All these years, no matter how badly she had wanted to tell her mother to fuck off, Hunnigan hadn't done that. She'd told herself she only had one mother who should be respected (even if she'd done very little to earn that respect). She'd convinced herself that she'd regret it if she'd cut Krista completely from her life, because at the end of the day, no matter how infected their relationship was, she'd need her mother in her life. She didn't want to risk having to live with the guilt that came with knowing that one day, she'd have to realize that her last words to her mother had been something along the lines of "go to hell".

Funnily enough, expecting eventual guilt had kept Hunnigan from doing and saying a lot of things. It had been like this with Alexis too; Hunnigan could never know when was the last time she saw someone and would rather never leave on bad terms. Not even when the other person didn't truly deserve her forgiveness... and didn't bother giving her the same courtesy.

The doorbell rang and Hunnigan went to let Frank in. He'd been surprised by her invitation and he'd been even more surprised when Hunnigan had told him that their mother was in town. Apparently she hadn't bothered contacting him. Why she would have, it wasn't Frank she'd wanted to talk to about her condition, and for all the wrong reasons.

"What's up? Did you fight with mom again?" he asked as he slumped onto the couch and crossed one leg over the other.
"Yes and no, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Hunnigan shook her head.

"Oh?"

"First of all, I think it's about time I told you that I know you're Levi's father, I always have known," Hunnigan began bluntly and Frank almost swallowed his tongue. Not the conversation opener he'd been expecting. She could've at least offered him a beer or ten before blurting that out.

"Idgie, I..."
"I wear glasses, I'm not blind, and even blind person could see he looks exactly like you, so don't bother insulting my intelligence by trying to explain," she interrupted and Frank nodded slowly.

"For what it's worth..." he began to say but Hunnigan held up a hand and he quieted down. She didn't need explanations or excuses, she was more than past the point of bothering on blaming anyone for what had happened.

"...and since you're his father, I felt it was only natural to appoint you as his guardian in case something happens to me."
"You sound like you're about to go and parachute into occupied France," Frank chuckled awkwardly and Hunnigan did too, nodding a little.

"Well, I'm not, but I wanted to let you know I've made some changes to my will recently, just in case. You will share guardianship with Helena, and she and Levi get the house... provided she's still in the picture when I die," Hunnigan summarized nonchalantly.

"I assume you've told Helena too," Frank commented, unable to find any other words at the moment.
"No."

"Why not?" he scoffed and Hunnigan sighed.
"Because it's irrelevant. What really matters to me is knowing that you will definitely be here to look after Levi, even if something comes up and Helena won't be here to do it."

"What's going on?" Frank then frowned. He knew his sister well enough to know that she was always better prepared than a girl scout, and that involved being prepared for her own eventual death, but this sounded more serious, like she was expecting something to happen.

"Because... I'm getting worried that you're planning something stupid," he muttered then and shuddered a little at the mental image of discovering his sister lying in a pool of vomit next to empty bottles of pills and booze, or soaking in a blood-stained tub. Hunnigan rolled her eyes at him, understanding that he had his reasons for being concerned, but annoyed at having him question her.

"I'm fine, I just wanted to let you know and ask if you're okay with it."
"Of course I am..."

"Good, then that's all there is to that," Hunnigan interrupted with a shrug.

"...all right. So, are we gonna talk about... me being his dad?"
"What's there to talk about? If I wanted to bust your balls over it, I would've done that ages ago. But I don't, I'm not mad at you, I was mad at Alexis, but holding a grudge seems rather pointless, don't you think?"

"True... but I am sorry about what happened."
"And I accept your apology, but there's no need for it. It was a long time ago, and we're here now, and everything's fine."

"So... what about Levi?"
"What about him?" Hunnigan quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, I just... should we tell him?"
"No. At least, not yet. I think he's gone through enough recently, I'd rather not confuse him further right now. Besides, him knowing wouldn't change anything."

"Okay," Frank nodded, but had to admit he was a bit disappointed. The only reason he hadn't come out as Levi's father had been because he'd believed Hunnigan didn't know, and that if she were to find out, she'd cut him out of Levi's life completely. But if everything was okay like she claimed it was, he didn't really see why he couldn't actually be a father to the boy.

"Now, that isn't to say we should never tell him," Hunnigan began upon noticing his disappointment, "He has been asking about his father recently, and maybe eventually it'll do him good to know the truth."

