Lenny was fidgeting nervously while lighting his fifth consecutive cigarette. Midge was getting tired of watching him, especially when he took up pacing. He was so large it only took him three steps to get from one side of the hall to the other, and she was sure he was going to burn a hole in the ground if he kept going. So she stood up from the chair she was relaxing on and walked right into his path, forcing him to stop on his pace back. She opened her arms and wrapped him in a hug, feeling her husband relax into her.

"Hey, there's no reason to be so nervous, this is going to be great."

"Or a big disaster."

She pulled back just enough to be able to look him in the eye and smiled a little when he looked down at her, and she could see how worried he was, "It won't be a disaster, Kitty is so excited, and so are the kids, she's going to love her new room and having siblings."

Lenny took another long drag to stop him, saying something along the lines of 'yeah, it's not you or the kids I'm worried about, she deserves a much better dad than me, I'm the one that's going to fuck it up.' Instead, when he exhaled, he said, "Yeah, I know, I'm worried about how we're going to deal with Ma for the next two weeks."

His mother demanded to stay with them, to check out the house and make sure it was appropriate for a little girl to live in and that she was safe there, she had a hard time accepting that her son really was clean and was getting his shit together. So, not really having a leg to stand on after how he acted the last few years, he reluctantly agreed to let his mother stay in their mostly unfurnished guestroom.

Actually, a lot of their rooms were mostly unfurnished; they were both working almost every night, multiple shows if possible, he knew that living in an apartment that uptown was fucking expensive, but he learned when a building, like theirs, had a doorman, you might as well expect to pay almost double just so you didn't have to open the door for yourself. He thought it was fucking ridiculous and a waste of money, but he promised himself when he and Midge decided to give it a real go, he'd do what he could to give her at least part of the life she was used to. So, doing more gigs than he was used to was a price he was willing to pay to keep his new little family happy. Even if it weighed on him, and he was fucking tired and was spending much more time around the guys he used to get high with than he wanted because they couldn't all be uptown high-class gigs when you were taking anything you could get. Especially when you've been banned from a lot of those nice places for the shit you said.

He was getting lost in his own downward spiral and pity party again; he decided as he focused his attention back on his beautiful wife, who was looking at him with such certainty and faith. She was a lot more certain of his ability to do right by her and their family than he was. He smiled, just looking at her made him feel better, stronger, and more able to keep fighting.

Midge huffed annoyedly, "I know what you mean, the house is already full enough. But don't worry, you know me, I already have everything planned out. Other than the family dinners we're going to have, we'll be out of the house most of the time, either working on shows or doing fun things with the kids, and I even managed for one night each weekend for just us to go out. I was even thinking we could get a hotel room those nights for us." She finished suggestively.

He leaned down and kissed her deeply, "Christ, I have the perfect wife."

"And don't you forget it," She said, a little breathless from the kiss.

Lenny smirked, a smirk full of male pride; he loved how he affected her. He was about to lean back in to affect her more when he heard the telltale sound of his little girl. "Daddy!"

He turned to look where he heard the voice coming from and saw Kitty running as fast as she could down the terminal with her little legs and her arms wide open for a hug, even if she was still at the other end of the terminal from him. He couldn't help but smile, and seeing his mother a few steps behind Kitty didn't dampen it one bit. He took a few long steps forward, then bent down on his knees with his arms open for her, too. She jumped into his arms when she was still almost ten feet away with all the certainty of a small child trusting in their parents to make sure they never got hurt. Her momentum, thankfully, was enough to bring her right into his arms, even if he had to take a quick step forward to reach her before she landed on her face. He stood up and spun around once, twice, three times before stopping and just hugging her close. Christ, he missed this little troublemaker so goddamn much.

"Hey, Kit. How you doing? Did you have fun on the plane?"

"Oh yes, Daddy, I had so much fun, the attendants were so nice to me, especially after Grandma told them who my daddy was, they gave me extra snacks and even a popsicle! Then they let me see where the pilots sit and fly the plane!"

Lenny gave his mother an incredulous look when she finally made it to them. Of course, his mother threw his name out there whenever she thought it'd get her something free or give her a leg up. Whatever, he didn't have time to deal with that right now, he focused back on Kitty. "Oh yeah? Sounds like you had a good time."

