Here are two more chapters to end the week. Hope you enjoy them.

Chapter 21.

Steven and 'Becca were meeting her brother and his latest girlfriend for dinner, but first they had a stop to make. Steven's mother, Helen, was living at a limited care facility. She'd never become completely stable. Although she could usually take care of herself, she needed some supervision and someone to make sure she ate regularly.

"Steven!" she exclaimed when she saw him at her door. She completely ignored the lovely young woman standing next to him, but then she'd done that since Steven first brought 'Becca to meet her a few years earlier.

"We just wanted to say hello," Steven said.

"We brought you tulips," 'Becca added, but Helen didn't take the bouquet, even though those were her favorite flowers.

"I'll get a vase for them," Steven offered.

The apartment was cheerier than the place they'd lived in before Steven went to live with his father. Windows looked out over a garden that was full of flowers in spring and summer, and even attractive now in fall.

"I hope you've been feeling well," 'Becca said. She never gave up trying to reach Helen.

But instead of replying, Helen called into the kitchen, "Steven, when is your father going to visit me?"

In Helen's world there were only two other people, her son and his father.

Steven returned with a vase filled with the flowers. "I don't know when Dad can come again. Wasn't he just here yesterday?"

"It seems so long ago." Suddenly she smiled. "You'll stay to eat, won't you?"

"Not tonight. 'Becca and I are meeting some people for dinner."

As quickly as her smile came, it went. Steven felt so bad for her, but he knew that, even if he'd stayed, she'd forget why. And she still wouldn't acknowledge his fiancée.

"We'll visit again soon, OK?" Steven said.

"Don't bother!" she shouted bitterly, and turned her head away.

Steven walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Goodbye, Mother." He kissed her sunken cheek and they left.

##

Alex sat in the half-empty dining hall, eating pizza and reading the latest hematology assignment that he'd downloaded on his reader.

"No date with Shannon tonight?" Pat asked, placing his tray on the table and sitting down next to Alex.

"She's having dinner with Ryan," he answered, eying the fries on Pat's plate. "What about you and Carla?"

"We're going to a jazz club later, but I got hungry."

"So you had a good date last night?" Alex asked, his long fingers inching closer to filch a fry.

Pat ignored the attempted food theft and replied, "Very good. I think I'm in love."

Alex snorted. Pat fell in love with a different girl every month or two back in high school.

"No! This is different. There's a definite spark between us, nothing like any of those girls back in New Jersey," Pat insisted.

"A spark, huh?"

Pat just smiled. "Yeah. How 'bout you and Shannon? Are you OK with her dating Ryan too?"

Alex shrugged. "We had a good time last night. She's more interesting and a lot smarter than I thought at first."

"But?"

"But...there isn't that spark you mentioned. I don't know why," he mused.

##

"You really don't mind taking him for the night?" Gretchen asked her mother, handing over a small plastic crate of toys, books, and training pants and pajamas.

"You know we love to spend time with A.G.," Cameron insisted.

"Oh, I know you do, but what about Dad?"

Cameron smirked. "Your father is crazy about that little boy, maybe even more than he was about Alex at that age." To prove the point, she indicated House, who was showing A.G. another way to tie his shoes, sneakers that were a miniature version of House's own.

Gretchen smiled and her mother told her, "Go on, have a great time. Before long you and Scott won't be able to get out so easily."

"OK. We'll pick him up in the morning."

"Not too early," Cameron told her. "Maybe we'll take him to Ttingels for pancakes."

Gretchen left, and Cameron joined House and A.G. on the couch.

"Look, G'amma!" A.G. demonstrated his newly learned skill with his laces.

"Wow! That's amazing!" she exclaimed to his delight.

"Now, if I can only get him to say 'r'," House said, working his lips. "A.G., say 'Gramma'," he instructed.

"I just did! G'amma."

"Grrrr," House said and the little boy laughed.

"You sound like a tigah."

"A tiger?"

A.G. nodded.

"OK, why don't YOU try to sound like a tiger?" House asked.

"Guh," A.G. said.

"Try again," his grandfather encouraged him.

He concentrated hard and said, "Gur."

"Much better."

"Gurur. Gurur,"

"OK, now say that and 'amma'"

A.G. wrinkled his forehead. "Guramma," he said.

