"Rick, I'm worried about Mom."

Looking up from the gun he was cleaning, Rick winced at the concern on A.J.'s face. "Little brother, that makes two of us, but what can we do? She told me to butt out when we tried to have them both to dinner last night."

A.J. shook his head in mock despair. "Laurie's right….they act like two spoiled kids. I guess Oscar shook her off too."

"Yeah, and she was pretty upset. She's not been sleeping well on top of that…I wonder if Gregson did or said something that we don't know about."

"Oh?" A.J. frowned. "Maybe this might be an opening….call up Oscar and see if he knows what that monster threatened her with. I'll do the same with Mom."

"I will, thanks. You know, you're pretty smart for a little brother." Rick teased, relieved at the seemingly simple idea. Dodging the attempt at a swat from A.J., Rick put his weapon away and locked the gun case.

"Go ahead and use the phone, I'm going to find my girl."

Leaving the ranch house, Rick walked past the barn, then the creek that ran in back of it and Steve and Jaime's house. He spotted Laurie's figure just as he went past the last of their friends homes. She was standing at the edge of their land…staring out to the horizon.

"Sweetheart…" Rick "called" to her..then Laurie turned and smiled at him.

"Rick…" she held out her arms and he ran to her, then picked her up and swung her around.

"I was missing my pretty girl….." he grinned, planting a kiss on her.

"And I was thinking of you…my funny valentine." She giggled up at his surprise, then discomfiture.

"Valentines…oh, no…darlin'." He began…then she put her finger across his lips.

"Rick…it's okay..Valentine's isn't until tomorrow. But you're my valentine every day…." She kissed him on his neck, "of the year."

"Naughty girl….be mine?" he asked, then dipped his mouth into hers again and again until she gasped "Yes!"

"Good." He smugly scooped his wife up into his arms, then carried her laughing back to their house. Once inside, he deposited her in her chair in the living room, then went to the kitchen and pulled two sodas from the fridge.

"Here's a sweet for my sweet." He said, returning to Laurie and handing her a drink.

"Thank you, love." She reached up her arms and wrapping them around his neck, pulled him down for a kiss. Rick took advantage of this and lifting her up, sat down in his own chair and placed her on his lap.

"Now that's more like it." He teased, then tensed as her face grew sad. Carefully she set her soda down as he asked, "What is it, Laurie?"

"I'm sorry, darling." She smiled ruefully at Rick. "It's …..well…it's Mom and Dad. I feel so bad, maybe Linda and I jinxed everything."

Rick was confused…."Angel, jinxed what?"

Laurie blushed. "Linda and I…we were both wishing…I kind of thought it would be nice…if Mom and Dad got together. But Gregson…he said such an awful thing to Dad…that Mom's blood would be on his head if he tried to escape or mess up "his" sale.

He laughed when he told me that..and when I called him evil.. he said, "Same thing applies to you, I'll set Mrs. Simon free if you cooperate, otherwise she's dead."

Rick was horrified. "Laurie…no. You and Linda were only thinking of Mom and Dad's being happy. Heck, A.J. and I were so bad when they took off last week…but I kept thinking that at least she had someone."

His wife was quiet for a moment, leaning her head against his shoulder. Gently Rick stroked her hair and he immediately felt her relax.

"Thank you, love. You're right, I shouldn't have let Gregson plant such thoughts in my head. He wanted to destroy any hope Dad and I had in escaping. But you came….you stopped him from hurting us." Laurie put her face against his.

"I'm never going to let anyone hurt my family….especially my sweet girl." Rick promised, caressing her face with his fingers. "I love you..and I know Dad and Mom will be okay…we just have to give them a little talking to. "

"Thank you, darling, I love you too. I think you and A.J. should talk to Mom, I'll try speaking with Dad." She sighed.

"Speak with me about what, honey?"

"Uh, hi Dad." Rick chuckled self-consciously, seeing Oscar standing in the kitchen. The older man gave him a wry look before coming into the room.

"Hi, yourself, son. I take it you two were too busy to hear me knock?"

Now it was Rick's turn to blush. "Well…."

"I guess so, Dad. Rick and I were talking about…what Gregson said…" Laurie stumbled over the words.

Oscar stopped teasing. "I'm sorry, baby. What that bastard told you ….you didn't put Cecilia in danger." He walked over and embraced Laurie.

"And neither did you, Dad." Rick spoke up. "Mom chose to be with you that night, just as she's been there for A.J. and I when we've been in bad situations."

Oscar was quiet for a minute, as Laurie added, tears in her eyes. "Just as I wanted to work for you and the OSI, you've never put me in any situation I didn't want to be in …."

"I know…." Oscar interrupted. "And Cecilia straightened me out on that. Believe me, I thought you and A.J. were hard-headed…."

At the look of surprise on Rick and Laurie's faces, he turned and called, "Cecelia…."

Rick started to chuckle as his mother came through the front door, then stopped in front of Oscar and kissed his cheek. "I take that "hard-headed" comment as a compliment, Oscar."

"Mom….you and Dad made up?" Laurie was beaming at them and Cecilia put an affectionate arm around her.

"Yes, honey. And I put Linda and A.J. on notice too. We're fine….you children didn't upset us by wanting us to be together. Just give us some room….that's all."

"Okay, I promise." Laurie replied happily, then nudged Rick. "Me too, although A.J. and I did want Dad to state his intentions…."

"Richard….." Cecilia groaned. Rick held up his hands jokingly. "Okay, Mom…I promise. No more interfering, unless you want us to…"

"Never mind…now if you'll excuse us…I'm taking your mother over to the Cultural Center, they're having a 50's dance." Oscar gave them a Cheshire Cat smile and offered his arm to Cecilia. Laughing, she took it and bid an affectionate goodbye as they went out the door.

"Well…." Rick pretended to huff. "The thanks we get for getting them together."

"It's all right, Rick…I know that things will be okay now. In the meantime, we can always…" Laurie sashayed to her husband's side and laid a kiss on his cheek, "celebrate Valentine's early."

A broad grin crossed Rick's face. "Early is better, I always say." At once he scooped Laurie up and carried her laughing to their room.

Outside the house, Oscar and Cecilia looked at each other and smiled. "I think we handled that pretty well." Oscar remarked, and Cecilia nodded happily.

"You certainly did. Now we'll have some privacy….what do you say to some dancing?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Oscar smirked as he put his jeep in gear and headed down the road. As they disappeared, a figure watched them go out of sight.

Grandmother Kasey gave a contented sigh. All was right again with her family.