Chapter 71

The week the Spencer-Rivera clan returned from San Francisco was hectic to say the least. On top of the usual business of the holiday season at The Beacon Springfield, Lewis construction had been out to the farmhouse twice to make sure everything was in order to start construction on the barn the week following Thanksgiving, Emma had a play at school, Natalia and Ava had to complete Rafe's office, and Olivia and Natalia had to plan their visit to The Beacon Chicago to check on progress with the renovations.

The family was busy beyond belief, on top of it all, Natalia wanted to start planning their wedding. Olivia was on edge trying to hold it together. She knew the next few months were going to be crazy, she just hadn't realized exactly how crazy until they were in the thick of it. Not for the first time, she sat in her office wondering if she had taken on too much. Maybe buying another hotel was not the best idea when she was planning on marrying Natalia in just over a month. Maybe she should have waited until after the wedding to discuss the barn renovations, Ava would have understood. The stress of it all was all wearing on Olivia.

She felt good health wise, but she was beginning to tire quickly. By Friday, she was about at the end of her rope as she prepared to take off with her family for Emma's school play. Natalia entered her office and immediately noticed how run-down Olivia looked. She went to the far side of the desk and placed herself on Olivia's lap.

"Are you okay baby?" She asked as she placed a delicate kiss to Olivia's lips.

Olivia enveloped Natalia in her arms. Hugging her against her chest and kissing her cheek. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look tired is all."

"I'm fine sweetheart. It's just been a crazy week."

"I know. I can't believe how much we have going on right now. But I'm excited. We have our entire family here, and Monday we get to go see how construction is going on our new hotel., and, in just over a month, I will be Mrs. Natalia Maria Spencer-Rivera."

"Mmm." Olivia hummed. Nuzzling into the side of Natalia's neck. "I like the sound of that."

Natalia pulled back a little so she could look into Olivia's eyes. "I know it's insane right now, but it will all be worth it."

"I know. I'm just ready for it to all be done. Sometimes I think I made a mistake, buying another hotel so close to the holidays and knowing I was going to ask you to marry me on New Year's. What in the world was I thinking?"

"You were thinking that your dream for franchising The Beacon was in you grasp and you, being Olivia freakin' Spencer, could handle it all. And you are doing a wonderful job honey. But are you sure you're okay? We don't need to go see Rick?"

"No baby, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired is all. It's a lot right now. We haven't even started to plan our wedding and we have to go to Emma's play today, Chicago on Monday, then we have Thanksgiving Thursday, and then construction on the barn starting, and we haven't even discussed a honeymoon. It's just a lot."

"I know, but we can handle it, together. Like we always do."

"Thanks honey. You're still my freaking superhero."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I am your partner, in all aspects. You and I can handle anything life throws at us. As long as we do it together."

"Unfortunately, life didn't have much to do with all this. This was all me. Typical Olivia trying to take on too much."

"It's not too much babe. We just need to take it one thing at a time. It's all going to work out. So, let's focus on the here and now. We need to get a move on it so we aren't late for Emma's play. After that we can think about the next thing on our plate. Okay?"

Olivia's face softened instantly. Natalia has always had a way of soothing Olivia. She had herself all worked up about everything going on, and all she needed was Natalia to come and make it all sound so simple for her to calm. She already felt less tired. Natalia was right. One thing at a time was the only way they were going to make it through the next few months.

"Okay. Thank you."

Natalia kissed her again as she stood from her lap. Taking Olivia's hand and pulling her up with her. The two made their way to Ava's office and then to the kitchen for Rafe so they could all get to Emma's school.

Saturday morning Natalia was in the kitchen finishing breakfast when Olivia appeared fully dressed purse in hand. She spun from the stove and wrapped her arms around Olivia's neck, kissing her soundly. "Mmm. And where might you be headed so early on a Saturday?"

"I'm gonna go meet up with Doris and then I need to grab a few things from my office for our visit to Chicago."

"Oh? Why are you meeting Doris?"

"I just need to address a few things with her. I won't be gone long." She kissed Natalia again and then headed out the door.

Olivia walked into Company and quickly found Doris seated at a booth with coffee in hand and one waiting for Olivia. "Good morning madam mayor."

"Morning. Nice that you finally made time for me. What can I do for you Olivia?"

