He felt sort of like a tour guide, as his parents trailed after him through the North Portico. The White House was full of people today; the annual turkey pardoning tended to draw a crowd. He didn't particularly care to be photographed today, so he'd ducked past the red velvet rope, as two of the Uniformed Division guys waved him on through.

It was still two hours until the dinner was scheduled to start, and he tried to think where to take his parents to wait it out.

"Dad, you want to go bowling?" His mom didn't look too thrilled, but she followed them towards the basement stairs anyway.

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one with that idea. Sophia's uncle Gerald, greeted them with his friendly West Virginian twang. Mark had met Gerald and his family on Election Night, a few weeks ago. Introductions were made, a loaner bowling ball was located for Richard; Mark grinned to see his dad becoming fast friends with the President's brother. It was a bromance in the making, as they discussed the merits of their favorite football teams.

That just left his mom.

"Mom? Anything you'd like to see? We've still got time to kill."

His mom thought for a minute. "I've always wanted to see the Rose Garden," she replied, "but I guess it's the wrong time of year for that."

"We can still go look at it," he replied, "even if the roses are dormant, there's still plenty for a couple of plant nerds like us." He grinned at her.

x x x

They'd made the rounds of the garden twice by now, playing an old favorite game of theirs; Name That Plant. Once upon a time, she'd been the master and Mark the student, but the shoe was on the other foot today.

"How should I know?" she huffed, "what freaking kind of magnolia tree that is? It's not like it has any leaves." She scowled up at him, from the wrought-iron bench.

"You should have seen it in the spring," he replied, "Saucer magnolia." She rolled her eyes, as he sat down next to her.

"In the spring, you'll have been home for a year." She patted his arm. "It's been really nice, you know. Being your mom again."

"I'm sorry you had to wait so long." He sighed. "You know, back on Mars, when I was rescued, I wanted to stay an extra day, and use some rocks to spell out in Morse code, that I was on my way home to you." She looked at him, surprised.

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know, exactly. I guess I wasn't really sure I'd make it. Didn't know how long it would take, if I did. Didn't want to get your hopes up for nothing, or worry the hell out of you and Dad, when you couldn't do anything. Wasn't sure what the world would think of my ride home. Or if anyone would even believe me in the first place. Hindsight, though... I wish I had tried."

"It's okay." She hugged him. "You did the best you could, with what you had available. You've always been that way." She paused. "You know, I never completely believed you were dead. I always held out a little hope. Call it mother's intuition, if you want."

"Really?"

"Really. It bothered your dad, and the rest of the family, when I would say so, though; so I stopped talking about it, a couple of months after Iris 2 missed. But I always thought there was a chance."

He laughed, "That was very optimistic of you."

She was quiet for a moment.

"Mark, there has never been a time that you haven't risen beyond my wildest expectations."

He hugged her.

"That's a really nice thing to say. Thank you."

They sat for a while longer.

"But Mark," she continued, "if you're just leading that poor girl on, I'm going to have to take you over my knee." She smirked at him, making a spanking gesture.

"Oh my God, Mom. Just stop. Please." He was doubled over, laughing.

"I'm only partially kidding," she reminded him, laughing.

"I am not 'leading her on'." Mark paused for a long time. "You know, I wake up every morning, thinking that today might be the day that she wakes up and starts wondering why she's wasting her time on a smartass like me." He sighed. "She's not just beautiful, you know?" He paused for a moment, "She is, of course. But she's smart, and funny, and kind. She's the whole package, Mom. She's been so good to me."

"Oh, honey." She patted his arm again. "I'm so glad to hear you say that."

"I can't imagine life without her." Mark was quiet for a moment. "And yet, I can't quite convince myself that she'd ever..." he trailed off.

"You haven't talked about any of this with her?"

"No. I know, I know..." she was shaking her head at him in disbelief, "I just don't want to screw it up. I'm just so bad at talking to her about this stuff."

She was taking off her gloves, looking in her purse for something.

"This is yours, you know." She passed him a small velvet cube.

He knew what it was, but he opened the ring box anyway. It was his grandmother's platinum eternity band. Elegant and understated. He felt like his heart was in his throat.

"Grandma wanted you to have it, for when you met the right girl. I've been saving it for you, just in case." She smiled at him.

He was too overcome to say anything for awhile.

"It was a really long wait, you know." She poked him in the side.

x x x