Picking up right after Erin tells off Vera and Dave runs into her in the hallway. Forgive me, but I am popped up on painkillers after an ovarian cystectomy. Any and all mistakes belong to me. Flames keep me warm; reviews are like cookies and constructive criticism makes me smile. For real this time, anything that happens in this universe, after this chapter is a whole other story. I've got plans for these characters, but I don't want to mess up the soft, fuzzy vibe happening with this story.

"Love is the flower you've got to let grow."

-John Lennon

"Hey," Dave sat the tray of coffee on the rolling table. "What's…" he paused, taking in the room. Unsure of what he'd just walked in on Erin was on the bed, feeding Carlo, but the expression on Allison's face gave it away. She perched on the edge of the plasticky couch, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "What's going on here?" He asked, passing Erin a cup of sweetened black coffee.

"You missed it! My mom told Grandma off," Allison supplied before Erin could answer. with a proud gleaming look in her eye as she bounced in her seat.

"What happened?" He sat down in the chair next to the bed, eager to hear every detail.

"It was awesome!" Allison said, her big greenish-blue eyes were wide with excitement. For a second, Dave got a glimpse of how Erin might have been as a child, bright and exuberant beaming as if the air in her lungs and the feeling of Earth under her feet were a good enough reason to be happy. Allison was who Erin would have grown up to be if her mother had allowed it.

"It wasn't that great," Erin said, as her cheeks went red the bright blotchy spots meandered down her neck. "I just told her how I felt." Erin took a sip of her coffee, wincing as the hot liquid slipped down her throat. "She had it coming, but…" she shrugged as if pushing off the black cloud that seemed to hang overhead. "She's still my mother." Erin reached for her phone, intending to dial her mother's number. Kiss and make-up… that's what Vera called it. Even though Erin couldn't remember the last time her mother showed her any kind of maternal affection. Erin tried not to think about the way Vera would smack her across the face, when Erin was a teenager, popped up on hormones and angst and she was bold enough to question her. Erin had largely forgotten the habitual sting of Vera's wedding rings across her cheek.

"Grandma was mad because mom wants-"

"Allison Anne!" Erin said sternly as Allison slapped her hand over her mouth, lest her mother's secret slip out. Oops.

"What is it?" Dave asked again, with the distinct feeling that something was happening around him, or a decision had been made without him. He just couldn't put his finger on it. "I missed something." He said quickly, "what happened while I was gone?" Erin wouldn't have snapped off on Vera without provocation. "Did she do something-" His fists clenched, Vera was the least supportive person in their lives, but he didn't think she'd actually hurt Carlo. Why else would Erin send her off with her tail between her legs? "Did she do something to Carlo?"

"No!" Erin said quickly, "Of course she didn't, my mother won't even touch Carlo, much less come close enough to hurt him." Not that Erin cared about that. Her mother was always a little distant and disapproving.

"Then what is it?" Dave asked, forcefully, "Come on Babe, tell me what's going on. I feel like my house is on fire and no one is telling me that I'm standing in it."

"Everything's fine," Erin assured him, reaching for his hand.

"Then why did you tell off your mother?" He countered, like a lawyer in a courtroom.

"Because it needed to be done-"

Yeah, right. Like he believed that for longer than 2 seconds. Erin kept the peace with her mother, she wouldn't tell her to take a long walk off a short pier without a good reason. "I agree, Vera had it coming," he'd had it with her pettiness and sideways wisecracks. He wanted to send her on the first train back to Buffalo, but he thought once the baby came she would fall into her role as a grandmother. It was clear she resented little Carlo as much as she hated Dave.

Some people, he decided, just shouldn't breed. Vera Kincaid was one of them. Then again, without that vengeful harpy, he wouldn't have Erin, Vera's cold and shrew full nature made Erin who she was. And he liked her, loved her exactly how she was, and without her… well… he reached into his pocket, fingering the ring box. A life without her in it, wasn't a life he wanted to be a part of. "Erin, you and I need to have a conversation." He said, sitting down beside her. "We've talked about this before, so don't look surprised here." He was all business, "Don't try and stop me either." He pulled out the velvet box, poised to flip it open.

"Alright," she nodded, clutching his hand. "We can talk about it, but can you take the baby?" She shifted Carlo into his father's arms. "Check his shirt, make sure he didn't spit up on it."

"Erin, you're stalling," Dave said firmly, still moving Carlo's blanket to the side. "My son is fine, but we really need to have a conversation about-"

"And we will," Erin assured, waving him off with her hand. "Just look at him first."

"Wait a minute…." Dave paused, inspecting the message written in black marker across Carlo's tummy. It wasn't there when he left, Dave recognized Erin's perfect handwriting immediately.

"Mom and I were talking; I think she's insane. She thinks we should all have the same last name."

Dave waited for a beat, with his heart pulsing in his ears. Mouthing the words on the shirt.

Erin checked her watch; he would catch on eventually. "Three… two… one…"

"Woman, are you gonna wear my ring or not?" He practically growled, tossing the box on the bed beside her.

"Only if you put it on me," she shot back, with a grin.

"It's about time," He plucked the gold and alexandrite ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. The purple-colored stone glimmered in the light. "Me and the kids picked this out, weeks ago. By happy accident, the alexandrite is the birthstone for June."

"It's beautiful," Erin said, watching the stone catch the light. He could have given her the tab from a can of soda, and she would have worn it with pride.

"And they all lived, happily ever after!" Allison intoned, grinning from ear to ear. She looked away when Dave kissed her mother.

Dave pulled back, squeezing Erin's hand, "As a family."

End.