"Yeah, sorry. Things are a little crazy right now."

"I heard Ava moved back. You must be thrilled."

"I am. I'm so happy to have my daughter back where she belongs, it's just added a little more to my already full plate."

"I can imagine. So, what do you need from me?"

"Why do you assume I need something Wolfe? Can't I just want to have coffee with my friend?"

"You could, but I know you Spencer. So, how can I help?"

"Okay, I do need something. Two things actually."

"I should have guessed. Alright, what is it?"

"Well, you know Natalia and I are going to fly to Iowa and get married on new Year's…"

"Yes, I know that, now, what do you need from me?"

"Well, we want to have a ceremony here the same day. I'd like you to officiate."

Doris was taken aback. Although she and Olivia had forged a friendship, she hadn't expected that. "I…I would love to." She stuttered.

"Good. That's not all."

"What else Spencer?"

"I need you to plan my wedding." Olivia quickly blurts out.

"What? You…you want me to plan your wedding?"

"Well, yes. I trust you Doris. And with everything else we have going on, I just…I don't see how we will be able to plan a wedding too. I want it to be perfect for Natalia, and her and I trying to squeeze wedding planning in between running one hotel and renovating another, on top of renovating the barn for Ava, and the holidays, I just don't think we can pull together the wedding she deserves."

"Well, you do have a lot going on, but Olivia really. Me? Come on. I have no idea what Natalia would want. Or how to plan a wedding"

"That's why I'm asking Blake to help you. Between you and Blake I know you can throw together the best lesbian wedding this town has ever seen."

"Olivia, I…"

"Please Doris. You are one of very few people I trust. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think you were capable, and you're, well you're my best friend, and I've never had one of those before. Isn't this what they do, help each other with this stuff?"

"I suppose. I wouldn't know, you are my first best friend as well."

"Well then, let's start the whole best friend thing with this. You plan my wedding and in return I'll let you throw me a bachelorette party with plenty of strippers for yourself."

Doris chuckles. "Oh, so now it's a wedding and a bachelorette party?"

"Well, the party is my gift to you. You can have several young women half naked in your lap under the guise of it being for me."

"Oh, so this is a favor for me?"

"Exactly. So, will you do it?"

"Yes, I'll plan your wedding."

Just then Blake was coming in the front door for her shift. Olivia smiled cheekily as she stood to go greet her at the bar. "Hey Blakie."

"Well good morning Olivia. Where's your better half at this morning?"

"She's at home with the kids. I'm here having coffee with Doris."

"Oh, well that's nice."

"Yeah. Um, can you bring us a refill on coffee? I have a favor to ask of you."

"Sure. Give me just a minute." Blake turned to go into the kitchen for a moment and Olivia rejoined Doris at their table.

Moments later, Blake appeared with fresh coffee. "So, what can I do for you Olivia?"

Olivia took a sip of her coffee before meeting Blake's eyes. "Well, I uh, I need a favor."

"So, you said. What do you need?"

"I was hoping you might be willing to help Doris with a small task over the next few weeks."

"What Spencer here is trying to ask," Doris pointedly looked at Olivia before returning her gaze to Blake. "Is, would you be available to help me plan her and Natalia's wedding?"

"Yeah that." Olivia said.

"Really? You want me to help plan your wedding? I'm honored. But doesn't Natalia want to do that?"

"She does, but we have so much going on right now. She's trying to hide it, but I can tell she's stressed, and I know she's worried that the wedding is going to take a back seat to everything else. It seems every time we try to sit down and plan something, the phone rings, or one of the kids needs us. I want this to be perfect for her. I know some of what she wants, but I know you guys are friends, so I thought you might be able to help make it everything she dreams of."

"Of course, of course I'll help. So um, I heard you guys got engaged again, but when's the wedding?"

"New Year's. We're going to use the Spaulding jet to fly to Des Moines, Iowa for a legal ceremony at the courthouse with just the kids. Then we want to have a ceremony here with all of our friends and family."

"Wow, that's soon. So have you done anything?"

"Not really. We've been so busy. I don't know if you've heard but Ava moved back. She's staying with us at the farmhouse and we are renovating the barn for her. We also have the renovations on our new hotel in Chicago, plus the holidays. We do have dresses though. It's the one thing we did when we were engaged the first time. I wanted to get new ones so nothing from our past came into our future, but Natalia convinced me it was okay since neither of us has seen the others dress."

