A/N: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! It's much appreciated! We're chugging forward with this chapter. Besides a recap of their vacation, there are a couple of other things I hope you'll like. Some of what they recount from vacation is based on my recent personal experiences with some being tweaked and some I made up based on what I saw while I there. Hope you all enjoy this update!

/

It had been close to three weeks after returning home before the Tasker-Montgomery's had been able to get together with their family and friends. Everyone's schedules had been packed with work and other obligations preventing them from catching up. The Slater's were supposed to come over the day after they arrived home, but Spike and Ian had picked up a stomach bug that had gone through their day camp while their cousins were down in Florida preventing them from coming over. Zach dropped off Max before heading back home to help tend to his sons. Through quick phone calls and texts, a date was set to get together. Since it had been a while since everyone had gotten together, Bianca came up with the idea to invite the others over for a cookout and pool party. Marissa quickly jumped on board with the idea. She loved family get-togethers, the bigger the better, even if they sometimes ended up in shouting matches. As long as no one was arrested or needed to go to the emergency room, they were considered a success in the couple's book.

Per usual, the Slater's arrived first. Gifts that were bought for the family down in Florida were opened. Others would be distributed to various family and friends when they showed up later.

"Cool! It's an Iron Man t-shirt! Thanks, Aunt Bianca! Thanks, Aunt Marissa!" Spike exclaimed just a second before removing the shirt he was currently wearing to put on the new one.

"I got a Minion shirt!" Ian said proudly as he showed it to his parents.

Kendall smiled at her youngest son's excitement. He had handed it to her to help him put it on like his brother had with his new shirt. "What do you say?"

"Thanks, Aunt Bianca. Thanks, Aunt Marissa." Ian grinned as he looked down at his new shirt.

"You're both very welcome!" Bianca smiled at her nephews.

"Can we show them what we got?" AJ asked.

Marissa nodded. "Yes, you may. Have fun."

After an eye roll from AJ on the grammar correction, the five children dashed upstairs to the kids' bedrooms.

"I'd say the shirts are a hit." Zach grinned.

"Ah, but wait! There's more." Bianca had a big smile on her face as she handed a bag to Zach.

Zach laughed as he pulled out the shirt. "The Incredible Hulk?"

"Kendall's said you remind her of him a little in the morning."

"Only before he's had his coffee or if someone goes after his family. They wouldn't like him when he's angry." Kendall added with a smirk.

Zach nodded. "She's right. They wouldn't. Thank you both. I'll wear it proudly."

"And for you, Curly." Marissa handed a bag to Kendall.

A loud laugh escaped Kendall when she saw her shirt. "Marge Simpson! I love it. Do you think I could pull off the blue hair?"

Zach grinned and gave his wife a quick kiss. "If anyone can, it's you."

"Good answer!" Kendall smiled. "Thanks for the shirts."

"You're welcome, but we do have one more gift for just you and Zach. It's not from Florida, but we think you'll still like it." Marissa grinned and handed a package to Kendall.

The older brunette pulled out a bottle of her favorite wine. "Very nice! Thank you! We'll put this to good use later, but you didn't need to do any of this."

"We know, but we wanted to. We appreciate you watching Max and the house." Bianca added.

"Well, we have to thank you for the use of the pool. The boys loved it."

"Yes, they did so much so that we're going to get one ourselves." Zach shook his head having finally caved to his family. He was tough to those outside, but for his family, he would pretty much do anything.

"They finally wore you down, huh?" Marissa teased.

"Them and Kendall. I am not, however, going to be her pool boy."

The women laughed at his smirk.

"Hmm, I guess I'll have to work on you a little more for that to happen."

Zach shook his head at his wife. "Not going to happen. Is the shed open? I think I'll go get the picnic tables out for you."

"No, it's not. I'll open it up for you. If you set them up, I'll wipe them off." Marissa headed to the kitchen to retrieve the key to the storage shed with Zach following.

"We'll be out in a few minutes to help." Bianca added.

Kendall turned to her sister. "You guys look like you had a good time."

"We really did."

