"I can't believe you let Henry have rum," Lenora told James. "He's only seven years old! Giving him that stuff now could impair his development. Did you even think about that when you did it?"

"Relax, would you?" James told her. "I just gave him a little cause he was curious. It wasn't even close enough to being a problem. Besides, I drank when I was his age and I turned out all right."

"Things were different when you were a kid," Lenora reminded him. "They thought water was evil, bathing was bad for your health, and still burned witches at the stake, for crying out loud. Basing rules now on what was acceptable back then is completely unreasonable!"

"Even so," James replied firmly, "I think I should be allowed to handle Henry and Susanna as I see fit, as long as what I do causes them no long-term harm."

"Oh, please," Lenora scoffed. "You wouldn't know the first thing about raising a child properly if someone came up to you with a how-to book for raising children and hit you over the head with it!"

"If I'm not allowed to have input on how Henry and Susanna are raised," James asked, "Then can I inquire as to what the exact nature of my position is in this house? Am I just around for breeding purposes while you do whatever you damn well please?"

"Maybe," Lenora replied. "Cause at least I'll care about their welfare, unlike you!"

"Well my goodness," James told her. "How you're speaking to me right now seems very similar to how your mother talked to your father when you were a child. No wonder he left. A saint wouldn't be able to deal with you when you're like this!"

"So you're just gonna leave?" Lenora asked.

"No," James told her. "But I'm going to the ship. And when I get there, I don't know how long it will be before I feel like coming inside again."

That night, James heard a knock on the wall of the ship. "What?" He asked tiredly. "Lenora, I told you that I would come in when I was ready, but not before. Don't push me!"

He turned and saw her standing just outside the doorway of the bedroom. "Aren't you gonna go away like I asked you to?" He questioned.

"I didn't come here to start a fight," Lenora told him. "I came to say 'I'm sorry', and that if you won't come in, I'll just come out. Max is with the kids so he can take care of them if anything happens during the night."

James watched her pull the covers of the bed aside and then strip off her clothes. When she was just in her underwear, she grinned at him. "These are new," she said.

James rolled his eyes. "If you think you can talk to me the way you did, and then lure me back with sexy underthings, you are sorely-" He was cut off as she sped to him and put her mouth on his. His hands roamed down her body as he backed her up against the bed, slipping her panties off so they fell to the floor before he picked her up and set her down on the mattress. Then he undressed himself and climbed next to her, pulling her to him. "You're a wicked siren," he told her. "You know that, don't you?"

Lenora grinned, her hand gently stroking him. "You bet I do," she replied.

Damon and Lucy decided to stay the night and the next morning, they were the first ones up, so they decided to watch Henry and Susanna until James and Lenora showed up.

"She really likes you," Lucy observed as Susanna crawled into Damon's lap and refused to go anywhere else. "I think that's cute."

"Just a sign that she's related to your mom," Damon replied. "I mean, think about it; I've been a favorite of your mother, her daughter, her granddaughter, and now her great-granddaughter. What's so likeable about me anyway?"

Lucy smiled. "You can't expect me to just pick one thing, can you?" She asked. "Cause there's really so much to pick from. You especially look adorable with her on your lap like that." She sniffled.

"Are you all right?" Damon asked, putting down Susanna. "Lucy, what's the matter?"

"Nothing," Lucy replied. "Nothing at all."

But it was soon apparent that something was wrong. Lucy began her studies and despite her previous promises of hugging and morning sex, although she did both willingly, it wasn't with the enthusiasm Damon was used to. Also, the only time she seemed happy was when they visited Lenora's and she got to play with Susanna and Henry.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked her before she fell asleep one night. "Have I done something to bother you that I don't know about?"

"No," Lucy shook her head. "Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well, I'm used to more enthusiasm than you've been giving me lately," Damon told her.

"I've just been tired, that's all," Lucy replied.

"Are you lying to me, Cookie Monster?" Damon asked. "You know you can tell me if something is wrong and I won't judge you."

"I know you can't have kids," Lucy told him. "And the thing is, that being around Susanna and Henry has made me realize that I want to. It just makes sex seem kind of...purposeless."

"Oh, that makes me feel real good," Damon said. "Thanks."

"You said you wouldn't judge me!" Lucy reminded him.

"Well, what do you want to do about this?" Damon asked. "Get a dog or something?"

"I guess, if that's the best you can do," Lucy sighed. "Thanks."

