Note – This is the last TRG one shot. The story is officially over-over. Thanks for making it one of my favorite stories, and be sure to check out the TRG soundtrack in the Fanfiction Promos & Soundtracks forum. The cover art alone, I've been told, is worth the price of admission. Not that that's saying much: admission is free. Like everything on this site ever.

Also, please join the new Johnny and Nadine messageboard I started. The original one was shut down by its owners, and I figured that Nohnny ought to at least have one home online. It's small, but whatever. At least it's there. And please, someone else write fic for these two! I'm sick of reading just mine, and Amber doesn't update fast enough for my liking because she's a dumb whore! :-P

Link: http : // johnnyandnadine . proboards . com / (take out all the spaces from the URL)

#13: Feels Like Home

.: Crimson Manor :.

It was the fourth of July, which meant that it was time for their annual Fourth of July picnic lunch at Crimson Manor, followed by a fireworks display over Crimson Lake, usually set to old Disney music that Nadine loved. Last year, the orchestra had played 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' from The Lion King and she didn't stop bouncing for an hour.

This year, they had Amalia with them, so they were thinking of just watching the fireworks from the backyard at Crimson Manor, far enough away so that the noises wouldn't scare her or damage her eardrums. The little girl was a little more than six months old and Johnny and Nadine were looking forward to her first real family picnic. They spent most of the year at their house on Cherry Blossom Lane so that Amalia could grow up like a normal kid, but decided to always retreat to their house in Crimson Pointe or their villa or other international locales the Zaccharas called home for the holidays, so that Amalia could better appreciate how special times like Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving and New Years were. Nadine's family always went all out during the holidays, and Johnny wanted to share that with their little one, too.

"Where did her socks go?"

Nadine adjusted her grip on the baby before passing her to Johnny. "I didn't put socks on her today. It's hot outside – I figured she didn't really need them. She'll just be crawling around in the grass, anyhow."

Johnny jiggled his daughter in his arms and patted her stomach over her cute little pink sun dress. "Good, good, I was afraid she took them off again. Remember, last time, Kane ate one?"

"I don't understand that dog's fascination with her clothes…" Nadine patted her thigh and their Irish wolfhound, no longer a pup, came bounding up to her. She opened the screen door and he galloped out onto the deck and into the yard, surely to chase rabbits and then present their bloody carcasses to Claudia when she came for a visit.

Oddly enough, Claudia never seemed to mind when he did that.

"I'm going to put her in the swing," Johnny called out, following the dog outside. "You good?"

"I'm just going to have Corwin bring out the rest of the flowers," Nadine called back, looking around for her favorite guard. "You got the grill set up?"

"Yeah." He closed the door with the toe of his sandals and walked across the deck. Amalia stretched when the sunlight hit her and immediately went forward with her plans to divest herself of her sunhat.

Miraculously, he managed to keep her in his arms while keeping her hat on her head as he trotted down the steps and onto the wide expanse of imported stone that formed the floor of their extensive backyard recreation area. A massive fireplace had been built on one corner of it, complete with chimney, and enormous clay flowerpots sat on the ledges that formed two concentric circles toward the outside of the area. He'd had a new spongy flooring set down once they had Amalia and started bringing her to the house so that she could crawl and walk around outside without getting hurt.

He gently placed her in the Fisher Price swing that hung from one of the willow trees right by the miniature courtyard and didn't bother picking up her hat when she threw it on the grass. Amalia bobbed away happily, bringing his attention to all sorts of 'buggies' that were crawling and flying around, and Johnny kept one eye on her while he set to work.

Grilling was one of his favorite things to do outside the house, mostly because his father never grilled and actually looked down on it as a lower culinary skill. For that reason, Johnny had a state-of-the-art grill installed not only at the house in Crimson Pointe, but also the one in Port Charles. Amalia was going to grow up knowing what it was like to have freshly-grilled burgers and sizzling corn on the cob on summer evenings, damn it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that sort of food, no matter what Anthony wanted him to believe.

