A\N: Thank you so much to all of you who have been reading and reviewing it means so much to me. Here is the chapter so many of you have been waiting for, I hope it does not disappoint. I have to give a huge thank you to my beta reader who edited this chapter for me, and my two friends on Twitter, one who wrote some scenes for me to use in this chapter and the other one for always being there to support and help me.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Chapter 11

"Hey Daniela, want to do me a favour?" Gabby was standing outside of Matt's bedroom. She was already dressed for the day and she saw that Daniela was as well. "Go into Matt's bedroom and wake him up. Can you do that for me?"

"Uh-huh!" Daniela nodded her head, she opened the door and ran into the room, She jumped onto Matt's bed and started bouncing, "Matt! Matt! Matt! I had pancakes; guess what-" She plopped down right on Matt's chest.

Not used to being startled awake it took Matt a few seconds to adjust. He sat up carefully making sure Daniela didn't fall, "What sweetie?" He kissed her cheek.

"Abuela makes strawberry pancakes!" She finished her story, "Come on!" She tugged his hand. "Come on!"

"I think Matt needs time to wake up sweetheart," Gabby walked into the room, "You go and play alright," She picked her niece up and put her on the ground. She sat down on Matt's bed and couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sorry I sent her in but…." She kissed him on the lips. "I thought it would be funny," She laughed just a little, "We need to be downstairs in two hours."

Matt had set his phone alarm to go off in half an hour, thinking that was enough time to get ready. He'd guessed he wouldn't have a good sleep and he was right. He'd tossed and turned a lot thinking about the week ahead. He wanted, needed, to impress Gabby's family, family meant everything to her.

"You'll be fine," Gabby assured him. She could ready his emotions and she knew he was inwardly stressing out, "You're great with kids, that's going to mean a lot okay? Now get dressed and come and try to eat some breakfast. My Mom's pancakes are amazing.

Matt loved that even though the family had world-class chefs at their disposal Gabby's mother still cooked and baked. To him that really showed him what the family was all about, even though they were rich and powerful it hadn't really affected them, at least not in any ways Matt had seen.

Walking hand-in-hand Matt and Gabby entered the family kitchen and dinning area. Sitting at the table were the kids Laura and Antonio who was talking to his father about something on the previous night.

"Matt!" Diego jumped off his chair and ran to hug him, "I saved you a seat right beside me!" He tugged at his hand and pulled him towards the table. "Come and sit down."

"I think Tia Gabby wants to sit next to Matt Diego," Eduardo informed his grandson, "You and Eva go and take your milk and watch TV. Jonathan, make sure they don't watch the news, something appropriate."

"Yes Sir," The Secret Service Agent nodded his head as he led the children out of the room.

Gabby looked between her father and brother silently begging them not to interrogate Matt or ask him to many hard questions, which would only make him more nervous about the week.

"So Matt," Eduardo turned to look at the younger man as he sat down at the table, Gabby sitting beside him, "Tell me about your relationship with my daughter. Are you treating her right? Her Secret Service team like you but I think despite the fact they work for me, they're loyal to Gabriela." He'd long suspected this but it didn't; bother him. He wanted to believe if something truly bad ever happened to her they'd tell him.

"Gabby is the greatest woman I've ever met. She's generous, smart and extremely stubborn which at times I know is a problem but- it just makes her even more amazing at her job. She loves children and it really shines through her. We both want children in the future and in the future after I ask your permission of course I'd like to marry her."

Gabby turned and kissed Matt on the lips.

"Ew!" Daniela threw her hands over her eyes in protest. "May I go please?" She asked. She hadn't left with her older brother and sister because Eduardo didn't think she was able to sit on the couch and eat properly.

"Yes you're excused. Put your dishes in the sink,' Antonio told her. He watched his daughter clean her plate and so as he was told and leave the kitchen. He turned to look at Matt, "I don't know if you know this but I was a Detective for a few years before getting into politics. I know the job can be dangerous. You don't know if you can come home. "Would to risk your life knowing you'd leave Gabby?"

"Antonio!" Gabby exclaimed, looking angrily at her older brother. They both knew that as a Detective and as a uniformed officer he'd out himself in harms way even though he had Laura and children to think about.

"It's okay Gabby," Matt assure her, he took a few minutes to gather his thoughts. He knew what he wanted to say but he didn't know how to say it, finally after a ten-minunte silence he spoke, "The job is dangerous and I love my job but I care a lot for Gabby. I would never want to hurt her but I can't guarantee anything."

