For reference, this story takes place about nine months after "Predictable: Parts I & II". It goes along with it. If you haven't read it, check it out first. It's in the Memories section. It also takes place about 1 1/2 years after "What You Have Coming", where the ladies vacation at Lake George.

Chapter 1

July 21st

9:37 p.m.

Benson-Cabot Townhouse

Olivia's sat on the long part of the sectional, her right elbow on the arm of the sofa, feet tucked beneath her, stroking her hair backward as her eyes glazed over at the frozen glowing image of their flat screen TV. The room was dimly lit with only one lamp on the credenza that held the TV and another on the piano behind them shedding light on the room.

She was waiting for their son to come back down from a bathroom break as they had been watching a marathon of the same series The Valhalla Murders for almost three hours straight at this point.

Thanks to her son—who had just come back from a class trip to Costa Rica and was about to enter his first year of college—she had been introduced to watching Icelandic dramas and mysteries on Netflix.

He had already found a few more for them to watch after this one and Olivia was happy to be able to spend time and bond with their first born in this way, doing something that they both loved.

His high school graduation party had been thrown almost two months prior, and now that all had finally settled down, the three kids and two ladies had begun to find themselves in a settled in pattern now that their children were home twenty-four-seven for their summer vacation.

Olivia yawned, hearing footsteps coming down the stairs. She smiled as she took the remote from next to her left thigh and was poised to unpause the fourth episode.

"You want a glass of water, Mama?" Theo's deep voice questioned from the kitchen.

"Oh, no thank you, Baby. No more water tonight. I'll be up every hour."

She heard her brunette son snicker from the kitchen and she turned her head to the left, smiling at him, watching as he poured a fresh bag of microwave popcorn into a bowl.

"No laughing at your mother. You know it's a sign of getting older." Olivia smiled, watching him approach with a glass of clear liquid and a stainless-steel bowl. He sat, a crinkling sound emanating from his space.

She eyed his loose pajama bottoms as he sat next to her, wondering what the sound was, as he placed the bowl in between them.

"Never, Mama. I would never laugh at you." He smirked and reached into his left pocket, lifting the left side of his lower body from the couch briefly before he produced a red cellophaned bag of Twizzlers, holding it out. "I got these for you when I was at CVS…because I know you like them."

Olivia returned the wry smile as she took the package. "Maybe a few…don't tell your Mom." Olivia winked.

"She likes them, too, right?" Theo raised his eyebrows.

"Which is why I don't want you to tell her." She winked once again.

"Got it." Theo nodded once.

"Shall we continue?" Olivia questioned, raising the remote once more.

"We shall."

Olivia pressed the pause button and the actors began to move and make noise again. She opened the package of licorice easily and then took a couple out before shoving it beneath the throw pillow behind her. Catching eyes with Theo, they both began laughing.

"Hiding the evidence?"

"Absolutely." Olivia took a huge bite from a piece of twisted candy, smiling, her eyes returning to the screen. "Absolutely, my boy."

11:32 p.m.

Bubblegum? Strawberry? Alex sniffed the air a few times as she headed down the hallway from the staircase, trying to place the scent.

Theo had informed her, as she was coming down from taking a luxurious bath that evening, that Olivia was passed out from their marathon that evening and that he had woken her up to say goodnight and she started watching the news.

But that was the last thing their son saw of her.

Alex stopped at the sofa, folding her arms in her silk robe, and stood just looking at her wife, smiling. The brunette was sitting with her head all the way back, in her navy Puma sweatpants and matching crewneck, her hair up in a messy bun, black-framed glasses on, her knees parted, mouth open, arms at her sides.

The blonde reached for her wife's limp hand next to her on the sofa to take the remote control that was still clasped loosely in her inanimate fingers.

And Olivia awoke immediately, gasping and holding the remote up, her body instantly going erect and upright.

Alex furrowed her brow. "It's me, Liv."

Olivia let out a deep exhale and sat back, smiling. "We were watching this show and…the lead is a female detective…I guess…" she closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over her face, "…I guess…" she opened her eyes again, still smiling, "…I just got into the role…"

"Well, your reflexes are admirable, Babe. Hey…" Alex sniffed the air again, the smell even stronger now. "What is that?" She took the remote again and shut the television off, setting it back on the coffee table and standing upright once more.

Olivia brought her lips inward, a move that Alex knew all too well as her wife trying not to smile. "What, Olivia?"

Olivia only shook her head, beginning to chuckle now.

"You have Twizzlers, don't you?"

Olivia continued shaking her head, her body jostling even more now.

"Where are they?" Alex began searching I the cracks of the sofa, coming upon the one to her wife's right, trying her best to reach into the tight space between Olivia's right thigh and the end of the couch.

Olivia began wrestling her now—hands on wrists, the blonde trying to tickle and pinch her wife's side—until finally, Alex produced the near-empty bag.

"Aha!" Alex said victoriously before she realized the bag was basically empty. She squinted at the clear packaging. "Tell me you didn't eat all of this, Liv. Please, tell me."

"I didn't." Olivia spoke through her guffaws. "Theo helped."

