"Serena, honey," Carolyn said, "Will you go make sure the boys are not burning dinner?"
Serena nodded and walked out the door.
The kids started pulling on Olivia's hands, "C'mon! Let's go to the game room!"
"Okay," Olivia smiled. She looked at Alex, "I'll be back."
"Take your time," Alex beamed.
Olivia let the kids drag her out of the room while they all babbled on about various topics.
Everyone left in the kitchen looked at Alex, who was smiling at the doorway Olivia just exited.
"Good job Alex," Johnny smiled.
"With what?" Alex asked, she looked at Johnny.
"Olivia," Johnny nodded, "She's quite a catch."
Alex smiled, "Thank you."
"I'm going to go help with the kids," Celine said.
"Where's Nathan?" Alex asked Celine before she left.
"Probably still in the game room," Celine answered.
"Hey Olivia," Nathan smiled at Olivia as she was dragged down the stairs into the basement game room. There were hardwood floors and a bar that spanned across one side of the room, behind it were fully stocked shelves. Nathan was seated on a stool watching a basketball game on the big screen TV in the corner. Around the walls of the room were several stand up arcade games and in the middle of the room was a pool table. It looked like a real bar down to the dart board next to the bar. Of course it was cleaner than a real bar.
"Hi," Olivia smiled as the children pulled her into an attached room. The next room was a child's paradise. There were colorful plastic playscapes all around the room and multiple toy bins, filled to the brim.
"Wow," Olivia looked at the kids, "This place is cool."
"Yeah!" Paige smiled, "C'mon we were playing superheroes. You can be Batwoman."
Alex stood in the kitchen talking to the two eldest Southerlyns.
"Was that ring on Olivia's finger an engagement ring?" Johnny asked.
Alex chuckled, "No. It was just a present."
"Did I hear the word engagement?" Serena asked, leading Justin, Nikki, Taylor, and Derrick.
Alex leaned back on the counter and crossed her arms, "You did."
Serena's eyes lit up, "Are you…?"
"No," Alex replied quickly, "Johnny was just asking if Liv's new ring was an engagement ring. Which it isn't."
"Too bad," Serena smiled, "We might actually be able to use your wedding book."
Alex giggled, "You still have that?"
"Yeah," Taylor added, looking like a younger version of Serena, "It right next to Serena's upstairs."
Serena turned around and walked out of the kitchen, "I'll be right back."
Alex trotted after Serena and they walked upstairs to Serena's old bedroom.
Celine couldn't help, but laugh when she saw the scene in front of her. Olivia who was wearing a mask, was 'trapped' in one of the playscapes by Spencer and Logan.
"I save you!" Blake ran over with a blanket tied around his shoulders, serving as a cape.
"Me too!" Paige trotted along behind him donning a similar cape.
Olivia saw Celine and waved.
Celine smiled and waved back.
"Hey!" Logan ran over to his grandmother, "No faternalizing with the prisoner!"
"Faternalizing?" Celine asked.
"He means fraternizing," Paige explained.
"Oh," Celine looked down at the little boy.
"Yeah," he nodded, "don't talk to the prisoner."
"Okay," Celine smiled, "Well, as soon as the prisoner is freed, let her come get something to drink."
"Okay," Spencer nodded as she started to play fight Paige and Blake.
Celine walked over to the bar and sat next to her son, "How are you doing dear?"
Nathan shrugged, "I'm okay. How are you mom?"
Celine smiled, "Who's winning?"
"Not my team," Nathan smiled back.
Olivia walked over to the bar and sat down next to Trevor, "Hi."
"Hey," Trevor smiled, "They have you playing superheroes huh?"
Olivia realized she still had her mask on and pulled it down, "Yeah."
Celine walked around the bar and stood across from Olivia, "Would you like something to drink?"
The detective leaned over the bar and looked down, "Uh…water please."
Celine got down a glass and filled it up in the sink next to her. She handed it to Olivia who thanked her.
"How's living with Alex?" Celine asked nonchalantly.
Olivia smiled, "It's great."
"You don't have to lie to us," Trevor teased, "We used to live with her."
"I've found nothing to complain about so far," Olivia stated.
"Good answer," Celine smiled.
"Dinner's ready!" Johnny bellowed from the top of the stairs.
"Dinner!" the kids squealed and ran out of their play room. They slowed down when they got to the stairs and walked up one at a time.
Everyone sat down around a massive table in the dining room. They ate, laughed, and drank until everyone was done.
Nathan looked at his watch while Justin and Nikki did the dishes and everyone else was standing around the area talking and sipping after dinner wine. "I gotta go put the kids to bed."
Everyone hugged Nathan and all the kids, who made Olivia promise to come play with them soon.
