Hannah sat in the armchair and sighed contentedly. Somehow, despite all the delays and setbacks, the house was ready before Air Force One landed. All the furniture had been moved in, placed in the proper rooms, and served its intended purpose. The accessories were mostly in place. There were still a few to put up but they were close to where their homes would be. The kitchen was stocked enough for breakfast the next morning. Beds were made, lights were on, phones and Internet were connected. The home put together by Hannah and five accomplices is lovely, if Hannah did say so herself. Really, it had all worked out perfectly.

Well, Hannah thought as she heard footsteps come up from the basement, perhaps not entirely perfectly…

"I'm going to buy a house," Hannah said as soon as Sam answered his phone.

"Normally, people start with hello," Sam replied. "Why are you buying a house? Where?"

"I've seen your apartment, Sam, there's no way there'll be room for you, me, and Cerulean when the time comes," Hannah said. "My friend Bethanne is looking to move here and she has a house near D.C., so we're selling to each other."

"Mom, it's not a bad idea, but I don't have time to move-"

"I'll take care of it. I'll come before the custody changes and move everything for you."

"Are you sure? That's a lot of-"

"Sam, I was the head editor of Little Brown for twelve years. I juggled far more with much more dire consequences than not it having it entirely ready before the child comes home. In fact, I managed to get your nursery ready while overseeing three potential bestseller advertising campaigns," Hannah said.

"Really? I didn't know that," Sam said.

"And everything was ready for you when I brought you home from the hospital. I'm just that good, Sam," Hannah said without a hint of modesty. Sam laughed.

"Well, I guess I'll see. Hopefully things will slow down before we start getting ready for re-election and I'll be able to help."

Sam was not able to help, as it turned out, being busier than ever when Hannah had gotten everything ready to move in. The MS scandal, Cerulean's recovery, and the re-election took up all of his time. Hannah, however, found other help.

Zach volunteered his services as soon as he heard Hannah mention moving in, which Hannah thought was perfect because Zach would know Cerulean's preferences better than anyone. It also gave Zach something to do once his arm healed other than dwell on the crash. George and Christine were more than willing to help as well. Hannah accepted their offers, hoping this could be the start of a friendship outside the hospital. Kathy was also helping. Not only did the incredibly efficient woman handle Sam's time and information, she also had keys to his apartment in case of emergencies. Emergencies like Sam forgetting to give keys to his mother before he got on the plane to New Hampshire as she was trying to move them into the new house.

There had been only one snag in all of this, and it wasn't a problem for Hannah. No, it was more of a problem for the moment Sam found out his father had been crucial to the whole move in.

That, Hannah had known since she and Joseph had first spoken about it, was going to be what could only be described accurately in one of two phrases, depending on exactly when Sam found out. If Sam were to find out when Hannah planned to tell him, in the morning before he went to work, there would be a shitstorm when he saw Joseph. If he found out by seeing his father during or directly after one of Cerulean's nightmare meltdowns, exhausted and stressed, it would be a clusterfuck.

Neither of these two were going to be pleasant.

Hannah had planned to move everything after her surprise trip to the East Coast. She would check out the house, adjust her plans to it, then set up the shipping of the furniture from one coast to the other. That plan got shelved when Kathy called with the news of Cerulean's car accident.

Once she knew Cerulean, Sam, and Zach would be all right, Hannah was forced to re-evaluate her plans. Sam needed her around now, not in two months as they'd previously expected. Hannah could more than fill the role of ever-present guardian for Cerulean, but she couldn't do that and gather up the furniture from the California house. So Hannah was forced to make a decision: does she ask a friend that will in all likelihood cause her stress simply because they don't know the items as well as someone who lives in the house, or does she just ask Joseph, who will stress out Sam and try to take over as much of the move as possible?

Hannah knew it was selfish, but she chose Joseph for the simple reason of he would make her life a lot easier.

"Of course, Han, I'd love to," Joseph said when she asked. "You send me a list and I'll get on it this weekend."

