Henry and Elizabeth drove his mother and sister back to their hotel room after they ate dinner. Henry couldn't help but be thrilled at how well Elizabeth was getting along with them. They were all already chatting like they were old friends. His mother was fascinated at Elizabeth having grown up on a horse farm and couldn't stop asking her questions. Elizabeth seemed to love talking about where she grew up and he was more than shocked when she invited his mother out for a visit. And this was Elizabeth; she didn't say things she didn't mean. He couldn't stop smiling. His mother liking Elizabeth was really the only thing he cared about. If she had somehow disliked Elizabeth it wouldn't have changed his feelings or made him reconsider them, but it would have cast a strain he didn't want on their relationship. He obviously loved his family a great deal but if it came down to it he would choose Elizabeth. Thankfully he wouldn't have to make that choice.

They dropped them off and agreed to meet up for lunch the next day. Erin had her tour and was going to a class in the morning but after they ate together Henry and Elizabeth would give her their own tour of the campus.

Elizabeth was quiet on the way back to Henry's apartment. He reached over to take her hand. "Babe, are you okay?"

She turned to him and smiled, "Yeah…I'm great actually. It was…it was nice to be around your mom and sister. I really like them." The way she said it she sounded almost surprised.

Henry laughed, "They really like you. Honestly my Mom only had good things to say about you, she really liked you and I can tell Erin did too."

Elizabeth squeezed his hand, "I'm really glad neither one of them said anything about my underwear being all over your bathroom. That would have been so embarrassing."

Henry grinned, "Yeah I forgot about that until the minute Erin asked to use the bathroom and by then it was too late."

"I took some of it down before your Mom used the bathroom but I couldn't take some because they were wet and that would have been gross. Hopefully she just thinks I do laundry at your place?" Elizabeth said, her face scrunched up indicating she didn't believe it even as she was saying it.

"Um…sure, let's go with that." Henry said, trying not to laugh.

Elizabeth turned red and burst out laughing, "Well, I guess she likes me anyway so there's no use worrying about it?"

"Exactly, I'm glad you see it that way. She does really like you."

They arrived back at his apartment and Henry couldn't help himself, he was all over Elizabeth from the minute they entered the door and she wasn't complaining. He couldn't stop kissing her, he couldn't keep his hands off her, at this point he felt she was a physical necessity. He wasn't sure if it was because meeting his mother and sister hadn't sent her running for the hills or if it was because the minute he told Elizabeth how much his mother had liked her he had realized that he was never going to introduce another girl to his mother ever again. Elizabeth was it. He wanted her forever. He had known that pretty much since their first date but tonight had only further confirmed that.

Later they lay tangled together in bed, limbs intertwined and bodies practically melded together. Elizabeth's hand was on his chest over his heart and he had his hand over hers while his other hand traced the curves of her spine.

"What are you thinking about?" Elizabeth asked, her voice groggy and thick with the sleep her body craved.

"You." He responded simply.

She giggled, "You always have me, now get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

Henry grinned and shifted so that he could kiss the top of her head, "I love you, Elizabeth Adams."

"I love you, Henry McCord."

The next day they met up with his Mom and Erin for lunch and enjoyed talking about Erin's tour and class experience with her and then showed her around campus themselves, making sure to include the advice they had to learn on their own starting out at the school.

They were planning where to eat for dinner and Henry and his Mom were arguing about her and Erin staying in the hotel room again when Elizabeth had an idea.

"How about Erin stays with me in my dorm room tonight? Norah won't be there tonight and it might be a good experience for her?"

Erin looked over at her mother, pleading with her eyes. "Oh Mom, that would be great! Can I? Then you can stay with Henry."

Ailis laughed, "Of course you can, sweetie. Thank you, Elizabeth. That's so sweet of you."

After dinner Henry and Ailis dropped Elizabeth and Erin off at Elizabeth's dorm and Henry was having a hard time saying goodbye. He knew it was silly, Elizabeth wouldn't even be away for twelve hours but sleeping without her was a little bit of torture.

His mother was making sure Erin was settled which gave them a semi private moment together. He placed one hand on her hip and the other on her cheek. "I'm going to miss you tonight, is that pathetic?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I'll miss you too."

