Ryan, Jenny, Joelle, and Emilie found Alexandra in the kitchen first. The rest of the adult members of the family were elsewhere. But it amused this group in particular that Alexis and Bellamy didn't see they were being watched.

Even from a distance.

Sighing happily, Jenny said to Alexandra, "She looks really content."

"Uh-huh." Ryan agreed. "I also see it."

Turning to Alexandra, Joelle added her bit. "Alexis is for sure a keeper. I adore her."

Emilie patted Alexandra on the shoulder. "She's even more beautiful than you said."

Pleased by their kind words, Alexandra was beginning to feel bashful. "I'm glad all of you like her already."

Joelle gently amended, "We love her already."

"Wow. Thank you."

Joelle then turned to Jenny. "I think you know what to do."

Jenny's eyes lit up mischievously. "Oh, yes. One moment…"

And she left the room.

"What is happening?" Alexandra bleated for the first time that night.

Her brother smirked. "Word is, you forgot what 'initiative' means. Jenny and Hurricane Sassy are going to introduce Alexis to the next round of people."

"Okay." Alexandra saw her big brother's logic. "Doing it in stages is only fair. Our family is huge. And at best... we're a madhouse."

"Yes. Exactly." Ryan gave her a gentle push in the direction of the kitchen table. "Go sit."

'Extremely amused' was Alexis' next mood. Introduction time. She knew this was coming.

Bellamy remained seated there she was. But Jenny sat on Alexis' other side. Next to her was Emilie. And Joelle squeezed herself on to her sister's chair. These four arranged themselves on this half of the table for Alexis' benefit.

On the other side were the three who had married into the family. Each excited. Curious.

Alexandra stood off to the side to watch.

None of them noticed that Horatio and Zadie had returned from changing outfits just in time to see this moment happen.

"Okay." Alexis was telling the people opposite her once introductions were had. "I remember who is married to who. But let me see if I can get all your names right."

She pointed to each woman in turn as she went down the line.

"Bijoux—with an x, Maia—but with an i, and Iris... like the goddess of the rainbow. Did I get it right?"

Bijoux nodded. "Yes. Very good. Oh, no..."

Her gaze had fallen on Jenny. She bore a 'cat who at the canary' expression. Alexis found Jenny's continual mischievousness endearing.

"What it?" she said to her.

As cool as she could, Jenny responded, "Minus you... I know fantastic blackmail-type tales regarding everyone in this part of the kitchen."

Emilie looked sharply at her before Alexis could begin to formulate a response. "What?! How?"

"My husband talks."

Emilie, Bellamy, Joelle, Alexandra, Bijoux, Maia, and Iris turned to the detective as one as they shrieked, "KEVIN!"

But his protest was very swift. "It isn't news that Joelle Hope talks more!"

The accusers then shifted to their leader, calling her out by her moniker. "SASSY!"

But Joelle only shrugged. "We all know I'm not even sorry."

Both Emilie and Bellamy muttered together, "Knucklehead…"

Zadie availed them of her presence by moving forward so they'd see her. "Okay—I think Alexis has had enough of this version of baptismal fire, don't you? And the food is ready."

Everyone migrated towards the main dining room at the sound of the matriarch's pointed tone.

But she pulled Alexis to the side. "What do you think so far?"

"Zadie, I'm in love with all of it, but... how has no one brought up my family? The one I was born into?"

"You mean because they're an assortment of public figures?"

"Yeah. That."

Zadie said gently, "Horatio and I figured out who your mother is. Tell me the honest truth: are you even comfortable with saying her name?"

Alexis shook her head. "Only with Allie. Is that weird?"

"Not at all. But so noted. Horatio and I won't say her name unless," the older woman rapped her knuckles against a wooden countertop. "It becomes unavoidable."

Alexis was touched. "Wow..."

"Horatio and I also know who your dad is. But it did not take long for us to figure things out about Martha and Kate. Does this put you in the spotlight by default?"

"Yes. And I don't like it that much anymore." admitted Alexis. "But Kevin, Jenny, and now Allie and Bette have been part of my world before tonight. Zadie... Am I a bad person for want to disassociate from my family's fame?"

"No. It shows maturity that you can even have this thought process." mused Zadie. "By the way: Horatio and I didn't name names, but we told the rest of the adults to just be cool if they connect the dots about who your family is. Now it seems they've chosen on their own to go the 'we won't mention it if she doesn't' route."

Alexis' bottom lip wobbled. "I was not expecting any of that. Wow. Thank you. And I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Zadie hugged Alexis before turning her towards the dining room. "I see a spot between Alexandra and Bellamy now. Seems it's reserved just for you."

