"Untle Ownin pait wif me and Hapa momma?" Charlotte asked when she finished her dinner. She had been patiently waiting, and really hoping to be able to paint with her uncle because she didn't get to see him all the time like she got to see her Uncle Johnathan.

Casey looked over at her brother who looked absolutely drained, but knew he would do anything for Charlotte, "Yes baby, you've been very patient—I think Uncle Owen would love to paint with you for a little bit before bath time."

Charlotte squealed and kicked her little feet in her highchair, as did Harper. The baby didn't do everything Charlotte did, but they tried to include her with as much as possible. Harper was a big observer—she loved to watch Charlotte, whether that was sitting in her mothers arms to watch, or sitting in her rockaroo and watching; it was the cutest thing—she'd smile, laugh, coo, and babble at Charlotte. But Harper would also finger paint, pick up some of the toys they shared, sit with a pacifier in her mouth while holding a block or toy staring at Charlotte, and she's starting to rock herself back and forth to crawl—not quite yet, but she's getting there. Luckily, the house is baby proofed already, but Casey has already ordered a cute playpen for the living room to enclose the toy area just incase either woman needs to run into the other room, neither child could get out and hurt themselves.

"Yay! Hapa we get to pait wif Untle Ownin!" Charlotte squealed and Charlotte babbled.

Casey looked at Owen and said a silent 'thank you' to which he nodded. It had been a very emotional day, and there was much neither of them told each other yet, but knew the other was extremely tired. "Alright pipsqueak where does momma keep the paints?"

"I can get them Owen," Alex said, getting up from the table.

"I'll do the dishes," Liz said, standing up to clear the plates, Alexander already helping.

"We'll take care of everything. You spend time as a family—Liz and I will clean up. Please don't mind us at all."

"Thank you, both," Casey and Owen said at the same time. They were very appreciative of them, being there for them, helping out—of course they would have been able to take care of things had they not have been there, but it was extremely helpful to have them there. Liz and Alexander have not only helped with the kids, but Alex as well. They are the best in-laws one could ask for, and are more than that: they are the parents Casey never had. They are also the best grandparents Charlotte and Harper could ever ask for.

Alex set up the paints at the kitchen island, thankful for the fact it was so incredibly large—Charlotte got herself into her special stool, and Casey put Harper into her fast table chair then sat next to her; Owen sat on the other side of Harper, Charlotte next to him, a little girl on either side of him. Alex was on the other side of Charlotte—and then the girls started to paint, Owen 'helping' them both as they giggled and babbled away. The kitchen was filled with laugher, and love.


2859 miles away, love was not filling the air. Chase Novak was at work, being three hours behind in Seattle means his day wasn't near over yet—they had traced his phone to get his exact location, although Owen was able to provide everything they needed to know before he left for Casey's. Once Richard Nealson admitted Chase's involvement, it didn't matter if Chase was at work, they were taking him out, full tactical team and all.

Chase Novak was apprehended on the spot—ranting and raving, telling the Feds they had made the biggest mistake of their life, how they 'have nothing on me', 'I have friends in high places', 'I'll be out by dinner', 'You're going to pay for embarrassing me like this in front of MY people'. Everyone who worked at the Fortune 500 nearly cheered as they watched Chase Novak escorted out by a full tactical team and a group of federal agents as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Once he was in the back of the squad car, he turned into a stone cold bastard, "My whore of a lesbian daughter made this happen didn't she? She took money that should be MINE! SHE DID THIS TO ME! If she didn't take MY company, and put ME and MY wife through all this pain, I wouldn't have had to do this! If she just spread her legs for a man like a good bitch, this wouldn't have happened! Fucking cunt ruined our lives! I should have killed her myself. Fucking Cassidy can't even do that right," he shook his head, little did he know, Cragen, Arthur and Tim were listening in on the phone that was mounted to the squad car—they didn't know if the man would talk, but if he did, they wanted everything to be recorded for proof, and that, they were getting. Everything was being listened to, and recorded to save Casey from having to testify if at all possible.

"All Cassidy had to do was kill Cassandra and take those girls, I was going to raise them right. Hell I was going to get rid of Cassidy after she brought them to me anyways," Chase laughed. "I should have done it myself, she never did anything right since learning Cassandra was pregnant. She became obsessed with her—about Cassandra's perfect life. About the life she made for herself, how she did it all by herself, without either of us, fucking bitch didn't need us. WE GAVE HER LIFE! AND WE CAN TAKE IT FROM HER TOO! THAT FUCKING NO GOOD WHORE!" Chase was the only one in the squad car, he was going on and on by himself thinking he was talking to himself—and they were going to continue to let him hang himself.