He pulled her a little closer to him and he kissed her, lightly at first since his mother and sister were in the room, but he just couldn't help himself and deepened the kiss. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him, pulling his body as close to her as she could. She sunk into the kiss, forgetting they were not alone. When she finally managed to pull back from Henry she realized Erin and Ailis were watching in amusement. Erin looked amused with a hint of disgust at watching her older brother kiss his girlfriend but Ailis looked amused and delighted.

"Not used to spending this much time apart, are we kids?" She teased.

Elizabeth and Henry both blushed profusely. "Sorry," Elizabeth said quietly, suddenly feeling shy.

"Mom, what do you say we leave the girls?" Henry asked, actively trying to change the subject.

Ailis just laughed and shook her head, recognizing her son's diversion tactic. She turned to Erin, "Have a good night, sweetie." And she gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

She then surprised Elizabeth and walked over, "Good night, dear. Thank you for letting Erin stay with you." She then hugged her and kissed her on the cheek too.

Henry saw that Elizabeth was getting emotional about it, she hadn't been kissed goodnight by a parent since she was twelve.

He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, his face silently asking her if she was going to be okay.

She nodded and she wrapped her arms around his neck, this time not caring that Erin and Ailis were watching. "See you tomorrow."

Henry squeezed her tight before he let her go, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She whispered, not even a little self-conscious anymore that Erin and Ailis could hear her.

Henry was happy he had cleaned his apartment a little more that morning before class since he had convinced his mother that since Erin was staying with Elizabeth she should just stay with him. There was no point paying for another night at a hotel. He did need to wash his sheets but that was an easy fix. He was enjoying having a little one on one time with his Mother so they could catch up.

"So how is it to spend a Friday night with your Mom instead of that pretty girlfriend of yours?" Ailis asked as she helped Henry put the sheets back on his bed.

Henry blushed, "You know I love spending time with you."

His mother laughed, "I know, I'm just teasing you. You two seem very close."

"We are very close." He couldn't stop smiling as he thought about Elizabeth, "She...she makes me happy all the time. Even if we fight over something I don't want to run away and brood I want to talk it through. I've never communicated so well with anyone. We talk about everything."

Ailis smiled, "That's a good thing, sweetie. Communication is key to a healthy relationship." She dropped the pillowcase she was about to put on the pillow and couldn't resist teasing her son when it fell in between the bed and the nightstand and something else caught her eye.

She grabbed the lacy panties and held them up, "I think Elizabeth may have lost something."

Henry's face turned bright red and he scampered over the bed and grabbed the panties. "Oh god, Mom. I'm so sorry. It's…it's not…" he was at a loss for words, there was no way he could explain himself out of this one.

Ailis got serious for a minute, "I know you don't want to talk about this with me and frankly I don't love bringing it up but can you assure me you're using protection? As much as I would love a grandchild someday neither one of you is currently in the right situation for raising a child. You're 23 and you'll be deploying soon and she's only 19 and an undergraduate, you need to be careful for both your sakes."

Henry really didn't want to talk about this with his mother. He was fairly certain his face was bright red at this point. He just nodded. "We're um…we're safe, I swear."

"Good boy. Now how about we go watch a movie together?"

Henry sighed in relief, he was so happy to be done with this conversation.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Erin were enjoying their time at her dorm. Elizabeth didn't want to take her boyfriend's little sister out to a party so thankfully some of the girls in the dorm were having a casual get together and so she just took her there. No drinking meant no temptation and that was good. They enjoyed a quiet girls night with her friends and came back to her dorm to get ready for bed and Elizabeth was happy to get to sleep, she was so tired.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" She asked Erin.

"Yeah, I really did. Thanks for letting me spend the night with you. It's nice to see what the dorm is like."

"I'm glad. I know the party tonight was a little lame but I really don't want to take you to a real college party and risk your mother hating me."

Erin laughed, "No, it's fine. I understand. She likes you a lot though, but she trusts Henry. If he likes you so much you must be great."

Elizabeth was flattered, "Thank you, that means a lot."

"He's never introduced us to a girlfriend before. I mean, in high school he did but how do you avoid that?" She said with a laugh.

Elizabeth grinned; she didn't want to get into her own experiences with boys at boarding school. Now wasn't the time. "He only had the one girlfriend in high school, right?" She cringed, "Sorry, I am not the type to pry but I just couldn't help myself."