"Understandable, Eduardo nodded his head. He was feeling confident now that Matt wasn't just dating Gabby because of her last name. He truly cared for her and it showed. Gabby was still his baby though and there were a lot more questions he waned to ask him.

The SUV followed the others as it turned off the highway and turned onto a country road, on either side of the road were rows of trees. As they drove Matt saw signs warning that this was private property, as they got closer Matt saw a sign that now claimed it was a restricted zone and all unauthorized vehicles would be fined. After passing a sign saying 'Camp David', the SUV turned again and now went up a dirt country road.

A few miles up the road, they stopped at a gate and after only a brief, few minutes the gates were opened. It was then that Matt began to get nervous.

Matt looked at Gabby and took her hand, "Tell me again how much your family already likes me." He turned to look at her and tried to feed off her excitement, it was clear she was looking forward to this week away. "Who is going to be here now?"

Gabby gently brushed her lips against his cheek, pulling away she squeezed his hand, "My parents should be here. The helicopter is faster than the cars." Gabby's parents had traveled in a helicopter as it was safer and more secure than an SUV. "This was a security nightmare for the Secret Service so they had staggered arrival times. I'm not sure who will be here."

The SUV came to a stop and Matt looked out the window to see a beautiful luxury cottage. It was a beige colour and in front of the entrance were tall trees. The door on Gabby's side opened and Gabby took her purse and stood to exit, Matt following.

In the distance, children's laughter and screams of delight could be heard signaling that others were already there. "We can go and put our luggage away and then go explore," Gabby told Matt. She collected her suitcases as they were being unloaded but Matt got them first.

"I'll take them. You can take the lighter bags." He told her.

Gabby had always hated being treated as if she could not do things just because she was a woman, she'd always argued with all of her previous boyfriends when they as so much as held the door open for her. It was different with Matt, she didn't know why, she told herself it wasn't simply because he had rock hard abs and shoulders that she loved to stare at. He lifted up her suitcases and it was clear he worked out regularly.

"Focus Gabby," She scolded herself, snapping her eyes open and closed she took the lighter bags and followed Matt toward the house. The front door opened and Felix Goodman, her father's Chief of Staff exited. Felix was a man in his late thirties who had come highly qualified for his job with a law degree and having worked for Senators in Washington for a few years.

"Ms. Dawson, Mr. Casey," He walked towards them, "Here is a copy of the main house key," He handed it to Gabby, "And here are itineraries for the week along with your bedroom assignment," He handed them both a clipboard. "Your parents are on the back porch along with your Uncle Andrew and cousins Rafael and Stella. Do you have any questions?"

Matt had a pile of questions, first one being what 'uncle' Andrew was, and the last one being why he and Gabby appeared to be sharing a room. What had happened since a day ago at the White House that made her parents lift their ban? He wasn't complaining, he slept better with Gabby curled into him, he was just curious.

He walked with Gabby into the living room of the cottage and was immediately marvelled by the beautiful design, not that he had been expecting anything less. The walls were painted a very light brown and the living room contained family pictures, a black couch, and a flat screen TV.

"This is gorgeous," Gabby sighed contently. "I was here for Easter Weekend but I didn't get to explore all of the grounds." She took Matt's hand and led him down a hallway. The doors were all closed but had sticky notes on them indicating what they were. Matt saw that unsurprisingly Gabby's parents were staying in the main cottage, along with them the other sticky notes said that Laura and Antonio were in a room, Diego, and Daniela in another.

Gabby opened the door to the last room on the left that had their names on it. The room was simple, with two single beds, a TV, and a closet. She turned to Matt who was still standing out of the room. She walked up to him and kissed him on the lips, "I'm not afraid of my parents Matt."

"Well that makes one of us." He broke apart from her, "Gabby," He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm not….I just want this weekend to go perfect."

"Perfect isn't really the right word," Gabby pulled him inside and shut the door, "I should have told you this before but now's a good time."

"What?" Matt didn't like the tone she was using, "What's wrong?"

"Stella and her parents…they don't get along very well. They tolerate each other and Stella would do anything to please them but her parents, her father especially are still angry with her for having Madeline. When she told them she was pregnant, her father disowned her for almost two years. Stella had to graduate law school all on her own. She worked three jobs while in school to pay for tuition. She had some trouble staying on top of coursework so it took her a bit longer to graduate but she did. She got a great internship at a prestige law firm in New York all on her own, without her father's help. She decided to run for Senate against her father's wishes and won. She's raised Madeline all on her own."

