"Rea, sweetheart slow down," Ellie called after her middle child. Reagan hurried back to the side of the car where her father was unbuckling her three-year-old little brother, Vic, from the car. She was practically vibrating with excitement.

"But Mommy, we haven't seen them in forever!" Reagan protested.

"We just saw them two months ago," John pointed out as he settled his son on his hip before closing the door and securing the SUV, "They came down for Independence Day."

"I know Daddy," Reagan rolled her eyes as they made their way from the parking area toward the row of houses which served as their destination, "But that was forever ago! I want to see Molly and Mal!"

"We'll see your cousins in a little bit," Ellie informed her as they rounded the last bend in the path which lead to the homes in question, "But until then we can't have you running into the street where cars might not see little girls."

"Mama, Dad!" A young woman called out to them as she stepped off the porch of one of the large houses that made up the residences along the busy street. Reagan couldn't contain herself anymore; she pulled away from her mommy and dashed toward the sound of the voice. She did pause briefly to make sure there were no cars coming, before throwing her arms tightly around the older girl's neck, who had crouched down to receive her affection.

"Rea-Rea, I missed you so much!" The older girl gave her younger sister a tight hug.

"I missed you a lot too, Alex," Reagan pouted a little, "Do you really have to go to school so far away?"

"I'm sure I probably could have gone to school in San Diego or close to grandma and grandpa in L.A, but Stanford was the best place for me to learn what I want to learn," Alex explained gently, "Besides I like being near Aunt Sarah and Uncle Chuck."

"I think you mean heckling Uncle Chuck in the middle of his Intro to Encoding lectures," The girls turned and saw their uncle strolling their way, his wife next to him with their two-year-old son in her arms, and their daughter already making a break for her cousins to tackle them in a hug.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Alex gave him a faux innocent look.

"Reagan Elizabeth Casey!" The group turned to see an irritated Eleanor Faye Casey approaching, her husband and son close behind.

"Uh oh," Reagan ducked her head.

"What did I tell you about running off, especially into the road?" Ellie demanded.

"But Mommy, I stopped and looked both ways before crossing the street," Reagan protested.

"And did you have a grown up holding your hand when you crossed the street?" She arched an eyebrow at her precocious child, "Because Daddy and I were way behind you, kiddo."

"Sorry, Mommy, I was just so excited to see Alex," Reagan let her lower lip tremble, knowing it was her Daddy's weakness and hoping he would bail her out.

"Oh, no kid, that isn't gonna work," Ellie crossed her arms, her eyes flicking over to the stairs leading up to the sorority house her oldest daughter had just come out of. "You're going to have a sit-down, five minutes," When Reagan's mouth opened to protest, she arched her eyebrow, "Do you want to make it ten?"

"No, ma'am," Reagan sighed.

"Go over and take a seat on the stairs of your sister's house, I'm setting the timer on my watch," Ellie instructed, "I'll come over when your time's up. You know the rules, no talking to anyone, and when I come to get you, I want you to have thought of a better choice you could have made than the one you did."

"Yes, ma'am," Reagan nodded solemnly and walked the short distance to the house, taking a seat on the lowest step and, with her elbows on her jean-clad knees, rested her head in her hands with a sigh to think about what she had done.

"That was harsh, Elle," Chuck snickered.

"No, it really wasn't," Ellie countered, "She ran across a street, without an adult with her, which she knows she's not allowed to do and has been told many times of the consequences of making that kind of choice."

"Yeah, but there aren't any cars on the street today, they blocked off the whole road for the block party," Chuck pointed out.

"That is beside the point, Chuck," Ellie huffed, "How would you feel if Molly suddenly ran out into the road?"

Chuck sighed, "Okay, point made."

The family continued to catch up on what all had been happening in their lives as of late. Chuck and Sarah were both nearly completed with their doctorate programs, Chuck's projected completion date was the end of the current term, and Sarah was hoping to wrap up her studies by the end of Spring Quarter. Her pregnancy with Malcom wasn't the easiest on her, resulting in her being on bed rest for the last four weeks of her pregnancy, not to mention the maternity leave she took afterward. She loved her son dearly, and wouldn't give him up for anything, but having him did slow down her research on her thesis more than she'd expected, even with Chuck's phenomenal help with both their children.