Erin laughed, "No, it's fine, yeah just the one. My Mom wasn't her biggest fan either. Practically every girl had a crush on him though. Even my friends are obsessed with him, it's so awkward."

Elizabeth bit her lip, she felt comfortable with Erin but she didn't want to accidentally make things awkward. "Yeah…honestly I don't understand that about him. Girls in our class were all over him all the time and he seemed oblivious. So he's always been like that?"

Erin laughed, "Yeah, he's always been like that."

Elizabeth smiled, "I mean, it's kind of cute. He makes me feel like he's only looking at me. I like that."

"Well, he really likes you. I could tell even back at Christmas. He couldn't stop talking about you."

Elizabeth blushed, she knew Henry loved her but it was still nice to have his fondness for her confirmed by Erin.

Erin continued, "You guys are really cute together. For what it's worth…I hope you guys stay together. I like you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth felt herself getting a little emotional and she had to blink her eyes and shake her head, "Thanks Erin, that means a lot. I like you too."

Elizabeth found it easy to talk to Erin and they chatted for a while until they both fell asleep. She was abruptly awoken the next morning when her dorm phone rang. She jumped out of bed to get it and groggily answered the phone, "Hello?"

Henry laughed on the other end, "Good morning sunshine, have a late night?"

Elizabeth yawned, "Not too late but you woke me up. It's only 8 Henry, jeez it's a Saturday."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make everyone breakfast before they have to leave."

Elizabeth let out another huge yawn, "Well, I guess that's acceptable. We'll be over in a bit."

Henry chuckled as she hastily hung up the phone without a goodbye; Elizabeth was serious about her food.

After breakfast it was time for Ailis and Erin to leave and Elizabeth found she was already hoping to see them again sometime soon.

Erin hugged Henry as they said goodbye, "Don't screw this up. I really like her." She whispered in her ear.

Henry laughed as he hugged his little sister, "I promise I will try my hardest not to screw it up." He whispered back.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was saying goodbye to Ailis. She hugged her tight, not wanting to let go and Ailis seemed to sense that as she clung to Elizabeth and then kissed the side of her head. Elizabeth reluctantly pulled back but Ailis kept her hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. "Just be good to him, sweetie. And you let me know if he isn't being good to you because that is not the young man I raised."

Elizabeth smiled, "He's always good to me, you raised an amazing young man." She shot a quick glance at Henry who was laughing with his little sister.

Ailis smiled, "Take care of yourself, we'll talk soon and I hope you'll come visit us sometime?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I would love that." Henry's Mom asking her that herself made her feel all warm and happy inside.

They switched and Erin threw her arms around Elizabeth, "Can we talk sometime?"

Elizabeth grinned, "I would love that."

Ailis smiled at her son and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "It was good to see you, it was even better to see you so happy. I don't want to overwhelm her but if you'd like to bring her to the house sometime I'd love that. And don't you worry about your father, I'll keep him in line."

Henry laughed, his Mother was the only one who wielded that power.

"I'll float the idea by her sometime soon. Thanks Mom. I love you."

Ailis wrapped her arms around her son, "I love you too, sweetheart."

His family left and Henry immediately pulled Elizabeth into his arms so her back was against his chest, his arms wrapped around her shoulders and waist and they watched them drive off into the distance.

"So...your Mom invited me to come visit."

Henry was surprised, he figured he was going to be the one bringing that up. "She really likes you."

"Well...I'm just saying that whenever you want to go home for a weekend I'd be willing to come with." She was trying to be casual about it, her voice trailing off slightly at the end.

Henry pursed his lips, he wanted to tease her but now wasn't the time. Instead tilted her head up and swooped in, capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

They finally had to break apart for air but he just kept looking at her, "I love you so much."

She grinned, pursing her lips together in that cute way she did when she was trying not to blush. "I love you, too."

I know this was a little shorter than usual but I had more and just couldn't find a good place to split it and I figured the end of the visit should be it's own chapter...anyway...I hope you liked it! Please let me know! Thanks so much for reading! Hopefully I can get some more posted this weekend. I'll be logging a LOT of flying time and usually that's where I can focus myself the best. Andddd I'm rambling, sorry, thanks for reading and please leave me a review! x J