Happy heat wave to those of you who live in the same general area as me! I kinda love how my "it's really fecking hot" chapter when we get temperatures like this "in real life."

"Bumpy."

"Yep," Paige said, running a finger through Ellie's hair. "That's right. And in just about two months, bumpy is gonna be baby." She was glad that her babysitting and wedding planning duties were happening at the condo. It was hot outside and she was glad she didn't have to leave the air conditioning all day.

"Baby, baby, baby, baby," Ellie said, lightly smacking Paige's belly.

"Yes. Be gentle." She took Ellie's hand and patted it carefully against her. "Like this."

"Bumpy baby."

"Bumpy has been her favorite word lately," Florence said, looking up from her laptop. "But in my case, she refers to my scars. Kids are so damn candid."

"No!" Ellie shouted, pointing toward Florence.

She raised her hands in mock surrender. "Easy, kid." She shook her head at Paige.

"I think she's trying to tell you that you said a cuss word," Paige explained. "Toby doesn't like when Happy swears in front of the kids."

"Damn shouldn't even count as a cuss word."

Ellie jumped to her feet, bouncing on the seat cushion and falling sideways against the back of the couch. "No!"

Florence rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Ellie looked at Paige with worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, sweetheart," Paige said, tugging her close. "Aunt Florence isn't going to say the bad word anymore."

"We should find out what else Toby doesn't like Happy saying, because I don't want the little creatures shouting while I'm struggling through these vows."

"You're working on your vows?" Paige asked. "I thought you were doing the guest list."

"I got the guest list," Florence said. "You want the guest list? You look at it every time you're doing payroll for Scorpion, plus Patty and Allie and the kids."

Paige was sorry she asked. She already knew Florence and Sylvester weren't close with either of their families, but she supposed she'd assumed there would be someone else they would want to invite.

"Don't have that look on your face," Florence said. "It's not a sore subject. You guys are the best family either of us could have asked for, anyway." She stared at her laptop, tapping a finger against her chin and slowly shaking her head.

"You're really stressing about the vows, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" She looked back and Paige, her eyebrows shooting up. Paige looked down at Ellie. The girl was fast asleep. Hope little Walter or Amber can pass out this easily. "This is just like presentations, which I've prepared many times when applying for grants. But this is so much more pressure. This is quite possibly the most important thing I've ever had to prepare."

"Even though presentations have a success or failure in the mix?"

The corner of Florence's mouth turned up. "I swear, you and Walter are way more alike than I thought back when I first met you all. That's exactly what he said."

She smiled. "Really!"

"Yeah. Said Sylvester has already agreed to marry me, the vows aren't as important. Although I seem to remember he was…"

"Super stressing out over ours," Paige finished. "Yeah, we both took them very seriously. Though if you remember, his were so much better than mine."

"He disagrees. He called your vows the most beautiful prose to have ever been uttered."

Paige waved her hand. "They weren't all that special. They just carry a lot more meaning when you're hearing them from the person you love. And that's exactly why whatever you say will be perfect to Sylvester."

Florence was quiet, taking in what she said. "I guess I'm just…I feel like they need to be perfect even to the people listening who don't love me."

"If your guest list is the team, Patty, Allie, and Tad and Ellie, then I can guarantee you everyone listening loves you," Paige said. "Your wedding is about you and Sylvester. You don't have to be the perfectionist there." She shifted her weight, trying to get the baby to shift off her bladder. "Why don't you take a break? I swear you've been concentrating so hard all morning I can still see the line across your forehead. It's hot outside, but there has to be a book or movie or something to watch."

"Sylvester has been pestering me to watch Brooklyn Nine – Nine," Florence said thoughtfully, "but no, I'm honestly starting to get a headache. I'll go home and sleep."

"Nonsense," Paige said. "Get in the recliner and put your feet up. I'll find you a blanket."

"Paige, I couldn't…"

"Oh, yes you can," she said dismissively, waving a hand. She eased out from under Ellie, the girl melting into the couch, and walked down the hall, finding a blanket she had knitted – with a lot of trial and error – for Ralph when he had graduated to a Big Boy Bed. He slept in a bed now that didn't fit this blanket, but he still occasionally used it as an extra layer. Paige gathered it up and carried it back down the hall. Florence was sitting in the recliner, her head tipped back and an open pill bottle in her can. She swallowed, squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, and coughed. "Did you do that without water?" Paige asked incredulously.

"I am a woman of many talents," Florence croaked.

Paige rolled her eyes, dropping the blanket on the older woman's knees and heading to the kitchen to grab a small cup. She stuck it into the water dispenser in the fridge and carried it over to Florence. "Wash it down. The aftertaste on those things are ridiculous."

"Tell me about it," Florence said, shaking her head before taking the cup of water and taking it like a shot. "Thank you." She popped the footrest up and nestled into the cushions. "This chair is super comfortable."

"It is," Paige said. "Some nights when I'm not comfortable sleeping in the bed, I come out here, and I am out like a light in minutes."

"I can see why." Florence cocked her head. "So sleep has started to get rough?"

