Crissy's cell phone was riddled with missed calls and text messages from her mother for three days straight. And Crissy deleted every single one without reading or listening to any of them. Every time she hit the delete button, a mixture of relief and dread tightened in her stomach. This wasn't going to end well. She had the distinct, nasty feeling that it was only going to get worse before it got any better, too, which was not a comforting thought in the least.

After the third day of her phone ringing endlessly, it went silent. Terribly, terribly silent. She groaned and threw herself into making tiramisu, letting the scents of espresso, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar ease her mind.

By the end of the week, with Quinn's family dinner taking up more and more of her thoughts, Crissy hardly worried anymore about what her mother had in store for her. It would come eventually, like a hurricane, shredding everything in her path. But Crissy had been through similar storms for as long as she could remember and they didn't really scare her all that much anymore. They passed eventually and her mother would move onto a new complaint to rage about.

At the end of the day on Friday, Crissy closed the shop early and slid a plate of fresh raspberry macaroons over to Amy. Her eyes lit up.

"I smell bribery," she said.

"That's exactly what it is," Crissy replied. "Will you do my hair? Quinn will be here in an hour."

Amy picked up the plate and headed for Crissy room. "Like you even have to ask, sugar. Get your cute butt upstairs."

Crissy settled on her bed, tucking her legs up underneath her. Amy sat behind her, carefully smoothing out Crissy's curls and pinning them into place.

"Nervous?" Amy asked. "I seem to recall the last time I did your hair for a certain special outing, you were a bundle of jitters."

Crissy paused, searching. "That feels like a lifetime ago."

"Hard to believe it's only been a few months."

"I'm a little nervous, I guess. Just because I'll be meeting the rest of his family and I want to make a good impression but I'm not jittery like I was before."

Amy hummed. "That's what happens when you've got those big hearts in your eyes all the time around Quinn. You seem much more...comfortable now."

Crissy laughed a little at that thought. "Considering our bumpy beginning. Sometimes I wonder how we even made it this far."

"Is that doubt I hear?"

"No," Crissy hurried to reply.

"I hope not. Because if it is, better smack that ugly bastard down. Don't start second guessing now. You've got a good thing going."

"I'm not second guessing. It just feels...like a dream. Like I'll wake up at any moment and it'll be over. You know?"

Amy blew out a breath and nodded. "Yes."

Crissy raised her eyebrows and turned to look at her. "You do?"

Amy widened her eyes. "You're not the only one who wonders if their relationship will make it through or not. Manny and I are human after all."

Crissy hesitated then asked, very quietly, "Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

"Nope."

"Amy..."

"I swear, there isn't, sugar. All I'm saying is that I know what it's like to wonder if the happy dream bubble will burst. That's perfectly normal for everyone."

"But you don't seem like the kind of person to ever even think that, let alone be worried about it."

Amy sighed dramatically and crawled around to face Crissy.

"It's the baby," she said. "Manny is over the moon. I haven't seen him happier...ever. He won't stop smiling. He won't stop helping around the apartment." She held up a hand. "I am so not complaining about that by the way."

Crissy frowned. "Amy, that sounds like a good thing."

"It is, sugar, believe me. But having a baby changes so much. My parents were separated for three years after I was born. Your parents completely broke up after you came along."

Crissy grimaced and Amy matched her expression.

"Sorry," she said. "Didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's...okay. It happened. I was too young to have it affect me anyway. So you're worried that having the baby will make Manu...not love you anymore?"

Amy winced and fiddled with the pool of bobby pins on Crissy's bed.

"When you put it that way, it sounds way too simple and much worse than when it was in my head," she said quietly.

Crissy said nothing. She didn't know what to say. Amy so rarely doubted herself or her relationship with Manu that it felt strange, hearing these words come out of her mouth.

"You could say something, sugar," Amy said in a fake tone of annoyance. "I know you're dying to."

"But...how?" Crissy asked.

Amy blinked, surprised. "What? What do you mean, how?"

