Lulu and Conor are the first to the front door. I'm pleased to see her wait for him to open it. Even though we are expecting my parents. She knows she isn't allowed to open the door without an adult. I'm even more pleased when Conor looks through the peephole before turning the knob. He's really adapted to our security measures, and I'm grateful for it.

"Geez, it's like Fort Knox around here." My Dad mutters as they pull their suitcases through the door.

"This is my castle, Gampa!" Lulu yells in delight, bouncing on the balls of her feet. When she does, Jonah gives a little squeak and stirs in Josh's arms. He's going to be ready to eat soon, I think.

"Oh it is, is it?" Dad asks, smiling at her, the inconvenience of being screened forgotten now that he's inside.

"Oh my goodness!" Mom squeals, rushing to Josh's side to peer down at the baby. "Hello, little man, I've been looking forward to meeting you. Can I hold him?" She practically begs Josh.

"Of course, the powder room is right around the corner. You know, airports." Josh responds in one breath with a sheepish smile.

"I'll show you, Gamma!" Lulu declares. "Then you can see my room."

"Okay, but I want to hold your brother first." Mom answers, a little abruptly, causing a little frown and a wrinkle in Lulu's forehead, but she still leads Mom toward the bathroom.

She's had to share her grandparents' attention before, but not really on her own turf. It could be interesting to see how she adjusts. But she's going to have to. She's not an only child anymore.

Jonah makes another little noise, causing both Dad and I to move closer to Josh.

"His hair is blonde." Dad says with a smile. "He had a hat on in the pictures you sent."

"Yeah, they wanted us to keep it on in the hospital, but it's warm enough he doesn't really need it."

Dad nods while he continues to study the baby. But then Mom comes back into the room.

"Okay, all clean. Gimmee." She demands, making grabby hands at Josh.

"Gamma, you have to sit down first." Lulu tells her, making Josh chuckle and shrug his shoulders at my Mom, who rolls her eyes but pivots and marches into the living room.

Josh follows her and so do the rest of us. He puts Jonah in her arms, and she immediately starts to babble at the baby. Neither Josh or I are big fans of baby talk, but neither of us is going to correct my Mom.

Dad sits down on a sofa to watch them and Lulu climbs up into his their attention is on Jonah, I take a few minutes to look around the room.

I just love what Regan and Sylvia have done in here. Really, the whole house so far. I haven't been disappointed at all. This room is cream and blue, carrying over shades of turquoise from the front door and entry table. The colors give it a little bit of coastal vibe, but they didn't fall into that theme. Instead the artwork is abstract: a painting with a burst of color over the fireplace, some glass baubles on the mantle.

The furniture and decor are definitely more casual than the way this was staged when we walked through. This is a wonderful entertaining area with plenty of comfortable seats, but it's still got a touch of sophistication to it.

Another squeak from Jonah grabs my attention. His eyes are open and he's wrinkling up his nose.

"What's wrong, Jonah?" Lulu asks him.

"He's probably just hungry." I inform her as I stand up. "I'll get his bottle."

Sylvia stands up and walks with me towards the kitchen. As we pass through the dining room, I'm thrilled to see that it looks very similar to the staging. I just love the orange starburst lighting fixture and the glass table and upholstered chairs. Now the room also has a mahogany buffet and a matching china cabinet.

The cabinet especially catches my eye and I'm drawn to it. "Oh! Mom! Is that your china?"

It's a rhetorical question. I know exactly what it is, I just didn't really think about the fact that we now have room to display it.

"It's your china." Sylvia reminds me. "Remember, I gave it to you for your wedding."

"Of course I remember." I reassure her. How could I forget? Visiting her for Thanksgiving, right after we eloped and being welcomed with open arms with no recrimination for not waiting for a proper wedding. And then having her give me the China that should have gone to Joanie. Somehow Sylvia has always made me feel like part of her family without making me feel like I have to make up for everything she lost. She's an incredible woman.

"I love it. The whole house! You and Regan did an amazing job." I give her a quick squeeze before heading through the door to the kitchen. Sylvia laughs, following me.

"You still haven't seen the whole house." She reminds me.

"I know. But I'm sure it's going to be fantastic." In the kitchen, I stop short. "Oh! Do we even have formula in here? I have some in the diaper bag upstairs."

Sylvia walks over and opens a drawer next to the sink. It has baby bottles, several cans of powder formula and several bottles of ready to serve. "Josh gave me a shopping list yesterday." She informs me. "The kitchen is fully stocked."

It's not that I don't believe her, but I can't help but open the refrigerator. Sure enough it's filled with food. That's good, because it's not going to be much longer before we're all hungry.

But in the meantime, I really need to get Jonah taken care of.

When I return to the living room with the bottle, Lulu, Mom and Josh all look longingly at me. I feel a little for Josh, but Mom is the one who is holding the baby, so she's the one that gets to feed him.. If Josh wanted the job, he should have taken the baby from her before I got back.

Besides, he'll have plenty more chances. My parents are only going to be here for a little while. There is no point in getting on Mom's bad side right away. Lulu's pout is a little more disconcerting but I think I know how to handle her.