"How was the drive?"

"It wasn't too bad. We drove through Washington D.C., and it made us think that we need to plan a trip there sometime in the future. The kids should like it, and my favorite lawyer perked up at the thought of a tour of the Supreme Court."

Kendall laughed. "I can see Red being all over that."

"We also got some ideas for visiting a few of the places along the coast."

"So, you're definitely on board with future family road trips?"

Bianca smiled brightly. "Yes, definitely. It was everything I thought it would be and then some. The kids did really well with the drive. There were only a couple of incidents with them bugging each other."

"That's good. What about you and Red? Did you have any problems staying awake?"

"No, we switched every so often so it wasn't bad. When one of us was driving the other would handle any disputes between the kids as well as be in charge of the music and keeping the other sharp."

Kendall had to ask because she hadn't heard anything from her sister about the next topic for a few weeks. "I have to ask, and if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I'll understand. Is there any word on the baby front? I wasn't sure when Marissa had her last procedure and how things were going with that."

"There's nothing to tell yet on the baby front. We're just waiting. And I don't have any problems with you asking. We should probably get out there and help them set up. People will be getting here soon."

Kendall noticed her sister side-stepped the question of when Marissa's last procedure was and how she switched gears on her but decided not to press her on it. "You're right."

"You go ahead. I'll let the kids know where we are in case they need anything."

After letting the kids know they would be outside, Bianca paused in the kitchen before heading out to join the others. She looked at a calendar and began to wonder.

/

Not much later, the house was crowded. The kids were in the shallow end of the pool with AJ, Miranda and Gabby chattering about their recent adventures with anyone who would listen.

"I gotta feed a dolphin! I touched a stingray too!" Gabby gushed.

"It was really cool. They gave us these fish to feed the dolphins, and they came right up to us and took them right out of ours hands." AJ grinned.

"I liked that too, and I really liked touching the stingrays. We held our hands in a shallow pool, and they swam by so we could touch them. We had to be really gentle." Miranda added happily.

"Did they feel slimy?" Spike asked.

"Nope, not really."

"Mommy was right about the flamincos."

The other children eyed Gabby curiously before Miranda stepped in and figured out what her sister was trying to say. "She means the flamingos."

Gabby nodded as well as she could with her life vest on. "Yep. They do sleep standing on one leg, just like she said!"

"Cool!"

"Which Mommy?" Emma asked.

Gabby was quick to answer although she wasn't sure why she was being asked. In her mind, she always knew which one she was talking about. "Mommy Rissa. Oh, tell them about the penguins, Mimo!"

"That was the best part! Mom set it up so we could go on this tour so we could see the penguins up close! They had all kinds of them there. We saw some of them standing and guarding their eggs too."

"It was cold in there too so the penguins would feel like they were at home. The people that worked there were wearing their coats." AJ added. "We got to see Shamu too. He's huge! When he jumped up in the water and came back down, we all got splashed! That was really fun!" AJ mimicked the action and released a decent size splash of his own.

/

The adults were nearby with some sitting on the edge of the pool ready to jump in if necessary while others were also in the shallow end.

"How were the rides? Did you ride any roller coasters?" Sam asked. The teen loved roller coasters. It was because of this that the Walkers had bought season passes to the local amusement park, and Sam had ridden all of them multiple times.

Bianca nodded. "We rode a few of them at Universal but not at Sea World. The roller coasters there were a little too much for the kids, but they did have some other rides there that we could ride."

"Hey, sorry we're late."

Marissa glanced up and jumped to her feet with a big smile on her face. "Hey, Brian, Stef! Hey, Jamie!"

The toddler giggled and instantly reached for the redhead. She was his favorite person next to his parents.

"How is my godson?"

Stef chuckled and handed over her son to his godmother. "We told him we going to see his Aunt Marissa today, and he was so excited. He kept telling us 'go', and I swear it was like he was trying to say 'Rissa'."

Bianca joined the couple and her fiancée who was happily cuddling the young toddler and beaming at his attempt to say her name. "Well, he does have good taste, don't you, Jamie?"

