Dom had been true to his word. It wasn't until eight pm that Brynne and Lila finally got home, having been treated to a lovely meal in the city and then taken back to Ash Cottage for an hour or so "to let the food settle". They'd walked in on Edward and Lis sitting together at the kitchen table, talking easily between themselves, and for a moment, things had felt decidedly dangerous. Brynne's expression was completely unreadable as she glanced between them, unnervingly so. Lis swallowed, glancing at Edward, and rose hurriedly from where she sat, offering a hand to Lila and volunteering to put the little girl to bed. An escape, essentially, from what she thought might well be a very uncomfortable conversation between brother and sister.

It was also against the so-called rules Brynne had set down for Lila not to speak to Lis, but with Edward there to witness, he doubted his sister would dare call Lis out on it or bother to scold Lila. Not even Edward could read the look on his sister's face or what sort of mood she might be in. With any luck, Dom had softened her aversion to accepting Lis as anything but an employee, but he knew she could just as easily have refused to listen to anything he had to say. He had promised Lis he'd talked to his sister tonight, and it seemed that time was at hand. He got up from the chair to take the dirty dishes to the sink and fetch his sister a cup of tea. "How was dinner?" he asked, innocently enough.

As Lis and Lila disappeared, Brynne seemed to take hold of herself internally and give herself a good shake, the tension in her shoulders relaxing. She moved to help her brother with the washing up as she answered, dropping her coat over the back of the nearest chair. "It was good," she told him. "Dom decided we were going to try a new place that opened up on the other side of the river. I don't think I've ever seen Lila eat that much in one sitting!"

"Was it pussghetti?" he asked his sister with a sidelong grin and a light nudge of an elbow. He was not only hoping to put himself in her good graces, but simply falling into the customary and comfortable habit of being her big brother. It didn't hurt that he knew just how she liked her tea either.

She snorted with laughter, rolling her eyes at him. "No, thank gods," she chuckled quietly, up to her elbows in soapy water as she washed the bowls and plates that had been in use. "She actually wanted to try mussels in this creamy garlicky sauce. With fries. It was an education to watch, let me tell you!"

"Good lord! Don't tell me she was dipping the fries in the sauce!" he said, already knowing that was likely exactly what Lila had done. What kid wouldn't, after all" He hoped no one had explained to her where mussels came from or she would likely declare them disgusting and never touch them again.

Brynne laughed, pulling the plug out of the sink as she reached for a cloth to dry the dishes. "What do you think?" she pointed out with a smile. "And then Dom suggested she finish up all the mussels and dump her fries into what was left of the sauce. I swear, that man seems to have such classy taste, and then orders a beer to drink with his beef wellington."

Edward shrugged, a half-amused smile on his face. It seemed Brynne was in a good mood; that boded well for him, didn't it' But more importantly, he liked to see her happy and thought she didn't laugh nearly enough these days. "Where Dom is concerned, anything is possible," he said, offering her the cup of tea in exchange for the dishtowel. "I'll dry." How many times had they done precisely this" Talking and laughing and sharing the day's news while they cleared and cleaned the dishes" It had almost been a routine with them when they were younger, before he'd gone away.

She handed over the dishtowel without any argument, claiming the proffered cup of tea in return with a smile as she leaned against the counter. "What about you?" she asked him, for once initiating what could only be an inquiry about his relationship status. "Have you had a good evening?"

"I have, actually," he replied as he took up dish after dish to wipe them dry and put them back where they belonged in the cupboard. "Lis and I had a long talk and came to some decisions." A small frown appeared on his face as they reached the part of the conversation that he was dreading. "I'm afraid you may not like it very much, but it can't be helped."

"Well, it seems like a lot of decisions have been made tonight, then," his sister mused over the top of her cup, watching his frown. She and Dom had talked for a good couple of hours, and though she still wasn't entirely happy with the way things seemed to be going, she wasn't an idiot. "Number one being that I need to find a new housekeeper."

Edward opened his mouth, about to argue his point, to tell his sister than though good housekeepers were hard to find, it was even harder trying to find someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with and he wasn't going to let her jeopardize his chances with Lis just because she couldn't see past her own nose. "Brynne, I know what you're going to say and I..." he trailed off, as his brain caught up with his mouth and the little speech he'd been practicing in his head for days evaporated from his mind. "What do you mean, find a new housekeeper?"

