A/N I apologize for the inexcusably long delay in getting back to this story. I have every intention of wrapping it up in a (hopefully) satisfactory manner soon. For now, though, there's some babysitting to do.

Trina walks around the kitchen, opening up cupboards and pointing items out to Winona.

"Walt likes a banana in his cereal, but Madeline hates bananas. Give her some applesauce or these plums if she'll eat them." She sets a jar of baby food on the counter and rolls her eyes. "They do awful things to her poop though. Lunch is easy...they both love macaroni and cheese or turkey. I've left both in the refrigerator. For dinner, Walt can have whatever you guys eat and there are toddler meals for Maddie." Trina taps a finger against the list magneted to the fridge. "All the numbers you might need are here...doctor, dentist, Walt's preschool, my folks..."

"Trina, aren't you over-doing it?" Brett chides.

"I've never left them before," Trina says.

"We've left them with your folks lots of times."

"Yes, but..."

"We'll be fine," Winona says, laying a hand on her friend's arm. "We're ready for this."

"I'm not sure I am," Raylan grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the counter. He blows out a breath, truly wondering if this is such a good idea.

Winona glares at him, but Brett laughs. "Just think of them as tiny escaped fugitives," he says. "And your job is to keep them occupied, then capture them and secure them in the prisons that are their respective bedrooms so that everyone can get some sleep. The only differences are, you have to do it over and over again and you can't shoot them." Raylan's eyebrow goes up. "Or use handcuffs," Brett adds.

"Thanks, that analogy is helpful. I have a whole new perspective on parenting."

"It's all about capture and containment." Brett says. "And dirty diapers." He stoops to shoulder the duffel bag and grabs a carryon in his other hand.

Trina glances around the kitchen again. "There's plenty of beer and I picked up a couple bottles of that wine we had the last time you were over." She smiles at Winona. "I have at least a glass a day. A big glass." Trina bites her lip. "Are you sure you're..."

"Go," Winona laughs at her friend.

"Alright." Trina and Brett stop in the family room to hug and kiss both kids.

"When will you be back?" Walt worries. Looking up from playing Legos on the floor.

"I told you," Trina says gently. "We'll be back right after you have soccer on Wednesday."

He chews on his bottom lip. "Who'll take me to soccer?"

"That'd be me, buddy, okay?" Raylan stoops down to Walt's level and the boy looks at him skeptically.

"Do you know about soccer? My daddy knows all about soccer."

"You can teach me."

"Oh. Okay." Walt, seemingly satisfied, goes back to his Legos.

Trina holds Madeline, nuzzling the little girl's soft curls. "Be good, Baby Girl. Mommy loves you." She passes her to Winona, sniffles, and picks up her purse from the coffee table.

Winona hugs her friend. "Have a wonderful time," she whispers. "Don't worry about anything. We'll be just fine. It'll be a trial run."

Trina laughs and plants one last kiss on each child's cheek before heading out the door after her husband.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"'Nona?" Raylan calls from the family room.

"Back here." She pulls off the dirty diaper, trying not to breathe as she drops it into the diaper-eating contraption Trina pointed out next to the changing table. "How can someone so little make such a big mess," she says in baby-voice. "You stink...yes you do..." She taps the baby's stomach with her fingers and Madeline wiggles in response.

"Oh God, what's that smell?" Raylan says, stopping in the doorway.

The baby giggles in answer, showing off two new teeth, as Winona finishes the clean-up and fastens her into a new diaper.

"Walt wants pizza. Whaddya say we go to Benny's?"

"That sounds good. But Maddie here is going to need a whole new ensemble." She gestures to the soiled leggings. "I'll have to do some laundry." She wrinkles her nose. "Those definitely can't wait until Trina comes back."

It takes them twenty minutes to pack up, figure out the child safety seats, and get to Benny's, just around the corner. The restaurant is crowded on a Saturday night, but they manage to find a booth and a waitress hustles over with menus and a pack of crayons that she hands to Walt. "You need a booster and a high chair, right?"

"And a beer," Raylan flashes her a grin.

"Make it two," Winona says. She bounces Maddie in her lap while Walt busies himself scribbling across the coloring page on the back of the menu.

A busboy appears with a high chair, and she settles the baby in, opening a plastic bowl of Cheerios and putting it in front of her. Madeline grabs two and gleefully shoves them in her mouth, then offers one to Raylan.

"Thank you," he says.

"See," she says, after the waitress brings their beers and takes the order. "This isn't bad, is it?" She clinks her bottle against his. "I think we're doing pretty well, Cowboy."

Raylan arches a brow over his bottle. "It's only been three hours."

She sighs. "You expect trouble, so that's what you find. I expect things to go...Oh! Walt!"

In the short span of their conversation, the child has stopped coloring, instead dumping the entire contents of the salt and pepper shakers onto the table.

"How'd he get those lids off?" Raylan mutters, grabbing up the container and restraining Walt's hands as Winona flags down the waitress.

"Leggo!" Walt squirms. "Let me go!" He kicks at the seat, but Raylan holds on tight. Maddie stares at her brother, wide-eyed, and her bottom lip begins to tremble.

"Don't cry, Sweetie," Winona soothes.

Diners at other tables begin to stare and Raylan flushes red. "Yeah, this is goin' real well." He grimaces at Winona.

"Walt," Winona says, lowering her voice and making eye contact across the table. "Stop."

The boy's lower lip goes out. "No! Leggo! Leggo!" He yells even louder.

When the waitress comes Raylan asks for the pizza to go. She hurries back with a box and he manages to wrangle that and a now sobbing Walt out to the car while Winona follows with Madeline and the diaper bag. A heavy-set woman at a nearby table touches her arm. "It gets better, dear," she assures her. "And it's all worth it."

"Tell that to my husband," Winona sighs.