Hello all. I managed to knock out an update for you all in between naps and recovering. Hope you enjoy! I've had a lot of fun with this one!

Renee and Dean have come to visit :)

Seth woke up Wednesday morning to an empty bed and quiet a house; two things that were incredibly out of place. He didn't even feel either of the dogs curled up near his feet or on a pillow. He rolled onto his back and reached for his phone to check the time. Maybe he had slept long enough that Carter had already left for the airport.

He sighed to himself; the airport. Renee was arriving that morning.

He heard the door in the kitchen followed by the sound of Carter's voice talking to the dogs and their tags making jingling noises.

He stayed in the bed, letting himself wake up, and listening to the sounds of his fiancée and their dogs. He smiled softly to himself.

He could hear her footsteps coming down the hallway and she came walking into the room, heading towards their closet, trying to stay quiet. He was just going to let her go about her business and enjoy his time to observe her.

He watched the door to the closet, it was ajar but he couldn't see her, and then he heard the sound of boxes falling and Carter's expletives.

He was in the doorway in a few seconds, "Carps."

She turned to him, rubbing her shoulder, and frowned at him. "Did I wake you up?"

"I was already awake. What did you do?"

"I was trying to get my boots and your fucking Nike's attacked me," she softly shoved the box of shoes towards him with her foot. "Do you really need 38 pairs of wrestling shoes?"

"Do you really think you're the one that needs to be questioning me about shoes?" he smirked at her. "And I don't have 38 pairs I have maybe 5 or 6."

"Well they're evil," she sighed heavily.

"Are you okay?" he softened his look, giving her a slight pout. "You want me to handle the box for you?"

"Don't mock me."

"I'm not," he reached for her hand and pulled her over to him, pulling back the collar of her t-shirt with his other hand and kissing her shoulder. "You're always so cute when you're flustered."

He started to trail kisses up to the base of her neck and her free hand found its way to his bare chest.

"Babe I have to leave soon…" she said, slightly breathless.

"I know." His hand that had pulled her shirt back slowly trailed up her neck and he tilted her head back with his thumb, revealing all of the sensitive skin on her neck to him, and he took full advantage of the moment, kissing up to her jaw line and stopping when his mouth was almost on hers. "I thought I could take advantage of the little bit of time I still had you all to myself."

Carter made a soft whimpering noise and he pulled away from her just enough to look at her. Her eyes were closed and there was a soft smile on her lips.

"I hate you," she mumbled when his lips found her neck again.

"Do you?" he muttered against her skin.

"Right now…y-yes…" she stuttered her words to him as she slipped both of her hands around his neck to support herself. "Oh god…I'll be…late…"

"I don't have a problem with that."

Carter felt his hand slip between her legs and caress her over the thin, soft material of her leggings and she muttered a soft expletive before her lips found his and she pressed her body close to his, pushing him back through the open door towards their bed.

He picked her up and laid her back on the bed, tugging at her shirt and pulling it over her head before supporting his body weight over her and returning to their heated kiss. Her legs wrapped around him and she moved against, burying her hands in his hair, trying to get as close to him as she could.

"So now you have the time for me," he teased her, dropping his head down to kiss between her breasts.

"Shut up. Just…ahh…"

She hated when he did this and she loved it at the same time. He would always get her worked up and in a frenzy and then tease her.

His hand slipped between her legs again, underneath her leggings, and she moaned at the feeling of his fingers teasing her.

"Colbs, please..."

"Please what?"

"I want you."

As much as she hated to admit it, Carter was pretty sure she hadn't fully recovered from her quick tryst with Seth before she left the house when she pulled into the short term waiting spot at the airport. She was still a bit jittery, coming down from the rush and the high of their heated moment. She had every intention of parking and greeting Renee and Dean inside the airport but she had indeed been running late and knew they were already waiting on their bags.

She glanced at her phone and leaned against the hood of the car to wait on her best friend.

Seth had text her while she was driving and she wasn't even sure she wanted to look at it. He was in a hell of a mood that morning and she had no doubt that whatever he said to her would send her into a blush. She hoped he had settled down by the time they got home.