"Or not, he might as well feel betrayed that we kept it from him."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take rather than upset him right now."

"Naw, you're right, I understand," Frank nodded.

"Good. That's all I wanted to let you know, I figured it would be more appropriate to speak of this face to face," Hunnigan then shrugged.
"Yeah," Frank agreed absently, "So, hey, what did mom want?"

"Nothing," Hunnigan lied, "You should call her, or go see her since she's here," she then continued and gave him the name of Krista's hotel.

"Why didn't she call me about coming over?" Frank frowned, feeling a bit insulted Krista had visited his sister but not him.
"If it's any consolation, she didn't call ahead to let me know either, just turned up at my door. Maybe she and dad are going through their annual divorce," Hunnigan smirked and Frank chuckled a little. They really did do that almost every year.

"This early in the year? A new record."
"I know, right? Usually they wait at least a month after Valentine's day."

Levi had gone over to Miranda's for the night, and as much as Helena did appreciate the chance to spend some alone-time with Hunnigan, she did notice the other woman seemed rather preoccupied by something. It wasn't difficult to guess what it was considering her mother's recent surprise visit.

"So... not that it's any of my business, but... what did your mom want?" Helena inquired as she rolled out the pizza dough and proceeded to toss it and spin it, only now with less showmanship since Levi wasn't around to watch her like she were doing magic tricks.

"My liver," Hunnigan shrugged nonchalantly and continued stirring the sauce for the pizza, pausing then when Helena dropped the dough after hearing Hunnigan's response.

"Well, half of it," Hunnigan elaborated as Helena leaned to pick up the dough she'd dropped and went to throw it away before preparing another.

"She has cirrhosis, surprise, surprise, and she needs a transplant, so she came to ask me."

"Why not Frank, wouldn't he be compatible too if you are?" Helena quirked an eyebrow and Hunnigan nodded.
"Yes, but Frank's the little prince, as if she'd ever ask him to go through major surgery and endure the after effects, let alone risk him dying on the table. I, on the other hand, am expendable."

"You're not! Not to me!" Helena yelled and slammed her hand against the counter angrily, "For fuck's sake, even if I weren't here, you still have a child to raise and an agency to run, you're anything but expendable, and if your mother honestly is such a bitch she'd openly admit to valuing Frank's life and comfort over yours..! I mean, what the hell is this, Sophie's choice?" she ranted, inhaled deeply and let it out in a loud exhale then.

"Hey," Hunnigan whispered and went to pull Helena into a tight hug, and rubbed her back with long, slow strokes.

"Sorry, I just get so pissed off for you, I don't understand how you can put up with all the shit people put you through..." Helena grumbled angrily as she nuzzled into Hunnigan's shoulder and wrapped her arms around her waist, pausing to silently admit that she was on the list of people who'd given Hunnigan trouble... but at least her reasons for it all had been honorable, what Krista was doing, what Alexis had done, they'd done it because they were selfish and saw Hunnigan merely as means to an end.

"I'm not gullible, I know how it is. You should get mad only if I were oblivious enough not to realize I was being played, but I know. I choose what I give and what I don't, nowadays anyway..." Hunnigan said softly.

"It's still bullshit," Helena said and pulled back from the hug slowly, "So, what did you tell her?" she then asked despite already having a good idea of what Hunnigan's answer was. Judging from the way she'd seemed to revert back to childhood and to buying mom's affection by being a good girl and doing as she was told, it didn't take much to guess. When overachieving didn't have the desired effect, why not go the extra mile and give away pieces of yourself, this time literally.

"I told her she can have it, and that I never want to see her again after that."
"Oh."

"We have a doctor's appointment in a couple of days, and I was wondering if... you would look after Levi while I'm away? I can ask Miranda, I mean, that's what I pay her for, but..."
"Of course I'll do it, you don't even need to ask," Helena said gently.

"...and after the surgery, I will have to spend about a week at the hospital... in Baltimore..." Hunnigan then added awkwardly, a little too embarrassed to ask for more, but Helena just smiled.
"I will look after Levi, and I'll bring him over to see you if you want," she said but Hunnigan shook her head a little.

"Let's not do that, I doubt he needs to see me in a hospital. I'll explain to him what's going on, but let's leave it at that. Besides, he's used to me not being around," she smirked ruefully.
"Ingrid..."

