I stand looking into the mirror in the hospital trying to fix my hair. Flying always seems to wreck my hair. I take my bun down and run my fingers through my hair, attempting to unravel the knots. Out of the corner of my eyes, I catch an old woman staring at me. "You have beautiful hair," she says in a faint Russian accent. "You should leave it down."

"Really? I think it makes me look… unkempt."

"No, no, no. The hair frames your face and makes your eyes…" She searches for the right word. "… Pop"

"Well, thank you, but I think I'll leave it up. I'm afraid my husband won't recognize me with it down."

"Is he here to meet you?"

"Yeah, he's going to pick me up and we're going to lunch."

"Oh, how nice. I won't hold you up, dear. Remember what I said about your hair."

"I will." I turn around to smile at her, but she's already gone.

I face myself in the mirror and really look at myself. My hair looks greasy and frizzy. How could she think I look beautiful? I sigh and twist it up to its usual knot. My feet ache, my head hurts, and my mouth's dry, but all that goes away when I see my family standing by the doors. Nate looks away from his conversation with Sully, spots me, and points me out to Elizabeth, who's currently sitting in his arms grasping a colorful piece of paper. I smile and wave at her. Recognition lights her eyes and she wiggles until Nate puts her down. As soon as she has her feet under her, she sprints down the hall towards me, paper fluttering in her hand. "Mommy!"

I crouch down and hold out my arms. "Hey, girly!" Elizabeth runs into my embrace at top speed, so I use her momentum to spin her around as I lift her higher.

"I missed you, Mommy," she mumbles, allowing me to squeeze her and cover her head with kisses.

"I missed you, too, baby. Did you have fun with Daddy and Uncle Sully?"

"Mm hm. Look." She shows me the paper. It's a drawing of me and her with a big heart around us. There are also squiggly symbols at the top. Upon closer inspection, I can just make out "Mommy and Lizzy". Nate must have helped her a little.

"What does a man have to do to get attention from his own wife?" Nate asks, walking towards us with Sully in tow.

"A kiss would be nice," I suggest with a half-smile.

He shakes his head. "I think I might be rubbing off a little too much on you."

"My mother's worst fear." Nate laughs and gives me a kiss.

"Eww!" Elizabeth says, covering her eyes. Nate puckers his lips and makes kissing noises, slowly getting closer to Elizabeth. She giggles and hides her face in my shirt.

While Nate torments her, Sully kisses me on the forehead and says, "How's it goin', sweetheart? Did you get everything done?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking. Unlike my husband…" I shoot Nate a look as he tickles Elizabeth around the neck, causing her to squirm. I almost drop her when she accidently kicks my stomach. "Do you want to hold her?" I ask him, not bothering to hide my annoyance.

"No, you can hold her. I'll take your bags."

The four of us walk out to the car. I strap Elizabeth into her car seat while Nate loads my bags into the trunk. Sully asks if I want to sit in the passenger seat, but I decline. I'll let the boys hang out a little while longer. "So what'd you guys do when I was away?" I ask as Nate pulls out of the parking lot.

"Uncle Suwy and me did games and movies and books," Elizabeth recounts.

"Don't forget the puzzles," Sully adds.

"Oh, pushles!"

"You love those puzzles, huh?" I ask, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Mm hm." She watches her feet swing back and forth for a few seconds, mesmerized by how the light reflects off her shoes. She gasps as a new thought enters her mind. "Mommy fights monsters!"

"What?" I say. "Monsters?"

"Yeah, the monsters. Uncle Suwy said Daddy and you fights monsters."

"You told her that?" I lightly slap Sully's shoulder.

"I know, can you believe him? He's gonna fill her head with stupid ideas," Nate complains.

"I don't see any problem with it. It's not as if she'll actually believe them."

"Elena, I don't want her knowing about… you know."

"Nate, she's too young to understand any of that. And even if she did, she wouldn't judge you for it. She's—"

"I know, I know. She's family." Nate says it like it pains him to say it.

"What is wrong with you? Just because your parents—"

"Don't finish that sentence!"

"No, you stop interrupting me!"