Brynne watched as his mouth caught up with his ears, pleased with herself for managing to short-circuit her big brother's brain. She was sure the speech would have been very stirring, very eloquent, but why should he feel as though he had to make it' "Well, because I'm going to fire Lis," she pointed out calmly. "I can't expect the two of you to make it work when she's flinching every time I come into a room. So I fire her, you ....hire her or whatever it is you're going to do before you propose, and problem solved. Apart from Lila and I getting used to someone else's cooking."

Whatever it was that Dom had said to Brynne, it seemed to have had more of an effect on her than anything Edward or Lis or even Lila could have said, and for a long moment, Edward was in complete shock, his mouth hanging open in stunned speechlessness. When he did finally find his voice, the only word that found its way to his tongue was, "Propose?"

His younger sister watched him struggle, gently removing the dish from his hand before he dropped it. "Oh, come on, Teddy, we both know that's where this is going," she told him quietly. "All my life, I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her, and you've never been so adamant that I behave myself around any of your girlfriends. That, and I think you've got a good chance, between you. You suit each other, obviously. Just ....don't rush it, all right' Mum survived me eloping; she'd kill you."

"That would be the obvious place for them, wouldn't it?" he murmured to himself, at the silliness of his own question, as he snagged a plate from the cupboard and filled it with cookies from the cookie jar. "She does know how to cook," he said. "I feel bad about stealing her from you."

"Oh, don't be a ninny," Brynne told him, waving a hand with a dismissive grin. "I'm not letting her go until she works off her two weeks' notice, anyway, and besides, I'm betting she knows a few people who can replace her. Lila's going to throttle you for not telling her about this, you know."

"I thought you said you were firing her," he pointed out, munching on a cookie as he joined her at the table. He arched a brow at her remark about Lila, thinking it was likely Lila already knew or was about to find out. She was present at dinner when Dom was having his little talk with Brynne, though he wasn't sure how much she'd been paying attention. "Actually, it's Lila I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, yeah, I am firing her," she shrugged. "But you know what she's like better than I do. Can you really see her stopping work right here this minute" Remember, she's seen me cook." She grinned, knowing that cooking was not exactly her strong suit. The change of subject to her daughter, however, eased Brynne's teasing. "What about her?"

"I hadn't planned on asking you about this right now, but it seems this is as good a time as any," he started, seeming a little nervous again, though he really had no reason to be. He couldn't imagine her denying his request to have Lila make a new friend, so long as she didn't need to leave Rhy'Din to do it. "I've been thinking about asking Zahan to come for a visit."

Brynne's brows rose, curious but not disapproving. "Would her parents allow it?" she asked, proving once again that she was mature enough to see things from a mother's point of view first and foremost. "I mean ....Rhy'Din's a hard sell for a lot of people, especially on your Earth."

"That's the problem, isn't it?" he replied with a sigh, taking a sip of his tea before setting the cup down. "I'm open to suggestions," he added, knowing this was a problem. As much as he wanted this to happen, the decision wasn't his to make. It was up to both Brynne and Zahan's adoptive parents, not him. "You know, there was a time when I wanted to adopt her myself," he said, letting her know something he had not shared before.

She blinked, frowning curiously at this little confession she had not heard before. She leaned forward onto her elbows, hands wrapped about her cup. "Why didn't you?" she asked, interested to know quite what had happened there.

He shrugged, unsure if he could explain the situation to her satisfaction. There were so many answers he could give her. At the time, his situation was entirely different. He hadn't really been in a position to adopt a child. He'd been ill, for one thing; single; and far away from home without a real home to offer or solid family structure. "She needed more than I could offer," he replied simply enough.

"Oh, I see." She nodded gently, understanding. The nuclear, 2.4 family was very important to the agencies when they were placing children who had been through trauma of any kind. "Then you should definitely invite her to visit. She should see that you're getting on well, too, you know."

"I miss her, you know. She reminded me a lot of Lila." He sighed again, rubbing a thumb against his tea cup, a sign of nervousness. "But I don't know, Brynne. Maybe it would be better just to let her go." From the tone of his voice and the look on his face, it was obvious he had grown fond of the little girl he'd met while in Africa. He'd even go so far as to say she had stolen a piece of his heart, but when it all came down to it, he just wanted her to be happy.

"Why should you let go of a friend you've made?" she pointed out. "It doesn't matter that she's a child, Teddy. You love her, and it's pretty obvious from the pictures you showed me that she loves you. Maybe not as a father, but definitely as a friend who made things so much better for her. Why should either of you have to let go of that?"

