’s way through the ranks of the next generation of Cartwright’s growing sturdily on the land he had given the best years of his life to build. His eyes surveyed his family as they meandered through the yard, each following their own course but all joining together to make the colourful rainbow of family life that brought such happiness to him as he spent more and more time watching the lives of others dance around him.There was Adam, his first born son, the rock upon which he had leaned so heavily during the time they had wandered across the land searching for a place to call their own. The small child who had become a man far too early in life as he accompanied his father, often left with strangers as Ben toiled to raise money so they would eat and be clothed as they continued their journey. The young boy who helped him nurse his baby brother, born on the trail and robbed of his mother whilst still nursing, When they arrived at the spot on which the beautiful house now stood, it was Adam who looked after Hoss during the long days as Ben sweated to build the simple cabin they started in. Later with the arrival of yet another brother, this one born into a safe, loving family secure in their growing homestead, the fathering instinct took over again as the tiny baby with the lungs of an ox made his presence felt. The curly haired, green eyed cherub grabbed at the hearts of anyone peering into his cradle and wrapped them in a charm spell which even to this day continued to cast itself over any who came within reach of him.When yet another wife was ripped untimely from his side, it was Adam who was the strength of the family, supporting the two bewildered children as not only their mother was taken from them, but their father withdrew from their lives too, unable to cope with the grief of another broken heart. Throughout life, that had been Adam, the coping one, the practical thinker, slow to anger, thought by many to express little emotion. Ben knew different. He had seen him through his first love, sat with him as his heart shattered into a million pieces, convinced he would never again find the deep rooted love he had just lost. Time had proven itself to be a great healer as usual, as beside him now was his lovely wife, Rachael, of twelve years and amongst the cacophony of screaming children were the three girls, raven haired beauties of six, seven and nine that they had brought into this world along with their elder brother, at the grand age of ten who watched over his sisters with all the loving attention his own father had once shown to his two such different brothers.Next came Hoss or to give his proper name Eric, the large but tender hearted giant whose position in the family often mirrored life as he stepped between more arguments from his older and younger brothers than he could quite care to remember.This was the child who though so large, strangers often didn’t believe his age, cried himself to sleep at night over the death of the smallest animal, often secreted into the barn unknown to his family when he had found them, hurt, starving or just orphaned. This was the man who for many years had been afraid to open his heart to the wonderful girl at this moment snuggled into his side as they sat on the wide bench next to his father. Hoss had been so sure that no girl could really like him as he was not as clever as Adam, or as charming as Joe and he certainly didn’t have the followers that their handsome faces drew, like moths to a flame, or the heartbreak that came with it! No, with Hoss it had just been a friendship that had grown with the arrival of a late foal as he sat through the night, stroking and caressing the mother as she struggled to expel the baby who no longer wished to be inside her. Josie had kept him company all through the long night and at sunrise just as the foal decided at last to make her delayed entrance into the world, so had the realisation come to Josie that here was the man for her, with his quiet strength, the desire for everyone and everything to live peacefully, and most of all the belief that the future would be grown on the strength of that friendship and as their lives entwined together it would only get stronger.Now they too had added to the group that shouted so excitedly, the sturdy five year old boy shadowing his older cousins as they chased each other in front of the barn, also the sleeping bundle with the shocking tufts of hair that peeked out from under the blanket in the crib which had been placed on the veranda by his grandfather’s chair.

Lastly the baby of his family, Joe, who even though he was now a grown man of thirty-five with touches of the white hair that his father had, silently gracing the mop of once chestnut curls, would always be in his mind, Little Joe, the heart and soul of the Cartwright family and his baby, never quite relinquishing the position of being the protected one.

Not that he hadn’t needed protecting, if there was anyone going to get into a scrape it would be Joe. Mostly on his own but occasionally with his brothers, Joe had had more bruises, grazes, concussions, broken limbs, bullet wounds (as he got older) and other ailments than any boy Ben had ever known. The family friend Doctor Paul Martin who had brought Joe screaming into the world had at one time joked he might as well build his house on the Ponderosa as he would see more of his own family if he did! Life with Little Joe had never been easy for any of them, he had been in such a hurry to grow up, to prove to everyone that he was as good as his older brothers despite the difference in both size and age They were things that he conveniently forgot as he struggled with his smaller stature a legacy of his beautiful but delicate mother who had died before Joe had the time to develop the memories he would often lament about missing. Two pictures and the painting in the study his only link to the pretty lady with the long curly hair that occasionally graced his mind along with the faint whiff of roses that he imagined he could smell whenever he was at his lowest.

Scrapes and tumbles apart, life with Joe was a carousel, at times the whirlwind would keep him going, never one to sit when he could run, trot when he could gallop, he kept his family jumping not knowing what was going to happen next. His temper, ever volatile would blow as he jumped into situations without thinking of the consequences first, then many times he would find himself having to apologise to people, mostly Adam who bore the brunt of Joe’s anger as he approached manhood and strived to be the brother he wanted Adam to be proud of.

