A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review and follow! I appreciate it. Sorry for the late post. This week has been a killer. As a result, this is a little on the shorter side, but I wanted to get something up for all of you today. This chapter picks up a few days after the last one. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

Erica, Bianca, Marissa and Greenlee had the best time during their shopping spree and filled Marissa's SUV with their purchases. It had been a while since they had a baby girl to shop for, and this was really fun for all of them so they probably did go a bit overboard. None of them could make themselves feel guilty about it though. The one thing they didn't need to buy was an outfit for Kendall and Zach to bring Lexie home in. Kendall did make that one concession and had bought her daughter something prior to her going on maternity leave, and she asked Bianca if she could bring it along with a few other items that Kendall needed for herself to the hospital which Bianca happily agreed to do.

The next few days were quiet for members of the Tasker-Montgomery and Slater families. Kendall and Lexie were released from the hospital after two days. Dr. Chambers had wanted to run additional tests on Kendall to make sure her heart and pacemaker were performing properly which they were. Spike and Ian were thrilled to have their mom home and were warming up to their new baby sister. The Tasker-Montgomery children liked their newest cousin very much, and AJ could be heard giving his cousins advice on having a sister. Now that she knew Lexie's name, Carol was able to finish the baby blanket she had been working on for Kendall for a little while. Kendall had told her how much she liked the one the older woman had made for Danny which resulted in Carol offering to make one for Kendall. The blanket was laundered and waiting for Pine Valley's newest little diva when she came home.

With her babysitting services for Kendall no longer needed, Marissa was able to take full advantage of her last remaining days of maternity leave with Danny. They were able to branch out and explore more of Pine Valley such as going to the park and just taking a stroll along Main Street. They even surprised Bianca and dropped by the Center for lunch. When Danny went down for a nap, Marissa was also able to get herself ready for her return to work. She reviewed a few cases that had come in while she was gone along with various memos and paperwork that needed her attention as a partner. By taking care of those things during Danny's naptime, it allowed Marissa to spend her weekend before returning to work focused entirely on her family, and they all enjoyed their time together.

/

Monday rolled around before they all knew it. Marissa would be heading back to the office, Danny to daycare, and the older Tasker-Montgomery children to day camp now that they were done with school until August. As for Bianca, she would be going into the Center a little later than normal. Since it was Danny's first day in daycare, Marissa would take Danny in her car with Bianca following in hers. They would meet in the firm's parking lot and take him in together. Once he was settled, Marissa would head up to her office and Bianca to the Center. The couple didn't have to take AJ, Miranda and Gabby to camp that day because Susan offered to take them since she worked there during the summer. She also knew that both mothers wanted to be with Danny on that first day. Leaving him for an entire day was going to be tough on them, but it was something that needed to be done.

Bianca had set her alarm earlier than normal that day. She wanted to surprise Marissa with a nice breakfast just like the redhead had done for Bianca when she went back to work. When it went off, Bianca silenced it right away, not wanting to wake her wife. The brunette smiled softly as she took a moment to gaze at her sleeping wife. She sighed as she reluctantly pulled her eyes away and carefully got out of bed. Bianca headed upstairs and checked on their youngest child who was still sound asleep. Thankfully, Danny appeared to fall into the habit of sleeping through the night so neither of his mothers were as sleep deprived as they had been in the weeks following his birth. Bianca headed downstairs to the kitchen after giving the sleeping boy a soft kiss.

/

Marissa was woken up by her alarm for the first time in two months. She immediately noticed she was alone and that her wife was nowhere to be found. The redhead got out of bed and started to head upstairs to check on the kids when she heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Deciding to investigate, Marissa changed course.

Opening up the kitchen door, Marissa was greeted by the sight of her family cooking breakfast. Each member, with the exception of Danny, was assigned a specific task. Bianca was obviously in charge of the cooking, and it looked like she was making the family favorite of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. Miranda was keeping an eye on the coffee maker like her mothers had taught her. While his birthday twin handled the drinks for their mothers, AJ was in charge of drinks for the kids and was getting them milk and orange juice. Gabby was setting the table in between playing peek-a-boo with her little brother. Now that Marissa thought about it, she supposed that Danny's job was just to be cute and bring a smile to everyone's face. He was doing a bang up job of it from where she stood.

Danny was the first one to see her and lit up, giggling, waving his arms and kicking his legs. This drew Gabby's attention.

