As Alex and Justin make their way to the lawyer's office, Alex leans her head on Justin's shoulder and intertwines her fingers with his. Once off the train, Alex and Justin walked half a block to the front door of the office where a woman that reminded them of their maternal grandmother greeted them. After they were escorted to the conference room, two lawyers walked in through the door and sat at the head of the table and set down their file folders. The lawyers and Alex and Justin all exchanged hellos before the female lawyer dived into explaining that Alex had been adopted by Theresa and Jerry and had been left some things for Alex to receive upon her coming-of-age, which had happened last week. The lawyer disclosed that Alex had been left a house in New Orleans as well as enough money held in trust to pay for anything she might ever want for the rest of her life. Alex looked at Justin in disbelief and at that moment, the other lawyer started explaining that Mr and Mrs Russo left all their money to them as well as the building, which they were told, was worth over $2 million. Alex and Justin decided to sell the building, because it held so many memories for the both of them and they couldn't imagine living there without the rest of their family. Once they told the lawyers that they would be selling the building and moving to New Orleans, they were told that when they arrived in Louisiana, they were to meet with the lawyer in charge of Alex's birth parent's estate. They were also told that they could go into the loft to get the belongings they wanted to take with them.
After the meeting, Alex and Justin took the subway back to the loft to pack things for their trip and after packing up the car; they both said their final goodbyes to their childhood home. Justin and Alex climbed into the car and Alex started looking through the box she found in her room from her mother. Inside the box, Alex found several letters addressed to her from her mother explaining that, even though Alex had been adopted, she lover her with as if Alex was her own child. The last letter written to her said that Theresa knew about Alex's relationship with Justin and that she was okay with it; and that she was glad Alex had found her true love. Alex started crying silently after reading all the letters and she rested her head on the window to take a nap. Justin looked over at Alex and saw the drying tracks of tears traveling down her face and thought that driving as long as he could before stopping because Alex needed the sleep. Six hours later, Alex shifted in her seat, blinked her eyes and saw that the car had been turned off and that Justin was sitting and reading Alex's letters and crying. Alex reached across the console to hug Justin. He looked at her, and then melted into her soft, gentle hug. They held each other for almost an hour before Justin started the car to search for a hotel for the night. The next few days followed the same pattern as they traveled from New York to New Orleans.
When they arrived in New Orleans, they were greeted with heat and humidity as well as the smells from various homes and restaurants. After they got their room in the bed-and-breakfast, Alex climbed into bed, hair still wet and slid over to where Justin had fallen asleep and snuggled up to him. As soon as Alex pressed her body against Justin, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into the crook of her neck. Alex drifted off to sleep, dreaming of happier times. Justin woke up to the scent of something spicy being cooked. He showered and dressed, before heading downstairs to the kitchen where an older woman with caramel colored skin greeted him, whom he assumed was the owner of the beautiful establishment. The woman looked at Justin, almost as if she were searching inside his soul for something she was expecting to see.
"What are you cooking? It smells so amazing." Justin asked her. She looked to the stove and answered him with a spoonful of this hot, red sauce filled with shrimp, chicken, green peppers and other delicious items. He took the soon and blew on it to cool it down, then put the spoon in his mouth and tasted the wonderful mingling of flavors.
"It's gumbo, cher" she told him, "Where are you from and why are you in New Orleans?" He sat down on a stool at the island in the kitchen and started telling her about what had happened in the last month. She then asked him about the beautiful girl that was with him, and he explained that they had been raised as siblings, but then fell in love and found out that she had been adopted. Justin couldn't believe that he told her all that stuff, so he ducked his head and waited for the inevitable shocked look and disgusted comments about it. The woman just looked at him with knowing eyes, almost as if she knew it from looking at him earlier. She opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something, but then Justin heard Alex's soft footsteps in the hallway outside the kitchen.
Alex walked into the kitchen to see Justin sitting at the island, a cup of coffee sitting in front of him and a beautiful, older woman standing at the stove, stirring a pot of something. The woman looked at her, then looks at Justin, asking a silent question and Justin nods at her.
"What time are we meeting with the lawyer today?" Alex asks. "This afternoon." Justin answered; "Okay then I'm going to have a shower, and I'll see you later" Alex says, then kisses Justin's cheek before grabbing an apple and a cup of coffee, and heading up to shower.
After Justin and the woman hear the shower turn on, she turns to Justin and says "Never be ashamed about who you love, because true love is hard to find and keep. Both of you have beautiful souls, that deserve to be nurtured." After that strangely comforting statement, Justin heads upstairs to shower and then dress in pinstripe pants and light gray buttondown shirt. Alex stepped out of the bathroom, her hair curly and dressed in a full gray skirt and a tucked in turquoise short-sleeved buttondown. They left the house and walked to the car and drove to the lawyer's office.