Another giggle and nod answered the brunette's question, and the pair began playing a game of peek-a-boo around Marissa.

"I think he likes you almost as much as Marissa." Brian smiled. He shared a glance with his wife. They had talked on the way over about their friends. They knew the couple was hoping to add to their family and fervently hoped that dream would be coming true for them soon. "Did we miss anything?"

"Then that definitely proves his good taste! No, you haven't. We'll be firing up the grill shortly. Most have decided to avoid the heat via the pool. If you don't feel like doing that, there are plenty of spots in the shade."

Stef turned her gaze towards the pool. "I can't get over Gabby. She's like a fish out there."

"She took swimming lessons a long time ago, before we lived here. The younger they are when they take them, the better. AJ and Miranda had them early on also but not quite as early Gabby. She could probably go without the life vest, but we don't want to take any chances. Plus with so many people in the pool, we just feel better with her having it on."

"Where did she go for lessons?"

"I took her to the 'Y'. The instructors were great, and she loved them."

"Thanks, we'll definitely look into that. I don't know about Brian, but I'm definitely up for a dip in the pool. I think Jamie is too."

"Oh, I'm definitely up for that myself."

Marissa smiled. "Great! Follow me and I'll show you where you can change and put your stuff."

"See you soon, Jamie." Bianca waved to the toddler who waved back.

/

"What about roller coasters? I hear there're some cool ones there." Spike was developing a keen interest in roller coasters.

"There was 'The Mummy'."

"Like from the movie?"

AJ nodded. "Yep! It had fire all around us and even on the ceiling, and we went backwards too and went up and down hills in the dark. It was so cool!"

"Did you all ride it?"

Miranda answered. She could tell her cousin couldn't believe her sister would ride something like that. "No, Gabby was too little so her and Ma rode something else while we rode it with Mom. We did that a couple of times on the bigger rides. They made sure she had fun too."

"Mommy and me got made into Minions!"

The others looked at her puzzled.

"She's talking about the 'Despicable Me' ride. They kind of make it feel like they make you into a minion. It was pretty fun. She rode some stuff that had characters from Dr. Seuss. The Simpsons ride was pretty fun. We went into this room for it and didn't leave it. You felt like you were on a roller coaster but you really weren't." AJ explained.

"Harry Potter was pretty cool too. It was just like we were at Hogwarts, and we got butter beer!" Miranda chimed in.

"Was it good?" Kathy asked.

"Yeah, it was. We saw some superheroes too."

"Oh yeah, we saw Cyclops from X-Men!"

"Cool!"

"And there was the water ride from Jurassic Park. There were dinosaurs all around. We got to see a Shrek movie too. And then …" Miranda continued on.

/

Greenlee looked at Bianca who had joined others in the pool again. "Did you guys run the entire time or did you get a chance to rest at least a little?"

"Yeah, we did get a chance to rest some. Our stays at the parks didn't last real late because the kids wore themselves out. We did do dinner at a couple of the restaurants in the CityWalk area. We went to Hard Rock Café and Margaritaville. Both were really good, but Margaritaville was definitely our favorite. The food was really good, and I think the kids really liked the volcano they had there. They got to see it erupt, and they thought, and I quote, 'it was awesome'. When we finished up there, we would lounge around by one of the pools the condo had. We also drove over to a beach and spent some time there. That was pretty relaxing."

"Why didn't you go to Disney World? I thought for sure you all would've gone there." Carol Walker asked.

"It's because of all of the Disney stuff we have here that we didn't. We needed the break."

"Well technically, B, we did go to Disney." Marissa smirked as she rejoined the others with Brian, Stef and Jamie following behind.

Bianca made a face at the memory. "That wasn't anything."

"Alright, I'm sensing there's a little more to the story, Binx. What gives?"

