Just a single scene update, to break up the heavy stuff.


"Remember. If anyone reacts to me showing up, I'm leaving and I'm never coming back."

"Lori," Sylvester said, smiling affectionately. "They're going to be happy to see you."

"I'm just their coworker. A coworker showing up to work isn't cause for celebration."

"Just hold my hand, okay?"

She did. He pushed open the door to the garage, taking a step forward that was met with slight resistance, hesitation, from his wife. He knew she was anxious – he understood. She had seen all of them since they got back from…the East Coast? Colorado? What was, technically, their previous location?

Regardless. She hadn't been back to work. Not officially. But Tilly was a month old, and she was still being cared for around the clock in the NICU. Florence was spending most of her time sleeping or worrying, and Sylvester had been relieved when she'd agreed to come into work to take her mind off things. "I think you'll feel better once you have a Bunsen burner in front of you."

Florence had smiled at that. And now, despite the hesitation, she followed Sylvester into the garage.

"Hey Flo," Happy said with a smile, looking over at them from her work station. Almost immediately, she clapped a hand over her face. "Wow. I fucked that up really quickly."

Florence smiled. "It's fine. Hi, Happy."

Toby looked up from his desk, which was piled with books. Sylvester assumed they were related to the conference he had just gone to. He gave a casual wave. Sylvester was glad that their friend seemed to sense that Florence didn't want a party.

"Is this…Super Fun Guy?" Florence asked, cocking her head and staring at the large cage – as if there would be any other large bird perched in the middle of the garage.

"It is," Sylvester said. "Don't worry. I'm working on getting rid of it."

"Super Fun Guy is not an 'it'," Toby said.

"Fine. I'll rephrase." Sylvester cleared his throat. "Seriously though, what is up with the bird? Mr. Yates owes us an explanation for forcing that…creature…among us."

"Don't be hating on the bird," Toby said. He leaned over toward Super Fun Guy. "Sylvester loves you. Don't forget it."

The bird mumbled something.

"See? He doesn't know what he's doing here either."

Toby rolled his eyes. "That's not what he was saying."

"How do you know what he's saying?"

"Maybe he's saying he luves you."

"Or he's saying that Mr. Yates sent him to test us."

"Test what, exactly?"

Sylvester shrugged. "I don't know. It isn't like he went easy on any of us at the stupid meeting."

"In his defense," Happy said, "the decision isn't one he is making lightly."

"Speaking of Mr. Yates," Paige said, coming down the stairs with Amber in one arm and her phone in her opposite hand, "as I'm assuming, we are currently speaking of Mr. Yates…" she reached the bottom of the stairs and put Amber down. "I spoke with him on the phone again. He claims he just felt bad about how everything happened and wanted to get us a gift. He just has…odd ideas for gifts…I guess. And he is annoyingly amused at our lack of belief in his explanation. Which leads me to think he is actually telling the truth." Her eyes landed on Florence. "Hey there, Florence! How is Tilly?"

"Fine," she said. "She's reached the age where the odds for babies are good when they're born at that point, so…" she shrugged. "I know getting one's hopes up is a setup for finding yourself so deep in despair, you just want to swim down. But…" she shrugged. "I mean…"

"Supah Fun Guy! Supah Fun Guy!" Amber was jumping up and down in front of the cage.

"We're coping," Sylvester said, putting his arm around Florence, ignoring the toddler's delighted giggles when the bird lowered his head to look at her. "It's hard to hope while trying to protect yourself at the same time." Florence nodded. Sylvester kissed her temple.

"Are there…" Florence cleared her throat, her hand tightening around Sylvester's. "Are there any updates on the cause of our plane crash?"

Sylvester was surprised she got the sentence out without her throat catching, but then he felt her shudder next to him, betraying the effort it had taken her to speak calmly."

"These things take time, as you know. If it turns out this somehow was someone else's drone…it isn't a good look for us, to have then falsely accused the competition." Paige sighed. "And even if the drone is one of our competitors' we have to determine, well, they have to determine, the committee, if it was done on purpose, and if they knew it was our plane. At this point, Mr. Yates can't make his decision until this is sorted out. It'll take some time, but every day is moving forward."

Florence tensed up beside Sylvester. He looked at her curiously. He noticed that Toby was regarding her in a similar way. We all just want you to feel better, my love. We just want you out of this funk and back to feeling like yourself.

"Supah Fun Guy! Supah Fun Guy!"

The voice wasn't Amber's. The adults looked over at the cage. Amber was still jumping up and down; the bird was bobbing his head in an attempt to mimic the action. "Supah Fun Guy!" He chirped. Amber giggled.

Paige was smiling as she shook her head. "What a pair those two will be."

"I ship it," Toby said, opening a bag of chips.

"Florence," Happy said, clearing her throat after a period of silence from the adults. "I'm having some difficulty with this product I'm trying to apply. It's not a rush job, so there's a bit of time, but since you're here, I was wondering if you could look and see if there's some way to improve it."

Florence let go of Sylvester's hand, rubbing her palms together slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."