"Guys…" Sully groans. "Can we not do this now? You're upsetting Elizabeth."

I glance down at her. She's covering her ears with her hands and has her eyes scrunched up, trying to shut the world at. "I'm sorry, Lizzy," I say, moving her hands away from her head.

"Are you and Daddy gun break up?" she asks.

Nate tenses, knuckle whitening as he grips the wheel harder. "No, sweetie, we're not going to break apart. We're going to stick together, no matter what."

"It's okay, baby, we're here for you. We're not going anywhere. Sometimes we fight, but that doesn't mean we don't love each other. I know you get angry at us sometimes, but you still love us." I sigh. "You know what? I think we're all just a little crabby because we're hungry. Let's get some lunch on the way back."

"Ice cweam!" Elizabeth says.

"No, real food first, then you can have ice cream for dessert." She pouts. "Don't give me that look, Lizzy. You know the rules."

"But Mommy—"

"Elizabeth Drake, this is the last time I will tell you this. I don't know what Nate and Sully have let you get away with these past few days, but I'm home now. You won't get away with stunts like this, okay?" She sulks, but nods in understanding. "Alright, good girl."

We stop at a Red Robin. Nate offers to carry Elizabeth, but I say I want to carry her. Sully sees us gearing up for another argument, so he picks up Elizabeth without saying a word. Nate races into the restaurant ahead of the rest of us to talk to the hostess first. "Oh, god," I groan. "How much to you want to bet he told them it's my birthday?" Sully just smiles knowingly. "Ugh, I should have known you were in on it. Why do you always take his side?"

"'Cause no one else does." He jerks his head away from Elizabeth's wandering hands. He's made the mistake of letting her touch his moustache before and she yanked some hairs out.

Sully is right, though. Nate has never had anyone on his team. Nobody, not even his parents, has ever had his back. Sully was the first person to give him the attention and care he needed. Sure, he knows how to take care of himself. He lived on his own for years, but, honestly, he was lucky. I feel honored to be on team Drake.

We walk through the glass doors and see Nate leaning on the hostess stand. The twenty-something year old woman behind the desk is blushing and biting her lip provocatively. I feel anger flare up inside me and pick up the pace. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and croon, "Hey, sweetie. What 'cha doing?"

Nate smiles at me. The familiar glow of laughter glints in his eyes like he's done something hilarious. "Hey, baby. I'm just getting us a table."

He winks, knowing he's pissed me off. "Did you ask for a high chair?" I ask.

"One step ahead of you."

"Follow me, please," the hostess says, batting her eyelashes at Nate. Either she's clueless to the rings on our fingers or she doesn't care. We find our seats and Janis (I read her name tag) bends over to give the menus to Nate. "Call me if you need anything."

As soon as she leaves our table space, Nate flips open the top menu and finds a napkin with a phone number written on it. He waves it in Sully's face. "You owe me twenty big ones."

"Alright, alright. You're setting a bad example for your daughter, you know," Sully says, reaching for his wallet.

"I'm not a bad example. I'm teaching her valuable life skills." He puts his arm around Elizabeth and shows her the napkin. "Look how awesome your daddy is, Lizzy."

"Give me that!" I reach across the table for the napkin.

"Here, Lizzy, take it. Don't let Mommy have it." She takes it from his hand and shoves her hands into her lap, giggling.

"Lizzy, give it to Mommy." I hold out my hand expectantly, but she shakes her head no.

"Ha, she's on my side now, right Lizzy?" She shakes her head no again. The look in her eyes is one of pure mischief. It's uncanny how much she looks like Nate.

Sully laughs, sounding like a short cough. "You're never gonna get that napkin back."

"Lizzy on Lizzy side," she proclaims.

"Well, better she has it then you," I say to Nate with a smirk.

Nate's words fail him. I can see him struggling to work out a rebuttal, but nothing must come to his mind because he just sticks his tongue out at me. Elizabeth giggles and copies him. He smiles and then scrunches his face up to make her laugh even more. "Daddy looks funny!"

"Daddy always looks funny," Sully says, looking over his shoulder. "Where's the waiter? I'm thirsty."