Chapter One:

Back to the Beach

July 2014

Her haven. Her sanctuary. The place where she felt her freest, least hindered, most loved. She had always felt this way when she came with Alex to the beach house, even when they had first begun dating again. It was just one of those places that would always feel like home.

Her eyes glazed over as she watched Theo and Grace from her spot on the beach lounger, their little boy intently shoveling sand, packing it onto some sort of sculpture he was building, Grace watching what he was doing so carefully and intently, as though learning from the master, her huge brown eyes filled with curiosity, as if to say, this is absolutely amazing.

Theo was in his element, waist-deep in the golden sands of Southampton. Only ten feet away from the watchful eyes of his parents, he was in full-sun, slathered with sunblock less than half an hour ago, on this, their second day in Southampton, but his skin already held the bronzed glow of a sun-kissed complexion—just like his mama.

He looked up and caught eyes with Olivia, smiling that charming smile, blue eyes squinting, and then he waved at her for, perhaps, the tenth time since she sat on the beach chair under the umbrella only moments ago after their lesson. They had been on their first swim together, Theo taking after his mother as far as skill and athleticism went, their four-year-old boy's arms and legs hitting the water like a baby dolphin.

The brunette placed her feet on the sand in between the loungers and began to dig into the canvas bag to her right, searching for a few things. Alex's side was empty, at present, only her towel and iPad there, having gone back to the house to take Isabel to change her diaper.

Olivia had offered a solution to her wife, instead of going all the way back to the house—that Alex change her diaper on the lounger and then the brunette had suggested, partly in jest, that they let them go free and breezy and just have them use the large, natural toilet known as the ocean and the large litter box known as the shoreline, but Alex wanted no part of the brunette's idea. Thankfully, they had taken the last six months to potty train Theo and he was already using the toilet, which now meant that Olivia would have to haul him back when he began crossing his legs and squirming, waiting until the last moment to let her know, as had become typical for him lately.

"Don't get them used to the idea," Alex scolded. "They need to practice the art of self-control, Liv…We don't want to be known as the parents who let their kids poop in the ocean…"

Olivia laughed. "Grace and Izzie aren't even three, yet, Al…now's the time for them to exercise their lack of inhibitions…be naked and not care…and anyway…do you really think that relieving themselves any time they want to in their diaper is practicing self-control, Babe?" Liv had countered. "How much self-control do they really have?"

"If you had it your way, we'd all be naked, twenty-four seven…" Alex smiled.

"Absolutely right, Baby…" Olivia winked. "You know what? We should start our own commune…just like in Wanderlust…"

That was when Alex shook her head, stood and smirked at her wife, lifted Isabel further onto her hip, called her wife a hot mess, and then made her way back to the house, on a special contraption Jonathan had built after Olivia complained for the fifty-millionth time about how long the walk was back to the house. He had designed and built a small hitch that attached to the back of the red, ten-speed bike. It was a canvas and nylon stroller of sorts, with a cover and a seatbelt, had three wheels and was able to carry all three of their babies all together, or one lazy adult who didn't feel like walking all the way back. Olivia joked that he should take it on Shark Tank and dazzle the investors with his own charm and wicked cool contraption.

Finally finding what she was searching for in the bag—a light blue, floppy canvas sun hat, a bottle of SPF 70, a floral sun hat, and a tiny hot pink t-shirt—she stood and walked towards her boy and girl, offerings in hand.

"Mama! Look! I made a fish!"

"Fiss!" Grace cooed, clapping.

It did look like a fish, but it also looked like a turtle or a balloon. Olivia squatted down and placed the hat on his head securely before smiling and cocking her head to the side, eyeing the sand sculpture. She then took the pink t-shirt in her hands and began putting it on Grace, not wanting one of their fair-skinned beauties to burn, then topped it off with her pink sun hat. She then squeezed out some sun block and began rubbing it into her little arms, feet, legs, and face, neck, as she squirmed and made faces, Olivia having to apply quickly.