Justin looked at Derrick, "C'mon, I'll show you how your supposed to play Galaga."
"Who has the high score?" Derrick asked, "Yeah, that'd be me." The two men walked out of the dining room with Nikki following Justin like a puppy.
"Hey Olivia," Taylor smirked getting the detective's attention, "You wanna see Alex's wedding book?"
"No!" Alex called from across the room.
Taylor looked at Olivia, "As her semi adopted kid sister, I find it is my job to thoroughly embarrass her every chance I get." Taylor pulled Olivia up the stairs by her sleeve.
"C'mon," Serena bumped Alex with her shoulder, following Taylor and Olivia up the stair. Alex scrambled to catch up with them. Serena smiled at Alex and added, "Look at it this way. If this doesn't scare her away, nothing will."
Alex sunk into the bed in Serena's old room burying her face in the pillow. Serena scanned the bookshelves and pulled out a large scrapbook. The front read, "Dream Wedding by Alexandra Cabot."
"I'm going to kill both of you," Alex threatened into the pillow.
"You're threatened to kill us a million times," Taylor smirked, "And I'm still breathing."
Olivia, Serena, and Taylor sat on the edge of the bed. Serena was in the middle so she had the book in her lap. Olivia was closest to Alex's head to she reached over and stroked Alex's hair.
"We made these during one of our fun filled summers together during high school," Serena explained, "Mine is well hidden and the next chance I get, I'm burning it so that Alex and Taylor don't embarrass me like this."
Serena opened the book and the first page donned a picture of a beautiful, white wedding dress. It was classy and elegant, the perfect dress for Alex.
As they went on they saw pictures of flowers, table settings, reception venues, hair styles, rings, and an estimated budget.
"You planned a whole wedding," Olivia smiled, still stroking Alex's hair.
When Alex didn't answer, Serena piped up, "The only thing missing is the other bride." A few seconds later Serena howled, "Ow!" She turned to Alex who had apparently kneed Serena's back, "Why'd you do that?"
"Cause you're too far away from me to punch," Alex replied into the pillow.
Taylor finally stood, "Who's up for a game of pool?"
"Yes!" Alex enthusiastically jumped up and ran out the door.
The other three women followed Alex down to the basement and found that the rest of the family was already down there. Johnny, Celine, Nikki, and Carolyn were sitting at the bar, watching the end of the basketball game Nathan turned on. Derrick and Justin were standing in front of the Galaga machine in the middle of an intense battle.
"I call Alex!" Taylor wrapped her arms around one of Alex's arms.
Serena looked at Olivia, "You any good."
Olivia shrugged, "I'm pretty good."
"Sweet," Serena smiled, "Pretty good will kick Taylor's ass any day, now all we have to worry about is Cabot."
"I heard that!" Taylor looked across the pool table at her sister.
The women played a long game of pool while taking turns making each other drinks. Toward the end, they all switched to water.
"Alright," Olivia picked up her pool stick, "Eight ball right there," Olivia pointed to a side pocket with her stick. She shot and the eight ball fell right where she said it would.
"We won!" Serena smiled and high-fived Olivia.
"Yeah, yeah," Alex pretended to be mad from her barstool on the other side of the table.
Olivia walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist. Alex leaned into her and closed her eyes, "Are you ready to go?"
"I'm ready when you are," Olivia replied, placing a kiss on Alex's temple.
Alex slid off of the barstool, "Hey Mom." She led Olivia over to her mother and the eldest Southerlyns. "We're gonna go."
Celine hugged her daughter, "Bye Alex. I love you."
"Love you too," Alex replied.
"What time do we need to be there on Saturday?" Derrick asked Alex.
Alex looked at Olivia, who answered, "Ten?"
"Okay," Derrick smiled and nodded, pulling his big sister into her arms.
They both said goodbye to everyone before making their way up the stairs and out the front door.
Olivia slid her hand into Alex's as they walked down the sidewalk.
"That was fun," Olivia commented, opening the driver's side door and getting in.
Alex got in and closed her door, "Yeah. Look, I'm sorry about Serena and Taylor."
"What for?" Olivia asked starting the car.
"The whole wedding book thing," Alex laid her head back in the headrest, "They come on a little strong sometimes and they're just really protective."
Olivia smiled, "Don't worry about it. The whole wedding book thing was cute. I'm sure if I had sisters, they're try to embarrass the hell out of me too."
"So you're not freaked out?" Alex asked.
Olivia pulled one hand off of the steering wheel and took one of Alex's hands. She brought it up to her lips and kissed Alex's knuckles. "I know what you mean by that and no, nothing is going to scare me off. I love you."