"You'll be great." Kate lies, yeah, but not to blow smoke up peoples' asses. Definitely not up the asses of people she cares about, and she's not lying now. The way he grins at William, the careful way he warned him about the sandwich, it's all instinct.

"Listen." She gestures at him with a spatula while she's making another grilled cheese. "You protect people. You do it with Annie. You did it with Effy. You try, dumbass that you are--" There's a flash of a grin for that. "To do it with me. That's what parents are supposed to do." Not what they always do. Sometimes they disappear, but she keeps that off her face for now. "Being scared, that's what keeps you alive. It's what's keeps you sharp. If you weren't scared, then I'd worry."