All familiar characters belong to Janet. The rest and the mistakes are mine. If anyone has been wondering why Olive's getting more Babe-baby time than Matty, I have been trying to finish the editing on a Toddler Times update.

I saw Stephanie's eyes dart to the rearview mirror for the third time in forty seconds. "Your father is still back there, Steph. You can switch from worrying about him accepting your invitation, to being concerned about what his reactions are to what you two need to discuss."

"When it comes to Plums, it's still possible for us to bail up until the last possible second. You don't know how many times I wanted to call you up or just show up and throw myself at you when the urge struck yet again, but I always stopped myself before starting my POS or you answered the call."

"But I haven't seen you hide from a fight since we got together. If anything, I've had to hold you back from certain confrontations. Shiv down in Miami is still proclaiming his undying love for you even though I purposely kept him the hell away from you."

"Shiv almost got you killed, he deserved to get a piece of my mind. When we visit Julie in Florida again, he may still get an angry chunk of it."

"I promise I can take care of myself. And I did that day. And you saw how Valerie didn't hesitate in chewing your mother out for interrupting your time with your sister."

"Val was worried she caused Mom's visit. She didn't. I knew our mother would likely cause a scene, but I can't remember Valerie doing anything without asking someone's opinion on - or help with - it first. There was no way I was gonna pass up a chance to show her that I'm as proud of her for tackling a solo project as she was of herself. A blue kitchen is not what I would've gone with, but it's perfect for her and the family."

"You've risen stronger out of the Burg's ashes, Babe. And you've just laid out a case for how Valerie has also changed. I'll allow that it's possible Frank is stumbling along his own path to doing the same. He knows there's a lot at stake here."

"Yeah on both sides. He could lose me and Olive ... or his wife and Burg life. I never thought he'd see me as worth that kind of sacrifice."

I bit down my anger at her parents making her question her worth, and focused on trying to lessen her current anxiety.

"What would you do for Olivia and Julie?" I asked my wife.

"Ranger, we only have four minutes left until we're back home. A much quicker question would be 'What wouldn't I do for them?' And the answer to that is nothing. I'll always do anything and everything I can for our girls."

"Being given a glimpse into how empty his life would be without you in it, Frank may be starting to feel something similar. It kicked in decades later than it should have, but knowing Helen as we do ... he may have needed backup more than just a backbone before he could act on it."

"Am I stupid for giving him another chance?"

"No. You deserve him choosing to put you first for once. At the moment, he seems to realize that his daughters and granddaughters are critical to a happy life. If that changes, or he tries to jerk you and Val around or put you in the middle of the power struggle going on between he and his wife, I'll shoot both of them and put an end to this once and for all."

"I know I should 'tsk' you for that last part, but thank you for saying it. I really wish I could say without question that I love my parents, but I want to feel like they deserve it first."

"You can't make them different people. You can only give them the opportunity to want and try to be. You've already done that," I said, flicking my eyes now to the rearview mirror as I drove us through the fob-opened security gate that protects my building and those inside it, "it's all on him now."

Frank parked in the row behind my reserved spaces and was as slow in leaving the safety of his vehicle as my wife clearly is.

"I'll be with you the entire time if you need me to be," I offered.

"But I don't want Olive stuck listening to whatever my Dad and I talk about," she said, finally opening her door.

"Do you foresee my parents bolting the moment we walk in, or either of them refusing a dinner invite when we issue them one for this evening?" I asked, when we met at Cayenne's bumper and waited for Frank to emerge.

"Nope. I think we need to discuss making an apartment for them somewhere in the building so they can stay for weekends at a time."

"My mother said something along those lines last month."

Steph smiled up at me. "Great minds think alike."

"There is a very thin line between great and scary."

As I'd hoped, she laughed and gave me a gentle shove, causing her father hit pause on his forward progression when he witnessed the playful movement.

My wife sighed. "It's fine, Dad. Ranger's just trying to ease my nerves about this by trying to be funny."

