A/N: Well, I can never say it enough. Thanks for reading, following and reviewing this story! It is much appreciated! This chapter picks up right where the last one left off so we're still in a fluffy phase. We'll get to Christmas Day next chapter. Scenes from the videos are in italics. With that said, I hope you enjoy this update!

/

Bianca smiled softly and took the first DVD from Marissa. She turned the TV on and placed the DVD in the player before grabbing the remote. Marissa situated herself under the covers and held them up for Bianca to join her. Marissa then settled back in Bianca's waiting arms. The brunette kissed her tenderly before starting the movie.

/

There was a jostling of the camera before a handsome man with dark wavy hair and soft brown eyes appeared on screen.

"Hi, I'm Roy Tasker."

A woman's voice could be heard off camera. "Roy, what on earth are you doing?"

"I'm introducing myself, Lydia."

"To who exactly? Who do expect to be watching this? I really don't see a high rental demand for Tasker family home movies." Lydia chuckled.

/

Marissa's breath caught hearing her parents' voices again and seeing her Dad. She knew what would be coming next. She would be seeing her Mom, and she couldn't wait to see the woman who had raised her again.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I am." A smile playing on Marissa's face once again hearing her parents playfully fuss with each other.

/

The camera dipped down and began filming the floor. "Well, you never know who might see these. Our little girl might be watching these with her family years from now so I thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves."

"Wouldn't our daughter be doing that if she's watching these with her family?" Lydia chuckled seeing the crestfallen expression on her husband's face. "Alright, you win. I'm sorry I interrupted. Please continue."

Roy brought the camera back up again. "Thank you. As I was saying, I'm Roy, and I just got this new camera today. I never thought I would get one of these things because I just didn't have the need for one. That's all changed though because of our newest addition. Now that I'm a Dad …" a grin spread across Roy's face at the word 'dad'. It was something he had wanted to be for so long. It was a dream that had finally come true. "I need to have one of these things so I can record every fascinating thing my little …"

Lydia cleared her throat.

Roy smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I mean, I can record every fascinating thing 'our' little girl does."

"That's much better."

"Enough of me. I'm not the star of this show. It's time you meet who is."

The camera angle changed and Roy disappeared. A woman with red hair and brilliant green eyes appeared on screen. The brightest of smiles graced her face as she shifted her gaze to loving look down upon the bundle resting comfortably in her arms. The only thing visible at first was a tuft of red hair poking out from underneath the baby blanket wrapped tightly around her. Lydia's smile said it all. Ever since she was a little girl, she wanted to be a Mom. When she met and fell in love with Roy, the two couldn't wait to start a family. It hadn't been in the cards for them to have a child of their own however. They were just beginning the process of pursuing adoption when their friend Krystal stepped back into their lives. Their shared dream was now fulfilled, and you wouldn't find two happier people on the planet.

/

Marissa took a deep breath as her Mom appeared on screen.

/

"This beautiful woman is my lovely wife Lydia, the love of my life. She took pity on me and agreed to marry me, making me the luckiest man on earth. I know what you're thinking. She's out of my league. You're right. She is. You probably have a couple of questions. How did someone like me convince someone like her to marry them? To be honest, I don't really know. I think somebody up there must like me an awful lot though."

Lydia chuckled, a blush spreading across her face. "In case you forgot, I'm not the star of this show either."

"You'll always be a star to me."

The camera angle shifted and a redheaded baby girl came into focus. "This is our daughter, Marissa Lynn Tasker. She's absolutely perfect, isn't she? I know that people will say we're biased, and maybe we are. I still defy anyone to tell me differently though. Right, Lyd?"

"I'm not going to argue with you. She is perfect."

/

"Oh my gosh, Rissa, look at you! They're right. You are absolutely perfect!"

Marissa snorted as they paused the movie. "Like you're not biased either."

Bianca grinned. "I may be, but it doesn't make me or them wrong. I've seen pictures of your folks before, but I never really noticed the color of your Mom's hair that much. I guess that's because most of the pictures were in black & white."

"Dad liked taking pictures in black & white. He liked the contrast, and he thought it gave them a more artistic look. I never thought I looked like either one of them all that much, but with Mom having red hair, I stopped thinking about it. I just figured I got that from her. The hazel eyes were the result of their brown and green eyes. Everything else was just a blend of the two of them. That's what I thought at least so it never entered my mind that I was adopted. I was simply their daughter."

