Casey made sure to have two pack n plays sent over as well as the crib and toddler bed, knowing the house was so big—that way the babies could nap in the living room, the den, even in the enclosed cabana outside protected by the shade while the adults got some sun during the trip. The mothers put the babies to sleep last night, enjoyed dinner with the family, showered, and crawled into bed praying they would be able to sleep for a while before being woken up.

Unfortunately that didn't last long because it felt like just as Casey and Alex shut their eyes, they heard Charlotte and Harper fussing. Charlotte still fussed when she woke up in the middle of the night, yes, middle of the night because she always got up at 4am to get into bed with her mothers then fell right back to sleep. When she got up for the day, she was happy—but 4am was another story. Neither mother knew if it was nightmares, the dark, (even though she had both a nightlight and a little machine that projected stars onto her ceiling), or something else. They had spoken to Dr. Molly about the fact Charlotte's still getting into their bed but she assured them it may be something the little girl has grown to feel safe with doing after the abuse she suffered for the first two years of her life, she may grow out of it, one day she might just run into their bedroom herself without crying for them, she may one day be able to articulate what goes through her head about it/if anything, it could be nothing—but don't worry about. So they don't.

Harper fusses a bit when she wakes up, but most of the time the mothers find her cooing or babbling to herself—but right now, they're completely jet lagged and don't understand what's going on with their bodies. It's nighttime, but daytime in their bodies. For a baby, it doesn't make sense, and to top it off, four adults in the house are still sound asleep.

The girls typical 6:15-6:30am wakeup time in New York was fortunately for the mothers pushed back to 8:15am today, or in Hawaii time, 3am. Alex and Casey both groaned when they saw the time, rubbing them temples and exchanged a kiss—getting out of the bed to grab a baby each.

"Mommy," Charlotte stood up not liking the fact she was trapped in a pack n play. Alex leaned over and scooped her out.

"Hi sweet girl, what are you doing awake so early?" She knew why, it's actually late for both of their girls—but hey, why not trick them now?

Casey had leaned over and picked up Harper who had reached her little hand into the redheads t-shirt. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, for the first four months of Harper's life she was exclusively breastfed—and the little one knew exactly what she wanted. Harper's hand was trying to grab at Casey's boob, her head ducking down trying to tell her mother 'feed me'.

"Okay baby, hold on," Casey said, moving Harper's hand then lifting the side of her shirt exposing not only her torso but her breast as well. She repositioned the baby, Harper latching on right away—Alex looked over still trying to convince Charlotte that they should snuggle in mommy's bed for awhile longer but the site of her wife standing there in nothing but panties and a t-shirt, then breastfeeding their daughter made her completely lose her train of thought. God she's so perfect.

"Momma no more seepy wanna pway!" Charlotte turned around to face Casey, still in Alex's arms. She was never phased by her mothers bodies, nor should she be. It's true, since Charlotte came into their lives they have had to be more careful about not sleeping naked but sometimes it just happens by accident. But when 4am comes around they always covered up—It's healthy for Charlotte to learn that Harper get's food from momma's boobie, and to be comfortable with your own body—and to be shown healthy affection.

"I know you want to play baby, but everyone is still sleeping," Casey said, patting Harper's bottom lightly. "How about we put on a movie?"

"Hungee momma!" Charlotte whined kicking her little feet in Alex's arms. The blonde felt badly, both mothers were doing there best to reason with the three year old, everyone was exhausted and it wasn't Charlotte's fault her body was so thrown off—in actuality, she was doing really well.

"Why don't you lay down with momma and Harper—she can put on a movie for you while I go get you something to eat. Okay?"

"Kay!" Charlotte squealed, smiling at Alex. It was a true smile too—and both women were happy. Alex got out her iPad just in case the TV in the room didn't have Netflix they could login to, then quietly exited the room. After all, nobody else in their right mind would be awake right now.