Interspersed through all these troubles were the times Joe showed himself to be at his best, the infectious giggle that could invade a room taking no prisoners and causing all in it’s hearing to join in regardless of their feelings. The practical jokes that had been a part of his life whilst growing up and the tormenting of his older brothers with frogs, snails, buckets of water etc. and which even now he was not immune to trying to pull off although the others were less susceptible now so instead he was passing on his teachings to the new generation. His own curly haired, hazel eyed five year old boy child as angelic looking as his father had ever been now ran onto the veranda and clambered into Ben’s lap

“Grandpa, when is Hop Sing gonna bring out my cake?”

“Soon sweetheart soon, the biggest chocolate cake you ever saw!”

Just for a minute Ben was back 30 years to Joe’s fifth birthday, a time when everything had been perfect, a time before the happiness had been ripped from all of them with the death of Marie just a short time later. Almost could he see Marie sitting on the bench where Hoss and Josie now sat, cuddling a tiny boy as Adam brought from the barn a small, dappled pony who trotted up to the veranda as the child wriggled off his mother’s lap and ran to greet it. Small though it was the child barely reached the saddle and had to be hoisted onto it by his taller, stronger brother.

Back in the present, Ben found his attention drawn once more to the child on his own lap.

“Will Mama be here too?” questioned the boy as he wriggled into a more comfortable position on his Grandfather’s knee.

“Yes Benjamin, just as soon as Dr Martin has checked that she is feeling better, they will both be here for your birthday cake.”

“Is Mama gonna have the baby now? Will I have to share my birthday? Jack says that if the baby comes today I will have to share my presents too…will I have to give it some of my new soldiers? What if it’s a girl? They don’t like soldiers.”

The questions rattled on with hardly a pause for breath or chance for Ben to get a word in. Gently he placed a finger over the child’s lips and made a shushing noise.

“Hush little one, your brother or sister is not ready to come just yet, the doctor is just checking Mama as she has been rather tired. I am sure you wouldn’t mind sharing your birthday really..And your cousin Jack is just teasing you. Although I am sure you would share your toys, no-one expects you to share everything straight away and anyway the baby will be too little to play with toys for a while yet, so I think your soldiers are safe.”

Just then Joe came out on to the veranda with his arm carefully supporting his wife as he guided her towards the old blue chair that had been brought outside ready for her to join the family. Amy was 37 weeks pregnant and having trouble moving around without someone to support her. Her slim body was so swollen at the moment that she looked like she would topple over with a puff of wind. Doctor Paul Martin followed the couple outside with a big grin on his face.

“Well Ben!” he boomed “I think you will be a Grandfather again before the week is out! I think this one is as anxious as its father was to join this world”

He then turned to the young child on Ben’s knee,

“But not today young man, so I think you can have your birthday all to yourself! Now did I hear someone mention cake?”

As if on cue an elderly Chinaman came out of the kitchen, shooing the gaggle of children out of his way and waving on a younger version of himself who trailed behind carrying a very large chocolate cake with five soldiers on it that matched the ones Benjamin had been given by his parents that morning.The cake was placed on a table between the chairs of Amy and Ben and the rest of the family gathered around to admire the work of Hop Sing and number 7 cousin who now helped him with the work which he refused to acknowledge was too much for him alone.Benjamin wriggled off his grandpa’s lap and ran to his father who swung him up into his arms.

“I think we’re supposed to do something now, but I can’t remember what.” Laughed Joe as the boy peered, wide-eyed at the cake

“Sing, Sing!!” he shouted joyfully “Uncle Adam please sing.”

Adam laughed and with his rich baritone voice led the family singing, through a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. The child, clapping his hands, laughed out loud and then slipped through his father’s arms and ran to his mother. He climbed into the chair beside her, being careful not to put his hands on her swollen stomach.

“Would you like some cake Mama? You can have a big piece to share with the baby?”

Ben laughed and resumed his earlier musings. This is what his life had been for, the trials and tribulations that they had all come through. The heartbreak that each had suffered, forming the shape of their lives to follow. The joy that the boys had given him as they grew up, so different in their temperaments, yet united in a common bond, to be a family and to carry on the lifeline that was the Ponderosa.

This is it he thought, if my life were to end at this moment, I would say I have reached the perfect moment. The conclusion of my dream.

“Oh Elizabeth, Inger, Marie how we have all missed you, would the boys have grown differently if you had been here? I think I did a good job, I know that you have all been around watching over us at times when it seemed that we could go no further. Now look at them all – grown men and blessed with families of their own to carry on the Cartwright name.”

Without realising it Ben’s eyes grew heavy as the sun slipped downwards casting a rosy hue over the courtyard. The chattering of the family quietened to a dull murmur as the cake was handed round and eaten with relish. Sleep overtook him as content with his life and dreaming of his memories, Ben gave way to the warmth that not only surrounded him on the outside but also crept through his body into all the little dark corners where pain might have lurked, leaving him only happy, perfect dreams.