Nicky came blowing into the bar. "Ahoy, me matey. Batten down the hatches. I get a sense the carousers will be out in force tonight. I'm ready to gather all the doubloons the wenches toss into my jar. There will be no pillaging my tips or I'll be having ya walk the plank." Nicky was brandishing a plastic sword that was about as long as she was tall.

Taystee stared at her workmate, jaw slacked in amazement. "What in creation has gotten into you Nichols?"

"Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!" Nicky responded. "It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day." She lifted the sword she was holding in one hand and crossed it across her chest.

Taystee shook her head and rolled her eyes. "No jackass. International Talk Like a Pirate Day was Monday. You're so stupid."

"Blimey. Well blow me down! It's still fun." Nicky shoved the sword in her belt and slid behind the bar.

"Ummm no. Don't make me call boss lady on you. I'm not working if you are going to talk like a fucking swashbuckler all night."

"Damn Taystee. You really know how to take the fun out of international holidays." Nicky pulled the sword from her belt and propped it in the corner. "I'm wearing the patch though. It will help with the lassies."

Alex walked up front from the back. "Hey gals. Are you ready for the night crowd?"

Nicky perked up. "Aye, aye Capitan!" She saluted Alex.

Taystee just growled under her breath.

Alex looked at Nicky. "What's up with her?"

Nicky lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "Arrrrrgh. Me thinks the scallywag is afraid of being marooned."

Alex didn't even try to make sense out of her best friend and walked off.

The next evening was Alex and Diane's, and now Piper's, traditional dinner night. Just because the four lived within walking distance did not mean they had to change their routines. Family time was something that had always been important to Alex and Diane as for so long they had only each other to lean on. Piper – well Piper was just icing on the cake, a breath of fresh air that molded the family that much closer together.

Piper wanted to see how Diane had decorated Alex's old flat, so she insisted on going there for after dinner coffee. Piper brought along a packaged dessert from the restaurant for them to share and set about dividing it while the younger Vause brewed coffee.

While they waited, Piper walked around, admiring the pictures Diane had again lovely hung about the place. Each photo chronicled a time in Alex's life. The ones of them both together always painted a picture of love with no boundaries.

Diane stood next to Piper, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What are you thinking about so hard Piper?"

Piper unconsciously dabbed at the corner of her eye and sniffled slightly. "Honestly? I was thinking of the first day we met Diane. Alex brought me to your place." Piper chuckled. "You sent her shopping so we could gossip. And then you told me… I remember your words like they were yesterday. 'Just don't break her heart Piper. I know she puts on a big façade, like she can't be touched, but she can. If she lets you in, then it doesn't work out, it will indeed crush her.'" Piper turned to Diane.

"Oh Piper. I now know that you could never hurt our Alex." Diane faced Piper with a twinkle in her eye. "Do you remember what happened next?" Diane walked over to the mantle above the fireplace.

Piper gently picked up the ragged, thread bear stuffed animal and brought it to her lips. She whispered softly. "Hi Alley. I see you have a place of honor in the living room now. You deserve it." Piper gently placed Alex's childhood toy back on the shelf. Alex walked over and gave her old friend a soft pat on the head.

The women settled down on Diane's new sectional which Alex insisted on purchasing for a "house warming present" and were enjoying their coffee and dessert. "I'm so glad you agreed to take Alex's old place Diane. I love that you are so close to us now."

Diane smiled warmly. "Me, too Piper. I like being close to my favorite daughter-in-law."

Alex twitched one eyebrow up and cleared her throat. "Don't you mean you only daughter-in-law?" Alex questioned.

Diane looked at her daughter teasingly. "Just because she's my only doesn't also mean she's not my favorite." They all laughed.

Piper felt so warm here. This was what belonging felt like, belonging to a family unit. She had always felt that way with Diane and Alex. Now that she and Alex were married, nobody could take that away from her.

Piper finished her cake and put the plate on the coffee table then tucked her feet beneath her. "So Diane, now that you are settled into your home, I'd like for you to think about when you'd like to start at Popi."

Diane gasped. "Is the storefront finished already? That was quick!"

"No, no," Piper laughed. "I'd like to show you the ropes on how the soaps are made. Then we are immediately adding in the lotion and candle line, so I'd like for you to be there when we teach the staff that so that we can all learn at once. If it's okay with you, I'd like for you to know all aspects of the business inside and out so that you can manage the store with confidence."

"Oh Piper, I'd love to learn anything you'd like to teach me. It has been so long since I've had a meaningful job with more purpose than refilling a coffee cup. I'm so tickled that you want me to be so involved with your business."