She spotted Renee coming through the automatic doors, Dean close behind her, and she grinned.

Finally; her people were there.

Renee spotted her almost at the same time and she shared a big smile with her friend. A few moments later they were hugging and happily greeting each other. Carter stepped away from Renee and got a hug from Dean and a kiss on the cheek.

"Welcome to Iowa," Carter smiled.

"Did you get rid of your jeep?" Renee asked, taking in the black car behind them.

"No this is Colby's. I need gas and I was running behind so…yeah…"

Carter hit the button on the remote to pop the trunk and Dean dutifully moved to stash their bags.

"He gave you a hickey," Renee said quietly and gave Carter a teasing grin.

Carter's hand went to her neck and she gave Renee a wide eyed look. "Shut up he didn't."

"It's tiny. Nobody will notice it."

"You noticed it."

"I'm your best friend of course I did. Dean does that all the time, it's fine. Wear a choker."

"Hey! Are you two going to stand there and whisper all morning or are we going to get this show on the road?" Dean asked. "I need some breakfast and coffee."

Renee winked at Carter, "yes sugar plum. We will feed you now."

Carter looked at her phone as she climbed into the driver's side of the car, telling Seth they would be back with coffee soon and to take a cold shower and laughed slightly at Renee's almost squeal of delight when she realized Carter had brought Kevin and Nash with her.

"Oh my god I'm taking both of them back to Vegas with us. I am in heaven!"

Carter glanced in the rear view mirror at Dean and he met her gaze. "Thank you, Carter."

"You're welcome," she smiled.

They stopped for coffee and then Carter got nervously excited as they headed to the house.

"Car," Renee started, looking at her friend as she scratched Kevin's head. He was perched in her lap and sniffing of her coffee cup. "I just thought of this because we're in Davenport and I'm about to spend vacation days in Rollins' house but do you remember what I said to you when you first told me you were talking to him?"

"Oh, watch him," Carter said, reaching over to push Kevin's head back. "His dad gives him coffee from his mug all the damn time and he'll probably shove his little nose through your lid and yes I do remember. You called me a slut."

Renee laughed as Dean piped in from the backseat. "That was rude, Nae."

"Thank you," Carter met his gaze again.

"I'm just here as moral support for Lopez so I thought I should get some practice," Dean shrugged.

"You were all 'oh my god Renee it's totally not like that' and look where we are now. Me, you, Dean and Seth…and he's giving you love marks on your neck."

"Can you not?" Carter sighed and looked at her, "and it wasn't like that on that particular day."

"He's a very charming guy, babe, don't blame her for giving in to him," Dean said. "If I was a girl I would probably give in to his charm too."

"Ew, stop," Renee looked back at him.

"I love you," Dean gave her a goofy smile.

"I'm regretting this already," Renee frowned at Carter. "Can we take him back to the airport?"

"I think I would get kicked out of my home if I came home with just you and not him, too."

"Thank you, Carter. She's on my team."

Carter smiled at the mean look Renee shot Dean. She was so happy they were both there. She missed them; she missed her time with Renee. Despite Seth's feigned protests she knew he was happy, too.

Carter led Dean and Renee into the house, chuckling as the dogs went running across the kitchen to look for Seth. She tossed his keys on the counter top and stepped to the side to let her two friends come further inside.

"Welcome to our home. Well…our home for now."

"Yeah, you have to show me all the new house stuff. Where is it going to be?"

"It's on the agenda," Carter smiled.

They could hear Seth say something to one of the dogs and then hear him coming up the hallway. He appeared in the doorway of the kitchen and Carter sucked her breath in slightly at the sight of him in his Tapout sweatpants and his tight t-shirt. She could see every muscle in his arms and she could feel the heat stir inside of her again. His hair was down and still damp from his shower.

He winked at her as he crossed the kitchen to greet Dean and shake his hand.

Renee gave him a cheeky grin and he eyed her carefully, "I guess you're welcome here too, Renee."

"I can't even get a hug?"

