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

Although a close-to-toddler baby and two almost full-grown dogs trapped inside one apartment is a lot of activity to handle, having very little outside distractions means you pay even closer attention to everything that's right in front of you.

And it is always uncomfortable watching Frank mentally go through a list of pros and cons when it comes to greeting, saying goodnight to, and interacting overall with, his own daughter. As my wife does instinctively, she continues to make the situation easier on everyone involved.

Our day began with a Mother's Day video chat with my mother, which consisted mainly of a steady stream of conversation between Mama Manoso and Olivia, who both clearly miss hanging out with the other. Steph and I did manage to work in a few words, but we hung back and stole a few minutes of quiet time while our virtual babysitter was on duty and thoroughly amusing our daughter.

Frank and Edna arrived an hour after that call ended with balloons and flowers in hand.

"If crazy stuff like this keeps happenin'," Edna said to me, "you're gonna need to put in a gift shop somewhere in this building. We didn't get to do much in the way of shopping. We were on a boat and then we've been marooned here ever since."

"I don't need or really want presents, Grandma," Steph told Edna. "It sounds cheesy, but Olive gave me the best gift already."

"Oh yeah? What was it?"

"A hug-session that made me feel like she loves that she's my baby."

"She does, Babe. She wouldn't be who she is without you."

She smiled at me and then at Olivia, who propelled her body almost through two canine ones and made a beeline for the bunch of delivered balloons.

"At least some little body appreciates them," Edna said, separating out an inflated purple daisy on a string to pass to her great-granddaughter.

"I do appreciate them, Grandma. A lot," my wife said. "I only meant that presents aren't required. I'm just happy you both are here with us."

"Too bad for you ... we got gifts. Go ahead and tell her, Frank," Edna said, lodging a bony elbow into her son-in-law's rib cage.

"With everything shut down, we couldn't go to the mall or anything, but as your grandmother and I were talking one day, we both admitted that separately we had each bought you and Valerie something while we were all on vacation. We decided to save the gifts for today. We had to mail Valerie's, but we have yours with us. The wrapping is shoddy work, but we hope the sentiment makes up for it."

"Oh, Dad, it's beautiful," Stephanie said, pausing over her plate of Eggs Benedict that I generously served to her on a glazed doughnut bed, when Frank suddenly thrust a small box at her to open. "Honestly, you couldn't have picked a more perfect bracelet to give me."

I agree. No doubt he chose the delicate silver bangle with green glass acting as a center gemstone for a very specific reason. Olive being it. In the past, he wasn't the father or grandfather Stephanie and Olivia deserve, but he's determined to be what they need now.

"I decided on this one because the sea glass is from the island, and you could say it's a bit of a reminder of how life-changing your suggestion to visit Saint Thomas was for me. And the shape and green of the glass looked like an actual olive to me." He hesitated as he searched for the words he needed to say. "This is my way of saying thank you as well as I love you and little Olive."

"I think just agreeing to come with us was a decision you made because you already knew your life needed to change a little, but your message has been received and is really appreciated, Dad. I've always loved you, and knew I could count on you when it came to the world outside our house, but it's nice to actually be able to say stuff like that and hear similar statements back."

"I'm sorry it's taken so long," he admitted.

"As Ranger likes to say, you can't change the past ... you can only wake up and actively decide that you're going to do better every day you're given to."

"I'm trying to do that."

"I know," she said. "And I think you're succeeding. It's really hard to keep going when everything in you is shouting at you to just give up, but you've been sticking it out and continuing with your therapy no matter how long the days are or how bad the memories feel."

He put his fork down and appeared not to know what to do with himself.

"You can hug me if you want," my wife told him. "I promise I'm not wired to blow today."

I cut my wife a look. "We've agreed ... that is not something you get to joke about anymore."

She reached across the small tray attached to Olivia's high chair and squeezed my hand in apology. "Sorry. I forgot for a minute."

Seeing my reason for living rigged up to explosives makes me really cranky.

