Months later, Bear comes to visit again.

An impatient glance through ice-frosted windows finally yielded the sight Sam had been waiting for. Well, not waiting for, exactly. Just that exams were over, and she was waiting on med school acceptances, so there was nothing to do, really, except sit in her favorite chair and pretend to read while Root cleaned. Or more accurately, pretended to clean while actually tinkering.

"Root, stop trying to get that robot to dust the bathroom and get down here, they're here," she called as she swung to her feet.

"Coming," came the vague, muffled reply.

Even though Sam paused to shove her feet into boots and toss on a jacket, she still made it to the car before their guests could gather their things.

"Let me grab that," Sam offered as she took a duffel bag from a sleepy-looking Helena.

"She's teething," the taller woman offered as an explanation once they had exchanged greetings. "Our nights have been far from restful."

"And Root said she's walking?" Sam asked as Myka rounded the car with Bear in her arms. She was loath to admit that she had seen pictures, and under no circumstances would she watch the videos Helena posted on Instagram if anyone but Root was in the room. The involuntary smile was too damning.

"She is," Myka confirmed as Helena opened the trunk. "Earlier than we thought and," she sighed, "so much faster than expected."

"Good for you," Sam told the toddler seriously. Bear whipped around, now paying rapt attention to Sam rather than the gently-falling snow she been so captured by. She lunged out of Helena's arms suddenly, and the diminutive woman caught her easily. "Someday I'm not gonna catch you," Sam warned her, to which Bear only shrieked happily.

"Shall we?" Helena urged breathlessly, stamping her feet and shrugging her shoulders to relieve the weight of the bags she carried. Sam hoisted Bear more securely onto her hip and followed Myka up the path.

They were all shedding coats and boots in the cramped front hall when Root came tripping down the stairs.

"Tr—Root." Myka exclaimed. "Merry Christmas."

The sentiment was echoed by Helena, who had turned to give Same some help with Bear's coat. The toddler drummed her legs excitedly against Sam's side in her excitement.

"Woot!" she screeched. "Wootwootwoot."

Root looked at the baby in surprise, and Shaw loosened her grip so she could lean back and watch the child's excited hands straining for Root.

"We told her who we were coming to see," Myka explained as Root reached hesitantly to receive Bear. "She picked up on the names."

"Both of them?" Root asked, though her eyes never left Bear's contented face as she poked at Root's chin.

Bear answered for her mother with an imperious "'Am?" and a hand flung back to summon Sam to her side.

Sam approached cautiously. She was not quite sure what she had expected, but it was certainly not a sudden, tiny warmth in her chest.

"'Am." Bear pronounced with satisfaction. She turned back to Root, who was squirming to avoid getting poked in the eye. "Woot."

Sam turned back to the two adult travelers, though she remained close so that Bear could continue her tactile exploration of her old babysitter's face.

"There's coffee and cookies in the kitchen," she offered.

"That sounds wonderful," Myka agreed fervently.

Helena reached for their daughter.

"Come, Irene. Time to wash up."

"No!"

After the battle pitched between Bear and Helena just to wash the child's hands, Sam was glad bathing her was no longer her responsibility. She watched the British woman climbing the stairs while simultaneously restraining her child from kamikaze-ing out of her arms and felt a brief moment of sympathy for Helena. Bath-time clearly meant war.

Chit-chat over dinner had long since covered the topics of school and work for Sam and Root respectively, as well as whatever vague references to their own work Helena and Myka were able to make. After a brief sojourn upstairs to meet Bear's demands that they all tuck her in, the conversation turned to books and movie adaptations.

Sam enjoyed movies and books, sure, but life had been all about the MCAT and med school applications for months. She hadn't watched or read much beyond her study materials in a long time, and certainly couldn't match the fervor with which Root and Myka had started debating the relative merits of a popular book series that had been made into movies.

"I'm going to make coffee," she noted, apparently to no one.

Helena caught her eye and smiled, so Sam raised her eyebrows in an offer.

"Do you want any?"

"I could do with some tea, actually," Helena sighed. She glanced warmly at Myka and Root, neither of whom were paying the slightest attention to their respective partners. "They'll emerge later, and then they can make their own."

Sam nodded and led the way into the kitchen. As the coffee machine gurgled to life, she settled back against the counter and stared at nothing while Helena fill the kettle.

"They're strange ones, aren't they?"

Sam roused herself from a light reverie and looked at Helena.

"Myka and Root," Helena elaborated. "They're a caution unto themselves."

"Yep." Root was certainly strange, and Myka appeared to be more than capable of achieving the same level of queerness. Sam wasn't quite sure what else there was to say.

"Is she doing well? Root, I mean."

"As far as I know." Sam shrugged. "She likes work, if that's what you mean. She looks up to Finch, and she practically worships the woman who runs the company." She wasn't sure what Helena was asking, exactly, but knew that she wasn't willing to give away more than Root had already told her sister. If Helena wanted to know something, she should ask Root.

Helena searched her face for a moment, then smiled.

"I'm glad."

After coffee, tea, and a half-dozen debates bordering on arguments, Helena started to yawn and stretch. Suddenly, Sam realized how late it was, and how long she'd been awake, and how tired she was, even though she'd barely done anything all day.

"I'm going to head up," she advised Root.

"Yeah, I think we're about done for the night, too," Myka rejoined after a quick, silent exchange with her wife.

Root smiled and swung to her feet.

"Carry me," she ordered Sam dramatically.

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. No way she was doing that with other people around.

"I told you, it's your turn to carry me."

Root's eyes sparkled at the joke, and Myka huffed a laugh. A smile tucked itself in the corner of Sam's mouth as she turned to the stairs.

Later, with Root's feet tucked between her own and her arm settled at Root's waist, Sam thought of what Helena had told her in the kitchen and smiled.

"I'm glad she has you. Myka worries, as perhaps she should, but she hasn't had to nearly as much as she used to, thanks to you."

What she hadn't told Helena was that she was glad that she had Root, too.

Well, that's it! I'm sorry this took so long to publish, and I'm afraid that even after all this time, it's not very good. Thank you to everyone who read it and enjoyed it :)