"I think he's got it!" House told Cameron in a cheesy British accent.

She laughed. "He's definitely got it!" She hugged her grandson. "And as a reward, how about pizza for dinner?"

Both House and A.G.'s eyes lit up, and she went to order some.

Chapter 22.

Twenty minutes later, House, Cameron and their grandson sat down to their pizza. But when Cameron started to cut up A.G.'s slice into bite-sized pieces, the little boy objected. "I wanna eat it like G'anpa." He saw House's frown and amended, "Like Guranpa."

So she cut his adult-sized slice in half and put the two pieces on the little boy's plate. He needed both hands to pick it up. He fumbled a bit, but was able to fold it like his grandfather and turn the pointed end toward his mouth. He took a bite. "Hot!"

"Pizza isn't pizza if it doesn't burn the roof of your mouth," House said, although he also liked cold leftover pizza.

A.G. frowned in thought.

"Your mouth will heal," House assured him.

"OK." A.G. continued eating with an occasional exclamation of "Yum!" and sips of milk from his toddler cup.

"So, what do you want to do after we eat?" House asked him.

"Can we play the new game?"

"A boy after my own heart."

"All done!" A.G. announced when he couldn't eat anymore, and Cameron cleaned the excess sauce and drippy cheese from his face. She took him to wash his hands before he played the game with his grandfather.

Then Cameron settled down to read an e-book, while her husband and grandson played the computer game. Their laughter provided great background noise for the story she was reading, a tale about a young woman who fell in love with her older boss. She became engrossed in the story.

A while later she noticed that the laughter had stopped, so she glanced over to where they'd been sitting side by side on the couch. But now, Greg's eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open. He was snoring softly. And A.G. was asleep on his grandfather's lap.

Cameron smiled. She reached for the camera she always kept handy when A.G. visited. She wanted to capture this moment for posterity.

##

Ricky and his date were waiting for them when Steven and Becca arrived at Smitty's, a popular cafe favored by the Princeton college crowd.

"Sorry we're late," Becca apologized.

"We stopped to see my mother," Steven explained.

"No prob. We just arrived ourselves," Ricky told him. "How's she doing?"

Steven shook his head. "The same. She lives in her own little world."

The hostess indicated that their table was ready. As they followed her, Ricky made the introductions. "Becca and Steven, this is Janelle. Jan, this is my sister Rebecca and her fiancé Steven."

They all said 'Hi' as they sat down. Becca knew that her brother's latest girlfriend was a school teacher like their mother. Ricky had been introduced to her by Sherry Chambers. Becca had always wondered why Ricky and Sherry had never dated, but instead remained close friends.

Janelle was as beautiful as her brother's previous girlfriends, with mocha skin just a shade darker than theirs. She was also just as voluptuous and wore a low cut sweater and narrow skirt to emphasize her curves. Becca just hoped that she was less boring than Andrea, less self-absorbed than Coral, less hyper than Maddie, and less irritating than Daphne. She hadn't liked any of Ricky's previous girlfriends.

Ricky resumed his conversation with Steven. "Will your mother come to the wedding?"

"We've invited her, of course, but I don't really know," Steven replied. "My dad is working on getting her to attend."

"Oh, when are you two getting married?" Janelle asked.

Becca wasn't sure whether she was fishing for an invitation, curious, or just polite. She also wondered why she was so suspicious of the woman. "Thanksgiving weekend. Our friends will be home visiting their families so it'll work out well for them and for us."

"You must be very excited!"

"There are times I can't believe it's really happening!" Becca exclaimed.

"Did you ever pick another bridesmaid?" Ricky asked.

His sister shook her head. "Gretchen said it was too soon after her delivery date, and Emily had pretty much the same excuse."

"Bec, they really wanted to do it," Steven told her.

"I know. I guess I'm just disappointed."

"Are they friends of yours?" Janelle asked.

"Gretchen is my best friend's older sister," Steven said.

"And Emily's her oldest friend," Ricky said.

"Em's married to Steven's cousin Tommy," Becca added.

"And Gretchen, Emily and Tommy are my sister's best friends," Steven concluded.

Seeing Janelle's puzzled look, Ricky told her, "I think I'll have to draw you a diagram." Steven and 'Becca laughed, but Janelle still looked puzzled.