A/N: I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of those who have followed, favorited, and left reviews, especially my guest reviewers! Your support motivated me to finish this chapter, which was difficult to write for a variety of reasons. Thank you all!


Vicky stood in the kitchen fixing sandwiches for the kids' school lunches when Rocket leaped up onto one of the chairs and hoisted himself onto the counter.

"Well, aren't you becoming quite the little acrobat?"

Rocket purred, clearly pleased with himself. Vicky leaned over the counter to look at him more closely.

"Rocket, I think you and I both know that Danny is going to have a cow if he comes in and sees you sitting on this counter." She gave the kitten a dubious glare. "But if you get down now, your secret is safe with me!" she promised. With that, Rocket quickly scampered off the counter the same way he came up, causing Vicky to chuckle.

"Listen to me, bargaining with cats," she sighed to herself, "I must really be a Tanner now!"

Moments later, Danny came downstairs tying his tie. "Hi Honey!" he exclaimed. He gave her a good morning kiss and then went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"You know, Vicky, it's really sweet that you remembered to cut the crusts off Michelle's sandwich," Danny noticed.

"Oh, no, this one's Joey's!" she informed him, and they both laughed.

"So, Danny, are you excited for your big show today?" Vicky asked.

Danny took a sip of his coffee and grinned. "You bet! I can't believe we got the head coach of the San Francisco Giants to come on our show! I did meet him briefly in the locker room back when I was doing the sports." Danny picked up the toaster and started nervously messing with his hair in the reflection. "Do you think he'll remember me? I mean, it was seven years ago, but I did offer to polish his shoes for him!"

Vicky shook her head in disbelief, laughing at her husband. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Danny raised an eyebrow at his wife. "Are you mocking me?"

Vicky put her hands up. "Me? No! I would never mock you, Danny! I was just – " Vicky tried to defend herself, but Danny cut her off with a swift peck. Vicky snickered then pulled him back in for a longer kiss.

The distracted lovebirds had failed to notice when Stephanie came down the stairs, so were startled out of their embrace when she deadpanned, "Ladies and gentlemen, the return of Make Out, San Francisco!"

Danny glared at his daughter. "Morning, Steph," he said flatly, "Is Gia meeting you here?"

"Yeah, she should be here any minute," Stephanie replied, "But before she gets here, I need to ask you something," she said nervously.

Danny sighed. "How much?"

Stephanie shook her head quickly. "I don't want any money! I just want to go with Gia and her cousin to the Ace of Base concert on Thursday night!"

"No."

"But Dad!"

"Steph, I said no! You're not going to a concert on a school night, and that's the end of it. You know your curfew is at 8 pm."

"Dad, please? It's just for one night!" Stephanie begged.

"Stephanie – " Danny warned.

"Fine!" Stephanie slumped into her chair at the kitchen table in defeat and poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Steph, did you ask him yet?" Gia asked, bursting through the kitchen door.

"Yes, and it was a big, fat, NO!" Stephanie exclaimed, glaring back at her father.

"Stephanie, trust me! You'll thank me on Friday when you go to school well-rested after going to bed a decent hour. I'm sorry, Sweetie, but you're just too young to be out that late on a school night." Danny kissed Stephanie's cheek and told her to have a good day. Stephanie scoffed but reluctantly kissed him back before heading out the door in a huff.

Danny sighed, and Vicky rubbed his shoulder to comfort him. "You did the right thing, Sweetheart!" she assured him.

"I know I did. I just hate seeing her so upset."

"Oh, Danny, she's a twelve-year-old girl! Anything that doesn't go her way at this age feels like it's the end of the world. Trust me, she'll get over it. It may take a few days or even weeks, but eventually, she'll forget all about it."

Danny smiled. "How do you always know these things?"

"Well, I was a twelve-year-old girl myself once, as hard as that may be to believe," Vicky shot back sarcastically, and her husband chuckled in response.


A sullen Stephanie sat in the school cafeteria with her friends, frowning as she pushed a glob of macaroni surprise around her tray with a fork.

"This is so unfair!" she complained to Gia. "Your mom is letting you go to the concert! Why won't my dad let me?"

Gia scoffed. "I never said my mother was letting me go! I just said that I was going," she clarified.

"You mean - ?"

"I told her I'm going over to your house to study for our French test, and she agreed to let me sleep over and leave for school from there on Friday morning since we always go together anyway! Brilliant plan, right?!"

Stephanie thought about it for a minute. "Do you think that would work on my dad?"

"Well, who says it has to work on your dad? There are four other adults living in your house that you could ask, aren't there?" Gia pointed out.

Stephanie pondered the idea quietly for a minute.

