"Hey, Grandpa" Elizabeth greeted with a little smile, sheepishly shutting the front door, "I saw the car…is Mom around?"

She had spent pretty much the entire day sleeping under a tree in the garden because, knowing that Lucy could arrive home any time, she hadn't wanted to stray too far from the house. She hadn't intended to actually sleep, she'd just wanted some fresh air and the tree looked kind of cute, kind of cozy. Their yard back in Arizona had been lush with a bright green, perfectly even and tended to lawn but they hadn't been allowed to play on it. It had felt kind of refreshing to be able to potter around Grandpa's homely and messy garden, traipse through the fairly long grass and plop down under the shade of one of the many trees.

She'd headed out there because the house had felt a little stagnant and stifling. She couldn't help but think that after such a thrilling, intense night it was no surprise she found the day to be underwhelming. How could anything compete with Dwayne and the feelings he brought her? She had been forced to eat breakfast alone as Sammy had been enjoying a long bath and Michael had apparently been and gone long before she had risen. With Grandpa tinkering away in his workroom, the lack of company meant she had become bored and antsy quite early into the day. When Sammy had finally made himself known, bouncing into the kitchen to rustle up the biggest, most obscene bowl of cereal for himself, he had announced his intentions to do nothing other than relax with a comic book. Having spent the previous few days with the Frog Brothers, he expressed absolutely no desire to head to the boardwalk again. Dramatically and with flair, he had announced his fatigue. Elizabeth didn't particularly want to hang out at the boardwalk without Dwayne, without the wild and wonderful boys she now called friends but he'd shot her down when she suggested they go to the beach near the house instead. He wanted some 'me time' and was quite uncompromising about it. He had thrown a lone, damp and chocolatey hunk of cereal at her when she innocently asked him which hand he would be using to facilitate his afternoon and, after a little giggle, they had parted ways.

The lack of company didn't bother her, not really. She knew whose company she wanted and she was willing to wait for it but it was a little difficult to actually do the waiting. To distract herself, she'd carefully and almost reverently scooped up her copy of Dracula and headed outside.

She had fully intended to read for a spell and then go back in, maybe persuade Sammy and Grandpa to take a break from their activities and get lunch with her but, it wasn't even five pages in before she had dozed off.

Elizabeth had woken slowly, yawning and wincing as the material of her shirt snagged a little on the dark of the tree. Righting herself slowly, she had carefully and gently patted her copy of Dracula clean. At some point during her nap it had fallen out of her hand and landed face down in the leafy grass. None of the pages were creased and she had smiled, closing it with care. Gently securing it in the wide pocket of her flannel shirt, she'd shaken her head through a yawn and hauled herself up to her feet, her back clicking a little as she did.

Dwayne must have tired her out a lot more than she'd realized. Biting her lip at the memory, she'd spotted Lucy's car parked in the drive and paused, surprised and curious about how long and how deeply she'd actually slept. She had headed towards the house, brushing herself off as she walked and had bumped into Grandpa right there in the entrance.

"Yeah…she's back. In the kitchen" Grandpa said, fiddling with an intricate and interesting tie in front of the mirror. He didn't bother to look over as he spoke, focusing his attention on his reflection instead, "cookin' up something good for your supper by the smell of it.."

"Kind of early for dinner?" Elizabeth said, glancing at the old man's watch for confirmation. It wasn't even five yet and they usually took dinner in the early evening.

"Well, yeah but I think the change'll be good for you all" the old man muttered, eyes following hers to glance down at his watch, "plus she's got work"

Their father had always finished his work quite late but insisted on family dinners all the same. He would arrive home, join their table towards the end of their meal, wolf down his food and then head over to his study or den to pass away the rest of the night with work or whatever pleasure he found on the TV.

With a little thoughtful twitch of her lips, Elizabeth nodded to herself, agreeing with him…it would actually be nice to break away from that routine.

A total fresh start for everyone.

"Anyway, we all know the early bird catches the worm"

"It does?"

"Oh yeah, sure" Grandpa said, rubbing his scruffy beard a little, giving it one last clean, "…get dinner out of the way and then the whole night is yours"

She started for a second before realizing that he was just generalizing. She laughed at herself.

"Or yours…" Elizabeth couldn't help but smile, referencing the fact that he obviously had a hot date.

He and the Widow were going pretty steady.

He winked at her, "but not your mother's"

"No?"

"Night shift, remember? Work. No rest for the wicked, Liz. No rest for the wicked…" he shook his head and rolled his shoulders, looking like a sports player psyching himself up for a big game.

"No rest for the good, you mean" she said with good humor, grinning up at him.