Before long, he had everything ready for when their guests arrived and was just dragging the extra can of propane somewhere where the kids couldn't get into it when Nadine came outside with the Morgan family in tow.

The first time Jason Morgan had dropped by Crimson Manor was right after the Black and White Ball at Nikolas's castle, and Johnny hadn't been pleased. But since then, the enforcer's visits hadn't been as unpleasant. Nadine and Elizabeth had always been friends because of work and bonded even more over their pregnancies. It helped, of course, that they were both carrying girls. It wasn't at all unusual for Elizabeth to catch him as he was leaving Kelly's and hand him a little pink hat she'd knitted for his soon-to-arrive daughter.

Because of the girls, Jason and Johnny ended up spending more time together than Johnny was sure either of them wanted to, but amazingly enough, it wasn't all bad. Jason was a decent guy when he wasn't around Sonny, and he would bet that Jason thought he was a decent guy when he wasn't around Claudia. Things worked out, and eventually they'd stopped using Spinelli as a buffer and were able to spend an evening together when the girls wanted a cozy dinner and a little play date for their daughters.

Even though Juliet Morgan – Jules, everyone called her – was a full six months older than Amalia, she got along well enough with her and they all hoped that the friendship would endure as the two grew older. Today, the toddler was wearing a sundress similar to Amalia's and telling her father something about ice cream as Jason carried her out into the yard, toward the bigger swing that Johnny had tied to the same branch as Amalia's so the girls could play together.

Cameron Morgan was nine years old now, at that awkward age where kids always pretended that they were too cool to go to the houses of their parents' friends, and had brought along his Nintendo DS. But he was a calm, well-mannered child with sober brown eyes and Elizabeth's sweet smile, so Johnny didn't mind one bit.

Jake, aged seven, was a different story. He was that delightful age where everything was interesting and every opinion made to be broadcast, and was the kind of kid that could make himself at home anywhere. And Johnny adored that about him.

He caught the boy around the waist and swung him high into the air, his little legs flailing, and turned him sideways, then upside down. He knew he'd always have a soft spot in his heart for the little boy his sister had once held at gunpoint to avenge his own supposed death.

"How's it going, kid?"

"Good," he chirped back, kicking his legs until Johnny set him down. "When are we going to eat?"

"Jake," Elizabeth admonished, and he knew it as the tone she had to use often with her middle child. So often, in fact, that it seemed a bit rehearsed and bored. "Don't be rude. We'll eat when we eat and not a minute sooner."

"That's not an answer," Jake muttered close to Johnny's ear, making him smile. "That's a Mom Answer. Which means 'be quiet even though we're all thinking the same thing.'"

"Good thing that tactics like that have never worked on you," Johnny replied benignly. It was also a good thing children didn't pick up sarcasm all that well.

"That's what Dad says." He watched his mother fuss over Jules in the swing before playing with Amalia, and looked up at him. "Hey, Mister Z, who else is coming? Mister Drake said they'd all come over tonight with Emma and Mal, for the fireworks, but who else?"

"Spence is coming later," Johnny replied automatically. His sister had already RSVP'ed for herself and the two Cassidine men, not that RSVPs were necessary for a casual family picnic. But Claudia didn't seem to understand that and claimed that a world where she didn't need to RSVP to something was a world she didn't want to live in. "He'll be a little late because his dad has a meeting today or something."

"His dad always has meetings," Jake muttered glumly. "I think dads who have that many meetings should just get better jobs. Otherwise, kids grow up weird."

"Really." Johnny stroked his chin sagely. "What about me or your dad? What do you think? Too many meetings? Too little? Just right?"

Jake actually considered this. "I don't think it matters."

He hadn't been expecting that. "Yeah? Why not?"

The little boy shrugged. "Because my dad has Mom and you have Mrs. Z. Even if you guys have a lot of meetings, they're always there. Spence doesn't have anyone like that. And I don't count the other Mrs. Z."

