"He seems lost," Hank observes to her one evening as they're getting ready for bed, voice echoing from the bathroom as Janet removes her jewelry by the vanity. She swallows, knowing exactly who her husband was talking about without a name.

Scott had lost five years with Cassie, and it's a situation she wished she couldn't emphasize with. She thinks of Hope, and the near thirty years she'd lost with her daughter weigh on her heavily once more. Selfishly, she's grateful the five years they'd lost from the snap they'd lost together- at least it wasn't another five years Hope had had to live without her.

Janet jumps a little at the hands on her shoulders before sinking into her husband's touch, his lips dropping to the top of her head as her fingers encircle his.

"Five years is a long time," she whispers, and Hank squeezes gently.

"We're back," he reminds her, voice quiet, and she nods, standing up and turning to face him, cupping his cheeks in her hands. "We have the time now."

"I know," she murmurs, letting him guide her to the bed, curling up together under the covers, as much of them touching as possible. "I'll talk to Scott in the morning."

Hank's lips touch her forehead, staying there for a few moments before they both shuffled, settling together to sleep.

_

"Good morning Scott," Janet says, surprise in her features at the sight of the younger man already in the lab. He looks up, offering a half-smile and a wave, then goes back to pouring over the book in his lap.

It's just the two of them so far- Henry was getting breakfast for them, and Hope had agreed to go with him after a meaningful look from Janet.

"No Cassie this morning?" she asks, and he shakes his head, lips quirking slightly.

"She likes to sleep in now," he says, and a sad smile curls his lips. "A teenager thing."

"Henry told me Hope was the same way," she replies after a moment, shrugging into her lab coat and then sinking into the chair across from him. "Until she was about 18 she wasn't up before 11 unless she had to be."

Scott chuckles at that, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"I can't see Hope as a teenager- sleeping in and braces and the whole nine yards," he admits, and it's Janet's turn to smile sadly.

"You know...sometimes? Neither can I," she confesses, and Scott's eyebrows draw together. "The last time I saw her, she was a little girl that called me Mommy and liked to play hide and seek. I missed her teenaged years- the rebellion, the heartbreaks, the changes. I came back to a fully grown woman that didn't need me like the child I left behind."

She leans forward, lacing her fingers together.

"It's okay to miss the time you lost with Cassie, Scott," she continues, eyes scanning his face as she speaks. "You can be grateful you came back, and still be devastated for what you've missed out on."

Scott is quiet for a few long moments before he swallows thickly, and lifts damp eyes to meet hers.

"She's almost as tall as I am now," he starts, voice cracking with emotion. He lifts a hand, attempting to stifle the flow of tears as his words start to pick up. "She'd rather watch a horror movie than a princess one. And half the time she doesn't even eat breakfast- that used to be our favorite meal of the day."

Janet shifts, taking his hands in hers and squeezing. Scott wipes at his cheek, taking a breath.

"I'm so grateful she wasn't snapped- I can't even fully express in words how the idea of a world without my daughter in it tears at me," he says, and Janet nods, her own eyes wet as she watches him. "But I'd already lost so much time when I was in prison...more time away from her just seems cruel."

"It is cruel. What Thanos did was cruel, there's no other way around it. And it can't be fixed, or changed," she replies, lifting a hand to brush over his cheek. "We simply have to...learn to live with it."

She offers Scott a smile that's warm, though tinged with bittersweet regret.

"I'll never have my time with Hope back, just like you'll never get those years with Cassie returned to you. But we have now, which is all we can ask for."

Scott's returning smile is tremulous, but genuine, and Janet rounds the table to wrap him in her arms. His own lift to squeeze her tightly, grateful, and she hides a smile in his hair.

(A part of her thinks that if she and Henry had had another child, she would have wanted a son just like Scott- and to have him as a future son-in-law was just as sweet.)

"Dad, are you here?"

They both look up at the voice, and Cassie pops in through the door, hair falling in her face that she shoves away.

"Peanut? What are you doing here, you were asleep when I left," Scott frowns, standing up and turning towards his daughter. "Is something wrong?"

"You should have woken me up! Today's lab day, Dr. Pym is going to have me do more work with controlling the ants," Cassie answers, hands on her hips. Janet hides her smile in her palm, watching the two of them. "I don't want to miss anything."

Scott's lips quirk, and he lifts a hand, stroking his daughter's hair.

"Well, you haven't missed anything, Cass. Promise," he tells her, and the teenager beams. Janet looks up at the sound of more voices, and Henry and Hope walk in, arms loaded with food and coffee.

"Well, it's a good thing we got extra," Hank says, throwing Cassie a lifted eyebrow, and Hope elbows him, sending Cassie a smile.

"I got hot chocolate just in case you were here," she tells her, and Cassie beams, taking the cup from her. Scott leans over, kissing Hope with his hands on her cheeks before he takes his coffee, and Janet watches in amusement as her daughter's cheeks remained flushed for a few minutes after they part.

"For you," Henry says, handing her her own cup of coffee, and she replies with a kiss of her own, running her fingers through his beard briefly before pulling away. "Mm. That was nice. What'd I do?"

"You're here," is all she says, and Henry studies her for a moment before he simply squeezes her waist and drops a kiss to her temple before moving away to help Hope and Scott lay the food out. Janet watches, fondness filling her chest, and misses Cassie moving to sit beside her until she presses into her side, head on her shoulder.

"I'm glad you're back," the teenager says, and Janet rests her head on hers.

"I'm glad we're back too," she replies, and Cassie loops her arm through hers. They watch Hank, Hope, and Scott squabble goodnaturedly as they set the table for breakfast, and Scott comes up, offering both arms to them.

"Your table awaits, m'ladies," he says, and Cassie giggles, fitting her hand in her dad's right elbow as Janet does the same with his left.

"I don't think you can make m'lady plural, Dad," she tells him, and he scoffs, shrugging a shoulder.

"Eh, sounds cool," he replies, and Janet smothers her own snort of amusement as Henry pulls out a chair for her.

"Scott?" Hope says as they all sit, and he looks at her, eyebrows lifted. "It's barely nine am."

He shoots her finger guns, causing her to roll her eyes, though Hope remained grinning. Cassie watched them both, chin in her hands and eyes bright, and Henry took her hand under the table, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles.

She meets Scott's gaze across the table, and he shoots her a grin, but the genuine look in his eyes told her more than words ever could. She dips her head, smiling back, and takes a sip of her coffee.

Neither of them could get the time back with their daughter's that they'd lost- but they had this. They had Cassie laughing at Henry's quips, Hope watching Scott out of the corner of her eye, affection on her face; she had Henry's hand in hers, holding tightly.

They'd all be alright.