As Puck arrived home after working an extra hour, he noticed Ross’s car already parked out in front. He was already back from picking up Addie at Dak and Brody’s.

As soon as the front door opened, luscious, savory aromas from the kitchen wafted toward his nose. “Oh, my God, what is that? It smells amazing.”

Ross, wearing a red apron and holding a wooden spoon in his hand, said, “And welcome home to you, too.”

Puck dropped his jacket on a chair and leaned over Addie’s crib in the corner of the living room. “How’s my angel this evening?”

Ross stepped up beside him with a smirk and said, “I’m fine.”

Puck scooped Addie into his arms holding her in one elbow while reaching out to hug Ross with the other arm. “Oh, don’t worry. I didn’t forget you. When did you get here? It smells like you’ve been cooking all day.”

“Well, I got off work a little early. Rhea had evening plans, and Diego practically chased us out the door. So I picked up a baby for us downtown, and I decided to make a nice dinner. Do you approve?”

“You picked up a baby? Was she looking for two dads?” Puck kissed Addie’s cheek.

“I don’t know if that’s what she was after, but it’s what she got. She’ll have to make do.”

“She’s going to groan at your sense of humor when she’s a teenager. I can hear it now, ‘Oh, Dad!’”

“Why don’t you put her down and let her play, and then you can help me finish up dinner.”

As Puck squatted down to place Addie on the living room floor near her toys, the doorbell rang.

He quickly glanced up at Ross, “Who could that be?”

“Are you expecting company?”

“I never have company other than you.”

Ross wiped his hands on his apron while the doorbell rang again. “I suggest that you answer it.”

“Will you pick up Addie? I don’t have any idea what or who it might be. I’ll get rid of them as quickly as possible so we can eat our dinner in peace.”

As Ross scooped the baby from the floor, Puck answered the front door. He gasped audibly. Multiple responses raced through his head, and he couldn’t put the words together for any of them.

It was an older couple, and the woman asked, “Well, are you going to invite us in?”

“Of course.” Puck gestured for them to step inside. Ross stepped back while bouncing Addie on his arm. His brow furrowed in confusion.

Puck asked, “Did you just happen to be in the area? Why did you stop by?”

Ross thought about telling Puck to stop being rude to strangers, but he held his tongue. He wasn’t sure the older couple were strangers. He stood still and waited to find out more.

The woman asked, “Do we need a reason to see our granddaughter?”

Ross took another step back. He put two and two together and realized the couple were Miranda’s parents. After the stories he heard from Puck, he knew that they were not welcome visitors.

The woman stepped toward Ross, cooed and said, “Oh, is that the precious one? She is so beautiful. She looks just like our Miranda.”

Ross gently elbowed Puck with his opposite arm. Puck said, “Oh, let me introduce my friend, Ross. He helps me take care of Addie. And, uh, Ross, these are Miranda’s parents, Ellen and Myron. You’ve heard me talk about them.”

Myron raised an eyebrow while he reached out to shake hands with Ross. Ellen asked, “Can I hold her?”

In an awkward, strangled tone of voice, Puck said, “Of course.” Ross reluctantly handed Addie to Ellen. Addie began to fuss and sobbed softly as she left the familiar arms.

Ross nervously glanced over his shoulder while Myron wandered into the rest of the living room and dining area.

Puck said, “Why don’t you both have a seat? Ross is making dinner.” He gestured toward the couch.

While bouncing Addie to try and quiet her, Ellen said, “Oh, we can’t stay long. We were in the area, and I just wanted to say hello to sweet Addie. It has been far too long.”

Watching Addie, Ross instinctively reached into his pocket for his keys. He frowned thinking Ellen looked like she was holding onto a foreign object. He wanted to speak, but he held his tongue to avoid causing trouble for Puck.

Puck whispered, “It has been too long.”

With another quick glance over his shoulder, Ross saw Myron inspecting a bouquet of roses in a vase on the dining table. He held out his keys and jangled them near Addie. The fussing stopped.

Ellen asked, “Are we welcome to visit in the future when we can stay longer? We weren’t completely sure we would be welcome.”

Myron stepped back into the living room as Puck said, “You are her grandparents.”