"Actually, it's not the best I can do," Damon told her. "The best I can do is a repeat of how your brother Sam got here."

"Really?" Lucy asked. "You'd do that for me? Are you sure that's not dangerous?"

"Nothing bad happened last time," Damon replied. "How about I go tomorrow?"

"Oh, you don't have to go tomorrow," Lucy replied. "It's too soon. You can wait until I've at least got my doctorate, and that's a few years away. But thank you for at least thinking about it."

"Another bad day with your dad, huh?" Roxie asked Laura as the younger girl strode into Enid's looking frustrated. "I know he can be a bit much sometimes."

"Yeah, right?" Laura replied, sitting at the bar. "Now he's trying to set me up with this guy who's totally wrong for me. He wants to control my entire life and I hate it!"

"He's just looking out for you in his own overbearing, clumsy way," Roxie assured her. "It will get better."

Laura scoffed. "Yeah, but what if it doesn't? Things would be so much more tolerable if I had a place to go where he wouldn't be there looking over my shoulder and controlling everything I do."

Roxie grinned. "Well, you know he's never gonna come here," she replied, plunking down a job application in front of her. "You don't have anything against being a waitress, do you?"

"Around here?" Laura asked, her face brightening. She took the application and put it in her purse. "Heck no! I would love it."

Roxie smirked. "I would love to see the look on Uncle Elijah's face when you show him that. Take a picture for me, will you?"

"Yeah," Laura nodded as Roxie plunked down a root beer in front of her. "I will."

When Laura got back home, she decided not to delay the inevitable. "Dad?" She called. "Mom? Can you come out here, please? I'd like to talk to you."

Selina emerged a few seconds later. "Your dad's working on something at the moment. What can I help you with?"

"I was at Enid's today, and Roxie told me that they needed a new waitress, so I got an application and I wondered if it would be all right for me to fill it out and hand it in. Can I?"

"Sure," Selina nodded. "I don't see anything wrong with you working at Enid's. We know lots of people there and they'll look out for you."

"Okay, good!" Laura nodded. "I'll go fill this out and hand it in tomorrow."

"Wait!" Selina replied, putting a restraining hand on Laura's arm. "Shouldn't we tell your father about this before you do that?"

"Mom, you know that if we tell him, he's just gonna say no," Laura replied. "That's why I think we should keep it between us."

"Your father will notice you aren't here when you're working," Selina reminded her. "And he'll wonder where you are, so I think we should tell him."

Laura rolled her eyes as they made their way toward Elijah's office. This wasn't gonna go well. When they reached it, Selina gave a knock. "It's Laura and me," she called. "Can we come in? We have something we need to talk to you about."

"Come in," Elijah called.

They went in and sat on the opposite side of Elijah's desk.

"Well, ladies," he said to them. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I'm thinking of getting a job," Laura said. "I got an application today."

"Well, wonderful!" Elijah exclaimed. "Where is it? The art museum? The theater? Tell me. I want to know all about it!"

"It's at Enid's," Laura told him. "I want to be a waitress."

Elijah's face fell. "No," he said immediately. "Absolutely not."

"Should I go while you two hash this out?" Laura asked, standing up.

"Yeah," Selina replied. "That might be best."

Laura left and Selina gave Elijah a hard look.

"What is so wrong with Laura working at Enid's?" She asked him.

"How could you ask me that?" Elijah replied. "You know what kind of place it is. Did you honestly think I was going to allow her to work there?"

"It's completely safe," Selina argued. "She'll be just fine. You have to let her have her own life to a degree. You can't keep controlling everything she does."

"I'm only trying to protect her!" Elijah responded. "You should be thinking that way too!"

Selina sighed. "I'm all for protecting her," she told him. "But at the same time, I know what it's like to grow up with a parent who didn't want me to establish my own identity and instead was more concerned with me turning into what she thought I should be, and I hated that." She sighed. "Would you be willing to compromise with me about this?"

"No, I certainly will not!" Elijah replied. "You can leave now," he told her. "I'm very busy."

Selina rolled her eyes and left. It wasn't over. She just had to wait and catch him at a time where he would be more agreeable.

"What if we give her a week?" Selina asked after Elijah stripped off his clothes and joined her in bed that night. "What if we tell Laura she can go work at Enid's for a week and if nothing bad happens, she'll be allowed to continue, but if she ends up being uncomfortable, or is hurt, or anything else bad happens, I'll allow her to be taken away from Enid's and sent to work at whatever neat, well-respected establishment you have in mind and not complain at all. Can we do that?"

