All familiar characters belong to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.

"You don't want to see me?" Frank asked Stephanie.

"That's not what I said, Dad. I told you that you need to want to see me. I'm not going to tell you what to do and expect you to do it like Mom does, I'm giving you a choice that's up to you alone to make. You can finally be free from all parental responsibility for me and grandparent joy with Olive, or you can pick really getting to know us. You seem to have been having an okay time at Olivia's party. That could be a recurring thing, not only with me and Olive, but Val and my nieces too. Visits will be without Mom though. That you're here because she refused to act like a grown-up, let alone my actual mother, was proof I didn't need that outside of Val, Mary Lou, and Grandma ... I'm through with the Burg and how it chooses to still operate."

"I respect my wife's decisions," I added, "but my family isn't a secret to be kept hidden away. If you come here, Helen will know about it. If you aren't willing to stand up to her for your daughter, I don't see a reason to have an open-door policy for you."

"You want me to change my entire life overnight ..."

"Not really," Steph told him. "I'm just trying to keep Mom out of mine right now while giving you one shot to still be in it."

"And if I believe you say marriage vows only once?"

My wife shrugged. "That's your decision to live with. My opinion is you'd be happier with some distance from Mom, but I can't tell you who to love or leave ... any more than you can tell me who to be with. I'm only saying that if you do come here, it has to be a visit solely to see us and not just an escape from Mom or to get information to bring back to her."

"I know you don't think so, but your mother loves you and little Olivia, Stephanie."

The sound of Steph's sigh was also the sound of newly grown scabs covering childhood wounds being carelessly ripped off again. And the final nail in his coffin in my mind.

"You may believe that, Dad, but I'm done hurting myself trying to convince myself that I'm more than just a prop in her world." She glanced at me. "Call it a mother's intuition, but Olive is missing us ... and I really want to see her."

"And I guarantee she wants to see you right back," I pulled her close, kissed her head, and turned her towards the door. "You can go on up."

She hesitated. "Aren't you coming?"

"In a minute."

She still paused, but then nodded. She went out of the meeting room but sent Tank into it.

"Steph told me not to let you shoot her father," he said to me. "Is there a chance of that happening?"

"Yes."

He closed the door and stood close enough to grab my right hand if necessary. It was purely for show since he knows I can shoot just as well with my left.

"I should be going," Frank said to me.

"You should, but not before I say this. Stephanie has been through hell because of your wife and also due to you not being a man and protecting what's yours. My wife deserves better than she got, and you owe it to her to make up for that now by making her a priority in your life. The fact that I have to tell her own father that ... pisses me off. It's pathetic that you'd even consider choosing Helen's manipulation over Stephanie's love."

"Olivia's my goddaughter, so I'm making this my business," Tank added. "Both Olive and her mother are too good for you. If I didn't care about Steph so much, I'd kick your ass myself for upsetting her. She'd likely be just as pissed at me as she would with Ranger if I 'accidentally' kill you."

"As miraculous as it is with the parents she was stuck with," I said to Tank, "Stephanie is an incredibly-caring person. She knows what it's like to be hurt and doesn't wish it on anyone else."

"True," he said, cutting a look at Frank. "I'd say you're lucky to have her, but she's ours now. Steph's where she belongs with the people who appreciate being able to call her our family."

"As you can see," I told my father-in-law, "she's not lacking for anything here. My parents love her like she's their daughter. The men see her as the type of friend they love, respect, and will do anything to protect. She and Olivia are inseparable and neither would want it any other way. And I would give my life, along with everyone else's, for her. If you want any kind of relationship with Stephanie, you're going to have to fill a hole no one else can. Remaining Helen's mouthpiece or lackey isn't going to get you anywhere except looking around five years from now wondering where the hell everyone is. Stephanie has moved on ... and it won't be long before Valerie sees exactly what my wife has. You haven't tried with Val or her girls either. By picking Helen ... that's what you'll be left all alone to die with."

Being around him suddenly disgusted me. Like Stephanie, I had a need to be with my family again. I opened the door and glanced back at Tank.

"If you want to come up, my father doubled his pancake recipe so there would be extra. You're welcome to any Steph hasn't already turned into pliable ice cream cones."

