A/N: I'd like to thank the reviewers for letting me know you are still interested in this story, it's always a pleasure to hear from you. Here's the second chapter, hope there's enough fluff to make everyone happy.

Chapter Two

Instead of preparing lunch Diane spent the time until the arrival of her niece and sister-in-law going through some documents, while Nat and Will were playing basketball on the yard. The popping of the ball reminded her of the times when Emma had still enjoyed playing with the boys, sometimes even Diane had joined the trio and teamed up with her son, but they'd rarely got to defeat the father-daughter duo.

Emma had been quite good at basketball, but as she'd grown older, she'd preferred spending her time alone in her room or hanging out with her friends, until boys came into the picture. Diane didn't want to force her to do things she didn't feel like doing, unless it was about studying. But as long as her grades were good, she was free to spend the rest of her free time however she pleased, with the condition that her parents always knew where she was and with whom. They wanted to trust her and it had seemed to work so far and both sides were satisfied with this arrangement.

As the clock struck eleven Diane decided to put away the work for today and walked to the window to check on the boys. Will had been teaching Nat to basketball since pre-school and due to the high school training and that he'd become much taller in the last year he was now able to beat his father more often. Even if they usually said they were just playing for fun, they always kept scores and it was amusing to hear them tease each other with the result.

After observing their game unnoticed for a while, Diane left the window and went upstairs to see what Emma was up to. She knocked on her door, knowing better than to enter without. She was aware that her daughter was very protective of her privacy.

"Have they arrived?" Emma looked up.

She was lying on the bed with her laptop in front of her.

"Not yet. Can I come in?" Diane asked from the doorway.

"Sure." The girl closed the laptop and sit up, making space for Diane to sit on the bed.

"I'm leaving the firm next week, to focus on the campaign," she explained, deciding that her daughter deserved to know about this change in their life.

"I know, I heard you and dad talking about it," Emma nodded and her calm voice suggested that she appreciated Diane telling her nevertheless.

"The last month before the primary elections is going to be harder, but we'll make sure that you and Nat doesn't get involved in it," she made a promise, knowing Will and Eli would help her protect the kids from the campaign as best as they could.

"Don't worry about me," Em said with a soft smile, acting like the grown-up Diane sometimes felt she was, even though to her she'd forever remain her child.

"I will always worry about you. Right now I'm worried the press will try to approach or contact you somehow. If anything like that happens and you notice, you call me or dad right away," she warned her, knowing the press was everywhere and with the internet it was much easier to get to her kids.

"I will, I promise," Emma took her seriously and Diane appreciated it.

"You remember Eli, my campaign manager?" she asked and Emma nodded. "He and I will sit down with you and Nat and he will explain some things about how to use the social networking sites, to keep you safer."

"Okay," Emma responded understandingly.

"I don't want your life to change just because I'm running for office. I will always be your mother first and it's my job to protect you from everything until you're able to protect yourself."

Diane realized that she was getting emotional, but she couldn't help it. Her children were and would always remain her weak spot.

"I'll be fine, mom," came the grown-up answer and it made Diane smile.

In a year her daughter would be off to college and go her own way. Sometimes Diane wished she could turn back time, because she didn't feel ready to let her go or think she'd ever be.

The doorbell interrupted their mother-daughter time, announcing the arrival of their guests.

"They are here," Diane stated the obvious.

"Let's go."

Emma got out of the bed and Diane stood up too.

For a moment she was tempted to hug her daughter, to show how proud she was of her and grateful that she handled the situation so well. But Emma didn't take hugs as well as she had when she had been younger, so she decided against it, and they both went to the front door to let the visitors in instead.

"Hey," Diane greeted them with a wide grin and didn't hesitate to hug her niece, which almost made up for the one she hadn't given to her daughter before.

She missed the times when Emma was Mimi's age or even younger, her niece's presence always brought back so many memories from her children's childhood.

"Where's my brother?" Sarah looked around as they entered the living room. She had insisted on taking a cab from the airport, not to interfere with their weekend routine too much, she was grateful enough they were willing to take Mimi for a week.

"They are playing basketball outside," Diane turned to the direction of the backyard.

"Let's surprise them," Sarah suggested and they all walked to the back door and stepped out.

"I challenge the winner for a game in the afternoon," Sarah announced her presence and distracted Will enough that Nat managed to get hold of the ball and scored a basket.

"That would be me, thank you Aunt Sarah," the boy grinned, while his father seemed cheated. Even against his son, he was a sore loser.