"C'mon, Stephanie, this is Ace of Base we're talking about here! They came all the way from Sweden. It would be rude not to go!"

Stephanie giggled. "You're right! I'm in."


Becky sat silently in her car in the parking lot of the fertility clinic. She choked back a sob and mentally scolded herself for scheduling the appointment during Rush Hour Renegades so that Jesse was unable to be there with her. She had received a lot of new information that day, but the gist of it that she understood was that the quality of her eggs was deteriorating at a much faster rate than the typical woman her age, meaning that their chances of naturally conceiving a third baby were fairly low. The specialist had offered her a few pamphlets for support groups for women in her circumstances. Secondary infertility, they called it. Just the name of it made Becky feel guilty. Why couldn't she just be grateful for the two beautiful sons she already had? She and Jesse had agreed that if something like this came up, they would be happy with just Nicky and Alex, so why did this have to hurt so bad?

She drove home and entered through the kitchen to find her mother-in-law sitting at the table with the boys.

"Becky!" Irene Katsopolis stood up from the table and greeted Becky with a hug. "How did your appointment go?'

"Well, actually, I'd rather talk to Jesse about it first before I tell anyone else," Becky said quietly.

Irene gasped. "Are you pregnant?" she squealed excitedly.

Becky swallowed and shook her head, trying to fight back the tears. "I'd rather not talk about it," she reiterated.

Irene's expression and tone immediately shifted from excitement to concern. She placed both hands on Becky's shoulders. "What did the doctor say, Honey?"

Becky bit her lip, but it was too late. "That I probably can't have another baby!" she sobbed quietly, not wanting to scare Nicky and Alex.

"Oh, Honey! Come here!" Irene embraced her daughter-in-law, offering her a shoulder to cry on. Fortunately, Nicky and Alex were fully engrossed in their coloring books and didn't seem to notice their mother's outburst.

Once Becky was able to compose herself, Irene pulled a chair out from the table and ushered her to sit down.

"What exactly did the doctor say?" Irene wanted to know.

"That my eggs have poor quality for a woman my age. They don't really know what causes it, but I guess it's some kind of hormone imbalance," Becky explained.

Irene tilted her head sympathetically, placing a hand on Becky's knee. "Becky, I'm so sorry."

Becky dabbed her eye with a tissue then blew her nose. "I just feel guilty for being so upset when there are so many women out there who don't even have one baby and I already have two! With me growing up with so many brothers and sisters and Jesse and I living here with the girls for so long, we both just always expected that we'd have a big family of our own one day. I don't know how I'm going to tell Jesse that's not going to happen."

"Oh, Becky. I know my Jesse, and I know how much he loves you! Of course, he's going to be sad, but I think it's going to be even harder for him to see how much it upsets you."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Becky sniffled, then smiled. "Thank you, Irene!"

"Anytime, Honey! And, I know it's none of my business, but there are other options, you know! Have you and Jesse talked about adopting?" Irene inquired.

Becky pondered the idea for a moment. "Well, sure, we've talked about it as an option, but we haven't seriously looked into anything yet."

Irene smirked. "Something to think about."

"I guess it is," Becky agreed. "Thank you again."

"No problem, Honey," Irene said as she stood up from the table. "I better get home and start fixing Nick's dinner. The man turns into Fred Flintstone if dinner's even one minute late! But, if you ever need me, I'm always a phone call away!" She gave Becky one last hug and then kissed her grandsons goodbye before heading out towards the front door.


The next day, Jesse and Joey sat at the kitchen table playing with the twins as Michelle did her homework.

"Okay, now, boys," said Jesse, "the fun thing about fingerpainting is that it helps you learn how to mix colors! See what happens when I dab my finger in the yellow paint and mix it with the blue here? What color do we get?" Jesse asked Nicky, who was seated in his lap.

"Green," Joey answered sincerely.

Jesse gently swatted Joey's arm. "Not you, the kids, huh?"

As Jess and Joey continued to play with the twins, Vicky and Becky entered from the living room.

"There are my big boys! How was preschool today?" Becky gushed as she hurried to the table to hug and kiss her sons.

Jesse stood up to kiss his wife hello, then checked his watch. "Hey, Joey, we better get down to the station." He and Joey headed toward the door to exit. "Oh, by the way, Vicky, Stephanie went over to Gia's to study for a test. She's staying over there tonight and Gia's mom is giving her a ride to school tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks, Jesse. Have a great show, you guys!" Vicky exclaimed.

Jesse and Joey nodded in appreciation and exited through the backdoor.

Once Jesse and Joey had left, Vicky glanced over and noticed that Stephanie's French book was still sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Looks like Stephanie forgot her book. Michelle, are you okay here with Becky and the boys while I run this over to Gia's?"

