Laura opted to stick with a two-handed clasp of the other woman's hand for now — warmer than a clinical shake, maybe she'd go for a hug on their way out at the end of the evening. "Thank you for the warm welcome, and for being there for Rebecca."

"Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable." She gestured towards the kitchen. "Leonard, my husband. And local handyman, decent cook, and professional over-worrier!"

"Ah, yes. I remember those days." Laura nodded and exchanged pleasantries with this generation's apparent scion of first-time-father paranoia with a smile.

Those memories stirred up a bunch of emotions and she looked at her daughter again, watching Rebecca help Sam out of her adorable shrug sweater and drape it over one of the dining chairs. They looked like two young ladies (She was almost used to that idea... maybe 80 percent?) on a nice date, heading to a fancy restaurant or, appropriately, a pleasant dinner at friends. Like they should look. Much better than wearing all that tactical gear on Walt's front steps.

She was unsurprised to see Rebecca kiss Sam on the temple and then head to the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves and asking Leonard what she could do to help. Sam drifted close to Laura on her way back from collecting placemats from Allie and checked on her in a low voice. "Y'okay, Mrs. C?" 

She smiled at Sam. "Yes, thank you. Just getting my bearings."

"Okay." Sam gave her a knowing grin, that seemed to convey a history of getting excuses and patiently being available if and when Rebecca changed her mind. She couldn't help the corners of her mouth twitching in an amused expression of her own, acknowledging Sam's unsaid message.

Laura glanced around for an out of the way seat and made her way to a loveseat that served as the boundary between the living room and dining area. Allie made eye contact as she returned from a hallway leading deeper into the apartment, and surprise surprise, smiled at her. "Laura, can we get you something to drink? I've got a—" Allie waved her hands in a 'vaguely in the neighborhood' sort of gesture. "— somewhat 'iced' tea chilling on the balcony, or would you like something warmer?"

"Something warm would perfect the cozy vibe you and the girls have so carefully crafted around here, if you have anything decaf?"

"Of course!" Allie turned to gesture to Leonard, and he passed her two mugs filled from the same carafe on the counter. As she turned back towards the living room, her eyes snapped to the dining table and she sharply reprimanded Rufus. He had been lifting his nose over the edge to sniff towards a bowl Sam left before returning to the kitchen for another trip. "You know better," Allie chided him, her tone gentle again as he slunk away.

Laura chuckled and reached to accept one of the mugs from her. "I think you'll do just fine as a mom. You've got the radar for it."

Allie chuckled as she settled next to Laura as comfortably as she could, blowing on the herbal tea. "If our little one is as predictable as he is, perhaps. He's a sweetie, but also a complete mooch."

"I'm sorry, my daughter probably spoils him." Laura glanced apologetically at Rebecca's aggrieved look from the kitchen. "She always wanted a dog, but with us having a cat already, we just didn't have the space." She nodded towards Allie. "How far along are you?"

"Best we figure, coming up on seven months plus or minus? Can't quite hop across town for an ultrasound to be sure, can we?"

Even though it had been wrapped in a jest, Laura caught the crack in Allie's warm aura, seeing the hint of worry flash across her face. She'd been nervous enough when Rebecca was coming, and that was before... all that stuff outside. She hoped the smile she gave Allie came across as sympathetic and supportive.

**

Sam picked up her sweater when all the food had reached the table, removing the potentially implied seat selection so Allie and Laura had first pick. Leonard and Allie took two of the three chairs on the side nearest the balcony, and Rebecca expectedly gravitated towards the middle of the opposite side. That left her happily able to slide into the end spot nearest the stove and leave the sweater draped over the back of the chair again. It effectively nudged Laura to sit across from Allison, but it was a fair bet she was less intimidating than Ronnie would be whenever she joined them!

She toyed with her fun dangly earrings while plates were being loaded, figuring that would be better than letting her fingers drift to the pearls. As 'right' as she'd implied to Rebecca it felt to be wearing them, it was still foreign and vaguely troublesome. Maybe I never want to get used to the idea of Mom being gone.

