Forty minutes later, dinner was ready. Perry helped Della to the dining table. "So, Tony, how do you like being a housekeeper?" Perry asked.

"I like it a lot, actually."

"Well, one day, you just might own a house like this one and have your own housekeeper."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I was just trying to be optimistic."

"You think I'm less of a man because I live in Angela's house and I'm essentially her maid?"

"No, I didn't say that."

"What about that crack earlier about my hands being my bread and butter?"

"They are," Perry said, "have you ever seen anyone clean with their feet?"

"Just be honest," Tony said, "every decision I've made, outside of my marriage, you've hated."

"I just wanted you to go into a stable profession. Look at what happened. You had one injury and that's all it took to end your career."

"You've never supported me and you know it."

"You've never wanted to be my son."

"You never gave me a chance."

Della decided to try and calm everyone down, "Tony..."

"And you," Tony said turning to her, "any love you had to give was reserved for him and the others. You've always sided with him. You've always loved him. When I needed the two of you the most, you weren't there. My wife had died, the mother of your granddaughter, and you couldn't stay with us to help us heal for even a bit."

Perry stood angrily, "you can yell at me all you want, but you will not speak to your mother that way."

"What mother? She was never a mother. Both of you were never there."

Della stood as she felt her eyes begin to water. She hurried out of the dining room and up the stairs as best as she could. Perry followed without saying another word. He found his wife in their room, crying on the bed. "Do you want to leave?" Della just nodded, "I'll get everything together." Perry took the luggage downstairs but turned to help his wife finish making her way down the stairs. Without saying a word, the couple left.

"Tony, I know you're angry, but don't you think you went a little too far?" Angela asked.

"I don't think I went far enough."

Just then, a panicked Della rushed into the house, "Tony," she said, "call the paramedics."

"Ma, what's going on?"

"Your father's having a heart attack."

Angela looked at Tony, "I'll call. Take care of your mother."

"No, I need to get back to him," Della cried.

"Okay," Tony said, "I'll take you."

"No," Della said, "it's all your fault. You started this fight and now he may die." She rushed out and returned to her husband. Tony never went outside and neither did anyone else.

"I know you're angry," Angela said, "she probably didn't mean it. Her husband's life is in danger and she's upset."

"Oh, she meant it," Tony said.

"Think about when Marie was dying. About when she died. You said your parents weren't there for you and Samantha. Show them something different. Go to the hospital and sit with your mother who is probably going out of her mind with worry."

"I don't know."

"Tony, she told me why you went to live with your grandparents. It's not what you think."

"What happened then?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell you. Maybe if you show her some kindness, she'll open up to you?"

"Dad, I want to go," Samantha said. "Nana was really mean to you, but Angela's right. We should be the bigger person."

"Tony, we'll all go with you," Angela said.

The family loaded up in the van and headed for the hospital. It broke Tony's heart to see how distraught his mother was. He walked over, sat next to her, and took her hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean it."

"You're upset," Tony said, "it's fine."

"Nothing I've done in your life has been fine or right. You know, your father and I were thrilled to find out I was pregnant. He took me in his arms and swung me around. We couldn't wait for you," Della smiled. Soon her smile fell, "after you were born, I lost it. I couldn't hold you. I couldn't look at you. I was so miserable and couldn't figure out why. One day, I couldn't take it anymore. I left the house and you, home alone. I'd left the door open. You were crawling at the time and ended up crawling out into the street. The police called your father. He sent Paul to find me. I was standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump."

Tony was shocked, "why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to lower your opinion of me even more. Besides, I was ashamed."

"Postpartum depression?" Tony asked.

"Only, they didn't have a name for it then. I was just a bad mother. That's what the judge said."

"Judge?"

"Tony, we were never there because we were never allowed to be there. They took you from us that day. Your grandparents took you in. Perry's mother never liked me or him for that matter."

"I don't understand. Pop's this great lawyer. Why couldn't you get me back?"

"Your father and I began to feel that everything the court was saying was true. We felt you were better off without us. The reason he wanted you to be a lawyer was that he thought you'd join his practice and then he could spend every day with you."

"And you sided with him because of everything the two of you had been through. I was so upset when you had the others. I thought you didn't like me and were trying to replace me."

Della looked at her son. It broke his heart, even more, to see how much she had been crying. "Never," Della said, "we never tried for more children. It just happened."

"Cus you and pop love each other so much."

"Well, we did have a hard time keeping our hands off of each other. Especially your father."

Tony put his arm around his mother and took her hand with his other hand. He kissed her temple, "don't feel bad anymore. It's not your fault."

Della broke down, "I'm so sorry," she choked out.

"Shh, I forgive you. Pop's gonna be fine. I'll forgive him and we can begin putting this all behind us."

"I can't lose him."

"You won't," Tony said, "he wouldn't dare leave you."

"Where's Samantha?"

"I'm right here," the girl walked over to her grandmother.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Della said.

"I forgive you," Sam said before hugging her grandmother, "I'm sorry you went through all that."

"I'm sorry about all you've been through too."

A few minutes later, the doctor walked out, "Mrs. Mason?"

Della stood with Tony's help, "how's my husband?"

"Lucky," the doctor said. "It was a mild heart attack. I told him that he should consider weight loss surgery. His weight is taking a toll on his health." He handed Della some information, "I've given him the same things, but I've found that it's best to also give a copy to the wife."