"Every time I look at you and Manu, all I can think is that the two of you are impossibly perfect. If there were ever two people absolutely made for each other, it would be the two of you. And that's only supposed to exist in fairy tales and movies. But I see that in you and Manu."

Tears welled up in Amy's eyes. "You never told me that before."

Crissy shrugged, picking at the blanket on her bed.

"It kind of made me a little jealous I guess," she said. "Even if the baby does change things between you and Manu, I think you'll find a way to work it out. You've always been unstoppable, especially when it comes to people you care about. And Manu is so lost on you. I can't imagine him even looking at another woman."

Amy flapped her hands and she turned her head up towards the ceiling.

"Cristina Atwood," she said in a stern tone. "Don't you dare make me cry."

Crissy snorted. "You're the one who wanted to suffer through raging pregnancy hormones. You looked about ready to cry over my macaroons earlier."

"That's because they're so beautiful. Now stop teasing me and let me finish your hair already."

Crissy obediently turned around but just as Amy started pinning her hair again, her phone buzzed on her bedside table. Amy glanced at it, uneasy.

"Your mom is still calling?" she asked. "It's been at least a week."

Crissy groaned and grabbed the phone, ready to stuff it into her drawer. "I'm thinking about changing my number. I can't carry my phone with me everywhere when she's calling like this. I'd never answer it. And then you would call with some big emergency and I'd ignore it and I'd feel awful..."

"Changing your number might not be a bad idea actually," Amy replied.

The phone buzzed again and the screen lit up with Andrea's name in bold letters.

"Oh, that's so much worse," Amy said. "Don't. You are going out tonight and you do not need her in your head."

"Part of me knows your right, but there's another part of me that knows my sister is the most tenacious person on the planet. That's why she's so good at her job. She won't call as much as Mom will."

"Good, then ignore her and she'll go away."

"That's...not Andrea's way. If I don't call her back within a day, she'll show up here."

"Oh god," Amy groaned. "Oh god, no. Not again."

"I know."

"Well, answer it tomorrow. After your dinner."

Crissy tapped her phone on her bed. "I'd rather fend her off now. Before she gets an early start and winds up sitting on my doorstep at some unholy hour of the morning."

Amy growled and jabbed a pin into Crissy's hair. Crissy winced and shied away.

"Okay," Crissy said. "That's enough for you. Finish your macaroons, Mother Bear."

Amy made a grab for the phone but Crissy held it at arm's length.

"Let me make the call," Amy said, holding her hand out.

Crissy laughed. "No way in hell. Sorry."

Amy pouted and wriggled into Crissy's pillows, settling the plate of macaroons on her stomach.

"Fine," she said. "But I'm listening to every word and if she gets bitchy, I'm giving you to the count of five. If you haven't hung up on her by then, I'm doing it myself."

"I can't hang up on my family after every conversation, Amy," Crissy said.

"Yes you can. Until they start being nice to you for a change."

"You just want to see me hang up again. You got way too much excitement out of it last time."

Amy grinned. "I did. It was gorgeous. Do it again. Make me happy, sugar."

Crissy shook her head. "You're impossible. And I'm taking this call downstairs."

Amy shrugged. "Take it wherever you want. I'll still find out."

"I'm sure you will."

Crissy left her apartment and returned to the comfort of her kitchen. She leaned back against the counter, the oven still warm from the cookies she had baked earlier. Slowly, she ran her thumb over her phone. This conversation wasn't going to be pretty, she knew that. This was the retaliation she had been waiting for.

Before she could give it another second of thought, Crissy called Andrea back.

"Mother is very upset," Andrea said.

Crissy laughed a little. "Of course she is. I am too."

"You have no right to be upset. You hung up on her. You hurt her."

Crissy gritted her teeth. "I have every right to be upset. She wanted me to break up with my boyfriend and I wouldn't do it and suddenly I'm the villain? I don't think so."

"She found a date for you for my wedding," Andrea shot back. "That was very selfless of her, you know."