Lucy didn't have a wicked bone in her body.

Elizabeth was excited to have her mother back and excited to see her and hang out with her again but she had been worried about how it would affect her evenings, her nights with Dwayne. Speaking with Grandpa, it looked like she needn't have worried. Everything was sorting itself out nicely. Everyone seemed to be doing their own things and she couldn't have hoped for anything more.

With a happy little chirp, she asked, "how long has she been back? I was reading and I fell asleep-"

"-yeah, I saw" he chortled, "surprised you don't have ants in your mouth it was hanging open so wide…"

She blushed and laughed, "oh God, really?"

"Nah. She's been back a good few hours" he gently knocked her chin with his fist, "I look OK, kiddo?"

"Very….dapper" Elizabeth replied, giving him a quick and final once over.

He was wearing a suit that may have once been black but was now definitely a faded grey, the shirt he was wearing was so bright and white she had no doubt it was a new purchase and hanging beneath his camouflage tie was a kind of necklace that looked like something from the old west, like something a cowboy might wear. There was a baseball cap on the table before them, too, and she didn't want to know what shoes he was going to choose for the occasion but with his personality, his eclectic style didn't look out of place.

In fact, it suited him.

"The Widow's going to love it" she promised him, knowing very well who he was going to see.

He wiggled his eyebrows and hitched his tie once more, "well, I aim to please"

"Are you taking Nanook?"

"Uhhhh…" for a second, he seemed a little flummoxed by the question.

"It's just, you know. I thought she liked him?" Elizabeth explained. Feeling a tiny bit guilty for it, for the manipulation that came very easily. She smiled and shrugged, "I just remembered…" that Nanook won't like my choice of visitor "…that she likes him, you know?"

"You have a good head" he ruffled her hair, "I'll bring the dog. She gives him belly rubs and then she's in a good mood and I get belly rubs" he grinned and she tried hard not to cringe, "hey, give this to your Mom, would you? I'll go get the dog…" he all but stuffed a scrap of paper in her hand and Elizabeth glanced down at it, curiously hoping he would tell her what it was, but he was already walking away from her. Obviously he liked the idea of receiving some affection from his date and once again, she tried not to think about what he and his girlfriend did in their private time.

In his hasty, somewhat scrawled handwriting it was written simply, 'lawyer called X 5'. What did that mean? A lawyer had called five times? Lucy had five lawyers? She thought it was probably the former and it annoyed her a little to think of her mother still being harassed by lawyers and legal proceedings. Her dad had kept absolutely everything; the house, the money, their furniture. Even Lucy's clothes had been locked away in the bitter fight and she didn't like to think that such horrible drama was going to follow her here, too.

Her mother deserved so much more than that.

"Grandpa what doe-"Elizabeth looked over at him and paused, stuffing the paper in the pocket of her jeans before dashing over to him, "-Grandpa! You have toilet paper in your pants!" she laughed in embarrassment at the ridiculous sight and pointed to his back.

She hadn't seen it before but there, hanging out and streaming over his belt was a white, crisp and fairly long wad of toilet paper. It looked almost like a tail and she was glad she'd spotted it before he left for his date.

He stretched his back and peered over his shoulder, chuckling easily, "well how'd that happen, I didn't use the john today?"

He snatched at the paper, using his fist to smush it very carelessly and easily into a ball. She genuinely couldn't tell if he was joking with her or not, "thanks Lizzie. I got it all? None stuck to my feet?"

"You're good" she told him, shaking her head again with a little chuckle, "first time I've seen that outside of movies"

"Glad you got a laugh" he winked at her, stuffing the paper in the pocket of his jacket, "I'm gonna get Nanook. Have a good night, kid"

"You too!" She watched him slip on a pair of flip flops before taking Nanook's lead from the coat rack near the door. He left the house without another word and she grinned.

She was always happy to see her Grandfather, she loved him so much. He was crazy and goofy and funny and so genuinely kind…and now he was away for the night. With Michael still missing in action, spending days and nights away from the house, notes left here and there to assure everyone he was still alive, and with Lucy working the night shift that left her with Sammy.

Sammy…the brother that favored early nights and had his own strange friends to spend time with.

She couldn't believe how lucky she was.

It was like the universe was pushing her towards Dwayne and she was thrilled for it. Turning on her heel, she all but bounced into the kitchen.

"Welcome back, Mom!" she greeted, immediately spotting Lucy working away over a full stove. It was like she had never been away. She looked fresh and bright, wearing a long and flowing pastel dress and an equally long and comfortable knitted cardigan.

She saw Sammy sitting in the conservatory and grinned when he stood up. She wondered if he'd been sat there, chilling and relaxing with his thoughts while Lucy cooked for them.