Alex threw the near-empty bag back on the sofa. "Thanks for leaving me, what is it…one?"

"I think there's two in there, Babe."

Alex narrowed her eyes at her wife. "Thanks, oh so much, Liv. You're terrible."

Olivia's jaw dropped open and like lightning, she reached for Alex's hips, pulling her onto her lap, sitting her sideways. Alex clasped Olivia's hands, her strong arms wrapped around her midsection, and tried to remove them.

"Let go, Liv!" Alex smiled.

"You don't really want me to. Do you, Al?"

She felt Olivia sit up straighter now, her face now next to Alex's left ear.

"I'm sorry, Al. But Theo did have about half. If that's any consolation."

"A consolation would be leaving me at least a third of the bag."

"Duly noted, Babe. I'll remember next time."

"No, you won't, Olivia." Alex began to try and pry her wife's arms away once more. "You'll eat whatever you want…again…"

Alex finally got free and stood, moving into the kitchen.

She flipped the beneath-the-microwave light off and then the light below the counters, making the space even darker. Turning, Olivia was right there, close, looking sexy as hell.

Alex gasped and smiled, shaking her head. "You're bad, Olivia."

"And you love it."

"I do…" Alex took a deep breath. "How was the show?"

"It was good."

They continued to look at each other.

"I wish you'd watch it with us." Olivia said softly, moving closer and grabbing the blonde's hips.

"I know the scenery is beautiful but when I watch shows and movies that are filmed in cold places…"

"I know, Al…you get cold."

Alex only smiled, returning the embrace, her hands on the brunette's mid-back, loving that her wife seemed to know exactly what she was going to say, what she was always thinking.

"So, you wouldn't wanna…maybe go to Iceland for a vacation?" Olivia smiled broadly.

"It's colder than Montana, Liv. Do you really think I'd be happy?"

"You were happy in Montana?"

Alex eyed that plush mouth in front of her before letting her gaze return to cocoa eyes. "I was. We were newlyweds, everything was so new and exciting and fresh…"

She watched a tiny flicker in her wife's eyes—brief, but there.

"And now…it's not?"

They looked at each other once again, the mood now having shifted.

"Liv don't do this, Babe. I just don't want to go somewhere cold. I'd be fine going somewhere warm. Balmy, even."

Olivia moved away from the blonde and took the candy bag from the island, opened a drawer, threw it in, and shoved it closed before looking back at her.

"Liv?" Alex questioned.

Olivia placed her hands on the island, closing her eyes. "We keep saying we're going to go on a vacation, Babe. But we can never decide where." She opened her eyes and looked at her now.

"I know, Liv…I just…"

Olivia stepped closer once again. "Nothing's gonna happen, Al. We're gonna be OK. I'll make sure of it."

Alex studied her wife's warm, soulful eyes now. The last vacation they had taken to another place besides the beach house in Southampton had been Lake George, New York where they had been kidnapped, beaten, and psychologically terrorized—the brunette almost having been raped.

And Alex was scared to go anywhere but places she felt safe. And she knew that Olivia felt the same.

And even though Alex had similar traveling desires, she knew that her wife was so much the adventure seeker—the one who wanted to go to new places and try new foods and experience other cultures, And the fact that they hadn't been anywhere in such a long time was heartbreaking for both of them.

"Twenty years this August, Al," Olivia smiled.

"I know, Liv. I can't believe we've been married that long sometimes."

Olivia half-smiled. "Sometimes I can't, either, Al.," She said softly, her eyes glazing over slightly.

Alex narrowed her eyes, watching her brunette wife mentally disappear, even if it was only briefly. "Hey…" she questioned in a whisper.

Olivia refocused and smiled. "I'm here…"

Alex continued to watch her wife. Those eyes told so much, especially lately. Olivia had been easily distracted, more tired than usual, and her intake on red wine wasn't excessive, by any means, but it was noticeable.

Especially to Alex.

"What do you say…" Olivia slithered her arms around her once again, "…we go on a second honeymoon…renew our vows…"

Alex cocked her head to the side, smiling. "And where would we do that, my beautiful wife?"

"Where else?" Olivia raised her eyebrows.

"Greece?" Alex bit her lower lip, trying not to become too giddy from the thought.

"Why not? renew our vows, have a second honeymoon, go on adventures all over again!" Olivia's body was buzzing now. The energy could be felt radiating off of her.

Or maybe it was all the sugar she consumed, Alex thought to herself, smiling.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, Liv. When?"

"On our anniversary. Theo goes to school beginning of September. We could go on the thirteenth of August and come back before we take him to Columbia. What do you think?" She squeezed her waist firmly three times.

"I think it sounds amazing, Olivia…" Alex said softly. "And just what we need."

Olivia nodded slowly, her eyes going to Alex's mouth. "Then it's a plan."

"Absolutely, Liv. It's a plan."

Olivia leaned in then, and placed a gentle kiss on her mouth, that warm, soft tongue brushing along her lower lip, just barely detectable. Pulling away, Alex looked at the brunette, whose eyes were slowly opening, that beautiful smile gleaming.

"Then, it's a plan."

A/N: Please follow, favorite, and review. It would mean so much!