"Henry Gonzalo Lopez Weaver!" Those four names, compacted into a single smooth one, were called across the ER, halting the fourteen year old in his tracks. He remained facing away from his mother even as she spoke again. "You will not walk away from me while I am talking to you." She said, her voice just as stern as before but her volume much lower.

Henry turned around slowly, his shoulders hanging low and his head titled down. Even despite his slouched position, he still stood a good two and a half inches taller than his mother. "I'm sorry…" he muttered, his thick brown hair shielding Kerry from a clear view of his eyes.

Kerry, with a hand on her hip and pursed lips, let her head tilt to the side. "I didn't hear you, Henry."

She could have sworn she heard Henry's eyes brown eyes roll in their sockets. He huffed slightly then spoke louder, his eyes meeting Kerry's green ones, "I said I'm sorry."

Kerry's head went back to a vertical position and she nodded. "I'll be home in an hour, an hour and a half at most…" she said as she handed Henry a transit pass for the El, "just please, Henry, be-"

Henry cut her off, taking the credit card-like pass and finishing her phrase. "Safe. I know, Mom. I'll see you later." He said, heading back out towards the ambulance bay.

Kerry watched him go then, when he was well through the doors, rubbed her eyes. She heard someone's attempt at a concealed laugh-turned-snort from behind and turned. She wasn't surprised to find Randi wearing an amused look. Kerry's left eyebrow arched questioningly. "Do you have kids, Randi?" She asked in all seriousness.

A blank stare then an answer. "Uh, no, doc. No way." The brunette replied, snapping her gum.

Kerry nodded shortly, grabbing a chart. "Right, so no sneering."

Kerry could feel Randi's entertained eyes burning an hole in her back as she headed towards curtain three, with Mr. Herd's, who was complaining of some form of pain in every limb and organ under the sun, chart in hand.

An hour later, after assuring him that she would not be feeding his addiction but, by code of conduct, ordering a handful of tests, Kerry was signing off on a few lasts charts and passing over a few more to Morris. Just as she was heading home, her cell phone rang. Her first instinct was that it was Henry, calling to ask her when she'd be home or what was for dinner, but when she didn't recognize the number to be their home or his cell phone, she was hesitant to answer. Nevertheless, she did. "Hello?"

There was a short silence before a familiar voice spoke. "Kerry?" a short cough, a clearing of the throat perhaps, "It's Abby."

A natural smile formed across Kerry's lips and she adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, heading for the parking lot. "Long time, no talk." Kerry noted lightheartedly. "What's up?"

"At the moment? Or in the past…oh, six months since we've talked?" Abby asked.

Kerry laughed shortly. "At the moment, Abs."

"Oh, well, you know…leaving the lawyer's office to pick Joe up from his friend's house, bringing him home to cook dinner, then make sure he gets to bed before I collapse in bed as well." Abby
explained, sounding stressed out and flustered.

The corner of Kerry's lips turned downwards in a frown. "The ups and downs of motherhood?" She offered.

"The ups and downs of single motherhood." Abby corrected.

Kerry's free hand found her eyes and she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "What happened?" She asked, though she was pretty sure a few of the theories she had in her head could possibly fit the bill.

"Can I give you the whole story in about…three days?" Abby asked. "Joe and I are coming back for…well, for a while…because it's summer and all."

Kerry opened her car door and set her purse on the roof, standing in the nook that the open door and the actual car made. "Is everything okay, Abby?"

Kerry could hear Abby sigh on the other end. "I…I don't know, Kerry…can we meet up when we get back?"

"Of course…" Kerry replied, "Where are you and Joe staying?" She asked, tracing her fingertip across the silver roof of her car.

"A hotel…The Talbott or something…"

Kerry shook her head, knowing very well that Abby couldn't see, but making the movement nevertheless. "You can stay with Henry and I…" Kerry offered, "We have a spare room and Joe can stay with Henry…"

"No, Kerry, that would be an imposition-" She tried to argue but Kerry cut her off.

"It's not an imposition, Abigail; If it was, I wouldn't have offered." She said, her tone firm but her volume soft.

Again, Kerry heard Abby huff. "But Kerr-"

Kerry was a step ahead. "It's fine, Abby…and, to pay me back, you can cook dinner when I'm working." She said, smiling in hopes to send her attempt at humor through the phone.

It worked; Kerry could hear a small chuckle escape Abby's throat as she replied. "Alright…fair enough."

Kerry nodded. "Good."

And so the pair went on to make plans for Kerry and Henry to pick Abby and Joe up on Thursday morning at O'Hare then hung up, Kerry nearing home and Abby finally arriving at Joe's friend's house
despite the rush hour traffic so common for the outskirts of Boston at the hour.

When Kerry got home she found Henry lying on his back on the couch, a book extended over his head and his eyes focused intently. "Your mother would be quite disappointed in you." She said with a smile as she shut the door behind her.

Henry jumped, a bit startled, the grinned and set the book down on the coffee table, spinning around and sitting upright. "I know…should be down at the park with Miguel's kids or somethin'." He kept the ongoing joke alive, reciting what Kerry had told him so many times about his other mother.

Kerry chuckled. "Or at least watching TV." She dropped her bag on the chair near the door and headed for the kitchen.

