A bottle of wine for my mother, I was wandering up and down the wine aisle at the grocery store, thinking that I could make it marginally easier for myself by calling home and finding out what Harvey had chosen for dinner, but I was being a coward. If I was about to walk into some type of showdown that needed a wine chaser, I'd rather take my time to choose the chaser.

I picked Mom's favorite white and red, paid for both while also picking out a few other fill in things that I knew we needed for the pantry and who doesn't grab those impulse buys closer to the check out? Bags loaded into the car, I was driving home with the hopes that I'd be able to sit down with my mom and my husband and have an adult conversation without that weird undercurrent that I'd finally noticed before I left for work.

When I pulled into the garage, past Mom's car in the driveway, beside Harvey's where he parked the night before I took a deep soothing breath.

The tiny pounding thuds of Aria's footprints greeted me first, and I braced myself after putting down the reusable bags holding the wine bottles and other groceries by the door. The tiny dynamo rushed me, but I was as ready as her daddy had been in our bedroom first thing in the morning. Her giggles as I scooped her up and cradled her were my favorite greeting, next to the one her daddy gave me soon after.

"Hey, Mama," Harvey murmured against my lips, sounded far more relaxed than I expected him to after a day of paperwork and Mom's company. "You got more than wine, I see."

"Yeah, I couldn't resist picking up what I knew we needed." Aria was growing restless squished between us. "What's wrong, sweetie?" I smacked a loud kiss on her cheek, earning another giggle from our silly little girl. "That's better. Where's grandma?"

"Right here, Everlea," Mom's voice came from behind Harvey's tall frame, the general direction of the kitchen and I could hear her lifting the bags I'd set down. "Don't mind me, Harvey Russell, I'll just pack all these groceries to the kitchen and make sure that they're put away and check on dinner while I'm there."

Harvey's chuckle was soft, and his eye roll was silent, but I knew she could sense BOTH. "Thank you so very much, Evelyn, I'll be right behind you." He didn't rush, his arms still wrapped around me and Aria. "I want a minute with my ladies," his coffee colored eyes twinkled down at me and I smiled back. "I swear we were making progress while you were gone."

"Should I leave again?" I bit my lip when he growled at the thought and Aria yipped in alarm. "Ut-oh, did Daddy scare you?" Aria's eyes widened and Harvey growled again. "Daddy don't scare our little girl," I kissed her nose and set her down so she could run to grandma for rescue. "I think we have at least two minutes," I wrapped my arms around my husband's neck and grinned into the deepening kiss that we both promised one another before I left for work.

Dinner was pasta, because Harvey knew me well enough to know that I needed carbs after a full day in the office and a full day of worrying about him and my mother throwing barbs. He and Mom managed to keep the peace, the comments weren't nearly as bad as they could have been. In fact, in most circles, they'd be considered almost civil.

After dinner, Harvey volunteered for Aria's bathtime and then storytime, both something he felt the loss of during his stint in Chicago. Once Aria got hugs and kisses from Mom and me, she was in Harvey's arms, "flying" off to the bathroom for a lengthy bubble bath and a longer bedtime ritual than either Mom or me would normally give her.

"He spoils her," Mom offered as she helped me clean up the mess from dinner. Her tone wasn't as snarky as it had been when she arrived earlier.

"We ALL spoil her," I reminded her, because honestly, Aria was the only grandbaby and child for our family. What else were we supposed to do? "And after yesterday -" I sighed, trying to shake off the feeling that wouldn't seem to go away.

Mom took over loading the dishwasher, adding her wine glass and the rest of the plates. "Ever, how are you after yesterday?" She pulled me away from the mess and set me down at the table. "Tell me, honestly?"

"We've been through this stuff before, Mom," I shook my head, because it was true, this wasn't our first rodeo or the worst. "But for some reason, this one I can't seem to shake off."

Mom's focus, her eyes so like my own, were boring into mine. "When was the last time you -" She stopped and took a deep breath, as if she needed strength to ask the question. "Everlea, are you and Harvey trying to have another baby?"

I blinked at her. What? "Are you asking if I'm -" I stared at her, thinking about how ridiculous the very idea of it was. That me, a doctor for God's sake could miss something so simple, but then I REALLY thought about it. When was the last time I had my period? Harvey and I had been DISCUSSING the possibilities of adding to our family now that Aria was three, but we hadn't made the decision - YET.

Mom's face held the smirk of an elder knowing she was RIGHT. Damn it. "You can't shake it because your hormones are all over the damn place, Everlea Grace." She sighed heavily. "You were the same way with Aria, completely out of whack." She rolled her eyes. "He'll be unbearable with two, you know." I stared at her, waiting. "Harvey Russell acts like he's BOMC now, adding another cub to his den is gonna make that man unbearable."

"Mom!" I sat back and took her in. "When did you decide he was evil incarnate?" I really needed her to break it down for me because I missed it, somehow. "I swear that you liked him, when I first introduced you, you liked him."

She sniffed and suddenly found the centerpiece very interesting. "I suppose when I first met him he wasn't nearly as obnoxious as he grew to be," I found that hard to believe. "The more I learned, the less I found agreeable."

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that he," I contemplated why it was suddenly difficult to discuss the topic that was literally the main source of conversation for us, "put Aria inside of me?" Mom stared at me like I'd lost my mind, which fit with how I felt for bringing it up. "It's why he thinks you hate him."

"I don't HATE Harvey," Mom groaned with another eye roll. "I just think he's an unbearable asshole in large doses."

"Mother," I gasped. "Harvey is my husband and the father of my -"

"Children," she nodded, glancing at my midsection. "Cause I'm more than certain that he put another one inside you already, Everlea, and while he's off saving the damn world, who's gonna be here making sure you're taken care of? Me. That's who."

And that's when it hit me. Mom didn't hate Harvey because he and I had carnal knowledge of one another. Or because we created Aria - and might have created another baby. No, she was irritated with Harvey Russell because he was the government's housekeeper, and while he was changing shitty sheets, she got to handle my hormonal ass, and pray that the baby didn't come while he was God knew where, doing God knew what.