Carol woke up some time later with a vague recollection of Doug telling her he was taking Tess to the zoo; she carefully moved her arm out from around Kate and tried to slide off the couch without disturbing her. She smiled with relief as Kate stayed put and she quickly ran to the bathroom to get her shower in and get dressed, hoping to be back before Kate woke up. It was nearly 2pm, definitely time for her to be awake and more than past breakfast, in fact it was nearly lunch Seattle time. After Carol got out of the shower, she walked back into the living room, wrapped in a towel, hair wrapped similarly and checked on the still sleeping Kate. Again, smiling to herself, she dried her hair and got into some comfortable clothes for hanging around the house. While Carol didn't want to expose anyone to Kate's illness more than she had to, she was getting restless for some conversation so she checked Kate once more before heading over to Mark and Elizabeth's door. Knocking quickly, she was happy to see Elizabeth. "Hey Elizabeth, when are you on today?"

"I've actually got the day off, then I'm on again tomorrow all day." She admitted. It was nice to see Carol, but she was slightly concerned that she didn't have Kate with her. "Are Doug, Tess and Rachel back, then?"

"No, um, actually if you thought your immune system could stand a test, I was wondering if you'd like to come hang out with me for a while. Kate's out cold on the couch, I'm going to put her in bed in a sec and I'm honestly dying for a little intelligent conversation." She confessed.

"Sure, I think I can handle it," Elizabeth smiled sweetly, grabbing her keys and phone in case Mark called.

Carol poked her head into the apartment she'd just left and signaled to Elizabeth to be very quiet. Then she leaned over, gently picking up the pajama clad child and carrying her into her bedroom. After tucking her into her bed, Carol gave her a kiss on the forehead, the best way for a mother to check her daughter's temperature without machinery. It wasn't normal, but certainly wasn't a high fever, so Carol tucked her daughter in with Bongo the Bear and closed the door ever so slightly.

"They've really grown, Carol. The last time I saw them they were practically toddlers; now look at them." Elizabeth smiled.

"I know, some days I wake up and just for a second I think they're babies again... that is until I hear them fighting." She sighed.

"Do they get into arguments a lot then?" she asked curiously. Since she'd never had children aside from her stepdaughter Rachel who was a teenager by the time she and Mark tied the knot, she didn't know what sibling rivalry would be like between two little girls.

"Oh, every morning it's another argument over clothes or who's hogging the bathroom or who gets the pink bowl… we've basically got labels on every object in the house denoting whose property it is." She admitted, pulling her hands up her face and back through her hair. "So tell me about you and Mark."

"We're fine… I'm afraid there really isn't much to tell at this point. We haven't got any big news," Elizabeth admitted.

"Well is there any little news you'd care to fill me in on?" Carol laughed giving Elizabeth a nudge. She knew there had to be something interesting going on. "Come on, I've been gone for over 6 years, something must have happened in that time!"

"Really, we're just about the same as we always were. It's of course a bit of a challenge having Rachel here, but she's a great girl." Elizabeth said with a fond smile.

"Well I wouldn't have wanted to start out with these two when they were teenagers that's for sure." Carol admitted.

"No, it's great getting to know her and you know watch her grow up…"

"But…" Carol enticed Elizabeth to say more.

"But nothing! Carol, really you're trying to get me in trouble here." She laughed. "I love having her here, and I'm happy to be able to be her stepmother."

"Okay, I'll buy that." Carol said, chuckling, "So what about everyone else at county? Carter, Kerry… Jerry for that matter! I hardly got to see anyone yesterday!"

"All right, for a short rundown on everything that's been going on, however un-newsworthy," Elizabeth started with a grin and a laugh, "Romano is still the sexist pig he always was, though he seems to have gained a bit more of a grasp on reality of late. Kerry is about the same as when you left, she's got her opinions of course and is full of reasons why they're right, but she's got a heart at the same time… well occasionally. Then of course our Mr. Carter…"

"Mommy!" Kate called out loudly, interrupting Elizabeth's last piece of information. "Mommy, Daddy, where are you?"

"Coming Kate!" Shaking her head, Carol got up with a sigh, looking at Elizabeth with a half-smile, "The joys of parenthood."

"I'll go with you if you'd like," Elizabeth offered, getting up off the couch. Carol looked concerned about this offer but Elizabeth reassured her, "I'll be fine; you have to remember I'm around sick people all day."

"Okay, your choice," she said as the two made their way to the now screaming Kate.

"Mommy! Mommy where are you?" Kate hollered, a pout making her already pink face seem even more pink and pathetic looking.

Carol walked over to the side of Kate's bed, pulling up a chair next to it while Elizabeth sat on Tess' bed, across the room from Kate. "All right Miss Grumpy, what's going on?"

"I'm not grumpy." Kate whined, sticking her bottom lip out. She didn't like being teased and especially not when she was feeling under the weather.

"Okay, not grumpy." Carol relented. "What's going on Kate?"

Kate simply crossed her arms and held Bongo tightly, resting her chin on his head; she wasn't ready to talk about it with a stranger in the room, even if the stranger was her Auntie Elizabeth.

"Kate, baby I don't know what you want. You're a big girl and you need to tell me what's wrong like a big girl or Auntie Elizabeth and I are going to go back to the living room and finish talking." Carol said sternly. She knew Kate was just trying to get things her way and sometimes she needed to be reminded of the fact that she wasn't the center of the universe. When Kate still didn't respond, Carol signaled to Elizabeth to get up, and the two headed for the door, expecting to be called back. "When you're ready to talk, we'll be back."

The two walked back into the living room, Elizabeth cautiously checking back over her shoulder, amazed at the interaction she'd just witnessed. Sensing her friend's bewilderment over the situation Carol said, "She was being a little shy with you, we're trying to teach the kids that just because the situation isn't exactly as they wanted it, doesn't mean things can't get done."

"You know Carol, you ought to think about writing a book about these things," Elizabeth laughed.

"Oh sure, in all my spare time," Carol laughed back. She knew that it would likely be sooner rather than later that Kate would decide she wanted the company back so didn't get too comfortable. Shortly thereafter, Carol's cell phone rang and she answered it, making her excuses to Elizabeth. As luck would have it, Kate began calling for her mother again just as Carol had begun chatting. Putting her phone away from her mouth slightly she said, "Elizabeth could you possibly do me a big favor…"

"You mean go in and check on Kate?" she inquired. With the nod of Carol's head Elizabeth stood up with a smile and said, "Of course I will, but I don't know that she'll be as happy about it."

"Thanks Elizabeth!" she said before going back to the phone call. It wasn't that she wanted to ignore her daughter's calls, but there was a pretty important conversation she seemed to be getting into with her own mother.