Michelle nodded and Vicky picked up her keys and walked out.


Vicky knocked on the door to the Mahans' apartment and a blonde woman in a waitress uniform answered.

"Hi, you must be Gia's mom!" Vicky said cheerfully, reaching out to shake her hand. "I'm Vicky, Stephanie's stepmom."

"Claire Mahan," the women replied, returning the handshake. "Come on in." She motioned for Vicky to come inside, then shut the door behind her.

"It's nice to finally meet you," said Claire. "I did meet your husband briefly at school a few weeks ago. Nice guy, but I could have done without the lecture on which brand of car wax I should be using."

Vicky laughed. "Danny is a little high strung," she admitted, "But, believe me, you get used to it!"

Claire smiled. "So, what brings you here?" she asked.

"Well, Stephanie left her French book at home so I figured I would drop it off."

Claire frowned. "Uh, Gia told me this morning she was going over to your house to study for the French test."

Claire and Vicky looked at each other blankly for a moment before Vicky remembered the conversation Stephanie and Danny had in the kitchen two days prior.

Vicky gasped, "I know exactly where they are. Did Gia say anything to you about the Ace of Base concert tonight?"

Claire nodded. "My niece had three tickets and Gia wanted to go with her, to which I responded "Over my dead body!", but of course, why would Gia listen to me? I'm only her mother!" Claire folded her arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "I can't believe she would do something like this, especially with Stephanie around! You know, Steph is a really good influence on her."

Vicky smiled. "Stephanie's a good kid. And I'm sure Gia is too, but tonight they both did something incredibly stupid!"

Claire nodded in agreement. "They certainly did." she sighed. "Boy, I must look like the Parent Of The Year right about now, huh?"

Vicky scoffed. "Are you kidding? There are five adults living in our house, and not a single one of them knew where Stephanie was! I only figured it out because I was there when Stephanie asked Danny if she could go to the concert. As somebody who was raised by a single mother, and who was known to pull stunts exactly like this one at times, I'd say you're doing great."

"Thanks." Claire then grinned mischievously. "What do you say we go down to that concert and bust them? My niece is friends with the bouncer. He'll totally let us in!"

Vicky smirked. "I say that's a great idea!"

Claire turned and picked up her purse then started towards the door, but Vicky stopped her.

"Wait, wait, wait! We can't just go to the club looking like this. If we're going to make a scene, we at least need to blend in with the crowd!"

Claire looked down at her waitressing uniform. "You're right! C'mon, let's go raid Gia's closet. I'm sure we'll find something that works. How do you know about this stuff, anyway?" Claire asked.

Vicky smiled boastfully. "Well, I did win a couple of awards back in the day for my investigative journalism skills!" She and Claire giggled.

The ladies set to work disguising themselves, with Claire opting for a little black dress covered by a denim jacket, and Vicky a pair of ripped jeans and a plain black t-shirt with a plaid flannel shirt tied in a knot over her stomach. Both ladies made their best attempt at the hip makeup trends with dark lips and smokey eyes, and as a finishing touch, Vicky tied her hair up with a red bandana Rosie the Riveter style.

"What do you think?" Vicky asked, admiring herself in Gia's floor-length mirror.

"I think we look great, but we better hurry if we're going to catch them before the show starts," Claire replied.

Vicky nodded and the two ladies hurried out the door.


After offering a small monetary bribe to the bouncer, Claire and Vicky walked into a seedy club packed with teens and twentysomethings dancing shoulder to shoulder to the opening act. Claire walked over to the bar and ordered two bottles of water then handed one to Vicky.

"Let me know if you need to sit down," she instructed.

Vicky took a big gulp of water. "I'm okay, thanks." She replaced the cap on the bottle and shoved it into her purse. "Alright, let's go find the girls!"

"Well, I don't know how we're going to find them in here," Claire retorted. "All these kids look exactly the same!"

Vicky's eyes wandered around the dimly lit venue to see that the club was in fact filled with people dressed in the same grunge style as they were. They started inching their way through the crowd looking for any signs of Stephanie and Gia.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the club. Stephanie and Gia were dancing along with Gia's cousin, Amanda, when the three girls were approached by three men about Amanda's age.

"Enjoying the show, ladies?" one of them asked. He was tan, blonde, and slender, and based on the can he was holding and the stench of his breath, the girls could tell he'd been drinking.

"Just ignore him," Amanda whispered, pulling Stephanie toward her. Stephanie did as she was told, but it didn't seem to discourage the three frat boys.

"Don't you wanna dance?" one of them asked Gia.