He was referring to Claudia, and Johnny just nodded. "No one does. But don't tell her that."

"Okay." Jake was looking around the yard, and his eyes lit up. "Ooh, are those Tonkas?"

Johnny grinned, following the kid's finger to the trucks he'd set out just for him. "Why don't you go see?"

Jake bounded away, calling for Cameron to come with him, and Johnny went inside to get the food. When he came out, Jason was standing by the grill, poking at it.

"New?"

"Yup," he nodded proudly, setting the uncooked burgers and dogs down on the stone platform. "Kalamazoo, state of the art. Can suck a whole can of propane dry in two and a half hours."

"Nice," Jason whistled, turning on the burners one by one only when Johnny nodded that he could.

"I'm going to have the gas line from the house doubled in capacity," he continued, "so that I don't have to mess with the tanks anymore. Too much of a hassle. Hopefully get that taken care of next week."

The enforcer was nodding. "Yeah, I've been thinking about getting something like this for our place."

This confused him. "Harborview allows this sort of thing? I thought you and Sonny were pretty strict about outdoor appliances and all that."

"At Elizabeth's house," Jason clarified, making him pause. "The old one. You know…234 Cherry Blossom. We're thinking of maybe moving back there for a while."

Johnny did his best to hide his surprise as he finished setting the massive grill to his liking. "Really. What brought this on? I thought you guys liked it well enough at Harborview."

Jason shifted his weight from one foot to another, watching his boys play trucks on the spongy turf. "…Figured it would be better for the kids to live at a real house instead of in a penthouse. You know, with other kids, in an actual neighborhood where an actual school bus swings by and all that."

"…You're going to let them go to school on the bus?"

"No," he replied automatically. "Elizabeth wants to, but I don't think it's safe enough. And if anything were to happen-"

"God forbid," Johnny filled in out of habit.

"-then it wouldn't just be our kids at risk, it would be all the kids in the bus." Jason shoved his hands into his pockets and continued to watch the boys play. "No, they'll still be driven around in our cars. But living in an actual house – it makes a big difference."

"So basically, what you're saying is, Cameron and Jake are being teased and ostracized for having a rich, powerful father," Johnny drawled lightly, laying out the ground beef patties.

Jason was silent for a minute. "…Cameron more so than Jake. Jake doesn't care, he'll say anything to anyone. If someone tries to get down on him for me being…richer than some of the other fathers in this town, he's the one that'll turn it around and rub it in their faces. He'll say that he'll take having a rich father if it means he's the one that gets better Christmas presents than anyone else, that sort of thing."

Johnny let out a laugh at that.

"But Cameron…he's quieter. He doesn't do that. He doesn't say anything to anyone, but things like that bother him more than he lets on. So Elizabeth and I were thinking that it might not be a bad idea to have the house remodeled – you know, with stronger glass and stuff – and move in again. Jake was too young, but Cameron remembers that house. Talks about it sometimes. He liked it there."

"It's a nice house," Johnny agreed, putting on his apron. He hated getting grease on his shirts. He picked up the tongs he'd be using and, thinking about it for a second, passed the extra pair to Jason. Ignoring the man's look of surprise before he started adding hot dogs to the grill, Johnny continued. "Nadine and I always liked it. She remembers when Elizabeth used to live there, even visited her and the kids there once or twice. Me, I didn't even know Elizabeth back then, but I've always liked the house."

Jason nodded, turning the dogs carefully and adjusting the burner settings. "…You had the right idea."

He was too busy adding seasoning to the burgers. "About what?"

"Keeping a normal house, living there," Jason explained. "You guys lived there for a while before you had Amalia, right?"

Johnny nodded. "Yeah. It was Nadine's idea. Well, it was mine, but only because she was getting a bit frustrated here. We always had guards walking around, and the maids and the staff, and Claudia, of course, has serious boundary issues…"

"And you guys were just newlyweds then," Jason smirked. "Yeah, I don't blame her. Elizabeth and I didn't go through that phase – we had the kids, and right away, too. Our main priority was keeping them safe and getting them settled the best we could."

