When they welcomed their little girl home late Sunday evening after a weekend spent in Paris with her Gran Eddy and Auntie Patsy, Tony and Saffron were thrilled to hear about Grace's adventures in the City of Lights. They were less excited, however, at seeing Eddy.

"Well, I must be off, sweetie Darling! Don't want to keep you!" Eddy said, desperate to avoid Saffron's righteous anger about having been undermined.

"STOP. RIGHT. THERE."

The glare Saff shot her mum's way told Edina that she was in for a virulent tongue-lashing.

Tony wisely carried Grace off to her bedroom. He, too, knew that his beloved bride was in no mood for jokes. And so he made himself scarce. Patsy, no fool herself, had elected to remain in the car and, therefore, out of earshot from Saff's rage.

Eddy smiled innocently at Saffron.

"Yes, my darling daughter?"

Saffy was frighteningly calm. And quiet.

"Mum," she began, her voice hollow, "Tony and I trusted you and Patsy with Grace this weekend."

Edina shrugged, still plying her innocent act.

"You did, Darling, you did. And we loved taking care of our sweet little Poppet! Loved it, sweetie! Our Grace is such a …"

And now Saffron snapped.

"YOU KIDNAPPED OUR DAUGHTER AND TOOK HER TO PARIS, MUM! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO US?! WE TRUSTED YOU! I TRUSTED YOU!"

Eddy, truly offended at the idea of having kidnapped her own granddaughter, sniffed at the suggestion.

"KIDNAPPED GRACIE?! KIDNAPPED HER, SWEETIE?! MY GOD, WE ONLY TOOK HER ACROSS THE POND TO PARIS FOR TWO DAYS! WE WERE ONLY TRYING TO SHOW HER A FUN WEEKEND, DARLING! SHE LOVES 'MADELINE' AND PATS AND I WANTED TO SHOW HER THE CITY WHERE IT ALL HAPPENED, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!"

Saffron started to challenge this assertion, but thought better of it. For once, she knew her mother was telling the absolute truth. Grace had complete hold of Mum's and Patsy's hearts and neither would ever let any harm come to their one-girl fan club.

"All right, then," Saff said quietly, taking a cleansing breath. "But next time, Mum, please just let me know what your plans are, hm? It took a long time for Tony and me to get our Gracie and… and… the idea of losing her for any reason isn't something I think I could handle, that's all."

Eddy, who usually scoffed at this sort of highly emotional admission from her daughter, put a gentle hand on Saffron's shoulder.

"I understand, sweetie," she said, nodding. "Fun being a mother, idn't it? You worry about your children all the time."

Saff did her best to not look or sound cynical when she looked up at her mum and asked "You did? I suppose you had reason to think that Serge might be..."

Her mother stopped her short.

"Serge? I wasn't worried about Serge, darling, I was worried about you!"

This revelation left Saffy speechless.

"You're my only daughter, sweetie, and Mama does love you, you know? Sweetie? Hm? I was afraid some half-witted, cockeyed, slide-rule-for-brains would get his sticky, sweaty hands all over you and I couldn't have that, darling! No, indeed!"

Eddy crossed her arms resolutely.

"You lucked out, finding Tony, Saffron," she admitted. "He's a good one and there ain't a lot of them 'round these days, sweetie!"

Now Saffy had to smile. What her mother said was true; Tony was a wonderful husband and father. And he adored her.

"Yes, Mum," Saff agreed. Then, pulling her mother into an impromptu hug, she added, "I know you took good care of Grace."

Eddy shrugged and grinned.

"Actually, she made sure Pats and I ate our veggies and went to bed on time," Edina told her daughter. "Chip off the old block there, hm, sweetie darling?"

Saffy blushed and, smiling brightly, said, "Looks like it."