"You're nervous?" He asked after a beat.

"Of course. If you think about it, we really don't know that much more about each other beyond what would be listed on a resume. But despite what Mom thinks, I want you both in our lives ... I just can't risk Olive. I won't risk Olive."

It was a warning not in Mama Bear-fashion. Steph is more of a Mama Wolverine when it comes to Olivia and Julie.

"I understand."

"You'd better," I warned, opening the lobby door for my wife to pass through.

Three seconds later, Stephanie's jean-clad legs were hit with a blur of denim, burgundy-flowered ruffles, and baby-Babe Cat boots. As I had this morning, I had to shake my head at the pigtails Stephanie patiently threaded through the arrows and pulled back bows, one of her Uncle-given Halloween hair treats. My baby is equal parts beautiful and lethal ... just like her mother. I'm already worried about those I'll have to eliminate in Olivia's future.

"Hiya, Olive-Pie," Steph said, wrapping one arm around our daughter's middle and the other hooking her legs to give and get an all-encompassing/all-body hug. "Funny running into you here."

"That was my fault," my mother explained, having been right behind Olivia. "The plan was to give you at least a minute to enter the building, but we happened to be in the control room helping Ella deliver a late lunch to the men who had just returned from their patrols, and Little Miss Aware of Everything here, saw you two step out of the car on one of the monitors ..."

"She did that unique happy dance of hers, which instantly fired up Gunner and Ammo, and ... well ... here we all are," my father finished. "All the humans anyway. Mo and Gunny were coerced with treats to wait upstairs until we return."

Steph concluded her chin, forehead, two-cheek, and nose, kiss-routine before she took her attention off her tiny-clone and addressed her in-laws.

"It is okay to say Olive's diaper-shaking dance began the second she spotted Ranger. It makes me happy to see how much she loves her Daddy."

"I know you do, Stephanie," my mother replied, "but I heard it with my own ears. Olivia was Mama-ing as much as she was Dada-ing."

"Olivia may be my girl, Babe, but you're her everything else. Don't underestimate your importance in her life. Unfortunately, you know how extensive your mother's influence was over you. Can you imagine the results of having an even stronger, but unconditionally-loving one like Olivia gets from being your daughter?"

"Holy crap, Olive! You are going to be BatGirl if you absorb as much of the good stuff as I did the bad stuff in my life."

"That's not exactly how I would have phrased it, but it's the gist of what I meant."

"Hello, Mr. Plum," my mother said, noticing Frank hanging back. Her knowing the situation and what his presence here could mean, she purposely went over to shake his hand. "How nice to see you again."

Stephanie gave me equal time with our baby and joined the adults. "As you can see, Dad came for a visit."

"With you or our Olivia?" My father asked, as protective as I am when it comes to the ladies in our family.

"With me first," Stephanie quickly answered.

Mama Manoso smiled dramatically to distract from the underlying, non-verbal conversation happening between my wife, my parents, and I.

"Lovely! I'm taking that to mean we don't have to head home to Newark just yet. I haven't gotten my fill of this sweet little face," she said, cupping Olivia's cheeks as I was holding her and bestowed a kiss to her forehead.

"We're having a family dinner with Valerie and her family in a bit if you're interested in sticking around to join us," I added.

"We won't be intruding?" My father asked.

"No," Steph answered. "Ranger, Olive, and I, definitely want you both to come."

"Alright," her mother-in-law said, reaching for Olive. "That gives us at least an hour of more play-time with our little cariƱo."

Steph kissed the spot between Olivia's pigtails. "You can play all you want with your abuelos, Olive, but if you miss Mommy and Daddy too much, you come right down and get us."

We watched my parents and Olivia get back in the elevator and I sincerely wanted Stephanie to join them. Being my Babe, I know she isn't going anywhere. She instead turned and met Frank's eyes head on.

"You're a good mother," he surprised us by saying before either of us spoke.

"Not only do I want to be the type of mom Olive will be proud of, I actively try to be every single day."

