A/N: Thanks for reading, following and reviewing! I appreciate it. I'm glad you all enjoyed the bachelorette party. It was fun to write. While I've never been in a situation quite like our Pine Valley crew was in, I have had some interesting experiences at various parties like the time my friends and I got a police escort to a party. That's a story for another time though. :D

Now, this is kind of a filler chapter. There's also a fun little bit I threw in that was something that popped into my head a while ago. It wouldn't let go and had to be written. I think it works okay in here. I'll leave it to you to try and figure out what it is. I have a question for all of you at the end of this chapter. Your input will be greatly appreciated. Okay, that's it for now. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

Erica and Krystal had given the couple the weekend off from meeting with them about the wedding saying they wanted them to enjoy themselves at their bachelorette party, and Bianca and Marissa took full advantage of their slight reprieve and put the wedding plans on the backburner for a couple of days.

After picking up the kids and Max from Kendall and Zach's late Saturday, they headed home. Both mothers were exhausted having gotten little sleep the night before, a fact of which they happily accepted responsibility for. As luck would have it, the kids were equally exhausted having a late night themselves while under the care of their Uncle Zach and Ryan. It seems the men let them stay up later than usual for a video game marathon. The result of this indulgence had the kids tired a little earlier than normal when they got home Saturday night. They ordered takeout from Krystal's for dinner which Marissa picked up. The redhead had successfully avoided Krystal and Opal and any questions they might have about the party since they were both off. After dinner, the five gathered in the family room to watch 'Monsters University'. By the time the movie's credits rolled, AJ, Miranda and Gabby were more than willing to go to bed. The fact that they didn't put up a fight showed just how tired they were. Once they were tucked in and the family room and kitchen picked up from dinner and the snack of buttered popcorn the family had while they watched the movie, Bianca and Marissa headed to bed themselves. Both were asleep almost as soon as they had settled in. Sunday was a lazy day for the Tasker-Montgomery's. They all slept in and then had a leisurely breakfast. Since the weather was still somewhat mild, the kids played outside on their jungle gym while their mothers focused on a few minor chores around the house. When they were done, the family hiked through the woods to the pond nestled on their property for a picnic. All in all, it was a great weekend for the couple. There was some adult fun mixed in with some family time, a pretty good blend if you asked them.

/

Bianca walked into Krystal's and immediately spotted her fiancée, mother and future mother-in-law at the couple's table. The sight was not an uncommon one of late or unexpected given the fact that the wedding was less than two weeks away, but they hadn't met since last Thursday so there was work to be done. She observed the three women for a moment. Erica and Krystal were each trying to make a point. Marissa patiently listened to each while making notes on a legal pad. Bianca had to admit that Marissa's skills as in the area of family law definitely came in handy when dealing with their mothers and planning the wedding.

Marissa glanced up and saw Bianca. A beaming smile spread across both of their faces as the brunette joined the trio. The couple exchanged a quick kiss before Bianca took the seat next to her fiancée.

"What have I missed?"

As always, Erica charged forward and answered. "I heard from the manager of the flooring company …" The diva stopped when she saw Bianca's hand as she picked up the legal pad Marissa had been writing on. "Oh my, Bianca sweetheart, what on earth happened to your hand?"

Bianca glanced at her right hand. It was still a little sore from what had been dubbed by the Pine Valley crew as the 'Shamokin Smackdown'. While it was still a little tender, it looked worse than it felt. Her knuckles were a rainbow of colors of black, blue, purple, yellow and green. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting about the injury. She should've known that her mother would see it, and now, Bianca was going to have to come up with a logical explanation for what happened.

While her fiancée struggled for an answer, Marissa came to her rescue as she took the injured hand in her own. "Oh, that happened this weekend when we were out of town. We were standing by the car trying to figure out what we wanted to do when another one got a little too close to me. Bianca pulled me out of the way, and when she did, she hit her hand on the limo. We put ice on it right away, and I've been checking it for swelling and pain. Your daughter has promised me that it feels better."

Bianca silently thanked her fiancée for her quick thinking. "And it does."