"I did!" She smiled before wiggling around, signaling she wanted to be put down. So he did, albeit reluctantly, not quite ready to let go of her. He felt better a second later when she ran straight for Midge, "Mama! I missed you too! I'm so so happy we all get to live together now!"

He couldn't stop the genuine smile that came to his face while seeing Midge take Kitty in her arms, "Hey sweetie, I missed you too. I think you're going to love your new room. Esther and Ethan are so excited to meet you; they're waiting at home for you now."

"Really?" She asked, half excited, half nervous.

"Really," Midge confirmed calmly and confidently, Kitty's shoulders stood up straighter, feeling a little more confident as well.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" She yelled, ready to go.

Lenny and Midge both chuckled, but Lenny turned his attention to his mother, accepting the hug she offered him, "Hey there, Ma. How was the trip from your perspective?"

"Not nearly as fun."

He chuckled, "Didn't think so. Is this the only bag you got? Are you ready to go?" He asked, picking up the two bags, one from each of the ladies. His mom was sending over the rest of Kitty's stuff by the post mail when she made it back to California.

"Yeah, yeah, this is it. Let's get going already; I want to get this car ride over with so we can finally be done with this never-ending cross-country trip, I need a nap."

He nodded and started walking toward the airport exit, agreeing with his mother completely. Sure, he didn't just travel on airplanes for hours on end, but he hated the airport and decided he'd been there long enough. The taxi ride home, which Lenny could only think of as fucking expensive, was filled with happy chatter from his daughter and Midge, him chiming in whenever a question was asked of him but mostly just watching. He loved seeing the two most important ladies in his world getting along; it made him love Midge all the more. He hoped Midge felt similar because of how he was with her children. Starting a new family with children from previous marriages wasn't easy, Lenny learned, there was jealousy, fights, yelling, and awkward tip-toeing around so as not to step on anyone's toes, and taking time to get used to each other, and probably worse of all, dealing with Midge's ex showing up with no notice constantly.

"Is that okay with you, Daddy?" Kitty asked, bringing Lenny out of his head, unfortunately, he had no idea what they were talking about or what she was asking him.

"Is what okay?"

Kitty rolled her eyes in a way that made it clear she was going to give him trouble in the future, the girl had so much sass, "Midge and I wanted to make cookies tonight after we meet everyone!"

"Oh, sure, why would I say no to cookies? Err, as long as you eat your dinner first," he added after a second thought. If she was going to be living with them full-time now, it was probably smart to make sure she ate healthy; he'd no longer feel the need to ply her with snacks to try to make up for not being there enough.

Kitty pouted in a way that made her look more like him as she crossed her arms, after a second's thought, she shrugged, "Deal."

Lenny chuckled when she held her hand out to shake, he took her hand in his and shook with a firm grip, "Deal."

His mother kept looking at him, and it was starting to make him uncomfortable, especially because he couldn't read what she was thinking. Lenny always took pride in the fact that he was great at reading people. It was as if she didn't know what to think about him and this whole situation. Lenny had a feeling he was in for a long conversation with her sooner than later. Christ, like he needed another one of those, she'd been talking his ears off over the phone for the last month, trying to talk him out of taking Kitty, she thought it was dumb and that he was going to ruin his career.

'First, you get married, then you move into a home with your three kids? What, are you trying to be a family man now? People want to hear the words of Lenny Bruce, the late-night activist who stays in bars long after they close and who has a different woman on his arm every night. They're not going to care what you have to say when they think you're living the same life as them, the regular Joe Shmos of the world.'

Lenny had a feeling that was only part of the problem his mother had with Kitty coming to live with him. He was almost positive that she'd never believe he was completely off the junk for good, and she worried for Kitty. Plus, she would probably get pretty lonely across the country by herself. Fuck, was he going to have to ask her to move back?

Thank God, the cab pulled to a stop in front of their new apartment, so he didn't have to think about that terrifying train of thought anymore. He got out of the cab first and held the door open for the ladies. Lenny nodded at the doorman as Midge greeted him warmly like she always did.

"Huh, swanky," His mom griped under her breath, and Lenny flashed her a smirk, feeling the same way. He'd been living here for almost a month now, and it still felt too much for him. "An elevator guy, too? Too swanky for my tastes."

