"Have I said lately how much of a genius you are?" Ryan questioned.

Marissa shook her head lazily. "I don't know."

"Well, you're a genius. And I love you."

"I love you too." She grinned as their lips met. They were currently lying out on the resort's private beach under the beautiful Hawaiian sun. It was only day two of their getaway and so far, they had yet to leave the resort.

"Do you think the kids are doing okay?" she finally asked.

"Mhmm, we left them in capable hands, I'm sure they're fine. And we split them up, how much trouble can they be if they're not together?"

-OC-

"Grace? Gracie? Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Kaitlyn Cooper called out as she walked around her apartment. "Seriously kid, it was cute at first but now it just getting ridiculous." It had been almost thirty minutes since Grace had declared a game of hide-and-seek, and Kaitlyn had yet to find her niece. "Come on, I'm hungry! Come out of your hiding place and we can go eat."

"Do I get dessert?" Grace finally called.

Kaitlyn's head whipped around. "Where are you?"

"Answer my question. Do I get dessert?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just come out!"

"Promise?"

"I promise! You can have whatever you want."

"Okay!" Not ten seconds later Kaitlyn jumped, Grace having tapped her shoulder from behind.

"Where were you?"

Grace laughed. "Like I would tell you."

Kaitlyn frowned. "Good point. Okay, come on. Brad and Eric are meeting us at Arrowheads."

"I don't like it there."

"Have you ever been there before?"

"No."

She sighed. "It's a grill; you know, with big TV's with sports on them and burgers?"

Grace looked at her skeptically. "I don't know…"

"They have arcade games and we'll go for ice cream afterwards." She added.

"Can I have Mountain Dew and a burger and fries and lots of ketchup?"

"Kid, you can drink the whole damn bottle of ketchup if you want."

"Okay, let's go!" Grace grabbed her purse from the counter and followed her aunt out the door. "Mommy said you're not supposed to say bad words."

"Yeah well, she also said not to give you sugar or let you stay up late. I won't tell on you if you won't tell on me, deal?"

"Deal. Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow?"

Kaitlyn thought about this. "Do they serve beer at Chuck E. Cheese?"

-OC-

"Yes! I win!" Amy cried triumphantly.

Julie frowned. "Crap! I thought I had you. Rematch?"

"Sure." She began moving the various pieces to re-start the game. "You know, Grace always tries to cheat when we play Mall Madness."

"Well, Gracie is like your Aunt Kaitlyn. She likes to win."

"It's annoying. She always bugs me."

"I know sweetie. Trust me, I have a sister too and she's a pain."

"You know, you're really cool Aunt Julie."

Julie smiled. "Thank you. You're pretty cool too." Ever since Amy had been born Julie had despised the term 'grandma', claiming she was way too young to coin the name. So she insisted the kids call her Aunt instead.

"I'm kind of hungry."

"Well, how about after the game we go out to eat?" she suggested. "I know the cutest little café where they serve chicken salad on crescents."

Amy's eyes lit up. "That sounds great!"

"Oh, and afterwards we can stop at that boutique next door. They have the most adorable things, and you deserve some new things. You're a teenager for god's sake."

"Really? You don't have to."

Julie scoffed. "Oh please, whether or not I say it often I am your grandmother and I will spoil you as much as I like. Besides, your parents are gone for the week; it's only natural for you to get your way and take advantage of everyone." She pulled her Visa Gold from her purse and waved it. "What do you say?"

-OC-

"That was AWSOME!" Noah yelled as he and his grandparents exited the movie theater. "Did you see the part where the sharks came and almost ate the guy?"

"I saw! It was crazy!" Sandy agreed. They had just seen the newest shark film at the IMAX Theater. "And when the guy fell out of the boat?"

"I liked the parts with all the colorful fish." Kirsten spoke up as they climbed into the car. "There were so many!"

"There was a million and twenty! And someday I'm gonna see them all!"

"Are you? Well you'd better be a good swimmer." Sandy warned.

Noah nodded vigorously. "I am. Mommy and Daddy already made me take the classes, I'm good!"

Kirsten smiled. "You want to go back to the house and show us? We can all go swimming."

"YEAH!"

"Great. We can pick up something to eat on the way." Sandy decided.

"I'm starving. Can we get hamburgers Grandpa?"

"Kid, we can get whatever you want. Where do you want a burger from?"

Noah paused and thought about this. "The Bait Shop?"

"Bait Shop it is. I'll head to the drive through right now.

"Thanks! You guys are the best."

Kirsten laughed. "You're welcome honey."

Sandy was about to agree when his cell phone rang.

"Hello? Hey kiddo, how's island life? Great. How's Marissa doing? Good to know. Yeah, we're fine here. Just saw a shark movie and about to grab some burgers and go swimming. Yeah, sure. Hang on." He held the phone towards the back seat. "It's your dad." He informed the boy.

Noah smiled and took the phone. "Hi daddy!"

"Hey buddy, are you having fun with grandma and grandpa?"

"Yeah! Yesterday we went to the beach and today we saw a movie and we're getting Bait Shop and swimming and watching Finding Nemo tonight!"

"That's awesome."

"What are you and Mommy doing?"

"We're lying out on the beach and I think we might go see a movie tonight."

"That's cool. Can I talk to her?"

Ryan laughed. "Sure, hang on." There was a muffled sound of the phone being passed before Marissa's voice came through the line.

"Hey baby. How are you?"

Noah stayed on the line for another few minutes having basically the same conversation with his mother, finally hanging up and sending his parents both hugs and kisses over the phone and promising to stay on his best behavior.

"Yeah, you guys have fun." Kirsten said nodding as she talked to Marissa. "Nine o'clock, of course. Okay, love you too. Bye."

"I don't really have to go to bed at nine do I grandma?"

