A/N: Thanks to AsgardianBlade for reminding me that while the engaged couple are thrilled to have Helena's help, the mother of the bride, Kathleen, is less trusting of her help. If you remember, when Helena reveals that Eileen is in fact her blood relative, it is Kathleen who sees this news as a threat.

Thank you to all who left posts and messages. I do appreciate them and your continued readership.

The Mother of All Nights

In the lobby of Wells Corp that evening, Gloria watched from afar as Irene checked to see if Pete was waiting outside as instructed. The tea that she ordered to arrive in Helena's office had been delivered right on schedule, and Leena just confirmed that everything would be ready back at the Townhouse, as Irene requested. As if she had nothing to do with any of it, Irene simply said good night as the executive couple passed her on their way out of the building to go home. Whatever took place after Gloria left Helena today seemed to have calmed the HR Director down greatly.

"You and I should have dinner sometime," the nurse said as she approached Irene in the vestibule. The HR Director's satisfied expression washed away and in its place was considerable doubt that the invitation was a good idea. "I make a mean chicken and dumplings," Gloria said immediately noticing Irene's hesitancy.

"I'm sure you do," Irene said courteously, trying to find a polite way to decline.

"You know, I thought taking this job was supposed to be an opportunity for Helena to get to know me so that she could trust me," Gloria said and her tone was as even and pleasant as could be.

"Well, it's important ….," Irene was attempting to answer when the nurse laid it out bare for her.

"But she won't trust anyone or anything... that you don't," Gloria said accurately. "How about 7:30?"

Irene was impressed with how diplomatically the woman maneuvered that invite. She was, Irene decided, trying to learn how to do the best thing for Helena and Myka. It was the only reason she finally …reluctantly…hesitantly…..agreed.

"Good," Gloria said and texted Irene her address.

Irene didn't like it – not one bit. She was irritated with the woman for upsetting Helena, and even though she knew with her whole heart the woman meant no harm, she was still annoyed. Now the woman was asking Irene to break bread with her. The HR Director went back into the elevator, chastising herself for being so unkind and tried desperately to remind herself that Helena really was okay.

Of course, that's because Irene had no idea who was going to visit Helena that night.

Pete brought the couple home, where the aroma of Leena's delicious apple pie greeted them at the door. The dinner of grapefruit and avocado salad with seared salmon may have been one of Helena's favorites, but Leena made dessert to satisfy one of Myka's latest cravings.

"Oh my gawd," Myka moaned as soon as she realized what it was. "Is that …her apple pie!"

"She spoils you," Helena teasingly scoffed as the pocketbook dropped and the coat missed the couch…again.

"You know, you don't want to teach our daughter any bad habits," Myka verbally retaliated with her hands on her hips.

"And which bad habits….," Helena said moving directly into Myka's space to wrap her arms around her, "…..were you referring to?"

"Oh, so many to choose from," Myka said and tapped her finger to her chin as if she were really thinking about them. The women laughed as they then walked arm in arm into the dining room where Leena greeted them with fresh fruit and home baked bread.

"Dis iz soo good," Myka said because the bread was hitting the right spot in her newly developed veracious appetite for carbs.

Helena asked Leena if she wanted to join them, but she had a date that night and was going to leave right after dinner.

Across town, the young engaged couple had done exactly as their mentor instructed them to do. They ordered two different kinds of pizza, made a big pitcher of iced tea, and turned off their phones. Then, they went through the various things they wanted for the wedding and wrote up a list. An hour later, the list was completed – ready to be handed over to their boss the next morning. They were extremely proud of themselves. Firm in their convictions, they decided to Face Time with Eileen's mother, Kathleen, who was just walking in the door in Brooklyn after working overtime at the hospital.

"Hi Mom, Hi Mrs. Sullivan," both women greeted Kathleen when her face appeared on the phone.

"Hi girls," Kathleen said. "How are you both?"