"Fine." Bianca lowered her voice so the kids couldn't hear. "First off, it was late. The GPS had been doing pretty well until we got to our exit. At that point, it said to go straight but that wasn't an option unless we wanted to hop a median and plow into a bunch of cars. So, we turned right, and of course, we should've turned left. Before we knew it, we were turning into the Disney Resorts. There was a huge Mickey Mouse statue there taunting us so …"

Marissa had started laughing as soon as Bianca started recounting what happened. "So, my lovely fiancée said something very un-Bianca like to the taunting Mickey. By the way, I didn't see him taunting us, but I'm more than happy to take her word for it."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "This one was no help because she couldn't stop laughing and woke up the kids."

"To be fair, I think I handled that a lot better than most would have if they had heard what you said to Mickey. Thankfully, the kids were still asleep when she said it, and when they did wake up, they didn't realize where we were. Besides, we would've woken them up in a few minutes anyway."

Greenlee eyed Bianca but the question was directed to Marissa. "What did she say exactly?"

"She dropped the F-bomb on Mickey Mouse." Marissa grinned.

The other adults present started laughing and teasing the brunette.

Marissa saw that Bianca was taking it all in stride but the redhead stepped in after a couple of moments to put an end to the playful teasing. "In Bianca's defense, I can't say I wouldn't have said exactly the same thing if I had been driving."

Bianca chuckled at her fiancée. Since they had become friends, she was always the brunette's biggest defender, and now that they were a couple, she was even more so. Bianca knew Marissa always would be that way and so would she.

"What else did you do down there?" Brian asked. He hadn't been able to talk to Marissa too much at work since she had gotten back.

Miranda happened to be passing by when she heard the question. "Ma won a karaoke contest!"

All eyes turned to Marissa who shrugged. Bianca simply grinned at the redhead's modesty.

"What did you sing?"

"She sang a song she dedicated to Mom. It was called Brown something."

"It was 'Brown Eyed Girl', the version Jimmy Buffett sings."

Miranda smiled brightly. "Yeah, that was it! When she was done, everyone clapped and cheered really loud."

"Rissa brought the house down! Nobody else came even close to matching her performance. She had everyone up and dancing and singing with her."

"Isn't there a verse about an activity behind a stadium?" Ryan asked.

Marissa cut him off right away. "I changed the lyrics a little bit on the fly, not just for our kids but the other ones that were there as well. Since we were singing about a stadium, I changed it to 'playing ball in the green grass.'"

"It was actually pretty good. People kind of paused to see what she would sing. When she sang that instead, they let out this roar. She had them in the palm of her hand." Bianca beamed proudly.

"Think you might be up for an encore performance here, Red?"

Marissa grinned. "Maybe if you're lucky. Oh, they had a great spa in the condo complex."

Bianca sighed. "Yeah, it was really great. They had a baby sitting service so we were able to indulge in that little bit of decadence for a couple of hours."

/

Erica and Krystal were seated at a table in the shade. They had been eyeing their daughters the entire afternoon, Marissa in particular, for any sign that might give them the information they desperately wanted. So far, they'd had no luck. From the various conversations taken place throughout the day, they learned about the family's trip and their activities. They had been relieved when they heard that Marissa had taken it easy on riding the wilder rides. She might have just done it purely for Gabby's sake or she could have had another reason for doing so. Whatever the reason, they were happy she had done so.

Despite what they had agreed upon about not thinking about the couple having a baby, the women couldn't stop their minds from pondering the prospect of a new grandchild and what it meant. For better or for worse, they would be forever linked. Holidays and family get-togethers such as that happening today would be spent in each other's company, something which neither woman was particularly fond of or looking forward to. It wasn't exactly a secret that the women just flat didn't like each other.

Erica's distrust and loathing was well-documented and justified. Krystal and her daughter Babe had knowingly kept Miranda from Bianca, letting her endure unending grief, pain and suffering until the girl had served her purpose for them and was quickly replaced by AJ. Bianca had almost died as of a result of their crimes. True, JR was the one who pushed her daughter off that balcony but their actions had led to that point. How Bianca was able to forgive them was something Erica couldn't understand. She could never or would never forgive them, no matter the amount of spin put on it or whatever justification was given.