"I do worry sometimes that our house in Port Charles is too…open," Johnny admitted. "Plainly speaking, I just feel safer here. I grew up here under lock and key – I was always safe. From the outside world."

Jason nodded but didn't say anything. He knew what Johnny meant.

"And, of course, Amalia's safety is my top priority, but I also don't want her growing up the way I did, in a museum of sorts. Nadine and I do the best we can but if things get dangerous, I'd pack them up and come here in a second. No question."

He glanced backward at the house. "Yeah, it's pretty much a fortress. Just like Harborview. Hard to get in. For you…it was hard to get out, I bet."

"Definitely," Johnny agreed. "I've often wondered how my childhood would have been different if we had a normal house, too, instead of just this one. I-I think it's a great idea, what you're doing. Moving the kids to Cherry Blossom Lane. The boys will have lots of kids their age to play with and the girls will grow up together, so that's something."

He cleared his throat as sounds of Elizabeth and Nadine's laughter reached them, and turned the burgers. "You done with the dogs?"

"Yeah."

"Done with these, too." He turned over his shoulder where two women from Crimson Manor's cooking staff were coming out with the buns and setting them up near the condiments. "Kids! Nadine, Elizabeth. Time to eat!"

"In a minute," Jake called, making Johnny smirk as Jason rolled his eyes. On his hands and knees now, he bashed one truck into another and made whooshing noises. Cameron, who was sprawled out in the hammock with his game system, put it down and started walking over.

"I thought you were hungry," Johnny yelled, taking the burgers and dogs off the grill and letting the cooks assemble them for everyone. "What happened to that?"

"In a minute," Jake repeated, making siren noises as he pushed a fire truck closer to the wreck. "I'm coming!"

"You put him near trucks or cars and he's good for the rest of the day," Jason murmured. "We can't get him to do anything else. Jake! Come on, son, it's getting cold!"

Even from a distance, they could practically hear his beleaguered sigh. "Fine. Lemme just have the fire truck put out the fire first."

"Destructive little guy," Johnny mused.

Jason spared him a wry look. "He's why everything at the penthouse is bolted down."

"Hm. You know, I always wondered why that was."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lunch had been a long, lazy affair and passed without incident. Jake had wolfed down a burger and a hot dog and then asked what was for dessert, earning another weary scolding from Elizabeth. Nadine, however, had been quick to pull out the firecracker popsicles and the ice cream, and the kids were satisfied. Jules had fallen asleep on her little blanket right by her father but Amalia was still quite active. Johnny had her trapped between his legs and would always shift and pull her back when she tried to crawl out of the maze. It was a game he played with her often enough, although she'd soon be a bit too big.

Hayden, who was tossing a football around with the other guards, was the first one that noticed their newest visitors. "Hey, John – Claudia."

He looked over across the yard and sure enough, there was his sister with little Spencer in tow. Most people wore jeans and tennis shoes to a picnic like this one, but Claudia was dressed in one of her usual pencil skirts and blouses. She had, however, switched her stiletto heels for stacked ones, the most she was willing to go in terms of letting comfort and leisure dictate her fashions.

He let Amalia crawl away toward Elizabeth and got up, dusting off his jeans. "Hey, Claudie. Spence. Where's Nikolas?"

"His meeting ran longer than he thought it would, so he told me to go ahead and stuck me with the brat," she replied.

Spencer, who had been clicking away on his own Nintendo DS, paused and looked up at her sternly. "I am not a brat."

"My mistake," Claudia corrected breezily. "I meant, pretentious, ridiculously coiffed man-child."

Spencer's gaze became heavy-lidded and the ten year old replied stiffly, "I think I prefer brat. And there's nothing wrong with my hair."

"You know that oil spill in the Port Charles Harbor last week?" Claudia asked her brother. "That was Spence washing out his hair."