"Because I live in a make believe world that her parents don't believe in?" he ventured a guess, though that wasn't completely the truth. He had a feeling if he wanted Zahan to visit, he was going to have to allow her parents to come along for the ride. "They're going to think I'm off my rocker." Now, that was an honest concern.

"So bring them here, too," she pointed out. "Just for a couple of days, just so they know she's in good hands. And besides, wouldn't they want to see you, too' She's bound to have told them all about you by now, Teddy. If I'd adopted her, I'd want to meet you myself."

"And how do I talk them into that' By the way, I live at the center of the known multiverse, but it's just a step away if you know how to open the portals. It sounds like a bad episode of Dr. Who or something." Seeing was believing, however, and maybe it was all about his approach. "It would be so much easier to say I lived in England or something."

"You do what all of us do when we have to break the news," his sister smiled. "You go and meet them, and bring them through the portal yourself. It's a hard sell to convince anyone that Rhy'Din's real - the best way is to show and tell, you know that."

"Or I could lie," he suggested, though they both knew he was incapable of it and always had been. In the end, he always gave himself away, even in the whitest of lies. "Do you think you'd mind Lila meeting her" I thought it might be good for them both." Not to mention himself.

Brynne held his gaze for a long moment, wondering if he realized what a daft question that was. "Why would I mind that?" she asked him gently. "Lila would love it, and I daresay Zahan would, too. They're both about the same age; there's a lot they can learn from each other. I think they'd have fun, to be honest. And it would take a lot of the pressure off you to be wildly entertaining, because I know what you're like." She blew her brother an impish kiss.

Perhaps surprisingly, Brynne wasn't teasing. She smiled gently at her brother. "Maybe we should ask her if she'd like to," she suggested quietly, and by we, she clearly meant you. "It's late for her to be hitching a ride back to the city, anyway." It said a lot for her new acceptance of things that she was prepared to offer this as an option; they had a spare room, after all. It wasn't as though she was suggesting that her brother imprison his girlfriend in his own bedroom all night.

"Are you sure?" he asked, as he went about warming some milk on the stove. While it was true there was a spare bedroom, he hadn't thought Brynne would be open to such an idea, especially so soon. As tempting as it was to have Lis share his bed, they had Lila to think of, and he was willing to wait a little while longer.

"I'm sure," his sister nodded, gently rocking Lila back and forth as the little girl listened to their conversation without actually absorbing any of it. "I got a good hard look at myself tonight, Teddy, and I didn't like what I saw. So I'm going to be someone I want to be, not try and make everyone conform to how I want them to be. And let's face it, I doubt things will be anything but clear in a few days' time."

"I'm not sure what you mean," he said in response to her statement. What did she mean by clear" Weren't things already pretty clear" Or was she referring to Lila or the family understanding what was going on between him and Lis. It wasn't like he'd asked her to marry him or anything. At least, not yet. There were things he still needed to tell her, that he needed her to understand, but not in present company.

It was Lila that was the main issue in Brynne's mind, and she had every intention of explaining things to her daughter the next day, regardless of the sleeping arrangements tonight. Catching her brother's eye, she stroked her hand against Lila's hair, offering the hint she knew he was intelligent enough to pick up on. "I think things are gonna clear up starting tomorrow, personally."

He flicked a glance from Brynne to Lila and back, catching her meaning. "Oh, I see," he replied, turning to finish concocting the cup of hot cocoa. He wasn't sure what Brynne was going to say when he told her he was moving out, but it had to happen sooner or later. Besides, he was hoping to stay at Maple Grove, so even though he wouldn't be living in the same house, he'd still be close. "Marshmallows or no marshmallows?" he asked as he poured the hot chocolatey concoction into a mug.

As Lila opened her mouth to answer, Brynne laughed, shaking her head. "No marshmallows this close to bedtime," she vetoed the query gently. "A sugar high at ten in the evening is not anyone's idea of fun."

Lila pouted, but didn't argue, knowing she was pressing her luck just being awake at nearly nine in the evening as it was.

"Marshmallows tomorrow then," he promised. They'd made a little habit of visiting together when she got home from her Saturday activities, and from school during the week, before her mother got home from work, and he had to admit, it was the part of the day he looked forward to most.

Mollified, the pout smoothed away into a smile as Lila nodded in agreement, making no attempt to hide her yawn as she shifted. "Uncle Teddy ..." she asked thoughtfully, watching him move around with sleepy eyes. "Are you going to stay forever and ever now?"

He set the mug of cocoa on the table in front of his young niece, a small frown on his face at her question. He'd never been a very good liar and he wasn't about to start now, but he didn't want her to worry either. "I don't know, Lilabean, but I promise no matter happens, I'll never stay away as long as I did before. I'd miss you and your mother too much," he said, reaching over to nap a finger lightly against her nose.

