A/N: Thanks for your reviews. This is the first deleted scene for chapter 72 of Reflections; I have two more I want to finish up and post to this collection from that chapter.

Chapter 10- The Ride Home

As she walked down the street a block from her parents house, Johanna stiffened, alertness rushing through her body as she sensed a car slowing and pulling up along side of her.

"Johanna," a voice called out.

She flinched, turning to see the car inching along with her; her father peering at her through the window.

"What are you doing, Dad?" she asked, her voice strained and scratchy from the tears she had shed and the ones she was holding back.

"Get in the car," he told her.

"I'm not going back there," she stated.

"I wasn't going to take you back to the house," Frank replied. "Get in the car, I'll take you home."

"You don't have to do that," Johanna told him. "I'll be fine."

Frank gave her a stern look. "Get in the damn car; don't you know it isn't safe for a girl your age to be running around alone? Don't you have the sense God gave a goose?"

"More lectures, just what I need."

"Don't make me get out of this car, Johanna."

She sighed; there was no use fighting it if he was determined to do something…knowing him, he would get out of the car and shove her into it.

"Well?" Frank said.

Johanna opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat.

"Good choice," he remarked. "I really didn't want to get out."

"I already had a battle with one parent tonight; I really don't want to aim for two," she replied.

"Ignore your mother," Frank stated as he pulled back out into traffic. "You know she's crazy."

Johanna scoffed. "She definitely is tonight."

"She always is when it comes to a wedding…remember your sister's?"

"Unfortunately."

Frank chuckled lightly. "Yeah; it's unfortunate for all of us."

"I really didn't expect there to be an issue with the guest list," she said, her gaze on the lights of the city as they passed by the window. "I did what was asked; I made the list and she flies off the handle about it."

"Your mother is being unreasonable," her father replied. "She gets up in arms about the dumbest little things. When we were getting married; she called me at one in the morning crying because the napkins weren't going to be the exact shade of blue she wanted."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"What did you do when that happened?"

Frank breathed deeply. "I told her she was nuts."

"What did Mom say to that?"

"She yelled at me for being insensitive until two and then called off the wedding."

"That explains why she's so good at calling things off at the drop of a hat."

"She never means it; if she did, we wouldn't be married and you wouldn't be here."

Johanna sighed. "I just don't understand what was wrong with the guest list that I made."

"There wasn't anything wrong with it. Your mother…she's just…crazy about this sort of thing. She thinks everyone has to be included even if you don't like them…she worries about what people will think."

"And yet she accuses me of that…she thinks it's my thing."

Frank shook his head. "It's her thing more than hers."

"It doesn't make any sense…I never said I was embarrassed of my family. I'm not."

"I know," he replied. "You only said the truth; there is always the potential for drama when we all gather."

"It's why I didn't want to invite certain people."

Frank nodded as he stopped for a light. "I figured that…family drama breaking out could be embarrassing for lack of better words but it doesn't mean you're ashamed of certain people who may be involved. It's nothing like what your mother was implying."

"Right," she murmured; finding it somewhat hard to believe that he understood her. "I just…I'm already thinking about what Elizabeth Beckett might say or do…and whatever it is, some of those cousins that must be invited are going to gobble it up and love it…and the rest of my family is going to feel like they have to defend me and God knows what that's going to set off. Colleen's already whining about my wedding party so I can imagine her gripping the whole time and telling everyone who will listen. I know there's no guarantee that anything will happen…but I know the potential is there and I can't help thinking about it."

Frank breathed deeply, a little knot easing inside of him. Maybe she wasn't worried about his presence after all. "Do you think Jim's mother is going to cause trouble?"

"Yeah, I do," Johanna said softly. "I hate that I'm so convinced that she will but how can I think she won't when I know how she feels about me? She went out of her way to spoil my first Thanksgiving with Jim…he's still blaming himself for that; but how was he supposed to know she'd really be crazy enough to use a food allergy against me. She's made it extremely clear how she feels about me…and she loves to tell people all about it."

"I can see why you're not looking forward to this," Frank replied.

"I guess it's probably stupid but I just…I don't know; I just see how it can go wrong in so many ways because of one person…and then Mom even wants to take control of the rest of the guest list from me."

"It's not stupid…there is the potential for issues. If things go sour it's not going to be a memory you look back on fondly."

"Yeah…and I'm crazy enough to want to look back at it with fondness…and we can't even get past the planning."

"Your mother will come to her senses."

"What if she doesn't?"

"I'll make her."

"I'm not sure that would be an easy task, Dad," Johanna remarked; "But if you ever get anywhere with it; can you get her to lay off about my job?"

