\u201cadoption\u201d<\/em><\/strong> mention since it always made him think hard about whether I planned on keeping him.<\/p>\n\u201cPa \u2013 I almost won the whole pot tonight.\u00a0 I would\u2019ve been home sooner but –,\u201d<\/p>\n
That was it!\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t going to listen to the \u201ccrossing the raging river to help a wounded child story again\u201d.\u00a0 It was time to rein that kid in, sprained ankle or not.\u00a0 I set my hand down on the boy\u2019s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.\u00a0 Then I stared at him hard, so he\u2019d know I meant business.\u00a0 By the look on his face, I knew that I had gotten Joseph\u2019s undivided attention.\u00a0 Must\u2019ve been the way I used my eyebrows to express myself, that always got to him!<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, let\u2019s get you upstairs and into bed, Young Man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can make it, I\u2019ll just kind of hop, Pa.”\u00a0 That boy actually expected me to watch him try that too!\u00a0 I\u2019m quite sure he would\u2019ve fallen down another couple of stairs if he\u2019d tried that, but I couldn\u2019t handle anymore injuries so early in the morning.<\/p>\n
Crossing my arms over my chest I said calmly, \u201cJoseph?\u201d\u00a0 I made sure that I phrased his name like a question, hoping that I would instill fear in the kid.\u00a0 He deserved it for staying out so late and scaring me half to death for the millionth time in his life!<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Sir?\u201d the boy answered meekly, which let me know my enunciation of his name had paid off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you hop up the staircase, I want you to be careful.\u00a0 There are two squeaky boards that you need to avoid so you don\u2019t wake anyone up,\u201d I announced and noticed the look on the kid\u2019s face.\u00a0 I guess he thought that I was deaf and hadn\u2019t noticed the sound that those steps made.\u00a0 But now he knew it.\u00a0 And looking over at me he also knew better than to try to outsmart his old man again.\u00a0 Well, that is, until the next time of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Sir \u2013 I think you\u2019re right,\u201d he nodded.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s face still held a hint of bewilderment on it.\u00a0 As many times as I\u2019ve told that boy that anything he\u2019s tried to do I\u2019ve done already he just doesn\u2019t learn.\u00a0 I thought about Miss Gower again.\u00a0 I prayed that she had misjudged my son, but sometimes that little bit of doubt kept creeping back into my mind.<\/p>\n
Yanking the boy up with my left hand, I got a good hold underneath his arm.\u00a0 We made it up the stairs and those two boards squeaked to beat the band as my boots hit them along with Joseph\u2019s one working foot.<\/p>\n
\nThree nights later I found myself delayed making it home from my business at the bank in Virginia City due to a sheriff who needed my assistance.\u00a0 I had left my youngest son with his leg propped up on the settee while his two brothers tended to moving the large herd.\u00a0 Joseph was fine, just hopping around a bit, but I\u2019d made sure to leave him some sandwiches since Hop Sing was busy with a sick relative in town.\u00a0 I knew he\u2019d be okay until I could make it home.\u00a0 Roy Coffee was very appreciative and had held the payroll money in his safe so the two of us could round up the three thieves that he\u2019d caught earlier in the evening.\u00a0 The sheriff had to leave them at the blacksmith\u2019s shop to get enough handcuffs for all three of them.\u00a0 But somehow, they\u2019d gotten away from Will Harkins, the smithy, and Roy had to find them again.\u00a0 So, I understood why the sheriff didn\u2019t want them to get away again and I helped him get them locked behind bars.\u00a0 The only problem was that it had taken hours to capture them.\u00a0 Now it was after two a.m., and I was just heading back to the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n
Roy had told me he\u2019d put me up at the hotel at the expense of Storey County for services rendered, and had things been different at home I\u2019d have taken him up on it.\u00a0 Though a sprained ankle wasn\u2019t much of an injury compared to the usual medical emergencies that Joseph has incurred over the years, still, I wanted to make it home to check on him.\u00a0 Not that concerned about his ankle but more so about the boy\u2019s stomach, I rode with only the light of the full moon to guide me back to the ranch house.\u00a0 Joseph has minimal skills when it comes to preparing food.\u00a0 Now, that\u2019s not saying anything about his intelligence.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying not to think of what Miss Gower would say about that statement right now.\u00a0 However, my youngest can scramble eggs and make toast in a pinch.\u00a0 But if that boy was left to his own devices and made himself a pot of coffee, he might have real difficulties.\u00a0\u00a0 The last time his brothers put him up to making a pot for the rest of us it came out so thick the teaspoons we used to load up on sugar to kill the taste actually stood up inside the cups.\u00a0 I hoped that Joseph had found the little bit of lemonade that Hop Sing had left for him and settled for that and water.\u00a0 If he drank his own coffee, I was worried that I\u2019d have to ride back to town to fetch the doctor.<\/p>\n