"M'kay," she nodded, giggling a little at the tap to her nose as she took the little mug between her hands. "Only 'cos you're all excited about Zahan, and you might go away and be with her, and I'd miss you lots if you did."

For a moment, he looked a little surprised at her statement, as if she was worried he'd choose Zahan over her. "I'm not going away to be with Zahan. She has a family of her own to take care of her, just like you have me and your Mum and Lis and everyone else here who loves you. Even if I do go away again, I'll always come back. I promise."

"We're family, Lila-bear," Brynne murmured against her daughter's hair. "Doesn't matter how far away we go, we always come back to each other. And it doesn't matter if any of us falls in love with someone else - that person becomes part of our family, they don't take our family away from us."

Reassured by them both, Lila smiled, sighing happily as she sipped her cocoa.

Edward smiled his thanks at his sister, not only pleased by her change of heart but touched by words he knew probably did not come easily. Maybe, with any luck, someday she would see that Lis was not the enemy and they could become friends. They had him in common, after all, and Lila, too. He just hoped Brynne wouldn't change her tune when she found out that he and Lis were hoping to open a clinic together somewhere.

Fresh footsteps made themselves known, and Lis slipped quietly through the kitchen, her arms full of bed linens to be washed. She offered a smile to Lila on her way past, not quite daring to meet either Edward or Brynne's eyes, and disappeared into the utility room.

Edward said nothing as Lis passed through, but followed her momentarily with his eyes looking back at Brynne and Lila. "Brynne, would you mind very much if I did the tucking in tonight?" he asked, feeling the need to further reassure his young niece that - unlike her father - he was always going to be a part of her life.

Brynne smiled gently, understanding what he didn't say. She knew Lila still had a little insecurity about the absence of her father, not remembering the circumstances, and though she tried, she couldn't alleviate it all alone. "Of course I don't mind," she assured him, rescuing the mug before it slipped out of Lila's hands entirely. "I think we're at that time, anyway." She kissed her daughter gently on the forehead. "Bedtime, sleepy bear."

Edward moved to his feet to scoop the sleepy girl up from her mother's arms. It was a testament to his improving health that he was able and willing to pick her up and carrying her up the stairs to her bed without asking for help. "Let's go, Lilabean. It's sleepytime."

"I'm not playing a game of musical chairs with you, Brynne," Edward warned with that big brotherly scowl on his face. Okay, so he wasn't all that ill anymore, but that didn't mean he didn't still tire out easily, and it had been a busy day. "No!" Edward replied. "I'm pretty sure the two of you would love to gang up against me," he said with a serious look on his face, though the sparkle in his blue eyes gave him away.

"No, I get to do the teasing and bullying, and she gets to lick your wounds," Brynne informed her brother, thumping down into her chosen chair. "And I won, so she's staying. Right, Lisbeth?"

Again, Lis blinked in surprise, glancing between both of them with a bemused smile. "I ..." Should she really answer that"

Edward rolled his eyes at his sister's silliness. "You already decided to invite her before I put Lila to bed," he reminded his sister, albeit on the condition that she sleep in the guest room. He took up his cup and went over to make himself a fresh cup of tea. "She's asleep, by the way." He completely ignored the part about licking his wounds, as that could have been taken several different ways.

"True, but then I won the bet," Brynne smiled impishly. "No choice now." Her smile softened as he mentioned Lila. "I thought she might go quickly. She's had an exciting day."

Beside her, Lis was wisely keeping quiet, her cheeks flushed just a little at the proffered invitation to stay the night. Dark eyes flickered to Edward's for a moment, a secret little smile on her lips, before she looked down at her cocoa once again.

He noticed the look from Lis, but said nothing about it, refusing to let Brynne tease him into revealing what had happened between them earlier that day. Instead, he turned away to fix his tea, effectively hiding any tell-tale sign of embarrassment that might be showing itself on his face, at least for now. "So, what have you two been talking about while I was tucking Little Miss Muffet into bed?"

The two women exchanged a glance that resulted in a fresh blush from Lis as she giggled quietly under Brynne's grin. "I am sorry to tell you, Eduardo, that I have been relieved of my duties here," the former housekeeper told him through her laughter. "I believe it is in order that I may ..." She looked at Brynne enquiringly as she went on. "....may assist you in whatever manner you see fit, on a personal level?"