As for Krystal, it was Erica's condescending attitude and her treatment of others not meeting her standards that was at the root of her dislike. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but a degree of jealousy might be at play as well. There was a time that Krystal saw a glimmer of hope that her relationship with Jack might turn into something more, but that was quickly snuffed out when Erica and Jack mended their rift and were now stronger than ever.

That their daughters had fallen in love and were building a truly happy life together thrust the women together more and more and forced them to play nice for the sake of their daughters. They were trying but damn if it wasn't hard.

"If the two of you don't stop staring, you're going to give them a complex or let them know you know what they're trying to do or both." Kendall whispered to the pair.

Properly chastised by Erica's eldest daughter, the women quickly glanced away from the couple.

"Sorry, Kendall. I was just trying to see if I could tell …"

"Yeah, I know. If she is, it would be way too early to tell just from looking at her stomach."

Erica rolled her eyes. "Of course it would be, dear. You haven't heard anything, have you?"

Kendall shook her head. "Nope, nary a word from either of them. I'm going to get something to drink. Can I get either of you anything?"

Both women thanked her but declined.

"Fine, and stop looking at them. You're not going to will a baby popping into Marissa by staring at her." Kendall smirked as she walked away.

"I suppose she's right. We are a bit obvious."

Krystal nodded. "Yes, we are. I suppose we could mingle or talk about their wedding. We really should get back to planning it."

"It has been a few weeks. Perhaps, we could arrange another meeting with them. We could discuss the wedding and possibly observe them a little closer." Erica smiled.

/

Marissa found Bianca in the kitchen watching their mothers. The redhead smiled and wrapped her arms around her fiancée from behind and rested her chin on Bianca's shoulder. "So what's up with your Mom and Krystal? They seem a little … chummy."

Bianca leaned back into the embrace. "They do, don't they?"

"Yeah, it's kind of weird. I mean, I'm glad they're getting along but …"

"I know, me too, but I have to admit that it's a little disconcerting."

Marissa decided to change subjects. "Everyone seems like they're having a good time."

"Yeah, they do. It was a great idea." Bianca grinned.

"Gotta like inspiration." Marissa matched her fiancée's grin and leaned in for kiss.

When the couple separated, Bianca sighed when she saw her mother wave them over. The younger brunette motioned to give them a minute. "I guess we better get out there."

"We probably should. I have a feeling we're going to be discussing the wedding."

"I'm sure you're right. Hey, I just got a great idea."

"Would you care to share it with me?"

"You know that I will, but we don't have enough time to talk about it now. I want to do it tonight when everyone's left. We'll put them off as best we can until we get a chance to talk."

"That sounds good to me. I have to admit that I'm intrigued. There's something I want to talk to you about too but when we're alone."

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "Now, I'm intrigued."

Marissa gave her a quick kiss before pulling her outside. "All will be revealed tonight."

/

"So, what do you think? Is it a good idea?" Bianca asked anxiously. Their long awaited conversation was finally taking place now that the last of their family and friends had left about an hour ago. AJ, Miranda and Gabby had passed out not too long after the final guest departed. After putting the kids to bed, the couple was finally alone. Marissa had insisted Bianca go first with what she wanted to talk about. The brunette laid out her idea in full while her fiancée sat quietly and listened without interruption.

Marissa shook her head. "No, it's not." The redhead could only keep her poker face in place for a couple of moments before she smiled brightly. "It's a brilliant idea! I love it!"

Bianca playfully nudged her fiancée's shoulder. "You're bad. You really had me going there for a second. So, you really feel that way?"

Marissa reassured the brunette with a kiss that left no doubt about her feelings on the subject at hand. "I do. I love saying those words and I can't wait to say them in front of any and every one."

"Neither can I! My Mom and Krystal might not like it."

"Well, it's just too damn bad if they don't. It's our wedding not theirs. I appreciate all of their help, and I know you do too."

"I do." Bianca grinned. "You're right. It feels so good saying those two little words. I do appreciate their help and I don't want them to be hurt."

