A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it and all of you. I'm sorry for the late post. We had some bad storms roll through the area earlier, and I lost my cable and internet connection for a few hours. This chapter picks up where the last one left off. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

"We're going to Devon?" Miranda asked.

Bianca nodded after making sure everyone had their seatbelts fastened. When she verified that her family was safely secured, she put the car in gear and pulled away from the school's pickup line. "Yes, we are."

"Awesome!" AJ said excitedly.

"Ma, will we get to see where you grew up?" Gabby asked.

Marissa turned in her seat to answer her youngest daughter. "Yes, we can drive by there. Someone else lives in the house now though so I don't know about going inside, but we can definitely go by it if you all want to."

"We want to, Ma." Miranda was positive of the answer and only glanced quickly at AJ and Gabby to see them nod in agreement.

"Really?"

"Uh huh. We know all about where Mom mostly grew up since it's Pine Valley. We haven't been to Devon before so it'll be cool to see where you grew up, your old school and other stuff. You've told us about it, but we really don't know what it looks like."

AJ nodded. "Yeah, and now, we get the chance to see it. It'll be really cool to see where you hung out when you were a kid."

"Please, Ma!" Gabby added with her best puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, please, Ma!" Bianca added.

"Mmmaammmaaa."

"I guess it's unanimous!" Marissa chuckled hearing Danny's plea along with the others' pleas.

"Did Danny just say 'Mama'?!" AJ managed to ask while his sisters were in shock.

"Yes, he did, Buddy. He said it earlier at my office while your Mom and I were talking. Danny said it to both of us."

"Cool! Can he say anything else?"

"Well, he jabbers a lot so he's trying, but that's the only word we've been able to understand so far." Bianca explained.

"Pretty smart for him to say that word first." Miranda smirked.

Marissa chuckled. "You're right. I suppose it was."

For the rest of the drive home from school and then on the drive to Devon, the kids alternated between quizzing Marissa about her hometown and getting their little brother to say other words. Bianca and Marissa both thought that Miranda had the best chance of him saying her name, or actually her nickname since Mimo was pretty close to Mama, but they kept that to themselves. Danny seemed content to keep his vocabulary limited to Mama for the time being.

/

Marissa had taken over the driving from Bianca since she was the one most familiar with the area. The kids had an early release from school that day which aided in giving them an early start to their trip as well as avoiding traffic. All of that resulted in them making good time and had them pulling into the parking lot of the Miller Bed & Breakfast around five o'clock that evening. It was where the couple had stayed when they were in town for Marissa's high school reunion. The town of Devon had several B&B's, and they would all be booked solid for the Winterfest celebration. While they were all lovely, Miller's was the best, hands down. In addition to that fact, Marissa had a personal connection to it because it was owned and operated by Cory's parents. The redhead remembered spending countless hours there with Jo and Cory, and each one was a cherished memory. When she and Bianca had stayed there the last time, Cory's parents, Clay and Nancy, were out of town taking a much needed vacation. Because of how big Winterfest was and how much they loved it, Marissa was positive she would get the chance to see them this time.

"We'll start off our tour here. You remember my friend Cory, right?"

The kids nodded.

"Well, her parents own this place. I spent a lot of time here with both Cory and Jo while we were growing up."

"Cool."

"Let's go inside and get our rooms. Then, we'll get some dinner before Winterfest officially begins."

/

Bianca entered first carrying Danny followed by the older kids and then Marissa.

A middle-aged woman was behind the front desk. "Welcome to Miller Bed & Breakfast! Oh my goodness! Marissa Tasker! It is so good to see you!" The woman raced around the desk and hugged the redhead.

"Hi, Mrs. Miller! It's good to see you."

"Oh please, after all this time, I think you can call me Nancy."

"It's good to see you, Nancy. Oh, and it's Tasker-Montgomery."

"Oh, that's right. Cory told me all about that. I can't even tell you how sorry I was that I missed you when you were here for the reunion."

"I know. Me too, but you definitely deserved a vacation. By the way, how was Hawaii?"

"It was wonderful. If you haven't been, I highly recommend it."

"I'll keep that in mind. Although, it's probably going to be a few years before we can go. We want Danny to be a little older so he'll be able to enjoy it too. Speaking of, I want to introduce you to my family. This is my wife Bianca and our youngest son Danny. And these three are Miranda, AJ, and Gabby. Gang, this is Nancy Miller."