"Well Polly likes to think it's her business, too. But the way I figure, it's a family business. All of us." Piper leaned into Alex and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Now that business is over, I remember you once mentioned you had picture albums? I don't believe I ever got to see those albums."

Alex immediately reacted. "No Piper. No, no, no, no. It's bad enough with these pictures…" she motioned around the walls at all of the frames, "chronicling various stages of childhood and adolescence. But I don't want you to see everything!"

Piper stuck out her lower lip and somehow got it to quiver on command. "But Al, we are family now. Please?" She looked up at her wife and batted her long eyelashes.

Alex sighed deeply. Unwrapping herself from her wife, she went to retrieve the albums. Diane quickly winked at Piper, knowing her daughter was firmly wrapped around Piper's pinky. Alex returned with one album.

"ONE BOOK?" Piper was aghast. "That's all I'm worth, one book?"

Alex grinned. "We have to make them last. One book a week after family dinner. Unless it's a special occasion, of course." Piper again stuck her lower lip out. "Hush Piper. No. You aren't winning. Now let's look at these. Ma, scoot over here. These are your stories. I wasn't exactly old enough to remember."

After Diane looked at the spine of the album, she glanced at Alex with a curious look on her face. Alex just slightly shook her head and motioned to the book. "Can I sit in the middle?" Both women moved over slightly to make room for the matriarch of the family.

"This album starts when Alex is about two years old." Diane flips open the first page to expose a few pictures of a strawberry blonde, chubby toddler with bright, inquisitive green eyes.

Piper squealed in delight. "Oh. My. Gosh. Alex you were adorable!"

Alex raised her trademark eyebrow. "So what does that say about me now?"

"Shush. Diane go on."

Diane continued and told stories about almost each of the pictures which revealed more and more of Alex's developing personality as a toddler. It was if Diane could remember each photo in vivid detail. Her second birthday party where she had strawberry cake and red balloons. Alex proudly holding onto the railing of a staircase with one hand and her mother's hand in the other as she practiced walking down stairs. Alex laying on hard kitchen floor with crayons making round scribbles and squiggly lines then posing next to her artwork on the refrigerator door. Building towers with blocks.

It seems that by about two and a half, Alex had become fairly adept at feeding herself – well sometimes. One of Piper's favorite pictures was of Diane trying to get Alex to take a bite of something. Her daughter's face was turned and screwed up in a look of utter disgust. "Peas," Alex said. "I still hate peas to this day."

There were lots of pictures of Alex and Diane hugging. Hugs seemed to be Alex's favorite past time at this age, next to the swings of course. The album slowly drifted into Alex at age 3 where she could apparently dress herself which was evident by the mismatched clothing which showed she also insisted on picking her clothes out herself as well.

Scattered throughout the album were pictures which showed Alex standing against various door frames with a mark denoting her height. "She was growing like a weed," Diane said. "We moved a lot, so the first thing we did whenever we moved into a place was to mark her height on the kitchen door and date it. That was our thing. She used to be tickled just by the whole process even if she didn't understand that we couldn't track how much she had grown from time to time."

It was apparent that Alex never had a lot of commercial toys. Rather her toys were a coffee can with its lid, an empty refrigerator box, a stick with a string… Regardless of what Alex had or didn't have, one thing was unmistakable. Young Alex was quite happy and extremely loved.

As Diane closed the album, she laid it on the coffee table and moved so that the couple could again wrap themselves up in each other again.

Piper was beaming from ear. "Dare I ask to see another album?"

Alex kissed her on the top of her head. "No babe. One a week or we will run out."

Turning to Diane, Piper spoke again. "Thank you so much Diane. Whenever I think know all there is to know about Alex Vause, you teach me more. I'm not sure I knew she had strawberry blond hair! I'll have to check the carpet tonight to see if matches the drapes."

"Piper!" Alex turned crimson as she shrank back into the couch. Piper just shrugged.

"Well, I've never noticed."

Ignoring the girls' behavior, Diane continued. "I will never tire of sharing memories of my baby girl. Sometimes it's the memories of how things start out that remind you of how lucky you are to be where you are today." Diane placed a loving hand on her daughter's long leg as she pushed herself up to her feet.

"I agree whole heartedly with you Diane. I have a shoe box at home where I keep a lot of my favorite Alex memories. I keep meaning to do something with them but never seem to have time."

Diane disappeared into the bedroom and came out with a large wrapped frame. "Piper, my second daughter, your memories are always important." She offered the object to her daughter-in-law.

