When Poppy awoke early the next morning, Isaac was already dressed and sitting in a much more substantial chair. She must have been exhausted to have missed them moving it into the room.

Stretching, she eyed Isaac, who was watching her warily.

"What!"

"Nothing." He shook his head and watched her crawl out of bed toward the tray of fresh tea on the small table next to him.

"How and when did that get here?" she asked, pointing at the chair.

"About an hour ago. I was using the bathroom on the floor below when I ran into Jackson, and he got it for me from somewhere," Isaac said placidly.

"What's going on out there?" she asked between sips.

"I couldn't say. I've been waiting for you to get up. All I did was find a bathroom. I met Rainer Stevens along the way." He looked at her accusingly.

"What!" she exclaimed again. "He's my uncle. What was his reaction when he saw you?"

"There are more famous people than not in the house right now, aren't there?" he demanded.

"I don't know, I haven't done the math! What was Uncle Rainer's reaction?" she demanded again.

"He paused, looked me over, shook my hand, welcomed me to the family, then walked away laughing as if I had just told a good joke." Isaac watched her, waiting.

"Sounds right. Dad gave him a horrible time when Beth married without telling anyone, and now, he's probably going to give Dad an equally hard time about my marrying without telling him." Poppy waved her hand. "Don't worry about it."

Sitting the cup down, she walked over to her bag in the corner and started to pull out something to wear. Then she moved to the sink in the corner, brushed her teeth, and washed her face before combing her hair and braiding it.

"Are you hungry?" she asked as she moved to the clothes she had laid on the bed.

"Yes."

"I'm going to change now," she warned him.

"Go ahead." His face was stoic.

Poppy pulled her nightgown over her head, and his expression remained the same. "I need to change my underwear." She reached for the waistband; this time, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 

Poppy changed her underwear, then told him she was decent, and he opened his eyes.

"What part of decent do you not get?" he asked as his gaze scalded her body.

Poppy rolled her eyes as she continued to dress, silently pleased that he didn't close his eyes again.

"You're a bit of a prude, aren't you?" she asked, realizing that she had only seen him shirtless a handful of times, and he always left the room to change. "If it's your scar, I've already seen it."

"And no questions?" he asked with a lift of his eyebrow, not saying if it was the scar that was the reason for his modesty.

"Of course, I have questions, but I figured you weren't willing to answer them." Poppy buttoned her jeans and pulled her sweater into place. "Are you?"

"No." He stood. "You're not wearing a bra," he pointed out.

Poppy looked down at her thick sweater; she was at home with her family. "Easy access, just in case," she said as she breezed by him with a sweet smile.

She moved quickly down the stairs just as she always had, and he had no trouble keeping up. It only took them a few minutes to make it to the dining room, where some of her family were having a leisurely breakfast. When they entered, everyone stopped talking and stared at her and Isaac.

"He is large," Beth whispered not so quietly as Alice nodded in agreement.

"Where's Wyatt?" Poppy asked, hoping he would be there too.

"Hello to you too. I missed you," Beth said sarcastically, and Poppy did not miss the tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Beth!" Poppy said, rushing to her. "I missed you!" Beth stood smiling, and all was forgiven as the two embraced. "I was hoping he could help Isaac figure out a few things."

"Aunt Cassie filled us in," Beth nodded. "He's only a phone call away. Isaac?" she asked, looking over Poppy's shoulder.

"Ummm, yes," Poppy blushed. "This is my husband, Isaac. Isaac, this is Beth, my cousin, her parents, Alice and Rainer Stevens, my Aunt Laura and Uncle Davis, and you've met my parents.

"Yep, we've met," Mason grumbled.

Beth moved around the table and gave Isaac a hug in greeting. "Aunt Cassie says you're raising your niece and nephew?"

Poppy moved to the sideboard and started to load up her plate with breakfast, listening to Isaac fill Beth and the others in on Mary and Peter.

"I'm finally an aunt!" Beth crowed, then returned to her breakfast.

They asked Isaac about himself, and he told them about his time in the Army and search and rescue. Poppy drank it all in as he talked, learning more in the course of one meal with her family than she had in months of knowing him. 

"Where's the film crew?" Poppy asked when the conversation lulled.

"Out and about, filming, they said something about the morning light and mist looking just right." Aunt Alice said.

"Good morning, everyone," Grace said as she entered.

"You're late this morning, your Grace," Mason teased, and Grace blushed a little.

"The morning got away from me," she said as she started to make a plate.

"I bet it did." Mason smirked.

"It got away from Isaac and Poppy, too," Rainer added, watching Mason grow red in consternation.

"That's my daughter!" Mason hissed. "And your niece."

Rainer shrugged. "She's married."

Poppy was unfazed by being the subject of the teasing. She had learned long ago that it wasn't about her. It was about them.

Bryce entered, and Rainer and Mason shot him knowing looks, but he ignored them as he made a plate and kissed his wife on the head before sitting.

The rest of breakfast went fine, and then Bryce suggested that he and Isaac meet shortly after the meal to review the current situation.

As everyone broke up to go their own way, Isaac pulled Poppy aside and into one of the public rooms. He stopped and looked around the grand room, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Don't be upset, but I want to meet with your uncle alone. It would be better if you weren't involved in case your influence on this situation were questioned."

"Sure," Poppy agreed. She didn't care how Mary and Peter were made safe as long as they got there in the end, and if she had to miss a boring meeting, she was all right with that.

His eyes narrowed in disbelief at her easy acceptance.

"Isaac, this is all you. I'm just along for the ride. I'm happy to share ideas and resources as needed, but I don't need to be part of the planning. The kid's future is your responsibility, not mine. I understand that." She gave him a quick peck on his lips. "Besides, I want to watch the filming. I've been on plenty of my dad's movie sets, but I've never seen a production made about my family before. That's much more interesting than an afternoon behind closed doors with Uncle Bryce," she wrinkled her nose in displeasure at the thought.

"You always do what's least expected, don't you?" His eyes searched her face as if trying to figure out who she was.

"Do I?"

"You do," he said with a warm smile before pulling her close and gently kissing her.

"That's nice," she whispered when he ended the kiss. "I'm not wearing a bra, so you can cop a feel if you want?" she offered.

Isaac shook his head and laughed as he set her away from him. "You're incorrigible."

"Hey, there you are, lovebirds!" Beth smiled as she peeked into the room. "You wanna come watch the filming?"

"I do, but Isaac has to meet with Uncle Bryce," Poppy said as Beth wrinkled her nose at the idea and then linked her arm with her cousins.

"Better you than us, good luck," Beth said before leading Poppy away and toward the back entrance to the house.