A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it and all of you. For any of my readers affected by the recent events in Munich, Kabul, and Turkey, you're in my thoughts. To all of my readers, I hope you stay safe. This chapter picks up a couple of days after the last one. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

"I've got it." Marissa called out as she went to answer the front door of Minx Manor. It was the afternoon of the day before Thanksgiving, and the place was already bustling with activity. The home itself was in the process of being cleaned, and prep work was being done on the food for the feast that would be served the next day. For her part, Marissa was a little frustrated. Her broken wrist limited what she could do to help out. She'd lost count as to how many times Bianca and Jessica had scolded her for doing too much. The arrival of someone new had her hoping they would offer a distraction as well as meaning there could be something she could finally do. The redhead smiled as she greeted the person of the other side of the door. "Greg, it's good to see you. Come in, and let me take your coat. You're a little early. Jo's not expecting you for a couple more hours."

Greg hugged his friend and then took off his coat. "It's good to see you too. How's your wrist?"

"It's getting there. I'll be glad when this cast is off." Marissa answered as she hung up his coat.

"I bet. I have to tell you that I was really relieved when Jo told me you were okay. You have to stop scaring people like that." Greg smiled.

"I'll do my best, but sometimes, those things are just beyond my control."

"Yeah, I know. You're right. I am early. I was able to duck out a little early because the dean took the day off, and traffic wasn't bad. Everyone seemed to be headed into the city for tomorrow's parade. Have you ever seen it in person?"

"No, I haven't. I'd like to one day though. I'm sure the kids would love it. Watching it on Thanksgiving morning has become a tradition with us."

"Yeah, I usually catch on TV but have seen it in person a couple of times. I highly recommend doing that at least once. Where's Jo?"

"She's in the kitchen. Feel free to go on back."

Greg lowered his voice. "I will, but I wanted to talk to you real quick. Are you up for helping me with something?"

Marissa's eyes grew wide in anticipation. "Is it what I think it is?"

"Yeah, it is." Greg grinned.

"Count me in then! Whatever you need, I'm in."

"Perfect." Greg gave Marissa a quick rundown of what he had in mind and some of the things he needed to make it happen.

"Leave it to me. I got you covered."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it. I better go see her now before she starts wondering where I am. I let her know when I was leaving."

"Marissa, I've been sent to check on you, and make sure you're not doing something you shouldn't be." Jo stopped when she saw her boyfriend and then quickly sprinted over to him and jumped in his arms. "Greg! I can't believe you're here already!"

Greg laughed and kissed Jo. "It's good to see you too. I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too. Wait. I heard a knock a few minutes ago but …"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "First of all, I'm behaving himself, and nobody needs to be sent to check up on me."

Jo laughed. "You forget who you're talking to. You do need somebody to check up on you, and your wife must think so too or she wouldn't have asked me to come out here."

"Whatever. I was just filling Greg in on what happened at the courthouse."

Greg mouthed 'thank you' to the redhead for throwing Jo off any trail she might have started to sniff out. He wanted the proposal to be a surprise, and for that to happen, he needed any suspicions Jo might have to be diverted. "Yeah, and I told her she needs to stop worrying people."

"He's right about that."

Marissa sighed dramatically. "I'll tell you what I just told him. It's not like I could help what happened. It was a little out of my hands. I'm going to go talk to my wife and give you two some privacy so you can say hello properly."

"Thank you, Rissa!" Jo grinned.

/

Marissa gave Greg a thumbs up when she joined the others in the kitchen later. She had snuck out of the room early to make a couple calls. Privacy was needed for them since she didn't want Jo to know what she was up to. Marissa then took a seat next to Bianca who was busy writing a list of some sort. "What are you doing, B?"

"I was going over the menu for tomorrow and realized we still need a few things. I'm going to need to run to the store." This was partially true. Marissa had told Bianca earlier that she and Greg needed a ruse of some sort that would allow them to leave the house in order to set things up for his proposal, and they didn't want Jo to get suspicious. Bianca came up with the idea of having the two of them run a few errands which would give them the time they needed.

"You don't need to go. I will."

"Rissa, there's a lot of stuff, and with your wrist …"

"I'm fine. Okay, how about … Greg goes with me?"

The professor nodded. "I can do that."

"I'll go with Greg. You stay, Marissa." Jo offered.

"No, I need to go, please. I'm feeling completely useless here. No one is letting me cook or clean. If I don't do something, I'm going to go nuts. At least if I run to the store, I'll feel like I'm contributing in some way. I won't even push the shopping cart or put anything in it. I'll let Greg do that while I supervise."

