"It's gonna be so nice to go home!" Katherine said, laying her head on Gregory's shoulder. "Don't you think?"

"Definitely," Gregory replied. "I hope Elizabeth kept the house in one piece while we were gone and didn't throw any wild parties."

"Well, with her, you never know, though, do you?" Katherine replied.

But they were full of relief when they were driven up to their house and saw that it all seemed to be in one piece. They paid the taxi driver and then went inside, with Gregory calling out to Elizabeth, who didn't answer.

"That's strange," Katherine said. "Her car's here. Where should we start to look? Upstairs or down?"

"Let's start with up," Gregory replied. "Sometimes, she's got her headphones on and doesn't hear us."

So he and Katherine went upstairs and found that Elizabeth's door was closed and just as they reached it, she let out a shriek. Gregory kicked the door down and his jaw dropped as he watched Elizabeth and Charlie cover themselves up. "Hi," Elizabeth said shakily. "Mom. Daddy. Did you have a good weekend?"

Elizabeth shot up and let out a shriek as Charlie tried to calm her down. She'd dozed off and he'd touched her shoulder in an attempt to rouse her, but apparently, something bad was going on in her head.

"What's wrong with you, Lizzie?" He asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "I'm still having that nightmare about when my parents walked in on us," she said. "That was days ago and it just will not go away! I imagine them having a happy time coming back from that conference or whatever it was, and then I ruined it! The look on Daddy's face..." She buried her head in her hands again.

"Has he put your door back on yet?" Charlie asked. "Cause him kicking down your door and seeing us actually happened. Or does he still live in terror that I'll stop by and sex you up unless he can watch you every minute?"

"Well, do you think I would have needed to sneak out if he didn't?" Elizabeth asked. "He's blowing this way out of proportion! You and I were using protection! And yes, legally we're cousins, but we're not related by blood!"

"You know, I always forget that technically we're related," Charlie said thoughtfully. "You think that's another reason why your father is weirded out?"

"Probably," Elizabeth scoffed. "Or he just doesn't want me having a life."

"I feel for you," Charlie sympathized. "Dad wasn't too happy about me skipping school either."

"I hate parents, don't you?" Elizabeth asked. "They always get in the way. We should run away from them so they can't bother us anymore. Or, you could turn me and we could have all the sex we wanted while not having to worry about whether or not you'll impregnate me!"

"No!" Charlie said. "I'm not turning you yet. It's too soon!"

"You know what else it's too soon for? Me going home." Elizabeth sat up. "Daddy's gonna be even more pissed that I escaped. I know I shouldn't have, but I just...I needed to see you."

"We'll talk to him eventually," Charlie replied. "We have to. I don't like sneaking around behind his back."

"But you know that even if you do the honorable thing and ask permission to date me, he's still gonna say 'no'." Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"You don't know that," Charlie replied. "Maybe your mom has calmed him down enough now that if we approached him the right way, he'd be willing to make a deal."

"I think you're wrong," Elizabeth replied. "But I suppose we could try."

"Don't you think you're being a bit extreme?" Katherine asked Gregory. "At least put Elizabeth's door back on. She already left. Clearly that little punishment idea of yours didn't work."

Gregory's eyes widened. "Elizabeth left? Where the hell is she?"

"She told me she wanted to visit Charlie so I gave her permission," Katherine replied.

"Katerina, why did you do that?" Gregory asked. "After what we saw, no one should be allowing Elizabeth near Charlie!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?" Katherine asked again. "Or a lot? I mean, both of us did stuff in our lives that pissed off our parents. Why are you expecting Elizabeth to obey?"

"Cause I don't want her to end up like the girls at the shelter!" Gregory cried passionately. "That's what's gonna happen if she and Charlie get more involved, you know. She's gonna get pregnant, he'll dump her, and then her whole life will be ruined!"

"They said they used protection," Katherine reminded him.

"So did Edward and Laura, and Charlie still came along!" Gregory pointed out. "He's evidence that no matter how careful you are, surprises can still pop up!"

"Do you love Elizabeth?" Katherine asked.

"You know I do!" Gregory replied. "She's my baby."

"Well, she's not a baby anymore," Katherine reminded him. "She's a teenager. And unless you can make some compromise with her so that you both get some of what you want, you're gonna push her away forever. If you ask her to make a choice between yourself and Charlie, she's gonna choose him for sure. Do you want that?"

"You don't know that she would choose Charlie!" Gregory replied. "You're just trying to scare me!"

"No, I'm not!" Katherine replied. "I'm telling you the truth! I mean, do you really think she'll choose her dad who takes away her right to privacy over a handsome guy around her own age who gets her hot?"

"He's her cousin for crying out loud!" Gregory cried. "It's just sick!"

"They're not biologically related," Katherine reminded him. "You do remember that, right? Now, when Elizabeth comes back, you're gonna tell her that at the very least, she gets her door back, okay?"

Gregory pouted. "I don't want to!"

"Well, you have to," Katherine replied. "If you won't do it with me telling you, I will literally tell your mother about this and she'll have a worse reaction than me. You want to deal with that?"

"You hate my mother," Gregory said. "My mother hates you. You don't talk."

"But in certain situations, we can put our bad feelings aside and be civil," Katherine replied. "This would be one of those times. Don't make me do that to you, Gregory."

"Fine," Gregory said. "I'll let her have her damn door back and make a compromise with her about Charlie."