"You never really had a reason to question it. It's clear how much they loved and adored you. You were their world. Are you mad at them that they never told you that you were adopted?"

Marissa shook her head. "No, I'm not. Hurt and disappointed that they kept that from me yeah, but not mad. Do I wish they would've told me? Yeah, I do, but knowing everything that I know now, I understand why they didn't. My mother sold me and kept my sister. How do you explain something like that to a child? I'm still dealing with that. So no, I'm not mad at them. They were protecting me and gave me a home and the best childhood you could ask for. While we didn't have a lot of money, we were okay. I never wanted for anything, and I never doubted for one second whether they loved and wanted me or not."

Bianca smiled. "Well, that's obvious just by looking at their faces. It's written all over them. They adored you."

"The feeling is definitely mutual." Marissa took the movie off pause.

/

"Look at her eyes. It's like she's taking everything in and not missing one single thing. You can just see how brilliant she is already." Roy's hand came into the picture, and Marissa grabbed it and smiled. "She's smiling at me, Lydia! She knows who her Daddy is!"

Lydia sighed. "And she has you wrapped around her little finger already. I can see it's going to be two against one."

Marissa glanced at her Mom and smiled again. Lydia chuckled. "Okay, I get it. If we play it just right, we can get your Dad to do what we both want."

/

Bianca snorted. "You were a charmer even then. I never stood a chance, did I?"

Marissa laughed. "Nope and neither did I."

/

The video showed scenes of Marissa splashing around during bath times, her first attempt at feeding herself and of her crawling. There were also scenes from Halloween where Marissa was dressed as a lady bug and of her first Christmas. Each milestone was lovingly documented by her parents.

"That's it, Rissa! You can do it!" Roy could be heard from behind the camera. "Walk to Mama!"

Lydia held her arms out to her daughter. "You can do it! I know you can! You're my big girl! Come to me, baby!"

Marissa grinned and took a wobbly step towards her Mom. "Mama!"

"Oh my gosh! She's doing it! She's doing it, Roy! Look at her! You're getting this, right?"

"Of course I am, and of course she is! Our daughter is exceptional!"

The camera continued to capture the shaky steps until she reached her Mom and was immediately scooped up and peppered with kisses and praise. Marissa clapped her hands and grinned.

Lydia set her daughter back on floor. "Walk to Daddy."

"Dada!" Marissa grinned and began to wobble over to her Dad.

The camera jostled as Roy handed it off to Lydia. He held his arms open wide as his daughter happily made her way over to him. "That's my girl! I'm telling you, Lydia, she is exceptional!" Marissa giggled as she was lifted and spun around.

/

"You're so cute and really proud of yourself! How old were you?" Bianca asked.

"I was about 10 months old. They told me that's when I started taking my first steps. They were always doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Being there for me, telling me how good I was, that I could do anything. They were my biggest cheerleaders. That is before you came into my life." Marissa gave Bianca a quick kiss.

"It's no more than you do for me."

/

Marissa now appeared on screen sitting in a highchair. A bright smile graced her face as she clapped while being serenaded with a chorus of 'Happy Birthday'. A small cake with chocolate frosting and a big '1' candle was set in front of her and lit. When the song ended, Lydia helped her daughter blow out the candle. It was removed, and Marissa's hands reached for the cake. A tiny hand plunged into the cake as the little girl laughed loudly. It immediately went into her waiting mouth. Hazel eyes grew wide as another hand grabbed more cake.

"I think she likes chocolate cake almost as much as you do, Lyd."

Lydia grinned. "Well, she has very good taste, don't you Rissa?"

Marissa laughed again and reached for more cake. Before too long, chocolate cake was all over her face and in her hair.

"It looks like someone's going to need a bath after this."

/

Bianca snorted. "Wow, you were really into chocolate cake all the way back then. It's good to see that you've gotten the hang of using a fork now though. I'm not sure on the self-restraint around it however."

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Funny. From the pictures I've seen, you don't really have much room to talk. I seem to recall one of you covered in chocolate from head to toe about that same age."

"Point taken, Counselor. Is it wrong that I really want some chocolate cake now?"

"Nope but we're going to have to wait until tomorrow since we don't have any right now."

/

The scene changed. It was late at night and the camera bounced as it was carried down the darkened hallway. An image of Roy holding Marissa while she yawned appeared on screen. He spoke quietly to his daughter who listened to him with wide eyes as if she understood everything he was saying.