Alexis was quick to join them.

Alexis was introduced to the rest of the Ryan grandchildren over the course of dinner.

But... The elephant in the room was not brought up until after the meal. During an adults-only Scrabble match.

Emilie said to her youngest sibling, "Allie-kins, are you and Alexis going out?"

But Bellamy hissed at her, "I thought you were smart!"

Alexis laughed at them both. "To answer your question, Emilie, yes. "

"FINALLY!" crowed Joelle, Emilie, Bijoux, Maia, and Iris as one.

They then proceeded to literally put money on the table. So did Kevin, Jenny, and Bellamy. For good measure.

This all happened so fast that Alexandra's only response was to snort into her drink from surprise.

"Really?" she sputtered. "All of you had a bet on us?"

Jenny confessed, "Guilty."

"Okay," Alexandra said dryly. "But who started it?"

Emilie blurted, "Still Jenny."

"Ha." Joelle said to Bellamy as she added an extra twenty to the pile. "Told you Em would out her."

But Alexandra put her hands into a time-out signal. "But Jenny, when did you start to really put the pieces together?"

"Remember, not long after the hospital, when you asked me to mind Bette do you could grocery shop?"

"Oh..." the memory came back to Alexandra.

"Well?" interjected Alexis. "What happened?"

Jenny told her, "Bette would not stop talking about you. Seems observing yours and Allie's kindness to each other made an impression. The wager came about shortly thereafter."

"I officially withdrew after you recognized me at the bank. But... I am not without heart." Bellamy said as added a ten dollar bill to the amassing cash.

"I stayed out of it until today, since I saw how you two were at the bakery. And I wanted to hear it confirmed." Joelle contributed. "Still... I really did have twenty on Emilie outing Jenny as the starter of the bet."

Nearby, the only Ryan brother said, "And I just want to round things out."

He added still more money to the pile. So did Jenny.

"This is from us." Horatio added a hundred dollar bill to the pile. "I must confess that Zadie and I had our own bet that someone would ask the question during Scrabble."

Alexis was next very startled then the jackpot landed before her. "It's... All for me?"

Bijoux enlightened her, "The only real rule we have about bets is that the winnings have to go to something beneficial. All of us thought it could go towards the baby's nursery. Or wardrobe."

Bellamy said kindly, "Don't think that this is all the doting we'll do. Just consider it a head start."

Farewells began after Scrabble.

Alexis, Alexandra, and Lilibet were the only guests remaining. But Horatio and Zadie were pleased. Time for a new round of joy.

Everyone settled in the living room.

"Alexis," began Zadie. "We noticed at the bakery that you are quite skilled with all you made. Both of us are impressed. Majorly."

Alexis beamed at the unexpected compliment. Besides the dinosaur cake, she'd also helped make a variety of breads, muffins, and cupcakes. Everything had turned out perfectly.

"Wow. Thank you." she told Zadie. "I've been baking with my dad in some fashion since I was Bette's age. And… I've always considered working in a bakery."

"Funny that you should say that." Zadie told Alexis. "A kitchen position has just opened up at The Rolling Pin. We haven't advertised it because we thought of you first. Alexis, the position is yours. If you want it."

Alexis' night had been completely perfect so far. To say she felt surprised by the Ryans' was an understatement.

But she turned to Alexandra, who was cuddling their sleeping child.

"I had nothing to do with this." Alexandra told her adamantly.

So Alexis turned back to the older couple. "What about school? I've already opted live at home and turn to online classes."

Horatio said calmly, "No problem. We can make it work for you, just like when Alexandra carried Lilibet. Family takes care of family."

Alexis knew that such excellent fortune didn't always fall out of the sky.

Her usual go-to for this kind of crossroad was to talk it out with her loft family.

But because she had a baby to think of, it was all different now. Here was one more 'growing up fast' moment.

"Okay." she finally said with a smile. "When do I start?"

She and Horatio proceeded to talk logistics.

Then Alexandra left Lilibet with Alexis after Zadie asked for her help with something on the upper floor.

She said upon their being alone in the master bedroom, "What did you need help with?"

"Oh, nothing." Zadie plucked up a small velvet box from atop her bureau. "That was just a guise to not raise the suspicion of your girlfriend."

Now Alexandra was already intrigued. "Oh? Suspicion about what?"

"Everyone in the family knows you've been talking about Alexis for two years. And that you exchange presents on birthdays and Valentine's Day and Christmas. But tonight… We all definitely saw the love you two convey for each other. Just by looking."