"Oh," Matt could never imagine not wanting anything to do with your child's life, then again he supposed Stella's father would have been worried about his 'image' in Matt's mind though that wasn't an excuse for what he did.

"My Tio Andrew is even more old-fashioned then my father if you can believe that. He's two years older than my father is. Anyways…." She got back on track, "Stella's always been attracted to bad boys but Maddie's father, he's well he was a drug dealer and murderer, he's in prison now for life. Maddie only just found out last year when she did a search on the Internet. So that's part of the reason why Maddie and Stella are at odds."

"How are Stella's parents now? I mean they've obviously come to come kind of agreement." Matt concluded, the fact that they were all here told him that.

"When Maddie was almost two years old Stella's mother dropped by unexpectedly and broke down into tears saying they should have been there for her. They talked it out I guess. Stella's never really explained it all to me. Her father and her are civil to each other but have never really gone back to way things were. Don't think my Uncle's not a good person, he is, for the most part he is, he's just a proud and religious man, but he loves Maddie as much s he can and often spoils her."

"To make up for not being there for Stella," Matt guessed, "Thanks for telling me before I said something,"

"You're welcome, you ready now?"

"No," He answered honestly. Gabby took his hand anyways and led him out of the room, back out of the cottage, and towards the back porch.

"Gabriela, Matt," Esmeralda stood upon seeing them, "There are drinks in the kitchen and some sandwiches in the fridge if you're hungry help yourself."

Before either Gabby or Matt had time to explain Diego rushed dup the steps and into Matt, "Hi Matt! Do you want to see my bike? We brought it and I can ride it here! Let's go and ride it!"

"Diego!" Laura narrowed her eyes at the seven year old, "We talked about this Matt can't spend all this weekend with you. He's here to meet everyone. You already know him."

"Then come and meet, Rachel, Nicholas, Gavin, Olivia, Elliot, David and William," He looked over to where seven other kids were playing soccer. "Sara, Maddie and Eva are texting cute boys," He added looking at his sister and making a face.

"Shut up Diego!" Eva yelled without looking up from her phone, "I can still hear you, you little creep!"

"Alright Diego," Matt looked down at the boy, "You go and play and I'll be there soon." He promised. It wasn't an empty promise either; he had every intention on playing with Diego later.

"Awe," Diego pouted as he kicked the deck and turned around. He stood there for a second before catching his parents' disapproving looks. He then decided it would be better if he went back and played.

"We did talk to him Matt," Laura promised as he and Gabby walked over to the long table that was set up on the wooden deck, "He just really likes you."

"He's a good kid, really smart," Matt smiled. He wasn't just saying that, he really did like spending time with Diego.

"Well then he got it from Laura," Stella stopped talking to her brother and joined the conversation.

"Very funny," Antonio didn't even bother to look at his cousin. After spending so much time with her, he was used to her sense of humor.

"Matt, you know Stella, this is her twin brother Rafael, he's a New York Senator and his wife Lucy, and this is Karen, Stella and Rafael's younger sister, and this is her husband Martin." Gabby began making introductions, "And this is my Tio Andrew and Tia Amelia."

Matt shook hands with Rafael and Lucy and turned to their father. Andrew had graying hair but Matt could tell he was a serious man, "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Secretary of State Sir," He let the out of mouthful of a title and made eye-contact.

"I've heard a lot about you Son. I hear you're a firefighter." His grip was strong and firm. He looked Matt up and down as if evaluating him, and that's just how Matt felt. He had a feeling other than her father this was the man Matt needed to impress.

"Yes Sir. I'm a Lieutenant; I lead a Truck Company out of a busy firehouse in Chicago. I love my job."

"Hm," Andrew looked at his younger brother, Gabby's father Eduardo and they appeared to share a look. "Would you like to sit here with us or go and play with the kids?"

Matt was sure that this was a test, he just wish he knew what the right answer was. Were they hoping he'd stay and be with Gabby and get to know them, would going to play with the kids make him appear as though he was running away? Did they want him to play with the kids, would that show he was compassionate and caring? He looked to Gabby for advice but all she offered was a supportive look. That wasn't what he needed right now. He wanted her to say something to prompt him to the right answer, although if he did that, it might not look like he could handle all of this, and that wasn't what he wanted.