While Alexander and Liz were out last night they had picked up a few groceries. Not many, but enough to make some breakfast—more importantly, strawberries. Alex wasn't going to make much, however, cutting up some fruit and making some avocado toast would be plenty at 3:20am.

"Momma why it dak ouside?" Charlotte asked.

"Because it's still nighttime sweet girl—you know how at home you come into momma's bed to cuddle every morning before we get up for the day?" Casey watched as Charlotte nodded. "Well it's still dark outside then too—you just don't know it because the curtains in your room block out the day." Before Alex had left the room, she had taken Charlotte over to the window to open the curtains in the room, proving to the little girl that it was in fact, still dark out. She wasn't focused on the movie at all, still questioning the fact there was no sun in the sky.

"But why dar no sun? He hidin'?"

Casey laughed, "No baby, the sun will come out to play all day long don't you worry. But the sun needs to sleep too, and right now the sun is resting like you should be little miss," Casey annunciated, tickling Charlotte's sides as well as Harper's who was sitting in her lap.

"Momma!" Charlotte squealed, as did Harper who was cooing.

Alex came back into the bedroom to find her girls laughing, there was no better sight and it only made her feel more confident in the decision they made the night before; even though she knew what she wanted for a very long time now. She knew that day, hell, she knew the first time they…

By 5:30am, the girls were going crazy in the bedroom so Casey and Alex decided to get them into bathing suits and take them swimming—at least they'd be outside, and could make all the noise they wanted to. The four adults would be inside, on the other side of the house behind closed doors and wouldn't be able to hear the girls.

By now, they had eaten plenty—both the mothers and the girls, had on sunscreen, bathing suits, swim diapers, and were ready to go. Alex picked up Harper along with her no flip baby floaty that had canopy on it as Casey was finishing Charlotte's French braids. Her hair was so beautiful, and so long—for a little girl her size, her hair was so long but neither mother wanted to cut it. However, the chlorine would only tangle it, so French braids would save the tears. Once Casey finished, she scooped the little girl up, and they made their way outside. Alex and Casey both shook their heads at the time, thank god they were in Hawaii and the pool was heated.


By 7am, which was now noon back in NY Liz and Alexander both looked at each other, now dressed and ready for the day unsure as to how long their daughters had now been up with the babies—but knew it had been a very, very long time. Neither remembers the last time they slept past 7am, occasionally 9am on the weekend maybe. Granted neither slept much on the jet, nor the night before they left either, and they had already eaten breakfast and got ready for the day—but it was noon now. Alexander had prepared a meal for the women, and Liz made some bunch for Charlotte and along with an approved snack for Harper. The mothers were strict with her diet: purred fruits and vegetables, cereal, and her little puffs, but she sure did love her breastmilk whether directly from the source, or from a bottle.

Alexander and Liz realized that Emily and JJ were still asleep, but that was to be expected—their clocks hadn't shifted yet, and they had no reason to be awake yet. They brought out the tray of food, and were met with the most beautiful sight—not just the view of the Hawaii, the ocean, palm trees, sun bright in the sky, but Alex was twirling Charlotte around as they both laughed while Casey and Harper sat off to the side still in the pool but Harper sitting in her little floaty watching her big sister and mommy playing clapping her hands.

Charlotte spotted her grandparents, "G'AMMA G'AMPA!"

"No baby, they're sleeping," Alex said, Liz and Alexander could sense their daughter had told the little girl this many times this morning already.

"Lex, honey," Casey said, then pointed—signaling towards the door where in fact, Liz and Alexander were.

"Oh," Alex said, realizing the three year old was right.

"G'amma g'ampa! Tome swimmin' wif me! Pease!" Charlotte asked, her green eyes sparkling in the bright sun.

"Oh sweet pea, not right now. But we did bring you some yummy breakfast," Liz said.

"G'amma we aweady havid bweakfist a wonggg time ado, you were sweepin," Charlotte exclaimed, causing the grandparents to laugh. Alex covered her face with her hand, yes, Charlotte was jet lagged—but that isn't how she wanted her daughter to talk to her mother.