"Are you sure? You might want to consider getting it checked." Erica was slightly suspicious of the redhead's explanation but couldn't find any glaring fault with it. Plus, her daughter didn't deny the story. It felt like there was more to it than just hitting it on a car.

"I'm sure. Marissa has been taking excellent care of me all weekend. Honestly, it looks worse than it feels, and don't worry, Mom, the bruising should be long gone before the wedding."

Erica rolled her eyes. While she was concerned how it would look for the wedding, she was more concerned how her daughter was feeling. "I am more worried about you're being in pain."

Bianca smiled. "I know, Mom. I'm kidding. I promise that it doesn't hurt. I'd actually forgotten about it until you mentioned it." Bianca couldn't help herself. She knew a small part of her mother was worried that it wouldn't be healed in time. "If it doesn't look better by the wedding, I'm sure we can come up with something to cover it up."

The diva huffed. She hated that her daughter knew her so well because Erica was already thinking ahead of ways to hide or disguise the injury so it didn't become a point of focus in the wedding pictures.

Krystal seized on the pause in the conversation to ask a question. "Speaking of this weekend, how was the bachelorette party? We jumped right into talking about the wedding that we didn't get to ask Marissa anything."

"Yes, do tell. How was it? Inquiring minds want to know." Opal asked as she appeared out of nowhere. She was dying to know what happened, hoping for some sliver of juicy gossip.

The couple exchanged a brief glance, remembering the pledge they had taken to not reveal anything that happened. Neither was going to break it because if they did it meant telling exactly what happened to Bianca's hand. That was not an option.

"It was great. I think I speak for Bianca when I say it was probably the best bachelorette party ever."

Bianca's grin matched Marissa's. "It definitely was."

"Well, what happened? I heard you were going to that fancy club in Philadelphia. How was it? Did you see anybody famous?"

"We didn't make it to Philadelphia. The limo broke down before we got there. We ended up having to make other plans which was just fine with us. We had a great group and made our own fun."

Marissa nodded. "Yes, we did."

Opal leaned in. "What did you do?"

"We're not at liberty to say."

"And why not?"

"Some things are just meant to be kept private. Sorry, Opal." Marissa shrugged.

"Don't look at me. I'm not going to tell you anything."

Opal narrowed her gaze at the couple. "Fine, be that way. I will find out though. Somebody's going to crack."

"Maybe, but if you do find out, it won't be from us." Bianca smiled.

Erica was amused by Opal's attempts. While she would've liked to have known what happened herself, she wouldn't push the issue. After all of these years, Erica was trying not to meddle as much, to give her daughters a wider berth. It was hard as hell, but she was trying. It didn't go unnoticed or unappreciated by her daughters either. Besides, she knew Kendall and Bianca were together and would keep each other safe as would Marissa. Erica also took comfort in that fact that she hadn't received any calls for help and that everyone had returned safely which was all she could really hope for given the fact that Greenlee was involved.

Krystal chuckled as Opal stalked away. "Let me go put your lunch orders in. You can all get started while I do that."

After Krystal left, Erica brought the discussion back to wedding. "As I telling Marissa before you got here, I talked to the flooring company. They have an opening and are able to install the dance floor this week. I think you should have them do it now. If something goes wrong, which it wouldn't dare, there's time to resolve it. And don't worry about it being exposed for longer. They'll be able to cover it so it doesn't get damaged."

The couple looked at each other and nodded.

"That makes sense and works for us. Good idea, Mom."

"Excellent! I'll go call them right now." Erica smiled and walked away from the table as she placed the call.

"Thanks by the way."

Marissa raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For coming up with that story about my hand."

"You're welcome. I figure the less Erica knows about what really happened, the better."

"You are so right about that. Have you heard anything from any of the others?"

"I heard from Stef and Gail. They're doing good. I could tell Brian wants to know what happened, but Stef told him that he wasn't allowed to ask me. If he did, she'd know, and there would be repercussions. I saw Lisa, naturally. She was in good shape too, but she's still trying to figure out how she ended up sleeping in the bathtub." Marissa grinned.