Lenny's chuckle was auditable this time, but mostly because he saw how much his mother's complaining was annoying Midge, she was proud of the doorman and elevator operator. He reached over and grabbed her hand, taking it in his, and saw the tension in her shoulders ease. Kitty, missing all the underlying stuff going on between the adults, was still chattering happily, holding Lenny's other hand. "Do I really get to share a room with Esther?"

He looked down at his daughter and smiled. He opened his mouth to reply, but Midge got to it first, bending down so she was eye-level with her, "That you do, slumber parties every night!"

The squeal Kitty let out was sure to have his ears ringing for the rest of the day, but it was worth it to see her so happy. He thanked the operator as they left the elevator and walked down the hall to their apartment. Over the last few months, Lenny had gotten really close with Midge's kids, even more so since they moved into the new apartment, he was proud that they seemed to like him as much as they did. So yeah, even though this whole thing was still fucking terrifying for him, he was happy and wouldn't change it for the world.

"We're home!" Midge yelled as soon as she turned the door nob.

"Mama! Lenny!" the kids screamed, and they heard a stampede of tiny footsteps running toward them. Lenny never understood when people called it 'the pitter-patter of little feet.' Those kids were louder than him, and he was over six feet tall and closer to 200 pounds than 100.

Ethan threw his arms around Lenny, he was almost up to his waist and was close to pushing Lenny a step back with his momentum. Lenny chuckled and patted the boy's back while Esther did the same thing to her mother. Midge was much more excited, picking her up and doing a little swing.

"Are they here, are they here?" Ethan asked, Lenny wasn't used to seeing him be so excited.

"Well, open your eyes and take a look," Midge said, rolling her eyes. They were standing two feet to the kid's left.

Ethan all of a sudden turned shy, even having a small blush cover his cheeks as he looked down at his feet. Esther wiggled exaggeratedly, letting her mother know she needed to get down, and when her mother obliged, she walked right up to Kitty, who still had a huge smile on her face, and asked, "Do you like Barbie? I have two, and I need someone to play Enchanted Evening Barbie, I'm Ponytail Barbie, of course."

"You have two Barbies? Daddy won't even buy me one because he says Barbie is just a shill for corporate America, teaching little girls to dream about owning pink plastic houses and convertible cars instead of doing something meaningful with their lives."

As if it was scripted, all the girls in the room simultaneously looked up at Lenny, who, for some reason, felt acutely embarrassed. He felt better when he realized Midge was holding in a laugh.

"All right, all right, Kit, let's get you to your room so you two can plot world domination with your dolls. And for the record, you don't have to quote me word-for-word—I get enough of that from hacks with deadlines."

Midge stifled another laugh as she and Lenny led the kids down the hall, his mother following behind them slowly, stopping to make her own opinions about the apartment when Midge leaned over to whisper lowly enough for only Lenny to hear, "Shill, huh?"

"It's true, and you know it."

"But her clothes are so pretty, and don't even get me started on her hats."

He chuckled but didn't reply because they reached the guest room, still pretty bare, just a bed, end table, and dresser. He walked in and placed his mother's suitcase at the foot of the bed, "Here's where you'll be staying, Ma."

"Hmm," she said, not giving him much to know what she was thinking. His mother was never quiet, but she'd been almost silent since he picked her up, and he didn't know how to take it.

They went down to the next door and opened it to a pink room with two small beds in it, one side clearly already spoken for by Esther, the other meant for Kitty. He felt good when his daughter broke out into a huge smile and then ran to jump on the bed laughing. Esther looked between Kitty and her bed before running and doing the same on hers.

"I think they like it," Midge said with a smile after they both stood in the doorway and watched them for a few long moments.

Lenny wrapped his arm around Midge and kissed the top of her head, "Yeah, I think so, too."

While Midge and Lenny were talking, the two young girls met in the middle of the room and started playing with their dolls. So the parents slowly backed out of the room and left them to get to know each other.

The apartment was quiet for the next few hours, Rose and Abe were out of the house doing god knew what, Sally took a nap after her long flight, the girls stayed in the room playing, and Eithan didn't leave his spot in front of the TV. Midge started an early dinner since both she and Lenny had gigs that night, and Lenny was reading the newspaper.