"Mom, Dad Gavin said my goal didn't count!" Diego came running up to his parents and frowned, "He's just being a really bad loser! I'm better at soccer than he is."

Seven-year-old Gavin frowned as he walked up to stand beside the other boy, "You didn't wait until I said I was ready. That's how we always play at home."

"Well that's wrong!" Diego yelled.

"Hey," Karen, Stella, and Rafael's younger sister looked at her son, "You know that there are different ways to play sports. You need to play nice."

"Diego's too competitive," Gavin scoffed.

"Am not!" Diego argued back. He was though in fact very competitive, just like Antonio was.

"Hey," Matt looked at Diego, "How about you go and show me your bike now. Does Gavin have his bike here too? Maybe he wants to come."

"I do, everyone does," Gavin told him.

"Most of the older kids have their bikes here," Esmeralda informed Matt.

"Well then we can all go, come on," Matt offered his hands to the boys, "Let's go, and tell the other kids.

"I can run faster than you Gavin!" Diego challenged.

"No, I can!" Gavin began running.

"Sound familiar," Stella looked at her twin brother and then to Antonio, "You two were just like that growing up! Always competing over everything."

"Yeah well we're friends now," Antonio informed her.

"No we're not," Rafael, teased him lightly causing all of the adults to laugh.

Antonio's cell phone buzzed in his pocket and he hesitated at first as to if he should pick it up or not. His father had a rule about not doing any business during family time. However just this past week a very wealthy Chicago executive had approached Antonio, he'd made him a deal that was going to be hard to turn down. Antonio figured his aides or advisors were calling him. Excusing himself, he stood and took the call.

Eduardo wasn't upset at his son, at least not outwardly. Antonio was a grown man and he had to make his own choices. He had learnt over the years that you couldn't get to involved in your work, but sometimes it was hard when the work was so demanding. Antonio was an overachiever and he wanted to please everyone, which made him get too involved in his work sometimes. Eduardo knew he could and needed to be spending more time with his family.

"Everything okay?" Rafael asked Laura as she took a drink. He knew his best friend and it would have to be something very big if Antonio would break his sacred father's rule. Antonio really looked up to his father and very much respected him and they had a great relationship. It made Rafael a bit jealous that he didn't share the same bond with his own father.

"I don't know," Laura ran a hand over her face and stood; taking Santiago in her arms, she followed her husband into the house. Hearing voices, she followed him into the dining room where he was pacing back and forth, as he listened to his chief of staff. She walked into the room, leaned against the wall, and listened. She wasn't going to let Antonio lie to her; he knew she liked to be involved in things as much as she could. She did this because she wanted to help and because deep down she was always worried about another woman coming in and stealing Antonio away. Surely, he'd had multiple offers to have an affair but she hoped he had never taken a woman up on any of them.

"What was that about?" Laura wondered Antonio ended the call. She walked further into the room and approached him, He looked stressed out.

"Nothing Babe," He didn't want to tell her, he knew what she'd say. He knew the right thing to do would be not to accept but the money would help him in his campaign for re-election in two years. His approval ratings were high and he was well loved within the state of Illinois but now that his father was President it would be harder to be re-elected he feared, people wouldn't want him in the Senate if he would just do what his father wanted.

"What was it Antonio?" She repeated the question with more force.

He sighed, knowing she would not let it go, "On Wednesday Simon Richardson came to my office."

"The Simon Richardson? The one who owns Richard's clothing stores? She asked him, those were huge stores, and they had started in Chicago but were now all over the world. They had good bargains but fancier things as well. Laura loved shopping there for clothes, shoes, things for the kids and even kitchen supplies, the only thing they didn't have were groceries.

"Yeah. There is this bill my Dad wants passed that will make it hard for manufactures to underpay workers in other countries and sell them in the U.S. I support the bill but… he doesn't and he says if I can get other Senators not vote on it, he'll give me a huge donation for the re-election. He has the Republicans but since we have the majority he needs Democrats too."

"So you want to go against something you believe in for money?" She clarified, she knew this was politics and Antonio had to play dirty but this seemed really low. "And you'd be going against your father. You cannot be okay with this! You can get lots of donors without this deal Antonio." She feared that her husband taking this deal would not end well, at least not for him. Instead of helping him get re-elected it would hurt his chances significantly.