"But I already had a date and she didn't even ask. I'm not going to break up with someone I care about just because she wants me to go to your wedding with another guy."

"How do you know this guy wouldn't be a better fit for you?" Andrea replied. "Mother knows what's best for us and..."

"No," Crissy cut in. "She doesn't. And if you're going to call and tell me that I have to break up with Quinn, it's not going to happen."

"I'm calling because you should apologize to Mother. You're ignoring her. You're not returning her calls. She is beside herself and I have to watch it all."

Crissy held the phone away from her, marveling that the conversation had gone spinning this far out of control already. She took a deep breath and brought the phone back to her ear again. Andrea was still going.

"All she ever does is talk about how you won't talk to her anymore. You're shunning her because she tried to reach out and make sure you weren't lonely anymore. She couldn't understand why you insisted on being alone for so long and frankly, I couldn't understand it either."

"It was my choice," Crissy said. "I needed time."

"Oh, right, after your big dramatic break up."

The hang up button was screaming for her attention. Crissy's thumb twitched towards it.

"Are you even listening to me?" Andrea demanded.

"I've heard every word you said," Crissy replied. "I just don't feel the need to respond when it's not true."

Andrea sucked in an indignant breath, ready to protest further, but Crissy plowed on.

"I am very happy with the relationship I am currently in," she said. "And I will not allow you or Mom to butcher it because it doesn't fit your agenda, whatever the hell that is. I do not need or want anyone finding me a date for your wedding. And I am not apologizing to Mom. When she is no longer upset, she can call me back and we can have a civil conversation but if all she's going to do is accuse me of being ungrateful, I have no interest in talking to her. Is that clear?"

Andrea was silent for a full minute, before, finally, she said, "Yes."

"I have full confidence you will pass that message on to her."

"May I speak now? Or are you going to continue to rant at me?"

"I'm finished," Crissy said, bracing herself for the hell storm that was brewing on the other end of the line.

"Mother wanted me to convince you to agree to this date she has for you," Andrea said. "And I've tried to be sensitive about it but I see sensitivity is very obviously off the table so I'll cut straight to the chase. Mother talked to Rob and he's agreed to carve time out of his busy schedule to attend the wedding. It would be rude to ignore..."

Crissy started shaking as fury coursed through her. Her mouth worked open and closed for a moment but what could she possibly say to that? She should have expected this. Maybe she already knew, deep down.

"Cristina," Andrea said, cutting through the hazy fog of anger clouding Crissy's thoughts. "I think you know you have to accept..."

"Absolutely not," Crissy growled. "I have a date already."

"Fine," Andrea spat. "But you better be ready to step in when Mother is too upset to help me with my wedding."

And she hung up. But this time, Crissy didn't feel a rush of relief when the conversation was over. She still felt blindsided. She knew it was going to be bad. Maybe she already knew that...his...name would come up. It still felt like a jolt of ice cold water filling her lungs. What if she had walked into that wedding blind without knowing he would be there? What if she hadn't met Quinn and she was there alone, forced to spend the evening with him, making polite chit chat after he'd ripped her heart inside out?

Quinn's name floated to the forefront of her mind again. She hadn't even asked him yet. What if he was busy with work? What if he couldn't come? What if he didn't want to come?

Crissy climbed the stairs back to her room. Amy wiggled her bare toes at her and patted the bed.

"Spill the beans, sugar," she said. "You look wrecked. I told you to hold off."

"How do you know these things?"

"Because I do not insist on wearing those god damn rose colored glasses that you refuse to take off."

"Says the woman who is about to willingly put herself through how many hours of labor to give birth to a screaming poopy child?"

Amy paused, nodded. "Touche."

"I'm changing my number tomorrow," Crissy said. "And my schedule may be free in June, you never know."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "You're not going to the wedding? Was it really that bad?"

Crissy sighed. "I don't know. I mean, it was bad. The date my mom had set up for me was..." She had promised she wouldn't say his name and she wouldn't now. She had moved on. She was head over heels in love with an incredible man. She wouldn't think about him anymore.