"Do you promise you won't try and interfere if I have to pull her out?" Elijah asked.

Selina nodded. "I promise. So I can tell Laura she at least gets a trial run at Enid's?"

Elijah sighed. "I guess, but I can't say I'm happy about it."

"Aww, thank you!" Selina grinned and kissed him. "I know that was hard for you, so how about I give you a reward?"

"Just a minute now," Elijah told her. "You can't just be bossy and then kiss me and expect everything to be better."

"Why not?" Selina asked. "It works for you all the time. And what exactly am I doing wrong anyway?"

"I'm still not comfortable with Laura working at Enid's," Elijah told her.

"Well, we knew that was gonna be the case," Selina said. "But you already told her yes, so don't blow it by taking it back now."

"I'm not here to be her friend," Elijah told her. "I'm here to be her father, and it doesn't matter to me if Laura likes me or not."

"Yes, it does," Selina nodded. "You love her very much and I know it would hurt you deeply if she got so mad at you that she left one day and never came back. Not everyone can be like you Elijah, and look at a strict parent and realize that what they're doing is for the best so it would be good to play along. It would be nice if we all were. It would make things a lot more tolerable. But Laura, she's like me; if you push too hard, all she's gonna do is fight back. You have to compromise even if you don't think that's the right thing to do. Ease up on the leash just a little bit and Laura will stay with you. She'll know you love her enough that if she does make mistakes (and she will), she can come back to you without fear of judgment so you can point her in the right direction."

"Why can't I just point her in the right direction now?" Elijah asked. "It would be so much easier!"

"Because right now, what you think is the right direction for Laura is not necessarily what she thinks is the right direction because what she thinks is the right direction has not become the wrong direction yet," Selina replied. "Do you understand?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "And you're making my head hurt. Can we talk about something else?"

Selina grinned and put her arms around him, a wicked twinkle in her eye. "Or we could just not talk at all."

"So how come you didn't come with your dad and me to school today?" Edward asked Laura a week later.

Laura just shrugged. "You two are so in love with each other, I figured you would want some time alone, so I took my car. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"No," Edward replied, turning serious. "I only asked because you usually come with us and I wondered where you were."

"Why would you wonder that?" Laura asked as she put her books in her locker.

Edward shrugged. "No real reason," he replied. "Just pure curiosity."

At that moment, a group of boys approached Laura. The biggest one of them grinned. "Hey," he said as he put something in her back pocket. "Are we gonna see you at the bar today?"

Laura grinned at him. "You bet you will!"

The other boy gave her a wink and strode off.

"What is he talking about?" Edward asked Laura. He looked incensed. "You shouldn't be at a bar! And where does he get off touching you like he did?"

"Calm down, will you?" Laura asked. "He was just giving me a note, that's all." She pulled it from her back pocket. "See? And I'm not just going to the bar. It's my job. I'm a waitress."

Edward frowned. "Does your father know you're doing that?"

"Well, duh!" Laura replied. "Mom and I went through a hell of a lot to get him to agree to it, though."

"Just where is this bar that you work?" Edward asked. "Is it a place I would know?"

Laura snorted. "Not likely. If you showed up there, they would probably tear you to pieces!"

"Oh, I don't know," Edward replied. "I'm tougher than I look. What's this place called?"

"If you're checking it out for my dad, he's already been there," Laura told him. "And I think he's even had fun, though he won't admit it out loud."

"The name, please?" Edward pressed.

"Why does it matter?" Laura answered. "It won't mean anything to you." But Edward's severe look reminded Laura so much of her father's that she finally broke down. "It's called Enid's," she said. "There, I've told you. Are you happy?" She paused. "What?"

"I know that place," Edward said quietly. "And we have to get you out of there."

"Why?" Laura asked. "What lame excuse do you have?"

"It's full of werewolves!" Edward exclaimed, his eyes large. "If you're not careful and they find out you aren't one, they'll kill you!"

"I'm not an idiot," Laura told him. "I knew Enid's was a werewolf bar before I went to work there. My grandma is part werewolf, and that side of the family is where I got my gene from." Then she realized what Edward had said. "I know how I know about Enid's, but Edward, how do you know that Enid's is a werewolf bar?"