"And you succeed, Steph. You surpass yourself with each day that passes," I assured her.

She sent me a smile as she gestured Frank towards the room to our right. "Thank you," she whispered to me. "My goal in life has always been not to be like them. I'm hoping half of that can change today."

Once we were all seated, Steph and I on a small sofa on the same wall as the door and Frank on a chair opposite us, Steph broke the silence.

"Why did you decide to come back here with us?"

He paused and looked at everything in the minimalistic meeting room before he answered. "I don't agree with what your mother did."

I felt Steph's body tense. "So choosing me was to punish her?" She asked.

"No ... NO. I was angry that Helen was trying to force a visit with you when you've said you don't want one, but I also wanted to talk to you. I thought it best not to go home when she and I are both angry, while still getting time with you."

"Would you have chosen a visit with us if Helen hadn't shown up at Valerie's home?" I asked him.

"Yes. I wanted to reach out, but it's been hard. I admit, I haven't paid a lot of attention to what was going on in my own home, but noting what you both have said to and about Helen in the last couple of months ... I recognized while hearing her side of the conversation with that Morelli woman. I can't understand why she would believe anything that shrew says and not dance on Morelli's grave for everything he's done to you right up to the day he died. Instead, I hear her criticize Ranger and appear upset that you married him instead of that Italian asshole who I now see as a man who spent his life trying to wreck yours. I'm sorry I played a part in letting him and letting him get away with it."

"Trying to destroy Stephanie is exactly what the 'detective' attempted to do over and over again. And I have no use for anyone who would plead his case and continue to praise him while finding everyone else guilty of the things he did," I added.

"I'm having trouble with this ... that I don't know the woman I'm married to. All these years, I worked hard to provide for my family. I assumed she was at home doing the same for you and your sister, Stephanie. When she worried about you divorcing Orr, I believed it was because she didn't want you penalized for what he did with his. When your mother objected to your job, I thought it was because she was worried you'd be hurt while doing it. When she shared her concern about your growing interest in Ranger, I genuinely believed she was worried that he'd leave town one day and leave you in pieces or that you'd become the target of the rumors circulating about him, which I now have to wonder if my own wife started. In hindsight, I think I believed her excuses for what she did just so I wouldn't have to change how I was living. If I admitted that she was actually hurting you and Valerie instead of raising you, I'd be left alone with two little girls I myself didn't know a thing about raising. That type of laziness and cowardice is making it hard to look myself in the eye in the mirror."

"I can honestly say that wasn't what I was expecting to hear today," Steph said to him. "But I'm glad I did. People make mistakes, some of us make major ones, but in some cases it's how you choose to correct them that matters more."

"You don't have to be alone in facing and correcting them. I have three buildings full of men who have felt similar to the way you do, for completely different reasons than yours, but the regret and guilt is there," I shared. "And they have all been man enough to admit they need help. I'd like to be able to say the same about you."

"You could say that Ranger's life is devoted to saving those who don't believe they can be," Steph told her father.

I pulled her close and kissed her temple. "I try."

"And you continue to succeed every day. Olive wouldn't have as many Uncles to love if you hadn't."

I gave her another kiss because I couldn't find words, and then I cut my eyes back to Frank. "After you and Stephanie talk, I'd like for you to speak with one of my people. We all know the detachment felt between yourself and your family isn't solely about Helen."

The blood drained out of his face in time with what I meant dawning on him. "You think I need a shrink?"

"No, I think you require some one-on-one with someone who understands the pressures you've been living under. You, your daughters, and your granddaughters, need for you to take this time to get your head straight. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just had too many voices in it for too long. And they've been a hell of a lot louder lately."

"Talking to a professional is the norm around here, Dad. I can vouch for someone listening to my thoughts, without judging me or telling me what I should or shouldn't do, making me a better person. Which is why I don't hate mom, but I do understand her and what drives her ... and it isn't genuine affection for those around her. I can promise that if you accept some reinforcements, you'll see everything differently ... especially yourself. I'm far from perfect, but I genuinely like who I am now. I really want that for you too."

