Marissa swung by Tad's to pick up AJ. She was worried how the hearing would have affected him but was surprised to be greeted with a giant hug from a little boy with a huge smile on his face.

"AJ, are you alright?"

"I love you mom." was all he would say as he buried his head in her shoulder.

Miranda and Gabby came running out as well and added their own weight to the hug.

"What is all this for?" Marissa asked, not sure what to make of this enthusiastic reception.

She extracted herself from the three pairs of eager arms and was greeted by three very excited smiles.

"We are all going to live in our new house now!" said Gabby positively bouncing with joy.

"We worked it out. Now we can all live together like we planned." said AJ eagerly, "Miranda and I can't wait to go and start packing her and Gabby's suitcases! You might have to help with Bianca's."

"Is mommy at the house already?" asked Miranda excitement in her eyes.

Marissa's face fell. She hated to dampen such enthusiasm.

"Bianca is visiting Erica in hospital. She's come back to Pine Valley." Marissa said. "She's much better I hear. Your mom will probably take you girls on a visit tomorrow… And we aren't moving in together." she added sadly, "It's just not the right time."

"But daddy can't stop us." said AJ, some of the light already fading from his eyes. "Can he?"

Marissa took a seat on the couch. She pulled Gabby onto her lap and drew Miranda and AJ in to sit either side of her.

"Your father is still your legal guardian, AJ. At present I'm not sure what that will mean for us, but I currently have a friend who is looking into it for me. She has assured me that everything is going to be alright. I am still you mother, it's just JR has made things a little more complicated."

"I hate him." said AJ bitterly.

Marissa put a hand on her son's knee.

"But this isn't just about your daddy. This is also about Bianca and me. We love each other, but like everything else after the accident, this is all new to me. I have to get to know Bianca again, just like I have to get to know all of you."

"But if we lived together you could get to know us even faster." said Gabby with a child's logic.

"But I'm not the same person either. Your mommy is getting to know me again too."

"Is this about grown-up stuff?" asked Miranda.

"That's right, grown-up stuff." replied Marissa, please that Bianca's eldest daughter seemed to understand.

Miranda was nodding knowingly.

"What's that?" asked Gabby.

"We have to wait until they have a sleepover." said Miranda.

Gabby's eyes lit up.

"Can we all have a sleepover? We can watch cartoons and eat popcorn and ice-cream… and… and…"

"Not that kind of sleepover, dummy." said Miranda, her cheeks slowly turning pink with embarrassment. "The grown-up kind!"

Gabby clearly didn't understand.

Marissa masked her own blushes with a cough and a grin. 'Sleepovers' was not a subject that had come up between her and Bianca yet.

"Look, I love you guys, you know that right?"

There was a trio of nods.

"But sometime you have to be patient. I think it is great how much you all love each other and how much you want this. Look at us, we are already a family! Just because we don't all live in the same house it doesn't make it any the less true."

AJ looked sadly down at his lap.

"So we aren't moving in together?"

"Not… yet..." said Marissa slowly.

Miranda gave AJ a knowing grin.

"We can wait." she said rather pointedly. She wasn't particularly subtle with the way she waggled her eyebrows at her birthday twin.

"Yeah," said AJ slyly, suddenly perking up. "We can wait."

Marissa noticed the look that passed between them.

Those two kids were planning something.

…