He looked up from the paper after making up a new bit he wanted to workshop at the gig tonight from a story in the world news section and looked around. It was strange; he'd never been in a situation like this before, never had a home. Sure, he lived in tons of places, contrary to what Midge said in Florida. He did live places, but even as a kid, he moved around a lot. He and Midge were making a home here with their blended family; it filled him with something he never felt before, something he didn't know the name of. Was it… peace? Happiness? He wouldn't know, it wasn't as if he had a very peaceful or happy life, whatever it was, he liked it.

On the other hand, having something he was scared to lose made him edgy, made his skin itch, and made him jumpy. He always managed to screw up anything nice he had in the world, well, other than Kitty, but he was smart enough to get her far enough away from him before he had the chance to fuck her up. What was he doing bringing her back? He was starting to feel hot, so he adjusted his neckline, trying to get some air before deciding that it wasn't working and loosening his tie. He stood up and walked over to the bar and poured himself a double scotch, closer to a triple, now that he looked at it, but it didn't matter, he drank it all in the next second anyway.

Christ, it was times like this when he really missed getting high. He poured himself another glass, this time a much more reasonable portion, and sipped it, looking out of the window, considering all the ways he could possibly fuck his life up now and wondering which way he was going to end up doing it.

Midge came from the kitchen and saw Lenny staring out of the window with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She saw the pensive look on his face and worried about what was wrong, she'd been living with Lenny on and off for a few months now, so she'd seen him like this before, and it usually only meant he was thinking dark thoughts. She knew he liked to be self-deprecating in his act, and his humor could get a little dark, but it took her a little while to realize it wasn't just an act. She's always looked up to him as a comedian, even after he told her to stop, that he was nothing special. He might not think he was special, but she knew he was, anyone could get up on stage and bitch about their day, talk about the strange and funny things kids did, or complain about how men only looked at their breasts. Lenny, though, used comedy to talk about important things: freedom of speech and our rights as Americans and human beings. It took her a while to learn that he carried those problems with him after he walked off stage. Sure, he had a persona on stage, but it was based a lot on who he was, so she'd seen him get like this from time to time.

She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, leaning her head on his broad chest, "Hey there,"

His lips quirked, Midge successfully brought him out of his downward spiral just by hearing her voice, well, the alcohol might have helped, too. He turned in her arms so that he was facing her, "Why, hello, wife."

Her smile brightened, "I don't think it'll ever get old hearing you call me that."

"Christ, I hope not, I plan to use it next time I do something to piss you off."

She rolled her eyes, "Calling me your wife won't get you outta hot water with me."

"Well, sure, not alone, anyway. But I plan to say it while I'm kneeling with my face between your legs doing that thing you like."

"Hmm," She said, putting her hand on her chin as if she was thinking very hard, "That might work, but only if you do it repeatedly."

"Oh, I plan to."

"Are you planning on doing something to get me angry?"

"Not planning, no. But let's face it: I have a gift for getting my lady mad at me. Just trying to stay ahead of the curve."

"Here's a tip, just don't be like Joel—don't start sleeping with your secretary and blaming all your problems on me. That should keep you on my good side."

Lenny looked mock-offended, "Midge, come on, you know me better than that. I don't have a secretary."

She slapped his chest, "Asshole."

"Wouldn't that make you Mrs. Asshole? Huh, it rolls off the tongue. Much better than Mrs. Maisel—think about it for your next show."

"And here I thought you'd be wanting Mrs. Bruce."

"Oh, I do. Often. Right now, in fact." He said lowly as he bent his head down to speak into her ear before going lower to her neck, whispering his lips over her, smirking slightly when he felt her shiver.

Midge felt her body lean into him, wanting him as much as he wanted her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss, pulling her body against hers so close that the only thing separating them was a few measly layers of clothes. She felt his hands migrate from her back down, lower, grabbing her ass, causing her to squeak into his mouth. They both got lost in the kiss for a long time, and just as she was going to jump up, wrap her legs around his waist, and tell him to bring her to bed, she inhaled through her nose and opened her eyes wide. She broke the kiss and pushed him away from her, leaving Lenny turned on and very confused at how hot and cold she was acting.