Seth leaned in, giving her a hug and short kiss on the cheek, "I'm glad you guys are here. I couldn't stand watching this one mope around here anymore. She gets tired of me."

"Well that's what happens when you move to Iowa, Car," Renee said.

Car rolled her eyes at her friend."Thank you, Renee. If y'all want to put your stuff up it's at the end of the hall, on the right. I need to talk to this one for a second. Yes Dean, and then we will get food."

"Bless you, C. Good luck Lopez, not sure how you managed to get in to trouble already…" Dean patted his back as he passed by him.

Seth gave her a raised eyebrow, curious look as the other couple disappeared down the hallway. "What'd I do?"

"You did this," she said, showing him the small red mark where her neck started to dip toward her shoulders.

His look turned to a smug smile. "Oops."

"Oops my ass, you shit head. I've told you not leave any visible marks." She tried not to laugh as he pulled her to him by her waist and kissed her head.

"Consider it payback for those long nails of yours, sunshine."

"Blah," she responded, making a face at him.

"You're happy," he said, cupping her face in her hands. "I like this."

"Mmm, well I had some bomb ass sex with my fine as hell fiancé this morning and my best friend is in town so I don't have much to be unhappy about."

Seth laugh out loud, his eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "Please repeat that."

"Bomb ass sex with my fine as hell fiancé," she blushed slightly.

"Scamp," he winked at her, kissed her quickly, and stepped away as they heard their house guests approaching the kitchen.

"I swear you two are always making out any time I see you," Renee said, her hand linked in Dean's hand.

"No, Renee, you just have really really bad timing," Seth countered.

"Since we're sharing a house for the next couple of days do I get to call you Colby now?"

"No."

Renee frowned and looked at Carter. Carter smiled at her friend and shrugged.

"Breakfast?" Dean asked.

"Yes! Breakfast," Carter replied, motioning towards the door.

Later that day, Renee was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, watching Carter as she moved around the kitchen. They were working on dinner for the two boys, who had gone to work out, and by 'they' it was really just Carter doing the work while Renee sipped on a cup of tea.

"I have to say, Car, I get it."

Carter gave her friend a questioning look.

"I get why you wanted to come up here. It's beautiful and it's small but it has so much. You fit in here really well and he's so happy with you."

Carter smiled, "thank you. I figured you would stop giving me a hard time about it once you got to experience everything." Carter turned to the sink to wash her hands and talked over her shoulder, "if you go grab my laptop off the dresser in our room I can show you some renderings of the house."

Renee grinned and hopped up from her chair, beckoning for the dogs as she trekked down the hallway. She returned a few moments later and opened the laptop, sitting back at the table.

"Ok show me where," Renee said, typing in Carter's password. Privacy had ceased to exist between the two of them a long time before.

"There's a folder on the desktop that says 'house'- even you can find it."

"I'm not going to stumble upon any racy and inappropriate pictures on here or anything am I? It's been awhile since I've been on here."

"No, we don't do pictures," Carter mumbled. Renee laughed and Carter shrugged, brushing her hair out of her face with the back of her hand and smiling at her friend. "I can't blame him, honestly. We FaceTime."

"Yeah same."

Carter and Renee exchanged looks from across the room and just smiled silently with each other.

"Oh C, this is going to be beautiful. One story? All of it?"

"Mm yeah we didn't want to deal with stairs; bad knees, tiny dogs…and you know, kids eventually…"

"I can't wait for more babies. Brie is so cute and I just want everyone to be knocked up now."

"Well it's going to be awhile. We're waiting until he decides he doesn't want to travel as much. For all I know I'll be 35 before we have any kids. But it's fine."

"Uh huh," Renee laughed at the wide eyed look that Carter gave her.

"Ok, this is going in the oven and my job is done. We just wait. Hopefully they come home on time and if not well we're eating without them."

As if on cue, Carter's phone sounded from the table where Renee was sitting. Renee looked at the screen and then sat it back down. "They're headed home."

"Well there's that. Now, I have something for you."

"For me?"