"Morning, Mommy! Surprise! We're making breakfast!" The little girl raced over and hugged Marissa who placed a kiss on the top of her youngest daughter's head.

"Good morning, Monkey. I can see that."

Miranda greeted her redheaded mother next. "Morning, Ma! Your coffee is almost done."

"Good morning, Mimo. Thank you! You make it even better than your mom."

Miranda giggled.

"Hey, I heard that!" Bianca glared playfully at her wife before turning back to the oven and flipping the pancakes.

"Morning, Ma. Do you want orange juice too?" AJ asked.

"Good morning, AJ. That would be wonderful. Thank you."

Marissa stopped and gave Danny a kiss and a tickle before making her final stop, Bianca. She wrapped her arms around her wife's waist placed a kiss on her shoulder. "Morning, beautiful."

Bianca leaned back into the embrace. "Morning. You ready for today?"

"As ready as I can be. I'm a little anxious though, especially about Danny in daycare."

Turning around to face her wife, Bianca draped her arms around Marissa's neck. "I know, but you know that he'll be in good hands and just a floor away."

"True. I can do this."

"Yes, you can. Now, breakfast is almost ready so …"

"Let me make a quick trip to the bathroom, and I'll be right back." Marissa gave her wife a quick peck and headed out of the kitchen.

/

Marissa was wading her way through her email inbox. Ellie had kept it manageable for her, but there were still a lot of emails she needed to read. The redhead was finally starting to get into a groove after a little bit of a rocky start. It had been tough leaving Danny, but she and Bianca had managed to get through it, together. A knock on the door had Marissa glancing up.

"Come in."

Brian poked his head inside. "Welcome back."

Marissa smiled and waved him inside. "Thanks. Have a seat. What's that you got there?"

With a knowing grin, Brian placed a cup on the redhead's desk. "It's your favorite coffee, decaf though. I wasn't sure if you were still watching your caffeine intake."

"Thank you!" Marissa took a sip and sighed. "That's good. Yeah, I'm still just doing one cup a day since I'm still breastfeeding for a few more weeks. You know, I think I'm going to keep my caffeine intake on the lower side when I'm done. I've gone this long and survived. I might as well keep going if I can."

"Stef did the same thing after having Jamie. How did it go with Danny earlier?"

"Eh. It was tough, but Bianca was there and helped me get through it."

"It will get easier, eventually. When you think about it, we're lucky because we can pop in downstairs and see them. Bianca and Stef don't have that luxury."

Marissa nodded. "I suppose you're right."

"But yeah, it's still tough. I wish there was something more I could say to help."

"Don't worry. You've helped more than you know."

"I'm glad. How's the first day back going otherwise?"

"It's going. Ellie was able to keep my inbox from exploding. Most of my day is meetings. I've got one with Claudia to get me up to speed on what all of you have been up to. Then, we have our team staff meeting and one this afternoon with the partners that will last awhile. Thankfully, the firm's staff meeting is tomorrow."

"I know how much you love all of those meetings. You'll be back in the courtroom soon though. I'll go so you can get back to work. If you need anything, let me know."

"I will, and thanks for the coffee."

As Brian headed out, he almost ran into Claudia. "Whoa! Sorry!"

"It's okay. I didn't spill any coffee so we're good. How is she doing?" Claudia asked as she nodded in Marissa's direction.

"Hanging in there. I just fortified her with some coffee. Decaf but …"

"Best you can do for her right now."

"Just so you know, I can hear you both." Marissa smirked as she observed the two from her desk.

Claudia chuckled. "Sorry. I forgot about your killer hearing."

"I'm out of here. See you both in our meeting later." Brian waved and headed out.

"Are you ready for me?" Claudia asked.

"Yep. Come on in and have a seat."

/

Marissa's morning was a bit of a blur as she slowly but surely made her way through her emails and meeting after meeting. She had just wrapped up her team's staff meeting and was headed back to her office to pump, something she desperately needed to do. As Marissa walked through the firm's lobby with Ellie at her side, she maneuvered through a small crowd gathered there.

"Ellie, please hold any visitors for half an hour."

"No problem. I'll take care of it."

"Marissa?"

The redhead stopped and turned when she heard her name. "Rafaela? It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"

Rafaela hugged Marissa and smiled. "Thanks to you, I am here to officially meet my new lawyer."

"Oh, you decided to switch to Sandra. I'm happy to hear that."

