Part 1
	Thaddeus James Gardner was born on September 1 to unwanted parents who were barely out of their teen years. They put him up for adoption right away. A few days later, little Tad was adopted by Joe and Ruth Martin, a happily married couple. They had known Tad's parents and helped them decide what was best for Tad. Joe and Ruth had grown quite fond of Tad and couldn't have children of their own. So, they adopted him immediately, and his name was changed legally to Thaddeus James Martin with the nickname Tad. Tad did have some half siblings, but they were all grown up and lived out of state. Dixie Lee Cooney was born a few weeks after Tad was. Her mother, Bess, was happy to have another child. Her oldest child, Will, was 7 and Melanie, or Lanie, was 4. Dixie's father, however, had enough of Bess and now three kids. A few days after Dixie was born, he packed up his stuff, left some money, and left. When Bess recieved the divorce papers, she signed them right away. She had enough of him, too, and she didn't love him anymore. Luckily, she had many friends in Pine Valley, including Joe and Ruth, who would help her care for the kids while she was at work.Will and Lanie loved their baby sister very much. They both helped care for her as much as they could. Even though Dixie was without a father, she was a happy baby with Bess, Will, Lanie, and her babysitters. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. As babies, Tad and Dixie were usually babysat together at the same time by the same person, but they were too young to play together. When they were old enough, they were strangely shy around each other. Dixie usually played with Lanie while Tad played by himself or with the babysitter. Sometimes he played with Lanie. Tad and Dixie weren't use to playing with other kids. They didn't mind that at all at their young age.
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