"Cassandra this, Cassandra that, NO! I never wanted that bitch. Cassidy should have aborted her. I wanted our boys, THAT'S ALL. She was always mistake. But those girls, those girls Cassandra has, they are my princesses, I'd do good by them—they'd be my princesses. I made their rooms beautiful already, ponies, and purple I know they'll love it. Grampy loves you already and can't wait to meet you I know grammy failed to bring you to me, I'll have to make you new passports, but I will. Richard failed me too but I'll get someone else. I have friends in high places. I have friends…"

The car door swung open and Chase stopped talking, Tim had called to say that they had plenty of information—and to book him. They now knew their plans, how they did it, and to go back to the apartment where they found Cassidy to search it more thoroughly. They were also sending another team to the Novak residence in Seattle to see what they could dig up there—and another team to Richard Nealson's place. Between the three locations, they should have plenty of information to put the three away without Casey needing to testify.


Tim had worked with the FBI for over 12 years now and had seen a lot of horror—but seeing something so close to home, this was too much for him. Today he had listened to not only someone who used to be a fellow agent describe in detail the brutal rape of one his best friends baby sister, but then the lifelong abuse described in detail by both parents of the same baby sister along with the paid rape: it was too much. When he hung up the phone, Tim nearly fell into one of Cragen's chairs.

"Woah," Arthur said, trying to catch the younger man. He was the same age as Owen, and although he didn't know him well, they both knew him as a very close family friend. Since working together during the day, Tim had explaining they had grown up together since 2nd grade to high school graduation. They stayed in touch, even coming back and attending family functions, as their parents were close family friends—Tim obviously knew Casey well also and it was taking a toll on him too.

"I—I'm sorry," Tim said. "I'm okay."

"It's okay, Tim. It's been an extremely emotional day on all of us. Neither of us knew Casey as long as you have, but we've grown to love her as family, and would do anything for her. Why don't you go home and get some rest. There's nothing else we can do tonight—you did good kid," Cragen said.

Tim nodded, "Thank you, Sir. And thank you for allowing me to stay and help. I umm, can I come back tomorrow?"

"Absolutely, we will see you tomorrow."

Arthur and Cragen watched as the once confident, now drained man left the squad room then turned to look at each other, "Please tell me what I want to hear."

"Depending on what they find, Don—we'll nail them and Casey won't need to testify."


Jake had been contacted, luckily before the arrest of Chase Novak was made. But once news got out, it traveled fast because of the Novak name. Fortunately for Novak children, the Novak name was never destroyed because they provided the name with good PR due to all the giving back they did in Seattle and New York. Owen and Amelia with giving back medically—not just in the OR, but with a Emergency Clinic they opened servicing women and children and another servicing veterans; Jake gave back by making friends with everyone—to prove that he wasn't anything like Chase even when he did work at the company he owned and people realized it was true. Jake was still finding his way, he did really want to do something great in life, but he was still struggling with himself. Casey knew this, Owen knew this—and they both knew it had to do with the fact he was never comfortable with the fact he couldn't be his true self. Casey and Alex gave back by speaking for victims and their families, and providing for their own. They ran their high class French restaurants in Manhattan and the Hamptons providing great job opportunities for a ton of people including Claude, 'found' a way to have Novak and Co. pay off JJ's student loans, paid her much more than a typical secretary, Emily much more than any typical nanny, and were able to find funding for three different non-profit foster care agency's trusted by Sophie. If all that from the three siblings doesn't make up for the Novak name, what does?

Owen had text his wife and she raced over to Jake's work and pulled him out of a meeting, it was just ending anyways and this was a family emergency—she didn't feel badly, he was the boss. "Amelia what's going on?"

"We need to go, we'll talk at home."

"You're scaring me, is everyone alright? What happened?" Jake questioned, as they flew to the elevator.

"Jake, I can't answer that right now. Everyone is okay—yes, but Casey and Owen need to talk to you that's all I can say. I told them I'd drive you home, stay with you, make sure to be there with you through it all. I know I'm being a bitch but please, don't ask me any more questions," Amelia said, in her best stern mom voice.

The drive back to Jake's house was very tense to say the least, and that was never the case with those two—it was always fun when they were together. Amelia wanted to cry, and Jake didn't know what to do, but it wasn't Amelia's place for her to tell Jake what was going on. This sucks!

Once they got inside, Amelia got Jake a bottle of water and already had a sedative ready in her purse as Owen told her too but didn't take it out, not wanting to scare him. "Okay honey—let's give them a call. I'll give you privacy if you want me to, but if you want me to stay, I'll be here to."

Jake was so confused, one minute she's ready to rip my head off and now she's my best friend again? What's going on? Who died? No she said they're okay. They have to be okay. Jake took a deep breath. "Who am I supposed to call? Owen or Casey?"

"They are together…" Amelia said.

"They're WHAT? WHY? WHAT HAPPENED? WHO GOT HURT? IS IT CASEY AGAIN? LEXIE? OH MY GOD IS IT ONE OF THE BABIES? WHY AM I JUST FINDING OUT?" Jake stood up and started to pace his living room and Amelia stood up too.