Two hours in the saddle and I still had at least another half an hour to go, what with it being so dark and not wanting to make Buck go any faster than he\u2019d wanted to.\u00a0 I wondered what Joseph was thinking.\u00a0 Was he sound asleep on the settee or had he begun to wonder where his old man was at such a late hour?\u00a0 I know what I\u2019d have done if Joseph hadn\u2019t fallen into the house until after three.\u00a0 Of course, the same thing that I had planned to do three nights ago.\u00a0 I was only five minutes from grabbing my holster and hat and going out after him.\u00a0 No, Joseph wouldn\u2019t do a thing like that, I was sure of it.\u00a0 His brothers and all the ranch hands were away and so was Hop Sing.\u00a0 He was probably snooping through Adam\u2019s and Hoss\u2019 things just because he could.\u00a0 I know he\u2019d never go through mine because he knew better.\u00a0 Boys are boys even if my youngest was exactly eighteen years and two months old.\u00a0 Or to say it like Joseph has been saying it for two months, \u201che\u2019s almost nineteen!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nI didn\u2019t notice anything out of place when I finally rode up to the ranch house.\u00a0 Walking Buck into the barn I had to light a lamp to get him settled in for the night before heading across the yard.\u00a0 I spotted the porch light and was pleased that my son had kept it lit for me.\u00a0 Reaching inside my coat I pulled out my pocket watch and stared down at it.\u00a0 It was now twenty minutes after four.\u00a0 I reached for that well-oiled door latch and pushed my way inside.\u00a0 Joseph was standing just on the other side of the settee, and I watched him spin around, almost falling by performing that maneuver too quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPa?\u201d the boy\u2019s voice was so low that I could barely hear it.\u00a0 His eyes shot over to the grandfather clock.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure what he was doing but he looked upset.\u00a0 In fact, as I drew closer, I thought I spotted some tears glistening in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoseph?\u00a0 What are you doing up so late, Boy?\u201d<\/p>\n
I unbuckled my holster and rolled it up.\u00a0 Setting it and the payroll satchel on top of the credenza I removed my hat and turned back to look at the boy.\u00a0 In eighteen years and two months I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen the expression that Joseph was wearing.\u00a0\u00a0 When I got closer to him, he stared at me so intently that it was almost as if he\u2019d never seen me before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you have your holster on, Son?\u201d I asked and placed my hand on the boy\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 It was all beginning to make some sense to me now.\u00a0 The boy looked both scared and relieved at the same time.\u00a0 I also noticed that he kept glancing over at the grandfather clock and then right back over to me like he couldn\u2019t believe I had made it home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u2013 well \u2013 I,\u201d Joe stuttered like he couldn\u2019t think of the words that he wanted to use.\u00a0 He only did that when he was upset or overwhelmed by something.\u00a0 The rest of the time he was very articulate despite the terrible grades he\u2019d gotten in English literature class in school.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoseph?\u00a0 What\u2019s wrong?\u201d I questioned again.<\/p>\n
I watched as the boy dropped his head for a few seconds.\u00a0 I knew exactly what he was doing because I had done the very same thing three days earlier when my son finally came home.\u00a0 I thanked God, and more than once just as Joseph was now doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you okay, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, sorry to get in so late.\u00a0 Roy needed my help with a few prisoners he\u2019d just caught and Clem was home sick.\u201d\u00a0 I tried to explain so he\u2019d know that I hadn\u2019t purposely made him wait and worry.\u00a0 Maybe now the boy would understand how I\u2019ve felt so many nights waiting up for him.\u00a0 At least I hoped so!<\/p>\n
\u201cOh,\u201d Joe said and again dropped his head so I couldn\u2019t get a good look into his eyes which would have said a whole lot more than he was offering me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should be off that ankle, Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI \u2013 I\u2019m okay, Pa,\u201d the boy stuttered again, which told me that he was having a hard time trying to explain how he was feeling.<\/p>\n
For just a few seconds I studied my son\u2019s face, and I knew exactly what was bothering him.\u00a0 Joseph had been terrified that something had happened to me whether he wanted to admit it or not.\u00a0 The expression on his face, though people say we look nothing alike which is probably how the whole \u201cadoption rumor started\u201d, could have been mine three days ago.\u00a0 I knew what my son needed and I wasn\u2019t about to make him wait.\u00a0 I pulled the boy into my arms and held him close to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a good feeling, is it?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