"I didn't say I was okay with it. That's why I don't know what to do. It's going to be really hard for me to be re-elected you know that, even if I am doing a good job. This money and his endorsement could help me a lot!"

"Well then it looks like you've already made up your mind." She turned to leave without another word.

Over the next two hours, everyone arrived at Camp David and got settled in. At three thirty Gabby pulled Matt away from supervising kids riding their bikes and pulled him aside.

"Having fun?" She looked over his shoulder to see kids riding on the trails near the middle of the campground.

"Yeah. Sorry I was away for so long. Figured you could catch up with everyone," He wasn't lying completely; he knew she did need to catch up with everyone. On the other hand though he'd been somewhat avoiding meeting the other adults, he felt safer with the kids.

"Uh-huh," She kissed him, "Well now everyone's here and you need to meet people. You need any help with names? Or occupations?"

"No I know all the names, and your Uncle's jobs." He responded, "You know most of your little cousins are very polite. They could teach most kids a lot."

"Well that's what private school and nannies and strict parents teach you. All of my cousins go to private school and some of the have live-in nannies. All of them though have been raised to respect adults. Now come on," She took his hand and led him back up the path.

Up ahead Matt saw Eva, Sara, and Madeline watching with fascination as an older girl talked to one of the Navy Guards stationed around the campgrounds. Camp David was run by the Navy and guarded by them at all times but on this occasion more were needed, and this was most definitely one of those times.

As Gabby and Matt got closer to was clear the older girl who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen was flirting with the young guard who appeared to be around her age.

"Rebecca!" Gabby called out causing the girl to back away and blush, "Let him do his job."

"Gabby," She sounded surprised, "I wasn't-I was just talking to him." She stuttered. "Maddie and Eva and Sara were the ones who flirted with him. Can you tell them to stop following me around?"

"Okay, everyone just stop for a second," Gabby took a deep breath, "Rebecca, I know you know better than to do all of this. You stay here all right. Maddie, Sara, Eva go find something productive to do."

The three younger girls left albeit very annoyed.

"Thank you," Rebecca shied, "I kept asking them to leave me alone, but they wouldn't."

"I remember a certain young girl always following me around, copying whatever I did, whatever I said. Do you remember that? I was so tired of you so many times."

Rebecca did remember a few occasions when she'd follow Gabby around; she just thought Gabby was so cool. She hadn't gone into politics even though her family had wanted her to, and to Rebecca she always seemed to have the coolest clothes and the cutest boyfriends too.

"They just look up to you, You know you need to be a good role model, especially to Maddie and even Eva, Eva's starting to copy her," Gabby admitted to her, She knew she shouldn't be telling her this but she needed the eighteen year old to understand everything, "Just don't tell anyone I told you that. Talk to them about your school, about their school and give them good advice. You're a good girl."

"Well I'm not a girl anymore Gabby," Rebecca gave her older cousin a hug, she turn to Matt, "You must be Matt. I'm Rebecca."

"Hi," Matt shook the young woman's hand, "It's nice to meet you."

'You too," She began walking away.

Matt turned back to Gabby and continued to walk with her. As they walked and got closer to the main house Matt saw more and more kids playing. Most of the kids looked thirteen and under and almost none of them had blonde hair or light coloured skin, he definitely in the minority.

"Now," Gabby stopped just short of the path up to the house, she was facing a game of soccer a lot of the kids were playing, she, smiled as she saw them play and run round, she loved seeing children so happy. She took Matt's hand, led him away, and lowered her voice, "Laura and Antonio had a fight this afternoon, I'm not sure what it was about but Laura's really upset with him. It probably has something to do with his work; he's been in the house talking on the phone almost the entire day. My parents aren't too impressed either. My father doesn't like anyone doing lots of business during family time."

"Ah," Matt took a deep breath as Gabby began to walk up to the pathway that led to the porch. He still needed to meet two of her uncles so he was beyond nervous. Everyone sitting on the porch and looking at him didn't help matters any. He followed Gabby up the steps and stopped just beside her.

"Tio Hector, Tio Lionel," She looked at her Tio's 'this is my boyfriend Matt. Matt these are my Tio's and my Tia Mary and Amanda." Gabby introduced everyone.

Matt walked up to Hector, her Uncle who was a Federal Judge, he stuck out his hand, which the older man shook, "It's very nice to meet you Sir."

