It was one month since fate decided to bring Marissa and Alex back together. A lot had happened since. The first two weeks, Alex had spend all of her time on Marissa. The first days were mainly focused on just being together, cherishing the closeness and renewing their love. They were days filled with kisses, hugs and of course also lovemaking. Neither of them had wanted to talk about all that had happened yet. They just wanted to be together, needed to be together without paying attention to anything else. After all, the world would still be spinning by the time they were ready to join it again.
After the first few days, the inevitable talks came. Marissa told Alex about her years at Foster's, about the pain she had felt, the feelings of abandonment by her family and friends except for Alex and about the comfort she had found in writing. She had pulled out her notepads and showed Alex her favorite piece, Memories. Alex had cried upon reading it and had vowed to Marissa she would never let anything tear them apart again. Marissa had held Alex as she cried, offering the comfort she knew her lover needed.
Just as Marissa had comforted Alex, Alex had comforted Marissa in return. The talks they had were hard but Alex never shied away from the pain, instead sharing it with Marissa. And because Alex was there whenever Marissa needed her, Marissa had given her a free reign to her notepads. Both knew this was the ultimate sign of trust.
They had also talked about Alex's life, about the things Alex had done to get Marissa out, the plans she had made and they had discussed the Bait Shop. They talked about the changes that had come along with all that had happened and about the emotions and fears they had both gone through.
They had agreed that this however was only the tip of the iceberg. There were still a lot of obstacles to overcome, a lot of unresolved issues. This was a start, a fresh and new beginning; the actual healing would take a lot of time. But they knew they would stand this test of time together and that they would definitely make it.
After the first week, Marissa had slowly started the process of going outside again. Not that she had been locked up inside Alex's house, or their house as it now had become, but she never strayed far away. However, after the first week, Alex took Marissa out to the beach. They went at night so it wasn't crowded, but it still was a giant step for Marissa.
In the days that followed, Alex had taken Marissa to dinner, shopping, to the Bait Shop and to the park. There were moments when it all threatened to become too much for Marissa to handle but Alex was always there by her side, offering whatever her lover needed. Taking baby steps, Marissa started to become accustomed to life outside Foster's.
After two weeks Alex had to start working again. Because of the busy schedule she couldn't really take any more time off for now but it did turn out to have one positive side to it.
Marissa, being the fighter she was, realized pretty soon she couldn't spend her days cooped up inside. So difficult as it was, after four days of staying in she forced herself to go outside alone. And when she finally took that step, she surprised Alex by showing up at the Bait Shop. They had cried tears of happiness together about this as Alex told Marissa how proud she was of her girl.
All in all, the pieces of the puzzle called life were slowly coming together again. Slowly, but oh so very surely.
This evening, Marissa was sitting on the couch watching the dvd she and Alex had recently made. They had filmed it only two days earlier, when they had gone to the zoo together. Alex had been editing it the night before, so Marissa was eager to see the results.
Alex in the meantime stood in the kitchen, cooking up a killer meal for tonight Luke would come over for dinner with his wife and son.
"Honey," she called out from the kitchen, "could you please set the table? Luke and his family will be here in about ten minutes."
Marissa turned the tv off and walked up to the kitchen. Lovingly, she wrapped her arms around Alex from behind before stealing a quick kiss. She then quickly started to set the table.
About fifteen minutes later, Luke, Lacey and Jason arrived. Marissa and Alex welcomed them into their home and Luke made the necessary introductions.
"Marissa, Alex, this is my wife Lacey and this little nugget here is my son Jason. Lacey, meet Marissa and Alex." Luke said.
They all shook hands before Marissa kneeled in front of the little boy Luke had introduced as his son.
"Hi Jason, I'm Marissa."
Jason was a small boy who looked very much like his father. He had also inherited his straight forwardness.
"Hi Marissa, I'm Jason." He held out his little hand to shake Marissa's.
"Wow Jason, that's a pretty strong hand you've got there," Marissa said smiling while shaking it, "how old are you?"
Jason immediately held up three tiny fingers. "Three!" he pronounced excitedly.
"Three, that means you're a big boy already! And big boys get to choose their own drinks, you want to come along to pick out something?" Marissa asked.
Jason nodded his head so Marissa stood up and held out her hand which Jason took. "Come on, the kitchen is this way."