"Mom? We're great!" Eileen started and kept smiling at Claudia. "We just locked ourselves in the Penthouse…"

"Do you need your father to come over?" Kathleen asked, juggling the phone while she tried to pour herself some water and figure out what to make for dinner.

"What? No, not literally, Mom. Listen, Claudia and I made a list of everything we want in the wedding and I think it's going to …you know…streamline …everything," Eileen said, motioning her arm out in front of her to prove her point.

"Streamline wedding is an oxymoron," Kathleen laughed before taking a long sip of water.

"No, we talked to Helena today and everything is going to be stress-free," Eileen said and even Claudia knew that was not a smooth segue into mentioning the woman Kathleen wasn't terrible fond of.

"You talked to…. who?" Kathleen asked, putting the bottle of water down, her thirst suddenly gone.

Claudia could hear it in her tone and was floored that her future wife, in her exuberance, could not catch the change. She shook her head back and forth out of sight of the camera, but because Eileen was convinced this was the best alternative for all involved, she steamrolled ahead.

"Helena?" Eileen said and turned the volume up a little in case that's why her mother hadn't heard her. "Claudia and I talked to her this morning and she had a scathingly brilliant idea," her daughter laughed, imitating Helena's accent as Kathleen took a seat on the stool in the kitchen.

"And what…did …..Helena…..have to say?" the mother of the bride asked.

Claudia put her head in her hands as Eileen divulged the idea of the wedding at Belvedere Castle in Central Park and how the CEO graciously offered to give them their private island for their honeymoon.

"Wow," Kathleen said slowly, trying to take in all the changes that seemed to have been decided in a short time. "She's …quite the resource." The techie was almost certain that by 'resource' , her future mother-in-law meant pain in the arse.

Only then did Eileen notice the forced smile on her mother's face and she got worried. "Mom? Are you okay with this? I mean, having it there settles so many questions and everyone can still come, but this way, there's less time to go crazy with all the choices."

Claudia now calculated that Eileen had just inadvertently dropped the second bomb, also without warning.

"How much… time?" Kathleen asked, standing up to brace herself.

"Three….weeks. Mom, I know this sounds crazy, but we know everything we want …which is most of what we talked about," Eileen said and now turned the phone and pulled Claudia back into the frame for confirmation. "Nothing changes, Mom, I promise. It's just now we know where to have it, and when, and that makes it easier. "

The hairs on the back of Kathleen Sullivan's neck were standing up and she questioned why – since she was absolutely committed to doing the wedding the way her daughter and fiancée wanted it. She told them that from the very start. She had no idea she'd have to prove it.

"Can your Uncle Pat still do the ceremony there?" Kathleen asked, renewing the anger in her chest she felt over being denied the opportunity for Eileen to be married in the neighborhood church where she received all the sacraments.

When the monsignor told her that her that he was very sorry, but there was no way he could allow a gay wedding to be performed at the church…. Kathleen Sullivan made him sorrier than he ever thought he could be. John tried to calm her down as she stood and leaned over the priest's desk and told him exactly what she thought of his refusal, but she was a mother scorned and even her husband knew, there was nothing he could do. It was a blow to both parents who had looked to their religion for solace over the years. "I lit candles there every day, praying for God to give us a baby," Kathleen said on the way home. "We can find God in other places," John Sullivan consoled his wife. There was nothing more important to him than the three women in his life. "She has to be married by a priest, even if it's done civilly," Kathleen said to her husband and this was the line that could not be crossed in her mind. Father Pat had married everyone in the family.

"Oh yes, of course, Mom," Eileen assured her and started to tap into her mother's tone of concern. "Mom, nothing changes, okay?" she said and Claudia thought to herself – "Oh thank God, she caught on," because she understood what it felt like to have things change on you suddenly. "It just means we move everything up. Uncle Pat will do the service. I already checked with him about the date. And the dresses are ready and …Mom?" she said, waiting for her mother to look straight at her and when she did, "…. I just don't want the day to be crazy. Everyone wanting to be in the bridal party and sending us brochures about honeymoons…," Eileen explained.