"I'm proud of you," Katherine said while playing with his hair. "I know it will make you unhappy, but in the long run, you'll be glad you did it."

"Yeah, whatever," Gregory muttered. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Fine," Katherine replied. "You big baby."

Finally, Elizabeth got up her courage, and she and Charlie went back to her house to talk to Gregory. "This isn't gonna work," Elizabeth told him as she struggled to get her key in the door cause her hands were shaking so bad.

"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work," Charlie replied. "We can say that we tried, and we'll look for another way."

Elizabeth finally got tired of dealing with the key and rapped on the door. Katherine opened it and smiled at her daughter. "Well," she said. "Look who's back. You two wanna come in?"

"How much trouble am I in for leaving?" Elizabeth asked her mother. "It's a lot, isn't it?"

"Well, your father and I had a talk, and he agreed to compromise with you," Katherine said. "He's waiting in the living room now."

"Daddy wants to compromise?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like him."

"Well, when I told him that not compromising would cost him his relationship with you and possibly lead to an angry feminist lecture from his mother, he thought compromising was the better option," Katherine replied.

They arrived in the living room where they found Gregory sitting in a chair and staring into the fire.

"Daddy, I've come back," Elizabeth said, her voice quiet. "Please don't be mad at me. I know I wasn't supposed to leave."

"Have a seat," Gregory said tiredly. "And let's get this conversation over with."

"Well, okay," Elizabeth said as she and Charlie sat on the sofa with their fingers entwined. "Is it actually gonna be a conversation, or is it just gonna be you telling us how things will be?"

"No, it will be a conversation," Gregory said. "First, you get to have your door back."

"I do?" Elizabeth asked, her face brightening. "That's wonderful!"

"Second," Gregory continued, "you two may go on outings with each other. Clearly that's something I won't be able to stop, so there's no use trying. However, if or until you become engaged, either myself, your mother, or one of Charlie's parents will accompany you to make sure you observe the rules of propriety."

"What the hell?" Elizabeth cried, looking horrified. "You mean we have to have a...chaperone? No one does that anymore!"

"Well, I do, and that's the deal," Gregory replied firmly. "You can take it or leave it. Your choice."

Elizabeth gave her mother a long look, but Katherine had done all the convincing she could. This was one idea Gregory would not be moved from. Finally, Charlie said, "All right, sir. We'll agree to that."

"What?" Elizabeth cried. "No, we don't agree to that! That's complete bullshit! I want a lawyer!"

"Save it, Lizzie," Charlie told her. "I know it's an inconvenience, but as long as I still get to spend time with you, I don't care who else comes with us."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked. "You're willing to put up with all my father's ridiculousness just for me?"

"Yeah," Charlie replied and kissed her. "I think I am. Are you?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I am too." They headed to the kitchen and Katherine smirked at Gregory. "Looks like your little scheme backfired," she said, not even hiding the glee she felt. "And he really seems like the sort of guy who would abandon Elizabeth if she was pregnant. You had him pegged so right!"

"I'm not sorry!" Gregory called as he followed her. "It's better to take precautions and have no need for them at all then have no precautions and have everything be ruined!"

Katherine chuckled. "You're so practical," she said. "It's adorable! Well, sometimes it is. Other times, it's annoying. But you won't regret making the compromise."

"You think?" Gregory asked doubtfully. "I'm still not sure."

"I do think," Katherine hugged him. "In fact, I don't just think. I know."

"I hate my brother," Laura huffed. "Just what is Gregory's problem anyway?"

"What happened?" Selina asked.

"He caught Elizabeth and Charlie having sex and now he's making them go on chaperoned dates. Can you believe that?" Laura asked. "What kind of an idiot would treat two people who obviously care about each other that way? Why would he be like that?"

"What are we talking about?" Elijah asked brightly as he strolled into the kitchen.

"That's why Gregory would be like that," Selina told Laura, pointing at Elijah.

"Oh, are we talking about Gregory's plan for Elizabeth and Charlie?" Elijah asked. "I commend his thinking. It's smart."

"Are you crazy?" Laura and Selina asked at the same time. "It's nuts!"

"All Gregory is trying to do is make sure Charlie and Elizabeth don't get in trouble. He has their best interests at heart," Elijah replied.

"Hey, even if Elizabeth did get pregnant, Charlie wouldn't leave her!" Laura cried. defending her son. "He's better than that! Edward didn't leave me! And we've been married for years!"

"You got lucky," Elijah told her. "Edward is a good man. Imagine if it had happened with a man you picked yourself."

"I don't like your tone," Laura told him, frowning. "And I think you're being completely unreasonable!" She stood up from the stool and strode out.

"Nice going, Father Goose," Selina said dryly. "Are you gonna go after her?"

"What's the point?" Elijah asked. "There's no talking to her when she gets that way."

"I was right," Selina said with an incredulous shake of the head. "The Gregory apple didn't fall far from the Elijah tree."

"I'm not sorry," Elijah told her. "I don't know how you can expect me to be."

"You may not be sorry," Selina replied. "But I am. For you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk with Laura."

"You do that," Elijah called after her. "But like I said, it won't do you any good!"

Selina gave him the finger and then left the house, slamming the door behind her while Elijah rolled his eyes, headed back to his office, and made himself a really big glass of scotch, and reminded himself why he was so willing to put up with ridiculous women like his wife and daughter in the first place.