"Midge?" He asked, eyes following her as she ran back into the kitchen.

"Dinner! My brisket, there's no way I'm going to let it burn the first time I cook it for you."

He sighed before adjusting himself and following her into the kitchen, making peace with the fact that he wasn't going to get her into the bedroom anytime soon. She was one of the only people he'd ever met who could keep up with him when it came to banter, and he couldn't help that that fact turned him on as much as it did. He leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen, "I'm finally going to try the famous brisket, huh?"

"Not if you keep distracting me! We almost ruined it."

"Hey, I haven't touched it, I can't be blamed."

"You touched the chef, which is just as important as touching the food. You most certainly can be blamed for it."

"Oh, if it's touching the chef you want…" He trailed off as he walked up to her and ran his hands down her sides. She slapped his hands away as if she wasn't affected, causing him to pout. He was glad her back was turned so she didn't see it.

"Daddy, Mama? I'm hungry." Kitty said quietly, neither of them even realized she and Esther had come into the kitchen.

"What do you want to eat, Kitty? Dinner won't be ready for a while." Midge turned to her with a big smile. "What do you like? We have apples, bananas, peanut butter and jelly, bologna, maybe, if you're good, you can even have a black and white after you're done."

Kitty's eyes lit up; she loved her sweets, and Lenny couldn't help but fall in love with Midge a little more when seeing how good she was with his kid, with their kids. For some reason, that thought and realizing that this was their home was much less scary to him now than it was an hour ago. He knew that was because of Midge, well, Midge and the scotch.

The girls sat down, and Midge made them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cutting it diagonally and giving them each a half. They were quiet for a while as they ate. Lenny got to know Esther pretty well over these last few weeks, so he could tell that the girl was thinking hard about something, he also learned that when Esther was thinking hard, it usually ended in a question he didn't know how to answer. Whether that answer was something she was too young to know the answer to, wasn't his place to tell her, or the answer was something he didn't know because that little girl was so fucking smart she was already better at math than he was.

He was proven right after she ate the last of her sandwich and pushed her plate away. "Mommy?"

"Hmm?" Midge asked, only giving her daughter a part of her attention, most was focused on cooking.

"Why can Kitty call you Mommy, but you said I can't call Lenny Daddy?"

Midge froze in her tracks once she processed the question, she turned her head to look at Lenny and found he looked just as unsure as her. Her immediate response was something like, 'Because you already have a daddy,' but that didn't work because Kitty technically already had a mother, absent as she may be right now, and saying that would just make her stepdaughter feel terrible. She took a deep breath and turned around to give the girls her full attention, both of them looking back and forth between the adults.

"Well, Kitty asked me if it was okay," Midge said and immediately regretted it when Esther looked at Lenny hopefully.

"Can I call you—" Esther started.

"And your Father's feelings would be hurt if he thought you were trying to replace him," Midge cut her off.

Esther closed her mouth and looked down at the kitchen table, thinking hard over her mother's words. Eventually, she looked back up, "That's dumb."

Lenny laughed before he could stop himself but quickly tried to cover it up by taking a drag of his cigarette. Esther continued, "It's not like I'm sad that he has another kid, and Eithan knows I didn't replace him. I can still love him while calling Lenny Dad, too."

"Well, yes, of course, you can, sweetie, but—" Midge started.

"Good." Esther nodded with a proud smile that said she knew she won the argument, and turned her attention back to Lenny, "Can I call you daddy?"

He looked at Esther and saw how hopeful she looked, which surprised him, he wasn't even sure she liked him all that much. Then he looked at Kitty, who was wearing a matching face, fuck those two are going to be trouble, and finally over to Midge, who looked just as clueless as he did. Eventually, she gave her shoulders a tiny shrug as if to say, 'I don't care if you don't.'

He looked back to Esther and managed, "Sure, kid, if that's what you want."

The girls jumped up and ran over to the adults, clearly very happy. He heard Kitty say, "Yay, we're a real family now!"

His heart hurt at those words, "Kit, we're already a family, even if Esther doesn't want to call me anything other than Lenny, we're still a family."

"Yeah, and we'll stay that way forever," Midge said, making everyone in the room feel lighter without even realizing.