Frank frowned as her building loomed in the distance. "She does have a hang up about that, doesn't she?"

"Yeah…because I didn't pick what she wanted me to be."

Her father quickly met her eye. "That's exactly what it is, Josie…for once, you shunned what she wanted you to do. You did what you wanted…what I knew you were capable of and I don't think she's gotten over it."

"I really wish she would," Johanna stated. "She's so convinced that I'm consumed by my job and I'm not!"

"I know you're not."

"Then why doesn't she know it!?"

Frank sighed. "I don't know…I think it's because you and Colleen are polar opposites. You don't tell the whole world your business. You keep some mystery, which no, I'm not saying is a bad thing; it's a good thing, then people don't have ammunition to use against you…it's a McKenzie thing. You share what's reasonable and you keep the rest to yourself. Colleen…well, she tells everything to anyone who wants to listen and that's usually your mother because no one else can stand her constant raving for as long as your mother can. So Colleen yaks and yaks and yaks…and you're more restrained because you don't feel a need to tell everyone every detail of your business. So your mother thinks that you don't share enough because Colleen shares too much."

Johanna's nose wrinkled with distaste. "You know, Colleen's been complicating my life since she was born."

"You're not the only one," her father stated as he pulled up in front of her building and turned off the car. "Any time I tried to discipline that kid, Naomi would be there saying 'she's just a baby, Frank; leave her alone."

She scoffed. "Oh I know…if I ever write a book one day, I'm going to call it, 'She's just a baby, you have to understand, Johanna'."

Frank laughed. "Frankie says he's going to call his book 'You can't bite your sister just because she bites you first'."

She giggled despite the melancholy thoughts floating through her head. "He always did bite Colleen back when she'd bite him…you would've thought that would have broken her of it."

"She's weird…I think she gets it from some kook in your mother's side of the family."

"I hope we don't have to invite that person to the party…although at the moment there is no party."

"Honestly, Johanna; if she's going to through fits like this, I'd let her cancel it and be done with it. You didn't ask for it; I don't think you ever would have…and I don't think you really want it and I don't blame you for that. So if it ends up really being cancelled, don't worry about it. You didn't create the problem, your mother did."

"I know…but she always knows how to make me feel guilty."

Her father nodded. "I know; it's a special gift she has; she does it to everyone at one time or another."

"I don't understand why she thinks I have all these work events I can invite her to because I don't," Johanna stated. "Why does she think that?"

"I don't know…I guess she's used to my business," he said. "At Christmas time, employees are allowed to bring their spouse or a guest to the party. In the summer, there's a big picnic where employees can bring their families…so Naomi thinks everyone does that; it's not the case but she doesn't seem to get that."

"Have you been invited to work events for Colleen?" Johanna asked.

"I haven't…but she sometimes takes your mother with her to see the houses she's decorating…personally I'm glad I'm not invited, I probably couldn't stomach the horror."

"Colleen takes Mom to her jobs!?"

"Sometimes."

"I can't compete with that," she replied; "I can't have Mom sitting in the courtroom…I know her, she'd be hitting me in the back of the shoulder saying 'sit up straighter, dear; the judge will be looking for good posture."

Frank laughed. "I don't doubt that a bit."

"You know what really gets me though?"

"What?"

"She says I don't want my friends around the family and yet she's the one crossing them off the guest list. She's the one saying I'm afraid of what they'll think of me and yet I'm the one fighting to keep them on the list…so how is me wanting my friends there correspond to her belief that I want to keep them away out of embarrassment?"

"That's a good question," her father said quietly; "I just don't have a good answer to give you."

"She thinks I'm a snob," Johanna remarked.

"No, she doesn't think that."

"She called my friends snotty little lawyers…I'm a lawyer…I have more than just my job in common with them…so doesn't that mean she sees me the same way? She doesn't even know my friends and she's judging them."

"I think maybe she feels intimidated by your profession," he stated.

"But why?"

He glanced at her. "Why do you think?"

"I don't know," she said honestly.

"I don't think your mother feels like she's up to the intellectual level of a lawyer."

Johanna shook her head. "She shouldn't feel that way; she's very smart, she's been to college, she knows tons of things."

"And you know Latin legal phrases."

"Big deal."

He smiled a little. "I still remember the time you had a phrase written across one of your notebooks and it drove her crazy because she didn't know what it said."

"It said truth conquers all."

"I know, you told us…but until she knew, she couldn't stand it…couldn't stand that you knew these fancy things that she didn't have an understanding of and I think it makes her feel ill at ease."