With his face resting against my shoulder, I felt Joe nodding his head and heard him reply, \u201cNo, Pa \u2013 it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done quite a lot of waiting on you for the last eighteen years and two months,\u201d I reminded him about his past penchant for worrying me.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t going to tell him that every white hair on my head had been put there by his antics.\u00a0 He\u2019s heard that one too many times and it didn\u2019t seem like something he needed to hear from me at that moment.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when my son tried his best to tell me what was in his heart and how worried he\u2019d been that something had happened to me.\u00a0\u00a0 Now I could lie and say I was glad that I finally felt vindicated by making my son worry after all he\u2019s done to make me do likewise, but I won\u2019t.\u00a0 No matter what Joseph had done I\u2019d never purposely make him feel the kind of dread that I\u2019ve felt at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cPa \u2013 I\u2019m really sorry.\u00a0 I \u2013 I thought something happened to you.\u00a0 Oh \u2013 Pa \u2013 if I lost you \u2013 I just \u2013 well,\u201d Joe stopped speaking.\u00a0 I knew what he\u2019d been thinking and feeling.\u00a0 The few times that I\u2019d had a life and death situation and the boy thought that he was going to lose me his brothers had later told me that Joseph was inconsolable.\u00a0 It was a plain fact that Joseph was the only one of my sons who had refused to hear what I\u2019ve laid out in my will.\u00a0 I stared down at him and knew that he was reliving the moment that he\u2019d thought that maybe I had been killed on my way home.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t need to make a grand statement full of flourishing words like his brother Adam could do.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t even need to speak straight from his heart in a matter-of-fact way like Hoss did.\u00a0 Joseph spoke in volumes in the way his arms wrapped around my waist and held on tightly.\u00a0 It was as if he was making sure that I was really standing there next to him.<\/p>\n
I wanted to say the right thing to my boy that would somehow ease his mind.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph,\u201d I began and slowly ran my fingers through his curls trying to let him know that his Pa wasn\u2019t going anywhere.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m never going to leave you so get that out of your head.\u00a0 Even when it\u2019s time for me to join your mother I\u2019ll be with you inside your heart.\u00a0 And on those nights that you\u2019ve made me worry about you there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s helped me and that\u2019s knowing that you are forever in my heart<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\nI watched as my boy nodded.\u00a0 That said more than a thousand words to me.\u00a0 Joseph just couldn\u2019t imagine a life without me in it, and I knew that so I accepted the nod as meaning so much more than it might have meant to any other father.\u00a0 When the clock chimed to announce that it was now four thirty, I watched the relief that spread across my son\u2019s face.\u00a0 Then he turned pensive and I knew what he was thinking.\u00a0 He was reflecting on those old doubts again.\u00a0 I suppose part of that is my fault for teasing him over the years.\u00a0 There were times when he acted so badly that, like Miss Gower had, I said he must be adopted.\u00a0 Staring at him I knew that was what he had been thinking about, though I wasn\u2019t exactly sure why.<\/p>\n
I chuckled and patted Joe\u2019s back and remarked, \u201cNo, you\u2019re not!\u201d Then I winked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdopted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019d you know I was thinking that?\u201d the boy looked at me like I was a mind reader.\u00a0 No, I was a Joseph Cartwright reader.\u00a0 And I\u2019d had eighteen years and two months to hone my skills.<\/p>\n
Ruffling a hand through Joe\u2019s curly hair I returned, somewhat mysteriously, \u201cI just know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed when I witnessed what looked like relief spreading across the boy\u2019s face.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ve finally convinced him that like it or not, he is truly Ben Cartwright\u2019s biological son.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re not dumb either.\u00a0 No matter what Miss Gower said,\u201d I added, trying to build the boy\u2019s self-confidence.\u00a0 I thought it just might help.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sure, Pa?\u201d Joe rewarded me with both a smile and his quirky laughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure,\u201d I insisted.\u00a0 \u201cOf course, you don\u2019t use the brains that the good Lord gave you sometimes.\u00a0 But nonetheless you are smart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d Joe replied enthusiastically, like he\u2019d just won a blue ribbon at the county fair.<\/p>\n