Henry was on her heals, though a few feet back, as he spoke. "Listen, Mom…I'm, I'm sorry about earlier…in the ER." He ran a hand through his messy hair. "It was really immature." Kerry stopped in her tracks and turned around, eyeing her son, who had mysteriously matured about five years since their confrontation in the ER, suspiciously. Henry shrugged his shoulders. "What? Am I not allowed to apologize, either?" And, in an instant, the maturity level was back down.

Kerry mimicked his motion subconsciously, tousling her own hair with her left hand. "And here I was just about to commend your maturity." She said, shaking her hair back into place.

Henry fumed slightly but took a deep breath, holding it for a ten count as Kerry had taught him back in the days of tantrums. "I'm sorry, mom…I just- I'm sorry, okay?"

Kerry nodded even though she caught on to a slight falter in Henry's voice, as if he were scared or confused. She let it go, deciding to give her already-on edge son time to confront her if need be. "Okay, Hen. I'm sorry as well." She said, turning back towards the kitchen and pulling out various ingredients from the fridge. "I got a call from Abby today…"

Henry took a seat at the kitchen island, the tips of his toes touching the floor even though he was completely seated. "Abby…as in Abby and Luka?" He asked.

Kerry didn't linger on the 'and Luka' part. "Yes, Abby Lockhart…she and Joe are coming for a visit."

Henry didn't miss a beat. "What about Luka?" He asked, vaguely remembering the tall Croat.

Kerry shook her head. "He and Abby are either in the midst of getting, or have already gotten, a divorce."

"Oh…" Henry replied, not quite sure what to think about that. "Where are they staying?"

Without putting down the ingredients she had in her hands or turning to face her son, Kerry replied. "Here."

That generated an annoyed grown from Henry. "Mom..." he whined.

Kerry spun around, her eyes staring straight into his. "Henry Weaver, Abby is one of the best friends I've had..." she began warningly.

Henry shook his head. "Joe's, like, what? Seven?" His annoyance was more so with the fact that he would probably have to share a room with Joe than it was that he and his mother were visiting.

Kerry shook her head once. "He's twelve."

Henry seemed to consider it a moment before he rolled his eyes. "And he's probably annoying as heck…" he mumbled.

Kerry shot him another look. "You haven't seen Joe since they visited when you were seven, Henry; for all you know, he could be just like you." She argued.

Henry snorted a laugh. "Great…I'm sure that'll work out well." His voice was thick with sarcasm.

"Well, you'll just have to put up with it, bud." She said, turning back to the counter and continuing to prepare dinner. "Dinner will be ready in a half hour." She said over her shoulder.

Henry sighed and stalked off, taking his book from the coffee table then walking back through the kitchen and into the backyard. Kerry watched him go, noticing for what must have been the thousandth time how his head hung at the same angle as Sandy's had when she was upset. She shook her head, letting out a tiny breath; it had been fourteen years since her death just four months earlier and, no matter how many years kept going by, it hardly got any easier. She pushed through the feelings, willing herself to push it to the back of her mind, and went on chopping the carrot she held on the cutting board in front of her.

After dinner, Kerry sat in the living room with a book in hand while Henry clicked away on his computer, his fingers moving ferociously across the keyboard in a pattern; every few seconds, forty or so, he would type for another thirty seconds, wait, smile or laugh or smirk, then the process would start again. Finally, when Kerry could no longer ignore it, even through the soft sounds of Queen's 'Evolution' coming through the surround sound, she placed her book on her lap and took off her glasses, folding them in her hand. "You look much happier than earlier." She noted.

Henry looked up from his computer screen and shrugged. "I am." He offered.

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "Can I ask why?"

"You can." He looked up again. "But I'm not going to answer." He said, closing his laptop and heading into the kitchen. "I'll be on the porch."

Kerry watched and her jaw dropped, as her son completely dismissed her. She was about to call him back in, demand him to explain his bad attitude, but let it go, knowing in the back of her mind that, if he wanted to tell her, he probably would in his own time.

So, instead, Kerry picked her book back up and shut it, saving her place with the page clip, and set her reading glasses on the table beside her. She left her seat and headed to the back door. She stuck her head out slightly, only able to see Henry's face and chest which were illuminated by the glow of his computer, and spoke. "I'm heading up to bed…I'm not on until noon tomorrow, so I'll see you in the morning…" she said.

Henry glanced up and nodded shortly. "Night."

Kerry, refusing to go to bed in a mood that was anything besides, at the least, content, spoke once more. "Love you, Hen."

Henry looked up, his eyes softer than before, and smiled faintly. "Love you too, Mom."

Kerry nodded and back through the doorway, pulling the screen door shut and heading up to bed. She mulled over Henry's various moods and attitudes of that evening and night, attempting to analyze them on a bit of a psychological level. With no luck, she settled on taking a long bath before she fell into bed, the exhaustion of the day finally hitting her. As her eyelids fell heavy, a small, but strong, surge of excitement coursed through her when she remembered that, for the first time in much too long, she'd be seeing Abby in just a short four days. After that, Kerry fell asleep with a soft smile on her face, even despite her multiple miniature fallouts with Henry.

A/N: I've actually got a bit of a loose plot in my head with this one which is something that I've never really done before, so it should be interesting to see how this works out. And a note to those of you who have been so dedicated to And Baby Makes Four: First of all, thank you so much for sticking with me! I love hearing from each and every one of you; it's a fantastic feeling I get whenever I see that my hits have grown and I have a new review! So I thank you for that. However, I'm on a bit of a haitus from that, but I do promise that I will continue it another point...I promise! Thanks for reading a please review!