Alex had graduated high school early, and was granted early admission to Stanford, which allowed her to start the previous spring semester. That fall during rush week, she had pledged Delta Nu at the encouragement of one of the girls in her Forensic Psychology class. She fit in well with the girls of the sorority and, having achieved the rank of Ambassador and earning her Gold Award the summer between her Junior and Senior years of high school, she was quick to jump at the chance to be a big sister to the Girl Scout troop the sorority hosted. She missed her siblings and parents while she was at school, but took some small comfort that her cousins, aunt and uncle were nearby. It also helped that she was able to make it to their family dinners every two months and could see everyone then.

Ellie's research, in conjunction to her father's technology, was making great strides in the treatment of memory loss due to traumatic brain injury, dementia, and Alzheimer's. With any luck, they would be starting human trials within the next few years. They were being extra cautious so that no one would be impacted to the level that Chuck, or worse, Hartley had been. As she was telling a story about an interesting interaction with a patient at the VA, her watch went off and she excused herself to walk over and take a seat next to her daughter. She sat silently with the girl for a few moments before speaking, "Have you thought about what might have been a better choice to have made?"

"Yes, ma'am," Reagan nodded.

"Alright, Rea, what do you think you should have done instead of running across the road without an adult?" Ellie prompted.

"I could have waited for Alex to come over and get me," Reagan sighed, "Or I should have waited for you and Daddy or Uncle Chuck and Sarah to walk with me."

"And do you understand why I don't want you in the road without an adult being with you?" Ellie asked gently.

Reagan nodded, "'Cause you don't want me to get hurt if a car doesn't see me."

Ellie nodded, "Okay, let's go back to the family then." She stood and offered her hand to her daughter, who took it and walked with her, hand-in-hand back to where everyone else was standing around.

By mutual decision, the family headed over to the Gama Delta Phi house where the current and alumni members had several grills out and were cooking up a variety of delicious meats and vegetables for the block party. After collecting their food, they headed to the back of the house were several tables and chairs had been set up. While they were eating students would stop by every so often to say hello to Alex or ask questions of Chuck and Sarah and then move on.

"Hey Alex," A young man, a little taller than Alex, with dark hair and a beard approached the table. John narrowed his eyes, noticing the attention the young man gave his oldest daughter, Ellie thought it was funny until she recognized the student and realized Chuck did too.

"Hi Mateo," Alex smiled at him, "Are you enjoying your weekend?"

"Yeah, I am," He smiled, "I didn't realize Greek row went so big for Homecoming."

"Well, I think the four houses on this street got a little bigger than the individual houses since we tend to team up," Alex shrugged, the noticed the plate and bottle of soda in his hands, "Would you like to take a seat?" She slid her chair over a bit and gestured toward the space she'd just opened up, "You might need to borrow a chair, though."

"Uh, ye-yeah, just give me a sec," Mateo smiled, setting his food and drink down on the table before going to an unoccupied table and snagging a chair to take back to the group and take a seat. "So, what did you think of that midterm in Psych?"

"Wasn't too bad," Alex shrugged, "Although I probably should have studied more about the ego, super ego, and id. I think I may have gotten some of the characteristics jumbled up a bit."

"Well Freud was a mental case anyhow," Mateo chuckled, "I mean the man saw…" it was then Mateo noticed who it was they were sitting with and cleared his throat, "Never mind."

Chuck couldn't help but laugh, "At least you're finally mastering your filter, Matty."

Ellie couldn't help but snicker too, "He's just about as bad as Morgan."

"Hey, leave Uncle Morgs out of this," Mateo protested, defending is uncle.

"Ignore them, Mateo," Alex gave him a soft smile and laid her hand on his forearm, earning the young man another glare from John.

"Well to be fair, Uncle Morgan got me in trouble a lot," Mateo shrugged, "I remember at Lupe's quinceanera, he convinced me to ask all the girls on her court if I could pop their cherries." The adults snickered while the younger kids, were on the far end of the table and didn't hear him. "I was seven and didn't know what it meant! I thought he had me offering to eat the cherries they'd gotten from the buffet!" The adults laughed even louder, earning confused looks from the younger children.

"Okay, well, I think its about time we checked out the kids' area," Ellie interrupted, "John, why don't you help me herd the troops?"

"The kids' area is at the Delta Nu house this year," Alex advised them, "Our cadets and juniors are working on their childcare patches, so they're in charge, the Nus are supervising. I did my shift before you got here."

"Thanks, Sweetie," Ellie smiled at her step-daughter then snagged her husband's assistance in getting the four youngest children down to the play area.

