Notes: Mari and Sammy – Thank you for the late night and early morning encouragement! You two are the best, always.

Readers and REAL McRollers – I know I say it all the time, but that's because it's always true. Your support and enthusiasm are amazing and always appreciated!

Hope you enjoy!

Mother to Daughter (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

Elizabeth stepped into the living room at the condo, slipping her phone into her purse and zipping it up. "Are you about ready, Mom?"

"Oh yes," Ang said from in her arm chair. As she moved, she hissed and tried to hide her wince. "Just … a few minutes, maybe?"

Elizabeth paused, then set her purse on the coffee table. She sat on the loveseat near Ang's chair and reached for her mother's hand. "Is it your legs? I know that look."

Ang eyed her. "I'm the mother here, you're the one who's not supposed to be able to hide anything from me."

Elizabeth smiled. "I can't. But at some point that starts to go both ways …"

Ang smiled back, patting her hand. "Probably about the time I came to live with you and Joseph."

"Probably," Elizabeth agreed, giving her mother's hand a small squeeze.

Ang nodded decisively and put her hands on the chair arms as if to push up. "Okay, let's go." She started to stand but winced again immediately and dropped back into the chair. "Oh oh oh," she said, putting both her hands on her legs and rubbing.

Elizabeth winced sympathetically. "You should put your legs up for a while."

"But Catherine is expecting us."

"Catherine will understand."

"Steve's at work today …"

"And Catherine will be fine on her own."

Ang sighed, smiling. "Just like she's always been."

Elizabeth smiled her agreement. "I never saw such an independent girl."

"I have," Ang countered, giving her daughter a significant look.

Elizabeth smiled, taking Ang's hand again. "Well, what did you expect when I had you for a role model?"

Ang smiled softly, and Elizabeth motioned her to sit back. She grabbed the chair's remote and eased it into a reclining position so her mother's legs would be elevated.

Ang sighed. "Not so independent now."

"There are different kinds of independence." Elizabeth handed Ang the remote so she could adjust the leg rest as needed. "Just because you need a little help getting around from time to time now doesn't mean you've lost yours."

"If you and Joseph weren't here …"

"If Joseph and I weren't here, I have no doubt you would find a way to manage. It's what you do. It's what you've always done. We're just happy we can make it so you don't always have to."

Ang found her daughter's hand again and squeezed. "I'm so proud of you. Or are you too old to hear that from your mother?"

Elizabeth sniffed, wiping her eyes, and smiled. "You're never too old to hear that from your mother."

Ang smiled, then patted her hand and let go. "Now, you should go over to Catherine's."

"Mom …"

"The summer is flying by and we'll be back in New York before you know it. Don't waste a chance to see that darling baby and her just-as-darling mother."

A smile came to Elizabeth's mouth unbidden at the mention of her granddaughter and daughter. She bit her lip.

"But what about you?"

"Oh, get out. I'll be fine," Ang insisted. "I just need a little rest. Joseph can come and get me a little later when my legs are up to it. I don't want to miss too much time with our girls."

Elizabeth sighed happily. "Our girls. I like the sound of that." She straightened. "Okay, but only because you insist."

Ang gave her a knowing look, and Elizabeth laughed.

"And because it's been almost thirty-six hours since I've seen the baby and that's long enough."

Ang laughed. "Told you you couldn't hide anything from me, either."

Elizabeth smiled softly. "Not for a long time."

"Promise you'll tell me if I'm here too much," Elizabeth said after Joseph had left the beach house. He'd stayed several minutes to admire his sleeping granddaughter but said it seemed like a mother/daughter day and promised to return with Ang if and when she was feeling up to it.

When they'd told Catherine that her grandmother was resting her legs, she had immediately suggested they pack up and go to the condo instead for the day, but Elizabeth had insisted Ang wouldn't want to be fussed over and would hopefully join them later.

"Here too much?" Catherine repeated, incredulous. "Are you kidding? I love having you so close right now."

"And I love being here, but I know it's important you establish your own routine as a family."

Catherine motioned her to sit on the couch. Angie was asleep in the napper station on the Pack and Play set up on the other side of the sofa. Cammie had resumed her place lying next to the purple, green, and black station.

"We have," Catherine said. "It took a little experimentation, but we've found a good routine. Of course it'll change as Angie gets older and especially when I go back to work, but we've found what works for us for now."

Elizabeth smiled. "Of course you and Steve have taken to parenting like naturals."

"I don't know about naturals, but …" Catherine looked over at the sleeping baby and smiled. "Angie seems happy and healthy."

"That's what's important," Elizabeth said. "If that's the case, then you're doing it right."

"You and Dad are the naturals," Catherine said. "You always seem to know exactly the right thing to do and say."

Elizabeth smiled and patted her daughter's hand. "You just do what feels right in the moment. Shouldn't be a problem for you. You're used to making quick decisions. Analyzing data fast and choosing the best course of action."

"These are different decisions," Catherine said, her eyes drifting to Angie again. "And I didn't … train to make them."

"No one really does. But you have a good head on your shoulders, and a good heart in your chest. Trust in that."

Catherine smiled, squeezing her mother's hand. "I'm going to have questions. Lots of questions."

"I'm always a phone call away. Just like my mother was for me." She smiled. "She never minded the difference in time zones and neither will I."

"Thanks, Mom," Catherine said, smiling gratefully.