Sandy laughed. "Of course not kid."

-OC-

"-and then he wouldn't give me his number!"

Kaitlyn sighed. "Dude, seriously, you act way too desperate."

"I am desperate." Brad reminded her.

She frowned. "Good point. Well, you still have to act like you're not. I mean, if you ever want to get a date you're going to have to stop being so goddamn pathetic."

"Here you go." The waitress stopped at the booth they were currently sitting at and placed two mugs of beer and one of Mountain Dew in front of them. "Eric said this round is on him. Apparently things are going okay with the guy he's talking to."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Cool. Thanks Trina."

"No problem."

"So back to your pathetic love life, Eric doesn't act so desperate. Therefore people take an interest in him."

"You aren't exactly a guy magnet either."

Kaitlyn scoffed. "Please. I could have any straight man in this building in a second. I, unlike you, am enjoying being single."

"You're thirty-one years old and haven't had a stable relationship in years." Brad said pointedly. "Don't you want to get married and have kids?"

"Why? If I get married then I'm stuck with one person for the rest of my life. And kids can be annoying. Besides, if I want any I can just borrow my sister's." As if on cue Gracie ran up to the table.

"Hi! Guess what? I just scored really high on Ms. Pac Man EXTREME. And now I need someone to play air hockey with!"

"Brad will play you, my phone is buzzing." Kaitlyn told her.

Grace smiled. "Okay! Come on Uncle Brad!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him away, much to his protest.

"Hello?"

"Kaitlyn?"

"Marissa?"

"Where are you? I can barely hear you!"

"Hang on." Kaitlyn headed to the front of the restaurant and stepped outside. "Better?"

"Loads. What's going on?"

Kaitlyn pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it. "Nothing. We're just up at Arrowheads hanging out."

"With Gracie?"

"Yeah."

"You took my ten-year-old to a sports bar?!"

She took a drag from the cigarette. "Chill Riss, it's not like I'm letting her do shots. She's having a burger and playing arcade games with Brad."

"Are you drinking?"

"No." she lied. "I'm having coke. Jeez, what kind of Aunt do you think I am?"

"The kind I know way too well. Can I talk to Gracie?"

"She's kind of in the middle of an air hockey match, but hang on." Kaitlyn made her way inside and over to the air hockey table. She held the phone to her niece's ear as she continued to play, shouting to be heard over the music.

"Hello? Hey Mom, yeah I'm fine. Aunt Kaitlyn is the coolest! What? No, she hasn't been smoking or drinking or anything else. Nope, no cussing either. Of course not. Yeah, just a plain hamburger and cheese fries. Water. I think we're going home after, so we can go to sleep. Okay, I will. I promise. I love you too. No, just tell daddy I love him. Okay, bye." She signaled to her aunt that she was done, and Kaitlyn put the phone back to her own ear.

"Yeah, okay. We'll be fine Riss, go back to that fine husband of yours and relax. No, I wasn't trying to talk dirty. Okay, bye." She let out a huge groan after hanging up. "Kid, your mom is annoying."

"She means well, though." Grace reminded her.

"Yeah, I guess. Hurry up, I'm ready for my Gold Metal Ribbon."

"I want a sundae with extra cherries and chocolate sauce."

"Well you can't have it if we never leave. Go pull Eric away from his new boyfriend when you're done and come find me so we can go."

-OC-

"Yeah, and now we're shopping." Amy said into her cell phone as she looked through a rack of clothes.

"Are you being good?"

"Yes mom, I promise. I even told her that going shopping wasn't necessary, but she said that she would spoil me as much as she wanted."

Marissa laughed. "Well, it's good that you're being polite. That's very grown-up of you. You're having fun?"

"Yeah, it's been great. And later Aunt Julie said we would get frozen yogurt and tomorrow we're getting mani-pedi's! But how are you doing? Is Hawaii fun?"

"Hawaii is amazing honey. The view is absolutely gorgeous and it's very peaceful."

"Are you taking pictures for us?"

"Lots and lots. I promise."

"Okay, good. I'm gonna let you get back to relaxing. Love you Mom."

"I love you too sweetie."

Julie walked over just as her granddaughter closed the phone. "Is your Mom doing okay?"

Amy nodded. "She said it's really pretty and quiet."

"Well, that's good. Here, I found a few more things for you to try on." She held up an armful of clothes and Amy grinned. She could get used to this only child stuff.

-OC-

"I have to say, I really like this anniversary present." Marissa said later that night.

They were currently seated in one of the resort's many restaurants, sharing various small pots of fondue.

"Yeah, it's pretty incredible." Ryan agreed. "I've missed you."

She smiled. "I've missed you too. We need to start making more time for each other."

"What if we asked Amy to babysit once a week? You know she'd like the extra money." He suggested.

Marissa's face lit up. "You want to bring back Date Night! Ryan that's a great idea."

"Glad you think so." He grabbed his wine glass and held it up to tap hers. "To Date Night."

"To Date Night!" she echoed. They clinked glasses and took a drink.

"Here," he picked up a strawberry and dipped it in chocolate sauce, holding it to her lips.

Marissa took a small bite. "Really good."

He leaned in and softly kissed her. "Yes it is."

She laughed. "Ryan Atwood are you starting to think dirty?"

"You better believe it Marissa Atwood." He mocked.

She sighed lovingly. "You know even after all this time it still makes me giddy when you say that."

"Marissa Atwood," he repeated softly. "Marissa Atwood, Marissa Atwood."

"God, I love you so much."

Ryan nodded, his eyes filled with the same intensity as hers. "I love you too."

He grabbed a passing waitress and quickly asked her to put the cost of the meal to their tab for the hotel before taking his wife's hand. The two wore matching grins as they raced back towards the elevator.