Hector, was probably the most liberal of his brothers and was most accepting of new people, still though he was protective of his family. Everything he had heard though was that Matthew Casey was the one for Gabby. "Well we've heard so much about you, Son. Please sit down and talk with us. I'm sure the kids kept you busy."

"I loved it," Matt smiled, "They're great kids, really great." His love of kids was glowing out of him, something that everyone loved. "I made sure they all had their helmets on if they were riding their bikes. I wasn't sure what to do when I left but there's lot's of security around so…"

"It's fine Bro," Rafael informed him, "These kids can't go one minute without some kind of security, no worries. I just hope my kids didn't give you too much trouble."

It took Matt a minute to remember who Rafael's kids were. "Rachel and William right?"

"And Gavin," For a second Rafael seemed impressed Matt had picked up on all of the names so fast.

"Rachel and Olivia are playing hopscotch and the boys went to play soccer again. Diego and Daniela were the only two still riding bikes when I left."

Santiago began to cry and fuss in Laura's arms. "Ssh," Laura stood and tries to soothe him. "I think I'm going to go and see if he needs to be changed," She stood to excuse herself. On the way to her and Antonio's rooms she passed where Antonio was still talking on the phone, she shook her head at her husband. She hated what he was doing, hated how he seemed to forget all about his family. After changing her son and getting a soother, Laura carried Santiago into the office. She glared at Antonio until he hung up the phone.

"What?" He turned to her and asked angrily.

''Really, you are still talking on the phone?'' Antonio suddenly heard behind him.

''It's really important.'' He told her.

''It has been talking three hours already!''

''I know but-''

''This can't wait until tomorrow, or better yet next week! Your whole family is there and you are in here.'' She told him furiously.

''Look, it is important, if you leave me alone I will be out of here within a few minutes.''

''Yeah, sure. Have fun being a fraud in here.'' Laura just shook her head then, so angry with her husband.

''I am still talking to my advisors!'' He yelled at her. ''I need to know what they think because I have no idea what to do.''

''Well I told you what I thought but you didn't seem to care about that.'' Laura told him before turning around to walk out of the office again.

Antonio stayed on the phone for another half an hour until finally he came out onto the deck, "Just in time to get Daniela and Santiago ready for dinner," Laura handed over their two youngest children, 'And make sure Daniela's dress is on properly, and please don't try to do her hair, Let me or Gabby do that."

Without so much as a grunt, Antonio took his kids and walked back into the house. "Laura-"

"Don't Gabby," Laura stood up and shook her head, she was still to upset too talk about it, there was more going on that she didn't know about, she didn't want to tell her it here at least. "I'm going to go and get Diego and Eva."

"When's dinner?" Matt asked, he figured if the kids were, starting to get ready to must be soon but he wanted as much time as possible to get ready.

"In about an hour," Esmeralda informed him, " I'm not sure if Gabby's told you or not but the first dinner of these family reunion's is always the most formal one."

"Yeah she did."

"Gabby!" A small girl came running at her at full speed, or as fast as her little legs could take her.

Gabby bent down and picked up two-year-old Sophia. Sophia was one of the youngest children but the oldest of the younger ones, being she was the only one that could walk. Due to her age, though she wasn't able to keep up with the older children and she didn't like playing with the other young ones who were nearly a year younger than they were.

"Sophia this is my boyfriend Matt. Can you say hi?" She asked as she began to fix the toddler's braids. She had thick dark hair and it often got tangled.

"Hi," Sophia grinned at him, "You cute."

"Sophia!" Her mother Alyssa laughed, "I think you've been spending too much time with the older girls." She shook her head. Her daughter wasn't wrong, as Matt was very good looking but she knew the toddler didn't really understand what she was saying, "A few more minutes and then we're going to go back inside to keep getting you all nice and pretty for dinner."

Sophia looked at her older cousins who were still playing and she frowned and began to cry. "I pay!" She pointed to them.

"The big kids are going to start getting ready too," Alyssa promised her, "It just takes you a long time, Mommy needs to make your hair really pretty."

Sophia continued to pout but she sat happily on Gabby's lap. Soon, like Alyssa had promised all of the older children were rounded up and taken to go and get ready for dinner. They all needed to get changed into formal clothes and some needed to have baths or showers to wash up.

Once dinner was ready, everyone was sitting at two long tables in the formal dining room. They were all talking and laughing and everything seemed okay. Matt appreciated the fact that even though everyone may have their own problems or fights that they re could still be civil with one another, that was something his family could never do.

TBC

A\N: Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter.