Alex and Abbie had offered to help clean up after dinner, but Olivia wanted two of her favorite women to sit back and enjoy the football game. Alex wasn't one for football, but she wanted some time alone with Abbie. While Olivia had her headphones on as she was doing dishes, Alex saw it as the perfect opportunity to talk to her. Instead of the usual wine or mixed drinks, the two of them opted for glasses of water. Abbie had become paranoid about drinking anything that wasn't water or fruit juice for fear of harming her girls and she had gotten Alex to become the same way.

When Alex was certain that Olivia couldn't hear them, she decided to confess one of her secrets to Abbie. It wasn't the easiest conversation for her to have with anyone—the only person who would truly understand her situation is Olivia's mom and talking about sex with Olivia's mom is something Alex certainly wasn't going to do, especially knowing that Serena still thought of Olivia as her little girl.

"Abbie?"

"What's up?" Abbie asked.

"Are you nervous about your dad?" Alex asked and then caught herself. "I know that's a stupid question."

"Alex, I know something is on your mind."

"It's about Olivia," Alex began.

"What about her?"

"I want her."

"You have her," Abbie pointed out. "She's your girlfriend."

"I want her," Alex reiterated. She had no idea how to better get her point across, so she decided to wink at Abbie.

"Oh, you want her."

"Not so loud," Alex said and put a finger to Abbie's lips.

"You're telling me to use my indoor voice, Alex?" Abbie teased. "You're practicing for your child's toddler years a little early."

"Abbie, please. Can we be serious?"

"Okay, so you want Olivia," Abbie said. "What brought this on?"

"I saw her in her underwear as she was getting dressed today," Alex bragged.

Abbie gasped. "You saw her in her underwear? You actually saw a girl in her underwear? Wait until I tell all of our tenth grade classmates."

"Abigail Jean Carmichael," Alex said sternly. "I've had enough of your sarcasm."

"Okay, I'll stop," Abbie promised. "Alex, I don't see a problem. You want your girlfriend, so make a move on her."

"Do you get like this?" Alex asked. "Like, there are moments when you just want Serena in the worst way?"

"Alex, look at me, I'm huge," Abbie pointed out. "I have two babies growing inside of me and I'm uncomfortable every moment of this pregnancy. Sex is the last thing on my mind."

"I'm just afraid," Alex admitted.

"Of?" Abbie asked.

"I want to make love to Olivia, but I'm afraid of getting her in the mood and then having to stop. What if I have flashbacks of what he did to me?"

"Then you stop and you talk to Olivia about it and you only do what's comfortable," Abbie told her. "Alex, she's your girlfriend. I've never known two people who love each other the way you and Olivia do."

In her own sarcastic way, Abbie had actually brought some comfort to Alex. Even if she was unsure of whether or not she would be able to make love to Olivia just yet, she knew she would be one step closer.

"What are you smiling at?" Olivia asked playfully once she returned from the kitchenette.

"The woman I love," Alex said as she gazed adoringly at Olivia.

Olivia was going to respond with something just as sweet until the three of them were taken aback by the sound of a knock at Abbie's door.

"I'll get it," Abbie announced.

"No, I'll get it," Olivia insisted. Before Abbie could protest, Olivia darted over to the door and opened it, expecting to find anyone there other than Abbie's father.

"Is Abigail here?" he asked nervously.

"Maybe," Olivia shrugged. "Who are you?"

"Ben Parker. She's expecting me."

"Liv, it's okay," Abbie called out from her spot on the couch.

Although he had made an effort to see his daughter, Olivia was still skeptical of him. All three of them had been let down by their fathers or stepfathers and Olivia was ready to intervene if Ben said even the slightest thing to upset Abbie, especially in her current condition.

"Ben!" Abbie said excitedly once she saw him.

"Don't get up," he insisted.

"I'm pregnant, not handicapped. I can still walk," Abbie said and smiled at him. When he smiled back at her, Alex and Olivia were surprised to see the same dimpled smile as Abbie's.

"Can I hug you?" he asked.

"…yeah," Abbie said hesitantly.

"My little girl," Ben said as he hugged her. The feeling of hugging her dad for the first time was overwhelming for Abbie and she couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

"I'm not a little girl," Abbie reminded him. "You missed out on me being a little girl. You missed out on me being a teenager. You even missed out on my undergrad years. I'll be twenty-two in a week and—"

"—and now you decide to come into her life?" Olivia interrupted.

"Babe!" Alex said and glared at Olivia.

"I'm sorry," Olivia whispered to her.

"Abigail, do you think the two of us could speak in private?" Ben asked.