"It doesn't have to be right away. I just want you to separate the smaller things first, what I'm taking and what I'm not. I'll speak to Bethanne and see what she wants of the latter before deciding what to do with the rest," Hannah said. "You can take whatever you like, I suppose." She didn't acknowledge that Joseph had moved out anything he was really attached to when the knowledge of his decades-long affair became public. Hannah liked to pretend that hadn't happened so embarrassingly.

"Okay, you just keep me posted. And I'll send those care packages you suggested. I got some ideas already," Joseph proclaimed with an excitement so like Sam's. Thankfully he'd gotten over his earlier petulance over not flying out to help. "And I can fly out when you're doing the actual moving in, help you set up shop." Well, shit.

"Joseph, you know Sam's not going to like that," Hannah said.

"He's not going to like you doing this on your own or trying to move the real heavy stuff. Your back's in no shape for that," Joseph said. A twinge from lifting Cerulean earlier reminded Hannah he was right. Sam didn't know that Hannah's back was bad yet- she'd never gotten around to telling him.

"Fine. But you're going to have to talk with him this time. And more than just a phone call and an email, actually talking," Hannah replied. She had been so furious when Sam had relayed his communication with Joseph that she nearly murdered her ex-husband. Joseph made a small noise that indicated he remembered that all too well.

"Yeah. I will, Hannah, I will." Somehow, Hannah wasn't quite convinced.

Joseph arrived the morning before Sam and Cerulean came home. He walked into the house with some of the movers George had recommended, swaggering in like he owned the place. This was how he entered every room and Hannah was quite used to it.

"Hello, Joseph. The desk goes upstairs, second room on the left, thank you, sir," Hannah said to the movers. They nodded and started up the stairs. Joseph took in the mostly empty living room.

"This is a nice space," he said. "A little old, but nice."

"Bethanne and her husband took very good care of it. I had a contractor look it over before I started moving things in." That contractor was George, who was very invested in making sure the house was in good condition. He went over everything twice and told Hannah that while she might want to update some fixtures, the house was fine.

"Good. How are the movers?"

"Very polite. Very careful."

"Great. What can I do?" Joseph asked. Hannah thought it over as a mover brought in another box of Sam's books.

"That goes over there by the radiator, sir, thank you. I'm not sure, Joe, mostly I'm just supervising," Hannah said. "The furniture from our house isn't due to arrive until two, and the Dosils will be here at one-forty-five."

"Sounds like we could go to lunch when these guys are done," Joseph said. A thought occurred to Hannah as a mover with a box marked kitchen walked past.

"Oh, food! I need to get food," she said. "Joe, would you be willing to go grocery shopping for me? I'll give you a list and my card-"

"Don't even think about it. I can pay for the groceries," Joseph interrupted. He didn't look too thrilled, but shopping had never been his thing. Hannah hid a smile.

"Well, give me a minute to find the list. Do you have a car? I can give you my keys."

"No, I got a rental. And I passed an A&P on the way, that work?"

"That's fine, thank you." Hannah went into the kitchen, where her purse sat on the butcher's block. She could hear Joseph come in behind her and stop in his tracks.

The kitchen was a frankly huge space. Not only did it have all the appliances and cabinets one would find in any decent-sized kitchen, it had a long eating space the same length as the formal dining room next to it. Bright windows ran along the opposite wall, filling the kitchen with light to make it seem even larger. Hannah loved it, and she could see many memories being made here.

"Wow," Joseph said finally. "You finally got the giant kitchen you wanted." Hannah rolled her eyes as she dug through her purse for the grocery list.

"Kitchens are places for family. Sam and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen when he was younger," she said. Hannah pulled the list out and crossed the room again to hand it over. Joseph took it and put the small paper in his blazer pocket.

"You really do make sure you get everything you want, Han. I've always admired that about you," he said.

"Not everything," Hannah said before she could stop herself. Joseph had the decency to look mildly ashamed. Hannah chose to avert her gaze from his face.

"So try to get as much of that as you can. They get back tonight, so we won't really need anything but breakfast food right away. I can always go again tomorrow."

"I'll get everything. See you in an hour or so." Joseph left as quickly as he could. Hannah, unpleasant feelings welling inside her, turned her attention to the movers.

"Those go in the first bedroom on the left, sir, thank you."