They walked off together to the kitchen. Alex stood next to Luke and Lacey, watching them happily. It was very obvious that Jason and Marissa had taken an immediate liking towards one another.
A little bit later everyone had joined together at the dinner table. They shared a great time. Everybody was gushing about the 'yummy food' as Jason had called it. Alex really had prepared a perfect meal. The table was filled with laughter as Luke entertained everybody with jokes and funny stories he made up. Marissa also got the chance to talk to Lacey for a while. Their conversation started out a bit uneasily, for Lacey of course knew all about the situation, but that soon changed when they found out they were both die-hard fans of The Clash.
After Luke was done telling his jokes and stories he started discussing the latest on the NFL with Alex. Jason also joined in on their conversation, though he didn't really know all that well what he was talking about. But that didn't matter, Luke and Alex let him take part in their conversation just as easily.
After dinner as the adults sat on the couch, sipping from their glasses of wine, Jason crawled onto Marissa's lap. They started a thumb-wrestling competition and it didn't take a very long time before they were giggling together. After Marissa lost her fourteenth game from Jason she started tickling him, so minutes later the room was filled with sounds of laughter coming from everybody. They were just too cute together. Jason kept squirming in Marissa's lap until he finally found Marissa's ticklish spot; her sides. Soon the tables had turned and Marissa was the one squirming underneath the little boy.
Eventually though, Jason got tired and fell asleep, still in Marissa's lap. Alex, who had been engaged in conversation with Luke and Lacey again was deeply moved by the sight in front of her. It was the picture perfect she always had in her mind. Marissa looked so peaceful and at ease with Jason. She had never seen Marissa interact with kids before, not like this at least. But Jason and Marissa seemed to share some kind of connection; they could laugh together, play for hours and they both just looked perfect as Jason was sleeping and Marissa was gently stroking his hairs.
She realized how beautiful the family life of Luke was and it had her craving for such a life of her own. Judging by what she saw she knew Marissa would want the same thing in the future. For now it was too soon, but some day…
By midnight the time came to say goodbye. Marissa gently carried Jason to the car. As she put him in his seat, his eyes opened for a moment. Groggily he reached out his arms and put them around Marissa's neck.
Sleepily he asked Marissa, "will you come and play with me again sometime?"
"Sure thing Jason, I'll come by really soon. Now you go home and sleep tight, okay? Don't let the bed bugs bite ya."
Jason kissed Marissa's cheek before mumbling. "Bye Marissa." He then fell asleep again in the backseat.
Marissa walked back up to Luke, Lacey and Alex. She wrapped her arm around Alex as they stood there facing Luke and Lacey.
Alex spoke up. "Thank you so much for coming tonight, we really had a wonderful time."
Marissa piped in. "We really did. And Jason is such an amazing kid. I really hope we'll do this again sometime."
"Absolutely!" Lacey replied, "maybe next time you can come over to our place. I must say I'm not as good in the kitchen as Alex is, but I'm sure I could make something everybody likes."
"Great, we'll get together soon then. Thanks again for a great evening and drive safely on your way home." Alex said.
They all hugged each other goodbye and Alex and Marissa waited at the door until they saw the car turn around the corner. Marissa then turned to face Alex. She wrapped her arms around Alex, pulling her close, resting her forehead against Alex's.
"I've had such a lovely evening Alex. I'm glad you invited them over."
"I'm glad too honey. You and Jason really seemed to hit it off though… should I be getting jealous?" she asked playfully.
Marissa replied by kissing her before taking her hand. Her face turned serious. "Let's go back inside baby."
And as Alex closed the door, she couldn't help but thanking 'the powers that be' for bringing them back together. As tonight had proven, they would be alright. They would overcome their obstacles and find a wonderful life, waiting just for them. As long as they were together.The End.
Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed reading this fanfiction, I would love to read your responses to this final chapter.
Also, I want to thank everyone who has given this fic a chance for reading it. Special thanks go to SVU Chicky, Alex Mort, Chelsea and SwingDancin'Girl, who have given me feedback multiple times.
But everybody who has replied at all; Thank you SO MUCH. All of your replies have definitely made it worth it!
Final note (after a special request made in the review-section); we're not allowed to put down our email-adres in the story, but should you want to contact me through MSN, just click on my username and you will find the email addy in my profile.