"No," Olivia interrupted again. "The three of us are a package deal. It's been that way since we were nine-years-old and in a few months our children are going to be a package deal. There's really no separating us."

"We'll be in your room," Alex said to Abbie as she grabbed her girlfriend's hand and led her away. "Excuse us."

"How are you liking the city?" Abbie asked when they were alone.

"Is that really what you want to ask me, Abigail? Out of everything you could know."

"It's Abbie," she corrected him. "No one calls me Abigail. And what else should I ask? Why you abandoned me when I was a baby?"

"I never abandoned you, Abbie," Ben insisted. "I would never abandon you."

"Then what happened?"

"Your mom—"

"She's not my mom," Abbie interrupted. "She disowned me for having a girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend?" Ben asked.

"I have a wife. Legally, she isn't my wife, but she does have my last name now," Abbie informed him. "Does this bother you?"

"No," Ben responded. "Would it matter if it did?"

"Yes," Abbie told him. "I don't want another parent who won't accept me for who I am."

"It doesn't bother me," he insisted. "Your grandma told me all about Serena and how Trent got you pregnant and the twins."

"Then why did you play dumb right now?"

"Because I wanted to humor you," Ben told her.

"How amusing," Abbie said sarcastically. "And why did my grandma tell you everything?"

"She wanted to prepare me. Your grandmother says you're a lot to take in at once and you don't exactly make things easy for people."

"She's right," Abbie agreed. "So, why did you abandon me and marry some other woman and have children with her, children you actually raised?"

"I loved your mom," Ben began telling her. "But, well, you know how she is."

"That's for damn sure," Abbie agreed. "Still, you haven't answered my question."

"We were kids, Abbie."

"You were twenty. That's hardly a child," Abbie told him.

"Neither of us were ready."

"Stop making excuses," Abbie said angrily.

"I wasn't what your mom wanted," Ben admitted. "Your mom and I were married. I thought we were happily married, but I was wrong. Or maybe we were happily married until she met your stepdad. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I went from job to job, but the one thing I was sure of is loving you and your mom, but I wasn't good enough for her. That bastard stepfather of yours offered her a house in the suburbs and a life of leisure, so she left me for him and took you along."

"She never told me you two were married," Abbie said, feeling completely surprised.

"Yeah, that sounds like Stacy. Has she ever shown you your birth certificate?"

"No," Abbie said and shook her head. "Is there something I should know about it?"

"You never had her maiden name," Ben informed her. "It says Abigail Jean Parker. She had it changed to Carmichael once your stepdad legally adopted you when you were four. She wanted all of this done before you started preschool. That way, you wouldn't know anything about me. I wanted to see you, but I always thought you were better off thinking Mr. Carmichael is your dad."

"Why?" Abbie asked. "Because he had a nice house and could give me material possessions? That's bullshit! I needed my dad—the one who actually loved me."

"You have me now," Ben promised. "I'm sorry it took all of these years. The truth is, I was so intimidated by you. You're only twenty-one and you've done so many great things. You have your life together and you're going to be so successful. I'm just some average guy. You graduated from college in just three years and now you're in law school? I didn't even go to college. I didn't even finish high school. Why would you even want me around?"

"Because no matter what I do, deep down I'm still that scared little girl who needs her daddy to love her and guide her," Abbie said and gave her dad a hug. "And I want my girls to know their grandpa."

"I love you, Abbie," Ben said as he hugged her. "There was never a time when I didn't love you."

"I love you, too, Daddy. Will you come visit me again when the girls are born?"

"I wouldn't miss that for the world. These little girls of yours are my first grandchildren. Any names picked out?"

"Just one," Abbie told him, practically beaming. "I've always liked the name Lillian and I want her middle name to be Serena after her other mommy."

"How about Jessica for your other little girl?" Ben asked.

"Why Jessica?"

"I've always liked that name," Ben told her. "I wanted that to be your name, but Stacy wouldn't budge."

"Jessica, it is," Abbie agreed, still smiling.


After the three of them watched the rest of the game with Ben and went out for dessert with him, Alex and Olivia decided it was time to go home. During the drive back to Fallbrook, Olivia knew there was something bothering Alex so she decided to break the ice.

"Babe?"

"Yeah?" Alex responded.

"I heard what you and Abbie were talking about while I was washing dishes," Olivia admitted.

"You heard?" Alex asked, feeling completely mortified.

"Let's just say when you're ready, I'm ready," Olivia said and smiled at her. "I'm ready every time I look at you."

"Liv," Alex groaned.

"Alex," Olivia mimicked.