Nearly an entire three weeks passed before a normative calm was restored for the Grayson family but Grayson Manor had become a ghost town. Officially named Governor of New York, Conrad had already relocated to the Governor's mansion, installing new décor as a statement of his ascension to the throne, meanwhile Daniel and Emily had ferried Charlotte to their city apartment. Not only faced with the loss of Declan, but the consequential loss of their unborn child, Charlotte's fragile mental health and emotional distance left Victoria with a frantic heart. However, Victoria exploited the opportunity to invite Patrick to Grayson Manor and finally engage in their first real reconciliation, of sorts, away from any prying eyes.

"Patrick, these are absolutely beautiful." Victoria inhaled the heavenly scent from the bunch of pink freesias as she guided him to the outdoor dining area.

"And you look… incredible!" Patrick complimented, a sense of pride in just how beautiful his mother was and must have been in her youth. Her lips spread into a smile and her cheeks blushed somewhat at his kind observation and Patrick balled his hands into his trouser pockets as he surveyed the Grayson Manor. "And so is this house! I almost feel out of place here."

"Don't be silly! Make yourself at home, please?" She directed for Patrick to seat himself at the intimate dinner table she had requested Martha prepare, much to the young woman's confusion, as the entire staff team had been informed that Mr Grayson wouldn't be returning for weeks, if at all. "I've given the staff the night off." She noted, in hopes that Patrick would feel more comfortable in the manor which had often overwhelmed newcomers. "Thank you." Victoria murmured, impressed by how well-mannered he appeared to be, as he remained on his feet until she had taken her own seat. "You don't know how much I've looked forward to having you here again. It's been far too long." With the exception of various phone conversations which were often cut short by either Conrad or Daniel's sudden arrival in the room, Victoria and Patrick had cut off all communications and had refrained from seeing one another face-to-face until all other family members finally departed Grayson Manor and Victoria found herself surrounded by only the staff. "How have you been?"

"Great! The Hampton's have treated me well, though I guess they would treat anyone well." His middle-class upbringing didn't allow him to over-indulge in the luxuries the Hampton's offered on a mouth-watering platter but Patrick didn't anticipate such a Martian-like world could ever be somewhere he would feel call "home" on a permanent basis. "How are you?" He reached for the newly-opened bottle of white wine placed on the dinner table and he filled two crystal glasses of the golden liquid. "You said on the phone that you were here alone?"

The concern in his eyes and voice revitalised Victoria and a warrior's bravery shone through her forced smile as she was reminded of the strained relationships she shared with her children. "Charlotte, my eighteen year old daughter, decided to leave for the city with her brother and his fiancée and my husband, Conrad, has moved to the Governor's mansion on a permanent basis."

"And you're not going with him?" Patrick probed, curious.

"Things have been strained between us for quite some time now," she confessed, indulging in what wasn't her first glass of wine to further calm her nerves. "We've divorced, remarried and we're on the brink of divorce once again." Careful of Patrick's perception, Victoria refrained from informing him why she and Conrad he decided to remarry in the first instance. "But I expect you already knew that."

Like a schoolboy discovered in the midst of his prank, Patrick nodded and bowed his head. "It's not difficult to find out the kind of life your mother leads when she's married to Conrad Grayson." Much of the research Patrick had done on his mother had been conducted before his first attempt to contact her but the Grayson name continually made its way to headline news over the years and Patrick often found himself drawn to it. Mother and son fell silent, in an awkward fashion, as Victoria displayed what Patrick interpreted as slight embarrassment of the lavish lifestyle she led. "And I guess that leads me to my first question, not an unreasonable one, I hope." She raised her head, focusing her attention solely on him, as if direction for him to continue and Patrick set his glass down. "I'm practically a stranger but the night I arrived in the Hampton's, you knew who I was in an instant, you invited me into your home without hesitation. What I want to know is how?"

"You are anything but a stranger, Patrick! You're my son!" Taken aback by how quickly Victoria had labelled their relationship, Patrick's eyes unconsciously widened and Victoria reached for his hand across the table with eyes of sincerity. "I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you and I don't need a DNA test to confirm what I already know in my heart." She surveyed the suspicion in his eyes but Victoria had little to gain from revealing the truth of the first time she had laid eyes on him, since their initial separation. His first attempt to make contact with her hadn't fallen unnoticed, she had Frank research Patrick extensively before her pained decision to buy him out but she had insisted upon a rare momentary glimpse of her son from a distance and Patrick hadn't changed by a great measure since his adolescent years. Unwilling to mention the occurrence, for fear it would reignite Patrick's justifiable fury for her continued abandonment of him and force Victoria to confess the extenuating circumstances when her extra-marital affair with David Clarke had reached its climax, Victoria simply smiled, "Call it a mother's intuition." Although the topic of conversation had clearly been left unresolved for Patrick, the young man leaned back in relent and Victoria checked the time on her Cartier watch. "Dinner should be just about done."

Patrick raised his eyebrow, bewildered by the incredulous idea which ran against every typical stereotype he had applied to Victoria, based on her lifestyle. "You cooked dinner?" Subtly amused by his blatant amazement, Victoria chuckled to herself as she rose to her feet and returned to the kitchen.