It wouldn't have surprised her.

"Oh! Elizabeth, hey sweetie! Hi! " Lucy practically beamed at her daughter. She was flustered for a second, obviously wanting to give her daughter a hug but also not wanting to abandon the dish she was working on. With a few steps, Elizabeth bounded over to her instead and gave her a quick but tight sideways hug, mindful of the food displayed before them both. Lucy placed a sweet kiss on her cheek, "hi sweetheart, I was just going to send Sammy out to get you…oh I missed you!"

"I missed you too" Elizabeth released her and laughed a little, "sorry I didn't meet you..Grandpa said I was totally out of it"

"We heard you snoring from all the way in here" Sam said from the conservatory, stacking some comics he had been reading.

"Funny"

"You really were zonked out, sugar" Lucy said, smiling widely and brightly, "you didn't even hear the car. I was tempted to honk but you looked so cute. Good book?"

Elizabeth shrugged noncommittally. Truthfully, it was the best book, the sweetest, most romantic book of all and it was still nestled in the pocket of the simple flannel shirt she'd thrown over her top.

"You're a walking cliché, Liz" Sam said, "falling asleep under a tree, clutching a book"

"It was cute" Lucy assured in a playful whisper, giving Elizabeth a wink.

"I'm glad you're home. I really did miss you" Elizabeth replied, giving Lucy another quick little squeeze. As her mother's free hand gently held her elbow, as their heads touched, Elizabeth felt a rush of love for her.

"I missed you, too" Lucy assured. As the two broke away and Lucy stirred the sauce before her, she said with a pointed playfulness, "and I'm glad one of my children is happy to see me"

"I'm happy, Mom" Sam insisted.

"Uh-huh…" Lucy said, her eyes sparkling.

"I just don't get why you're starting dinner so early" Sam shrugged, entering the room and hitching himself up onto the counter she was using to prepare a feast of roasted vegetables and pasta.

She had been working for a while already, judging by the set table and the almost finished dishes.

"Well, I have work tonight, sweetie" Lucy said, tasting some thick and herby tomato sauce. She tilted her head and pinched a smattering of pepper from the bowl beside her, "and who wants to eat late anyway? Be all bloated before bed?"

Elizabeth nodded in agreement and understanding as she moved to the fridge, glass in hand. She agreed with Grandpa, it was stupid to eat late if they didn't need to. She opened the small freezer section and dropped some ice into the glass before filling it with a healthy helping of milk.

"I guess…" Sam sounded unconvinced.

Elizabeth topped the milk off with coffee. It was obviously a batch Grandpa had made and forgotten to drink and she thought it would probably taste a little gross but she used it anyway. Her end goal was to stay awake, she wasn't drinking it for pleasure. As she shut the door to the fridge, Sammy continued, "but anyway, you just got back from work"

"I'm full time, Sammy" Lucy's voice was warm, "I work every day, I have a schedule…" she considered the herb in her fingers for a moment and dropped some of the pepper back into the bowl, "..you know I work nights…"

"Yeah but you just got back from a work trip. Don't you get breaks?"

"Of course. I'm here now, aren't I? I'm employed, not a slave" she carefully sprinkled the remaining pepper over the bubbling pan, turning down the heat as she finished, "why, what's wrong?"

"He's just cantankerous" Elizabeth said with a cheeky grin, moving to sit at the table, "no Michael to fight with…"

Lucy said nothing, though Elizabeth did notice she tensed for a second.

Sammy moved his head to look into a pan filled with buttery, warm and perfectly cooked spaghetti. He ignored Elizabeth's teasing, not seeing the brief reaction his mother all but immediately covered up, "nothing, I just thought we were having dinner tonight"

He glanced up at the clock, looking a little perturbed by the time. They usually ate dinner around seven or eight but it wasn't even four-thirty.

"We are, sweetie?" Lucy sounded confused and bemused, tugging the pan away from his curious fingers.

"Well, yeah but it's kind of early"

"Look. Are you hungry?" Lucy asked.

Sammy said nothing and Elizabeth grinned. She knew that he said nothing because of course the answer to her question was 'yes' and that would show how pointless his grumblings had been. Instead, he peered towards the pan once more and asked, "can we put oregano on the pasta?"

"No, it's in the sauce, we don't want to overdo it"

"It's better on pasta…" Sammy replied, smacking his lips loudly, "buttery pasta smothered in oregano…"

Elizabeth swallowed, feeling like one of Pavlov's dogs. Like Sammy, she loved nothing more than a big bowl of hot pasta dripping with rich butter and absolutely covered in oregano, a scattering of garlic, generous amount of salt.