"Take pity on the poor woman. I promise I'll keep an eye on her." Greg said to the other women.

Bianca sighed. "Fine. I can't stand to see her pout."

"Yeah, she is a little whiny." Jo agreed with a smirk.

"I am not! I'm just bored and frustrated." Marissa argued before turning back to Bianca. "Is that everything you need?"

"Yes, it is." Bianca handed the list over to Jessica to review. "Is there anything else you can think of that we need?"

Jessica went over the list. She wasn't in on the surprise because Greg had asked to keep her in the dark. He knew that Jo would want to be the one to tell her mother. "I think you have everything."

Marissa took the list and stood. "Okay. We should probably go before the stores get too crowded with last minute shoppers."

Greg nodded and gave Jo a quick kiss before he stood. "Are you driving or am I?"

"I'll drive since I know where we're going." Marissa said before going to get their coats.

/

"It's about time the two of you got back. What took you so long?" Jo asked as Greg and Marissa walked into the kitchen. The two had been gone longer than been expected.

"It was unreal out there, and you wouldn't believe the numbers of stores we had to go to in order to get everything on Bianca's list. Who knew sweet potatoes were in such demand? I'll tell you, some of those people are downright scary. I can't believe what some of them did to get some corn. I'm serious when I say that I might have flashbacks." Greg shook his head. It had been an eye-opening experience for the man. He had gone to the grocery store before but never right before a holiday. If he could help it, he wouldn't be doing it again, and if he had to, it wouldn't be anytime soon.

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy out there. You would have thought the cast would've gotten me some sympathy, but nope, it didn't even register. I'm glad Greg was with me. We came up with a pretty good system. He blocked while I grabbed, and it was good enough for us to get everything." Marissa grinned.

For the most part, Marissa and Greg's story was true. People were going nuts at the grocery store with their last minute shopping. They had lucked out however and only had to go to one store to get everything. What took them so long in getting back was the stop they made at the Shelton-Murphy residence, which was almost ready for them to finally move in, after they had stopped at the grocery store. The only thing missing was furniture, both newly purchased and currently owned most of which would be making its way from New York the following week. Once they had finished setting things up there for later that night, they made their way back to Minx Manor. On the drive over, they came up with a cover story for them being away so long. Like any good lie, it was based in a kernel of truth. With Phase 1 of Greg's plan complete, it would soon be time for Phase 2 to take place. That phase had Greg getting Jo over to their house without her getting suspicious. From there, the final phase, the actual proposal, would take place.

/

After the groceries were put away and the prep work done for the evening, everyone settled in the family room to relax and watch a movie. Once a little time had passed, Greg turned to Jo. "Hey, what do you think about us going over to check out the house? I want to see if my desk will fit in my new office."

"Do you have the measurements for it?"

"Yep, I wrote them down before I left."

Jo nodded. "Okay. It's probably a good idea to check then before it gets moved." She looked at the others. "Do you need me for anything else?"

Jessica waved her daughter off. "No, we're good for tonight. Go on and have fun."

"Great! I'll get our coats." Greg hopped up off the sofa.

As Greg helped her on with her coat, Jo addressed the others. "If you need anything while we're gone, just text me. If not, I guess we'll see you later."

"See you later, and go have some fun. Don't worry about us." Marissa caught Greg's eye and mouthed 'good luck' to which he replied with a smile.

After Jo and Greg had gone, Marissa turned to her wife. "I think I'm going to take Max for a walk. Care to join me?"

"A walk in the moonlight with my wife? Sounds pretty darn good to me."

Hearing the magic word 'walk' had Max at the front door with his leash lying on the floor in front of him.

"It seems like Max is on board as well." Jessica laughed.

"Yes, it does." Marissa chuckled as she and Bianca put on their coats.

"We won't be gone too long. Be good for Jessica." Bianca told the kids before she followed Marissa and Max outside.

/

The late November air was cool and crisp as the couple walked arm in arm with Bianca holding the end of Max's leash.

"This was definitely a good idea, if I do say so myself." Marissa grinned.

Bianca chuckled. "It most definitely was. So, did you guys get everything set up?"

"Yep. I think Jo is going to love it. Oh, I … I used your Mom's name to take care of something for Greg."

"You did?" Bianca was a little surprised by that admission since that was something Marissa didn't like to do, and in fact, never really had before. What didn't surprise her was that it hadn't been done for her wife's benefit but had been done to help someone else. "I'm sure she won't mind, but you might want to give her a heads up. What did you need it for?"