"Today was a big day. I can't believe you're one already. I honestly don't know where the year went. Your Mama and I are so proud of you. It doesn't matter what you do, just know that we always will be."

Marissa smiled sleepily.

"Look at that smile. You are going to be a heartbreaker. Speaking of which, let's talk about something for a minute. I hate to break this to you, but no dating. You're not allowed. I'm sorry, but that's the way it's got to be. I just don't think I can trust anyone with you. I also don't think there is or ever will be anyone good enough for you. So it wouldn't matter who you might bring home, I don't see me liking them because you're my little girl and no one is good enough for you."

A soft chuckle escaped from behind the camera as Roy lifted Marissa to shift her slightly. The man glanced up and smiled seeing his wife.

"She was awake when I passed by the room so I thought I would have a little chat with her."

"So I gathered."

He rose and gently laid a now sleeping Marissa back in her baby bed.

"No dating, huh? Do you really think that's going to happen?"

"Well yeah, she'll listen to me."

Lydia could be heard chuckling softly behind the camera. "If you say so, sweetheart. Let's go back to bed."

/

"I like how your Mom humored your Dad. Am I safe in assuming she intervened on your behalf?"

Marissa laughed. "Yeah, she told me she had to humor him from time to time, and yeah, she did intervene for me, thankfully. I was mortified when it was time for my first date. I was 14, and it was just a Valentine's Day dance at school. My date's name was Jimmy, and I felt so bad for him. My Dad gave him the third degree. The only thing he didn't do was pull out a gun to clean it in front of him. The only reason he didn't do that was because we didn't have a gun."

Bianca laughed. "I think that was cute of your Dad. He was just being a little protective of his little girl."

"Well, it didn't feel so cute back then. I wanted to crawl under a rock. Needless to say, that was my first and last date with Jimmy. I can laugh at it now, but back then, I thought the world was going to end. I was not very happy with my Dad. Thankfully, Mom stepped in and brokered an acceptable peace treaty between us. She was the one who first taught me the value of negotiating."

"She sounds pretty amazing, like someone else I know. I can definitely see where you got your mad skills from."

/

A five year old Marissa appeared on screen. She was running down the sidewalk, racing a girl from the neighborhood. As the young redhead started to pull ahead, the other girl bumped her, knocking her down. Marissa started to cry as she tried to sit up. The image on screen jostled as the camera was dropped onto grass. The angle was now skewed slightly sideways.

Roy ran to his daughter and scooped her up. "Rissa baby, it's gonna be alright. Daddy's here. Daddy's here. Lydia! I need your help!"

Lydia's voice could be heard. "Roy? What's wrong? Oh my gosh! What happened?"

"I need you to get the first aid kit. She skinned her knees. You know I can't handle …"

"Okay. Rissa, stay with your Daddy, and Mommy will be right back. You'll feel better real soon. I promise." Lydia could be seen giving a sobbing Marissa a quick kiss.

Moments later, Lydia was back with the first aid kit in hand. While she cleaned her daughter's knees and applied band aids, Roy did his best to comfort the little redhead. He first wiped her tears and then rocked her gently before beginning to sing softly to her.

"All through the night,
near and far,
we will be together.
So hush, don't you cry.
You will be in my arms, forevermore."

Marissa calmed down hearing her Daddy sing. An occasional sniffle could be heard, but the sobbing had stopped by the time the song was over.

"Better?"

The little girl nodded. "Will you sing me my song again, Daddy?"

"Of course I will, Rissa."

When the song was finished the second time, Marissa reached for her Mommy. Lydia fixed her daughter's pigtails and continued to rock her. "What happened?"

"Shelly and me were racing, and I was winning. She didn't like it so she pushed me. She's a big meanie."

"She what?" Lydia glanced at her husband who nodded.

"She did. Don't worry, Lydia. I'm going to take care of it, trust me on that. Nobody does something like that to my little girl."

"Don't be upset, Daddy. It'll be okay." Marissa patted her Daddy's knee. "When my knees are better, I'll race her again and beat her really bad. That'll show her."

Roy and Lydia couldn't help but smile at their daughter's confidence.

"I have every faith that you will, Rissa."

/

"I can't believe that bully! She was twice your size! I hope your parents told her's what she did and that she was punished."

Marissa laughed seeing how worked up Bianca was.

"What? Why are you laughing? It's not funny. She hurt you, and it could've been a lot worse." Bianca was completely confused by her lover's response.