"Jake, honey you need to sit down, take a deep breath, in and out," she could tell this wasn't going to work well so she took her own phone out of her pocket and called her husband herself. When Owen answered she said, "Hey babe, I'm here with Jake—are you and Case ready?"

"…"

"Great, I love you too." Amelia grabbed Jake's shoulder and pushed the taller man down onto the couch, waiting until his breathing evened out a bit, "Jake, sweetie, your brother and sister are on the phone. Do you want me to sit here with you?" Jake nodded, so Amelia sat down and handed him the phone.

"Hello?" Jake almost sounded like a little kid again, not knowing what to expect.

"Hey Jake, is Amelia still there with you?" Owen asked.

"Yeah…what happened? Did someone die?"

"No honey, nobody died," Casey's voice said through the phone. Jake was instantly relieved after hearing both his siblings speak.

"Jake, Case and I need to talk to you about something, but it isn't going to be easy to hear okay? We wish you could be here so we could tell you face to face, but unfortunately there isn't time for that."

"What is it?" Jake asked, taking Amelia's hand in his own.

"Jake, Cassidy tried to kill Casey this morning," Owen stopped as he heard Jake gasp instantly tightening his grip on Amelia's hand— "and then was planning on kidnapping the girls. Chase was in on it as well." Casey and Owen had agreed they weren't going to tell Jake about Richard Nealson—it wouldn't come out unless there would be a trial, and if there was, they would have time to tell Jake in person—if not, he didn't need to ever know.

"THOSE FUCKING—"

"Honey please," Amelia stepped in, knowing Jake was going to get himself worked up WAY too quickly.

"Jake, Cassidy has already been remanded, but we needed to speak to you now because Chase is being picked up at work most likely as we speak."

Jake burst out laughing—this was the best news ever, that fucking asshat deserves to rot in hell and Jake didn't even know the extent of what he did to Casey. Yes he knew he beat his baby sister silly as a little girl, but nothing about Richard Nealson—so this type of payback was glorious to Jake. Amelia didn't know what to make of this type of reaction. Casey and Owen were expecting either a fit of laughter, or him being stunned.

After he calmed down Jake spoke, "Serves him right, Chase has always thought he held all the fucking power and now he can rot like the scum he is. Case, I am so sorry I never protected you as a kid. God you didn't deserve all those beating and I should have saved you from him the way Owen did, but I was so scared of him. Fuck I'm such a coward, and it's an excuse, I know it is. I'll never forgive myself for that. It haunts me every night in my dreams—I see your little bruised body taking beating after beating," by now Jake was crying and Amelia felt so badly for her brother-in-law.

Casey was crying too and Owen was comforting her, they both knew Jake had these nightmares—that he went to therapy, but she never blamed him, she would never blame him. She never blamed Owen either, it wasn't their fault.

"Jake, it's not your fault. You know this, I know you do. There wasn't anything you could have done, honey. And I'm fine—I'm still here, and I love you so much."

"I love you too squish."


By the time the girls were in bed, Alex and Casey were relieved to know Chase Novak had been taken into custody as well. The squad had already gone back to search the apartment and found passports forged for the girls, along with a laptop in a suitcase where Cassidy had clothes for the girls as well. TARU was able to trace emails between her, Chase and Richard planning to murder Casey, and take the little girls back to Seattle. A lot of go between not knowing whether or not to leave Casey's dead body in her penthouse, or drag it somewhere else, but Chase said it didn't matter and he didn't care. Other emails stating how Richard would give Cassidy an FBI badge to get in, and drive her there as well while Chase stayed at home to not draw suspicion on them both.

At the Novak residence in Seattle there were baby/toddler furniture, toys, diapers, bath products, children's clothes, documents in the children's name. Richard had forged adoption papers that Chase had signed, but not Cassidy. The rooms had been done up already, dark purple wall paint (disgusting) and scary ponies (terrible). Talk about pre-meditated—no doubt about it, and nobody knew what to say. Pictures were taken, and evidence was collected. There was a lot to collect, between everything that Chase Novak has printed out on his office desk, and the two computers he had in there, it was going to take a while. But once again, the Novak name was well known—the kids more so than the parents because they were the ones who have always given back to everyone. So they would do everything they could do nail the son of a bitch.


That weekend, Owen was reluctant to go home but Casey said to go back to his family. She thanked him for everything but knew they'd be okay. She and Alex needed to move on, and so did he: they were okay. Charlotte loved having Owen there for four days, but there was nothing he could do. Richard, Cassidy and Chase were behind bars and weren't getting out. They were still sifting through all the evidence, but in the meantime, the three of them were remanded and life must go on.

