“I'm not going anywhere, so you guys figure you two out and then we can have a proper family dinner, likely awkwardness included. Because what's a 'meet the family' dinner without awkwardness?” Even if their flavor of awkwardness is a little more than the standard kind.

“My next daunting task is to try to be a redeemed mom, now that hopefully you and Billy won't wrongly get so much grief for my faults. Which I'm so sorry for, for what you've had to bear because of me.” She feels her eyes start to water a bit, and her voice does a little shake. That was, in her opinion, the worst consequence of her actions — the things they've probably had thought about them, said to them, even looks they've gotten. She can try to deal with it all when it comes to those things said and thought about her, but when she thinks about the impact it's had on her children, it just crushes her heart every time.