Kathleen sat back down on the stool and took a deep breath. "I know, honey; your cousins are just so excited, but I guess 23 is a bit much for a wedding party," the nurse said and laughed at the thought. In that laugh, came the relief Eileen needed confirming that her mother understood.

"So, you and Daddy okay if we change the date and move it closer?" Eileen asked and Claudia rejoined her on the couch. "It's still convenient for everyone to get to."

"Of course," Kathleen said and gave serious thought to maybe this was the best way. "If this is what you two want," - and she meant her daughter and Claudia – not her daughter and Helena.

"We do mom, really," Eileen said smiling.

"Okay, then as soon as your dad gets home, I'll tell him and we'll let everyone know," Kathleen said.

"Thanks Mom, you're the best," Eileen gushed and Claudia agreed.

When they disconnected the call, Claudia admitted that she had been worried. "I don't think your Mom is crazy about Helena," she shared and Eileen wanted to dismiss that thought. "She just doesn't know her," Eileen said because she knew Helena presented no threat to her connection with her mother.

Unfortunately, Kathleen Sullivan didn't know that.

And after she hung up the phone, the tiniest voice inside the mother-of-the-bride started to entertain the thought that Helena Wells was moving in on her territory…. again. She tried to push it away by grabbing the pint of Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream from the freezer and eating spoonful after spoonful. "Sure," she started to talk out loud since she was home alone, "She sits in her ivory tower and has my daughter at her beckon call all day, every day and she still needs to take over the wedding? Probably was afraid Eileen was spending too much time on her own life and not enough on her business! I have a better way to do…..everything!" the nurse mocked Helena. "Sends her to school, gives her an apartment, promises her the world - if she does everything she says," she ranted between mouthfuls. "And everyone's afraid of the great and powerful Oz," she decided, slamming the container down.

And then the idea came to her in a flash of pain that hurt more than the brain freeze she experienced.

"She thinks she can do this because they're related?" Kathleen shouted as if someone had just suggested it. "Hell will freeze over before I let her play that card on my daughter!"

She slammed down the spoon, grabbed her pocketbook and headed to her car. It would take her forty-five minutes to prepare what she was going to say to the woman who threatened her on so many levels. Not one of those minutes would be spent listening to the voice that cautioned her she was wrong and this was a big mistake.

Helena was also sharing the news about the upcoming nuptials that night. Of course, she had a slightly different take on the event. "They were carrying on so, Darling, that I simply offered to have everything taken care of," she explained to her wife.

"And…how?" Myka asked as she and Helena sat in the living room.

"Oh, I instructed them to go home tonight, make a list of things they want, come back to me tomorrow with said list, and I will assign it to the appropriate experts and voila! - a wedding will be in place," the Brit explained because in her mind, it was that simple.

"And they agreed?" Myka wondered, taking another bite of the homemade dessert.

"Why wouldn't they?" Helena questioned.

"I mean her parents? They're okay with it being so soon?" Myka, the methodical thinker, wondered out loud.

Helena stared at her quizzically. "Oh! I don't really know. I guess they'll sort that out soon enough," she added, taking a sip of tea.

"Is it good?" Myka asked when she noticed Helena winced the tiniest bit.

The only reason Helena was drinking the liquid that Leena had prepared was because the House Director was totally honest about what it was. "I know this isn't tea the way you like it," Leena said to Helena, "But it's the best I could do and it's all that you are going to get." There was a layer of apology in that update with a coating of 'take it or leave it'. Mostly, it was 'take it or leave it'. Myka bit her lip and waited to see what Helena would do. The Brit thanked Leena, since she truly believed this was the best the woman was capable of, and braced herself for the taste. Helena's reward for being gracious lie not in the cup, but rather in Myka's affectionate teasing when she told her how brave she was.