Casey wanted to sit down with Emily today, Sunday, and make sure the woman was okay after everything that happened. She knew after Wednesday the brunette was a nervous wreck, which she felt terrible about because she was the cause. It wasn't the act of having to tackle an armed 'suspect', but the fear of being let go from the best job she's ever had, and that broke Casey's heart: Alex's as well. So the couple decided to take Emily out for lunch, and then bring her back to their place to see the girls. Liz and Alexander were going to feed the babies lunch, then put them down for a nap, while Alex and Casey took Emily out to lunch.

Emily was nervous, she knew Casey text her on Wednesday saying everything was okay and that her and Alex still wanted to keep her on as a nanny: but things change. People change their mind, and who knows, they probably did. JJ kept saying they weren't like that, Alex and Casey wouldn't say one thing and do another, but Emily had this nagging feeling she couldn't turn off. She got ready for lunch and prepared herself to say goodbye to both of the women, willing her tears away. I really wish they'd let me drive myself, then at least I'd have a way out. I guess I could call Jen, or get a cab, or walk, hell I could run. But in jeans? Yeah, I could run. She looked down to see a text letting her know they were here, shit! Emily ran down the stairs of her apartment building and saw Casey's green Range Rover.

"Hey Em!" Casey smiled. "How are you?"

"Hi, I umm I'm ok…" Emily said, finding a sudden interest in her hands.

Alex couldn't see the woman as she had slid in behind her—since Harper was born, Charlotte had wanted to have her car seat moved into the middle seat to be next to her sister, but Casey had turned around to see the brunette, and knew what she was thinking, "Emily—" Casey started to say and then looked at Alex who gave her a knowing look.

This is it, they are going to tell me right here, we aren't even going for lunch—they just wanted to embarrass me by bringing me into their car to tell me, well, at least I can go back upstairs and cry after…Emily thought to herself.

"Honey, we wanted to talk to you about this at lunch, but I can see how nervous you are; you're aren't going anywhere. We truly just wanted to see how are you are doing and make sure you were okay, but you aren't just our nanny, you're our friend. Wednesday was stressful for our family, and I'm sorry that neither of us checked in with you before Friday, so this is our way of apologizing to you. Can you forgive us?"

Emily looked up at Casey, Alex had now turned around and was craning her neck to see the brunette, "W-what? You—but what? You don't need to apologize, no I'm the one who is sorry," Emily now had tears running down her face and she hated herself for it. She could count the amount of times she'd cried in her life on one hand, and two of them were this past week.

"Oh honey, please don't cry," Alex said. They realized it was an awkward angle to try and comfort the brunette because there were two baby seats in the back seat, and both women were in the front seat, Emily in the back. "We love you so much, of course you're not going anywhere. We'd be crazy to lose you!"

"Lex, you already are pretty crazy," Casey commented, "I mean, look at you," seeing her wife's current position. Alex had now climbed over the middle console and was sitting in Charlotte's car seat wiping Emily's tears while hugging her, Casey still in the drivers seat watching the two interact. If anyone walked by, they would think they were insane, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Emily started to laugh, "Thank you both, so much."

Alex gave her a kiss on the cheek, "You can't get rid of us that easy! Now, where should we go for lunch, I'm starving!"

Casey just shook her head, "I am not driving with you sitting in Charlotte's car seat, babe. You're small, but not that small."

"Rude!"


Casey walked into work Monday with a smile on her face—after a wonderful lunch with Emily and Alex that Sunday, they devised the perfect plan and knew what they needed to do. Arthur had assigned Abbie to their cases until they were ready to come back, it was up to the women; after hearing everything that Casey had been through, he was willing to give her as much time off as she needed, but he knew her work ethic, he also knew Casey would want to take care of her family and was leaving it up to her. Casey called him and they decided once they had solidified all the evidence needed to convict both Novak's and Richard Nealson without her, they'd return. He tried to protest and tell her to take a little more time, but Casey said she needed to get her life back on track, which he respected.

"Casey!" JJ called out, seeing her boss, "You—you're, what are you? Oh my god!" JJ got up from her desk and ran around it to give Casey a big hug. "Are you okay? That's a stupid question, I'm sorry! But what are you doing here?"

Casey pulled away from the hug, her facial expression showing no emotion, "Jennifer, I came to tell you to pack your bags."

Casey watched as JJ paled, "W-what? I-you, y-you're firing me?" Casey felt absolutely terrible for doing this but they had been in a bit of a prank war together—actually, it was a bit of a couples prank war with each other. JJ and Emily against Alex and Casey, this was payback. The tears in JJ's eyes were getting to be too much for Casey though.

"No, you need to pack your bags for vacation—you're coming with us to Hawaii for a week and half, Emily too. We leave tomorrow morning at 6am, but we expect you at our house at some point today," Casey winked watching as JJ fell back on her desk, her jaw open wide.

"WHAT?"

