Chapter 197

After both Alex and Ryan woke up two hours before their alarm sounded but both of them lying in bed pretending to be asleep. Alex's back was turned towards her husband, when she felt his hand creep around her waist and caress her pregnant belly drawing small circles around it with the tips of his fingers. "Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" Ryan asked burring his head in the crook of he neck.

"No, you haven't told me that in some time." Alex explained linking their fingers together of the hand that is resting on her belly.

"Well. You. Are. Amazing." He reminded her in between kisses on her neck as she extended her neck to give him more excess to it, as both of them know what this will lead to right now. Ryan moved his hands up under her oversized shirt and played with her breasts smiling at the small moans that escaped her mouth as they tried to be quiet minding the fact that they are not the only people in the house. She turned around as the two of them faced each other, lustfulness in both their eyes and they skipped all the small stuff getting right into it as they laid side by side – making matters uncomfortable with Alex's growing stomach in the way but determined to make this work as they have in the past, although that was minus the swollen belly.

Alex held onto her husband as firmly as she possibly could as he entered her slowly and then pulling out completely repeating this action painfully slow as until she started complaining. He laughed slightly and then obeyed to her demands as they started moving in sync, Alex resting her head against his chest keeping her eyes closed enjoying the moment. "Oh shit, I have no idea what you just did but it felt amazing. Keep doing it." She became verbal at her husband's new tricks appreciating it even more when he continued his actions. Her phone went off with three text messages in a row and it caught her attention. Lifting her head of his chest, "hang on I need to see those texts." She said and rolled towards the bedside table to see who was texting.

"Alex are you serious right now? Can we just finish what we started those texts aren't going anywhere." Ryan pleaded desperately but Alex was more intrigued by the messages the read.

"I have to go give a talk at some women in arms thingy empowerment or motivational speech, and I forgot about it. I'm gonna go shower and get ready." She decided and plugged her phone back into the charger, heading across the bedroom towards the shower.

"Well can I at least join you in the shower?" Ryan asked hopeful but his wife shook her head. "If you join me I'm not going to be able to think about what to say since I still need to come up with something. Ryan just take care of your situation, don't be difficult man. " She dismissed as if it was that easy, and she heard him grown loudly when she walked into the bathroom.

Alex stood in front of the closet looking for clothes to wear, groaning loudly at the fact that she didn't have much to choose from as most of it did not fit her anymore. Eventually settling on a black boho styled pants, and a casual white shirt that fit loosely enough to give her stomach some room as well.

"So what exactly is this speaking thingy you're going to?" Ryan asked looking at his wife as she got ready. "I met a woman randomly one day at the store and she recognized me, heaven knows how, but she asked me if I'll be willing to give a motivational talk about women being in a dominantly male workforce and how I find it and all of that." She explained briefly, also not certain of what to expect when she gets there but determined to make the best of it.

"And for speaking out about the rights of women you are leaving your one and only husband hanging on the edge. If I'm unable to make babies after this it's going to be due to this day, and it will be your fault." Ryan said making eye contact with her in the mirror as she applied make up. "And I told you to tend to yourself, you still have about an hour before we need to get ready, so go for it." Alex said looking back at him, as she walked towards the door.

"Aaaalleeeexxx." He groaned flopping back onto the bed.

"I love you." She said from the doorway as she made her way into the hallway and down the stairs.

She saw Luca curled up on the couch sleeping peacefully and went to go check up on her daughter who sat up in the crib looking at her mother when she stood in the doorway. "Mama!" The toddler smiled when she saw her mother and got up so she can be assisted down onto the floor.

"Mama foodies."

"You hungry?" Alex asked and her daughter nodded. "Well let's go get you something to eat then." Alex answered and Phoebe walked out before her mother towards the kitchen, but she stopped at the couch and looked at her uncle sleeping, sticking a finger in Luca's ear, laughing to herself as he shook his head and moved his hand towards the disturbance.

"Phoebe leave Lukie." Alex said from the counter but she wasn't willing to give up that easily, and repeated the action.

"Mama Lukie foodies." Phoebe said when Luca opened his eyes briefly to be greeted by his niece's big brown eyes and her bed curls that was more out of proportion compared to other mornings.

"Lukie doesn't want food he's still sleeping." Alex said in defense to try and get her daughter away there.

"Yes I would like some food please. And I was sleeping before a certain princess came to wake me up." He yawned and sat up.

"I'm sorry. Ryan and I will be leaving soon you can go sleep in our room and I'll take her to day care." Alex gave him an alternative feeling bad for the fact that he has to sleep on the couch since their other bedroom was no longer available but a baby room now.