“Of course we are. And we’re Miranda’s parents. It was a horrible tragedy. I wake up at night sometimes in tears. Don’t I, Myron?”

Myron stepped up beside her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and said, “Yes, you do. It is awful.”

Ross couldn’t recall ever hearing two people speak about such a horrific tragedy with so little emotion in their voices.

Ellen turned in his direction for a moment and then held Addie out to Puck. “I think she wants her father.”

Puck wrapped Addie in his arms while Ross continued to jangle his keys. She nestled her head into Puck’s shoulder with a smile on her face.

Myron whispered in Ellen’s ear. Then he turned to the two men. “We’ll be going for now.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” added Ellen as they both turned toward the door.

Ross said, “Uh, good meeting you?” He pushed the door shut behind them and turned around leaning his back against the door as if to prevent any other unwelcome intrusions. In a voice of exasperation, he asked, “What the fucking hell was that?”

Puck shook his head while rubbing Addie’s back. She was softly cooing against his shoulder. He said, “That was Miranda’s parents. That was my former in-laws. Surely your parents are better than that.”

Ross shrugged. “Well, they aren’t perfect, but yeah, Ellen and Myron set the bar pretty damn low. They are the ones who have never seen Addie before? The ones who haven’t been in contact since the funeral?”

Puck nodded. “That’s them, and before you get any more upset than you already are, I’m sorry for introducing you as a friend. They caught me off guard.”

“I don’t care about that. Who knows what the Stepford couple might do if they knew the truth. Damn!” Ross wandered over to the dining room table. “And what was Lurch looking for over here?”

“Who knows. He always gave me the creeps. Miranda said he barely talked when she was growing up. One time he caught her kissing a boyfriend in her bedroom, and he stared for about thirty seconds, said, ‘Stop that,’ and left the room. She said she tried to stay out of his way.”

“Shit!” exclaimed Ross. “I think this is what he was looking for.”

Puck peered over the back of the sofa. “What’s such a big deal?”

“This card. I forgot about it. I didn’t throw it away because I’m keeping a collection at home. This one from you is particularly sweet.”

“He looked at the card?”

“I’m sure he did. I saw him staring down at the table by the flowers.”

“What does it say? I mean, I wrote it, but that was a couple of days ago. I figured we’d take the flowers to your place on Friday night.”

Ross read the words. “For Ross, my love forever and ever, Puck. Damn, it makes me tear up when I read it out loud.”

“Well, that kind of spells it out, doesn’t it?”

Ross made a brief stop at the kitchen stove looking into a pot before making his way over to the couch to sit beside Puck and Addie. “What do you think they’re up to?”

“I don’t know. I guess they finally felt guilty enough to say hello to their granddaughter. I haven’t seen them since Miranda’s funeral.”

Ross kicked his feet up on the couch and laid his head back on Puck’s lap. He wanted to put the unexpected visit behind them even though it made his blood run cold in his veins. “Let’s forget it for now and have a good evening. I’ve got a fine dinner cooking for us, and I’m hoping for a little dessert later.”

Puck reached down and rubbed his hand on Ross’s chest. He deftly unbuttoned two buttons of the shirt and slipped a hand inside to enjoy the warmth of the skin beneath. “So what’s cooking for dinner? It smells like pork or beef. I’m always bad at figuring out what’s cooking from the smells.”

“My grandma’s recipe for pot roast. If we handle it like she did, we should have at least three lunches worth of meat after eating tonight.”

Puck laughed. “Don’t talk about the leftovers until we’ve had the first round of food.”

Ross rolled his head back and looked up at Puck. He said, “I think we should take Addie to a beach sometime this summer.”

“In Minnesota?”

“Nothing requires us to stay in the state. We could pack everything up in the car and head south, or east to Lake Michigan. At a minimum, we could show her Lake Calhoun in the cities.”

“Are you trying to raise a mermaid?”

“Much much better than a mermaid. I’m trying to help raise nothing less than the perfect child.”

Puck pinched one of Ross’s nipples causing a yelp in response. “I’m glad you’re not putting any pressure on her or us. Being a good dad is going to be a cinch, right?”

Ross nodded. “Feed her well. Let her play. Show her the fun of nature, and then let her watch you. She can’t find a better example of a great person.”