"Well, that's good. One less thing to do."

"Is that all you have Olivia?" Doris asked.

"Yes Wolfe. We've been busy. I know we want the kiss to be right at midnight. I also know that Natalia will want orange Daisies. You're going to officiate. We're gonna have the reception at The Beacon. Other than that we have no plans. We don't even know where to hold the ceremony."

"Well, we can work on that. You've given us a small start." Blake said optimistically. "Um, what about colors, do you want orange as one of your colors? "

"Um, we haven't thought about any of that. I know Natalia has a list on her computer at work. She thinks I don't know about it. I can get that and email it to Doris for you. I trust you two will be able to make this amazing. Emma is going to be the flower girl, Rafe is walking Natalia down the aisle, Ava is going to be my maid of honor, and I'm trying to get my brother Sam here to walk me down the aisle. If not, I was thinking of asking Buzz or maybe just standing down there and waiting to watch for my beautiful bride walk towards me."

"Really Spencer. When did you become such a sap?" Doris said with her usually sarcasm.

"Oh, you're just jealous." Olivia countered with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I think you should definitely be walked down the aisle. You can go first if you want to watch Natalia, but every girl should be walked down the aisle." Blake interjected.

"I agree." Olivia looked at her watch. "Okay, I have to get home but thanks so much. I really appreciate this." She gave Doris a hug and a kiss on the cheek and waved to Blake as she tossed a five on the table and left.

She returned to the farmhouse to find it eerily quiet. She walked into the kitchen, removing her coat, and tossing her purse on the table. She walked through the house and up the stairs, seeing and hearing no sign of her family. After checking both Ava and Emma's rooms to find them empty, she headed to the master bedroom, finding it empty as well. Closing the door as she stepped back into the hall, Olivia was confused. Natalia hadn't mentioned going anywhere and she hadn't called or text. She went back down the stairs and into the kitchen to retrieve her cell phone from her purse and call her fiancé.

Upon entering the kitchen, Olivia went to her purse and pulled out her phone. Just as she was pulling up Natalia's number she heard the distinct sound of Emma's laugh coming up the basement steps. Setting her phone on the table, Olivia opened the door leading to Rafe's apartment and could hear the sweet sounds of her family all laughing together.

She lightly walked down the stairs, trying not to be heard. As she reached the bottom step, she leaned against the wall. Taking a moment to enjoy the sight before her. Natalia, Rafe, Ava, and Emma were all piled on the sectional sofa playing Mario Kart on the Wii. Emma was giggling like crazy watching Natalia repeatedly drive off the edge of the course. Her laughter causing her to do the same thing. Ava and Rafe were both trying not to laugh as they focused on the game, competing for first and second place. Just as Rafe crossed the finish line, Olivia flung herself over the side of the sofa, flying over where Natalia was seated and landing almost completely on top of Rafe, with just one leg landing across Ava and Emma.

Natalia screamed not expecting Olivia to come flying over her like that. Rafe and Ava quickly recovered and held her down for Emma to tickle her. Once Natalia came out of her shock, she joined their youngest in tickling her love. Olivia was laughing so hard she felt like she was gonna pee her pants.

"Ok..ay…okay…stop…I'm..go…nna…pee." She panted out through her laughter.

Rafe and Ava met eyes before simultaneously rolling her off their laps and onto the floor. All five of them were laughing an earnest. Soaking in the simple moment of peace to just be together and enjoy each other.

Olivia pulled herself up off the floor and bent over Natalia, placing one hand on either side of her head against the back of the couch. "I missed you." She uttered, before closing the gap and kissing her.

A loud "Ewe." Could be heard from all three of their children. Olivia pulled back chuckling. She flopped on the couch with her head in Natalia's lap and her legs outstretched on one side of the sectional while the three kids wiggled back into their places on the other side.

"So, am I next?" Olivia asked once she completely caught her breath.

"Yeah mommy, you can play for Ma. She's really bad at this game." Emma proclaimed.

"Hey!" Natalia said, raising a hand to her chest in mock hurt.

"Well, you kinda are Ma." Rafe added.