"Yes, I did. Liz and Ashley have met her, and while I've spoken to her at length a few times, this is my first face-to-face meeting with her. You're back to work?"

"Yes, it's my first day back."

"That's good to hear. I'm meeting with Sandra now, but I would like to talk with you if you have a few minutes later?"

Marissa glanced at Ellie. She had an idea of what her schedule was like today but needed confirmation.

The secretary pulled up her boss's schedule. "You have some time in an hour."

"Does that work for you?" Marissa asked.

"That would be perfect. Thank you." Rafaela smiled.

"Great. Stop by then. Oh, Sandra will be able to you where my office is."

"I'll see you soon."

As the women parted, several lawyers and paralegals who had been standing by the receptionist desk and had witnessed their exchange were left stunned.

"Was that really Rafaela?!"

"Wow, she's even more beautiful in person."

"Beautiful, hell, she's drop dead gorgeous."

"Damn."

"Wait! Our firm represents her? When did that happen?"

"You got me, but Marissa seems to know something about it."

"Do you think we might meet some of Rafaela's model friends?"

Lisa just rolled her eyes. She couldn't remember the man's name but knew he was in their tax department. She had heard him make several comments boasting about his various so-called conquests and didn't believe any of them. "Give me a break. Close your mouths. You're drooling. Remember, she's a client."

/

"You have a delivery." Ellie smiled as placed an extremely familiar looking box on her boss's desk. "I'll be back with a vase."

Marissa set down her cellphone after having just finished a text to Bianca giving her an update on Danny. The redhead had just returned from a quick trip to the daycare center to check on him. He seemed to like it and had adjusted quickly. It also helped that Jamie was there. Danny recognized him and smiled when he saw him. Jamie saw Marissa when she came in and told her he would keep an eye on Danny for her. The redhead knew the boy would make a great big brother and hoped that Brian and Stef's recent efforts to give him a sibling would be successful.

Opening the box and revealing a perfect red rose, Marissa smiled brightly. It wasn't a surprise because of course Bianca would send her a rose today. Marissa had done the same when Bianca had gone back to work. Between the two of them, they were keeping the florist busy and were a big reason their bottom line was so healthy. The redhead chuckled at the thought as she plucked the card out to read.

Rissa,
J is for just. Just to tell you that you are brilliant and beautiful. Just to thank you for being you. Just to say I adore you, and I love you.
Always,
B

Marissa sighed happily. She was lucky, and she damn well knew it. The redhead pulled out her cellphone and sent off a quick text to her wife. It was only three words, but they were ones she meant with every fiber of her being. "I love you."

Ellie reappeared with a vase filled with water.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Rafaela is here if you are ready for her."

"I am. Please send her in."

Rafaela entered and smiled. "Hello again."

"Hi. Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you. What a lovely rose."

"It's from Bianca." Marissa couldn't hide her dreamy smile if she wanted to. It was like a Pavlovian response whenever she thought about her wife.

Rafaela raised an eyebrow. During breaks in the final negotiations with Greenlee, they had discussed the couple some. Rafaela had witnessed a bit of their closeness when they had all had dinner together, and looking back, she knew she never had a chance. The model was good with that. She had never set out to hurt anyone or break up a happy relationship. In short, she was no home-wrecker. It was a part of her reputation she didn't deserve. Having gotten to know Bianca and Marissa and having received their help, Rafaela had joined their chorus of fans. She had laughed when Greenlee had told her about the looks the couple got on their faces when they thought about the other one, and now, she was witnessing it firsthand. It was definitely a sight to see and something she found she wanted for herself.

"How are Bianca and the kids?"

"Good. They're really good."

"And Kendall and her daughter?"

"Ah, they are great. The newest little diva is beautiful. She's almost as beautiful as my daughters, almost. How have you been?"

"I've been well. Sandra is a godsend. I can never thank you enough for recommending her. She has severed my ties with my now former lawyer and is really looking forward to dealing with my hopefully soon-to-be former agency."

"There's no need to thank me. I'm glad to help. Sandy loves a good fight. They're not going to know what hit them."

"That is something I cannot wait to see." Rafaela paused. "I was hoping you could help me with two other things."

"If I can, I will. What's up?"

/

A/N: This was kind of a filler chapter. I have plans for the next chapter which will put me over one million words. I'll warn you now that my evil side is itching to come out and play so buckle up!