"Shh, honey you're still in a workplace, you need to act somewhat professional here," Casey smiled at the younger woman. It was true, Casey and Alex weren't that much older that JJ, but she was very young at heart and the mothers loved that in JJ.

"I'm sorry," JJ whispered. "I just, I—I've never, nobody has ever, I can't believe—" she broke down into tears, Casey pulled her into her arms then led the blonde into her office so they could have some privacy so they were no longer in the middle of the DA's office.

Once they were behind closed doors, Casey sat the blonde on her couch. Casey had mentioned to Alex about taking the girls away for a while, getting away from everything, how nice it would be for all of them. And then they were talking about the last time something like this happened (everything with the ex-detective), how they escaped to Hawaii—they decided to do it again. But then they thought about the age gap of the girls, how there would be some things Charlotte might want to do that Harper wouldn't be able to. Alex could remember one thing in particular: dolphins. They had a dolphin interact show that was 3 and up, but both mothers would want to go to it with her—she knew her parents would be able to come to Hawaii with them and watch Harper, but bringing Emily would be another option especially after she helped save their lives. So not only were the grandparents coming on vacation, but Emily and JJ as well. Emily had told Alex and Casey at lunch that JJ had never gone anywhere besides New York before. She had moved here from Pennsylvania, but luckily she did have a passport for a day she ever did she get to travel.

"I know honey, I know," Casey said, pulling JJ in close and rubbing her back. "I need you to pull yourself together though because I need to go pack bags for my girls as well as Lex—and that's going to take some time," Casey laughed, causing JJ to laugh too.

"I don't even know what to say," JJ said, wiping her tears.

"Say you'll come with us?"

"YES! Yes, thank you so much! THANK YOU! And thank Alex, I can't wait, what time should I be at your place? What do I pack? What are you supposed to wear there?"

Casey laughed, "We'll have dinner ready by 5:15pm, you're welcome to come before then—4:00-4:30pm, whatever you wear in the warm weather 65-85 degrees, sometimes it gets a bit chilly at night, so bring a few sweatshirts, plenty of bathing suits—you can't bring enough bathing suits. We're taking my jet, so don't worry about going through TSA, or packing too much. You can sleep during the flight, oh and Liz and Alexander are coming as well. I also booked you and Emily a couples massage," Casey winked.

"Did you say jet? Your jet?"

"Yes, Alex will tell you all about it tonight—if you have any questions, give me a call but I need to run. Emily has all the details as well and can help you out. Oh, also don't worry about pay while we're gone—you're direct deposit for the week was already approved. Lock up." And with that, Casey stood up and left her office. She trusted the woman to lock her office, she always did—JJ had a key to both her and Alex's offices after they knew she became their friend.

JJ didn't know what to think about what she just heard, it was so much information to take it. I'm going on vacation, week and a half, Hawaii, with my girlfriend, and my two best friends, and the most adorable little babies, couples massage, Emily in a bathing suit, dinner is it 5:15, talk to Emily about what to pack, bring lots of summer clothes and bathing suits, what about direct deposit approved, omg wait, I didn't even think about the fact I wouldn't be paid before leaving…? I didn't even put in my pay it's Monday not Friday…what the heck? JJ walked out of Casey's office and locked the door and went back to her desk and pulled out her phone. She logged into her bank account and her eyes went wide. "OH MY GOD!" HOLY SHIT!

Abbie Carmichael was turned the corner to see a stunned looking JJ, "Hey Jayje, you okay?"

JJ still couldn't believe her eyes, this couldn't be real—she had never had this much money in her account before; she had always lived paycheck to paycheck most of her life, working two jobs, until she started working for Alex and Casey and then her life changed for the better. She not only found a friend in both women, but found Emily and then found a great friend group—granted they were all Casey and Alex's friends, but it was still a great life. JJ was no longer living paycheck to paycheck, she had money in her savings account, and checking account too. But this amount of money was NOT normal—nowhere close to normal.

"H-hi A-abbie," JJ stuttered.

"Blondie, what's going on? Did something happen? Who's ass do I need to kick? Is it Emily's? I can take her ya know. I know she's all badass FBI, but I'm big a tough too so I got ya back!" Abbie said, flexing her muscles even though she was in her pencil skirt and blazer.

JJ laughed at the woman in front of her, "No, Emily is great, amazing, god she's perfect." JJ went into dreamland talking about her girlfriend and it made Abbie want to vomit.

"Okay," Abbie said, dragging out the word, "Then what is it?"

JJ didn't know whether or not she should ask Abbie about Casey paying her so much money—then again, Casey and Abbie are best friends, so maybe she could shed some light. But is it appropriate for her to talk finances with Casey's best friend? "Nothing, I'm just—Casey and Alex surprised me today with a trip to Hawaii and—"

Abbie's smile got bigger and bigger, "THANK GOD they told you! Case told me yesterday because I was bummed I didn't get to work with you while they were away, I'm covering for them while y'all are get to go to PA-R-I-DI-SE," she sang. "It was hard to not tell you when I saw you this morning on the elevator."

