Harry pulled away from her comforting embrace, his beautiful eyes glossy and rimmed with red, and he smiled at her, "How do you always know just what to say?"

Carter smiled softly in return, her hand lifting to his cheek, "Because I learned from you."

Harry sniffled, his nose terribly runny from crying so much, "I think I'm ready to go back inside."

He knew that he didn't have to go back inside to face his family, he could have told Carter that he wanted to go home and reschedule another dinner sometime later in the week, but he wanted to show his brother that he didn't control him and that he could be happy for him, even if he would never return the gesture.

Harry stood up and offered Carter his hand, as long as she was there, he could manage.

Carter smiled up at him and accepted his hand, their fingers lacing together like puzzle pieces. He helped her up and she spoke softly, "You're doing the right thing you know."

She lifted her eyes to meet his, there was a storm raging in the beautiful sea of blue that he loved to drown in. He could tell that she wanted to hit Sam and yell profanities at him, but he knew that she was holding it back because he was more important.

Harry looked down at her with a smile that told her he was alright, "I know."

Carter stared at him for a moment longer, she admired how he wasn't choosing the easy way out and just going home and she admired how he wasn't afraid to show her his emotions, "I love you."

Harry closed the distance between them, his lips encasing hers and radiating affection, "You know I love you more."

Carter shook her head, her smile brighter than the stars, the storm in her eyes had calmed, "No, you love me equally."

Harry laughed softly and leaned in to kiss her again, "You're right, I love you equally. Let's go back inside before Mum sends a search party."

They walked back into the dining room hand in hand with smiles on their faces. Harry was the first to apologize, "I'm sorry about that. Congratulations, Sam and Aurora."

Despite the fact that Harry had made a fool of himself and then congratulated him, Sam was still jealous of how Carter looked at him. Since they'd come back, she hadn't taken her eyes off of him and they were sitting closer than they had been before. Carter was looking at him like he was the sun and she was the moon; Aurora never looked at him that way.

Sam surprised everyone by slamming his fists down on the table, "Why do you always get everything!?"

Everyone flinched, but Aurora was the only one that spoke, "Sam..."

He looked at her like she had just slapped him in the face, his eyes wide and wild with rage and hurt, "What!?"

Aurora shrank back in her seat and didn't say another word. Robin spoke next, "Sam, please calm down." He stayed clear of mentioning the fact that Harry hadn't done anything wrong because he knew that it would only upset him farther.

Sam would have none of it, "No! You all treat him like he's an Angel and you treat me like I'm the Devil! He gets everything that he wants and everyone loves him and I'm sick of it!"

Anne risked placing her hand atop his, "Sweetie, you're not the Devil. We love you both equally and you know that. And he most certainly doesn't get everything he wants. He gave you all of the best Christmas presents that he wanted every year since you were thirteen. Every year he didn't write me a list, he wrote "I want Sam to get what he wants because I want him to be happy and I want him to love me again".'"

Sam ripped his hand away from his mother and glared at Harry, "Why do you hog all of the attention?"

Harry refused to look at him, his identical green eyes staring down at his hands. Carter finally snapped, "Do you even hear yourself right now? You've been nothing but terrible to him since we walked through the door, and he's been trying his best to be okay with it. For fucks sake! He went outside and cried because you hate him and he just wants you to be his brother again. God, can't you see that you're the one that's craving the attention you don't realize that you have? Your poor mother is on the verge of tears right now because you think that she doesn't love you as much as she loves Harry. Hell, why would she invite you if she didn't love you? You're her son.Don't you see that you've been doing this to yourself?"

Everyone was silent. No one dared to move a muscle. Sam and Carter were in an intense stare down, but everyone could tell that what she'd said had registered with him and that she was right.

Aurora stood up and went to Sam's side, her small hand wrapping around his wrist gently and her eyes pleading with him to calm down, "Sam..."

Sam shrugged her off and walked out of the room without another word. Aurora stood there, stunned and at a loss for words. She'd never intended for this to happen, she just wanted to congratulate Harry and Carter and to make peace with them for all that she'd done.

"I..." Her eyes drifted from person to person before she decided to stick with Carter, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'm so sorry. Congratulations you two, you'll make a beautiful married couple. I'm so sorry."

Aurora practically ran to her seat and started to grab for her purse. But, before she'd made it out of the room, Carter's voice stopped her.

"Aurora."

She sniffled and turned around to meet Carter's eyes to let her know that she was listening. Carter had forgiven her the moment she'd looked at her after Sam's outburst. She didn't have to say I'm sorry for her to know that she meant it.