Zadie studied her offspring.

"But tell me right now, Alexandra Joy: do you and Alexis want to get married only because of your children?"

"Uh-uh." said Alexandra. "She only just found out about Bette at the café. And we fell for each other the first day we met, but just didn't talk about our feelings until recently."

"Does it matter that her family is New York City elite... or that we're not?"

Alexandra shook her head. "No. Alexis' family is really wonderful. I love them. Bette loves them. Kate, Rick, and Martha treat us like their friends."

"But not because you two looked after Alexis on her day from hell?"

Once more, Alexandra didn't flinch. "Nope. Remember how I told you we ended up spending the night during the last 'End of Times' downpour?"

Zadie nodded. "Mhm."

"They had presents for us. But they really took Bette into consideration."

"Oh? And how's that?"

Alexandra smiled fondly. "Kate bought Bette a booster seat, and a tall step stool. They're for Bette to have when we come visiting. Kate also enlisted Bette's help in making dessert."

"How sweet. Does Kate have small kids?"

Alexandra shook her head. "No. But she loves them. And Alexis would love to be a big sister..."

"Yes?" prompted the matriarch as she noticed her offspring recall a different detail.

"We played Scrabble that night." Alexandra explained. "Rick let Bette sit with him while it happened. And he told her how the rules work. Even gave her her own rack and tiles."

"I love what you're telling me. Did Bette get on well with Martha?"

"Oh, yes. Martha must've learned on her own that Bette loves fairytales because she regaled her in a re-telling of Jack And The Beanstalk. Bette was riveted."

Quite bowled over, all Zadie could say was, "Wow…"

"Lightning was in the sky that night. Thunder, too. Did you and pop see it out here?"

"Did we ever. I take it that it was worse in town?"

"Uh-huh. The windows even shook." Alexandra said gruffly. "But anyway... Bette clung to Alexis for comfort because she was the closest to her. I was on the other side of the room. But the absolute kicker? We lost power."

Zadie winced. "How did Lilibet and Alexis handle it? I've already seen that the little one trusts her."

"Once I checked in with Bette, I just encouraged Alexis to the first thing she thought of. You know how I believe in learning by hands-on experiences." Alexandra's features took on a fond expression. "She asked Bette if she wanted to look at books under a blanket fort in her bedroom."

"Your daughter loves books. I take it she said yes?"

"Mhm. Bette also thanked her. And she called her 'mommy,' like it's an everyday thing. But Alexis just sat with Lilibet on her bed and held her until she was calm enough to think about fort construction."

Alexandra steadied herself so she didn't start crying.

"The events of tonight have shown that Alexis is at home with us as we are with her, but… The way her family loves Bette and I…"

Zadie realized what Alexandra was aiming for. "You could never be with someone who doesn't love both of you like Alexis and her family do?"

"Exactly. This is all exactly what was supposed to happen, from the first day I realized Bette was there." Alexandra rubbed her eyes in an effort to stave off her tears. "I had to go through everything I have to realize that the person of my dreams has been beside me all along."

Zadie hugged her daughter and then gave her a kind smile. "Your father and I have been rooting for you two, this whole time."

"What?" Alexandra steadied herself more so she could look her mother in the eyes. "How have you never said anything?!"

"Because we wanted to see where things would go. By themselves. We also expect to meet Alexis' family soon, but here you are."

Zadie finally pressed the black velveteen box into Alexandra's hands.

"You have more than earned this."

Alexandra opened opened the box.

And was taken aback.

She was looking upon a vintage pear-cut diamond ring. Even smaller diamonds were set into the band. Alexandra could tell that the piece had been polished recently, for the diamonds were even twinkling in the room's lamplight.

But… Alexandra also knew something else.

She looked back to Zadie with a bigger jolt. "This is your engagement ring!"

"Yes. Technically. I've been keeping it, just in case anyone ever asked for it. But alas… "

The older woman shrugged her shoulders but motioned for Alexandra to put the box in her pocket.

"You're my last baby. And the love of your life is downstairs, holding your child who wants for nothing, while in talks to join our family business. That's more than a little amazing now."

Zadie pointed to Alexandra's pocket.

"Just promise me that you and Alexis will save that ring in the future, for whichever one of your kids gets married first."

"Okay." Alexandra's composure was beginning to slip because of the heavy emotion. "I promise you we will…"

But Zadie could see her struggling. And she swept her into a hug most warm.

"I've got you, daughter of mine." murmured Zadie. "It's all okay. Don't worry."