"I wear gel," he squawked indignantly. "Not oil! There's a big difference!"

Johnny took pity on the boy and patted his back, urging him toward the others. "Go on, ignore her. We all do. Cam's over there, and Jake's around here somewhere. Go on. I'll have the maid fix you a burger."

"No pickles and a little extra mustard, please?" He walked away when Johnny nodded, but not before thanking him.

"Come on, Claudie," Johnny sighed, ushering her over to the group. "Have a seat."

"Oh, God, I was hoping the Oatmeals left already," she said, not bothering to lower her voice. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and Jason just looked at her, and Claudia sniffed when Nadine offered her a corner of the blanket. "John, go get me something that normal people sit on, would you?"

She remained standing over them until he brought her a chair, then sat down primly. "Who do I have to maim around here to get some food?"

Elizabeth glared sharply at her when Cameron looked over, hearing the violent term, but Claudia couldn't have cared less. A few steps away, Jake giggled.

"I'll get you a hot dog," Nadine said, rising to her feet. "Ooh, and you have to have relish on it. I made it myself – old fashioned piccalilli, just like on the farm. It's amazing."

Claudia wrinkled her nose. "Can I have something that at least passes as edible? Or is that too much to ask? You know what? Forget it, just hand me a corn cob and a bottle of moonshine. It'll be great because when I'm done with it, I'll fashion it into a pipe."

"Beer and hot dog coming up," Johnny told her. "Extra piccalilli."

Jake chortled at that, drawing Claudia's attention. "Hey – what are you laughing at?"

"You."

Nadine cut in loudly before Claudia could pick a fight with a seven year old, as she often did. "Here, Claudie, take Lia. She missed you while you were in Milan."

Claudia reached out immediately for her niece and Amalia bounced excitedly on her knee, holding up a few blades of grass that she'd plucked out. "Yes, those are very nice. Now, prove to me that your father has more influence over your life and your genetics than your mother by not eating them. Oh, there's my good girl."

Nadine rolled her eyes as Amalia tossed the grass away, babbling now about Kane, who was off playing with the guards. The little girl kept Claudia occupied while she ate, hot dog in one hand and the other hand keeping her balanced on her knee, and the next half hour went by in peace.

"You want ice cream?" Claudia tickled Amalia's stomach and snapped for Nadine's attention. "We want ice cream. Something normal, like strawberry."

Nadine rolled her eyes. "Claudia, every time you come here, I always serve you strawberry ice cream. And you only eat it after it's all melted because you spend twenty minutes making sure it's not something weird like – like mulberry or blackberry or-"

"Huckleberry," her sister-in-law filled in. "What? God only knows what you farm people eat. This is precisely why I ask for a menu before you guys invite me over for dinner. So that I don't end up eating – I don't know – muskrat kabobs and Cheeto casseroles and washing it all down with a bucketful of gopher gravy or something."

Jason and Elizabeth, both of whom were wondering how anyone could put up with this sort of abuse, watched Nadine's hands curl into fists. Still, her voice remained sweet and chipper. "You know, after six years, most people would have moved on from stereotypical characterizations of rural America for an easy laugh."

"I'm committed to excellence," Claudia smiled, tickling the bottom of Amalia's foot to make her laugh. "And I go for longevity. We still don't have our huckleberry ice cream."

Nadine grumbled uncomplimentary things under her breath and walked back to the outdoor freezer to get the ice cream, and Claudia resumed playing with Amalia. The little girl was squealing with laughter by the time she got back with the ice cream cone, and Claudia took it from her.

"Okay, here, this is how we'll do it so you don't make too much of a mess." Claudia settled the girl comfortably in her lap then crossed her leg and put her ankle on her other knee, holding the baby in place. She swept her finger around the base of the ice cream on the cone and put it to Amalia's lips, letting her lick it off.