"Don't let him treat you like that, you deserve better."

Aurora forced the excess tears back into their ducts as she nodded. She left without another word and the silence in the room was overwhelming.

Anne was crying and so was Harry. Robin stood up and went to comfort his wife and Carter focused her attention on Harry, her thumb immediately lifting to wipe the tears from his cheeks, "It's not your fault, Harry."

Harry turned slightly in his chair so that he was facing her, her blue eyes were an ocean of love and he believed her. It wasn't his fault.

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. Carter kept her thumb on his cheek and repeated herself because he hadn't acknowledged that none of this was his fault.

"It's not your fault."

Harry nodded and released a deep breath, his emotions calming and his heart swelling with love, "I know. Thank you, Carter."

He pulled away and opened his eyes to find Carter smiling at him softly, "You don't have to thank me for loving you."

And he knew that she was right, she'd snapped at Sam because he was hurting and she couldn't take letting him hurt him any more. Enough was enough.

Harry had been about to say something along the lines of, "But I do," but his mother beat him to it.

"Thank you, Carter."

Carter smiled softly in response, "You don't have to thank me for loving you either."

Anne wiped at her eyes and smiled, "I'm sorry for ruining tonight."

Carter shook her head quickly, "No, you didn't ruin anything. Actually, I think you just fixed everything."

Harry spoke for his mother, "No, that was you, sweetheart. Stop being humble and just accept our thanks."

. . .

Carter ended up helping Harry's mother clean everything up while Harry and Robin sat in the living room and caught up.

"Sweetie, you don't have to do this. I'm perfectly alright doing the dishes myself."

Carter laughed lightly as she washed another plate and handed it to the older woman who was smiling at her like she was an angel, "I know, but I want to. Consider it an apology for snapping at your son at the dinner table."

Anne laughed with her as she dried the plate Carter had just handed her, "I hate to say it, but he deserved it and you weren't wrong with what you said either."

Carter shut off the tap and pulled the plug, the water spun and gurgled as it slid down the pipes, "In any case, I hope that he comes around."

She was drying her hands off on her jeans, a habit that she'd picked up when she'd started dating Harry, when Anne asked carefully, "I know this is a sensitive topic, but are you and Harry planning to have any kids?"

Carter's hands stopped their motion and she stood up a little straighter as she turned to face her soon-to-be mother-in-law, "I want to, and so does he, but I'm afraid. I think we're just going to adopt and love someone that's been hurt and lonely."

Anne smiled softly as she dried her hands on a dry dish towel, "Adoption is a such a wonderful thing. You know, I was scared to. I lost three babies before I had Harry and Sam, two were stillbirths. But, if I let the fear scare me from having a baby of my own, I would have my two beautiful boys and we certainly wouldn't be here right now. I know that it's hard and that it's terrifying, believe me, I do, but don't let that stop you from the joy of creating a precious life with the man that you love. You'll regret it if you do."

Carter hadn't even realized that she'd been crying until Anne was pulling her in for a hug, "It's your decision in the end, but I know either way you'll be happy."

. . .

Carter smiled as she laid her head on Harry's chest, her fingers dancing along his skin, "You never told me that your mother went through what we did with Summer."

Harry looked at her with a soft smile, "I didn't want to worry you even more."

Carter sighed happily as his arms pulled her closer and his soft lips met with her forehead. She loved sharing a bed with him because he would never ever let her be far away from him. They were always close and always touching.

She knew that part of it was because he was afraid that she would leave him again, but she also knew that he did it because he constantly wanted to be close to her, to feel her heartbeat under his fingertips and to run his fingers through her hair as he sang her to sleep.

"I'm sorry that your brother hurt you so much, you don't deserve that."

Harry hummed and lifted her hand to his mouth, his lips pressing delicate kisses to the tips of her fingers before he laced their fingers together, "It isn't your fault."

Carter traced his cheek with her index finger, his skin was so soft and warm, "I know, but it doesn't mean that I don't hurt with you."

This time he kissed her forehead and she smiled, "I can't ever find the words to tell you just how much I love you."

Carter closed her eyes and hummed in agreement, "You don't have to, I can feel it in your lips and in your fingertips. Touch sets the soul on fire, and so do the eyes. I know every time that you touch me and every time that you look at me and I hope you feel that from me too."

Harry's arms tightened slightly around her as he released a deep and sleep laden breath, "I do."