"I think I'll join you," Sarah stood, collecting her plate and tossing it in a nearby trashcan, "Mal was too little to play last year, I want to watch his first time there."

"I'm coming too," Chuck declared, following the rest.

"Well, that wasn't contrived at all," Mateo chuckled.

"You do realize they are mostly going to get some distance between my dad and you," Alex snickered, "He was looking like he was about to murder you."

"Why?" Mateo asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"Because I like you, Mat" Alex shrugged as Mateo choked on his food.

Swallowing hard and taking a few long draws of his soda, he turned toward her, eyes wide in amazement, "Re-really?"

"Well, yeah," Alex smiled, "To be honest, I've kinda had a crush on you since high school."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Mateo tilted his head, making him look something like a curious puppy, earning a small giggle from the girl beside him.

"You were dating that Hannah girl for a while, then Bridgette," Alex pointed out before adding quietly, "I just thought you just saw me as a friend or some weird girl you put up with because our families are kind of connected in more ways than one."

"I wish I'd known," Mateo took her hand in his, "Hannah and Bridgette were okay and all, but… jeeze, Al, you were the one I wanted to be with, ever since Dad got stationed at Pendleton my junior year. I'm just glad you decided to come to Stanford too." He brushed a strand of her ear, "I don't think you know how much I like you, well, more than like you."

"I have an idea," Alex smirked, "So are you going to kiss me or what?"

"Bossy, bossy," Mateo teased as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lip, "And that's all the farther you're gonna get until I can get you out on a real date, one that doesn't involve your extended family hanging around, analyzing our every move."

"Agreed," Alex grinned, "So next Saturday?"

"Hell no; I can't wait that long," Mateo protested, "Friday, we can get dinner and catch the new Avengers movie."

"Sounds like a plan," Alex smiled, then looked over her shoulder, "Do you suppose we should go join up with everyone else?"

"Probably a good idea," Mateo agreed collecting their plates and cups and tossing them before claiming Alex's hand and walking back towards the sorority by way of the connected back yards of the houses along the row.

The kids had played to exhaustion and none of the adults had been remotely interested in attending the football game, so when most of the revelers had descended upon the stadium, the family had decided to head back to Chuck and Sarah's home where they were all staying. Vick and Reagan had been laid down in one of the guest rooms, across the hall from the room their parents would be sharing that night, while their cousins Molly and Malcom had been tucked in upstairs in their rooms.

Chuck had built a fire in the pit he'd had installed in their gazebo, and Sarah had produced beer and wine for the adults along with soda for the college freshmen who had joined them. The six of them now sat in the quietude of Chuck and Sarah's back yard for a while. John was still eyeing Mateo with contempt, stopping only when his wife caught him and drew his attention elsewhere for a brief time before his laser focus returned to the young man who clearly had intentions to court his daughter.

Sarah had noticed John's behavior too and had chuckled lightly at the predictable response from the man. If you had asked her 10 years ago if she could see John being a father, she would have said heck no, a year later she would have said he'd be the most overprotective father a daughter had ever known, something that was in clear evidence that night. God help Reagan when she came of age.

Chuck had pulled out some marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers for them to munch on, most of the goodies being eaten by the freshly minted adults who shared the firepit with them. Eventually Alex began to grow drowsy, so she and Mateo thanked their hosts for inviting them and took their leave after saying goodbye to John and Ellie. John, naturally, threatening Mateo within an inch of his life if any harm were to come to his little girl. Mateo took it in stride and informed the older man that he would never deliberately harm Alex and would do everything in his power to protect her.

When it was just down to the four of them, they sat chatting and reminiscing over the last nine years and especially the events of the last eight, which led to this moment in time. Even after all this time, Chuck was still a bit confused as to how it was that his sister of all people wound up with none other than Colonel John Casey.

"I still don't understand how all this could have happened, or when it could have happened," Chuck observed.

"Chuck, you're a smart man," Ellie smiled at him, "I had been attracted to John, more than I should have been when I had a boyfriend, but it all came to a head when you wound up in your coma. Dimitri's true colors and identity began to show through, as did John's, it's not hard to understand that eventually John won me over simply by being him."

"Yeah, but when did you realize that John was your person?" He insisted.

"I think I knew for a while, but was scared to admit it," Ellie gave her husband a loving smile before returning her gaze to her little brother, "But really it all finally came together while you were sleeping."