Owen finished up his account of the Enclave's mysterious origins, secretive dealings 'for the betterment of humanity', and even more secretive re-seclusion from the public eye, all of which sounded mightily familiar. Unfortunately it didn't give her much in the way of advice, other than that she might expect a long, treacherous road ahead. It did help to know that the woman died heroically - bringing clean water to thousands of people, and stopping the FEV virus from being introduced into the water supply. She wasn't sure she'd be afforded any kind of opportunity to make death 'worth it', unfortunately.

They finished a couple more beers as they discussed more cheerful topics, she even got Owen to tell a few embarrassing stories about MacCready, facts she intended to hold over him for a long time. She discovered that the other inhabitants of the farm, Eclair and Joseph, were residents at Little Lamplight along with MacCready, which she found endlessly fascinating. Eclair had been the 'cook' - hence the well stocked kitchen - though MacCready insisted that his skills as an adult far exceeded those he had a child.

Joseph had been a teacher of sorts, though after falling into a depression after the death of his sister last year, he hadn't been giving Duncan as many lessons of late. He had taught him to read and write at least, and she thought he'd done a pretty decent job at it. She wasn't completely up on her developmental milestones for children, but for just six-years-old, she felt he was a bit ahead of the curve.

When they realized it was past midnight already, they agreed to call it a night. MacCready scooped Duncan up off her lap and carried him inside. She followed him into the foyer, but let him tuck the boy in alone.

"Where should I sleep?" she asked when he came back out of Duncan's room. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are we, fifteen?" he said. "You sleep with me, I have a room still."

"What about Duncan?" she asked.

"He's a kid, Cryo, not an idiot," he said, holding his hand out toward the stairway to indicate that she should head upstairs.

"He knows?" she asked as she passed, suddenly worried that she may have done or said something to tip him off.

"We haven't had the 'Is this my new mom?' talk, if that's what you're asking," he said, showing her into a small but nicely furnished room at the top of the stairs. That was not what she'd been asking, but she found herself strangely pleased that he'd had that thought process.

"But again," MacCready explained as he sat down on the edge of the bed to start untying his boots, "He isn't stupid. I couldn't hide how I feel about you from him even if I wanted to."

"He's a smart kid, that's for sure," she agreed, shutting the door quietly behind her. "But man, his energy is exhausting."

"You have no idea how great it is to see him that way," Mac said. "He was so sick the last time I saw him. I didn't think he was going to make it," he explained, his eyes filled with dread at the recollection.

"Mac," she said gravely, stepping toward the bed and dropping to her knees in front of him. She grabbed both his hands in hers and looked at him seriously. "This place is amazing. You have to stay here, with him.

"How do you think they afford things like brahmin meat and herbs and unique seeds?" he said.

"I know, but surely with four men here you could each pull your weight making caps to support the group? So you can be here, with your son?" she asked.

"You know what I'd rather do?" he asked seriously.

"What?"

"Wrap up this shit storm that's about to hit the Commonwealth, then bring him home to Sanctuary." Her heart lurched at his mention of home, so nonchalant as if that was clearly shared terminology for them.

"What if the shit storm gets you killed?" she asked.

"It's not going to," he said, "I've got way too much to live for now."

"That's a great sentiment, but it doesn't get you less killed," she pointed out.

"I want to be with my son," he explained patiently, "But when I do it, finally, it has to be right. And it has to be permanent. I'm not going to move him from place to place while I figure my sh-… stuff out. You and I have unfinished business in the Commonwealth, and he won't be completely safe there until we've taken care of it."

"Don't worry about my crap," she said, "If you're ready to be with your son, then be with him."

He sighed, then laid his hand on the side of her face gently. "You don't seem to… get it. There's no home for Duncan and I that doesn't involve you."

She hadn't expected that sentiment out of him… but then again it wouldn't be MacCready if he wasn't surprising her at every turn.

"That works for me," she said, giving him a warm smile. He leaned forward and kissed her.

"We should get some sleep," he said as he started unbuckling his armor, "We'll want to leave first thing."

"Leave? Already?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed to unlace her boots.

"I know, it sounds harsh," MacCready said. "It's worked better in the past. The longer I stay, the harder it is on him after I go."

"Alright. You're the dad, Papa Mac," she said with a sigh, then she gasped when she realized what she said.

"No, no, no," he said, burying his face in his hands.

"I found it! The better nickname!" she said excitedly, then lowered her voice when she remember there was a child asleep a floor below them. She then whispered, "The better nickname, Mac!"

"Only took you what… six months?" he groaned. Damn, had it really been six months since they'd blown up all those robots at Easy City Downs? "I hoped you forget about it."

"Never, like a steel trap," she said, indicating her temple. "Papa Mac." He grabbed her and flung her down on the bed to start tickling her.

"Papa Mac, stop!" she laughed.

"I'll stop once you stop calling me that," he said remorselessly.

"Ok, ok," she said finally, after she could no longer breathe and her side was cramping from laughing so hard. He stopped abruptly and stared at her expectantly, like at any moment he thought she'd blurt it out. She said nothing, just grinning at him sheepishly. He eventually accepted her surrender and laid down on the bed next to her.

"I have to be honest," she said, settling into the crook of his arm, "Duncan's so sweet, I thought there might have been a woman in his life."

"What, three guys can't raise a sweet kid?" Mac grinned.

"I'm not saying it's impossible," she relented.

"Well, there were two, until about a year ago," Mac explained, "Joe's sister, Penny and Owen's wife, Teresa."

"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry." She didn't ask any of the dozen more questions she had, not wanting to force Mac to relive painful memories. How did they die, who was Teresa, who was Owen? She knew Eclair, Joe and likely Penny came from Little Lamplight, but how'd they end up here? Had there been more of them at some point?

"Teresa had what Duncan had," Mac explained. She looked up at him in surprise. Mac sharing his history without provocation was relatively rare. "I'd hoped to find the cure in time… I didn't know there'd only be one dose," he said. "We were too late by months anyway."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"She was Lucy's sister," he said, and she had a hard time masking her surprise. 'Lucy' wasn't a word she heard out of his mouth much. She wanted to know everything, but he never seemed eager to share. Not that she could blame him, she could count the number of times she'd mentioned her own deceased spouse to him on… well, on three fingers.

"So if you were wondering why he's here, it's… family, at least," he explained.

"So Owen is your brother-in-law?" she asked.

"I suppose so. There's nothing really legit about marriage these days though," he said.

"You can't believe that," she said, and he raised his brow and looked down at her. "Marriage is what you make it, same as before," she shrugged, "A piece of paper stamped by the government or a priest telling you God approves isn't what makes it real."

"I agree," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off her.

"When you're ready," she said, "I want to know all about her." He gave her a small nod, then pulled her closer into him.

"I love you, Cryo."

"I love you, Mac."