She smiled again, thinking about how simple they both were.

"See, Lizzie loves it!"

"You two are terrible!" Lucy laughed, one more batting Sammy's inquisitive hand away from the pan of pasta, "I've been slow roasting those vegetables for an hour already, I bought parmesan from this sweet little farmer's market and you just want to eat-"

"-ohhh parm is good!"

Elizabeth nodded, "parm and garlic and oregano-"

Lucy tutted with a laugh, rolling her eyes, "plain, boring pasta?"

"Pasta with butter and oregano" Sammy repeated.

"Well, tonight's menu is my pasta and a side of slow roasted vegetables topped with my homemade pasta sauce, thank you both. Eat your dry pasta some other time…preferably when I haven't slaved over dinner" her tone was hard but there was laughter in her voice.

Both Sammy and Elizabeth grinned.

"...that's OK" Sam shrugged, a sly grin on his face and his tone filled with innocence, "I'll get my dry, oregano covered pasta for dinner tomorrow…when my mother leaves for an evening of work yet again…" he sighed dramatically.

Lucy tutted with a smile and rolled her eyes, lightly thwacking his arm with the dish towel she had grabbed from the counter.

He laughed and intercepted it, swinging his legs against the cupboards beneath him.

"How was it, Mom? Your work trip, I mean…" Elizabeth asked from her spot at the table, taking a small sip of her iced, milky coffee, grimacing a little as she did. She was right, it was pretty bad. Grandpa must have let it cool down on the counter and then just shoved it in the fridge in an effort not to be wasteful.

She always loved Lucy's cooking and the pan of vegetables slowly simmering in the oven did smell good, she knew the sauce would be flavorful and fresh. She had no complaints about the dinner being prepared and she knew that Sammy didn't either. Not really. They were both grateful for it and while she enjoyed their playful conversation, it felt a bit unsupportive to complain about her work schedule, even in a joking way, "…you didn't say"

"I didn't get the chance" her mother grinned.

"Well, I want to hear" Elizabeth assured her.

It was nice to see Lucy happy, to see her busy and fulfilled with a job. Dinner was dinner, it didn't matter what they ate, what time they started or what time they finished. They were eating together and that was the important thing. Elizabeth could admit, however, that truthfully and selfishly, she was also glad Lucy was working the night shift and cooking early because it worked for her. She would eat dinner right after lunch if it meant her nights were free. She could spend time with Dwayne, Sammy could see his friends, Lucy could be happy in work. It seemed to suit everyone nicely and she didn't see the need to rock the boat with complaints, even if they were innocent and in good humor.

"This guy sounds like he's working you too hard" Sam said, answering Lucy's question for her.

Lucy, mindful of her dirty hands, used the inside of her wrist to cuff Sammy's head towards her, planting a sweet and motherly kiss on the top of his head. With a gruff and weak protest, he tutted and ducked his head away from her, righting his hair, "he's not working me too hard but thank you for your concern" she smiled over at Elizabeth, turning away from her son, "it was good. I had a lot of fun...learned a lot, excited for um, yeah…" her eyes were bright and she nodded, fighting down a very wide smile, "I'm excited for a new start, a new career.."

She sounded incredibly happy and there was a brightness, a spark in her eyes that Elizabeth had never seen. She didn't know if Sammy was dense, in his own world or just too innocent to see but Lucy was clearly in love. She had no doubt that working was fulfilling her but there was a joy, an air of contentment around her that was undeniable.

Lucy liked her boss. A lot.

Whatever relationship they had, it was not only professional.

"New career…" Elizabeth smiled with a nod, "that's great for you, Mom. I'm really happy you found such a good…job"

And she was. Lucy had been a stay at home mother since she'd been married and her marriage, while filled with some undeniably happy moments, had definitely been an unequal one. She had played the supportive, humble and submissive wife for a long, long time. She always put her husband first, her children first. Her needs came last, her wants weren't really considered. She had all but lived for her family. It was wonderful to see her living life for herself and whoever Max was, whatever kind of person or boss he was…he was clearly making her happy.

If anyone deserved some happiness, it was Lucy.

"You two are weird" Sammy said, sneaking a plump tomato from the packet on the counter.

Lucy's eyes twinkled, ignoring Sammy's innocent ignorance, "well, I've been out of work for so long…I thought I would always be out of work…I'm glad I've, uh, found something"

"Me too, Mom" Elizabeth said, totally and fully understanding the innuendo of her words.

"It's a job in a video shop" Sammy said, looking between the two women like they were both aliens.

"Mhmm, well this 'job in a video shop' means you get pocket money again, mister" Lucy said playfully.

