they were. a happy family. for her to be my wife is just it s a blessing. it s what you wait for all your life. reporter: what were your plans?s l to buy a house and to have babies and have a family. reporter: they eventually moved here, a three-bedroom ranch in the carson valley looking up toward the sierra nevadas. alyssa spent half her time with ben and melissa. the other time with her birth mom, ben s ex-wife, dawn. but above all, what ben really wanted was to have his little girl permanently. he never thought that he could have his daughter. and i was like, yeah, you can. you could.r d reporter: and he did. he won custody. it was him and his daughter n and that s what he had always wanted. reporter: and then the little household grew. melissa s teenage brother craigh moved in. and then winter came. and the wind.