"I understand," I said, apologizing myself for overreacting.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Dad. I was not at all good at showing affection either, which Ranger immediately picked up on. To make things easier on me, he would just tug me close whenever he sensed I needed comfort or just some human contact. I got so used to it after a while, I wouldn't even have to move. I'd just open my arms and Ranger wouldn't hesitate to fill them. Same with Julie, and now Olive is here and is always happy to give me some love. I'm no longer self-conscious about returning it."

Grateful for the opening she gave him, Frank spread his arms and Steph got up from her chair and rewarded him with a solid two-arm squeeze that she let them both savor for a few beats before letting go. I heard her whisper 'We'll get through this together' before she drew completely back and returned to her seat.

"I want one of those, but with Ranger," Edna stated with a wink.

"You can have one if you promise your hands will stay in T-shirt territory and not wander any lower," I told her.

She clicked her dentures and then smiled. "I can't have no fun no more. Stephanie has that youngin' of yours policing my activities. I feel a little tug on my sweater every time I try to hang onto someone 'round here."

"Olive is the self-appointed bodyguard for our guys," Steph explained to Frank. "She makes sure her Daddy and all of her Uncles are being respected. They all kid about how she's not going to date as long as they're alive, but I think they're going to be the ones not allowed relationships unless our daughter approves of the people they're interested in like she does of Aubrey, Kenzie, and Harper. Tank is especially screwed. Like with her Daddy, she's not so good with sharing her GodTank."

"Olive is a tough cookie, but also a sweetie pie just like her Mama," Edna said. "Speaking of, does Olivia's Mother want her gift from me? Or does good 'ol Frank here get all the glory?"

"There's always room for you, Grandma. What do you have for me?"

"Frank? Can you go get the box for me?" Edna turned to look at Steph and I. "It was too big to tuck away in a pocket like someone's ode to Olive."

I waved Frank back to sitting. "Finish your breakfast. I'll get it."

"It's leaning against the outside wall next to the front door," Edna called out, like my job isn't about hunting things down.

I retrieved the box and brought it back to the table, handing it over to Stephanie.

"Olive, do you wanna help me unwrap Grandma Mazur's present?"

She waved a flap she'd already freed from the tape towards Olive's high chair, and my wife smiled wide as a chubby hand lunged for it.

"Yessiree ... just like her Mama," Edna repeated, her dentures in full display as she grinned while watching the two of them. She waited until Steph had opened the box and lifted out a long white sundress with laces in lieu of a back and in a tropical turquoise print, before pointing a peach glittered fingernail at me. "When this is all over, you take my granddaughter out someplace nice where she can wear that."

"Yes, Ma'am," I said in response to a direct order.

I have no problem agreeing to a date with my wife, especially when she'll be wearing a dress that I'll easily be able to coax her underwear out from under it while it's still on her body.

"You just tell me the date," Edna continued, "and I'll be here to watch this little lady. Might even call up your mother, Ranger, and make it a true girl's night in."

"That sounds great, Grandma," Steph told her. "Thank you for the offer to babysit and for the dress. We may need to start looking for another island to visit just so I don't waste it. Though we could hang palm tree lights up in the living room and I can just wear it around the house. After the last couple of months, I'm having a really hard time picturing going out for a date."

"There's always the roof, Babe. That's technically out."

"That's why I married you. You have a solution for everything." She glanced around the table as she slipped Mo and Gunny each a piece of her ham. "It's suddenly hitting me just how lucky I am."

"I think I'm the lucky one," Frank said after a minute, his tired eyes landing on Stephanie, Olivia, and then on me. "Not many people get a second chance to make things right."

"That's where you're wrong, Dad," Steph replied. "If you find the place you belong, you quickly see that the people there don't just throw you away when you mess up. They understand that life is really tough sometimes, and they're willing to rally around you to help you get through it. I hate to disturb the elephant in the room, but I have to ask ... have you spoken to Mom today?"

He shook his head. "Speak to her ... no. I just had a florist deliver a card that said 'Thank you for giving me my girls' to go along with six pink roses symbolizing the two of you and all of my granddaughters."

I heard Steph suck air and I completely understood. It's unfortunate that in Frank's mind, that's an entirely appropriate gift for a mother's day, but all Helen will hear is a war cry. One thing I know for sure ... I'll be standing over her dead body before I ever allow my wife and daughter to become cannon fodder over the course of the fight.