"Hey kiddo, hey sis," Will waved to Mimi and walked towards Sarah, who stepped back as he was about to reach her.

"If you want me to hug you, you need to take a shower first," she protested, so Will just passed her by, giving a kiss on her cheek on his way inside. "I can't believe Nat has grown so much since I last saw him." Sarah observed her nephew, who was celebrating his victory trying to score some more baskets.

"I wouldn't mind, but he hates shopping for clothes," Diane smiled, eyeing her son.

"Sometimes I wish Mimi hated it too," Sarah chuckled. "She usually makes me buy a bunch of stuff she never wears longer than a week."

"That sounds familiar," Diane glanced at her daughter, who had always been very picky about her outfits as well, "Em has collected a few items from her closet for Mimi again, might spare you a round of shopping."

"Thank you," Sarah replied with a smile.

"Can't wait to see them," Mimi seemingly got excited at the mention of clothes.

"I'll show them after lunch," Emma promised.

"I'm sure you are hungry," Diane remembered that they still needed to sort out the lunch-issue and turned to her sister-in-law. "Will and I thought you wouldn't mind if we ordered in today."

"Of course not, thank you for having us," Sarah replied. "Maybe tomorrow I can cook something for all of you before I leave? It's the least I can do."

"I'll help out," Emma offered, making Diane proud. Emma loved cooking and baking, but it wasn't always easy to get her down to the kitchen when she needed her. It was nice to see that she volunteered, even if it was just to impress her aunt.

"I want to help too," Mimi volunteered as well, she probably didn't want to be left out.

"Looks like we have a whole kitchen crew for tomorrow," Diane laughed, not minding that she's excused from her duties for another day. "Nat, maybe you should take a shower too before lunch," she raised her voice to address her son.

"Just a minute," he yelled and they saw how he scored another basket, and looked very satisfied with himself.

"I'll give you the menu to choose from and while the lunch arrives you can settle in your rooms," Diane suggested as they all walked inside.

"Can I sleep in your room?" Mimi asked Emma, even though she hadn't shared her room with her cousin the last two summers. She considered herself too grown-up for spending the night with a kid.

"I'm sorry, honey, but Em likes having her room to herself as I'm sure you do too," Diane replied on Em's behalf, trying to reason with her niece.

"I do," the girl admitted and Emma seemed grateful for the interference.

"But I'm going to help you unpack and we'll play something together after lunch, all right?" Emma took over the conversation, making Diane smile.

"Can we play cards?" Mimi's face lit up.

"Whatever you want," Emma promised and the two of them walked up the stairs, while Diane stayed downstairs with Sarah.

"How is Roger?" she asked about her brother-in-law.

"He is working too hard, as usual," Sarah sighed.

Diane knew it was a constant problem in their marriage that Roger worked much more than Sarah did, while she and Will worked almost the same amount or at least they took turns, so it didn't cause that much tension between them. It changed a little with the campaign, but they still managed to keep the balance so far.

"Is everything is all right between you two?" Diane inquired cautiously, not wanting to step on any toes.

"There's no reason to worry," Sarah said with a half-smile and Diane wanted to believe her, knowing she'd tell her if it had been otherwise.

"Let me help you with those," she offered when she saw Sarah reach for one of the suitcases and while they carried them to the stairs Nat appeared in the room.

"Do you need help?" he looked at them with the heavy luggage in hand.

"That would be nice, thank you," Sarah placed hers down first and Diane followed, proud of her boy, who rushed up the stairs with the two bags.

"Here's the menu," Diane handed Sarah a piece of paper. "I'll be in my room, let me know when you've decided."

"I will," Sarah walked upstairs and Diane followed her a few steps behind.

By the time she entered the bedroom Will was already out of the shower, he was standing in front of the wardrobe, with wet hair and a towel around his waist.

"You were fast," Diane smiled, not hiding the fact that she still found her husband very attractive, especially when he was wearing next to nothing, which vividly reminded her of their previous night

"How is Sarah?" Will turned to her, letting his whole chest visible and Diane had to bite her bottom lip at the sight.

"Happy to dump her daughter on us for a week," she joked, while she was looking Will up and down unconsciously. "You should get dressed," she added, forcing herself to look aside.

"Admit it, you'd rather have me than your lunch," he approached her, with a teasing tone in his voice.

Diane took a step back, trying to resist him when they heard a knock on the door.

"We have company," she reminded him with a regretful grin, even though he was completely right.

And somehow she started envying her sister- and brother-in-law for having a whole week to themselves.