Much of Sunday, Pippa spent her free time with her eyes glued to her laptop. We'd gotten engaged a couple months ago now and almost immediately she'd thrown herself into planning the wedding. I was not a detail person when it came to events, so I was happy to let her take the lead. As long as she was there, along with our friends and family, the rest of the details seemed unimportant.

Pippa was still pretty high-strung about it. I tried to get her to relax about it, but it seemed impossible. Her drive and commitment was always one of the things that I found attractive in her, but she was taking it to a new level with this.

Jack was down for a nap and Alex was playing quietly on the floor with some Legos. Pippa and I were both on our laptops. She was mumbling to herself, her eyes focused on her screen as she scrolled through something.

"Would you rather serve chicken or turkey?" she asked me.

"Doesn't matter to me," I told her honestly. She huffed and gave me a look.

"Lin," she said. I looked at her and could tell she was annoyed.

"I told you, I don't care about the details," I reminded her. "Whatever you think is fine with me."

"But if I ask you, I really want your opinion," Pippa said.

"Does it matter?" I asked. "Is anyone going to sit at their table and wonder, why did they serve turkey and not chicken?"

"So you think we should have chicken?" she asked.

"Sure," I told her to end the conversation.

"Lin," her tone was more firm.

"Pippa," my tone was just as firm. "I'm tired of having this conversation."

A bedroom door opened, interrupting our little argument. Elliott and Joey emerged, and Joey was a little teary eyed. It was about time for him to head back to school. They held hands as they walked out to the living room. Elliott had his duffle back in his hand and set it on the floor.

"I'm gonna head out," he told us all. I set my laptop aside and gave him a warm hug.

"Stay safe, bud," I told him, giving him a clap on the back.

"Will do," he said as Pippa walked over. She smiled and hugged her son warmly.

"Love you," she said. "And don't forget to go to those extra help sessions for physics."

"I know, Mom," he groaned as they hugged. Joey was trying to keep herself together. I walked over and put my arm around her, kissing her head. Elliott picked up Alex and kissed her all over her face, making her laugh.

"I'm gonna walk to the subway with him," Joey told us. We said one last goodbye and the two teenagers disappeared. Pippa and I both sat down, and I hoped she wouldn't bring up what meat to get again. She went back to her research and I went back to my email for now.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, seeing Alex and Joey's grandparents were asking to FaceTime. "Alex," I called to my daughter. "It's Grandma and Grandpa."

She let out a gasp of excitement and dropped her Legos, running over to me. Alex jumped up on my lap as I positioned the phone. I pressed Accept and soon her grandparents were on screen.

"Gramma!" Alex said excitedly. "Grampa!"

"Hi sweetheart," they greeted her, smiling. "How's my favorite granddaughter?"

I had a brief conversation with them and then stood up, setting Alex back on the chair so she could talk to them alone. I went into the kitchen and busied myself unloading the dishwasher and cleaning up a bit. As they talked, the front door opened and Joey walked back in, looking down.

"Hey, kid," I told her. "You okay?"

She didn't answer, but her eyebrows were furrowed. I walked over and pulled her into a hug. She wasn't really responsive, but let me hold her. "The long distance thing is hard," I acknowledged. "But you had a great weekend together, right?"

She nodded into my shoulder.

"Hold onto that," I urged her. "Focus on the good time instead of the goodbye."

"I wish he would just go somewhere nearby," she finally told me, pulling back. "This is too hard."

"It's hard, but you can't just expect him to make decisions that are easier for you," I told her. "He should be able to go to college where he wants."

"But what's the difference?" she asked. "He could go to City College and we could see each other every day."

"Maybe he wants to get away from home a bit," I said gently. "Don't you want to leave home for a while?"

She shrugged, rubbing at the back of her arm. I kissed her head. "I'll make you some tea," I offered. "Why don't you go relax in your room."

She nodded and disappeared down the hallway to her room. A few minutes later I took some hot tea to her bedroom and she already had her work spread out around her. Sometimes the best way to get her mind off things was to just dive into her work. I guess we were alike in that way.

Alex's grandparents were wrapping up the conversation with her.

"But Gramma, can't you come get me now?" she asked, not wanting to end the phone call.

"Not now," she said patiently. "Next Friday. It'll be here before you know it."

Alex reluctantly said goodbye and I took the phone back before she tried to start playing games with it. She collapsed her body onto the chair, letting her head dangle over the end.

"Want a snack, Alex?" I asked her.

"No!" she grumbled.

"No thank you?" I corrected her but she just let out a little grunt. I sighed as I got myself a glass of water. I hoped this phone call wouldn't be a turning point for her mood. Pippa and I knew she loved her grandparents a lot and seemed to be missing them now more than ever.

I watched her as I took a few gulps of water. She kept her head hung, her feet now climbing up the back of the chair as she hummed.

"Wanna play a game?" I suggested, trying to take her mind off her grandparents.

"No!" she said again. I walked over and sat on the other couch.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" I asked her. "You seem like you're in a bad mood."

She shook her head and reached her arms backwards to find the floor. Alex did a little backbend and kicked her feet back to the floor. I gave her a small round of applause.

"Alex, do you want to see your flower girl dress?" Pippa asked from across the room. That perked her up. She ran over and looked at Pippa's screen. She'd shown me before. A beautiful pale pink dress with a little bow at the side. Alex would look beautiful in it.

"When does it come?" she asked Pippa.

"Hopefully within a week or so," she replied. "And Joey's dress will be here too."

The dresses were being shipped and then they'd get alterations done in the city. Pippa had researched places for that as well.

"What about Jack?" she asked. Pippa clicked around and showed her Jack's ring bearer tux again. It was a classic black with a pale pink vest to go underneath. He'd look handsome as hell. Elliott would be one of my groomsman and Joey was a bridesmaid. It would be great to have the whole family in the wedding. We even planned to have the kids be part of the vows since we were blending families together. It would be a special day for all of us.

We heard crying from down the hallway. Alex gasped and ran down the hallway to find her little brother. Pippa sighed and put her laptop aside.

"Everything okay?" I asked my fiance.

"Fine," she said, crossing a leg. "Just hoping everything comes together for the wedding day."

"It'll be perfect," I assured her. We could hear Alex talking to her little brother, calming him down. I stood up so I could go make sure everything was okay, but first I knelt in front of Pippa. "It will be perfect because I'll get to call you my wife. Everything else is icing."

She gave me a small smile as I winked at her. I stood up to give her a gentle kiss on the lips. Soft and sweet. Jack cackled down the hallway and Alex said something noisily. Then a scream of happiness and feet moving.

"I better get over there," I grinned, knowing how quickly things could go south. I found Alex and Jack in Joey's room, in a cuddle puddle on her bed. I leaned against the doorframe, seeing Joey was wiping away tears. She was missing Elliott already. I just watched a few moments as my youngest two kids comforted my oldest daughter.

Often, we were guiding our kids in life, but many times kids just knew best.