John looks at her then, a small smile curving the corners of his mouth, surprised by that response. He's long since learned not to take anyone entirely at face value, knowing everyone has their secrets and everyone has hidden traits, but Jessica says that, that it's better for them to stay at home, that it's safer for them there, and he feels a little surge of admiration.

He's never been a parent, he doesn't know what it's like, he doesn't know if even Harold's relationship with the Machine comes close to what it feels like for a mother despite how it seems, despite him being the Machine's creator, but it still surprises him a little. He would have thought a parent would do anything to be with their child, but Jessica's response makes more sense. Because a parent would of course want their children to be as safe as possible, even if it means not being with them.

"You're quite the woman, aren't you?" he asks. He doesn't mean it as a come on, suspects Jessica misses her husband as much as she does her children, but John has a tendency to flirt even when it isn't his intention.