"So that's why you were acting so strange?" JJ asked.

"Yup. You should see me when I try and keep a secret from Serena, she always knows," Abbie laughs, then looked at her watch, "Listen, I gotta run. But y'all have fun. See ya later."

"Bye Abbie." JJ said.

She looked back down at her phone after Abbie walked seeing in block green deposit: $15,000.

Then she saw she had an email from Casey that had Alex cc:ed on it as well: Jennifer, This your quarterly bonus, when you get back from vacation, we're going to increase your pay. Thank you for the great work you've done so far, keep it up.

She realized it was a technically a company email so saying we're going on vacation together wouldn't be proper, even though Branch knew they would be going all together and wouldn't have an issue with it. But she couldn't be happier about the work she was doing, that being said, she felt like she didn't deserve the money. I should talk to them about this—I'm just doing the work I'm given, this is a lot of money and they have two babies at home. I should talk to Emily. JJ quickly packed up for the day and hailed a cab: I'm going to Hawaii baby!


"Momma, hungee, seepy, want I uhh I momma," Charlotte whined, lulling her head back into Casey's chest. They had been up since 3am and it had been a very busy morning. Getting 6 adults and 2 babies ready to go to Hawaii along with all the luggage, two car seats, and everything you could possibly need for the girls wasn't easy. But having plenty of hands was in their favor. Charlotte had been on vacations before with the women, many times to the Hamptons, but they had already taken her to Hawaii as well although they aren't sure how much she remembers; they also took Charlotte to Disney World, and stayed in Florida for a while too—so she has traveled before, each time only wanting Casey during that time on the plane. Harper has only ever traveled to the Hamptons, but she is the most chill baby and neither mother was concerned. They had 5 other adults to comfort her because Casey was on Charlotte duty. That being said, JJ got very anxious herself which Emily could sense, so they were down to three adults for Harper—Emily had sat next to her girlfriend and held her close, instantly calming the blonde who fell asleep in the comfortable seats. Even with Charlotte fussing, JJ was out like a light—the stress of the morning caught up to her.

"I know you're tired baby, but you need to use your words. Are you hungry, or are you sleepy?" Casey asked, knowing that her daughter was absolutely exhausted.

Charlotte sank back into her mothers embrace; Casey continued rubbing small circles on the little girls back and rocked her slowly as they sat chest to chest, "Shh, shh, shh, go to sleep baby girl."

They were still on the ground, the luggage being loaded onto the jet as everyone settled into their seats, but the babies could stay in the mothers laps. Luckily Emily was able to buckle JJ before she had fell asleep so quickly, Alexander and Liz were able to make some coffee, and before they knew it—they were in the air. Harper had stayed sound asleep in Alex's arms since they exited the limo Casey had transport everyone to the jet strip, which was great.

Once the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off, both of the mothers stood up and laid the girls down on the bed, "Why don't we get some rest too, Lex? I just want to make sure everyone knows how to work their seats and then I'll come lay down too."

Alex thought about it for a bit and she was exhausted, "Okay," she kissed her wife and laid down next to their girls.

Casey exited the bedroom and went back into the cabin. The jet was pure luxury—Casey made it just to her liking. She smiled seeing Emily's arm wrapped protectively around JJ, then looked over to see both Liz and Alexander reading.

"I just wanted to let you all know how to work your seats—there's a remote for each of them. Not only do they all turn into bed, but there are massage settings as well. There are pillows and blankets in here," Casey said, pointing to the cabinet to her right. "And the bathroom is right here," she said pointing to the door before the bedroom. "Lex, and I are going to try and get some rest before the girls wake up then keep them entertained so you all can get some sleep. The flight will be about 14 hours—if you need anything just open the door and let us know."

"Thank you so much honey," Liz said.

"This is a beautiful jet! I can't get over it; I've been admiring all the details, you clearly designed it yourself—your taste it just, WOW!" Alexander ogled.

"Casey, I have no words," Emily said.

"I want to thank all of you for coming with us. Now get some rest, I know you're tired." She was about to turn to leave when she stopped, "Oh, there's plenty of coffee, tea, water, juice, and snacks in the kitchenette back there," Casey pointed to the back of the jet, "Then I have plenty in the bag we brought too. Goodnight." And with that, Casey grabbed a bottle of water and disappeared into the bedroom to snuggle all her girls.


JJ woke up unsure as to where she was—there was something covering her body, it was dark, kind-of, and she heard little voices. Not whispers, but the voice of a little girl and some type of babbling. I recognize those sounds…but why? What's going on? Where am I? Why is it so dark? JJ looked to her down at herself to see a blanket, then to her left and saw Emily, she was asleep. She looked to her right and saw a little window that was shut, then looked up and saw little strips of over head lights lighting what looked to be some type of enclosed tube. Are we in some sort of space craft? Is this a dream?