"No," Amy said with a frown. "Not him. Millions of men on this planet and your mother has to choose him?"

Crissy shoved off the bed. "Which is exactly why I may not be going to the wedding. I told my mom off. I told my sister off. I have no idea if I'm even invited now. I don't really care. I'm going to dinner with my boyfriend to meet his family."

Amy settled back against Crissy's pillows again. "You go girl, rock that confidence. I like it on you. It's a good look."

"I don't feel confident. I feel pissed off. And mad."

Amy shrugged. "They go together more often than you think. Still looks good on you. Keep it going, sugar. Work it for all its worth. You know this won't be the last you'll hear from your family though. They don't let things go easy."

"Ugh. Don't remind me. I really don't want to think about what else they have in store for me. Tonight's phone call was more than enough."

The bell over the front door jingled and Quinn's deep voice floated up the stairs.

"Crissy?" he called. "Are you here?"

Crissy flew down the stairs and rose up on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

"Whoa," he said, his hands coming to rest on her waist. "Hello to you too."

She pulled back a little. "You're amazing," she said.

"I think you might feel differently after you meet my family but okay."

She shook her head. "I doubt it. Besides, you needed to know that now."

Quinn gave a small laugh and brushed his thumb over her chin. "I'll be honest, I could definitely get used to it."

"Good. Give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go."

She turned and ran back up the stairs.

"How's Prince Charming?" Amy asked.

"Handsome as ever," Crissy replied, hopping on one foot as she tugged on her boots. She dropped to her knees at the end of her bed and looked up at Amy. "I think I understand."

Amy frowned. "Understand what?"

"Remember how I told you that Manu is lost on you?"

Amy nodded.

"That's how I feel about Quinn. I know it's a little soon but...it just seems to get stronger and stronger the more I see him."

Amy smiled, soft and slow and truly happy. "It's about damn time you had something like that in your life, sugar. You deserve it."

Crissy bounced on the bed and kissed Amy's cheek before she grabbed her purse and ran for the door.

"Don't leave crumbs on my bed," she said.

"You leave crumbs on your bed all the time. I'm only helping."

"I do not. That's always you leaving crumbs on my bed. And there are more cookies in the jar on the counter if you want them."

"All of them?"

Crissy spun around and grinned. "I have to get that little baby addicted to sugar, don't I?"

Amy's answering grin spread from ear to ear. "You bet your ass you do. And you're scary good at it too."

Crissy clattered down the stairs and this time Quinn caught her as she barreled into him for another kiss. He laughed against her mouth.

"What has gotten into you?" he said, sliding his arm around her waist as he opened the door.

She tucked her arm into his elbow and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I might be a little crazy for you," she said. "And I realized today that you're...you're good for me."

"How so?"

"You make me very happy."

Quinn smiled down at her, wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"You make me very happy, too," he said.

He started pulling her towards the door but she broke off.

"Wait! Cookies," she said.

She ran into the kitchen, retrieved the huge box of rocky road cookies. Quinn's eyebrows shot up when she returned, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ready," she said.

"How much sugar is in that box?" he asked, taking the box from her.

"Oh, I lost count after about six dozen cookies."

"Christ," he muttered. "I'm going to be dead by the time those kids ever fall asleep."

Quinn helped her into his truck like he usually did, set the box of cookies at her feet, and once they were on the road, Crissy thought about dropping that bomb of a question into the comfortable silence. Asking him to be her date for the wedding.

But then she held back. There would still be plenty of time to ask him whether he would accompany her to the wedding or not. She didn't need to ruin tonight.

Quinn reached across the seat and let his fingers come to rest in the palm of her hand, not quite a grasp, just a touch, a reassurance.

"Everything okay?" he asked. "You looked a little...agitated earlier."

For a moment, Crissy closed her eyes. It would be so easy to spill everything that happened. But that wouldn't set the right tone for tonight's plans. This was about his family, not the train wreck that was her family. She wanted to focus on him and how happy she felt when she was around him.

"I'll tell you later," she said.