"Yeah, I've been waiting for days to give you this. Stay here."

Carter disappeared to her and Seth's room and returned, holding a small square box tied with a black ribbon. She sat it down in front of Renee and took a seat in the chair opposite her.

"What is this for?"

"Um…it's a bridesmaid gift. I want you to be my maid of honor."

"Do you even have to ask? Fuck yes I will be!" Carter laughed as Renee came over to hug her. "Ugh Carter, I'm so fucking pumped for you. And for me. Ew you better not pick out ugly dresses."

"You get to design your own dress…"

"God I love you," Renee laughed, returning to her seat. "Ok so what is this?"

"Just open it!" Carter smiled.

Renee untied the ribbon and slowly took the lid off the box before pulling back the tissue paper. In the box was a necklace, almost exactly like the hand stamped brass necklace Seth had given Carter for her birthday, only instead of the state of Tennessee it was a maple leaf, with a small heart stamped out of the middle.

"Oh Carter it's beautiful!" Renee exclaimed, holding it up. "It's a little Canadian leaf!"

"Well you're my favorite Canadian. Don't tell anyone else. And I thought the style fit you perfectly…"

"it's absolutely perfect. Thank you!"

Renee gave her friend a slightly pouty look mixed with a small smile.

"Oh no, don't you cry. We are having no tears this week."

"But they're happy tears!" Renee sniffed.

Carter stood up to hug her friend. They embraced tightly for a moment and then Renee stepped back, slipping on the necklace.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Nae," Carter smiled.

"I'm still taking your dogs home with me though. Blue needs friends."

"You'll have to fight Seth about that," Carter laughed.

"Well all we do is fight so that shouldn't be a problem."

Carter shook her head, "one of these days you two will get along."

"Doubtful but I love him because you and Dean love him."

The boys returned home to Carter and Renee on the couch, a dog in each of their laps, watching a made for TV Lifetime movie.

Dean leaned over the back of the couch to kiss Renee, "what are you two watching?"

"I have no idea actually but it's sucked me in," Renee responded, keeping her eyes on the TV. Dean pulled away and then Renee jumped, wide eyed, "babe look what Carter got me!"

She set Kevin aside and turned around, resting on her knees to show Dean her necklace.

"It's my brides maid gift. I get to be maid of honor."

"No gift for me?" Dean gave Carter a pout.

Carter looked up at him from her seat on the couch, "I made you dinner."

"I'll take it."

Seth stepped in and leaned down to kiss the top of Carter's head, "do I have time to shower?"

"Yeah go for it."

She leaned her head back to look up at him and gave him a soft smile. He returned her smile and winked before he headed down the hallway to their room.

"I saw that," Renee said, turning back around on the couch.

"Saw what? He winked at me."

"Just let her have her way, C. It works out for everyone that way…" Dean patted Carter on the shoulder and also headed down the hallway to the guest room to change.

Dinner wrapped up with the four friends retreating to the back yard, dogs in tow, to enjoy the fire pit that Seth and Carter hadn't gotten to use yet. Renee was sitting with Dean in a large patio chair, legs draped over his, and Carter returned from refilling Renee's wine glass to Seth grabbing her waist and pulling her into his lap. She snuggled up to him and welcome the quick kiss he pressed to her cheek as he slipped his hand under her jacket to rub her back.

"Well, Carter, I will toast you for a delicious dinner. You're a goddess in the kitchen," Dean said, motioning his beer bottle towards Carter.

"Aw you guys are welcome. I had fun making it."

"I had fun supervising it," Renee shrugged.

"She'll probably get up and make breakfast in the morning, too," Seth smiled from behind Carter's shoulder.

"You want to trade?" Dean asked.

Renee gasped and elbowed him in the ribs, garnering a moan from him and chuckles from Seth and Carter.

"That's fucking rude, babe!" Renee exclaimed.

"Elbowing me in the ribs is rude too, Jesus…" he rubbed his side, giving her a pained look.

"I'm sorry," Renee murmured, giving him a quick kiss. "I didn't mean to do it that hard."