"I love you" he replied, his voice immediately sweet and loving.

Both Lucy and Elizabeth laughed, shaking their heads in amusement as he batted his eyelashes.

"You're such a creep, Sammy" Elizabeth told him, watching as he smiled widely, plucking another tomato from the packet. He kicked himself off the counter and wandered to the table, plopping down beside Elizabeth, swatting at her head as he did.

She chuckled and ducked, smiling as nudged her knee with his own. She liked it when Sammy was silly and playful with her because it didn't often happen. He only ever roughhoused with Michael. They had been too nervous to include her in their play fighting when she had first joined them, worried that perhaps they would trigger some unknown trauma. By the time they finally realized she wasn't a fragile, ticking time bomb and had actually led a very normal life in care, she'd started her period and grown boobs and that solidified their physical distance even more. She didn't care about it too much – both of them had a tendency to play dirty and after receiving a few sneaky, slobbery, wet and cold fingers in her ear, she decided that such antics were overrated, anyway…but still. Now again it was fun to be silly with him. Hanging out with him made her realize that she missed him a little, too.

"…you two haven't seen much of each other, huh?" Lucy asked lightly.

Both Sam and Elizabeth looked up at her. She was watching them with curious concern.

"This dork has friends, Mom"

"And this loser doesn't" Sam retorted, poking her in the side, "fate has separated us"

She choked a laugh, body jerking, and swatted his hand away. Fighting down her smile, she thought that Sammy's words were actually quite true. She hadn't spent much time with Sammy or Michael and she didn't need to make friends, not anymore…fate had separated them and instead thrust her towards Dwayne.

Lucy smiled, looking at them both. There was a splash of worry on her face that Elizabeth fully understood.

She loved that Lucy wanted them to spend time together, to make sure nobody was feeling lonely or isolated in their new home, their new town but, despite not seeing much of her brothers, Elizabeth was so wonderfully content. She was so happy, she didn't want to spend time with them, not at the moment. She was glad to spend time with Sammy now but the second the sun set, she wanted to be away from them all.

She had too many other things to do, so many things to learn and experience.

She had Dwayne, she wanted nothing more. Everything was perfect and she absolutely didn't want it to change.

"Well, Sammy you really should-"

"-God no!" Elizabeth interrupted with a laugh, knowing where Lucy was going, "Mom, no. No thanks!"

"Elizabeth, I hate to think you're here alone all day…"

"I'm not" Elizabeth assured, "really. I'm at the library a lot, I love it there. It's so old and there are so many-"

"-books?-"

"-books and cool stuff" she gave Sam a look and he grinned at her, "trust me, I'm good. I like this, I like having time to myself…it'll be different when school starts"

Lucy opened her mouth but closed it with a smile and Elizabeth knew she'd been swayed by her words. Back in Arizona, she'd had a solid group of friends and a happy, healthy social life. There was no reason for Lucy to think she wasn't enjoying some peace and quiet before a new term.

"Really, you don't have to worry about me" Elizabeth assured one last time, meaning it with all her heart. She found the lie about how she was spending her time came easily but her sincerity about being content was wholeheartedly truthful. She jerked her head towards Sammy, "it's this one you should worry about"

"Oh?" her question was playfully inquiring and Elizabeth knew that she was no longer worried about them and how they were spending their time.

"Wait 'til you actually meet his friends" she laughed a little and Sammy joined in with her.

"Why?" Lucy asked with a smile of her own, "The uh, Frog Brothers, right?"

"They're total nutcases"

"Totally nuts" Sam agreed with a good natured smile "can I go bowling with them tomorrow?"

"Sure, sweetie" Lucy said with another bemused smile and shake of her head, "as long as you're both happy? Are you happy here?"

"I have weird friends-"

"-and it's a weird town…" Elizabeth added with a smile, thinking of the boardwalk and its wild inhabitants.

She looked towards Sammy and in unison they giggled, "…but someone's got to live here!"

Lucy smiled at them both, a loving and care filled, reassured smile before rolling her eyes at their goofiness and going back to the pans before her.

"We're good, Mom" Sammy assured.

"Well, I'm glad" Lucy said, gently tapping her wooden spoon on the edge of the pan, dripping thick and rich sauce back into the pot, "hey, Sammy you want to get the vegetables out of the oven?"

"For sure" he said, sliding out of his chair, "I'm starving"

He grinned as Lucy and Elizabeth laughed in disbelief.

A/N: I love Lucy, I think she's such a warm character. It's always fun to write her, as well as Grandpa. He's a hoot! Thank you for the kind reviews and sorry for keeping you all waiting. I'll try and be faster in the future!