A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it. First, I apologize for not posting last week, but I had a cold and was wiped out which made it hard to focus and write. I'm feeling much better now though. Second, I have a question for all of you. Someone asked for longer chapters, and that is something that I would like to do. There is a conflict however. Work and life in general prevent me from writing like I would like to sometimes. So, my question is do you prefer weekly updates or longer chapters? Personally, I like the weekly updates. Now for a third item, I will try and update next week, but I can't guarantee it because I will be helping a friend move. I'll do my best though.

Finally, Agnes Nixon who created "All My Children" passed away this week. Under her guidance, "All My Children" broke ground with many of its storylines. Chiefly among these were storylines centered around Bianca, her struggle with anorexia as well as revealing that she was a lesbian. Agnes was ahead of her time in bringing socially relevant stories to television such as the Vietnam War, abortion, drug addiction, and AIDS. I couldn't let her passing go by without saying something. So, thank you, and rest in peace, Agnes Nixon.

This chapter picks up where the last one left off. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

While Bianca kept an eye on her wife's conversation, Greenlee noticed that someone else was eyeing their group, particularly Bianca.

"Jo."

"What's up, Greenlee?"

"Who's that woman over there? She's staring daggers at Bianca."

The doctor directed her gaze to where Greenlee indicated and groaned. She quickly nudged Cory.

"What?"

Jo nodded to where she had been looking. "Guess who's here and is looking like they want to start some trouble."

Cory quickly saw who had the attention of the other two women. "Dammit. I knew she was going to be here this weekend since she lives here, but I was really hoping we could avoid her."

"Again, I have to ask. Who is she? Also, what kind of trouble are we talking about exactly?"

"That is Shelly Griffin."

"Why does that name sound familiar?"

"She went to school with us and acted like she owned the place. Marissa stood up to her and …"

"Oh, I remember her now." Greenlee said before Cory could go any further. "She said some really nasty stuff to and about Marissa at your high school reunion. Bianca took care of her and got her with a pie."

"That would be her."

Greenlee nodded and glanced over at Kendall. Like Bianca, her friend's gaze was fixed on Marissa and Fitz. The petite brunette wasn't going to do anything in this situation without Kendall being on board so Greenlee would monitor things until she could talk to her friend.

/

"So, Marissa, I'll cut straight to the chase. I remember that you prefer that."

"I do."

Fitz cleared his throat. "I'll be honest. I know who your mother-in-law is. You would have to be living under a rock not to know that."

Marissa gave a slight smile at the attempt of a joke. She knew what he wanted and wasn't going to make it easy on him. He was going to have to actually ask the question, and even then, the redhead would make no promises. Marissa would never presume to speak for Erica.

"Anyway, word has it that Ms. Kane is coming here and will be attending our festival. Is that rumor correct?"

After a moment's thought, Marissa answered. "That would be correct. Erica is taking some time off for the holidays. Bianca planned the trip back here as a surprise for me. When she told our family about it, they decided they wanted to come. This included Erica."

"That's wonderful and very thoughtful of Bianca."

"I couldn't agree more. My wife is extremely thoughtful. This isn't the first time that she has planned something like this for me. I'm very lucky."

"You seem happy."

Marissa nodded and smiled. "I am very happy."

"Look you know what I want, but you're going to make me ask anyway, aren't you?"

Again, Marissa nodded.

"Do you think there would be any way that Ms. Kane would be willing to help us light the tree tonight?"

"I'm sorry, but she won't be here until tomorrow."

"Oh." Fitz's disappointment was clearly evident, but he was nothing if not fast on his feet. "What about tomorrow?"

"What about it?"

"Would she be willing to be part of the parade? Maybe grand marshal?"

Marissa scowled at the proposal. "Seriously? You've got to be kidding me. The parade is tomorrow. I know damn well that you already have someone lined up to be grand marshal because you never wait until the day of the parade to line that up. If you offer it to Erica at this late date, you're going to cause some bad feelings towards you and more importantly towards my mother-in-law. I won't allow her to be used for your political gain, and I especially won't allow her to be hurt."

"It's not like that. This year's pick is a repeat, and no one would really be upset if we replaced her."

"Really?! Tell me. Who exactly is this year's grand marshal?"

Fitz gave the redhead a sheepish look.

/

Danny was getting a little fussy being confined in his stroller so Bianca bent down, released him, and held him so he could see more of what was happening around him. That seemed to do the trick, and the boy quickly became his normally cheerful self again. Bianca smiled as she gently bounced her youngest son in her arms.

"Red doesn't look too happy." Kendall said as she observed the conversation between her sister-in-law and the mayor from a distance.

Bianca glanced up and recognized her wife's stance. It was one she was familiar with. Marissa struck it when she was gearing up to take someone on and give them a piece of her mind. "You're right. She's not. My guess is that he's talking about Mom coming here and wanting something from her. You know how Rissa feels about that. She worries about Mom's image and doesn't want to do anything that might harm it, and she doesn't want to take advantage of it either."