"It's okay. I'll be fine, it'll take a while to recover, but I can do most of my work from home, no one will even notice I'm out of action... and as long as Levi won't have a chance to give me one of his jump-attack-hugs, I'll be okay."
"Times like these I think you're too good for everyone around you and deserve so much better," Helena mumbled and sighed then.

"Well, the powers that be did send me a goddess from Olympus to love, I'm good," Hunnigan grinned.
"Oh, that's so corny I shouldn't even be blushing right now," Helena said, a slight heat crossing her cheeks, "Which goddess?" she then quirked an eyebrow. Frankly, she didn't remember many details of Greek mythology, aside from the fact that Zeus banged everything that moved and almost everything that didn't move.

"I'm thinking... Artemis," Hunnigan offered after taking a moment to think about it.
"Hm. I'll take it," Helena chuckled, "Now, how about we focus on making this damn pizza before the ingredients spoil?" she then laughed softly.

"You know, after the surgery, it'll be weeks if not months until I've recovered enough to do things that are more strenuous than walking to the mailbox," Hunnigan pursed her lips a little as she and Helena were getting ready to go to bed. She'd actually been rather surprised that Helena hadn't suggested taking advantage of having the house to themselves.

"Don't worry, I'll handle carrying Levi around when he insists on getting clingy," Helena chuckled and Hunnigan scoffed a little, frowning. Either the younger woman was really bad at reading her signals, or then she was intentionally avoiding the subject. Hunnigan couldn't see why it would be the latter, even though she admitted that seemed like the more plausible explanation.

"Is everything okay?" Hunnigan asked then, moving to stand behind Helena and wrapped her arms around her waist, leaning to kiss her shoulder and the side of her neck softly before resting her chin on the younger woman's shoulder.

"I'm just worried," Helena responded, pressing herself against Hunnigan tighter, enjoying the embrace she was in.
"You don't have to be," Hunnigan whispered.

"Yes, I do. The only thing that scares me anymore in this terrifying world is the thought of losing you. If that happened, don't think I could get over it, ever."
"Helena..."

"I'd lock myself away and get really fat because I'd refuse to leave my bed and I'd eat nothing but ice cream... and possibly anti-depressants mixed in the ice cream, but those wouldn't work anyway, so all they'd do would just contribute to my gaining weight, and eventually I'd just die from God knows what and grief, and since I haven't moved from my bed in forever, the stench would be great even prior to my body beginning to decompose..."

"Oh, my God," Hunnigan groaned at the younger woman's imagination and the unnecessarily detailed description of the grim future she predicted.
"Yeah, so unless you want to put me through that, you'd better stick around."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are," Helena argued weakly and slowly turned around in Hunnigan's arms, done with black humor for now, "You're going to go get yourself cut open like a fish and have a huge portion of a pretty damn important internal organ removed."

"What else am I supposed to do? What would you do?" Hunnigan argued back, but her voice was soft and gentle rather than impatient or argumentative. Helena sighed deeply and ran a hand over her face, shrugged and shook her head a little then.

"I don't know... I can't say that I wouldn't do the same if I were you, but... I'm still scared."
"You don't have to be, I will be fine. I'm always fine," Hunnigan smiled confidently and Helena chuckled a little through the tears that were stubbornly beginning to brim her eyes despite her best efforts to push them back.

"You'd better be, because if you die, I'll fucking kill you," she scoffed and gave Hunnigan's shoulder a light, playful shove.

"Noted," Hunnigan laughed quietly and leaned her forehead against Helena's, her arms once again finding their way around the younger woman's waist, and this time, she mirrored the pose, pulling Hunnigan to herself. She then tilted her head back a little, letting her eyes close and sought out Hunnigan's lips, moving to press a gentle kiss onto them.

"I love you," Helena said after slowly and reluctantly breaking the kiss. She didn't think she would ever get used to kissing Hunnigan, because even after all this time, it was still just as wonderful and exciting as it had been for the first time.

"Show me," Hunnigan tempted with a provocative tiny smile curving the corner of her mouth and Helena pressed herself against Hunnigan tightly, moving them to the bed before placing her palms onto the other woman's shoulders and urging her to lie down.

"Oh, you're gonna get it," Helena smirked and paused to sigh then when she realized just how stupid it sounded, and when Hunnigan failed to contain a little laugh.
"I'm bad at this," the younger woman muttered, shaking her head.

"Come here, Artemis, talking's over rated anyway," Hunnigan comforted with a smile and pulled Helena ontop of herself, kissing her deeply.