"It does, Baby…like one of those blow fish…" Olivia puffed her cheeks out and crossed her eyes and Theo and Grace laughed wildly. She capped the bottle and then looked at Theo and grabbed his face, planting a kiss on his cheek and then did the same to Grace, their little girl giggling sweetly.

She's such an Alex, Olivia mused, but she's also a lot like Theo. Worships him, almost.

"You hungry, my beach babies? It's almost lunch time. You have to go potty, Theo?"

Olivia found it necessary to ask every so often or else he waited until he was past the point of return.

"No, Mama. Not yet…" He grabbed the plastic rake from behind him and began making lines in the alleged fish.

Theo stopped raking and looked up at her with pleading eyes, "Uncle Jonathan said he would show me how to lie down on the surf board, Mama…"

Olivia smiled and stroked her son's cheek with the back of her forefinger before leaning closer and kissing his soft, tanned skin. "I think I do remember him saying that…speaking of…" Olivia looked around—toward the water, down the shore, back to the house—no Jonathan, "…have you seen your Uncle Johnny, Theo?"

"No, but he said before, in the kitchen…when we were eating pancakes."

He must have told him at breakfast, Olivia thought, smiling again. "We have to go in for lunch, my babies, but we'll come back out later, OK?"

"OK, Mama…" Theo agreed before moving to another spot nearby and scooping the shovel in the sand, having moved on to now digging some sort of hole.

"Fiss!" Grace spouted once again.

Olivia stroked her soft cheek with the back of her forefinger and smiled, kissing her again, "Yeah, Gracie! Fish! Theo made a fish!"

Her wife's voice approached from behind them, characteristically composed, "Just another reminder of why I hate those uneven slats on the dock…I think the salt water is warping them…we're gonna have to replace the whole thing one of these days…"

Olivia giggled and looked up and behind her to find her regally statuesque wife walking toward her—large dark sunglasses on, wide-brimmed straw hat, sheer, red, button-down beach cover up over a black one-piece bathing suit. She looked like a supermodel, even still. Upon closer inspection, the brunette noticed a large Band-Aid on her wife's forearm.

Olivia did a double-take of the large bandage and furrowed her brow, "What happened, Al?"

"I hit a raised piece of wood on the dock, bike veered off to the right, I ran into the handrail…Izzie's fine, though…she actually said 'wee!' when the bike took the bump…" She looked at her little one in her arms, her blonde curls just below her shoulders, "…right, Isabel? Huh? Our little daredevil?" She kissed her cheek before bouncing her as both girls had taken to and had loved since birth.

Alex walked the couple of steps to the loungers and set Isabel down in the sand, their blue-eyed girl running right to her siblings eagerly.

Alex sat and the two simply watched their children playing in front of them, content in the moment.

It was true, though. Isabel was the stunt woman in the family. With Alex's eyes, she also had her spunk and feistiness and joie de vivre. Anything that needed to be tested out, she was their girl. She had absolutely no fear when it came to climbing things, going in the water, running and jumping happily for everything, even trying new foods.

Grace, on the other hand, was slightly more reserved and was more of an onlooker, a casual observer, very intelligently introspective. She tested things out or watched others test them out before cautiously trying them herself. Olivia said she had a cautious curiosity—too brilliant to get caught up in an overzealous moment and risk getting hurt or getting in trouble.

One evening recently, back at home in Manhattan, Theo and Isabel had taken all of the sofa cushions off the couch and the blankets from the basket where they kept them. Olivia kept a watchful eye on them as she cut up ingredients for a salad at the island, as brother and sister began building their empire fort in the living room. Grace simply sat and watched them from next to the coffee table, leafing through a plastic puffy book about animals, occasionally glancing at her siblings and then glancing at her brunette mother, as if to say, I have no idea what they're doing.

Snapping back to the present, Olivia took a deep breath and smiled, letting it out slowly with a contented sigh. The brunette blindly reached over and took Alex's hand, interlacing her fingers with her own.