"See? You like strawberry, don't you? It's so much better than that Chunky Monkey Death By Chocolate stuff your mother eats in public." She grinned when Amalia opened her mouth for more. "Real ladies have sophisticated flavors like French vanilla bean and cinnamon and strawberry parfait when they're eating ice cream in public, flavors like that. Chunky Monkey Death By Chocolate is meant for midnight binges on the floor of the pantry followed by midnight purging sessions."

Johnny closed his eyes, shaking his head. "…We're going to have to put her through so much therapy…"

Nadine, similarly, wasn't amused. "Lia or Claudie?"

"…Can't it be both?"

Jason, who made it a point to rarely be around Johnny and Nadine when Claudia was in the vicinity, was trying to analyze this family dynamic and wasn't having much luck coming up with anything.

Jake was done finally done imaginarily-demolishing most of the trucks Johnny had set up for him, and wandered back over to the adults. "Can I have another popsicle? Hot out here."

"I'll get it," Jason volunteered, hopping to his feet as his wife glared at him for seizing the most convenient way to get away from Claudia and not taking her with him.

Corwin, who was coming out of the house just then and liked to needle the rival enforcer, called out in a tone that was exaggerated in its friendliness, "Hey, don't worry about it, Jason, I got the kid covered. You just sit. Enjoy. Have fun."

Jason glared at him – hard – but Corwin wasn't the sort to be intimidated and actually grinned back, knowing just how much the other man despised Claudia. He handed the popsicle to Jake and went back to playing football with Hayden, Max, Ritchie, and Simon.

Jake handed the frozen treat to his mother to unwrap for him and noticed Amalia's sun hat on the ground. The baby watched, her mouth open mid-lick, as he stooped to pick it up, brushing off the grass, and she let out an overjoyed squeal when he carefully set it on her head after brushing her dark curls out of her face.

Jake made a face. "Seriously? She still does that when I touch her?"

Johnny was pulling a similar face. "She must still like you. I wish I could figure out why..."

Claudia was looking similarly disgusted. "Wait, that's still going on? She's still in raptures over the middle Oatmeal? John, how could you let this happen?"

"Oh, bite me."

Nadine clucked and tickled her daughter's chin as Amalia reached for Jake. Being a boy and a little more than six years older than her, he backed away so fast that he almost tripped over his father's shoe before Jason caught him. Elizabeth tried to hide her smile but didn't do a particularly good job at it. Neither did her husband.

Amalia made a displeased noise and batted her hand in Jake's direction, apparently not happy that he wasn't close by anymore. Nadine sighed and looked in exasperation at Jake as he stuck his tongue out at the baby. "Jacob Morgan, you're going to break her heart one day."

He shrugged. "Not on purpose."

Jason rolled his eyes and swatted his son's behind, sending him off with his popsicle to go pretend-demolish the rest of the trucks by having them blow up or fall off a ravine or something. "Sorry about that."

Claudia was scowling at no one in particular. "We've got to breed some taste in this girl – then things like that wouldn't happen. You don't let her spend enough time with me, that's what the problem is."

"Claudia, if ever there was a problem," her brother replied plainly, "that would never be it."

"Oh, be quiet. I hope she does grow up exactly like me and that you get a head full of gray hairs by the time you're forty. So there."

Amalia was still staring after Jake, and Claudia finally managed to distract her with some more ice cream. She waited for the baby to finish her mouthful, holding the cone in her free hand with the other on her back, and frowned at Jason.

"That kid of yours – you better do something about him."

"Claudia, please-" Nadine tried, but as it turned out, she didn't have to.

Jake, who had wandered back over because his popsicle was dripping, frowned at Claudia. "I'm fine the way I am."

She looked at him as if it was the stupidest thing she ever heard. "No, you're not."

"Yuh-huh," he replied, handing the drippy, sticky popsicle to Jason and licking the blue liquid off his fingers. Claudia grimaced. "I know I'm fine the way I am, and nothing you say is going to change that."

The older woman sent a wide, sickly smile his way, leaning in just a little. "When you were a year old, I kidnapped you and your mom and told your dad I'd shoot you both if he didn't do what I wanted. I almost did, too."

