Of course he had to stay for lunch, and they talked for hours in the kitchen while she prepared her world famous tuna salad and mixed up a batch of his favorite walnut brownies. She had a lot of questions and he did his best to answer them. He was surprised to learn that she knew all about the ambush and what had happened to his unit, because he had never mentioned it to her himself. Apparently she had received a call from the base commander after the incident, with reassurances that her son had survived and was ok. Owen let her know that he was not ready to talk about it, and she wisely let it alone. She had known some of the dead, old buddies of his who had come home on leave with him on occasion. While he didn't feel comfortable dredging it all up right now, she was able to share some of his pain without any discussion. In a day full of surprises, here was yet another thing he had not imagined would be possible.

"What about Beth, Owen? What really happened there? Not that I ever thought she was right for you, but you went out for such a long time and seemed so committed to marrying her."

Owen had known this question was coming, but still wasn't sure how to explain it. "I guess I just outgrew her, Mom. I just... realized it wouldn't work, and I knew it for a long time but didn't do anything about it. It was easy to keep things at a distance while I was over there... pretend everything would be fine once we were together again, even if I knew it really wasn't true. But it finally got to be too much. She wrote me constantly - and I mean constantly - all this cheery stuff about the kids in her class, and what she bought at the store that day... and one day I realized I didn't have anything left to say back to her. I couldn't stand it anymore. It was like we were speaking two different languages. So I broke up with her." This next part was hard to admit, and he took a breath before continuing, "I... I did it in an email, which I realize wasn't the nicest thing to do, but at the time it seemed my best option. I felt like I couldn't wait another day, and my next leave wasn't for a couple of months... I just couldn't keep either of us hanging that long."

She sighed. "To tell you the truth, I'm glad you broke it off, though I'm sure I raised you better than to break up with your fiancee in an email, for goodness sake. The least you could have done was sit down and write a real letter." She scowled at him, but he could tell she wasn't all that upset. She had always been good at picking her battles, and clearly this was not one she chose to pursue. "She's a sweet girl, but so damn helpless it made me want to strangle her sometimes." Owen winced at her choice of words, but said nothing. "I worried for the two of you." she continued. "That's the kind of thing that can be endearing when you're dating, but it can really grate on you when you have to live with it long term."

"Why didn't you tell me this before? I thought you loved her."

"Yes, I did care for her - just not as your wife. You deserve someone who can stand on her own two feet." She thought about it for a minute, as if deciding how much more to say, and then continued. "For the most part, I've done my best to stay out of my children's love lives. I could have talked till I was blue in the face, but you kids would never have listened to any lessons I wanted to give you about relationships. There's just no substitute for firsthand experience, is there? And your sisters both made their mistakes up front and then married well. I figured you'd either come around and dump her, or marry her and make it work. Either way, I'd support you... Anyway, let's clear these dishes and go sit out back."

The afternoon wore on and they drifted from subject to subject, throwing a soggy tennis ball for a relentless Lucy and catching up on things they had not been able to discuss on the phone when a wall of lies had stood between them. He told her about the sleep study he had just done and his appointment with Dr. Wyatt. He told her about his new job and some of the people he worked with. He did not tell her about Cristina. She was not in his life the way he wanted her to be, and the questions that would arise out of that conversation were ones he chose to avoid for now. Hopefully there would come a time when he could introduce her as his girlfriend, but that time was not now, and he couldn't bear to bring up this relationship as it stood in the present, given that he didn't even know how to describe it accurately.

"Are you the only one who knows I'm back?"

"Yes, damn you." She reached over and gave him a swat on the arm. "It's practically killed me to keep your sisters in the dark, but I knew if I told them I'd never hear the end of it, and there was no way in heck I could keep one or the other of them from tracking you down and wringing your neck." Owen winced inwardly again at her choice of words. "As it is..." she placed her hand on his and gave him one of her signature looks, "you're going to have some 'splainin' to do when they find out, young man."

He returned her playful glance, then reverted to a more serious tone. "Good... I mean that's good that you didn't say anything. Thank you. I know it's a lot to ask, but I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this to yourself for just a little while longer. I'm not ready to deal with them yet. I'll... I'll let you know when I am."

"Ok, but don't ask me to keep this up too much longer. You have a new nephew, you know... Everyone keeps asking about you, and there's only so much I can hold in. As you've already figured out, I'm a lousy liar."

"I'll do my best to make an honest woman out of you as soon as I can. I promise." He gave her a small smile. The sense of relief he felt at finally banishing this secret was enormous. Once he had time to fully process today's events, he would reassess and decide about the rest of his family.

------------

In the car on the way home, he finally gave in to his impulse and picked up the phone to call Cristina. She answered on the first ring.

"Hi"

"Hi."

"I really need to touch base with you."

"Ok."

"Can I take you out for lunch tomorrow?

"Ok."

Owen chuckled. Ok? That's it? Today was full of surprises, and once again Owen was struck with the fact that nothing was turning out to be as difficult as he had made it in his own mind. "I'll pick you up at 11. Will that work?"

"Yes."

These monosyllabic responses were not like her at all. "Are you alone?"

"No."

Ah. Meredith was there. "Got it," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."