"Ari, I honestly didn't hear any of those comments, but you bet your life on it the next time she makes any shitty comment towards you or the kids. I'm not letting her get away with it." I rolled my eyes. This was something I had heard before. We've had this fight plenty of times and I never truly felt heard. A brief part of me hoped that this would be the time he finally stood up to her for me, though.

But we needed to go or else mother deary would certainly start looking for us. I mean, her other prized possession was planning on coming over to greet his brother and welcome him home from a long few months away. How could we even possibly think about being 'late' getting back to the house?

The only good thing about dinner tonight would be the fact that I could once again drift into the background and they would never even notice me. Plus, there would be more kids for mine to play with, so hopefully we could avoid any more judgment about them.

Logan took my hand, leading me back outside to his family, waiting for us. I couldn't say they were being patient about it. The kids were bouncing around. Logan's mother was tapping her foot between paces, but Logan's father stood there, like a sturdy oak tree, steady in his spot.

"Are you guys finally ready?" Logan's father comments, using his hand to motion towards the exit of the zoo. I was ready to get back home and back into my normal routine. I wanted to wash everything from this day off of me. That would have to wait, though.

We follow Logan's parents through the exit and into the parking lot. Hopping into the car in the same seats we were in on the way here. I watched out the window, looking at the beautiful state around me. I was so glad the military had been nice enough to leave us here for as long as it had. We were quite lucky. Most families would move every two or four years. Many of my friends have come and gone in that same timeframe. Yet we had someone who was able to spend both shore duty and sea duty in the same location. Especially this close to retirement, that was an accomplishment.

Not too long after getting in the car, we were on the freeway heading back to Logan's parent's house.

~*~

"Brother, it's been way too long since we last saw you!" Logan's brother, Peter, shouts as he enters the front door. His arms spread wide, pulling Logan into the biggest bear hug you could imagine. Logan accepted it, enjoying the hug just as much as his brother was. They looked quite similar. The only way you could tell them apart was Peter had a slightly skinnier face and a lighter hair color all around. Everything about them shouted brothers that were thick as thieves.

"Where's the misses?" Logan asks, finally releasing his brother from his hold.

"Oh, she wasn't feeling too well, so she stayed home. I've only got one kid today. The others really wanted to stay with their momma to make sure she was doing okay."

"Oh, that's too bad. We are so sorry to hear that!" Logan's mother pipes in, now pulling her son into a hug to match the one Logan and Peter had shared. "It's so good to have my boys back together again, though." Before anyone could respond, his mother was pulling them into the dining room, placing them in their seats. She treated her boys like they were still kids. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she was going to grab some bibs to put on them.

I took my seat next to Logan, pausing for a moment to make sure I wouldn't get yelled at by anyone. Maybe I wasn't worthy enough to sit next to my husband? That would have shocked me less than the bibs on two grown men.

"It's okay, she's just been feeling sluggish lately. I think it could ‌possibly be another baby on the way but she is convinced it's not. Either way, we will let her get some rest. How are you? We haven't heard from you in a few months? Did they finally let you out of that metal can?" Peter smiled, pulling the conversation away from his wife as quickly as he could. It bummed me out that she wasn't here, she didn't get along with their parents any better than I did, so when she was here there was a fantastic buffer. At least then I'd have someone to talk to.

The kids chatted away, sitting at a smaller table that Logan's mother had put out for them. Before I could even think of doing anything else, the food was starting to appear on the table. Everything looked so delicious, but I was starting to get nervous, there would be very little that I actually liked.

That was one of my many problems in Logan's parents' eyes. I was a picky eater, and they grew up in a household that if you didn't like what was for dinner. You didn't eat. I wouldn't have eaten anything growing up here. I was able to spot some cheesy potatoes that were calling my name, though. Now, If I could just hide the fact that I didn't really grab anything else, that would be ideal.

"Yeah, they finally let me off the tube." Logan paused for a moment, it always cracked him up when he said something like that. Everyone was always trying to find interesting names for submarines. "It's hard when you are out there man, there's no communication. I don't even get to send emails to my wife most of the time." Logan scooped a big bite of his food, shoveling it into his mouth.