"Ummm what's this Diane? We already discussed … no presents."

Alex softly punched Piper's shoulder. "Shush goof. Just open it."

As Piper gently tore off the wrapping paper, she shrieked in delight. "How DID you get these things?" Piper gave her wife a mock glare. There was so much to see that Piper was having a hard time taking it all in. The frame was a large shadow box. The matting had figures of two animals expertly cut out – a tegus lizard and a penguin. In the lower left corner, there was a date.

Piper eyes were glistening as she looked at Alex who nodded her head. "Our first date baby." Alex made air quotes with her fingers as she said the word date. It was a perpetual joke between the two on if that had really been a date when they both knew it had been.

The background inside the frame was the zoo map with little push pins representing all of the exhibits they visited along with tiny ammo cans where the two geocaches were. Affixed to the background were a few small items to include a ticket stub, a plastic ring with a large red ruby, and a smashed penny.

Piper took quite some time to take everything in. "Oh Diane. This is perfect. You are so creative. I could have never come up with something like this."

"I can't take credit for everything Piper. Alex helped with the design of the shadowbox and the illegal procurement of items from your shoe box. Do you really like it?"

"Diane! I can't believe you have to ask. I love it."

Alex was beaming at Piper's reaction. She pulled another bag she had been holding by her side and placed it in Piper's lap. "There's more babe." Piper's face had a puzzled look as she withdrew the contents of the bag. It held plastic album pages with slip in photo holders so that photos would not be damaged like in the old sticky pages of yesteryear. "We can start albums like Ma has. Now I'm not much of a scrap booker, but check this out."

Diane tapped on an app and handed Alex her iPad. All of the zoo pictures had been scanned in and organized into an album which had dates, captions, the works. "I know it's not the best, but it's a good start for us to collect all of our pictures. And this app syncs to SnapFish. If we want to make coffee table books, we just select the pictures we want and order the book."

Piper was speechless. For a moment. "When did you two have time for this? This must have taken hours. Diane – Alex – this is perfect. You two are perfect. Thank you so much." She jumped off the couch and grabbed mother and daughter and squeezed them both. "I love you both. I could have never asked for a better family."

"I think she liked it Ma."

"Me too, kid."

Alex and Piper finally said their goodbyes and left to make the short walk home. With her frame carefully tucked under one arm and Alex's hand gripped in the other, Piper tugged Alex off course slightly. Alex was still high from Piper's reaction and followed willingly.

As they reached the fountain, Piper pulled slightly on Alex's hand to bring them to a halt. Realizing where Piper had taken them, Alex took the frame from Piper and gently leaned it against a nearby park bench. She knowingly wrapped her arms around Piper and whispered into her ear. "It's so beautiful at night, the fountain."

The two simply stood and stared at the fountain and the changing lights on the statue. The lights on the statue turned orange. "Playful," Piper whispered. The lights turned yellow. "Happy." Green. "Stable." Alex tightened her hold on her spouse. The next color to splash on the statue was blue. "Serene," was Piper's response.

Before the lights changed again, Alex spoke. "Trustworthy. I'm glad you trusted me our first night here." The lights changed to their final color, purple. "Romance."

In a repeat of their first night, Alex reached into her pocket and pulled out two coins. "Do you believe in wishes and dreams Piper?" Piper selected a coin, kissed it and tossed it in the water the same time as Alex. The trickles of the fountain were the only noise as they stood.

Piper pushed back slightly and looked up at Alex. Alex ran one hand up to Piper's neck, entangling her hand in the blonde's hair. Piper's breath hitched tentatively in anticipation as she reached for Alex's mouth. The instant their lips touched, Alex froze relishing in the sweetness. Despite the familiarity, each time she kissed Piper felt like the first time. She then held Piper's face with her other hand, tilting her head back slightly and pressed her lips against Piper's more firmly. Piper's hands ran up Alex's back pulling them yet closer. Alex gently sucked Piper's lower lip into her mouth and released it then covered Piper's mouth with her own, kissing her over and over.

Alex was still holding Piper's face in her hands when Alex finally broke the kiss. Piper stretched up and kissed Alex again. "Yes Alex, I definitely believe in wishes and dreams. I have to since my wish that first night here came true… along with my wildest dreams. I love you Al."

Collecting the frame, Alex wrapped her arm around Piper again and they made their way to their apartment.

Piper retreated to the bathroom first to ready for bed. Alex's phone buzzed almost immediately. She smiled jubilantly as she read the message sent from the next room.

Best. Kiss. Ever. -P
I concur. Best. Kiss. Ever. -A