"Hi, Nancy. It's nice to meet you." Bianca shook the older woman's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Bianca. Oh, another redhead. They can be trouble, but they're totally worth it." Nancy teased.

"Hi, Mrs. Miller. Will you tell us some stories about our Ma?" AJ asked.

Nancy chuckled. "Of course. I've got lots of them. We'll talk later. I'll only tell you them though if you call me Nancy. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"You have a beautiful family, Marissa."

"Thank you! I couldn't agree with you more. Is Clay around?"

"Yes, he is. He's out back gathering wood for our bonfire later tonight. I know he can't wait to see you. When Cory told us you were coming, we were both thrilled knowing we were going to see you as well as Jo and Jessica along with a whole bunch of other people apparently."

Marissa laughed. "Ah yes, there are quite a few of us staying here this weekend."

"So I'm told. Including your mother, Bianca?"

"Yes, but please don't go to any trouble for her."

"I don't think that it's me you'll have to worry about. It turns out that Ginny Williams overheard Cory and me talking yesterday."

Marissa groaned knowingly. "Great. Ginny Williams, of all people." She turned to her wife to explain. "She's the town gossip. Think Opal but on steroids."

"Yikes."

"Exactly. I'm pretty sure the whole town knows by now."

Nancy winced. "I'm really sorry. I had no idea that she was within earshot. If I did or if Cory did, neither of us would have said anything."

Bianca sighed and did her best to reassure the older woman. "That's okay. It's not your fault. To be honest, I'm kind of used to it. Things like this always seem to happen where my Mom is concerned. I'll call her later and give her a heads up. I'm glad you told me though so I can do that. Trust me, Mom will know the best way to handle this."

"If you're sure?"

"I'm positive. Don't worry."

Nancy glanced at Marissa just to be sure Bianca wasn't only saying that to be nice.

"She's telling the truth."

"Okay. Good. Cory will be over later with Chris and Matt. She can't wait to see all of you again."

"I can't wait to see them either. Did Jessica and Jo make here okay?"

"They did, and they are out reacquainting themselves with the town as well as giving a tour to … Caleb and Greg. Those are their names, right?"

"Yes, they are."

"They said to tell you that if they don't see you before, they will definitely see you at the tree lighting."

"Sounds good. We should probably take our things to our rooms and then go feed the kids. I'm sure they're starving." Marissa glanced at AJ, Miranda, and Gabby, and saw all three grinning in agreement.

Nancy chuckled as she made her way to the front desk to get the family keys to their rooms. "I thought I heard some stomachs grumbling. Are you taking them to the square?"

"Yep!"

"Did you say you're having a bonfire later?" Miranda asked.

"I did. There will actually be several of them tonight as well as throughout the entire weekend. We have a friendly competition to see who holds the best one."

That sounded like fun to Gabby. "What do you win?"

"Bragging rights and a trophy."

Marissa tapped her youngest daughter on the shoulder. "That trophy over there, Monkey."

Gabby's eyes grew wide when she saw the trophy. It was almost as tall as her. "Wow! So you won last year?"

"Yes, we did!" Nancy answered proudly.

"I remember you guys winning a lot. It looks like you're still keeping up with that tradition."

"We do our best!" Nancy retrieved keys to the rooms reserved for them. "You have connecting rooms."

"That's perfect." Bianca said.

"Good. I also have the same set up for your sister and her family."

"Again, that's perfect. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Okay, you're all checked in. Let me help you with your bags and show you to your rooms."

"You don't have to do that, Nancy. We can get it." Marissa said.

Nancy just looked at Marissa. "Don't be silly. We'll be able to get everything up there at one time."

Marissa glanced at their luggage as well as the pack & play they had brought for Danny to sleep in. She knew Nancy was right. It was one thing to carry it in from the parking, but a whole other thing to deal with carrying all of it up a staircase. "You're right, but I'm carrying the pack & play."

/

After dropping their bags off in their rooms, changing Danny's diaper, and bathroom breaks for everyone else, the family headed out to explore the town after a quick trip back to their car to retrieve Danny's stroller. Miller's was only a few blocks from the town square where most of the action would be taking place. The kids' eyes grew wide with excitement when they saw the skating rink.

"Can we go skating?" AJ asked.

Miranda looked at her mothers and asked an equally important question. "Do we have our skates?"

Bianca smiled. "Yes, AJ, we can go skating. Yes, Miranda, I packed our skates."

"You thought of everything, B."

"I tried. I have to admit that I didn't know about the skating rink until Jo told me. Once I knew that though, I made a note to bring our ice skates."

