Tambourine was greeted with a pleasant surprise when she bounced into her mothers' bedroom the next morning. The two mares welcomed her cheerfully, replacing their usual groans and begs for more sleep with bright good-mornings.

The filly immediately suspected something was up.

She sat back from the bear hug she'd forced upon Vinyl Scratch her foalish face crumpled into puzzled frown. "Okay, guys. Why are you awake? And why are you so happy?"

"We woke up early," Octavia answered, smiling gently as she trotted into the bathroom and awkwardly manuevered her toothbrush into a good place with her hooves. "And, we decided last night that we would have a special day all together today. We'll do lots of fun things, as a family."

"We're going to have a 'Rine day, Tamby-Cat." Vinyl added, smoothing the filly's bed-hair with her hoof. "You get to decide what we do, today, because we thought you deserved a break."

"A break? Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Precious. It's because we've been so preoccupied with the foal. I know it's only been a few days, but we've been hardly paying attention to you, and we thought that wasn't very nice of us." Octavia answered. "So, Tamby, run along and get ready, we're going out for breakfast."

The filly nodded, smiling, and trotted out of the room. Octavia watched her with a smile.

"D'ya think she suspects?" Vinyl said in a loud whisper from the bathroom door.

"I don't know, Vin'. She may suspect, but I don't think it matters. She still seems happy." Octavia replied, tossing her hairbrush in the general direction of her wife. "And, Vin', knowing Tamby, she'll pick that fancy crepe place for breakfast, and I want you to look decent. At least brush out some of the tangles in your mane?"

Vinyl shook her head. "You mean the super flat pancake place? And I tolerate it when you brush my hair, because it's kinda sexy, but I refuse to do it myself."

"Do you think everything is sexy?"

The white mare grinned cheekily, levitating her shades over her face. Even after all these years, Octavia still hadn't managed to convince her to stop wearing them. "Only everything you do."

"Well, that's very sweet, but you need to grow up and brush your mane," Octavia dropped a quick kiss on Vinyl's cheek as she brushed past her and crossed the master bedroom to their shared closet. "You're a grown mare, I think you can survive looking decent for a day."

"Ugh, fine. Only for you, 'Tavi," Vinyl huffed as she levitated the brush toward her unruly mane.

"And, no pretending you're brushing it when you're really just waving it above your head. I can tell, you know." Octavia struggled into her favourite jacket, feeling it tight around her middle.

"You know me too well, 'Tavi." Vinyl reluctantly tugged the hairbrush through the nearest spike of her mane.

"I should hope I know you too well," Octavia retorted, stepping out of the closet and admiring herself in the mirror on the back of the door. "We've been together for, what, ten years, almost? I think I have a right to know you too well."

"Well, I'm still gelling it into spikes. You can't stop me." Vinyl stuck out her lower lip in adorable pout.

"I'm not trying to. I'm only trying to keep you from getting dredlocks from lack of brushing and too much gel."

"Yes, Mother," Vinyl rolled her eyes.

Tambourine trotted back in, wearing her favourite blue sweatshirt. "I'm ready to go. Are you - oh, wow, Mom. You've gotten too fat for that jacket."

"Don't speak to your mother like that, Tambourine," Vinyl admonished, leaving the bathroom with her mane fully gelled into its usual spiky style. "She's not fat, she's pregnant. Once she has the baby, she won't be fat anymore."

"Do you think I should wear something looser?" Octavia asked Vinyl, looking worried.

"Well, you look fine to me, but if you wanna be comfy, then yeah. I never wore anything tight when I was pregnant with Tambourine."

"You never wear tight things anyways," Octavia pointed out. "But, I guess you're right."

She riffled through the closet, mumbling negative comments about random sweaters and blouses before finally coming out in one of Vinyl's sweatshirts. It was black, plain, and without any visible stains on it, which was enough for Octavia at the moment.

"This will have to do," she said, grimacing at her reflection. "I look like you, Vin'. I feel ridiculous. Hoodies are so foalish."

"You look awesome, Octy!" Vinyl grinned, levitating her shades from her eyes. "Now all you need are these!"