"Mama I Lukie foodies." Phoebe decided and crawled onto the couch to sit with Luca, giving him the TV remote, wordlessly indicating that they need to watch TV. Luca switched on the TV but quickly changed the channel when he saw the purple dinosaur not in the mood for Barney so early in the morning.

"Noooooo Lukie, Bah-ney! Bah-ney!" Phoebe became excited and he changed the channel back sighing heavily, and he looked towards the stairs when he heard Ryan laughing at his facial expression that was probably one of despair. "Welcome to our world man." Ryan smiled and Luca shook his head.

"Daaaaadaaaaaa." Phoebe called out when she saw her father walk down the stairs and towards her mother to see what she was making for breakfast.

"Phoooeeebeeee." Ryan answered in the same drawn out tone that his daughter greeted him with earlier. "Oooohhh, cool hairstyle you have going there this morning Phoebe Grace." Ryan noticed at how wild his daughter's hair was standing in more than one direction this morning.

"Will you get Phoebe dressed and ready please? I'm leaving in ten minutes because I still have to go find the place." Alex explained plating the eggs that she made, and cutting one up in small cubes for her daughter to indulge in, eating her own food hastily before she makes her way out the house and towards her car.

Luca walked over to the kitchen counter with Phoebe placing her in the high chair and getting her to start eating her food. "Hey, that food goes into your mouth don't throw it around Phoebe." Ryan reprimanded from the fridge when he saw what his daughter was doing. "Lukie gimme foodies." Phoebe said looking up at her uncle refusing to eat unless he fed her, and he obeyed, anything to get her done and dressed for the day just so he can get some more sleep.

"Can I leave the two of you alone while I get done?" Ryan asked and Luca nodded, certain he will make it through breakfast without a food fight at least. Ryan was in the shower when he wondered if he can surprise Alex at the venue where she was giving her talk, although there would only be women there, he just wants her to know that he adores her and wants to share this moment with her. He made up his mind and got ready to look for the address she asked him about earlier, to see if he can join her.

''Lukie bottle.'' Phoebe said pointing towards her empty bottle and he had no idea how to mix her formula. "Uuuuhhhmmm, how about some juice?" Luca asked alternatively and Phoebe nodded, grateful that she is willing to sacrifice although he knew this might become the start of a new habit that her parents won't like.

Alex walked into the hall and was greeted by Madeleine in the foyer. "Hi Alex, it's really good to see you, glad you could make it." Madeleine smiled and shook Alex's hand sensing how nervous she was. "Don't be nervous, everything's gonna be okay." Madeleine smiled and Alex nodded. "Come on, let me introduce you to some people."

Once Alex met a few people she walked into the hall and saw even more women there, some being so young that it looks as if they were in their teens or having to make a choice to study anytime soon. Madeleine introduced her to the large group of people and Alex walked onto the podium taking the stage with her nervous energy, as she scanned the group, that seemed to get more full as time ticked by. She stood next to Madeleine while the last group of people entered and they waited for them to settle down before talking. Madeleine introduced Alex and she took to the podium glancing at the crew with nervous energy as she looked through the crowd.

"Hey everyone, oh wow there's a lot of you. Uuuhhmm Madeleine told me I only have about fifteen minutes or so to speak, maybe twenty if everyone isn't sleeping by the tenth minute. So if I speak really fast you can email me afterwards and I'll send you the explanation, okay?" She broke the ice as the crowd laughed and waited for them to settle down before she started talking again. "I'm Alex Booth and I work as an agent for the FBI. But if I had followed my mother's advice I wouldn't have ended up here today, so I'll start from the beginning. Oh and also any questions are welcome at any point, if you guys want to ask me something you're welcome to do so."

She looked through her notes to see what she had written down but she soon decided to rather talk from her heart instead of following the points she had written down. "The day I got in the cab in front of my home in Oakland, my mother had told the cab driver that he had to take me to the train station, as I was supposed to study teaching. But me being the stubborn person that I am crumpled up the train ticket when I got into the cab and told the driver to drop me at the airport – and this is where I started my journey at Quantico. After about a few weeks of being quite and settling into the so called student life that my mother thought I had lived, I finally had the courage to tell her that I am actually training to become a FBI agent, and bottom line is she was pissed. That's putting it mildly." She stated looking through the crowd as they smiled as she walked around the podium towards the stage when she became more comfortable and less nervous the more she started speaking.