"Neither do I, but on that particular day, the one where we say 'I do' in front of everyone, it's about us. I've heard some of their plans. I know they mean well, but …"

"It's about us and what we want. When we meet with them on Monday, we'll explain and hope they understand."

"That's all we can do, Babe."

Bianca nodded. "Okay, it's your turn. What did you want to talk about?"

Marissa was suddenly very nervous. She'd managed to keep her emotions in check all day, but now that it was time to say out loud what she had been thinking, she was having a hard time. She took several deep breaths, worried her bottom lip, fidgeted in her seat on their bed before standing up and starting to pace and finally cleared her throat a few times.

Even without all of those blatant tell-tale signs, Bianca could easily tell something was on her fiancée's mind. "Rissa, what's wrong? You know that you can tell me anything. Please, talk to me." The brunette patted the spot next to her on their bed.

Marissa stopped and looked at Bianca before nodding to herself. She was right. She could tell her anything. The redhead sat down and took her fiancée's hand. "I'm late."

It was several seconds before Marissa's words registered in Bianca's mind. "You are? You mean like late late?"

Marissa nodded. "Yeah, late late."

Bianca's mind was racing. She'd had a fleeting thought earlier in the day when talking with Kendall. "Okay. Okay, have you taken a test?"

"Not yet. I wanted to wait until I talked with you. There's no keeping anything from you this time. I read it's better to take it in the morning." Marissa was thinking of the home pregnancy test that was stored in their bathroom. The couple had purchased it and put it away for safe keeping after her first procedure.

"It is. Okay, we will take the test tomorrow morning if that sounds good to you?"

Marissa smiled at Bianca's use of the term 'we'. They definitely were in this together, every step of the way. "It sounds perfect."

Bianca was trying really hard to keep her emotions under control. She didn't want to get ahead of herself too much with thinking that Marissa might be pregnant with their child. Her fiancée didn't need the pressure especially if it turned out to be a false alarm. "Okay. Okay. We'll take it first thing tomorrow morning. What? Why are you smiling?"

"It's just that you keep saying 'okay'. You do that when you're nervous or excited." Marissa chuckled.

"I do?"

"Yeah, you do."

Bianca shrugged. "Huh, I never realized that I did. Could I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner? Is it because you're worried?"

Marissa smiled sheepishly. "To be honest, I kind of forgot because we've been so busy. First, there was vacation. We had the planning and then the packing and then the trip itself. When we got back home, I've been so busy getting caught back up with my current cases along with picking up a couple of new ones. I didn't have time to think about it. Is that bad?"

Bianca shook her head. "No, not at all. It makes sense and is probably a good thing. Okay." The brunette chuckled. "I need to stop saying that. We should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah, we probably should. Although, I'm not so sure how much I'm going to get."

"Me either, but we're going to try." Bianca settled under the blankets and opened her arms. "Come here."

Marissa grinned and happily crawled into bed and into her fiancée's arms. "I have an idea of something we could do to help wear us both out and help us sleep."

"You do, huh? What might that be?"

"How about instead of telling you, I show you?" Marissa pulled back slightly.

"I love how you think." Bianca sighed happily as Marissa shifted her position to lie on top of the brunette. Lips crashed together, and soon, they surrendered all rational thought as they lost themselves to the loving caresses of hands, lips and tongues. Each feeling the never-ending love they had for the other in each soft caress.

/

The couple sat nervously next to each other early the next morning holding hands. Bianca had set the timer on her phone after Marissa had exited the bathroom with the home pregnancy test. Now, they were waiting for the allotted time to pass revealing the results.

A ding indicated it was time to check the results. Marissa turned the test stick over as two sets of eyes immediately zoomed in with laser like focus on the test's small window to see if it would be a plus or minus sign that appeared.

/

A/N: The story about Mickey Mouse is true except it was my sister who dropped the F-bomb on him. My niece and I completely lost it. You probably had to be there to fully appreciate it. It did become the vacation's catch phrase though, and I have a feeling it's going to stick with us for quite some time. Oh yeah, I guess my evil side came out again with ending this update where I did, huh? You just never know when she's going to come out and play. See you soon!