Laughter stopped and Marissa kissed Bianca sweetly. "Babe, that was almost 25 years ago. If you haven't figured it out, I'm fine."

"But she was a bully!"

"Yes, she was. I never liked her. She was mean to me and all of the other little kids on our street. Like all bullies, she picked on the smaller kids to make herself feel better. Mom and Dad talked to her parents who grounded her and made her apologize to me. She didn't mean it though. I could tell. It didn't matter too much to me because everyone saw what did. Plus, I got even with her."

Bianca grinned. "You raced her again when your knees healed."

"Yep, and she ate my dust! Dad recorded it."

"Of course he did. Your Dad looked really pale when he saw your knees."

Marissa laughed. "Yeah, Dad couldn't handle blood. It made him queasy. Any cuts or scrapes were handled by Mom."

"Your Dad had a wonderful voice."

Marissa smiled wistfully. "Yeah, he did."

"I always knew how much that song meant to you, but now I can see exactly why. I could see the change immediately. It was like magic for you. It's like magic for all of us. I know I've said it before, but thank you for sharing it with us." Bianca kissed Marissa softly.

"You know my Dad was wrong about a couple of things."

"Like what?"

Marissa paused the video and turned back to face Bianca. "He said that no one was good enough for me and that he wouldn't like anyone I brought home. He was wrong. You are perfect for me. That's something he would've known as soon as he met you. Also, he would have loved you and so would my Mom. I have no doubt about that. How could they not? Thank you so much for this."

"Well, my Dad would've seen that you're perfect for me too, and you sure have won over my Mom. I never thought anyone would've been able to do that. I always thought that was impossible, but you somehow manage to do the impossible over and over again. What I did wasn't that special. I just had your movies transferred."

"No, you're wrong. It is special, just like you. Without me saying one word, you knew what these meant to me, that I wouldn't want to lose them, and you saved them for me. The thought of looking at them without me never entered your mind although I wouldn't have cared if you did. I'm constantly amazed by you even though I shouldn't be. You are without a doubt the most incredible and thoughtful person I have ever or will ever know, and this is the perfect gift. I know that Dynamic Duo and your Mom were telling you to get me a fancy car. That's not what I wanted though. You knew that, respected that and gave me something from the heart, like you did with my music box. I don't need anything else."

Bianca smiled sheepishly. "I did get you something else." The brunette reached back under the bed and brought up another package. "It goes with the DVDs."

Marissa grinned and took the present. "You didn't have to do this. You know that, right?"

"I do, but I really wanted to get you something else. Go ahead and open it."

Marissa did as instructed and started laughing as she saw her gift. "You got me a new video camera! I love it!"

"I know how much you enjoy recording all of the stuff our family does together. It's easy to see where you got that from. I know the other camera has been giving you problems recently by cutting out on you. So, I thought it was the perfect time to get a new one, and this one has some really cool features."

The redhead started reading the package. "Wow, you're right. This is great." Marissa got out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm charging it up for tomorrow. Christmas morning has to be recorded."

After plugging in the camera to charge, Marissa jumped back onto the bed making Bianca laugh. The redhead grabbed the remote and turned off the DVD player, knowing the couple would be watching more of the movies in the upcoming days. She also wanted to share them with the kids, give them a glimpse of her childhood and her parents. It was something she thought they would like. Setting the remote on her night stand, Marissa turned and crawled over slowly to her lover with a wicked grin. "It's getting late, and the kids will be up in just a few hours. I'm torn though. While I know we should be getting some sleep so we'll be ready for the kids, I have this overwhelming need to thank you properly for my presents. If I do that, it would mean that we won't be getting that much sleep."

Bianca's grin matched Marissa's. "You do, huh? What a coincidence. I have the same overwhelming need because that was quite the present you gave me. It would seem that is quite the quandary that we have here. I would be okay going without a little sleep in order to thank you properly, if you would be willing to do the same." Bianca lips brushed softly along her lover's neck.

Marissa hummed with bliss as her hands tangled in silken locks pulling her lover closer. She was becoming lost in the glorious feeling of Bianca's lips traveling over her body. "I would be more than willing to do that."

A dazzling smile crossed Bianca's face as she pushed Marissa back on their bed. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I have a great idea. Why don't I show you?"

"Have I ever told you how much I love how you think?" Marissa grinned as she pulled Bianca down to her.