"Personally, being in this workforce has its ups and downs and stresses you out a lot especially if you have a spouse in the same field. I remember the first fight my husband and I had that was work related, and remember earlier when I told you guys that I was stubborn and that I don't always listen?" She asked and the audience members nodded, before she continued. "Well, it was because he was the agent in charge of that specific case and I did not take orders from him because I knew better, but I ended up getting shot – but my argument was that we convict bad guys, so why be a prick and not just go all out with the whole thing?"

She saw how their faces changed when she mentioned the fact that she got shot and she decided to ease them and tell them that the shot was only in her ark and that she was still fine. "That was simultaneously the best and worst day of my life."

"Alex how can you say being shot was a good thing?" A teenage girl in the 2nd row asked her and she laughed slightly as she was about to continue to the best part of that day.

"That was the day I found out I was expecting my first child, which was the best part of that incident." Alex smiled as she pointed towards the girl who gave her a tums up when that part made sense on how it turned out to be the best day. "Another argument erupted when my husband told me that I am putting our baby's life at risk by working in such a dangerous environment, but I told him he was doing exactly the same, if something were to happen to him at work that would mean that our child would grow up without a father. Then he hit me with the words, yes Alex but I'm not the one growing a life inside of me." She said seeing the frowns on some faces and some smiles and nods at the elder women in the audiences. "And as much as I hated to admit it he actually had a point there, and I hate it when he is right."

A hand went up from one of the older women in the audience and she acknowledged the person as she got up. "Hi Alex do you find it difficult being a female in a male dominated work force?"

"Yes, it is extremely hard because you constantly have to prove yourself to the male counterparts, and people look at you weirdly when you show up at a scene and they see you're a woman, and being almost 7 months pregnant isn't making it any easier either." She said pointing towards her belly. "But I do feel that we shouldn't take a step back just because males dominate this profession. And I'm sorry for digressing but I am so happy to see so many young people here, oldies I'm happy to see you too but we need to stand together and show men that everything they can do we can do better right?" She asked as the crowd started applauding and nodding their heads, she waited for them to settle down before she continued again. "Don't let the outside world put it into your head that just because you're female you aren't allowed to be a fire fighter or a police officer because darling you can be whatever you set your mind to.

"This job is dirty. I don't want to scare you with what I'm about to say now but this is reality. A few criminals and escaped convicts had a vendetta against my husband that resulted in me and my daughter who were only a few months old at the time, getting kidnapped. They were arrested but one of them escaped and I was in a parking lot at work I think or a restaurant I'm not sure, but he knocked me out and took me with him again. I don't know how or where I got the strength to pull through all of that but I did." She said and looked around the room as some of them sniffed and wiped their eyes. "No guys, you can't cry because you're gonna make me cry also." Alex smiled. I pulled through because I didn't want other people to go through the same thing I went through. And as crazy as it may sound, I love this job! And I don't regret for one moment that I told the cab driver to drop me at the airport because funny enough I met my husband at Quantico, and above all else that is something I am extremely grateful for. He's not here today but I…... "

Her attention drifted to the door at the back of the hall, where Madeleine sat and she saw Ryan standing there, as it seems the two of them were in on it. She wanted to jump off that stage and run into his arms but she contained herself. The audience also looking back seeing his proud smile, and when they started clapping she couldn't help but get teary eyed at their actions. "What are you doing here, Ryan?" She smiled wiping her eyes. "And all of you are adding to it by clapping, and now my make up is spoiling." Alex laughed as she tried to get through this with minimal crying and saving herself from black mascara like tears. "That's my husband standing at the back. Uuuhhmm I was saying that despite our arguments about the dangers of this job, he has supported my all the way and not once told me that I cannot flourish in this profession. I am truly truly blessed with the support structures that I have and it is my wish that each and every one of you will experience the same regardless of the so called male dominated world out there." She concluded her speech as the audience ended it in a standing ovation.

She walked off the stage towards him as he hugged her. "You idiot what are you doing here?" She asked hitting his chest looking up at him with big sparkly eyes.

"I came to support you. I wasn't going to miss this for the world even if I just got the hear the ending- I got lost on my way here." He explained but she dismissed it just grateful for this small gesture that means so much to her.

Hey guys. It's been a while but the good news is…. I got a new laptop so we're back into the swing of things! :D. Also I wanted to know if you guys would be fine with it if something big and baby related happens when we reach chapter200, as I plan a lot of drama for it and I'm really looking forward to starting out with it asap. Here is another one, I had a few hours to kill on campus. Not sure when the next update will be but hopefully it will be soon. Thank you for all the love and I am hoping you guys are still out there following and loving the story 0 and that none of you've left me yet.

Lovies-S