Bianca chuckled. "Stef and Aya were no help to her, huh?"

"Nope. She talked to them again yesterday, but they didn't know. She said all Aya knew was that Lisa was there when she went into the bathroom."

"Well if she does ever figure it out, maybe she'll be able to help out Jan."

"She still doesn't know why she was sleeping on the closet floor?"

"No clue. Aya seemed like her usual self and so did Jan except for the closet thing."

"Did you hear from Kendall or Greenlee?"

"I heard from Kendall. She was feeling pretty good, but there're a couple of bruises that she's found that she can't figure out where they came from. She said Greenlee was good too, but Randi and Madison were still moving slowly. According to what Randi told her, Natalia was fine as could be. Madison reported that that wasn't quite the case with Amanda. It seems she had a bit of a relapse. It was caused by her having a couple of glasses of wine after she got home Saturday and Trevor was asleep.

Marissa shook her head. "Terri warned everybody not to do that. She said it might counteract the hangover cure if you drank right away."

"Yeah, she did." Before Bianca could say anything else, both Erica and Krystal returned.

"Alright, let's get started." Krystal smiled.

"Yes, let's. We have less than two weeks and a great deal to do in that time. The floor has been taken care of. They will be there tomorrow to start work. Now, what about your dresses?"

"Bianca's is done, and I'm picking mine up the day after tomorrow."

"Good. What about your wedding rings?"

"Rissa is picking them up tomorrow afternoon."

Erica made a note and smiled. "Very good. What about the wedding license?"

"It's all ready and Bianca is picking that up while I get the rings."

Another note was made before Erica continued to review the other items. All in all, it was a successful lunch and the four women soon parted ways with Marissa and Bianca heading back to work, Krystal to her kitchen and Erica to take care of a few other details.

/

Zach and Ryan were leaning against the bar at Krystal's restaurant having a drink. They were celebrating a successful meeting with Jack where they finalized the creation of the Myrtle Fargate Foundation. Both men were pleased with the results and extremely happy to be free of Cambias. The name had brought a great deal of grief to their families.

"You picked a great name for it, Zach. There aren't many better than Myrtle."

Zach nodded. "No, you're right about that. She was definitely one of a kind. I'm glad you're doing this with me."

"Thanks for asking me."

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

Ryan turned and saw Jake approaching. "Just taking care of some business, Jake. How's it going with you?"

"Not bad. I'm glad Amanda's back home. Trevor had a hard time sleeping the other night when she was away at Bianca and Marissa's bachelorette party. You had their three to watch along with yours, didn't you? How'd that go?"

The other two men exchanged a quick and awkward look. Neither man wanted to go into certain details of the night.

Ryan cleared his throat. "It was fine. We didn't have any problems."

"Have any problems with what?" Scott asked as he joined the others.

"They watched AJ, Miranda and Gabby the other night during the bachelorette party."

"In addition to Spike, Ian and Emma? I'm impressed. Speaking of the party, have any of you heard exactly what happened the other night? Madison really hasn't said anything."

"Neither has Amanda."

"Kendall's not talking either. All I know is that the car broke down, and they ended up staying somewhere other than Philadelphia."

"Yeah, that's pretty much all Greenlee gave me too. For some reason, I have a feeling that it's better that we don't know what happened."

"What are you four handsome men talking about?" Opal asked as she and Krystal positioned themselves behind the bar.

"The bachelorette party the other night." Jake offered. "It seems that none of them are talking. Neither of you would happen to know anything, would you?"

Krystal chuckled. "I'm afraid not, and even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you. I don't want Kendall or Greenlee coming after me. I just know what Marissa and Bianca told me when they were in here at lunch."

"Which was what?" Scott asked.

"That they had a great time. I think you should face it, fellas, no one's talking. You're not going to find out what happened."

"Krystal's right. Trust me, I tried my best to pry some details out of them, but I didn't have any luck. And if I couldn't get them to spill anything, I know you're not going to."