"Okay! I'm going to look at the rest of the house!" I announce, cheerfully. "Who wants to come with me?"

"I'll go!" She yells jumping off of Dad's lap. "Come on, Gampa." She demands, tugging at his hand.

Sylvia and Conor both stand up silently, so I think they are coming along. But Josh remains seated.

"I'll stay here." He announces, then at the flash in my Mom's eyes, he expands his answer. "Just in case Lottie needs anything."

She laughs lightly at him. "I have raised four children, you know. I think I can handle giving grandchild number 10 a bottle."

"I'm sure you can handle it." Josh answers smoothly, "but if he needs a diaper when he's done or something."

Mom just smirks at him but doesn't say anything else, so I gather my exploration party and leave the two of them to each other.

"Okay. Let's go downstairs." I instruct my group as I head towards the stairs.

"This is my castle, Gampa." Lulu tells my Dad as we descend into the family room.

"It does look like a castle! I guess that makes you Princess Lulu. Doesn't it?"

"Yes!" Lulu agrees happily. Then she squeals and runs into the room jumping up on the plush sectional facing a giant wall mounted television.

"Can I watcha movie?!" She asks.

"Not right now."

Her lip pops out, but before she can fuss, Sylvia distracts her. "Come see the bedroom."

Lulu hops off the coach and hurries over to the door that Sylvia has opened. It's a lovely little room painted a light yellow. It contains a queen bed with a sunny chenille bedspread and some fluffy throw pillows. It's all very cheery and slightly vintage. I adore it.

"Ooooh! I love this room, Bubbe!" Lulu declares. "Is this your room?"

My Dad's eyebrows go up a little, but he doesn't say anything.

"No, sweetheart. It's just a guest room. But I'll sleep here tonight. I think Grandpa and Grandma Moss are going to sleep in the upstairs room."

I don't know if Sylvia saw his reaction or not, but her answer seems diplomatic. In a way it makes me a little sad. Because I'd like her to have a room of her own here, even though I know that my Mom probably would have a little fit if Sylvia had her own room and they didn't. She makes such a big deal about Sylvia having more access to Lulu as it is. But I don't care. Sylvia has the access because she wants it, and if my parents want to spend more time with us they could too. And now they don't have any excuse.

"Well, we should go see that room too, shouldn't we?" I ask Lulu to change the subject.

"Maybe we should wait for your Mom?" Dad suggests. "Plus, I'd like to see the backyard."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. And there is access to the yard from down here." I agree, leading him out of the bedroom and over to the door.

"Well, this is very . . ." Dad hesitates a minute and it makes me wonder if he hates it. Having a fully bricked terrace instead of a yard probably isn't something he's seen before.

". . . nice." He concludes and I feel myself relax a little. I probably shouldn't care what he thinks. But he's my Dad, his opinion matters to me.

"It is! Isn't it?!" I agree as I look over the sturdy wicker furniture surrounding a low table. It looks like a comfortable place to relax, and we could actually still eat outside if we wanted to. This was a good choice over an outdoor dining table and chairs.

"Look! It's a big doll house!" Lulu squeals as she and Sylvia and Conor join us outside and she spots the wooden playhouse in the corner. This I knew about. Josh insisted on it. Even though we don't have the space for a swing set, he wanted Lulu to have an outside play space. From the look on her face, this was the perfect choice.

It really is an incredible playhouse. It has and extra large bay window on one side, and large premium windows with flower boxes that currently contain live plants flanking the sage green door, which has a working doorbell that Lulu has already discovered.

And from the squeals once she goes inside, she's also discovered the play kitchen. One side of the house has a café style opening that creates a table with moveable bench. It's perfect for pretending that she's running a restaurant or maybe putting on a puppet show. There are two double sided chalk boards to draw and color on and two clocks with moveable hands, one each inside and out. And it even has a play phone. I think Lulu is going to want to spend a lot of time out here. I just wish Josh was here to see her reaction.

Even though I'm dying to see the rest of the house, I don't want to pull Lulu away from her play, so Dad, Sylvia and I sit down on the sofa to watch her. Pretty soon we're being asked for our orders and then being served plates of fake food that are only marginally related to what we requested.

Dad laughs as he pretends to eat a plastic tomato that he's been informed is spaghetti.

"Bubbe, come see my soup." Lulu begs, taking Sylvia hand and practically dragging her back to the playhouse where Conor is sitting patiently on the bench waiting to be served.

"You guys are doing a really good job with her. And this is a really nice house." Dad offers gruffly, gesturing back towards the door.

"Thanks Dad." I manage over the lump in my throat. Dad just gives me a smile without saying anything else, so we sit in silence for a few minutes.

It really isn't long before Josh and Mom join us. "There you are!" She declares, as she exits the house.

"Gamma!" Lulu immediately calls out to her from the window of the playhouse. "Come have lunch!"

"I take it she likes the house?" Josh grins at me.

"Yes! Big hit. Good call." I tell him as he sits down next to us. He's wearing Jonah, who is back asleep, in a sling across his chest, and I have to say, I find it very attractive.

