A/N: I should NOT be writing right now, but I couldn't help it. My writing helps with my nerves and with work tomorrow, there are definitely nerves.
Cuteness ahead, enjoy!
"Honey, what are we doing?" Casey asks as she follows her wife out of the helicopter. All in all she is completely thrilled that they have come back to Camp David for another try at spending time as a family, but with her significant other's vagueness on the situation at hand, she just can't help but be a little skeptical.
Alex briefly glances behind her and grins before she scoops a giggling Aubrey into her arms and places her on her shoulders. "Relax, it'll be fun." she confirms before looking up at the excited little one above her. "Won't it Aub?"
"Yes!" Aubrey squeals in excitement as they make their way towards the lodge. "Where are we going Momma?"
"It's a surprise." The elder blonde responds with a grin.
Meanwhile, Megan can't help but sigh heavily and roll her eyes as she slings her backpack over her shoulder. "You know, I am all for trying to get Ma back to the way she used to be, but I really don't see how coming back here will do that." she mumbles. "I know we said we wanted her to change, but is this really what we meant?"
Though she would like to agree with her oldest daughter, Casey wouldn't dare say it out loud. "Honey, your mother is just trying to fix things. I know that it's not just going to happen overnight and everything that has happened isn't just going to go away just because we want it to. It's going to be a process that takes a lot of time and a process that takes a lot of patience. Right now, all we can do is just go with it. At least she's spending time with you like you wanted."
Opening her mouth to argue, Megan's argument dies on her lips with a heavy sigh. "Fine." She mumbles with another eye roll only for her eyebrows to raise when she sees her mother and sister disappear around the lodge. "Where is she going?"
"No idea." Casey responds with a slightly amused smile as she shakes her head and follows in her wife's tracks. Once in the large yard behind the lodge, she tilts her head in confusion with that same smirk playing at her lips with she spies Alex and Aubrey engaged in an impromptu game of tag. "Honey, what are we doing?"
"We," Alex begins as she points to the backpack she was formerly carrying. "Are going camping."
"Camping?" Casey and Megan echo in response with similar looks of surprise, though Megan's may be considered to be a little more distasteful than her mom's.
"Yay camping!" Aubrey exclaims with excitement as she begins to jump up and down and clap her hands.
"Alex…" Casey begins with a chuckle as she shakes her head. Finally now it all makes sense; the things that she was told to pack that is. Sure at first she thought it was just a tad bit strange, but now everything makes. "Alex, why are we out here?"
Shrugging, Alex picks up the bags she had Aubrey carrying before she splays them out on the ground, revealing them to be two moderately sized tents. "I figured that it would be good for us to spend time together. You know, we're away from the house, away from my job, and all the people I deal with everyday. I figured that this would be better than just a forced dinner surrounded by the cooking staff or a sad evening on the south lawn where I could be called in at any moment. At least here we get a little peace and quiet."
"Yeah, but why camping?" Megan interjects as she nudges one of the tents with her toe. "Of all the things you could've come up with, you chose camping?"
"It'll be fun. We'll treat it like it really is the great outdoors." Alex explains with a grin as she holds up her hands to their surroundings. "Everything we could ever need is right out here; including the bathroom. I've even packed toilet paper."
Making a face that is a cross between a grimace and a scowl, Casey shakes her head as she approaches the taller woman and gives her a light peck on the cheek. "Honey, I think that this is a fabulous idea and I applaud you for coming up with it, but if I need to use the bathroom, you better believe that I'm going inside."
Chuckling, Alex wraps an arm around Casey's waist and pulls her close. "Well, I guess I will allow everyone a free pass when it comes to the bathroom." She relents, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her wife's head. "So first things first; let's set up the tents."
"Uh, we got a problem." Megan points out with her hands on her hips. "There are only two tents here."
"Yes, one for your mother and I, and then one for your sister." Alex explains as if it's the most simple thing in the world.
The teen's mouth falls open as she glances from her sister, to the tent, back to her sister, and then to her parents. "What?! NO! There is no way that I am sharing a living space with that little brat." She snaps.
"Well you can always sleep out in the open." Casey supplies with a nonchalant shrug, deeming it to be a completely viable option.
Realizing her defeat, Megan sighs heavily as she picks up one of the tent bags and begins dragging it over to a spot in the large yard all the while mumbling under her breath about never getting any private.
Shaking her head at her children, Casey can't help but laugh as she and Alex drop to the ground as they set about putting up their sleep sanctuary for later. "Have you ever put together a tent before?" she asks skeptically as she begins digging around for any sort of direction.
"Nope." Alex responds with a shake of her head as she pulls out the instructions and begins to look them over. "I remember that I always wanted to go camping when I was a little kid. Before he left, my dad had always promised he would take me but he just never got around to it."
"Have you spoken to your mother?" Casey asks quietly, glancing over at her children arguing over something or other and she realizes they are too preoccupied to be eavesdropping on her conversation.
A look of some sort passes over Alex's face and she remains silent for a long time before she shakes her head. "No." she murmurs quietly. "I mean, not that we have anything to say to each other or anything."
Casey bites the inside of her cheek before reaches over and gently places a hand over her wife's stilling all of the other woman's movements. "She's called, Alex."
Stilling once again, Alex shakes her head once more as she continues pulling the rest of the tent from its carrier. "No she hasn't."
"Yes she has, Alex. And I say that because she has called me." Casey responds gently. "She's worried about you, Alex. She wants to talk."
"Can we just, not do this now?" Alex retorts with exasperation clearly evident in her voice. "I just…I just want for us to spend time together as a family, like you said. That's all I want right now. I don't want to worry about anything else."