The men shrugged. They supposed Opal was right. She did have a way of pumping people for information. Usually, they talked just to get her off their backs.

"How did you two do watching six kids? Marissa said theirs were in one piece when they picked them up Saturday. They didn't wear you out too much, did they?" Krystal asked.

Zach smiled tightly. "No, they were good. We didn't have any problems."

Ryan muttered under his breath so that no one other than Zach heard him. "You know, purple really is your color." The comment was a reference to the purple boa Zach wore at the tea party at Gabby's insistence. When he refused at first, Gabby pouted until he finally gave in.

Through gritted teeth, Zach responded in an equally low voice. "I'd watch it if I were you, princess."

That comment had Ryan wince at the memory of wearing the tiara that Emma had begged him to wear. Both men had managed to shrug off the tea party until their wives got home the next day. Both wore big smiles on their faces after Bianca and Marissa left. That was when they found out that Marissa had given her cellphone to Miranda who in turn somehow managed to take pictures of the tea party undetected. When the cellphone was returned the following day, Marissa sent the pictures to Kendall and Greenlee. The women were literally in tears after viewing them, and it took a while for them to collect themselves. For now, they weren't going to do anything with the pictures. They were holding onto them for 'a rainy day', something both men dreaded.

"I've got an order for Martin." A server announced.

Jake gestured to the woman. "That would be me. I told Amanda I'd pick us something up for dinner."

"Yeah, I'm doing the same for me and Madison."

The server reappeared as if on cue. "Chandler?"

"That's me. I'm going to head out. See ya later." Scott gave a short wave and left.

Krystal and Opal shared a look. There was something going on between Zach and Ryan. They were hiding something, and it only piqued the women's curiosity.

Opal eyed Ryan and Zach. "So what did you do the other night to keep the little ones occupied?"

Jake had yet to leave, his curiosity preventing him from leaving.

Ryan cleared his throat. There was no way he was going to tell them about the tea party. Part of him did want to tease Zach about it some more, but he knew better. Zach had more dirt on him because he had been made a princess and as such had been decked out much more elaborately then Zach had been. He just had a purple boa while Ryan had a tiara, pink boa and jewelry. It was as if the three girls were taking particular delight in dressing him up. Little did he know that that was exactly the case. Greenlee had spoken with the girls before leaving. She left them instructions to target Ryan in particular and made it worth their while with a nice bribe. "Oh, we just played some games and stuff like that. Speaking of dinner, I should probably get going. Greenlee and I are taking Emma out."

Zach managed to hide a smirk at his friend's discomfort. While there were a couple of embarrassing pictures of him, there were a lot more of Ryan, and they were much worse. "I need to go too. I want to stop by the office before I head home. There's a file I need to get for Jack. I'll see you tomorrow Ryan at Jack's office. Jake, I'd give up on finding out any details of what happened over the weekend. To be honest, I don't think you really want to know, and it's probably better for everyone concerned if you don't. It was good seeing all of you. If I don't see you before, I'll see you at the rehearsal dinner or wedding."

/

Bianca was sitting in the couple's home office and closed her eyes tightly willing the pounding in her head to go away but having no luck. The headache had made its presence known a while ago and had gotten worse as the evening wore on. The construction work being done outside around the pool and patio on the temporary dance floor was compounding the throbbing in her head. She really wished they hadn't agreed to let them start the work early. The wedding was still over a week away so they had time, but the firm installing it had an opening in their schedule and asked if they could start the job early. Erica thought it was an excellent idea. The couple conceded that it would be one less thing for them to have to worry about next week so they agreed.

The kids were fascinated by the whole process, especially AJ, and were watching with rapt attention from behind the sliding glass door in the kitchen after they had finished their homework. Truth be told, they wouldn't mind getting closer, but Bianca didn't feel it was safe at this point in the process. She was on her own for a few hours tonight while Marissa stopped at the designer's for her final fitting. If all went as planned, she would be bringing her wedding dress home with her tonight. Bianca's was finished the other day and safely stored in the room that would become the baby's room. Marissa's would be stored in the guest room in the basement.