Brynne nodded, making no attempt to conceal her grin. "I suggested she start that tonight, but she got shy on me," she added for her brother's enjoyment.

Edward turned, tea cup in hand, and eyed his sister suspiciously. "Are you sure you aren't feverish?" he asked pointedly as he made his way back to the table and finally claimed a chair. He knew she had turned over a new leaf, but he had never quite seen her so accommodating. She was like Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning.

"I'm behaving like an adult, isn't it obvious?" His sister grinned, enjoying having two of them to tease. She knew she wasn't going to get away with it for long.

Lis cleared her throat, brushing her hair back out of her eyes. "You said you had something to speak about?" she asked Edward, a brief flare of something quite close to help me in her eyes. Apparently Brynne had not stopped teasing her since they'd cleared the air.

"Yes, well..." He glanced between the two of them, furrowing his brows mostly at Lis, as he wasn't quite sure what all had been said between them while he was upstairs. "I'm going to go talk to Humphrey tomorrow about moving into one of empty cottages on the Grove." There, he'd said it. He was planning on moving out, but not going very far.

Brynne's smile wavered a little, but she made an effort not to lose it entirely. "I guess I expected that," she nodded, swallowing her sigh. "Can't be living with your little sister all your life, can you?" Her eyes flickered toward Lis, but she didn't say anything about that development. "It makes sense, anyway. Just ....not too far, okay?"

"No, not too far. I'll still be on the Grove. To be honest..." he started, glancing down at his tea cup for a moment before looking back up. "I don't really want to go far from home for a while. I've missed enough." He looked a little guiltily at Lis, not having had a chance to discuss this with her too much yet, though their plans weren't set in stone yet. "Is that all right with you, Lis?" he asked. "I've missed so much being away. I have a lot of catching up to do." And a book to write, besides; that should keep him busy for a while.

Lis looked up, startled to be addressed directly. "I ....it is your choice," she pointed out, shy of addressing him with the endearment on the tip of her tongue in front of his sister. "You have a great deal to do. It makes sense for you to live here on the Grove for the time to come."

Beside her, Brynne looked as though her jaw was going to bounce off the table, genuinely surprised to find that Lis seemed to know exactly how to talk to Edward without offering an opinion at all.

"Yes, but this involves you, too," he said, reaching across the table for her hand, in full view of his sister. If this was going to work, there had to be no secrets between them. Nothing had really changed. These were immediate plans they had already discussed. "I still want you to move in with me and help me with the book, but I want to be near my family, too. I've been away too long." And that family wasn't just Brynne and Lila, but encompassed all the Grangers he knew and loved.

Her fingers curled into his as he reached for her hand, her eyes lifting to his own with something that might almost have been shock. "I would never ask you to leave your family, querido," she told him fiercely, a little hurt that anyone would think she might. "No one should have to live apart from their blood, from the people they love. How could you possibly think that I would find anything to object to in such a decision?"

"I just needed to be sure," he replied, looking between them both with that serious look on his face again. "I love you both, and I don't want to choose between you. I don't expect you to become best friends overnight, but I would ask that you at least try to get to know each other, if not for my sake, than for Lila's." It seemed half of that battle was over already with his sister's change of heart, but he still had to convince Lis.

Lis, who didn't know how to be a lover, a sister, or an aunt, lacking her own family and afraid of asking to be accepted into another. It might be a bit of a hard sell, especially given the glimpse she had been given of Brynne's temper in recent weeks.

Brynne cleared her throat. "We can get on," she said, offering a compromise. "Takes time to change the way things have been to the way they should be." And she knew she'd done more than a little damage over the last week or so. "Lila's going to be so pleased for you."

"I want you to be pleased for me, too, Brynne," he said, letting go of his tea cup so he could reach for her hand as well, one of each of their hands held in his. "We're going to be fine. You'll see," he told them both with that charming Edward smile of his. "Since I'm going to be close, you can have Lila come over after school if you want until you get home from work, or we can come here. I'm not abandoning you, Brynne. Promise."

"I am pleased for you, Teddy," his sister insisted, gathering his hand between her own. "And if you're happy to have Lila invade your space every day after school, you're welcome to her. I would rather have her with people she knows and loves, than have to get used to trusting a stranger again." The way her eyes flickered to Lis was telling - Lis had once been that stranger, but now she was included in the list of people Lila knew and loved.

It was a touching realization, one that made the shy woman's smile falter as she struggled with it. "If ....if you would like," she offered quietly, "I feel sure you would both be welcome to eat with us each evening, when you come for Lila."