"I could drink turpentine under your wonderful gaze," Helena said, taking a sip. "And this is a very close second." The remark shared between the two earned Helena the slightest tap on the wrist from her wife as she laughed. "Don't insult the woman who makes the best apple pie I have ever tasted in my life," Myka begged.

The couple sat on the couch, finishing up their work and leaning into one another.

Irene arrived punctually at seven- thirty; a pound cake in one hand and a bottle of sparkling water in the other. She had contemplated bringing a nice bottle of wine, but she wasn't exactly sure what she was walking into. Gloria greeted her at the door, accepted the gifts, and thanked her. She watched as Irene walked into her living room on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and looked around. After asking Irene to sit, she brought in a tray of cheese and crackers and two glasses of white wine. She knew how to prepare for company. Irene thanked her, took the tiniest sip and put it down. "You have a lovely place here, Gloria," she said as she gazed at the floor to ceiling bookcases that contained the family's heirlooms behind glass doors.

"Oh, thank you. Easier to take care of now that it's just me," the nurse said, picking up a double frame with two pictures in it and showing her guest. "Michael is a junior at Syracuse and that's my younger one, Nicholas on the right. He's a freshman at Virginia Tech."

Irene smiled as she looked at them. "They're handsome young men. Both in college?" She handed the frame back to Gloria whose face lit up as soon as she looked at her sons.

"Yes, they're good boys; bright and got minds of their own," Gloria laughed and put it back on the table.

"Oh, I know what that's like," Irene laughed and it caught Gloria by surprised that she didn't know Irene had children, in spite of her motherly instincts.

"I didn't realize you had children…..of your own, I mean," Gloria said and hoped Irene didn't catch that faux pas.

Irene rarely missed anything and her smile told Gloria that she hadn't missed that. The hostess brought the subject back to boys, and the two mothers slowly eased into their dinner together talking about what they did have in common – sons. The two sat down to one of the best home cooked meals Irene could remember having and the conversation segued to how they didn't cook as much as they used to.

"I cook more when the boys come home, of course," Gloria said as they cleared the dishes after the meal was done, and Irene insisted on helping. "Do you live alone?" she asked Irene who seemed to be a little more forthcoming.

Now things were going to get slightly complicated.

"I …. have a dog; Myka's dog actually and an occasional house guest," is what she came up with to explain Bandit and Sui.

"You have... Myka's dog?" Gloria asked, as she prepared two cups of tea and sliced four sections of the pound cake Irene brought.

"Helena got it for Myka, but there was a lot going on and it was all too much for Helena, so I took him. It was supposed to be for a short time, but he seems very happy where he is," Irene said, sipping her tea. Gloria smiled thinking how that sounded like another rescue story.

"Oh, this is delicious!" Gloria said because she enjoyed her desserts. "You made this?"

"Thank you," Irene said and shared that the recipe was in her family for years.

"Speaking of things handed down," Gloria said, pushing the last forkful of cake into her mouth and getting up. She walked to the bookcase, opened a drawer and took out two leather bound books, about six by eight inches in size. "These might be of interest to Helena."

Irene put her tea down and took them slowly. She felt as if Gloria had read her mind about wanting to review anything that she had before giving it directly to Helena. "Thank….you," Irene said, putting the journals in her pocketbook.

"You know something I notice?" Gloria asked and chestnut eyes simply stared back, waiting for her to continue. "I've been a nurse for twenty-five years and I've seen couples in the best and worst of situations. I ain't never seen anything like the connection Helena and Myka have. I mean, it's more than just the love they share. It's like they can sense what the other is feeling, do you know what I mean?" the nurse asked, sitting back down across from her guest.

"Yes, I do," Irene said, and the topic put her back into protective mode instantly. "They're very…. close."

"My boys are close," Gloria said and her southern inflection seeped through her words. "My husband and I were very close, but I don't think I would have known if he was frustrated or upset at work."

Irene facial expression tightened and she sat straight up in the chair.