More pounding and shouts was outside sounded as another slab of flooring was lowered into place. Bianca sighed and massaged her temples hoping to alleviate the pain to no avail though. There really was nothing she could do about it for now except grin and bear it and hope they would be finishing for the evening soon.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Bianca glanced up and saw Marissa looking at her with concerned eyes. She hadn't even heard her fiancée come in. "Yeah, I'm fine just taking a break on this paper."

Marissa shook her head. "You're lying. You have another headache, don't you?"

The brunette knew it was a losing battle to deny it so she didn't try. "Yeah, I do, and the construction's not helping."

"Stay here. I'll be right back."

Bianca merely nodded and watched as Marissa left the room. A few minutes later, the noise from outside stopped. Bianca sighed gratefully, knowing that Marissa was behind it. The redhead returned not long after with a glass of water and some aspirin.

"Take these." Marissa handed the medication to Bianca who obliged. "Good. Now, come with me."

Bianca took the proffered hand. "Where are we going? I really want to work on this paper a little bit more."

"I know you do, but you need a break. We're just going to go into the bedroom, and you are going to take a break for half an hour. You know you need to. You're not going to be able to concentrate on your paper right now anyway given your condition."

"You're right. I can't really see straight so a break will be good. Thank you for sending the workers away. You didn't really have to though."

"You're welcome, and yes, I did. We've got plenty of time for them to finish up. I don't like that you've been having so many headaches lately."

"I'm not too thrilled about it myself." Bianca quipped as she watched as Marissa closed the curtains which darkened the room and made it more comfortable for the brunette.

"Funny. I'm serious. I want you to see the doctor."

"I don't need to see the doctor. I'm fine."

"No, you're not, and you didn't let me finish. I want to see the eye doctor. You've been doing a lot more reading lately because of your class. I think your eyes might be behind these headaches."

"Why do you think that?"

"Back when I was studying for the bar exam, I was doing a lot of reading obviously and had quite a few headaches. A friend suggested I get my eyes checked. I didn't really think there was a connection but the headaches just kept up. When I finally broke down and went to get them checked, the eye doctor pretty much confirmed what my friend thought. He said all of that reading was putting a strain on my eyes and causing my headaches. I just didn't realize it. Hence, I needed glasses, and now, I wear them when I have a lot of reading to do."

"Hence? That's kind of a legal term like 'whereas' and 'party of the first part', isn't it? I love when you go into lawyer mode."

Marissa chuckled. "And you tell me I'm impossible. As I was saying, there is another sign it could be your eyes. I've noticed you squinting a few times, and that's not good for you. Plus, you're due for an exam. It will make me feel better if you do. Besides, don't you want to be in good shape for the wedding and honeymoon?"

Bianca sighed. Marissa's tilted her head and gazed lovingly at her. It was a patented technique that the redhead had perfected in their time together and one that was guaranteed to have Bianca bend to her will because the brunette was absolutely unable to refuse her anything when she looked at her like that. It was something that Marissa knew all too well. "You don't fight fair sometimes. You know that, right?"

Marissa grinned. "I know. The same can be said for you too. So, you'll make an appointment?"

"Fine. Yes, I'll call tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay and thank you. I won't have to go to 'plan E' now."

"Plan E as in Erica? Cute. And what did this plan consist of?"

"Me telling your Mom about you squinting. They say prolonged squinting could lead to wrinkles or crow's feet, and you know how Erica feels about wrinkles." Marissa smirked.

"Wow. You would threaten me with having to sit through a lecture from my Mom on wrinkles? You really don't fight fair, do you?"

"Nope, not when it comes to your health or safety. Now, lay down. I'll start on dinner and come back to check on you in a little while."

Bianca did as she was told as Marissa gave her a quick kiss before turning off the light and closing the bedroom door. Even though her head was still pounding, Bianca couldn't help but smile a little. After years of not having someone put her first and take care of her, she was now used to having that. It was something Marissa took as seriously as Bianca did when she cared for her. It was one of the many reasons that they made a great team.