"Four years old, Liv…I can't believe Theo is gonna be four tomorrow…"

"I know, Babe…and it's gonna be our fifth year wedding anniversary in a month, too…" Olivia brought the blonde's hand to her mouth and kissed softly.

Theo's cries were heard now—long, drawn-out wails of sadness. Both ladies looked over to see Isabel and Grace each with a shovel in their hands, having moved slightly away from their brother now, and beginning to dig their own hole. The ladies watched as Isabel then stood and stuck her shovel into Theo's "fish" that he had been so proud of, and began scooping out piles of sand from his masterpiece.

Theo sat, breathing in hyperventilated gasps, his face grief-stricken, continuing to cry but not saying anything to his sisters, allowing them to take over the instruments and, in turn, demolish his artwork.

"Little Alexandra Cabots all up in here," Olivia chided, standing and walking over to the three children and then squatting next to them, folding her arms on top of her knees. "Hey, guys…we need share the beach toys…Isabel?"

Isabel looked at her with those eyes that melted her heart, but she had to stand strong, "Why did you do that to your brother's fish?"

"Fiss!" Grace repeated.

Olivia couldn't help but smile at the outburst, then quickly collected herself, looking at Theo's tear-stained cheeks, his gasps having slowed. "Isabel that wasn't very nice to do that. Theo worked hard on that and you made it go bye-bye…"

"Zssssbbbbb-bok!" she declared loudly before scooping another clump of sand from the sculpture.

"She said she's sorry…don't you know...that's what za-bok means Liv..." Alex offered, now cleaning her sunglasses of with the bottom of her cover-up.

"Alex…" Olivia said, exasperated. She turned to Isabel and then looked at Grace, whose brown eyes were fixed on her brunette mother, almost as though awaiting the wisdom. Olivia looked at Theo and then Isabel again, "You can't do that Izzie. Theo made that and he was happy and you made him sad. Look at your brother crying…"

Isabel, completely unfazed, began digging the same hole she and Grace had started moments ago.

"Mr. Rogers is in the house…" Alex set her iPad on her lap and pressed and held the top button to turn it off.

"They don't understand yet…although, I think Gracie does…this one is definitely a chip off the old attorney block…for sure…" Olivia stroked Theo's face and planted another kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry, baby boy…she didn't mean it…" Olivia turned her head and looked at Alex, "He's such a little gentleman, Al…he just takes it from them…"

"Whipped already…" Alex smiled.

"No, not whipped, Al…just taught well…good manners…we have to get our little princess Izzie to share a little better…Aunt Carolyn says that she doesn't share at all when they're with her during the day…she said Isabel is the instigator…your mini you…" Olivia smirked at her wife.

Alex shook her head, flipping the cover back on the iPad and attaching the elastic to secure it. "I know, Babe…you don't know this but, last night, after dinner when you were in the water with Jonathan and my father, Gracie's Haagen Dazs ice cream bar fell on the sand and she started crying and Theo gave her the rest of his…no questions asked, no tears from him…"

Olivia leaned over and kissed the top of his head, "That's our boy…" The brunette went back to her lounger and sat, extending her legs and leaning back.

"My mother is making a little lunch…something light before the party tonight…" Alex stood and began folding her towel.

Olivia reached out, cupping the back of her wife's thigh with her right hand, fingers dancing over her smooth skin lovingly, eyeing her wife. "OK, Babe…someone was supposed to be here to take a certain someone in the water on a s-u-r-f-b-o-a-r-d," Olivia said softly.

"Oh, about that…he and Casey have their hands full right now…Kimberly is being very obstinate…refusing to eat, not wanting to put clothes on…Casey says she's been in a mood since she woke up this morning, all through the drive here, and now that she's tired and hungry, she's putting on quite a show."

"Ahhh, the terrible twos hits some harder than others…must be the feisty red head in her…" Olivia smiled, still stroking her wife's leg. "Fin and Melinda and little JJ are still coming. They said they'd be here at six, right?"

Fin and Melinda's boy's nickname was JJ after Jeremiah Jason, family names from both parents.