"They're just fancy words that are mainly used in legal documents; it's not like I stand around talking like that and neither do my friends. She thinks I have no life outside of work and that my friends are the same way and it isn't true. Just because I have a different degree than she does doesn't mean I think I'm better or smarter…because I don't. I'd never think that."

"Deep down she knows that, Johanna; but it's her hang up at times. As a father, I wanted my children to do the best they could and do what they wanted. I'm not going to lie, I always wanted Frankie to go into the business with me…and thankfully he liked the work and wanted to and got his business degree and joined me in the company. With you, you were a very smart little girl and I knew you could be anything you wanted. You asked me if you could be a lawyer and I said yes…and you are one. Colleen had to be swayed away from catching a bus to God knows where thinking she could be a singer…she had to be persuaded that she could use her brain for something. She liked interior design so I was happy to pay for her to get a degree in it…I'm proud that my children have done what they wanted and have good educations. Your law degree outranks all the degrees in this family when it comes to level of difficulty…your mother is the only one who occasionally has a problem with that."

"But I don't feel like my degree is better than anyone else's. Everybody earned the degree they have."

"I know you don't see it as being better…but your mother does…and maybe she's a little jealous of it."

"I don't want her to feel that way," Johanna said quietly; "And I don't want to have feel guilty for picking the career I did…I like what I do…I like my job and the people I'm friends with…I like that this path gave me Jim; I don't want to feel guilty all my life for that."

"Then don't," he told her; "You're not supposed to feel guilty because someone else has a hang up. It's not your fault and there's nothing you can do about it. You are what you're supposed to be and if someone has an issue with it, that's their problem, not yours. Don't feel guilty just because your mother gets in a tizzy about it once in awhile. You're a McKenzie, we do what we want and we don't get shoved into someone else's box."

Sometimes she wasn't sure about that, Johanna thought to herself as she stared out into the darkness. "So what am I going to do?"

"The same thing you always do," Frank replied. "Wait her out."

Johanna sighed; it seemed like she was always waiting for something or someone. "I guess I'll be hearing from Bridget soon."

"Probably within the next twenty-four hours…or less."

She frowned. "I should've kept my engagement a secret for longer than a weekend."

"Then you'd really be in trouble with your mother."

Johanna met his eye. "I always seem to be in trouble with someone, Dad."

"That's because you're Italian."

Her brow rose. "So you're blaming Mom's side because the Irish are so sedate?"

He shrugged. "It depends on if we've been drinking or not."

"Good point."

"I thought so."

"If this party happens, I hope there's an open bar, I feel like I'm going to need it," Johanna remarked.

"I'll see you there," Frank replied.

She laughed a little. "God I hate when these things happen…I hate when she's mad at me about stupid things."

He smiled a little. "Your mother always gets mad about stupid things…so do you at times…but it'll all work out, Josie; it always does."

"I just have to wait," she muttered.

"That's about all you can do right now."

"I hate waiting."

"I know; so do I…but it'll work out. Your mother will stop being crazy in a day or two and the party details will work out. It'll be fine…and if Jim's mother gets too out of hand, she'll be dealt with one way or another."

"I'm not going to ask what that means."

"Good, you won't be lying when you say you know nothing."

A small smile touched her lips. "Thanks for the ride home, Dad."

"I intended to bring you home from the beginning but you know…your mother had to lose her marbles."

"Yeah…guess you get to go home and pick them up for her."

Frank shook his head. "She can pick up her own marbles; I'm getting a beer and watching a show and then I'm going to bed and I don't care if she's still muttering or not. She brought this one on herself and I'm not going to pour sugar on it just so she can feel better."

Johanna nodded. "I'm going to go get a shower and then lay on my couch and try to forget the night ever happened."

"Does that ever work for you?"

"No; but you can't say I don't try," she replied as she unlocked her car door. "I guess I'll see you around, Dad."

"You know where to find me if you need anything while you're staying out of your mother's range," Frank remarked.

"I know."

"Don't worry, Josie," he said as she got out of the car. "It'll all work out in the end…you just have to wait it out."

"Patience isn't always one of my virtues," Johanna replied.

"That's because you're a McKenzie; but you know your mother, she can't stand for you to be mad at her for too long. She'll be around."

"I guess we'll see," Johanna said before telling her father goodnight and closing the car door. She dug her keys out of her purse as she moved toward the entrance of her building, feeling her father's gaze on her back as she went. He'd stay there, watching through the door until she got on the elevator, she knew that from experience…but tonight it carried a measure of comfort…and that odd sensation of knowing that for once he understood her without any misinterpretations. It wasn't a feeling she'd allow herself to get used to but it was nice to feel it once in awhile, especially when things felt like they were spiraling out of her control.