He adjusted his stance after he rang the doorbell. He heard his mom call out that she was coming to open the door.

Emily moved a bit closer to his side, almost touching his arm with her shoulder. He leaned over so they actually touched.

"This is going to go great."

"You sure?" she asked, looking up at him with big eyes.

"Yeah, my parents are going to love you." he smiled, "Mom will probably find something to pick on about me though…"

Emily chuckled, "Moms got a way of doing just that, I guess…"

He nodded just as the door opened and his mom smiled at them. She was quick to pull her son into a hug, "Good to see you again, kid."

"Hey mom…" he smiled, letting go of his crutches with one arm in order to wrap it around his mom's shoulders, "Good to see you too…"

A second or two later, his mom stepped back and looked him up and down, "You should put on some weight…"

The combination of the defeated look on his face and his mom's bluntness rendered Emily unable to hold back her laughter.

"-And you must be Emily…" Gina grinned, "You're way cuter than my son managed to give you credit for. But then again, he's never had a way with words."

"Thank you. Yeah, I'm Emily…"

"I'm Gina, or 'mom', or 'gramma'… Depends who's talking with me…" Gina grinned back.

"Nice to finally meet the people who raised…" Emily trailed off, obviously not sure of what she was going to say next.

"Just call me what you usually do…" Metal chuckled, "Mom calls me 'kid', Amy calls me 'Scotty', Dad and Rob usually call me Full Metal, or Metal… Oldest nephew does the same, the two youngest just call me uncle most of the time…"

"Yeah?"

Gina nodded, "It's true…"

"Okay, the people who raised Metal…" Emily blushed a bit, "Real big fan of your 'work' there…"

Gina grinned, "Come in, we can't hang around here all day…"

SEALTEAM

"Hey Metal!" Rob got up and greeted the two newcomers, he wrapped an arm around Metal's shoulders for a quick buddy hug, then he nodded at Emily and extended his hand "And Miss…"

"Parker. Emily Parker." Emily smiled and shook Robert's hand.

"Robert Harding. Most folks just call me Rob…"

"Nice to meet you Rob…" Emily smiled back.

"I hope my brother in law is treating you as well possible."

She nodded, "He sure does…"

"Good." Rob smiled, and turned towards Metal, "How have you been? How's the leg coming along?"

"Good, it's better." Metal shrugged and put his bad leg forward to inspect the boot around his lower leg, "Still a bit to go, but it's not that bad anymore."

"Good." Rob nodded, "You had me scared after that first time I visited you at the hospital. It was a little better the second time around, when we brought the kids along… But the last few times I've seen you, those haven't exactly been the most reassuring…"

Metal nodded, "Yeah, I know… But it's coming along nicely now. Still have to keep off it for another couple weeks, but then I'll start to rebuild."

Rob nodded along.

"So, where's my sister and the kids?" Metal asked after he had taken his time to give the area a once-over.

"Jack forgot the time hanging out with friends, said he'd be over in 40 mikes or so, needed to run through the shower." Rob chuckled, "Amy was picking up Chris and Helen from playdates, and got sidetracked in a conversation about mom stuff… She's 'on her way', which probably means she's finishing up her cup of coffee wherever she is…"

Metal chuckled, "Sounds like Amy… Chronically late."

Emily chuckled, "Is it possible for someone who grew up alongside you, to be chronically late?"

Both men nodded.

"It's the one thing I am not a fan of about his sister…" Rob nodded, "Cause I too am of the mindset that 'on time' is five minutes late."

Metal nodded, "I warned you bro…"

"Yeah, worst part is, you really did…"

Metal nodded, "But I think I would like to sit down soon, where's dad?"

"He'd been working in the garage all day, stepped into the bathroom a couple of minutes before you got here."

Metal nodded a little, "Okay… Couch. Now."