Tambourine giggled at her mothers' antics, cheering Vinyl on as she chased Octavia around the bedroom with the huge purple glasses.

At last they stopped, panting, and Octavia pointed out that it would be a good idea to leave if they wanted to get a table at the restaurant.

Breakfast went without a hitch - Tambourine bounced out of the restaurant on a happiness and Neightella-induced sugar-high, but so far nothing had burnt down, exploded, or flooded, and Vinyl hadn't gotten them kicked out - which she still managed to do relatively more frequently then Tambourine - But Octavia swore they made a game out of who could get kicked out of the most places.

Now, seated in the back of a bright green taxi, the family was on its way to the zoo - the giraffes working there were giving a speech, Octavia heard, and Tambourine wanted to hear it.

As they pushed through the crowd of ponies to get a seat, an elderly blue mare with a greying purple mane tapped Octavia on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but have we met? You look terribly familiar, dear. I'm sure I've seen you before. Did you ever live in Manehattan?"

Octavia shook her head, puzzled. "Not since I was a filly, Ma'am. I don't think I know you. You must be thinking of somepony else."

"Funny. I was so sure it was you..." The mare wandered off, and Octavia turned to Vinyl Scratch, still wearing a puzzled look.

"She did look rather familiar, poor thing. I wonder who she was looking for?"

"I think I saw her at the restaurant this morning. Maybe that's got something to do with it?"

"Maybe..."

The giraffe's performance was excellent - the topics were interesting for all ages of pony, and several of them even performed a song-and-dance rendition of the history of Zebrica, where the giraffes originally came from.

Afterwards, they wandered around, looking at the various small animals in the zoo before going to lunch at the zoo's restaurant, which was run by several cows in pink aprons.

Once again, the blue mare approached them. "I'm sure I've seen you before, Miss. Perhaps at a Canterlot gathering? Did you go to the Grand Galloping Gala last year, perchance?"

"I played in the quartet. Perhaps that's where you saw me." Octavia stared hard at the mare. She did look very familiar. She had a bass clef cutie mark - maybe she was another musician?

"Perhaps," The mare smiled warmly. "Well, I would like to say that I wish you and your little family the best of luck with your... well..." she trailed off, glancing at Octavia's bulging stomach.

"My foal? Why thank you." Octavia gestured at where the mare was looking.

"Yes..." The mare sighed, smiling sadly. "I had a foal once... But, she moved away, she left me. I made some mistakes, yes, but I do wish I could apologize to her."

"I'm sure you can. Any filly worth keeping would forgive her own mother," Vinyl said warmly. Tambourine sat quietly, crunching her hay fries wordlessly, watching the strange mare with large eyes.

"My filly can be quite stubborn, I'm afraid. I don't know that it would work." The mare sighed again, looking as though she'd traveled a thousand miles.

"I'm surprised, good mare. No offense, but you don't seem like the type to give up. What's your name, anyways?"

"Sunny Tai. It's an old name, I don't care to explain it anymore."

"Well, Sunny - "

"Tai, please. Sunny carries too many regrets."

"Tai, I don't think you should give up. I cannot believe your filly would not at least be willing to listen to an apology."

"Unfortunately, I fear it is true. She embraced who she was, and I couldn't forgive her for... for doing what i couldn't, I suppose." The old mare stared hard at Octavia as she spoke, and the younger one felt her eyes widen. "Well, I'd best be going now. I wish you all the good fortune and health of Celestia."

Tai disappeared as fast as she had appeared, leaving Octavia, Tambourine, and Vinyl, to their meal.

Vinyl kept up the conversation with Tambourine, either oblivious to her wife's preoccupation, or hiding it from their filly. The two discussed whatever came to mind, from making up silly, rhyming songs about the checkered table cloth, to which of Tambourine's teachers was most likely to come to school in a gorilla suit. Octavia smiled, momentarily distracted from her thoughts at the sound of her first foal's happy giggling.

They eventually went home, and Octavia went to the garden with her cello, in hopes of untangling the confusion in her head through her music. it was something she hadn't done for a long time, but her cello always seemed to help Octavia when she needed time for her thoughts.