Kendall nodded. "And Mom really appreciates that, probably more than we know." It was then that something caught the older brunette's eye. "Um, Binx, I don't know if you know this or not but …"

"There's a blonde looking Stepford wife glaring at me? Yeah, I know." Bianca had caught a glimpse of the other woman out of the corner of her eye a few minutes earlier but decided to keep her focus on Marissa.

"Oh, okay. Mind sharing with the class as to who she is and why she's doing that?"

Bianca turned to her sister, avoiding all eye contact with the blonde woman. She didn't want to give her any satisfaction in acknowledging her. "Her name is Shelly Griffin, and she is, for lack of a better word, Marissa's nemesis."

"Her nemesis? Really now?"

"Yeah. They grew up here together. Shelly and I had a little run in at the high school reunion."

"Wait! I remember her now. You and Red told me about this, about her. You got her with a pie in the face and schooled her on her fashion-sense. That was all after you reamed her for what she said about Red, of course. She's a real piece of work from what you both said."

"That she is. She deserved everything she got and more. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, talks about Marissa that way. She's lucky I didn't do more than a pie in the face. You should have seen Jo. She let her have it too. I liked Jo from the very beginning, but that sold me on her. You know, I honestly forgot about the possibility of running into Shelly. I was just so focused on making this weekend special for Rissa that I didn't even think about her."

"Would you have changed anything if you did?"

"No, I wouldn't. This weekend is about Rissa and our family. I'm not going to let anyone ruin it, especially some bitter, homophobic, jealous shrew."

Kendall laughed. "That's the Kane spirit! Mom will be so proud."

Bianca joined her sister and laughed. "I do my best." Danny started to get a little fussy again, and a smell coming from her son told Bianca why. "Ooh, I need to change him. Hey, Cory."

"Yeah?" The teacher walked over to where the sisters were standing.

"Is there someplace I can take Danny to change him?"

"Oh yeah, follow me. I'll take you over there." Cory volunteered.

"Thanks. Kendall, could you keep an eye on the kids for me, and if Rissa gets back before I do, could you let her know where I went?"

"No problem, on both of those things. I'll also keep an eye out on Red and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

"Yeah, but who's going to keep an eye on you?" Bianca deadpanned as she followed Cory.

"Funny, Binx. Very funny."

/

"Who, Fitz?" Marissa had a bad feeling about who had been selected.

The mayor lowered his head and muttered. "Shelly Hines."

"Shelly Hines? Wait! You mean Shelly Griffin Hines?"

"Yes, I guess so?"

"Seriously? You're not sure? You went to school with her, and you're the mayor. You are the ones who extends the invitation to be the grand marshal."

"Fine! Yes, her."

"Unbelievable! You're unbelievable. Do you know that? It's not bad enough that you offered it to someone and then turn around and want to take it away to offer it to someone else, someone famous. No, that's not enough. It just has to be my mother-in-law and Shelly. You know damn well how Shelly feels about me."

"Well, I remember that she's not fond of you."

Marissa shook her head in disbelief. "Not fond? Oh please, talk about an understatement. You know her. You went to school with us, and you were at the reunion. Shelly hates me with every fiber of her being. Personally, I'm okay with that because I could care less what she thinks about me. I do care about Erica though. Did you stop to think about how this would impact her?"

"I don't understand. Impact her? What do you mean?"

"Seriously? You cannot be this …" Marissa took a deep breath. "Shelly will take all of her anger for and hatred of me and direct those feelings squarely at my mother-in-law. Now, I know Erica can handle that and more. In fact, she would probably consider Shelly nothing more than a gnat."

"Then, what's the problem?"

"The problem is that Erica would be pulled into the middle of this when she shouldn't have to be."

"Look, it's really not a big deal. The whole city council voted to extend the offer to Ms. Kane. We …"

"When did that happen?"

Fitz winced at the tone in the redhead's voice. "Today. We held an emergency meeting when we found out she was coming here. This was too big of an opportunity to pass up. We can have Shelly do it next year. She lives here. We don't know when we will have the honor of someone of Ms. Kane's magnitude visit us again."

Marissa sighed. "Of course you did."

"You're not seeing the big picture. Think about Devon and how big this would be for us. You're a Devonite! Surely you can appreciate this."

"I love Devon, and I'm very proud to be from here, usually. I always will be, and it will always be a place I consider home."

"See! That's the spirit! I knew you'd see it my way. So, you can talk to Ms. Kane …"

"You didn't let me finish. Erica is family. If you remember anything about me, Fitz, then you know that family always comes first. Always. So, I'm not going to talk to Erica about being grand marshal, and more importantly, neither are you or council member. I will not allow her to be used for any political or commercial gain. It really is as simple as that. As for Shelly, you asked her, and now, you're stuck with her. It's no secret that I don't like Shelly, and I have plenty of reasons for that. Here's the thing. As much as I don't like her, what you and the council are doing is just plain wrong, and I'm not going to be part of it. I also won't allow my family to be part of it. You all made your bed, and now, you have to lie in it whether you like it or not."