"Yeah," Paige said, sitting back down on the couch. "I'm just getting too big for it to be comfortable, plus this is the worst October heat wave I have ever seen, even for California."

"So you would say, best to be third trimester in the winter."

"Just avoid being nine months pregnant in June through August," Paige said with a laugh, which trailed off as her eyebrows shot up. "Are you and Sylvester trying?"

"No!" She said quickly. "I mean, not actively. I doubt my body would even cooperate right now since it's still healing the burns and my arm and all that. But we hope kids are in our future. Or at least one."

"Oh my gosh," Paige said, a grin coming over her face. "That is so exciting. I wasn't aware you guys were even thinking about it."

"Honestly," Florence said, a hand sneaking out from under the blanket to massage her forehead. "We weren't, or at least, I wasn't, and we hadn't discussed it, but then with you…" she blushed slightly. "Seeing you and Walter get ready for this one…"

"Really?" Paige was flattered. "We made you want one?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Believe me, I wasn't expecting it either."

Paige laughed, glancing at Ellie when the toddler stirred. She flipped onto her back and went still again except for the gentle rise and fall of her chest. "Well, for a point of reference, Ellie is an incredible sleeper. You'll be lucky to get that."

"Hopefully our kid will like me as much as Ellie does."

"She really did latch on to you, didn't she?"

Florence shook her head. "No idea why. I am not appealing to most people."

"You're little. I mean, most of us are taller than you. You're the closest in size to her mommy and both of you have that tough exterior. You probably remind her of Happy and that makes her comfortable with you." Paige reached over and grabbed a tissue, gently wiping some drool from the corner of Ellie's mouth. "Any baby you and Sylvester have will adore both of you."

"Does Walter worry about connecting with yours?" Florence asked. "I mean, that's not my business, I understand that, but…"

"He's expressed some concerns," Paige said. "I would rather you ask him if you want specifics, but overall, he knows he can relate to geniuses, and he related to a normal enough to marry one, so he's pretty sure he can navigate whatever balance of I.Q. and E.Q. this one has."

"That is a good point," Florence said. "And I suppose it's too early to worry about connecting with a child that doesn't even exist yet. But just as with the vows, I always stress about being perfect."

"Strive for that in your work, by all means," Paige said. "And in your personal life, too, absolutely make it a goal. Just remember you're never going to attain that goal. We are imperfect by definition. As long as you're as close as you can get, you're doing fine."

Florence smiled. "Thank you." She yawned again.

"Power of the couch," Paige said. "Told ya."

With Florence and Ellie out, Paige tipped her head back against the top of the couch and closed her eyes. Sleep wasn't possible for her at the moment, but she was glad Walter and Sylvester had taken Tad out to watch some dancers at the park – an art form he was starting to take a real interest in – because she knew he would not be so easy to get to sleep. He rarely even napped anymore, and Paige had no energy to keep up with him. As active as she liked to be, today she couldn't think of anything she would rather be doing than relaxing on the couch with Ellie and Florence asleep in the same room.

Okay. It could be Walter and Ralph. But that was the only way it could be better. This wasn't half bad.

She was a year and a half old now, and yet Happy still couldn't get used to the idea of leaving Ellie for an entire day, even at a grown - up place like a museum. She'd been that way with Tad too, and now leaving him made her less anxious, so maybe she would slowly become used to leaving Ellie. Or maybe, while she didn't love one of her children more than the other, she found it stranger to be without Ellie because the girl grew inside her.

In reality – and the way that made her feel like less of a bad mother – it was probably just Ellie's age and the fact that Tad was naturally more outgoing.

"I told you," Toby said. "You're having a good time."

Of course she was having a good time. She was out with her husband, they didn't have to worry about crying or diapers or wiping snot or answering the question why every ten seconds. But it still felt weird to be out without them, even though it wasn't as if they had never done it before.

Maybe it was because Paige was so close to giving birth, or because Brianna had called Ralph five times the previous day while they were all in a meeting for Scorpion, or because Sylvester had told him that Florence had indicated that she wanted a family. Leaving her children with them just made Happy feel a weird mixture of guilty and territorial.

But she smiled, because she was having fun. "Yeah, I am," she said with a smile, reaching over and squeezing his hand.

"I know it's strange to go out not as a full family," he said. "But it's good to have time for you and me."

"It is," she agreed. "And I can do this – " she turned toward him, rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth – "without a chorus of voices yelling ew."

"Something to be said for kid free days," Toby said, "even though by the end of the day we're both glad to see their faces."

Florence's apparent baby fever had left a question on Happy's mind, and she used his comment as a way to bridge the subject. The adoption agency they'd used had loved them. "Have you ever thought about a third?"

Toby's eyes shot up so high they were hidden by his hat. "A…you think…three kids…I…"

"No, no!" She said, holding a hand up. "No, I'm good. I don't want more. I just wanted to make sure…."

"Oh, thank God," he said, pulling her close. "Two is enough, two is perfect."

"Agreed, agreed," she said, hugging him back. "That's a relief."

He gave a little laugh. "You scared me for a second there."