She frowned and pouted at him as he scowled at her. "You're an evil woman."

There was a shared silence that fell over the group as they watched the fire and sipped their drinks.

"I have to say I never thought I would be here," Renee stated.

"Because you knew I'd never let you in my house except for the fact I'm marrying your best friend?" Seth quipped.

"You're so mean," Renee shook her head. "I just…wouldn't have guessed this was all going to happen."

"Yeah well, if you had told me this was going to happen a year ago when Carter was hitting on me in Ireland I probably wouldn't have believed it either," Seth said.

"I was not hitting on you," Carter scoffed.

"Oh you did though," he countered.

"No, I wasn't. I felt bad for you I wasn't trying to get in your pants." Seth cut a look at her. "What? I wasn't! I may have found you mildly attractive but that was as far as it went at that point. You text me."

"You didn't have my number."

"Ohhhh this is gonna get good," Dean mumbled.

"Mildly attractive?" Seth asked.

Carter rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Stop it. We aren't going to do this. I wasn't just in love with you from day one. And it was more than mildly attractive, I've always been ridiculously attracted to you but that doesn't prove your point that I was hitting on you."

"When did you know, C?" Renee piped in.

"Know what?"

Renee shrugged, "when did you realize your feelings for him? Come on, I can put it in my speech at the wedding."

"You don't get a speech," Seth smiled at her.

"Shut up," Renee glared at him.

"Children! Let Carter answer the question and stand down for five minutes," Dean said.

"Well I already adored him but it was at the house show in Jackson when my brother and Meagan and the boys came down. Seeing him with my nephews and going to lunch and joking with my brother…I just kind of knew it was all right…" Carter shrugged and gave Seth a sheepish look when he kissed her shoulder.

"When did you know, Rollins?" Renee asked.

"The first morning after Extreme Rules when I came back. She was in the lobby of the hotel getting frustrated about the Starbucks barista taking too long and she's always cute when she's flustered. She hugged me and acted like it was no big deal at all that I was back and I was just happy to talk to her in person."

"Ok but all the texting and phone calls and stuff? You really never…?" Renee wiggled her eyebrows at them, "because I gave Car a lot of grief about it."

"No, we flirted some but we were just friends," he answered.

"He was an ass most of the time anyways," Carter smiled.

"God you two are cute."

"We're cute," Dean said, giving Renee a frown.

"We aren't that cute," Renee shook her head. "We are, however, cuter than the Bellas and their fellas, aren't we C?"

"Indeed we are," Carter laughed, mocking a toast with her across the empty space.

"They've turned us in to a competition, my brother," Dean looked at Seth.

"Should we expect anything less?"

"We should have our own show; the four of us," Renee perked up. "It would be like the Bellas but we would all live together. We can move up here to the new house. It would be gold just with Seth and I fighting alone!"

"Renee…" Carter laughed.

"Total Shield; book it. It should happen."

"Yep, I'm going to bed now," Seth said quickly, tickling Carter's sides to get her to stand up. "It's been fun but I'm drawing the line at that one."

"Yeah I'm coming with you," Dean said. "I'll be the big spoon."

"Goodnight girls," Seth waved at them over his shoulder. "Make sure the fire goes out."

"Don't get too drunk," Dean added.

"Y'all," Carter frowned.

Renee piped in a 'babe!' exclamation but the boys continued into the house.

Carter and Renee exchanged looks over the fire.

Renee shrugged, "whatever, I thought it was a good idea."

Carter laughed, "here give me your glass. We might as well finish off this bottle since we've been abandoned."

"They're jerks."

"They are but at least we have each other. And the dogs…."

"Team trouble and the the two cute pups, forever."

Carter took Renee's glass and gave her friend a studied look. "Are we really team trouble anymore? Like…are we getting lame? All I do is workout and hang out with him and the dogs and work and you hang out with Dean and…Nae we're old."

"No we are not, we are maturing. We just managed to run those two off so I say we're still a success."

"Let's go to Chicago or Nashville this weekend while they're on the road."

"Deal. Now fetch more wine," Renee laughed.