"Yeah…this should be interesting this evening…a party for a four-year old, also a party celebrating Kimberly's and JJ's second birthdays. Not to mention our almost three-year-old girls…"

Olivia laughed, "We should all be pretty worn out by bedtime…"

"You coming?" Alex smirked, leaning over Olivia now. "I know you could stay here all day, Babe…"

"Yeah, Al…I'm ready…let's go…" Olivia puckered a few times and Alex leaned over her smiling.

The blonde pressed her lips to her own and kissed her gently, Olivia's hand traveling upward and squeezing her backside firmly.

"Mmmm…" Olivia moaned. "Let's go…"

… … … … … …

Olivia looked up as Alex quickly breezed into the kitchen, a clump of paper towels held in front of her, keeping them away from her body. Once at the kitchen wastebasket, she stepped on the lever, lid popping up, and dropped the items inside, letting the lid drop promptly.

"Alex?" her mother tried, moving around her daughter, and placing a pitcher of iced tea on the kitchen table. "What was that, Dear?"

Alex took a deep breath, hands up, fingers apart, "Spider. Big, hairy, multi-eyed spider...in the foyer downstairs…"

Olivia smiled at her wife from the kitchen table, continuing to cut up some cantaloupe for the children, Grace on left side and Isabel and Theo on her right, the girls in a high chair and Theo sitting in a booster chair that brought him almost eye-level with the adults. "You couldn't have put it in the trash downstairs?" Olivia smiled, continuing to cut.

"And run the risk of it coming back to life and attacking? No, thank you." Alex's hands were still up, fingers spread.

"Awww...you actually caught it all by yourself, Babe...you didn't have to come get me or your brother or father or anything...I'm so proud of you..." Olivia set the bowls of fruit in front of the kids and looked up, smirking at her wife.

"Oh, Gee, thanks, Baby…" Alex offered facetiously, moving to the sink now.

"Where was it, Dear?" Mrs. Cabot's face was fretful as she moved back into the kitchen and wiped her hands on the dish towel.

Alex now stood at the sink, washing her hands vigorously, as though scrubbing for surgery.

Mrs. Cabot continued, "We might have to call the exterminator..."

Olivia choked on her iced tea. She coughed and sputtered, still smiling, looking at the blonde once again. "There must be an infestation..." the brunette offered.

Mrs. Cabot came back to the kitchen table, this time with a platter that held freshly-made spinach and cheese quesadillas on it. She looked at Olivia as she set it down in the middle, "You saw some insects, too, Olivia?"

Olivia began giggling, not able to stop herself, "Mmm…these look great, Cathy…but no, I didn't see any...maybe it's just one? Al?" Olivia looked at Alex now, her wife sitting at the table next to Grace, staring the brunette down. "How many were there?" Olivia's body shook uncontrollably, lips drawn inward, guffaws threatening to spill forth. She placed her hand over her mouth while simultaneously putting a quesadilla on Theo's plate with her right, trying so hard not to laugh at the expression on her wife's face.

"Mom…it was just one…Olivia…stop…" Alex half-smiled, half-glared at her wife and then folded her arms, "One. It was one spider, Liv. Happy?" Alex unfolded her napkin and spread it on her lap. "I suppose now you know where I get my irrational fear..." Alex looked up and smiled.

"Were there more, Alex? I'm gonna have to call Mr. Wexley and have him bring the pest control company over here. We can't have bugs like that around the babies..." She headed for the landline on the wall next to the butler's pantry.

"Mom…it was only one…come on and sit down and let's eat before it gets cold…"

Alex shook her head at Olivia and mouthed, You're bad.

"And you love it…" Olivia said softly.

"I do love it…"

… … … … … …

A/N: Shorter than normal. You know I couldn't stay away. I wanted to introduce modern day with the kids and wanted to give a background on friends and family before getting into the next chapter. This section will be like a one-shot section, with titles that have to do with what will happen in the chapter. I hope you enjoy!

P.S. I am going away for 12 days and don't think I'll be able to post anything but I will try and work on the next chapter.

Thanks!

Patricia