Keeping silent, Casey nods her head in silent agreement. After a moment of silence, she crawls forward before pressing her lips lightly against the blonde's, taking her a little off guard. Pulling away, she gives her wife a reassuring smile before she looks down at the mess amongst them. "So…shall we get started?"
Approximately an hour and a half later, the family is gathered around a small and safely moderated fire set up in the midst of their 'campsite'.
"I can't believe it took the both of you that long to put up the tent." Megan snickers at her parents' expense as she continues to roast her hot dog in the fire.
Rolling her eyes, Casey sticks at her tongue before snuggling into her wife's side. "You know what, it was a lot harder than it looked, okay?"
"Didn't you read the 'structions?" Aubrey asks innocently, looking up from where she was nibbling on her dinner.
"The instructions were in French." Alex responds, hoping to justify their reasoning as she has yet to figure out how her thirteen year old and her six year old were able to make sense of foreign directions.
A smirk tugs at the corner of Megan's lips as she looks up from the fire. "The English ones were on the back."
"What…" Casey deadpans while Alex groans and face palms.
"I can't believe it. A former prosecutor and the President of the United States and neither of them can figure out to flip over a sheet of paper." Megan mumbles only loud enough for her sister to hear which causes the younger blonde to erupt into a fit of giggles.
Knowing she said something smart, Alex smirks as she hits Megan's hot dog with her stick, knocking the roasting weenie into the fire. "You were saying, sweetheart?"
Rolling her eyes, Megan tries to hide the smile on her face as she pulls another hot dog from the package and begins the roasting process once again. Though she isn't quite ready to admit it out loud yet, but she's having fun spending time with her parents and even her little sister; regardless of the unorthodox circumstances.
After dinner, Alex finds herself laying on her back in the grass as she stares up at the stars. She feels her wife snuggle into her and rest her chin on her shoulder as she can feel the redhead's warm breath on her neck.
"You did good you know." Casey murmurs quietly, wrapping an arm around her wife's waist where Alex interlaces their fingers.
"What do you mean?" Alex responds as she looks down with her brow furrowed into a small amount of confusion.
"I mean this." Casey begins. "All of this. You planned it and put it into action. You got us all out here and here we are laughing and spending time together like a real family. You've finally stepped up. I'm proud of you."
Alex grins and accepts the kiss to the lips before a sad look crosses her features. "Casey I-…about what happened with Natalie...I'm not going to make excuses for what I did because I honestly don't even know why I did it. But I do know that I never did it to hurt you intentionally."
A small smile tugs at Casey's lips as she leans up and kisses her wife once more, full and deep. "I know. We all make mistakes." She murmurs, gently stroking Alex's cheek with her fingers. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Honey. And I think because you try to be, that's where you mess up. I also think that you've got some things that you need to deal with; Things that don't have anything to do with me or the kids. But you can only deal with them when you're ready."
Nodding her head, Alex pulls her wife even closer as she wraps both arms around her. "Maggie spoke to me not too long ago. She's thinking about resigning."
Casey looks up as quickly as her eyebrows raise in surprise. "That…that's completely unexpected and I honestly don't know what to say. How long ago was this?"
"Maybe about a week?" Alex calculates with a small shrug. "She says that she wants devote her life to spending time with her kids and grandkids. I don't blame her. I think what she's doing is exceptional, I'll just miss her. She was a good running mate and an even better VP."
"You think Kim's ready to step up?"
"She's gonna have to be. If Maggie resigns the job is hers whether she likes it or not."
"It'll all fall into place." Casey hums as she rests her head on Alex's shoulder once again, simply enjoying the peace and quiet alone time she gets to spend with her wife.
"I'm glad they aren't fighting." Aubrey points out from where she and her sister are watching their parents from across the yard where their own tent is situated.
"Me too." Megan replies with a nod.
"Do you still hate, Momma?" Aubrey asks innocently after a small but lax silence.
Megan is silent for a long time before she shakes her head. "I don't think I ever hated her." She whispers more to herself than her sister. "I was just mad that she wasn't paying attention to me."
"She loves us." Aubrey whispers as she barely manages to suppress a yawn. "She wouldn't hate us…ever. She promised."
"Yeah. When we were babies." Megan replies with a nod before running her hand through her sister's hair, chuckling quietly at how sleepy the younger girl has become. "Come on, we should get you to bed before one of them comes over here. You know how it is at home."
"Mhm." Aubrey hums quietly as she crawls into the tent with her sister following close behind. Crawling into her sleeping bag, she clutches her stuffed rabbit to her chest before yawning once again. "Night Megan…"
"Night Aubrey."
Around twelve midnight, or what Alex assumes to be twelve midnight, Alex awaits to feint thundering in the distance and the tell tale patter of rain against the outside of the well housing tent. Shifting quietly, she pulls Casey further into her arms and prepares to drift off to sleep. Just as she is almost asleep, there is a small zipping sound, and she looks up just in time to see two little faces on the outside of the tent peaking in. "Girls…?"
"The storm scared us." Megan admits as she and her sister duck their heads in from the rain.
"C'mon." Alex murmurs, still half asleep as she just barely manages a 'come hither' motion.
The two girls slip into the tent, zipping it behind them as it suddenly becomes crowed. While Megan settles in next to a now snoring Alex, Aubrey crawls over Casey, accidentally kneeing her in the abdomen which causes the redhead to awake with a start. A small frown creases her brow and she opens her eyes just enough to see a tiny blonde head tucking itself under her chin while it's owner pull her arm over their tiny body. A tiny chuckle escapes Casey's lips before she immediately drifts off to sleep.
Not sure how much further I wanna go with this but I know it's not too much. Anyway, leave your feedback.