"I didn't come here for a shrink session," Mr. Plum told us.

"We're not forcing one," Steph replied. "We're just letting you know what tools are available to you when and if you're ready to take them for a test drive. I know more than anyone, that you have to want to feel better before you actually can."

"I didn't come here to talk about me," Mr. Plum told us.

"Maybe not, but what you're thinking, feeling, and doing or not doing, reflects on Stephanie and Valerie and their kids," I replied.

Sensing a stalemate, Steph spoke up. "Okay, would you prefer to talk about me instead of yourself?"

"Yes," he said, clearly relieved.

"Can I see your cell again?" My wife asked me.

"You're not going to shock anyone again, are you?" I asked, only half-kidding.

"No. And if Lester doesn't want to feel electricity shooting through his entire body, he should respect a woman's TastyKakes and not play Hide 'n Seek with the last box of someone's Butterscotch Krimpets when he's feeling bored."

"I can't say that he's learned his lesson," I said, handing her my phone, "but he will think twice about it next time."

I didn't have to look over her shoulder to know what text my wife is searching for or why. I knew it would be the one that Kane sent this morning with an enclosed picture of an extreme close-up of Angel's toothless but ecstatic grin. The message he'd sent along with the adorable picture of three-month-old Angelique was "I get to wake up to this face every fucking day! Can you believe it? Because I sure as fuck can't."

Steph showed Frank Kane's words and picture. "Have you ever felt like this about Val or I?" She asked.

"Yes. I can remember the exact moment you and Valerie were born."

"Were you upset that neither of us were boys?"

"Not really. I said as long as you and your sister were healthy ... I didn't care, but your mother apologized each time."

"So it wasn't you who was desperate for a son, it was Mom?"

"She believed she failed. And she still does, despite your grandmother's comments about how the father's ... um ... stuff determines what you have."

"Sure ... we do all the work, yet you guys brag about getting the say-so," my wife said to everyone and no one at the same time.

"I've always thanked you for Olivia, Babe. That you're the reason we have her won't change."

"Yeah, but you're a special guy who always gives credit where it's due. Not many men are like you." She sighed again when she caught her father's guilt-wince. "That wasn't a dig at you, Dad. I was just stating again how unique Ranger is, and how much I freakin' love him. You definitely need to spend more time with us so you'll learn that a compliment can just be a compliment ... not a hidden criticism or a way to get a favor done."

"You'd want me to spend more time with you?"

"Depends. Do you want to be a Grampa to Olive?"

"I haven't had much time with her."

"Which wasn't my fault. I invited you and Mom here even when I didn't want to because I though the right thing was for Olivia to know all of her grandparents."

"And now?" My father-in-law asked.

"Now I'm only allowing those who love my baby to get anywhere near her. Mom doesn't seem invested in Olive beyond bragging that both of her spinster daughters are now married with at least one kid. That isn't good enough for me. Everyone has to go through me to get to Olive, and my people standards have gotten much higher."

"And everyone has to go through me to get near either of you," I told both of them. "Do you want to get to know your daughter and granddaughter, Frank? Or are you going to see the process of learning about yourself too difficult to contemplate, and resign yourself to the hell you're stuck living now?"

"I've lived a lot of life before I became a father ..."

"Good. As I said earlier, prove to your daughters that they're worth any battle you had - and still have - to fight."

"If you want, Dad, you can have Thanksgiving with us," Steph said, throwing out another lifeline. "You'll even have your choice of dinners and times, since we have lunch/dinner with the guys who live here or are stuck working on the holiday. And then we, Olive, and Gunny and Mo, pile into the Rangebus and have a huge Manoso feast in Newark. You can join us for one or both celebrations. Valerie and the girls already accepted Mama Manoso's invitation. Before you decide to do what I've done too many times in the past, quit before I even start to repair the damage I did to myself, you should get to experience what a true family celebration is all about."