"Back off, buddy!" Gia shouted in defense, but it only encouraged the frat boy to lean in closer.

"Come on! We're at a concert. Have a little fun with us!" the blonde one urged Stephanie, who was noticeably uncomfortable at this point and recoiled towards Gia.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Stephanie whispered.

"Relax, Steph!" Gia whispered back sharply. "Just stick with us, and you'll be fine."

Stephanie tried to relax and enjoy herself, but the three boys weren't easing up.

"C'mon Sweetheart! Don't you want a piece of this?" the blonde asked, flexing a muscle.

"How about I give you a piece of this, Buddy?" Vicky said into the blonde's ear with gritted teeth.

"Vicky?!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Mom?!" Gia echoed as Claire appeared behind Vicky.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Stephanie asked.

"We're taking you girls home!" Vicky grabbed Stephanie and pulled her by the arm towards the exit as Claire did the same with Gia.


When they arrived home, Stephanie stormed into the living room with Vicky right behind her.

"Sit down," Vicky ordered. Stephanie did as instructed and collapsed, pouting, onto the couch clutching a throw pillow.

"Now, what on Earth were you thinking, Stephanie? Lying and sneaking out on a school night?!" Vicky paced back and forth across the room. "You could've been robbed, kidnapped, injured - " she counted off on her fingers. "Steph, do you realize what kinds of things can happen to girls your age who go alone to a place like that?!"

"I wasn't alone!" Stephanie yelled in defense. "I was with Gia and her cousin!"

"Oh right," Vicky replied sarcastically, "Two twelve-year-olds, and a nineteen-year-old. Totally safe. My bad!" Vicky clenched her fists, then sighed. "Stephanie, don't you get it?! People take advantage of girls like you in these types of situations. You're young, innocent, and insanely vulnerable. And you are so lucky that Claire and I found you girls before those guys did anything!"

Stephanie bowed her head, not daring to look Vicky in the eye. "I know, okay? I'm sorry."

Vicky folded her arms across her chest. "Well, sorry doesn't cut it. For the next two months, you're not going anywhere except home and school. Are we clear?"

"But that's so unfair!" Stephanie shrieked.

Vicky scoffed. "After what you put me through tonight, I think it's perfectly fair!"

"You can't do that!" Stephanie protested. "You're not my mother!" Stephanie tossed the pillow aside and stormed upstairs. Vicky sat down on the couch with her head in her hands.


Once they both had a chance to cool down, Vicky knocked on Stephanie's bedroom door and following a halfhearted mumble of "Come in", walked in and sat on the end of Stephanie's bed where Stephanie lay with her face buried in her pillow, clutching Mr. Bear.

"Stephanie, we need to talk."

Stephanie sat up to look at Vicky. "I know. I'm really sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it like that. I was just - "

Vicky nodded. "You were upset. And I don't blame you. If I were you, I probably would have said the exact same thing." Vicky sighed and wrapped one arm around Stephanie's shoulder.

"Look, Stephanie, I know I'm still new at this whole stepmom thing. I'm not going to do everything right. Maybe busting you and Gia at the club like that wasn't the best way to go, but I only did it because I was worried about you! Do you really think that your dad or Jesse or Joey would have done anything differently?"

Stephanie chuckled. "Well, their outfits wouldn't have been nearly as good!"

Vicky laughed as she examined her grunge ensemble. "You're probably right about that!"

Stephanie rested her head on Vicky's shoulder. "Thanks for looking out for me tonight," she said sincerely. She paused in thought for a moment, then said "You know, Vicky, after so many years of having Dad Talks all the time, it's really nice to have a Mom Talk again."

Vicky tilted her head sympathetically. "Oh, Stephanie, come here!" She enveloped Stephanie in a tight hug.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, Steph because your teenage years are coming and if you're anything like I was, we're going to be having many more of these talks over the next few years!"

Stephanie giggled. "I can't wait!"

Vicky stood up from the bed and said, "I'm going to do you a small favor and tell your dad that you're already asleep. I think you've been lectured enough for tonight, but I would brace yourself if I were you. Tomorrow's not gonna be pretty."

"Tell me about it! Thanks, Vicky."

"Anytime, Steph. Goodnight!"

"Goodn - Oh, wait. Vicky?"

"Yeah, Steph?"

"Could you show me how you did your makeup like that sometime? You did an amazing job with that eyeliner!" Stephanie gushed.

Vicky chuckled. "Of course! Good night, Stephanie."

"Goodnight!

Vicky turned off the light and shut the door. She paused in the hallway for a moment, looking down to admire her outfit one last time. She smiled triumphantly to herself before going into her room to change, shutting the door behind her.