"Ah...here's a few points for me," Abby said as she added the letter 'b' to Maggie's word 'itch'. "Double word." Becca looked up in dismay.

"I don't think that one is in the dictionary," she said.

"Of course it is," Abby said absently as she picked a new letter from the extra tiles next to the Scrabble board. "It means a female dog." She looked up at Maggie pointedly. Becca's eyes flew from Abby to Maggie and she frowned.

"Let it go, Abby," Maggie said quietly as she studied her own rack of letter tiles. "This is not the time nor the place." She added the letters 'rat' to Abby's 'b'. Abby snorted softly and switched some of her tiles around. Becca, almost fearfully, slid some letters onto the board and added her points to the tally sheet they were passing around.

"Oh wow..." Abby sighed. "I just can't seem to stop gaining points in this round." She added letters to spell the word 'sneak' on the board. Maggie shook her head and frowned. She used Abby's 'n' to spell the word 'snip' and cocked an eyebrow at her daughter. Becca quickly added 'p-e-t' to make 'snippet'.

"Double word!" Abby nodded approvingly. Becca smiled and picked up her new letters. None of them looked up as Luka and Eric entered with the bags from the Chinese take out place they'd gone to. Eric closed the door behind them. He slipped a hand to the crook of his girl friend's neck and kissed the top of her dark head. His eyes flew across the words on the board.

"Uh oh...I think I'd better get you out of here," he said. Becca cast her blue eyes upward at him and smiled.

"Actually, it's been kind of fun," she said.

"For now," he said softly. "But something is about to blow." Abby shook her head and traded a couple of tiles without looking up.

"Come on, Eric," she said. "It's just a game."

"Abby and I can handle this," Maggie mused without looking up from her letters. "We've done it before. She has some issues with me to deal with."

"See what I mean?" Becca smiled. Eric shook his head.

"You have no idea what you are sitting in the middle of." Becca shrugged her shoulders and studied her tiles again.

"Dinner's ready," Luka said brightly from the kitchen. "Come on. Chinese doesn't stay warm for very long."

"I have a microwave," Maggie said as she lined her tiles up and frowned at them.She played around and added 'ough' following the 't' in Becca's word.

"Not hungry just yet," Abby said as shook her head and waved her hand at him. "Damn! I was going to use that letter." Luka rolled his eyes and sighed. Becca looked up at Eric and shook her head slightly.

"Go ahead and eat," she said softly.

"Abby...you were starving when we left a little while ago," Luka pleaded. She frowned and waved again without lifting her eyes from the board. Eric sighed and went into the kitchen. He nudged Luka and held up a heavy glass and filled it halfway with juice. He carried it to the table.

"Here, Bec," he said. "Something to drink." Eric accidently hit the board with the glass as he set it down. The Scabble board slid off the table and hit the floor with the letter tiles flying. Maggie looked up at him and frowned.

"Oops..." he said. Becca looked at him and laughed softly.

"Eric!" Abby snapped. "You'd think you would have outgrown that particular trick."

"Ah...it's just a game right?" he said. Luka snickered from the kitchen as he watched Abby reach down and start gathering up the board and the tiles from the floor. She looked up as she heard Lauren cry from the bedroom.

"Fine..." she said to Eric as she stood up. 'You can pick it all up. I'm being paged."

"Can I come to?" Becca asked. Abby hesitated a moment and then nodded. Becca stood up and followed her into the bedroom. She sat on the bed as Abby lifted Lauren from the travel playpen they were using for a crib. Abby laid the baby on the bed and pulled off the soft pants Lauren was wearing and checked her diaper. Becca smiled and handed Abby a new diaper and the wipes. She watched as Abby played with her daughter and changed her diaper. Lauren cooed and kicked. Abby looked up and met Becca's gaze. She smiled.

"Can I talk to you?" Becca asked. Abby frowned a bit and sat down on the bed. She held up a toy for Lauren to reach for.

"Sure," she said as she smiled at her daughter. Becca took a deep breath.

"Look," she said. " I love Eric and I really want this thing between us to work." Abby straightened and her smile faded a bit as she glanced at her.

"You need to talk to Eric," she said. "I mean there are some things that..."

"I know why he takes medication," Becca interrupted. Abby's eyes widened slightly.

"I am an internet whore. I looked them up online." She sighed heavily. "But, I have been waiting for Eric to tell me." Abby was silent as she studied the young woman in front of her. Her heart nearly broke with the anguish she could read in her words and her face.

"Maggie is ...well, Maggie. Eric depends on her for something right now but he listens to you. More than you know. I feel like if I'm going to do this with him, I am going to need you to talk to...to help me figure things out. Can I?" Abby searched her face for a long moment and then reached over to squeeze her hand reassuringly. Becca's eyes closed for a moment and she smiled. Her long lashes glittered with tears.

"Thank you," she said softly. She gestured toward Lauren and Abby nodded. Becca picked her up and pressed a kiss to her baby cheek. She stood up and chattered away to Lauren as she carried her out to the table where Maggie, Eric and Luka were eating their dinner. Becca handed Lauren to Eric. Abby watched her brother snuggle her into the crook of his arm and grin as he looked up at Becca. She kissed him and smiled. Luka lifted a fork full of vegetables in Abby's direction and she took a bite. She leaned against his back and wrapped her arms around his neck as she chewed and swallowed.

"Rules of the road..." she whispered in his ear. "Number five is...make new friends." Luka nodded and grinned.