She was expecting them, and yet, when the knock sounded at her door, her heart began beating faster. She recognized Bobby's knock. Smiling, she smoothed the front of her dress and her hair, took a deep breath and said, "Come in."

The door opened. Alex came in first, now obviously pregnant and looking beautiful. She was so happy for Bobby...because he was happy. He had loved Alex for a very long time, and it had broken his heart when she'd married someone else. It hurt her to see him in so much pain. But now...now there was no pain for him. Now he was happy, and it was Alex and Maggie who had made him so. She rose from her chair and embraced her daughter-in-law. "It's so good to see you, dear. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thank you."

Frances' hand hovered over her belly. Alex gently laid her hand over the older woman's and pressed it to her stomach. Obligingly, the baby kicked and Frances smiled. "Beautiful," she whispered, leaning in to kiss Alex's cheek. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making my boy happy."

Alex smiled warmly. "He makes me happy, too."

She laid a cool hand on Alex's cheek and looked past her as Bobby came into the room, carrying Maggie. Frances raised her hands to cover her mouth at the sight of her only grandchild. Tears filled her eyes. How much she looked like Bobby when he was little! How could he never have seen that? "Put her down, son. Let her come to see me."

Oblingingly, he set Maggie down, kissing her cheek. Frances sat on the edge of the bed and waited. Maggie slowly crossed the room, her eyes inquisitive. She stopped in front of her grandmother, reaching a hand out to gently touch her cheek. Her face relaxed into an innocent smile and she said, "Hi, Gramma!"

Frances held her arms out and gathered the child into her lap, hugging her. This was the child who had so completely captured her son's heart, and she could see why. "Maggie," she whispered.

Leaning back from her, Maggie looked into her grandmother's face. She smiled. "Gramma."

Frances loved to hear that name coming from this child's lips. She ran her hand over Maggie's hair. "You look so much like your daddy," she said.

"I do?" Maggie face lit up. "Daddy! Gramma says I look like you!"

"That's what she tells me, too, mouse."

Frances looked up at her son. "Mouse?" she asked.

He smiled gently. "She was always small and quiet like a mouse when she'd get up in the middle of the night and creep around the apartment to find me or to play with her toys. So I started calling her mouse."

"An' Uncle Mike calls me bunny!"

Frances laughed in delight. "Who is Uncle Mike?"

"He's my udder best guy! I love Uncle Mike."

"I can tell." She looked at her son questioningly.

"Mike's my best friend. He works with us."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around Maggie. "So why does Uncle Mike call you bunny?"

"I don' know. He jus' does. He even gived me a bunny an' I sleep with him eve'y night."

Frances squeezed the child in her arms and looked up at her son and his wife. Bobby looked better than she had ever seen him. He was relaxed and happy. The haunted look that often dwelled in his eyes was gone. These two girls were the best thing that had ever happened to him. He had a family. "So, Maggie...have Mommy and Daddy taken you to the zoo?"

"Yes! I love seein' the amimals!"

"What's your favorite animal?"

She gave it some thought. Again, just like her dad, who also always thought before he answered any question. She had tried to teach him spontaneity, but every time he had been spontaneous as a teenager, he'd gotten into trouble...trouble that his father would take him to task for. She always hated when Bill disciplined the boy. So she gave up trying. Maggie bounced on her lap. "I like the g'raffes!"

"Really? Your daddy always liked the lions."

"I heared the lions roar once. They was loud."

"But they are proud and majestic. What do they call lions?"

"Uh...the King! I have The Lion King at home! I watch it with Daddy and Uncle Mike when Mommy and Aunt Carolyn go out."

Frances laughed. There seemed to be no shortage of adults to love this baby, and that was a good thing. "Who watches you when Mommy and Daddy work?"

"Grandpa does."

"Good. Family should take care of you. No day care."

She looked up at her son, who shook his head. "No, Mom. She's never been to day care. Alex's dad or her sister have always watched Maggie."

"Very good. I always took care of you and your brother."

Alex didn't miss the look that flittered across his face, but he quickly suppressed it before his mother caught it. "Yes, Mom, you did."