Elizabeth and Jason balked, and even Johnny and Nadine were shocked that Claudia would come out and say that to a child so young. So stunned were they that none of them could form a coherent response and instead looked at Jake, trying to gauge his reaction.

His sandy brows were furrowed, his lower lip sticking out, as he mulled this revelation over. Then, sticking his nose in the air, he sent her a withering look. "Yeah? Well, your shoes are ugly."

Claudia's jaw dropped in horror, and it took her a minute to compose herself. "You might think they're prettier if I beat you with one of them."

"Okay, that's enough," Jason interrupted, gently turning his son around and pointing him back toward Cameron and Spencer. "Go play. Try not to break things."

Johnny let out an exasperated breath as soon as the boy was out of earshot. "Really, Claudia? Really?"

"What?" she asked innocently. "He'd have found out sooner or later. Oh, Jesus, oh, no."

This was directed at Amalia. While the rest of them were involved in the fight Claudia picked with her former rival's son, the baby had been covetously gazing at the ice cream cone her aunt held. When it became clear that Claudia had no intention of giving her another lick, she'd taken matters into her own hands and, leaning forward, mushed her face into the strawberry. Her nose, cheeks, and lips were now covered in the pink ice cream and she was happily licking it away as Claudia wrinkled her nose in disgust.

She handed the cone to Jason, who took it only because he didn't realize she was giving it to him until it was in his hand, and picked the baby up under her arms, holding her far out and away from her body. "Hey. John, Nadie. You know how you guys are thinking about having more of these? I give you, Exhibit A."

They both glared at her.

"No, seriously," she said, wiggling Amalia, who giggled and slurped away. "I'm giving her to you. She's all icky now."

Claudia waited until Nadine had taken her daughter away and then turned to Jason, shaking her head with feigned camaraderie. "Kids, right?"

Jason glared.

"Claudie?" Spencer was the one to save her from one of Jason's threats. "I cut myself somehow…I don't know where or-"

She grumbled under her breath and reached for his arm. "Let me see. Oh, jeez, what were you doing?"

"Well, if I knew that, I-"

"Oh, never mind." She grabbed her purse and pulled out a little case that held what looked to be circular baby wipes but were in fact her nail polish remover pads. It took her a few seconds to clean off the cut by his elbow as Spencer squirmed, and Johnny saw, much to his amazement, that she actually had band-aids in her purse, too.

Claudia slapped one on and made sure it stuck right before waving him off, and watched Spencer trot back to the hammock where Cameron was. Feeling her brother's eyes on her, she narrowed her eyes at him and slunk down in her chair.

"Oh, shut up." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking quite put out. "This is exactly why I don't like kids."

"Could've fooled me."

"I told you, shut up."

Nadine returned with Amalia just then, who was starting to yawn now that she was all cleaned up. "Elizabeth, if you want to put Jules inside…"

The nurse nodded and carefully scooped up her sleeping child, careful not to wake her. "Yeah, let's do that. Jason, could you clean Jake up?"

"I'll show you where the bathroom is," Johnny volunteered, standing up as well. "Boys, get over here, come on."

Jake inched closer to the adults but kept a wary eye on Amalia, who was staring at him with rapt attention. "What? Why do I have to wash up? I'm not dirty."

"You're sticky," his father corrected, setting both hands on the boy's shoulders. "Cam, you, too. Come on, come inside for a bit. You'll get sunburned if you're not careful."

Spencer followed, too, and, remembering something, tugged on Claudia's skirt. "Where are your horses? You said you had horses."

"See that trail over there?" She pointed to a dirt pathway that wound around to the side of the house. "If you follow it all the way down, that's where my stables and the pasture are."

This interested Cameron. "How many horses do you have here?"

Claudia looked at John, who was counting in his head. "Eight, I think. They're getting older; we haven't bought any new ones or put any out to stud for some time."