"Sounds good."

I gave Frank one last moment of my time. "I'll have Gene escort you out so you don't miss the door. Don't bother my wife again unless you're ready to be the father she should've had from the start."

My parents were so overjoyed to see that Tank had followed me home, they did everything they could to keep him longer.

"You, Pierre, get your very own batch of pancakes," my father assured him.

"And you must sit and visit with us while you eat them," my mother added.

You can tell she loves him or she wouldn't have given up time with Olivia so my daughter could attack her GodTank with a running start down the hall and a two-dog accompaniment. He scooped her up, just as happy to see Olive as she was to spot him coming through the door behind me.

"How's my girl?" Tank asked.

"I'm fine, but calling me that in front of Ranger is a risky move," Stephanie teased.

"Hell … I know just calling his daughter that is dangerous," he replied. "It'd be suicidal to say anything similar about you."

"Thanks for not just rolling your eyes and ignoring me when I asked you to help with my dad. I was done talking to him, but I know Ranger wasn't."

"I didn't shoot him, Babe. Not that Tank could've stopped me if I wanted to."

"Carlos ..." my mother started to say.

"I'm never going to apologize for protecting my family," I told her.

"I'm not asking you to in this case," my wife assured me. She wrapped her arms around my midsection and pressed a quick kiss to my mouth. "Thank you for being the opposite of my parents in every possible way, with both me and our kids."

"I could thank you for the same reason."

Tank demolished his mountain of carbs, along with the remaining yogurt and blueberries from what Steph calls Olivia's 'unicakes' to chase down his 'Tank-cakes'. He was already working everything off by giving Olivia shoulder-rides around the apartment while also taking time out to bowl balls for Gunny and Mo down the front hall while keeping up with my parents' banter. It was a good time had by all until the Burg reared its ugly head yet again.

"What did you say to your father?" Was Helen's greeting.

I've had enough of the Plums at that point, but I've never abandoned Stephanie when she needs me. And I have no intention of starting now, so I was in on the call.

"If you start off a conversation with a question like 'How are you?' instead of making demands, you may have a better chance of someone waiting to hear you out rather than just hanging up like I'm about to do."

"Ranger? I thought I was talking to Stephanie."

"I know you were. That's why I took point on the conversation."

"Why are you asking about Dad?" Steph asked around Olivia's hands, which were trying to turn her Mama's mouth into an on-demand musical instrument.

"Your father walked into the house, gathered up his fishing pole and tackle box without saying a single word to me, and would have walked right back out the door without speaking if I hadn't stood in front of it."

"And he said what when you prevented his immediate escape?" My wife asked her.

"That he was going fishing ... as if I couldn't see that for myself. When I pressed, he claimed he has some thinking to do."

"Hmmm," Steph said, partly to her mother but more because the vibration against Olive's tiny palm always makes our daughter laugh. "That's more of a reaction than I thought we'd get."

"Honestly, Stephanie. It's not enough that you don't want me in little Olivia's life, or yours for that matter, now you're trying to turn your father against me, too!"

There are a thousand things I opened my mouth to say, but Steph shook her head. She's still in the process of teaching me that although I want to fight every battle for her, sometimes she needs to fight back herself for herself. It's hard to remain silent, but she knows I'll do whatever she needs ... even let her handle a confrontation I know I had a hand in escalating.

"You're not pinning your bad judgment on me, Mom. You and Dad could've had a parent-to-parent discussion about the garage incident and not dragged me back into it or that time in my life. But you thought you could plead the fifth and get out of pissing Dad off ... and it backfired. That's your fault. No one else's ... except maybe Morelli for causing that part of today's conversation. I just told Dad the truth, and how I feel about what happened to me throughout my life, and how I want to be treated now. I was even nicer than Ranger thinks I should've been by giving him an opportunity to be a dad and grandfather. I'm not moderating your fights or wasting any more time explaining what mature behavior is to two adults who were supposedly mature enough to have had me."

What she said before disconnecting had me wanting to renew our commitment to each other right then and there.

"Solve your own problems, Mom. Stop involving me and adding to mine."