The diner is in its usual state. Busy bodies fill almost all the booths and the chattering amongst the patrons have surpassed a tolerable level. Brian scans the booths until spots his almost mother-in-law. With Michael hot on his heels, Brian weaves through the crowd and plops down in the booth.

"Brian," Jennifer smiles. After Brian scoots to the end of the booth to give a seat to Michael, Jennifer rest her hand on Brian's. He smiles back, and gives it a squeeze. "It's good to see you again. And you too, Michael."

"Hi, Jennifer." Michael greets. He gestures to the empty space across from him. "I though my mother was coming, too?"

"She's here. Our waitress needed a little help, so Debbie jumped into action." Jennifer explains.

Behind the bar, Debbie balances plates full of food on one arm, while delivering the orders to the correct customer with her free hand. The new busboy bumps into her, but it hardly makes me sway. She instantly has her balance back before a single crumb falls from the plates.

"Here you go, dear. And here's your usual. Honey, I know you wanted a side of eggs. They'll be up in no time. A pink plate special for you. And I'll have your lemon bars boxed up for you in one second!" Debbie smiles as she sets a plate in front of each customer. The hungry boys thank her as if they were kids being served lunch by their own mother. While chomping her gum, she lifts the glass lid from raised cake platter to box the lemon bars and she waves the small metal tongs at the table she's suppose to be seated at. Once the bars are boxed and delivered, she makes her way back over to her table and greets Michael and Brian in her typical, high pitched voice. "Hiya, boys!"

"Mom, I thought today was your day off." Michael sighs as she plants a kiss on his cheek. She leans over the table and does the same to Brian.

"It was, but Collette is having some troubles keeping up, so I thought I'd give her a hand." She explains happily. "So, what's up?"

"I just wanted to treat you all to lunch." Brian says, pausing to grab a napkin from the metal dispenser and wipe away the crumbs on the table. "Was Justin the only busboy in town?"

"We just hired a new one. His name's Calvin. He's doing alright, but he sure isn't Sunshine." Debbie shrugs.

"Are you going to tell them, Brian?" Michael asks, giving his friend a gently elbow to the side. With a dramatic roll of his eyes, Brian digs through his pocket for the tickets.

"I was going to wait until after we ate, but since you feel it necessary to be so pushy," He says and slides one ticket in front of Debbie, and the other in front of Jennifer. "Michael and I are leaving for Canada this evening to go see the kids. We were hoping you two ladies would join us."

"This evening?" Debbie asks, looking around the table to he sons giddy face, Brian's typical deadpan expression, and Jennifer's apprehensiveness as she picks up the ticket. Before anyone can answer her, she continues. "Well damn, Brian, you didn't give us much of a warning!"

"Why do you need a warning? The tickets are bought and all expenses are paid for. Just pack a bag and grab your passport." He shrugs.

"How long of a trip is it?" She questions.

"A whole week." Michael answers with a smile.

"We're set to fly back home Saturday night." Brian adds on the details.

"A week?" Both mother's say, their jaws dropping.

"Yeah, a week. It will be nice for the two of you to spend time with your grandkids." Brain explains. "We'll all get to spend time with them."

Only two words stick out to Jennifer— "your grandkids". She glances up to Brian for some sort of explanation, but she gets none. He simply waits for an answer from her.

"You cover shifts for anyone who needs it, Mom. I'm sure someone is willing to cover yours for the week." Michael says. "You deserve a vacation anyways."

Debbie smiles down at the ticket as she thinks about her granddaughter. She remembers the excitement she felt when Michael first told her about JR, how she felt the first time she held her, how empty she felt when she left with Mel and Lindsay. She can already feel how wonderful it will be to see her again.

"Collette!" Debbie calls and races from the booth to the overwhelmed waitress at the pickup window. As she attempts to balance a variety of plates on her arms like she's seen Debbie do a million times, Deb begs for her help. "You mentioned that you could use the extra money. How would you like to take some of my shifts?"

"No way in hell!" Collette protests. "I'm barely keeping my head above water with my own shifts. I can't take on anymore."

"What if I call Sal? He'll help out!"