Della gave a slight smile, "when can I see him?"

"I'll have a nurse come and get you when he's in a room."

"Thank you," Della whispered as he walked away.

The woman nearly collapsed from relief, but her son caught her and helped her to sit back down. "You okay?"

"I'm relieved," she choked out.

Tony noticed his mother wince, "what's wrong?"

"I've just been walking a lot more than usual."

"Why don't I get a wheelchair to take you to pop's room?"

"No," Della said, "I don't want him to worry. I'll be fine."

A half-hour later, a nurse took Della and Tony back. They visited for a half-hour before Perry insisted his wife leave to get some rest. "Hey, pop," Tony said, "mom told me everything. You're forgiven," he said. "Even though you aren't to blame. From this point on, clean slate. We're starting over." The two smiled at each other before Tony and Della left.

Tony ended up having to carry his mother into the house and up to the room. "You could have left me on the couch," she said.

"Cus that wouldn't make things worse." He sat her on the bed.

"Tony, I, um, I need some help with my skirt," she looked down, embarrassed.

"Okay," he said before going to get Samantha, "Sam's gonna help you while I hold onto you."

Tony helped his mother stand and held on while Samantha removed the skirt. He left so Samantha could help the woman finish. "What's that?" Sam asked when she saw a scar on one of Della's breasts.

"Oh, I had a lump removed about twenty years ago."

Sam looked shocked, "you had cancer?"

"Yes, I did. It was caught very early and required minimal treatment."

Samantha saw the scar on Della's stomach, "what's that?"

Della paused for a moment, "well, that's where I was shot."

"What?"

"I had taken your Aunt Maggie and Aunt Violet shopping. It was dark when we decided to go home. I was putting the bags in the trunk when a man walked up and shot me."

Samantha helped Della finish dressing and then went to the bathroom with her. Tony waited right outside in case they needed help. Sam left the bathroom for a few minutes, "dad, did you know nana had breast cancer?"

"What?"

"Yeah, like twenty years ago."

"How did you find out?"

"I saw her scar when she was changing. I saw the scar from her gunshot wound too."

"Gunshot wound?"

"Yeah," Samantha told Tony the story.

The door opened and Tony rushed to Della's side. She said good-night to Samantha and let Tony help her back to bed. "I'm going to stay with you tonight. Just in case."

Della groaned as she sat on the bed, "thank you, but you don't have to."

Tony gently lifted her legs onto the bed and covered her up, "I want to."

Della looked at her son, "Samantha told you, didn't she?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, for one, we weren't allowed to contact you. Your grandmother decided when you could contact us. Also, it wasn't worth worrying you when there was nothing you could do about it. Your siblings didn't really know about my cancer until they got older. Obviously, they knew about the shooting."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright."

"Thank you," Della smiled.

Tony climbed into the bed, "hey, ma?"

"Yeah?"

"I told you he was going to be fine."

Della smiled, "you've been holding that in for a while, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Tony laughed, "I was waiting for the right moment."

"I love you, Tony."

"I love you too, ma." Della fell asleep rather quickly. Tony, not long after. A half-hour later, Samantha woke Tony up, "what is it?" he asked tiredly.

"I wanna sleep with nana tonight."

"Sam, she's probably gonna need help if she has to get up during the night."

"I'll help her and if I can't, I'll get you. Please," she begged, "I can't stop thinking about what she told me."

"Alright," Tony said. He got out of the bed and tucked Samantha in before going to sleep in her room. Samantha snuggled into her grandmother's side and fell asleep.

A few hours later, Della woke up and felt pressure against her right side. She looked and saw her granddaughter sleeping against her. The woman smiled and began to run her hand threw Samantha's hair. Sam woke up and looked at her grandmother, "is something wrong?" she asked sleepily.

"No," Della whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay," she said, "do you need anything?"

"Actually, there's a heating pad in the small suitcase." Before she could finish, Samantha got up. She dug the heating pad out and found a large book.

"What's this?" she asked Della.

"It's a scrapbook."

"Can I look at it?"

"Sure," Della said.

Samantha plugged the heating pad in and handed it to her grandmother. She went to the other side of the bed and climbed in, "thank you, sweetheart. Now, what happened to your father?"

"I asked him to switch me."

"Why?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about what you told me. I wanted to be with you."

"Come here," Della said. Samantha went to lay in her grandmother's arms, "I'm sorry if I scared you. I shouldn't have told you about the shooting."

"No, it's fine. I'm not really scared. Just sad," she said.

"Why are you sad?"

"Well, when I found out you and grandpa were coming, I told Angela that I didn't like you guys."

"I see," Della said.

"Then you told us all these bad things that happened and I felt really bad. I'm sorry, nana."

Della hugged the girl tightly, "you don't have to be sorry. You never really got to know us and we never handled visits with you and your father very well. You're very protective of him and that's wonderful. Your Aunt Maureen has always been protective of me and your grandpa. Even though she liked to torture me. She didn't want anyone else to treat me badly." Della kissed the top of Samantha's head, "don't worry about it anymore. Before we left your grandfather's room, your dad told him we were starting over with a clean slate. That goes for you too."

"I love you, nana."

"I love you too." Della fell back to sleep and Samantha began to look through the scrapbook. She couldn't finish because she fell asleep too.