"In fact," Elizabeth settled more comfortably on the couch, "I'm looking forward to talking to you mother to mother. One of the most rewarding things about you growing up … is adding these different levels to our relationship. To talk as adults, as women, as professionals, as wives … and now as mothers. All of these different roles we have that combine to make up who we are. I've watched you take on every one of them, and I've been so proud to see you thriving with each."

Catherine smiled, blinking back tears, and laid her head on her mother's shoulder. "Well, I learned from the best."

"There's only so much I can teach, honey. The rest is you."

Grandma Ang did make it over by lunchtime, and the two women stayed through midday before returning to the condo. When Angie awoke for another nap around four, Catherine changed her diaper and then settled her on a mat on the living room floor for a few minutes of tummy time.

She glanced at her watch before picking the fussy baby up. "Almost four minutes," she said with a broad smile as she settled Angie against her shoulder. "Good job, sweetheart. Daddy's gonna be proud of you, too, when he hears that." She stood up. "I don't think you're quite ready to eat yet. What do you want to do now, huh?" She smiled down at the baby who looked back at her with wide eyes. "Any ideas? 'Cause I have one." She walked up the stairs to their bedroom, Cammie following dutifully behind.

Holding Angie securely with one arm, Catherine took a familiar notebook out of her nightstand and then sat against the headboard. She arranged the pillows and settled the baby in the crook of her arm so they could look at each other. She kept her gaze on Angie even as she ran her fingers over the notebook cover.

"I wrote you some letters before you were born, sweetheart. There were so many things I wanted to say to you …" She smiled. "And that I did say to you, but that I also wanted to write down so that you would have them as you got older. So that you would know what I was thinking when I was pregnant with you. And so that I would remember." She smiled. "Because that was a special time for you and me, wasn't it?"

Angie moved in her mother's arms, but her eyes kept coming back to Catherine's face.

"Do you want to hear them?"

Angie cooed as if in answer, and Catherine smiled delightedly.

"I think that was a 'yes.' " She opened the notebook, resting it on her legs. Her smile widened as she looked at the first page. " 'Dear Niblet,' " she read, grinning at the familiar moniker. " 'I felt you move for the first time yesterday.' "

She continued reading, her eyes frequently going back to Angie as she read letter after letter.

"I wrote this after we found out you were a girl," she said. "I was feeling very reflective when I wrote this one." She smiled. "I guess I was feeling pretty reflective when I wrote all of these." She cleared her throat and began. " 'Dear Niblet,' " she read. " 'You're a girl! The words keep repeating in my head and I can't stop smiling. Your daddy and I aren't even going to try to keep this a secret. I don't think we could even if we wanted to. And guess what else? You have a name! Angeline Elizabeth. We're going to name you after the two most amazing women I know. I think you'll really like that, especially once you meet them. But we are going to keep your name secret. I want to see my grandmother and my mother's faces when they see you and hear your name for the first time. It makes me tear up just thinking about it.' " She sniffed and smiled at Angie. "Still does." She looked back at the letter.

" 'And you know something? I actually want to keep calling you Niblet for now. That's how I've thought of you for the last couple months and it just feels right.' " She smiled at her daughter again. "Just like it felt right to call you Angie as soon as I saw your perfect face," she said, brushing a light finger over her cheek before reading more.

" 'But now that I know you're a girl, I've been thinking about mothers and daughters. I'm so lucky to have the mother I do. We were so close as I grew up, and we still are now. I hope you and I have the same closeness, Niblet, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that happens. I want you to know you can always come to me, talk to me about anything. I'll always listen. I'll give you advice when you want it, and I'll let you find your own way when you want that. Because I think it's important that you do both - ask for advice and figure things out for yourself.' " She grinned at Angie. "Just like you figured out how to get out of that swaddle from pretty much the moment you were born," she said, a hint of pride in her voice that she knew Steve shared.

" 'I have so many hopes for you, Niblet. My daughter. I'm smiling again as I write that word. Daughter. You're my daughter. You're going to so many amazing things, and I can't wait to see them. But as excited as I am, I also worry about things I can't control. I wish I could tell you that you're going to grow up in a world where everyone believes that girls can do whatever they put their minds to. That they should be respected and valued for who they are and what they can do. But we don't live in that world. Not yet. There are going to be people who think you are not as smart or as strong or as capable because you're a girl. Who think you should be or say or do something simply because of your gender. I'm going to tell you, and I'm going to show you, every day that that's not true. That being true to yourself is what's important. I'm going to show you that, and so is your daddy. And so are your grandparents, and your aunts and uncles, and your cousins, and everyone else close to us. We've surrounded you with people who do believe girls can do whatever they put their minds to, and who do respect and value them for who they are and what they can do. And I hope that doing that will prepare you to face those people who don't. That's what my mother did for me. And my father, and my grandmother, and my aunts and uncles and cousins, and everyone close to us. I don't remember a time when I didn't believe I could do whatever I put my mind to. Whatever I was willing to work hard for. And that's my biggest hope for you, Niblet. One I'll work every day to instill in you.' "

Catherine looked at her daughter whose eyes were still open and on her.

"And I will, Angie. I promise I will. Because that's my job as your mommy." She bent down to press a soft kiss to her daughter's head. "And mother to daughter, I promise."

Hope you enjoyed!

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