"Not happening, Debbie." Collette says and carefully steps around Debbie to deliver the plates. Debbie watches her walk away, and her face falls.

Michael visible winces at his mother's expression. He knows how much it takes to get her down, and if anyone deserves a break in this diner, it's her. Even Brian has to admit that he hates to see a look of defeat on that loud mouthed, bull headed woman.

"Let me out, Mikey." Brian orders as Debbie makes her way back to the table. She shrugs her shoulder.

"You boys have fun. Maybe I'll be able to make it next time." She says with a forced smile.

"I'm sorry, Mom." Michael says. When he gets out of the booth, he meets his mother with a hug. Brian skates out of the booth and makes a beeline for Collette.

"It's okay, baby. Just give JR extra hugs and kisses from me."

After Collette sets the plates down at the large table of six, she turns around and runs right into Brian.

"Cover her shifts." He tells her. She scrunches up her face and rolls her eyes. "Think of how much you'll make in tips."

"No amount of tips with make me work every day next week." She protests. Before she can finish, Brian pulls out his wallet and fishes out a few bills to push into her hands. It wipes away her agitated look and she quickly counts the money.

"How about that tip?" Brian asks.

"This will cover half the week." She tells him, shoving the money in her apron pocket before holding her hand out for more.

"What a greedy little thing you are." Brian mumbles under his breath, earning a smirk from her when he slaps a few more bills in her palm. "There. That should be enough for you to cover her shifts and not give her an ounce of trouble over it."

"Deal." Collette finally agrees. Brian walks ahead of her and returns to his booth.

"Congrats, Deb. Your week just cleared up." Brain tells her as he pats Michael's shoulder to make him stand up from his seat so Brian can slide back in across from Jennifer.

"What did you do?" Debbie asks quickly. Collette comes over with her pen and pad, ready to take their orders.

"You know, I was thinking about it, and I could definitely cover your shifts this week." Collette says. "So, what will it be?"

Debbie doesn't respond right away. Instead, she reaches over the tabletop to squeeze Brian's hand.

"Thank you, honey."

Brian returns her thanks with a smile and the table places their orders. Debbie keeps the chatter amongst the table going, talking about how long it's been and how she'll be stopping at the store to pick up some gifts for the little ones. Brian is only partially listening, though. He keeps looking over to Jennifer, who keeps quiet. She smiles and nods every now and again to react to Debbie's jibber-jabber. He always thought Debbie was the only parent who throws themselves into their gay child's life, but he sees Jennifer following in her footsteps. Who else would meet their sons lover in the gayest diner in Pittsburgh for lunch? It's only a matter of time before Debbie turns her into a full fledged PFLAG mother. Brian can't help but chuckle at the thought of the well put together realtor donning a red wig and gay pride pins all over her shirt.

"What about you, Jennifer?" Debbie asks. "Are you coming with us?"

"Oh, I don't know," she sighs. "A week is a long time."

"I spoke with Justin. He said his Dad has Molly all week." Brian reminds her.

"But I have houses to show, clients to call and-"

"Jennifer," Brian cuts her off quickly. "You can reschedule."

"Yeah, it would be fun." Debbie agrees.

"And like Brian said, it would be so nice for you and my Mom to spend time with your grandkids." Michael says.

"Grandkids," Jennifer says with a little sigh and a smile. "Brian, it's such a generous offer. I don't think I can accept so much."

"Why? You're son has no problem accepting my money, why should you?." He chuckles with a smirk. "I want you to come. Don't worry about the cost."

"You really should come." Michael encourages.

She looks back at the tickets and runs through her weekly schedule in her mind. It is a slow week, so it wouldn't be too difficult to reschedule...

"What do you say?" Debbie asks. "Are you coming with us?"

For just a split second, Jennifer is ready to say no. She remembers how concerned she was when she first learned about Brian. If she was asked then if she would ever go away with this man, she would have said absolutely not. But she doesn't feel like that anymore. Brian was there for her son when his own father wasn't. She knows how happy he makes her son, and even though they've called off the wedding, she's sure that Brian and Justin will stay together. They'll be a part of each other's life, so its best to keep a good relationship.

"I'll pack my bags." She agree's with a smile.