Hey, guys...Sorry I suck. This is the shortest update I've made in quite some time. I've been so stressed out lately – lots of family shit going on that I'm sure none of you want to hear about – and between that and the holidays, it's been a little crazy. I've had the time to write, but haven't been in a good enough mood to do so. In conclusion, I apologize for this very short update. The next one should be longer.

As soon as they got into the car, Alex spoke.

"Mitch?"

"Mm," Mitchie hummed in response.

"What if she doesn't-" she started but was cut off.

"Sweetie, you're Alex Russo. She'll like you. Plus you seemed to get along fine earlier," Mitchie said and smiled. The rest of the drive was fairly silent as the two women thought about their daughter. When Mitchie pulled into Caitlyn's driveway, Alex snapped out of her daydreams and sighed.

"She'll like you. Don't worry," Mitchie said and put a comforting hand on Alex's knee. Alex put her hand over Mitchie's and squeezed it in an attempt to reassure herself. "Come on. Where's the Alex Russo I know? The cocky, confident, smart-ass-"

"Gee, thanks," Alex said, chuckling.

"And since when do you not take that as a compliment?" Mitchie asked. Alex shrugged.

"I've changed, Mitch," she said quietly. Mitchie just squeezed her hand and then kissed her cheek before getting out of the car.

"Come on, love," she said through the window. Alex sighed again before walking around the car to take Mitchie's hand in hers. They walked up to Caitlyn's door and Mitchie knocked twice before walking in.

"Mom!" Rita yelled from the nearby staircase.

"Hi, sweetie!" Mitchie said with a huge smile on her face. Rita ran down the stairs and hugged her mother tight. "Did you miss me?" Mitchie asked, chuckling and tilting her head to try to look at her daughter's face. Rita mumbled something into Mitchie's chest that sounded suspiciously like "maybe". "Well I have a question for you, daughter of mine," Mitchie said. Rita looked up at her mother with a puzzled expression on her face. "How would you feel about spending the day with Alex?" she finished and nodded her head toward Alex who was standing off to the side. Rita looked from her mother to Alex and back again.
"Sure," she said with a shrug.

"Okay. I have to go to the studio to do some recording, and Alex volunteered to take you out for the day."

"Mitch, you're going to have to drop us off at my truck," Alex said.

"Shi-"

"Hey, look, it's your daughter. The innocent one who doesn't know many swear words yet," Caitlyn said, entering the room and effectively stopping Mitchie's cursing.

"Hi, Cait. Did you hear the plan?" Mitchie said.

"Alex gets Rita for the day?" Caitlyn asked.

"Yep. But I don't have time to drop her off at her truck – I'm already late as it is." Mitchie said while looking at her watch.

"That's alright. I'll do it," Caitlyn said.

"Are you sure? I could just call a cab." Alex asked, more than a little wary of spending time with Caitlyn.

"No, it's fine. I've got nothing better to do."

"Thanks, Cait," Mitchie said. "Alex, do you want to walk me out?" Alex nodded and opened the door for Mitchie, then followed her outside. "I'm sorry I don't have time to give you a ride – I know you're not too excited about spending time with Caitlyn," Mitchie said once they were out of earshot. "But she has a good heart. She's just trying to protect me."

"I know, Mitch. But you're the one who left me, contrary to what you told everyone."

"Well it's not like you made too much of an effort to get me to come back. After a couple weeks, you just stopped," Mitchie snapped uncharacteristically.

"It's not my fault I believed what you said! I trusted you, Mitchie. I loved you. While we were dating, a part of me was always thinking that it was too good to be true. When you left, I guess I just figured that that little part of me had been right all along," Alex said, choking back tears. Mitchie softened immediately at the sight of Alex near tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, baby," Mitchie said softly, hugging Alex tightly. Alex buried her head in Mitchie's neck and wrapped her arms tightly around the singer's waist. "I'm sorry." Alex didn't object to Mitchie's apologies this time. Instead, she sniffed loudly and gently kissed Mitchie's neck.

"You're late, sweetheart. We can talk later."

"Singing isn't as important to me as you are," Mitchie said and kissed Alex's forehead.

"But you should go. I'll be fine – Rita and I will go to the mall or something. Call me when you're done at the studio, okay?" Alex said, finally pulling away from Mitchie.

"Okay," Mitchie said, looking Alex in the eyes. "Bye, honey," she said and kissed Alex on the cheek before getting in her car and backing out of the driveway. With a sigh, Alex walked back up the sidewalk and into the house.