'Lanie, are you sure it's okay for us to do this?'

Alexis turned around to her friend was stretched on the bed, playing with Petra who was sitting up on her own like a champ and currently trying to lean over and jam her toes in her mouth. 'Oh sweetie, that's icky,' she admonished the baby lightly. Beside Petra, Lanie grinned widely.

'Girl, this is how you be an awesome mom, wife and woman all at once. You love your baby, but if you make it all about the baby you lose your sense of self.' Lanie gave her a saucy wink. 'It's why Dave took me on a little weekend get away when Carey was about four months old.'

'Oh yeah? You didn't have any issues leaving him at home without you?'

'Are you crazy?' Lanie giggled, then looked at Petra. 'Is Mumum crazy? No, but that is a crazy question, yes it is!'

'Lanie?'

'Sorry, I just love when they're that age. Anyways,' she continued, 'I was a little upset, but I was upset because I felt guilty for needing that time. Going through therapy for PPD, it told me that it's normal to feel guilty, but the way to deal with it is to learn to live with it. That's part of being a parent.'

'I know.' Alexis gave a playful pout as she watched her little girl. 'I think of the things I said about my mother and get a little scared how long it will take my daughter to say the same about me.'

'How is your mom these days, like your bio-mom?'

'Still feeling a little resentful I had a baby which technically makes her a grandmother.' She gave a little shrug as she fastened on earrings, brushed the front of her dress. 'She's still scoring lots of spicy roles in indie dramas and quite enjoying her life though, so it's...it's not that I don't care, it's that her feelings aren't really on my radar since she always twists it to be about herself, you know?'

'Oh I know.' Lanie though of her own parents' divorce, the nastiness caused by her mother's steadfast refusal to believe Oscar's claims of innocence that were supported by everyone in their lives. 'If she's happy and you're happy in your own separate spheres, plus you've got Kate as a mother now, well-'

'It doesn't make sense to try and force something that seems so unnatural.'

'Exactly. Speaking of unnatural, how is it Shane is still such a hunk?'

Lanie pretended to wolf-whistle as Shane came in from shaving in the bathroom, pulled on his dress-shirt. 'Are you feeling okay Lanie?' he asked her lightly, and Lanie laughed.

'My father is in town for a week with his hockey club, so he volunteered to take the kids tonight while Dave and I play babysitter.'

'Oh man. Petra.' Shane leaned down, picked up his daughter to hold her against his shoulder. 'You better tell me if they were being bad.'

'I prefer to think of it as naughty.'

'Alright, alright.' Alexis shook her head. She knew Lanie and Dave hadn't gotten much time together since New Years because of opposite work schedules, so they were paying it forward and babysitting Petra so Alexis and Shane could have a nice night out together. 'Save it for when your Romeo is here.'

'He will be soon, with some delicious take-away from Petrelli's.'

'Oh, lucky girl.'

Alexis said it with such wistfulness that it made Shane bite back a smile. They were going out tonight, and he knew exactly what would make his wife smile the most.

A few minutes later and they were out the door with only a few little sniffles; Alexis' tears were dried by the time they hit their lobby, turned west towards Park Avenue to catch the subway to Penn Station. 'So, where is this mystery date we are going on?'

'Well...' Shane trailed off, linked his fingers with his bride's. She was able to put her wedding rings back on now which he knew made her so happy - she'd been in tears when she'd been so heavy with child that her fingers had swollen up and she was forced to wear her rings on a necklace. 'What would you say to a delicious dinner at Pookaloo's followed by a hockey game at Madison Square Garden, followed up with drinks and dessert at the Dinges truck?'

'I say change dessert at the Dinges truck to drunken cheeseburgers at Penn Station and you got yourself a date.'

'Then...' Shane stopped them at the intersection of East Nineteenth and Park Avenue, drew her close to kiss her while they waited for the light to change. 'I could get you out of that dress, and run my hands all over that beautiful body.'

'It's pretty sweet huh?' Alexis grinned, proud of how she'd lost the jiggly bits but kept the curves, especially around her hips while trimming in the narrow part of her waist. It made her feel like herself, very feminine with a little extra oomph. 'And...I think I'm okay with not being able to lose all the weight.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.' She nodded wisely as they crossed the street. 'Women built like me, we tend to keep a few pounds extra after pregnancy.'

'You should talk to Andrea and Honey-Milk if you ever feel in doubt of that,' Shane told her. 'Both of them struggled with their weight after having babies, Andrea especially.'

'I remember the Demon's Barbecue quite well. You know what the best part is?'

'What?'

'I no longer feel guilty about indulging in food,' Alexis laughed. 'I've had a child, I've handled way worse than self-esteem issues.'

Elated to see his bride so happy, so adjusted to herself as a mother and a woman all at once, Shane stopped them once more on the street and gave her a huge, juicy kiss. 'Then you're going to love the deep-fried pickle special at Pookaloo's.'