Not always.
Sometimes sir.
Sometimes nothing.
But enough.
The other children adopted variations over time.
Not uniform.
The older girl used father rarely and privately.
One twin said Pa easily.
The other kept using rancher as a joke until adulthood.
The little girl always called him Uncle, even after understanding exactly who he was.
He loved that.
At the permanent guardianship hearing, almost three years after the rain-soaked courthouse day, the judge looked older.
So did the rancher.
The courtroom was crowded again.
This time, not from curiosity.
Neighbors came because they had become part of the children's lives.
Teacher.
Housekeeper.
Doctor.
The twins' aunt traveled from Oregon.
County agent.
Ranch hands.
Church families.
The judge reviewed reports.
Then looked toward the children.
“Any objections?”
The eldest boy stood.
The rancher's stomach tightened.
The judge raised an eyebrow.
“Yes?”
The boy said:
“I have one.”
The rancher stared.
The courtroom became quiet.
The boy looked toward the rancher.
Then back at the judge.
“You keep calling it placement.”
The judge waited.
The boy continued.
“It isn't.”
“What would you call it?”
The teenager smiled.
“Home.”
The judge looked down at the papers.
Then removed his spectacles briefly.
When he put them back on, his eyes looked suspiciously wet.
“Objection noted.”
He signed.
Permanent guardianship for all nine.
The rancher sat still.
The toddler—now five—did not understand legal significance.
She climbed into his lap anyway.
The judge looked toward the rancher.
“Still think cattle are easier?”
The courtroom laughed.
The rancher answered:
“Absolutely.”
More laughter.
Then the judge said quietly:
“Good work.”
The rancher shook his head.
“Wasn't only mine.”
That was true.
The housekeeper had become grandmother to half the household.
The county agent had fought bureaucracy.
Teachers.
Doctors.
Neighbors.
The aunt.
Ranch hands who taught children horses and fencing.
The widow, dead before the story began, had built the family first.
The rancher had not created nine siblings.
He had simply refused to let the county uncreate them.