"Daaaaaaad, Melly's crying again!" Ricky's voice carried to his father's ears as he lay under the sink, trying to fix the faucet.

"Coming, Ricky!" A.J. yelled back, trying not to get frustrated. He'd been working on this leak for two days, and every time he got close to finishing it, Melly woke up. Still, it was worth it to see Linda up and around, finally strong enough to go Christmas shopping with Rick and Laurie. It gave him a chance to spend time with his children.

All his frustrations disappeared when he came in to the nursery and found Ceci gently rocking her sister in her cradle. Ricky and Robin were trying to quietly pick up their toys.

"She's asleep, Daddy, she just wanted to know we were here." She whispered importantly.

"That's a good girl, Ceci." A.J. hugged the little girl, then ruffled his oldest son's hair.

"Son, your sister just figured out something your Mom and I took ages to discover."

"What's that, Dad?" Ricky said quietly, as A.J. shooed his children out of the nursery and left the door ajar.

"None of you have ever liked being alone, you've always been very social. I guess you take after your Aunt." He added.

"You're right, Dad. I know some kids hate having their little brothers and sisters around, but, well, Ceci and Rob aren't a pain, you know?" his tall son admitted.

"Thank you, Ricky." A.J.'s eyes welled up, but he managed to clear his throat. "Now let's surprise your Mom and Uncle Rick and Auntie Laurie with some dinner."

As Rick drove up to the condo, his sides were sore with laughing at the two women in his truck.

"Please, Linda, between you and Laurie….darlin', your dad would spank you if he knew you told me about his falling in the creek and Rudy pulling fish out of his…"

"Never mind, Rick." Laurie wiped her eyes as Linda giggled.

"But Rudy….all he could say was, "Nice catch, Pal."

Rick started laughing again as he parked the truck then came around to open the door for his sister-in-law, only to find two sets of hands trying to do it for him.

"Hey, who's the doorman here?" he teased, hugging Ceci and Robin.

"We are, Uncle Ricky! Mama!" Linda caught her children to her as she came out of the truck.

"Well, looks like I came over just in time!" Cecilia came up the walk and was greeted by her family.

"You're just in time, Mom." A.J. greeted her and the package-laden trio at the door. "Chef Ricky and I just got dinner ready."

"Well then, I guess this might be welcome." Cecilia brought out a foil wrapped dish, then uncovered it to display a pale green dessert.

"Lime Bars, oh, Mom! Bless you!" Laurie got excited and the kids laughed as Ceci told her politely, "I bet Grandma made them just for you, Auntie, but you can share."

"Of course, Ceci." Laurie grinned at her as she put an arm around her mother-in-law. "The best desserts are made to be shared."

As the children hurried to set the table, Cecilia sat on the sofa, then called Laurie to sit with her.

"Honey, I talked to Joe today, he told me something happened at the Cultural Center that upset you."

Laurie nearly missed the sofa as she paused, then Rick took her hand as she sat down. "Laurie?"

"I …forgot all about it with everything that happened with Linda and all, but, one of my former students almost assaulted Sophia, the girl in day care. Linda and I walked in on it, but, I'm okay." Laurie said, unconsciously clutching her husband's hand.

"Darlin'….." Rick pulled her against him as Cecelia shook her head. "Honey, I know it bothered you, but it's okay to remember what happened. I just never thought it would bother you."

Rick looked at both women, at a loss for words, then he remembered.

"Cecilia, listen to me, you just can't tell Shirley and Herman off like that, and I don't trust them!"

He and Laurie were behind the staircase, listening to his dad and mom argue.

"Rick, let me tell Uncle Jack it's my fault, please." She whispered, then Rick shook his head.

"No, dad's just upset that Herman threatened Mom. He'll beat that guy up before he'll let him push Mom around."

Suddenly both teenagers hushed as Cecilia lowered her voice. "Jack, I won't let that child be jerked around like that. Laurie didn't do anything wrong. If Herman hadn't taken his hand off me, I'd have screamed bloody murder."

"Taken his hand off you….Cece, what did he do?" Rick saw his mother start to turn away, then his father gripped her arms and shook her, startling her.

"Jack, you're hurting me!" she gasped, then as Rick prepared to yell at his dad, his father let go of her arms only to hug her to him. "Cece, I'm sorry, God I'm sorry. I was imagining the worst, and I let my temper get the best of me,…"

Rick started to turn back to Laurie, only to see her vanish out the door.

"Mom, Dad apologized, I never saw him get angry like that again." Rick said, then put an arm around Laurie as his mother nodded. "That's something you did get from your dad, both your temper, and the understanding that you need to listen before going off."

Cecilia leaned forward, taking Laurie's hand.

"Honey, I'm sorry you didn't see your Uncle Jack apologize. He was frightened that I might be hurt by your …well, by your guardians. He didn't know you were there, otherwise he might have thought before he spoke."

Laurie let out a deep breath, then reached over and hugged Cecilia. "I love you, Mom. Thank you for understanding, and for reminding me how much I loved him."

Rick wiped his eyes unashamedly, then found Laurie had her arms around his neck.

"And for having this wonderful man for me to love." She added, kissing his cheek.

"Well, if I'm going to get all this appreciation…" Rick smirked, kissing his wife back.

"Okay, folks, dinner is served!" Ricky stood in the doorway, and Rick gave a hand up to the two favorite women in his life. As his mother went ahead of them, Rick wrapped his arms around Laurie again.

"I want to carry you off to our castle, Princess, but dinner awaits." he whispered.

"I'd rather have dinner right here." Laurie blushed at the look in Rick's eyes, then nestled her head against him. "I promise, we'll go home for dessert."

"Come on you two, dinner's in here!" Laurie giggled at A.J.'s catcall. As he took her arm to walk her into the dining room, Rick chuckled. "Dessert's my favorite part of dinner, anyway, darlin'!"

Fin