Frances nodded. "Except for when I was in the hospital. Then you would go to Lewis' house."

"Uncle Lewis?" Maggie asked.

"Yes," Goren answered. "Uncle Lewis."

"You knowed Uncle Lewis when you was little?"

"Yes, I did. I've been friends with Uncle Lewis for a long time."

Maggie smiled. "Uncle Lewis is fun. He showed me how he builds cars. He telled me I can help him when I get big."

Frances leaned back and studied the child on her lap. Dark curly hair, dark eyes like pools of milk chocolate, a sweet face...she was dressed in adorable jeans trimmed in pink piping and a t-shirt that said "Daddy's little girl" on it. "What does your shirt say, Maggie?"

"It says I'm Daddy's girl."

"And are you?"

"Of course! I al'ays been his girl." She smiled at him. "Right, Daddy?"

"Right, mouse."

Frances looked at her son. She knew how true the words were. This child had brought joy to his life when before he had known only despair. She had seen that in him, and she had seen the change Maggie had brought in him. "She's beautiful."

Bobby smiled, and it was a genuine smile that shined in his eyes, not the forced smile he'd worn before Maggie was born. She watched as his hand reached toward Alex, touching her shoulder and drawing her closer. Frances was pleased to see his comfort level with her. After all, Alex was his wife.

Maggie was looking around the room and her eyes fell upon the pictures on the dresser. "You got pitchers of Daddy?"

"Yes, I do." She stood up and led Maggie over to the dresser, where she took down each picture and described when and where it was taken. The last picture had two boys in it, both smiling, both happy. "That is your daddy when he was about your age. And that is his brother Frank, who was about eight there. Have you ever met your uncle Frank?"

"No." She looked at her father. "Daddy?"

He shook his head. "You don't really want to meet him, Maggie." He turned his eyes toward his mother. "I, uh, I don't talk to Frank much, Mom. I'm not sure even where he is right now."

"You should connect with your brother, son."

"I don't need him. I had enough of Dad when he was alive. I don't need to revisit that."

Frances sighed. They'd been through this before. She hated that Bobby was estranged from his brother, but she also remembered how much like his father Frank turned out to be, and considering how hard Bill had been on their younger son, she couldn't really blame him for avoiding contact. "It's all right."

She saw Alex's hand slip automatically onto the small of his back, and she saw him relax. Yes, she was very good for him. She was exactly the kind of woman she had hoped her boy would someday find...a woman who loved him without qualification and could handle his sometimes difficult moods. Maggie had bounced around the room, looking at everything. She had her father's curiosity. "Daddy telled me you worked in a liberry, Gramma."

"That's right."

"Did you stop because you got sick?"

Alex felt his muscles bunch beneath her hand. She let her fingers caress his back, and he seemed to settle. Frances didn't notice. She had sat back on the bed and gathered Maggie back into her lap. "Yes, dear. I had to stop because I got sick."

"Are you gonna get better?"

"Maggie..." Goren began. Eames couldn't help but notice that his tension had been knocked up more than a few notches.

Frances looked up at him. "Do you need to go for a walk, son?"

"No, Mom."

"Then settle down, boy. Maggie is fine."

He sighed, and his wife leaned into him. He looked at her, and, meeting her eyes, he found it easier to calm himself. He kissed her forehead lightly as his mother answered Maggie's innocent question. "No, Maggie. I won't ever get better. That's why I'm here, to be near the doctors who can help me."

"Daddy telled me that your brain is sick."

Frances was relieved to hear that they had not lied to this child about anything. She believed in honesty and she was glad to see that her son had learned that lesson well. "That's right, dear."

"Can I kiss it and make it better?"

Frances' face relaxed into a smile and she hugged the little girl. If only it were that simple. Only the faith of a child could be so pure..."You can kiss me as much as you want, precious. I will treasure every one. They won't make me better, but they will make me happy."

Maggie nodded and kissed her grandmother. Goren closed his eyes. It was times like this...rare times these days...that made it possible to pretend that his mother was okay, that her disease had not ravaged her mind and torn his life apart. It was these rare times he treasured and he was glad to see her like this today, especially.