I watched as Joseph stared at that clock again.\u00a0 It had become a habit that long night, I supposed.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph,\u201d I had to redirect my son\u2019s gaze.\u00a0 I gently placed my hand underneath his chin and turned him to look my way.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s okay now, I\u2019m home.\u00a0 You can stop looking at the clock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph looked as though he could finally breathe easier for the first time since I\u2019d gotten home.\u00a0 \u201cHand it over,\u201d I held out my hand, and he knew I wanted his gun belt.\u00a0 I took it from him and placed it on the credenza next to mine.\u00a0 It was time to go back to the stern and overly protective father that he had grown used to over the years.\u00a0 I directed him with my arm across his shoulder and the two of us made our way to the settee.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour boots, Joseph,\u201d I pointed to my son\u2019s feet to get him to come out of them.\u00a0 I knew the boy\u2019s ankle was hurting but he had stuffed that swollen foot into his boot to go find his pa.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t have been prouder of my boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for what you were going to do, Joseph,\u201d I whispered to him.<\/p>\n
My son rewarded me again with another smile.\u00a0 He looked as though it meant a lot to him that I thought he had made the right decision to go looking for his old man.<\/p>\n
\nI was exhausted by the time the two of us leaned back against the settee.\u00a0 For just a minute or two I was planning on helping the boy up to his room, but I just didn\u2019t have the energy to do it.\u00a0 I thought that if I just closed my eyes for a little while then the two of us could head up to our rooms.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I guess I fell asleep.\u00a0 Not long after, I felt my son setting the Indian blanket over my chest.\u00a0 I suppose I wasn\u2019t quite under all the way, and I thought it to be a very thoughtful gesture, so I pretended that I hadn\u2019t felt his hand reaching behind me to get the thing off the top of the settee.<\/p>\n
Then, out of the corner of my eye I witnessed Joseph stretching his legs out in front of him and setting his feet on top of the coffee table.\u00a0 I knew that he felt triumphant in doing that since it usually made me yell at him to find his feet where they shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 I pretended to snore and the kid fell for it.\u00a0 Then, just when Joseph looked nice and relaxed, I spoke up.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoseph, get your feet off the table,\u201d I whispered and gave him a little nudge with my elbow.<\/p>\n
He thought I\u2019d shoot him my usual stern glare but instead I just grinned over at the boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Sir,” Joe said with a wink and took his feet down quickly.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the minute that I put mine up not far from where his feet had been.\u00a0 I had to let Joseph know that I was still there with him and that I was still in charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, now you can,\u201d I smiled at my son to let him know it wasn\u2019t off limits at least that morning.<\/p>\n
Joseph set his feet right next to mine and then I handed him half of the blanket to keep him warm.\u00a0 I watched him pull it up to his chest and then close his eyes.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I finally fell off to sleep thinking about how lucky I was.\u00a0 The boy sleeping next to me had worried about me so much that he was willing to ride off in the darkness, sprained ankle and all, just to make sure I was okay.\u00a0 That was just one reason why I loved him, wild antics, disobedience, tall tales and all.\u00a0 And that was why he would always remain forever in my heart.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nThe End<\/p>\n
Written by Wrangler<\/p>\n
7-27-26<\/p>\n
*** I hope the readers enjoyed seeing how two people can tell the same story, but it always comes out a bit differently.\u00a0 In Joe\u2019s version he said that Pa gave him the \u201cdeath grip\u201d whereas in Pa\u2019s version it was \u201ca slight squeeze\u201d!\u00a0 Thanks for reading! ***<\/p>\n
(Dedicated to the story consultant Rob, for all his help and his encouragement.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summary: Pa’s point of view is highlighted as he puts his own spin on the story that Little Joe told in “Forever in My Heart” regarding his youngest son’s penchant for coming home late. Rating T, WC 6,402 Forever in My Heart Series Forever in My Heart #1\u00a0 Forever in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":67955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1015,23,4,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joe-pa","category-drama","category-humor","category-hurtcomfort","wpcat-1015-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-41-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot_20260728_122003_YouTube.jpg?fit=1432%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69019,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67951\/revisions\/69019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}