JJ sat up and gasped when she heard, "Good morning dear, did you have a good sleep," Liz asked.

The other side of the cabin was much lighter as Liz and Alexander had turned on their overhead lights and were reading again while the women slept, JJ's gasping had woken Emily up, "What's wrong babe?" Emily asked, voice still laced with sleep.

"I think she may have forgotten we were on the jet," Alexander suggested.

JJ nodded, then covered her face with her hands—she was so embarrassed. "Oh babe, it's okay. Let me get you some water," Emily uncovered herself from her own blanket and got up, then went over to the kitchenette.

"I'm sorry," JJ said, "I'm, umm, this is the first time I've ever traveled."

"Don't apologize honey, you should have seen the first time I flew, nearly punched the flight attendant in the face," Liz laughed at the memory.

"Here babe, drink some of this," Emily said, handing JJ the bottle of water.

Alex and Casey heard everyone talking and were very happy—Harper and Charlotte had been up for a while—granted, they had slept for a lot longer than the woman had expected them to, but for a 14 hour flight, they had only slept for 3 hours of it so far and then the mothers had been keeping them busy so the other adults could sleep. Alex and Casey were going to try and put them down for bed early that night to switch over their internal clock early, but you can only do so much—no matter what happens, they knew both Charlotte and Harper would be fussy at some point but they'd get through it.

"Let's go see if everyone is awake," Casey said, getting off the bed and lifting Charlotte in the air. Alex did the same thing with Harper.

As they opened the door they were met with four smiling faces, "Good morning, my sweet peas," Liz said to her grandbabies.

Charlotte snuggled further into Casey—every time they traveled, little miss shy snuggle bug was back. Casey just shook her head, didn't look like she was going to be able to let Charlotte out of her site during the flight—not that they could go anywhere, but it would have been nice if her and Alex could get a few hours of sleep while the girls played: although Casey didn't truly mind, she'd do anything for her family.


15 hours later the family, yes Emily and JJ were considered a part of the family, had arrived at the private house Casey had rented right on the water front, but was gated for security perfect for the babies. The view was to die for—and there was a pool on the property as well, also gated (Casey made sure of that). There were 6 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, plenty of space so they aren't on top of each other, everyone can spread out, and the babies can each have their own rooms like they do at home too. It's true, tonight they will most likely end up with Casey and Alex, but the rest of the trip they'd like to spend as wife and wife—so it's good the girls can have their own rooms which is why Casey was happy to have a crib sent over as well as a toddler bed. Her travel agent never seizes to amaze her.

It was only 4pm in Hawaii, but back in NY it was 8pm and past the babies bedtime. Liz had already gone into the bathroom to start the tub, Alexander was tipping the man who helped with all the luggage, JJ could barely move past the entryway because she had never seen anywhere so beautiful before, and Emily offered to help the mothers who were each trying to comfort a screaming child. Casey apologized and said to take JJ out to the beach for a walk or 'do something nice' then disappeared down the hall. Emily felt badly, she was the nanny on the vacation to help and the little ones were both screaming.

"Okay Lexie, baths all set," Liz called out, "Do you want me to go find some jammies for them?"

"Umm," Alex looked back at Casey, not knowing where the suitcases were. That being said, they each had their own suitcase. Charlotte's was light pink, and Harper's was sea foam green so it would very easy for Liz to get pjs. "Yeah that would be great, thanks mom." Alex said, bouncing a screaming Harper.

"Shh, shh, shh, you need to calm down peanut—we're going to take a quick tubby and get you to bed."

Charlotte was no better, screaming in Casey's ear, "No seepy momma, no tubby," scrunching her little body further up Casey's body impossibly close to her neck.

"I know you're tired baby, this is going to make you feel better, wash the germs off of you so we can go to sleep." Casey put Charlotte down, seeing that Alex had already gotten Harper undressed, she did the same. They quickly washed the girls, and were happy when they both settled down, the lavender body wash always working wonders, but tonight neither wanted to splash around, their eyes were already fluttering.

Grandma came in smiling, handing over towels and pjs then went into the kitchen to make a bottle for Charlotte. Casey called ahead making sure the house was stocked with milk—and boy was she thankful—if not, she was prepared to give Charlotte her breastmilk after pumping it for her, hell after a 15 hour day of traveling and two screaming babies, she may have even have given the little girl her boob.

Luckily, Charlotte was so tired she was no longer attached to Casey's side because the redhead needed to feed Harper so the women switched. They did however go into the master bedroom together and laid in bed, Alex feeding Charlotte, while Casey offered her nipple to Harper which she readily accepted. It wasn't often they put the girls down at night at the same time, but it did happen on occasion; they liked to stagger bedtime because Charlotte loves to help put her little sister to bed, but tonight was a little different—even as tired as they were, not just individually, but as a family of four, it was beautiful—Alex looked over at her wife and smiled, there was nothing more beautiful than the site of her wife breastfeeding their daughter, and that's when she made her decision…


After Casey told Emily to take JJ for a walk on the beach, that's exactly what she did. Once she was able to get the blonde through the house that is. "Jen…JEN!" Emily shouted.