"This is nice." He remarks, looking around.

"So you really didn't know about any of this?" Dad asks, curiously.

"No, just the playhouse." Josh tells him. "We've been really busy. So my Mother hired a decorator and the two of them made all the arrangements. They gave us some options for color schemes but other than that, it's all been a surprise."

"Speaking of which… We still haven't seen the upstairs yet." I remind him.

"Okay! Who wants the rest of the tour?" He calls out to the rest of the group as he stands.

"I do! I do!" Lulu chants.

"Alright then, let's go."

He offers me a hand, and helps me up, then places it at the small of my back as he leads us up the deck stairs and through the kitchen.

"Oh, this is really nice!" Mom declares, taking in the long counter with leather stools and the gleaming appliances.

"Are we going to have lunch soon?" Conor asks, making my Mom wrinkle her nose at his manners, but making Josh laugh.

"Yeah, as soon as we look at the rest of the house we can order something."

"Nonsense." Mom declares. "I'm sure Sylvia and I can whip something up."

"Yes," my Mom agrees, "we've got all those groceries."

"Okay, okay." Josh capitulates, not at all upset by the idea of a home cooked meal. In fact, I don't wonder if he was counting on it, but didn't actually want to ask.

"Let's goooo!" Lulu demands, quickly losing interest in the kitchen. "I want to show Gamma my room."

She leads Mom up the stairs and we all follow, taking a quick peek at the bedrooms on the second floor before heading up to the top level. At the top of the stairs, I turn to the right.

"Here's where you'll be staying." I tell my parents, heading into the second guest bedroom. It's quite a bit more neutral than the room downstairs, which tells me that Sylvia really does prefer the lowest level.

The room is a light beige, which I think is the color it was when we looked at it. But now there is a queen bed with a brass frame and rich burgundy bedding, with gold accent pillows. The dark walnut floor has a beautiful oriental rug, and there is an upholstered bench under the window.

"Wow, this is really nice, Donna." Mom gushes as we take a look at the en suite, which has a fairly large bathtub/shower combo with white subway tile. The sink is white marble with a walnut cabinet that matches the bedroom floor. The fixtures are gold, and I don't think are new, but they work to carry the color scheme over from the bedroom, especially with the dark red towels.

"Much nicer than a hotel." Dad agrees.

"There's a walk-in closet over here." I inform them as I open the door showing them the room, which has plenty of space for them to unpack, or if they'd rather, they can just put their suitcases on the built in credenza.

"I'll bring your suitcases up here in a bit." Conor tells them, earning himself a look of approval from all the adults in the room. He really is a good kid.

As we head back into the hallway, I open the door to the laundry. I'm happy to see that it's already been stocked with supplies and our laundry baskets.

"And this is our office." Josh says as we walk into the final room. Two of the walls have been turned into an amazing work space with two walnut desks and matching bookshelves. Our laptops have already been hooked up to docking stations and we have large monitors and keyboards. The whole thing looks very high tech.

"I had the IT people come over yesterday." Josh tells me. "I figure we are both going to need to be able to work from home at times and we need everything as secure as possible."

"This is incredible." It kinda feels like it did when I saw my first office on inauguration day. Not at all what I was expecting. I'm amazed this is for me.

"And we have a lot more storage." Josh tells our family, opening the closet doors as I continue to examine the office set up.

'And you have a balcony!" Mom declares opening the door leading to the outside.

"I wanna see!" Lulu hollers as she rushes towards the exit.

"Hold on there!" Josh grabs her as she gets by him. "We need to talk about some rules."

"Oh, Daddy!" Lulu grumbles.

"Oh, Lulu!" He fusses back at her, holding her hand as he walks her through the door. "You are only allowed to come out here with a grown-up."

"Conor's a grown-up."

"Yes, he is." Josh agrees, "so you can come out here with Conor."

"Carly's a grown-up." Lulu states, testing her boundaries.

"Not exactly." Josh responds. "You need an adult. And when we are out here, we sit in the chairs. We do not play on the railing." He firmly instructs her. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy." Lulu agrees, reluctantly. "Except when I'm Rapunzel letting down my hair."

"Nope, not even then." Josh quickly debunks the idea, making Lulu scowl a little as she realizes that the balcony really isn't going to be a fun place to play.

Josh doesn't look even a bit sorry, which makes me grin. She might have him wrapped around her little finger, but when it comes to safety, he is immovable. In fact, I bet there will be a slide latch installed at the top of the door, well above Lulu's height before my Dad leaves town.

"Well, what do you think about lunch?" Mom asks as they come back into the office.

"YEAH! Lunch!" Lulu cheers.

"Okay, peanut. How about you help Bubbe and I get it ready?"

"Yay!"

"Okay, I'll get your luggage." Conor offers. Dad nods and follows him out the door.

"We'll be down in a few minutes." I call out after them, taking Josh's hand and leading him back out to the balcony. I wrap my arms around him, cradling Jonah between us, and just enjoying a moment of peace. Then I feel his lips in my hair and his breath in my ear as he holds me close and murmurs,

"Baby, we're home."