"The worst thing is not being able to get an update from her, knowing that she or the kids are alright. I mean, I've got a pretty kick ass wife so I know everything is taken care of, but I worry ‌ that she is taken care of." Logan uses his thumb to point at me, giving me a goofy smile.

"Logan, watch your language at the table, also we don't tell lies when we are eating dinner." My heart dropped. It didn't take her long, but how could Logan not hear that one? That was pretty obvious, right? Peter sat his fork down on the table and the room grew silent.

This was going to be bad.

Logan paused for a moment. It felt like he knew everyone's eyes were on him. He shook his head, placing his napkin back on the table. There was so much tension in the air even the kids grew quiet, waiting for something to blow up. Was Logan about to blow up?

"Mother..." Logan paused for a moment as if he was trying to muster up enough courage to battle the dragon. My heart sank in my chest. I wanted him to protect me, but I didn't want it to have to happen like this. Especially not so quickly after our conversation at the zoo. Something so public, like a fight over a family dinner, was going to devastate Logan. But he had to make the decision one way or another.

"Logan..." His mother responded, looking at him through her lashes, and placing a bite of food into her mouth. It's like they were playing tennis, each one of them willing the other to respond. To hit the ball back in an attempt to defeat each other.

But no one said a word.

At least no one said a word for the next thirty seconds, but in this moment it felt like hours.

"Could you possibly show my wife some respect?" Logan was asking the question, but he wasn't really asking. His words came out more like a demand, and his voice was low and strong. His mother set down her own fork now, folding the napkin over her legs.

"I do show her some respect. Why can she not handle my judgments? I'm really just trying to help her improve. Don't you know you deserve so much better?" She took a sip of her water, and as the iced liquid slid down her throat, fiery anger was coming up mine. She had opened the floodgates, and we weren't going to get out of this one without some damage. I tried to prepare myself for the worst.

"You think that was a respectful comment?" Logan seemed just as dumbfounded as I was. He shook his head, pushing his plate away from him in disgust.

"Oh honey, can't we just see the big picture here? You are making something out of nothing at all." She rolled her eyes. "Let the kids play and we can discuss this more after dinner. This is not proper table talk."

"No." Logan was steady. He would not back down without a fight. "You don't get to talk to my wife like that and then just turn around as if nothing happened. That was an awful thing to say, and the subtle hit is bullshi-"

"Language!" Logan's father shouts, cutting him off before he could say anything else.

"You aren't going to stop me either!" Logan shouts at his father.

"Look mother, I have a lot of respect for you, but I just can't let you disrespect my wife anymore. This is not a game. She is the mother of my children...your grandchildren, and the love of my life. If you can't find it in your heart to accept her a little more and respect her, then I can't find it in mine to bring the kids around anymore. They don't need to grow up watching you degrade their mother like this." Logan was taking this very seriously. He hadn't even blinked in the last few minutes. His eyes were too busy boring holes through his mother's facade.

"Oh, did she whine to you about that? I haven't said anything to her that hasn't been justified. She is just too weak to take any criticism." There, that word was again. The one she loved to throw around as if it didn't mean anything. But as I said before, weak doesn't get weaker. The word gets harsher every time it's used against you.

"That's it, you obviously think you are so far into the right on this one, you aren't willing to pull your head out of your ass and apologize, or at least keep your mouth shut." Logan stood from his seat, nearly knocking the chair over on the way up. His mother gasps, holding her hand over her mouth.

"How dare you say that to your mother?" Logan's father questions.

I had to say, as much as I thought his father was on the wrong side of things, I was just as glad that he was standing up for his wife as I was Logan was standing up for me.

"You don't have to worry about us saying much of anything anymore. We are going to head out. When you decide to finally love us for who we are, then we will be back, but not any sooner than that."

And with that last sentence, we loaded our children into the car, gathered our things and left for the hotel before dinner was even completed. The car ride back was silent. No one was willing to say anything to disrupt the air. The kids were confused. They had seen the fight but didn't truly understand what was happening.

"Logan, do you want to talk about it?" My voice was soft, barely a whisper over the sound of the tires on the road.

"No." was all Logan had to say.