Marissa grinned at her wife. "Remind me to make sure we get Jo and Cory out on the ice. They're both really good. I think we should probably wait to skate until tomorrow though. Let's take our time and decide everything we want to do while we're here. We don't have to do everything in one night. Sound good?"

AJ nodded after considering what his redheaded mother had said. "Okay. What are we having for dinner?"

"Let me guess, you're starving." Bianca chuckled when AJ simply grinned in response to her question.

"We could have Italian. There's a pretty good place just up the block. The pizza is really good, and they have a wide variety of pasta dishes." Marissa suggested.

With the family in agreement, they started off again. They passed a number of shops and outdoor vendors along the way. While it was winter, it wasn't bitterly cold, and this allowed booths to be setup around the square.

Bianca sighed as she caught the scent of one of her favorite things. "Is that what I think it is?"

Marissa nodded and glanced around. When she caught sight of the booth in question, she pointed it out. "German roasted almonds. They are right over there."

"Okay, we're stopping there after dinner!"

"I don't think you're going to get any arguments from this crowd." Marissa smirked.

"Nope!" Gabby grinned. The snack was a favorite of the entire family, and whenever they happened upon them at a fair, carnival, or what have you, they always got some.

"First, we get some real food, and then, we'll get some of them." Bianca declared.

When they arrived at the Italian restaurant, AJ raced ahead to hold open the door for everyone. They all thanked him, and Marissa winked proudly at the gentleman her oldest son was becoming. It was still a little on the early side so they didn't have a problem getting a table. While Bianca was getting Danny settled in a highchair, several people came up to Marissa to say hi and welcome her back to Devon. The redhead introduced her family proudly and was complimented on them. A couple of the people who came over had graduated with her and remembered Bianca from the high school reunion. More than a few laughs were shared as they remembered what had occurred at that event. Details were bypassed however because the kids were present. Everyone promised to meet up sometime that weekend.

"You know a lot of people, Ma." Miranda noted.

"It's a small town so everybody pretty much knows everybody else. That can be both a good and a bad thing."

"Do all of your friends still live here like Cory?" AJ asked.

"Some do, but some moved away like Jo and me. A lot of people tend to come back though for Winterfest. It's always been something special and brings people back here."

Gabby looked up from the activity sheet she had been given by their server. "When was the last time you were here for it?"

"It's been a few years. The last time was when my Mom and Dad were alive. It was too hard to be here without them."

"You're not alone anymore, Ma. You've got us."

Marissa pulled her oldest daughter to her and hugged her tightly. "That I do, Mimo. That I do."

Bianca's eyes locked with her wife's and both smiled. The brunette decided to lighten the mood. "So, what are the things we absolutely have to do while we're here?"

"Well, the tree lighting is at the top of the list, and that is tonight at nine o'clock. We can check out some of the bonfires after that and finish up at the Millers. As for tomorrow and Sunday, there's ice skating, a Christmas show, some shopping, go to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast …"

That got the kids attention.

"Pancake Pantry?" Gabby asked excitedly.

"Yep! They have awesome chocolate chip pancakes." Bianca grinned. She was really looking forward to going back there.

"Your Mom's right about that. They are pretty awesome. We can go there tomorrow if you want. I'll have to meet you guys there though."

"Why's that, Ma?"

"Uh, there's something I need to do, Monkey, and I'm going to do it tomorrow morning."

Bianca already knew what Marissa had in mind because the couple had discussed it earlier before they picked up the kids, but Miranda was the first of the three older children to figure it out.

"Are you going to visit your Mom and Dad?"

Marissa nodded. "Yes, I am, Mimo."

"Could we come with you?"

AJ liked Miranda's idea. "Yeah, could we, Ma?"

"I wanna go too, Ma." Gabby added.

Marissa struggled to swallow the lump that quickly formed in her throat. "Are all of you sure?"

All three nodded.

Bianca smiled proudly at them before she looked at her wife. "Danny and I are up for it as well."

"Okay. If you're sure, we'll all go."

A server returned with their drinks and then took everyone's orders.

While the kids turned their attention to a map they had been given that detailed where everything was and also had a list of activities for the weekend, Marissa glanced at her wife. "We have some amazing kids, B."

Bianca nodded. "No argument here, Rissa. We really do. Are you sure you're okay with us all joining you?"

"Yeah, I am. I love that you all want to be there. It means a lot."

"I'll let Kendall and Greenlee know that we have plans then first thing in the morning and will meet up with them afterwards."