"I already called and told her right after I did it, and Erica gave me her blessing. I just wanted to let you know. I called the furniture store and got them to deliver Jo and Greg's mattress set today. While they wouldn't do that for me, they couldn't do it fast enough for Erica Kane. Unfortunately, the frame isn't in yet, but the mattress and box spring are now sitting in their bedroom with freshly washed sheets and comforter. I have a feeling that if everything goes as planned, they won't be coming back here tonight. I didn't want their first night in their new home to be spent sleeping on an air mattress or in a sleeping bag."

Bianca nodded with a smile. "I think that's a pretty safe about them not coming back here. You know they're going to want to celebrate privately. Good thinking, Counselor. It doesn't surprise me about Mom being okay with you using her name then. She's kind of a sucker when it comes to romance."

"Hmmm. It's easy to see where you get it from." Marissa stopped and kissed her wife.

Bianca hummed happily. "Guilty as charged, Counselor." The brunette's attention was drawn away by the tug on Max's leash. He clearly wanted to continue his walk. "It looks like we'll have to pick this up later."

"I think that's more than doable. One more lap before we head back to get the kids ready for bed?"

"Sounds good."

/

"Oh, here they are now. They just got back." Jessica was on the phone and glanced over to the door when the couple entered. "It's Jo. She's excited about something and wanted to tell us at the same time."

Marissa unhooked Max's leash, and he quickly scampered off while the couple walked over to the sofa to join the others.

"Okay. We're all here. Now would you please tell me what's going on, Josephine?" Jessica asked after she put her daughter on speakerphone.

"Greg just asked me to marry him, and I said yes! We're getting married!" Jo answered in an excited rush.

"Oh my god! Congratulations! That is wonderful! I am so happy for you, Sweetheart! Both of you! I can't believe my baby is getting married!" Jessica choked out as happy tears started to form in her eyes.

With the kids cheering in the background and Jessica overcome with emotion, Marissa handed her friend a tissue and then took the cellphone from her. "Congratulations, Jo! I can't tell you how happy I am for you."

"That makes two of us!" Bianca said as she sat next to her wife.

"Thank you, both of you! Mom's crying, isn't she?"

Marissa chuckled. "Yeah, she is, but trust me, they are very happy tears."

Jo cleared her throat. She knew how much her Mom thought of Greg and how much she loved him, and that meant so much to her. "It seems we need to talk, Marissa. Greg said you helped him set everything up here, and that your shopping trip wasn't as bad as you led it on to be. I can't believe you lied to me."

"It was for a very good cause, and if you had had the chance, you would have done the exact same thing."

"True, but we're going to talk tomorrow."

"I'm looking forward to it. I need details."

"And you'll get them. You did a great job. Could you put Mom back on for me?"

Marissa handed the cellphone back to Jessica who had collected herself by then. "She wants to talk to you."

"Sweetheart."

"Hey, Mom. I just wanted you to know so you don't worry. Greg and I are going to stay here tonight."

"I understand. You two should celebrate. Thank you for letting me know. Do you have sleeping bags or something?" Jessica knew the house had very little in the way of furniture at this point.

"Actually, our bed was delivered earlier. Greg said Marissa managed to swing that somehow. Remind me to ask her about that tomorrow."

Jessica eyed the redhead who feigned innocence. "I will. Have a good evening. Give Greg my love and congratulations. I love you, Josephine."

"I will, and thanks. I love you too, Mom."

Once she had disconnected the call, Jessica turned her attention to Marissa. "We need to talk, Marissa Lynn."

Marissa recognized that tone and knew she was in for an interrogation and mild scolding. The redhead hopped off the sofa. "I'd love to, but I have to get the kids ready. Big day tomorrow. Come on, minions. Time for baths."

"You can run, but you can't hide." Jessica said.

"I can sure as heck buy myself some time though." Marissa fired back.

Bianca was amused by the exchange, but also knew her role in everything would soon be discovered. "I've got Danny. Whose turn is it to choose a story?"

"Mine!" Gabby exclaimed. "I don't want one in a book."

"Ah, you want a 'Ma original'." Bianca asked.

"Yep! Those are always the best."

AJ and Miranda nodded in agreement.

"Gabby's right. Your stories really are better than the ones in books." Miranda said.

"They're both right, Ma."

"I have to agree with them, Rissa."

"All right. An original story it is. I've got some thinking to do. Let's go. We'll be back down for the story, Jessica."

"I look forward to hearing what you come up with and don't think you're off the hook. We're still going to talk about what you knew."

Marissa sighed. "Yeah, I know."