Rebecca's knee brushed hers, and Sam realized she was watching her reflection in the sliding glass door, probably noticing her pensive expression. She bumped back in reply and soon reached for the loaded plate that Leonard passed. She was definitely looking forward making use of Allie's promised bread to mop up the leftover sauce from the pesto rotini Leonard was feeding them. Oh, glorious fresh-cooked carbs. She didn't care if they were sneaking in high-protein pasta made from lentils and chickpeas or whatever, she could be practice for them feeding a kid. That was fine.

Also, oh god, chickpeas. Hummus, with a pita right out of the oven, two inches thick and all poofy.

If she hadn't just been about to fill it, her stomach might have rebelled out of resentment for that kind of tortuously forlorn pining. For now, she fell into the meal with gusto, smiling briefly at how Leonard set a plate in the open spot for Ronnie, covered with another thick dish to keep it warm.

By Sam's estimation, their sergeant buddy joined them somewhere around fifteen minutes into the meal. She waved dismissively to keep anyone from standing as she entered and settled in the open seat with a relieved sigh. "This looks and smells fantastic, as usual."

Rebecca's smile was as warm as the wrapped bread in the basket she passed to Ronnie. "How're things?"

Ronnie took a piece and automatically handed the basket to Sam afterwards. "Pleasantly quiet and productive, but let's not celebrate that too loudly since I want it to last." Chuckles rounded the table as she continued. "But, I am quite happy to sit down with the two most recently or soon-to-be growing families. Thanks for inviting me."

"Of course," Allie said. "We all know how important you've been for Rebecca, it only seems right." She lowered her voice to a faux whisper. "If your day is going that well, do you have any good news to share with the table?"

It was Ronnie's turn to chuckle in amusement. "Actually, yes!" Sam was surprised when Ronnie looked to her. "Something you'll be excited about, Red. A team found a server room in the back of the warehouse they searched today. Backup power supplies the size of one of those dorm refrigerators, probably five hundred pounds of batteries in each."

Sam had to consciously close her mouth to keep another round of salivation under control. "And... oh my god. Those'll be prepackaged in high voltage modules, and I could just connect them to... without having..." She realized that half the words trying to spill out of her brain would mean little to her audience, so she consolidated. "Wow. Yes please. When can I see if they'll take a charge after sitting for so long?"

Ronnie grinned around the table. "See, I told her she'd be excited." Then she focused on Sam again. "Two, maybe three days."

Sam shook her head, briefly distracted by the unfamiliar sensation of the earrings swishing against her as she did. "Ronnie, no, I'm not the only one who should be excited. With that kind of storage capacity, if I can figure out how to get them tied into the new panels... which believe me, I'm already working on right this minute—"

"Oh, I think we all believe that, Red." Ronnie grinned as she interrupted, and Rebecca's hand patted Sam's leg encouragingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Funny, but you'll thank me later. I might be able to get freezers running long enough for it to actually matter." She looked at Rebecca right next to her. "Sugar, you talked about an old ice house in the park that day. If we could just manage to make solid ice, we could use that to get other spaces to food storage temperatures. Mrs. C, you ran a grocery—"

"Forty degrees Fahrenheit for refrigerated food, zero for frozen, sweetheart." Laura's eyes were full of mirth, but she clearly knew where Sam was going with this.

"Leonard, the elevator shafts... if we got the right coolant tubing from Epstein or whatever, and relocated the condensers into them, we could use an updraft for convection cooling, right? So the heat wasn't getting dumped into the same room. Make them much more efficient."

Laura chimed in as Leonard nodded. "Sam, don't forget that once you freeze food, it helps keep everything around it cold too. Full freezers can last much longer without power. A couple of days, even."

"Right! And..." Sam paused as she tried to do some traffic control on her thoughts, and Rebecca's hand settled on hers where she hadn't realized it was clutching the edge of the table.

"Rosie, darling. Breathe. We get it. Very cool things, pardon the pun. But you have time to finish eating first, I promise."