"Lazy," Spencer tsked. "Horse breeding isn't something you can do when you feel like it. You have to plan-"

"Yeah, yeah, your Highness, we get it," she interrupted, absently rubbing his band-aid into place. "Regale me with your tales of equine mating habits later. If you want to check them out, let's go now."

"Can I come, too?" Cameron piped up suddenly, looking around hesitantly when the adults all looked at them. "…I like horses."

"Yeah, you can come," Claudia shrugged. "Why not? Just put that game thing away. The beeps spook Spencer's horses at Wyndemere and I don't want to find out if ours are the same way or not."

"Can I, Mom?"

Elizabeth looked at Jason, then warily at Claudia. "Well…"

"I'll go with them," Johnny volunteered hurriedly, earning a grateful look from Cameron and an unamused one from his sister. "It's fine."

"Make sure it's okay with your folks that you ride one," she told him breezily, slinging her purse higher up on her shoulder as she waved Spencer closer. "We don't need any lawsuits against the family, thanks."

Jason nodded when Cameron looked at him, then glanced at Johnny. "I think I'll come, too."

"Me, too," Jake announced before Claudia could snark off at his father. "I want to ride one real fast. Like Zorro!"

"I don't know what that is, and frankly, I resent the implication," Claudia told him.

"Mexico's Batman, duh," the boy snorted. "What planet are you from?"

"Actually, Zorro was from California," Spencer interjected. "Spanish colonial-era California."

"Same thing."

Claudia looked down at the young prince. "He's kind of got you there."

"Oh, he does not. There are big differences between Spain and Mexico. Just because everything south of San Francisco is the same to you-"

She rolled her eyes and turned toward the house. "Just wait here while I change, okay? Don't go on without me."

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose when Claudia was out of earshot. "What's she changing into? Or do I not want to know?"

"Her riding kit," Nadine replied automatically. "She doesn't ever go riding without the proper outfit and a helmet and a crack and everything. Her cousin was thrown when he was a kid and died on the spot, so she's very careful about safety. And if she's taking the boys riding, she's not going to just watch from the sidelines. She'll ride alongside to make sure they've got the hang of it."

The answer surprised Elizabeth and she nodded slowly. "Oh." Then, "that's nice of her."

"Like I said, she takes safety at the stables very seriously," Nadine shrugged.

"I want to ride on the biggest one," Jake announced, holding his arms up to show just how big. "And I wanna go really, really fast."

"You'll be riding with me," Jason informed him as his son pouted, "if you want to ride on a big one. Or you can ride on a smaller one by yourself."

"…Smaller ones can still go fast, right?" Jake waited until Johnny nodded. "Okay, small one by myself."

Jason was still rolling his eyes by the time Claudia came down again, dressed in her white riding pants and blouse.

"All right, we've got helmets in the stables, and if you're not wearing one, you're not riding anything larger than the dog," she said, waving the boys forward. Johnny waited a bit and then fell grabbed her elbow.

"You sure you wanna do this?"

She shrugged guiltily. "I promised Spencer that the first time he came to my real house, I'd let him ride my horses."

Johnny shrugged and waved her on, not surprised when Jason immediately followed. It was obvious that there was no way the enforcer would leave her alone with his children. "You girls good?"

"We're going to put the babies to bed and then have some iced tea," Nadine smiled. "You guys go on, have fun."

Elizabeth patted Jules on the back when she snuffled, already heading into the house, and Johnny watched her go. He leaned in and kissed his wife quickly, wiggling her brows. "So…first family picnic – not a complete, abject failure, right?"

"I don't know," she grinned, pretending to consider it. "You've got Jason and Claudia in a confined space to deal with. If they haven't killed each other in an hour, I think we can write it off as a success."

Johnny grinned back and smoothed a hand over his daughter's unruly curls. "…Same time next year? What do you say?"

Nadine's smile was radiant as Amalia grabbed onto her father's hand. "I'd say it definitely looks promising."

The End.

Author's Note – God, how I loved this story and its characters. Thanks for loving them with me.