"But …"

"No. I'm not going to have anything to do with this and neither is my family."

"Come on, Marissa. We're friends. I need your help."

"A friend wouldn't put a friend in this situation. A friend wouldn't try and use a friend like you are. When I heard you were elected mayor, I thought it was a really good thing. When we talked at the reunion, you were excited and had a lot of ideas. You wanted to shake things up and change how things were done. Now, you're just another politician. That's really sad."

"I couldn't agree more."

Marissa turned and saw an older woman approach them. "Mrs. Henry, it's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you too, Marissa. It's also good to see that all of your success hasn't changed you. You still have the same fire, heart, and beliefs that I remember. My son would do well to remember what he used to believe in."

"Mom …"

"Fitzwilliam Bennett Henry, we've talked about this, and you know how I feel about what you were going to do, and apparently did."

Marissa glanced between the mother and son, and decided that now was perfect time to make her exit. "I'm going to go and meet back up with my family."

Mrs. Henry nodded. "I hope you all have a good evening and that you enjoy your time back here. I also hope to see you around. From what I saw, you have a lovely family."

"Thank you. I'm sure I'll see you around. When I do, I'd love to introduce you to them."

"That's very sweet of you, and thank you. Now, I'm going to have a few words with my son."

/

"Marissa, are you okay?"

The redhead turned and smiled. "Hi, Caleb. Yes, I am. I don't think I can say the same for Fitz however."

Caleb saw the mayor standing in silence while an older woman looked to be giving him an earful. "Who is that?"

"That would be his mother. She wanted to have a few words with him."

"I think it's more than a few words."

"Yeah. I almost feel sorry for him, almost. So, Jessica sent you over to check on me?" Marissa asked, but she already knew the answer.

Caleb chuckled as the pair walked away from the mother and son and towards their group. "I didn't think I was that obvious."

"You're not really. I just know Jessica pretty well."

"Hmmm, it would seem she knows you really well too. She said you would know. Jessica was just worried. You were over there a while, and it was starting to look a little heated."

"Well, I'll be honest. He did start to tick me off."

"About?" Caleb actually already had a pretty good idea about why Marissa had started to get mad because he had managed to catch a few snippets of what had been said between her and the mayor.

Marissa shook her head. "It doesn't matter any longer. I took care of it, and the matter is settled."

Caleb wasn't surprised by her answer. He knew her well enough to know that she would brush it off and keep it to herself, at least for the moment. The odds were extremely good that she would tell Bianca later in private, but not now and in public because Marissa wouldn't want to upset her wife or ruin their evening. Caleb knew though that the redhead wouldn't tell Erica. She was extremely protective of her mother-in-law and would never exploit their relationship for any personal gain, nor would she ever allow someone else to exploit it. "I'm glad to hear that."

As she scanned the crowd, Marissa didn't see her wife. "Do you know where Bianca is?"

"Oh, Danny needed to be changed so Cory took her someplace where that could be taken care of. They've been gone a few minutes."

Marissa nodded her understanding. "Okay. We should probably start rounding our crew up. It's almost time for the tree lighting."

"We'll go stake out a spot for everyone, and the kids can come with us." Jo offered.

"I tell you what. Everyone else just go on ahead. I'll stay here and wait for Bianca, Danny, and Cory, and we'll find you."

"Are you sure, Red?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, Kendall."

/

With that, everyone headed off towards the large Christmas tree located in the town square. They were only gone a minute or two before the missing members of their party returned.

"Where is everyone?" Bianca asked as Danny reached for his redheaded mother.

"The tree lighting is going to be starting soon so they went get us a good spot. Someone seems pretty happy."

"A clean diaper and a bottle always does the trick." Bianca chuckled.

"So, what did Fitz want?" Cory asked.

Marissa rolled her eyes and groaned. "I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to enjoy the rest of our evening." The redhead noticed the other two women scanning the crowd. "Shelly's not there. A couple of her friends drug her away right before you got back."

They made their way through the gathering crowd while Marissa carried Danny and Bianca pushed their son's stroller.

"You saw her?" Cory asked.

"Yeah, I did. I saw her after I got done talking with Fitz. She didn't say or do anything, did she, B?"

"No, don't worry. She didn't." Bianca assured her wife. "Oh, there's Zach."

"And my little man." Cory smiled as her son started running their way having seen his mother. "I better get him before he runs into someone."

Bianca reached out to halt Marissa so they could have a quick word in private. "Are you okay?"

Marissa sighed. "I'm still a little ticked off at Fitz, but I'm good for the most part."

"You'll tell me what he wanted?"

"You know that I will, but later when we're alone in our room. Okay?"

"Okay." Satisfied with her wife's answer, Bianca leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Mom! Ma!"

"We're being summoned."

"That we are. Come on. We'll watch this and then head back to Miller's."