"I've only seen it one other time to a lesser degree," Gloria continued because she always spoke truthfully. "And that is with you and Helena."

The woman wasn't accusatory, she wasn't rude, and she wasn't overly inquisitive. She was simply stating what she observed. And she was right. But Irene was rarely hooked by someone else's inquiries, especially when it came to Helena. "Yes," she answered and smiled, but the nurse knew she didn't mean it. "What made you decide to give me …these?" Irene turned the questioning back to the nurse as she patted her purse.

"You know, in spite of what I think we all know were my good intentions today by sharing that photograph, I decided that it might be better if you look over the journals. I trust your judgement," Gloria said, taking just one more slice of the delicious cake.

Irene was used to people trying to get information out of her, or buttering her up so that they could get closer to Helena. But this was neither. It was as if Gloria had read Irene's unwritten rule book about how to be with the Brit, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "She's…..," she said and the next word didn't follow immediately. Gloria looked up and stopped eating while she waited for her guest to finish her thought. "Very special."

"I sense the feeling is quite mutual," Gloria said and once again, complimented Irene on her baking skills.

Irene finished her tea and decided that it was time for her to leave. She wasn't sorry she had come, but she wasn't exactly sure she was happy either. Her host had a charming way of disarming her – and it made her feel she was off her game.

"There's a lot more," Gloria said as she got up to see Irene out.

"I'm sorry?" Irene asked after thanking her hostess for a lovely dinner.

"There's a lot more for Helena to see, if she wants to. I think you'll help her make the best decision," Gloria said because she understood just who she was speaking to. This wasn't just Helena's protector. This woman was much more to Helena and Gloria sensed it. Irene thanked her again, without acknowledging her statement and left.

After putting the teacups in the sink, Gloria went back into the living room, took out one of her own journals and wrote; "For a woman who is so formidable and strong, a lot of people sure want to protect Helena Wells."

Just as Irene was making her way out of Manhattan, the angry mother from Brooklyn was making her way into the City.

Myka was having trouble staying awake and Helena suggested that she go upstairs and lie down. She then walked Myka up and instead of turning toward their bedroom, they went down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"How much longer, did they say?" Myka asked as she yawned again and went into the guest bedroom and proceeded to wash her face and get changed.

"I think Leena said a few more days," Helena said as she sat on the bathtub rim in the guest bathroom. "Then we have to decide on the color and the crib. I am having some things drawn up."

The bedroom closest to their suite at the other end of the house was being converted into the nursery.

"You're not going to have little science stations around the room, are you?" Myka laughed as she brushed her teeth.

"No! Don't be…. …no?" Helena asked because that was exactly what she was thinking.

"Not until she's at least a kindergartner," Myka laughed because she knew Helena would want to make the baby's room look like something out of Scientific Inventions.

Helena reluctantly promised and then tucked Myka into bed. "You okay?" she asked Helena before releasing her hand. "I mean, after today?"

"Ah, well yes, that was quite a surprise, wasn't it?" Helena admitted. "I am curious about what other treasures the woman has. I would like to repay Amelia's kindness by perhaps putting some of her things on display in the museum."

"That's a wonderful idea, Helena," Myka said through sleepy eyes. "How will you explain her connection?" Myka may have been sleepy, but her logical brain was rarely off line.

"Perhaps it is time to tell Helena's story," the Time Traveler spoke. "We'll talk in the morning," she said as she placed the tenderest kiss on Myka's lips.

"Okay," Myka said, smiling and falling asleep.

Helena watched her for a moment more and then descended the stairs to finish her work. She was surprised to hear the urgent knock on the door as she entered the downstairs hallway.

"Now, who the devil…?" Helena uttered as she opened the door to see a woman dressed in her nurse's uniform swing around to face her.

Of all the opening lines Kathleen Sullivan rehearsed on the highway into Manhattan, the one that fell off her lips wasn't among them.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are," she spat when Helena appeared in the doorway.