"Huh?"

"Babe, are you okay?" the brunette asked.

"Em, have you seen this place? It's, it's likes, like somewhere you'd only see in a movie, or in a dream, but I'm here. Or I think I'm here. Am I really here?"

Emily laughed, god she's so cute. "Yes, you're here. But right now, we need to not be right here," Emily pointed down in a rectangular motion meaning, 'we gotta get out of the house and give them some space'. Then she took JJ's hand and led her through the rest of the entryway, hallway, living room, kitchen, out to the patio where JJ suddenly stopped, "Baby come on a little further—" Emily kept going past the pool area and then out the gate where they were met with the beach and beautiful ocean where JJ's jaw dropped open once again.

"OH MY GOD!"

Emily smiled, she knew how beautiful Hawaii was but seeing it through her girlfriends eyes was unreal. It was something she couldn't explain.

"This is, oh my god, so beautiful!"

"Not as beautiful as you, babe," Emily smiled, bringing their bodies together, and kissing JJ. The blonde moaned into the kiss. "You're such a sweet talker Em."

Emily laughed, and they started walking for a while. After a bit of comfortable silence, Emily spoke up, "I hope Casey and Alex are okay…"

"Why wouldn't they be?" JJ stopped, their hands still intertwined.

"You really were distracted when we got here weren't you?" Emily asked and JJ nodded, then blushed looking down. "The girls were screaming bloody murder. I asked Casey if she needed me to do anything, but she told me to take you for a walk on the beach or 'do something nice', emotions were all over the place, then I heard Liz say the bath was ready for the girls, and when I came back out to find you Alexander said he was taking Liz out to get some dinner for everyone but I think he was referring to the adults because it's past the girls bedtime. Well, at least back home it is."

When they got to Hawaii, they weren't able to drive to the private home together—the Novak family was in one car, Liz, Alexander, Emily and JJ was in the other. When they got there, Alexander and Emily helped with all the luggage, Liz got out to help with the kids, and JJ well she was in awe. At first JJ was glued to her spot outside the property, but she finally made her way inside the entryway and that's where Emily eventually found her, missing everything that went on.

"They must hate me!"

"No sweetie," Emily said, pulling JJ into her arms, "Not at all. Alexander already assured me there was me there is nothing you or I could do for the girls, they just need they mothers. I just, feel badly for Casey and Alex. I want to do something nice for them."

"Casey said she booked us a couples massage," JJ said, pulling back from Emily, "We could book them one?"

Emily laughed, "I'm pretty sure they'll already have one scheduled. But we can ask them."

"Oh yeah…dangit. Umm, I don't really know what they have here."

"They have two little girls, Jen—two little girls that we can take care of so they can spend the day together."

It was like light bulbs went off in JJ's mind and she threw herself into the brunette's arms, "God I love you Emily Prentiss!"

"I love you too."


Casey knew Alex had been watching her breastfeed Harper, she even knew the blonde had wanted to say something—but she no words had been spoken. Both babies were now asleep, although neither women had moved from their spots on the bed yet. Casey looked over at her wife: her ponytail now messy from a day of traveling, jeans and a t-shirt that was now wrinkled, glasses on, completely exhausted yet the most beautiful woman in the entire world. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Alex smiled, truly she had been ready to have this conversation for 6 months but that was probably too soon, and maybe it was too soon now—and after 15 hours of traveling, two jet lagged children, and after everything they had just gone through with the Cassidy, Chase and Richard it probably wasn't the best time either, but hey their life is crazy and they both live for it. And is there really ever a right time for it? Probably not. So why not now? Alex leaned over and pressed a kiss to Casey's lips, careful not to disturb their beautiful babies and when she pulled back blue bore into green.

"I've made my decision," Alex said.

"About what, Lex?" Casey didn't know what decision Alex had made. They talked about everything together—Casey even remembers a time when Alex asked for her help making a decision about changing the layout of her side of the walk-in closet. Casey thought it was adorable, but it didn't affect her, so she tried to help the blonde realize that. That being said, they literally talked about everything and had no idea where her wife was going with this.

Alex leaned over and whispered it into Casey's ear, as if there was someone else that could hear them in their bedroom. Yes, the girls were in the room, but they were sound asleep. Either way, Casey couldn't believe what she was hearing. OMG! She wanted to scream in excitement.

Casey shifted her body the best she could mindful of a sleeping Harper in her arms, "Are you serious, Lex?" her voice laced with happiness?

Alex nodded, tears already welling in her eyes, "More than anything."