/

Three days later

Bianca was sitting at the kitchen table scrolling through the wedding 'to do' list. She quickly glanced outside and smiled before crossing off the installation of the dance floor. The work had been completed last night, a fact everyone was happy about. It was now covered with a tarp to keep it protected. The crew would be back early the day of the wedding to clean and polish it. That was a very big thing to mark off. The next big thing was the set up for the DJ and making sure the feed for the electricity needed for it worked and was safe. To that end, the electrician would be stopping by tomorrow to begin work.

"All homework is done. We have a free weekend to run errands and have some fun before the insanity of next Saturday." Marissa grinned as she hustled into the kitchen. "The kids asked if we could order pizza for dinner."

"That sounds good to me. We both could do with a night off from cooking."

"Perfect. I'll order …"

Bianca glanced up when Marissa stopped mid-sentence. "Rissa, is everything okay?"

"What are those?"

"What? Oh, my glasses? I picked them up today. I thought I mentioned it this morning."

"No. No. Oh no, you didn't mention it. I, I, I would've remembered that, definitely."

"What do you think?"

Marissa cleared her throat as she walked over to the table, darkened hazel eyes never leaving warm chocolate ones. "I get it."

"Get what?"

"The thing you have about me wearing glasses."

"Whatever do you mean, Counselor?" Bianca smiled slowly while raising an eyebrow.

A slight shiver ran through the redhead. When her fiancée lowered her voice like she just had and called her that, it did wonderfully delicious things to Marissa and Bianca damn well knew it. "I think you know exactly what I mean, Montgomery." Marissa pulled Bianca's chair away from the table and straddled her before capturing her lips for a torrid kiss.

When they separated for air, Bianca grinned. "Isn't there a saying about people not making passes at girls who wear glasses?"

"Obviously, they never saw you wearing glasses. In that same vein, they better never make a pass at you if they know what's good for them."

"I could say the same for you. So, is it safe to save that you like my glasses?"

"Oh yeah, it's very safe to say that. I love your glasses. I thought I was pretty clear about that, but if you're not sure, I'm more than willing to show you exactly how much I love them." Marissa leaned in again.

"Mom! Ma! Could we get breadsticks with our pizza?" Miranda called in from the family room.

"Don't forget the garlic dipping sauce!" AJ added.

"I don't like that sauce." Gabby pouted as their voices could be heard drawing closer to the kitchen.

The women reluctantly separated as Marissa groaned in frustration. "We will finish this later."

"You won't get any arguments from me. I'm counting on it, especially after that kiss. You wear your glasses, and I'll wear mine, Counselor." Bianca grinned.

"It's a date." Marissa gave her a quick kiss before getting up and meeting the kids at the kitchen door. "Yes, we'll order breadsticks and both garlic and pizza sauces for them. We're also ordering salad which everybody has to eat some of, but we have plenty of ranch dressing so no excuses on not eating it."

"Okay, Ma."

"Thanks, Mommy!"

Bianca sighed happily as the voices faded away as her four favorite people walked back to the family room. She definitely wasn't expecting Marissa to have that reaction to her glasses, but there was not a chance in hell that anyone would hear her complain about it. Her fiancée had entered that stage of her pregnancy where her sex drive had increased. The couple had a very healthy sex life as it was, but now, it was off the charts. Again, Bianca wasn't going to complain and was more than happy to be the recipient of those particular surging hormones. She was also thankful to be able to keep up with Marissa. That kiss had Bianca really hoping for an early night for the kids. She shook her head to clear it of those wonderfully distracting thoughts and went back to reviewing their 'to do' list for the wedding.

/

A/N: Okay, I have a question for all of you. As you can probably tell, the Minx wedding is fast approaching. Would you prefer it in one long chapter or broken up into two? One long chapter might mean that I have to skip a regular Saturday update. Let me know what you think. Regarding the next chapter, I have plans to be out with friends all day next Saturday so I'll either have to update late Saturday or sometime on Sunday. I just wanted to give you a heads up on that. See you soon!