"Yeah Natalia, you spent more time being fished off the side of the track then actually racing." Ava commented.

"Fine." Natalia responded with a smile. "How about Olivia takes my place and I'll go make us up some lunch." She handed Olivia her steering wheel with a kiss. Again, met with a chorus of 'ewes' from their children.

"Alright, enough of that. If you two wanna play kissy face, go do it in your own house." Rafe joked.

Olivia sat up, leaning against Natalia. "Why don't you stay and watch for a few before you go make lunch. I missed you."

"I can do that." Natalia smiled. Kissing Olivia's cheek and placing a hand on her thigh.

"Okay, let's do this." Olivia said, looking towards her children.

The family played for a while longer, joking at how bad Olivia was at the game. They questioned if Olivia or Natalia was worse. To find out, the kids decided that the two of them needed to race by themselves and see who won. Olivia came in seventh and Natalia in eighth. The two last places. After breaking for lunch, they switched games to Dance, Dance Revolution. The kids were shocked that Olivia was actually pretty good, only being beat by Emma. Olivia collapsed onto the couch and the kids decided it was break time. All of them going to grab a snack and a drink from Rafe's kitchen. Returning to tease one another while they waited for Olivia to catch her breath so they could move on to Wii bowling.

The Spencer-Rivera family was enjoying a rare day to do nothing. They all knew there was plenty they should be doing, but no one dared mentioned it. This was their time. Olivia had once said she would do it all differently next time, and now she was. This was her chance to get it right. Even when she realized that she forgot to stop at The Beacon and grab her much needed paperwork, she decided it could wait. This was much more important.

This wasn't just a chance for her to get a relationship right, this was her chance to have a family. One built on love and togetherness. Yes they still had to work, and yes the holidays were fast approaching as well as their wedding. They had more to do then time to do it, but today, the only thing that mattered was this. The sound of Emma's laughter, Ava and Rafe picking on each other and playfully swatting at one another. Natalia's arms wrapped around her as they watched their children wrestle next to them.

Tomorrow the real world would knock again, and Olivia would answer. She would go to The Beacon and get all of her paperwork together while Natalia and Rafe attended the new church. She would email Doris Natalia's list for the wedding. She would help Emma with her homework and talk to Rafe about him taking his position as executive assistant to Ava after the wedding when Natalia officially becomes co-owner and they announced their company. She would take the time to talk with Ava about how she's feeling being back in Springfield.

Tomorrow she and Natalia would fall back into their routine. Natalia would come home from church and make lunch and clean the house. She would double check Emma's homework even though Olivia did it with her. She would sit with Olivia and go over everything they had to do in Chicago. She would make sure her two eldest children were okay and not in need of her for anything. She would make dinner and eat with her family. She would crawl in bed with Olivia and the two would prepare themselves for the busy week ahead.

Yes, Olivia and Natalia would return to the chaos, and busy, and crazy, and nonstop work and one problem after another, but today, right now, they would simply live. They would let everything that needed to be completed fade away. They would allow themselves to pretend the world wasn't beating down their door. Right now, this day, with their children playing happily together, and both women content in each other's arms, the world could wait.

Natalia smiled down at Olivia who was resting her head against her shoulder, starring at their children with the same look Natalia herself had. She knew that she and Olivia were thinking the same thing, this is why we do it. This is why we fought and clawed our way to be together. This is why we work tireless hours. This is why we deal with the crazy and calm the hectic. This is why we wake up every day just as tired as when we went to sleep the night before and get up and walk-through life. This, right here, these moments when the world falls away and it's just them, tucked in their own little corner of the world. This is why they made it through every obstacle life through at them their entire lives. The wide smiles on the three faces in front of them. The happiness enveloping all five of them for just a little while. The warmth of the woman each of them was holding. This is why we do it.

Natalia reached out and placed a finger under Olivia's chin, tilting her head up so they could lock eyes. What she saw was exactly what she had expected. Looking into those emerald, green eyes, she saw the bliss she herself was feeling being reflected back at her. She bent her head and covered Olivia's mouth with her own. The children mocked disgust in the background, but the women ignored them. This kiss was for them after all. It was yet another promise two hearts were making to each other. The promise to always strive for these moments. To never forget why they do it all. This kiss was for the purity of worry-free days when they could enjoy the life and family they were building together.