Lee was confused when she opened the envelope, and Tarin grinned in anticipation of her response to what was inside. Regardless of how things were with the rest of her family, Lee loved her sister nad truly enjoyed spending time with her.

Except…she didn’t understand what the present was.

Tarin chuckled and leaned over to point at what was written on the paper in Lee’s hand. ”It’s a plane ticket.” he said, satisfied, ”For right before the baby is supposed to get here. While Rachel and your mom were in town, Rachel and I talked.” he paused to let that bit sink in, then continued.

”I figured it might be nice to have her around for a while right after the baby is born. She was planning to come down and see him anyway…and this way she figured she’d be able to help and spend some time with you.”

There. Now hopefully she’d understand. Rachael didn’t have children yet, but she’d seemed confident about her ability to help when the time came, so Tarin had trusted her and moved forward.

Tarin actually laughed when she asked about what it was he had given her for her birthday, and she glared at him for a moment until he leaned over to point at the paper she was holding in her hands.

His initial explanation didn't help much. A plane ticket, he said? But she had seen plane tickets plenty of times. If he was getting her a plane ticket for something, why was he showing her a photocopy of it? Plus, should she be flying right now?

And he had talked to Rachael? Lee was still very confused, not sure what Tarin had been thinking and planning, but she was too busy looking up at Tarin to figure out the details of what was written in front of her.

Finally, as Tarin continued speaking, things clicked in Lee's head, and as her eyes dropped back to the sheet in her hands, she realized what exactly it was Tarin had done for her birthday. Lee knew that Rachael was only able to afford to come to New York City a couple of times a year, and only then because she saved up every penny she could for those trips. So the fact that she had just been in New York to see her should have meant that there would be no way Rachael would have been able to come to visit again for quite a while on her own.

"You really..." Lee started as she looked back up at Tarin, a smile starting to spread across her face. "Rachael's going to..." This was nothing like what a normal birthday present would have been, most people would have expected to actually get something tangible, yet Lee couldn't help but think that this had to be one of the best things Tarin could have done for her at this point in time.

Lee's smile grew even wider as she threw her arms around Tarin's neck. "Thanks!"

Success! He got a smile. Tarin couldn’t help but grin, that was exactly what he’d been hoping for when he got the present. The arms around the neck were a bonus, and frankly he was surprised that Lee managed to get that close without turning sideways. His wife wasn’t gaining weight…but she’d sure started to gain baby lately.

The truth of the matter was…that Tarin liked Rachel and since they had the extra room on the other side of the apartment, it didn’t feel like he was giving anything up by making Lee so happy. Rachel was also a woman with all those pent up motherly instincts waiting to be released. She didn’t have children of her own…so why squander what was meant to be there? Rachel would be an excellent doting Aunt.

”I did…and she did. I can’t take all the credit because she had to make sure she could get away for long enough to work things out.” A sly grin spread across Tarin’s face and he shook his head slightly.

”Besides. I think she’ll be thrilled to see us and the baby, but I think there might be someone else in the general area she wouldn’t mind putting herself in front of again.”

With perfect timing so he could change the subject, unaware as to whether or not Lee knew everything her sister had been up to on her last visit, a knock came on the door and Tarin grinned at his wife.

”That’d be dinner. I hate to make you work on your birthday…but would you mind grabbing the plates and forks? We can either set up and eat in the dining room or we can use the coffee table and watch movies. Ladie’s choice.”

He'd been plotting with her sister to get her to come back down to New York for the baby's birth, and she hadn't heard, or even suspected, anything about it until now. Considering the amount of time Tarin had spent with her, much more than ever before in their relationship and that was really saying something, it was rather amazing that they had succeeded in keeping this surprise. But Lee was really happy about that.

The smile was still on her face as she pulled back from Tarin, though it faded ever so slightly when Tarin pointed out that there might be someone else that Rachael might be wanting to see. Who would that possibly be, Lee started to wonder....

Only to be interrupted by hearing a knock on the door. And Tarin jumping to that as a topic of conversation for the moment. Fine then. There was lots of time to come back to that, if they even needed to.

"Don't worry, I think I'll survive doing that much work on my birthday," Lee replied, leaning in to give Tarin another kiss before stepping past him. "And if we're having Chinese, I think in the living room is a good plan. I'll see if there's anything good on TV." With that, Lee made her way to the dinning room, gathered up the plates and cutlery, and made her way to the living room while she could only assume Tarin was paying for the food.

Good. Lee liked her present. When he’d came up with the idea, Tarin hadn’t really considered another reaction, since Lee and her sister had gotten so close, so it was good that things had worked out. Lee’s mother hadn’t been included in the trip, because no matter how well things had progressed between the siblings (even Robert) Lee still had some hang-ups where her parents were concerned. (Not that Tarin blamed her). Besides, surely his mother-in-law would make the trip when the baby was born…as would his own. Tarin frowned a bit as he kissed his wife back and moved to pay for the dinner delivery. Those two had never been in the same room.

Fighting off mental pictures of the two women actually fist fighting over the opportunity to hold both of their first grandchildren, Tarin shook his head and thanked the delivery kid. Back into the apartment he moved, and grinned at Lee as she finished setting up the plates in the livingroom.

”You know…” he said, working on setting out all the food they’d ordered and hoping that the smell would agree with his wife, ”I hope our mothers don’t fight too much over who gets to hold the baby at first…I’d hate to have to physically separate them.”

As Lee was flicking through, trying to find something to watch on TV, she heard the voices of Tarin and the delivery person at the door as he was getting the food. It definitely would not be long now. But there wasn't exactly a whole lot on, at least at the moment.

Still, Lee had a smile on her face when her husband returned to the living room, bags of Chinese food in his hands. Which he quickly started to dig in to. Food that definitely smelled better than the Mexican had, at least to her that night.

But then he mentioned something about their mothers fighting over the baby, and Lee's smile turned into a bit of a frown. "They are going to be wanting to come, aren't they?" Lee asked, referring to her parents. She loved the idea of Rachael being there, and Lee was sure she would appreciate Adele Brooks coming to visit, but she really wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of her own parents being there. They had pretty much destroyed her own childhood, after all, just because she was a mutant. Especially since how kid would most likely be a mutant as well...

"I'm thinking it'll probably be your mom," Lee said, the frown finally disappearing as she started to reach for some food to dish out for herself. "So I guess we'll have to make sure she's here before my parent's won't we?"