Sam forced herself to stay quiet for two full breaths and let some of the mania dissipate. "Okay... but nobody let me forget all that, I need to get some of it in writing."

Ronnie grinned and pulled a small tablet from her thigh pocket, unlocking and passing it over. Sam accepted that as a viable compromise and set it on the table next to her. She squeezed Rebecca's hand before letting go so she could dual wield her fork and the tablet's magnetically attached stylus.

She paused when Rebecca abruptly hissed like something had hurt, and looked back over. Rebecca was gingerly shifting the rolled-up sleeve of her shirt away from the inside of her elbow, exposing the healing burn from the shootout.

Apparently nobody else at the table had seen it without a dressing yet, because it got dismayed winces from Leonard and Allie, a dismayed "Rebecca!" from her mother, and a studious frown as Ronnie looked closer at it.

"How the f— udge did you get that?" Ronnie gestured forwards with her chin.

Sam glanced down at the welt in the crook of Rebecca's arm, perfectly matching the tapered cylindrical shape of a 5.56mm shell casing.

"One... got stuck, while I was firing out of the car."

The tone Rebecca replied with was the same sheepish one Sam recognized from her own interrogations about wounds, like the one that left a scar on Rebecca's left shoulder. She'd have to ask Laura later if that went all the way back to childhood scraped knees.

Ronnie shook her head slowly and sighed. "Kiddo, you don't need more scars to establish your street cred. Thankfully, that looks like it should heal up soon."

There was no way Ronnie missed their sorry state practically staggering home, but Sam was still glad she and Rebecca took the time to do a little touch-up work on the rest of their lingering bumps and scrapes. She didn't need more comments or worrying stares undermining her. Fortunately, conversation shifted to how Laura was doing getting accustomed to her new surroundings, something Sam could dip in and out of conversation around as needed.

Laura did give her a nice head tip from the far end of the table. "Sam's been busting her ass helping me get a few initial roots down. I think a surge of early progress helps me feel less adrift, gives me a little confidence all the dust will settle, you know?"

Ronnie surprised Sam by being the first to respond. "Absolutely. Bouncing around from station to station in the services, getting your kit and a few mementos unpacked goes a long way to making it feel like you've landed and can set up your little corner of home." No, I shouldn't be surprised that Sarge comes through with advice for another generation of the same family. Duh.

Allie chimed in next. "Well, we hope settling in goes well, and you can get comfortable soon. Let us know how we can help!"

Sam could definitely support the opening of Laura's reply. "A warm, hearty meal is a darned good start, thank you. And yeah, I do feel a little uprooted, but it's absolutely worth it to finally be here for Rebecca after so long. Thank you all for supporting her along the way."

Rebecca blushed at that, poking at a troublesomely evasive noodle on her plate, and Sam brushed the back of her hand against her leg reassuringly under the table. She was rewarded with a glance and a subtle appreciative smile, and pondered that she clearly wasn't going to be the only one embarrassing the poor dear moving forward.

Ronnie had to leave about a half hour after she'd arrived to relieve the next most senior noncom covering for her, make sure all hell hadn't broken loose, and then have a clean handover with the overnight 'officer' of the watch. Rebecca predictably gestured for Allie to remain seated, springing up to hug Ronnie and walk her to the door.

Sam had one hunk of Allie's divinely baked bread left, and tore it in half. While the others were engaged in conversation, she slipped one onto Rebecca's plate and waited innocently for her to return.

As Rebecca sat, Sam started counting the seconds until she noticed. It took longer than she'd expected since Rebecca got caught up listening to Laura, but the payoff was worth it when she looked down at her plate and clearly paused. There was a little head tilt, accentuated by the way her loose hair shifted, and then her cheek rose and she turned to Sam with a cute smirk. After replying with one of her own, Sam looked back to the ongoing conversation and saw a knowing glint in Allie's expression.

Laura was right, her Mom Radar was well on the way to being 'fully armed and operational'.