Settling back into her grandmother's embrace, Maggie said, "I am happy, too."

"Why is that?"

"I am happy we comed to see you. An' I'm happy Daddy lives with Mommy an' me now an' I don' hafta miss him so much any more. An' I'm happy Mommy is getting me a new baby."

"You sure have a lot to be happy about."

"I do!" She dropped her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "But you know who al'ays makes me happy?"

"Who?"

"Daddy does!"

Frances laughed. "You make Daddy happy, too."

Maggie nodded and smiled happily. "Yes, I do."

She squeezed Maggie again and looked toward her daughter-in-law. "Alex, dear...would you and Maggie go to the dining room and get me a glass of iced tea?"

"Of course."

Frances watched Maggie climb from her lap and said, "And you can get a cookie there, Maggie."

"I will bring you one, too, Gramma. Daddy, you wanna cookie?"

"No, thanks, baby."

Maggie slid her hand into her mother's and headed for the door, stopping to run over to her daddy and hug his legs. He stroked her head lightly and she ran back to Alex. They left the room. Frances looked at her tall, handsome son. He walked over and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She took his hand and motioned for him to sit near her on the bed, which he did. "How could you have missed it, Bobby?"

"Missed what?"

"How much that beautiful child looks like you."

He looked at his hands and shrugged. "I guess I wasn't looking for it. I, uh, I never had any reason to think she might be mine."

She studied him. "What were you afraid of?" He shrugged, but said nothing. "She was married to that other man?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"So that means..."

"I know what it means, Mom."

She laid a hand over his. "Robert, you think too much."

"So I've been told."

"Perhaps I raised you too well..." She shook her head. "You were so unhappy. Was she as miserable?"

"She was unhappy, yes."

"But I saw a change in you, three years ago, when that child was born. You smiled more; you seemed happier. Now I see why. But you needed her mother to make it complete."

"To make me complete," he whispered.

She reached toward him and laid a gentle hand on his cheek. "When I die, Bobby, I will die with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you'll be all right. You're happy and those girls will take care of you...much better than I was able to."

"I can take care of myself, Mom." He stopped himself from reminding her that he learned that at too early an age.

"I know you can. But they will take care of your heart, and that is something you've been unable to do."

He looked back toward his hands and softly sighed. She was right about that. Wisely, she changed the subject. "So, when is my grandson due?"

"We don't know it's going to be a boy."

She smiled. "I know. When is he due?"

"December 17th."

"A Christmas baby..." She smiled her approval. "And Maggie is a spring lamb. Very nice, Bobby."

He just smiled. He was relieved when the door flew open, saved from more uncomfortable conversation when Maggie bounced into the room. Frances smiled. "Look at that! The room just lit up! Come here, sunshine."

Maggie climbed back into her grandmother's lap and held out a cookie. "Here you go, Gramma."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

Maggie leaned her head back, looking at her father upside down and giggling. With a smile, he tickled under her chin and she laughed, curling into her grandmother. "See how this child loves you, Bobby?"

"I see, Mom." Alex had come to stand beside him and she rested her hand on his shoulder. Without even thinking about it, he slid his arm around her.

"Do you know where else I see love like this?"

"No. Where?"

"In your eyes, son...whenever you look at either of your girls."

Alex smiled at the shy look on his face as he looked away from his mother. She was right. She saw it, too. Now Frances looked at her. "I never had a daughter, Alex, and I always wanted one. God never saw it fit to give me a girl, but He brought you into my son's life, and now I have my daughter...and my granddaughter."

"I am happy to be his wife, and your daughter."

Bobby smiled and tightened his arm around her, smiling gratefully at her. She always knew the right thing to say. Frances smiled at the exchange. "Will you stay and have dinner with me? The dining room serves a very nice dinner, and we're having pot roast tonight."

Alex met her husband's eyes and nodded. He sighed again and looked at Maggie who bounced on her grandmother's lap. "Can we, Daddy? Please?"

There was no way on earth he would be able to say no to the three of them, and he suddenly felt very outnumbered. Hell, he was outnumbered when there was just one of them...

With a soft smile, he answered, "Ok, we can stay for dinner."