"Charlotte, baby that's not—"

"Lexie honey," Liz waved it off. "I know sweet pea. Grandpa and I were sleeping for a long time you're right. But we made you a special brunch. How about we give your mommies a little break and you come tell me about your morning, I'll bet it was very long already," Liz winked.

By this time, Casey had already gotten out of the pool and Alexander had taken Harper into his arms even though the redhead didn't get to dry her off. He didn't mind at all—he wrapped the baby in a towel, told Casey to stop worrying about it. Then he proceeded to tell her to 'sit down and eat', but did it with a typical Alexander Cabot smile and a wink; after all, Casey did pay for both he and his wife to come with them on this trip, so it was his job to make sure she was taken care of to.

Alex lifted Charlotte out of the pool handing her to Liz, then got out herself. The family sat down at the table and Charlotte told her grandparents all about her morning and how the sun was still sleeping when she got up for the day. Harper's eyes were starting to flutter and Casey knew she would nurse and go right to sleep, Charlotte's energy was also wearing thin. She didn't know if it was the swimming, being up so long, being cuddled, or all three. Casey stood up and took the baby back from her father-in-law and grabbed a warm towel, she had no problem breastfeeding in front of her family, but with Alexander there she would cover herself up; she sat back down in the chair and put the towel over Harper making sure it covered her chest then took her bikini top off exposing her nipple offering it to her daughter. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, they were all used to Casey breastfeeding and would respectfully focus elsewhere until they new she was situated. Alexander looked over at his wife who now had a sleeping Charlotte in her arms sprawled out, and he got up to get another warm towel and helped switch out the wet towel for a dry one so his grandbaby could stay warm.

Alex was so focused on Casey—she's the best mother in the world to our girls, she's the best wife, I'm so lucky. I couldn't ask for anyone better by my side. Here we are in paradise, both of us are beyond tired, running on zero sleep, and she is so fucking beautiful—look at her green bathing suit to match her eyes, her red hair pulled up in a messy pony tail to keep from getting wet in the pool, yeah she may be covered up by a towel right now but that's because she's doing the most amazing thing… feeding out daughter, providing her nutrients she needs to grow big and strong just like her. God how did I get so lucky?

Alex's thoughts were interrupted by the slider opening and two women sheepishly making there way out onto the patio to where they were sitting. The four adults were sitting with the babies under the umbrella making sure they were hidden from the sun so they could take their nap. Clearly Emily picked up on this because she said quietly, "Hey, goodmor—afternoon."

"Hey Em," Casey said in her normal voice. If she knew anything, it was that her babies slept soundly. Both she and Alex had deep husky voices, and could be pretty loud at times wink, wink and they always slept through everything. "Did you two sleep well?"

"Yeah, thank you. I'd ask you the same question but I think I already know the answer," Emily said.

"3am," Alex groaned. "I guess we're lucky though, that's about 2 extra hours than we'd normally get if we were back home."

"3am?" JJ exclaimed louder than she meant to, instantly regretting it and covering her hand with her mouth. The rest of the adults laughed, and neither baby stirred. "I—I'm sorry."

"You're fine honey," Casey assured. "But yes, jet leg meet babies," after the laugher died down, the redhead explained. "Adults are typically able to adjust to the time difference, but babies are so set to their schedules that when it was time to wake up back in NY, they woke up. But here, it was only 3am. Technically, they should have been awake at 1am, but they didn't get to sleep until about 9pm so they were already thrown off about two hours anyways causing the two hour difference."

"Oh my gosh, so what have you been doing?" JJ asked, as Emily pulled out a chair for her to take a seat. Alexander had gone back into the house and was now making coffee for everyone, except Alex and Casey who were hoping to get some sleep while the girls did.

"I tried to convince Charlotte it was still nighttime, but as you can imagine, it didn't work. Then we had a snack—it obviously wasn't enough, so we all had breakfast. After a while, the master bedroom wasn't cutting it so we came out here and explored a bit and finally ended up in the pool until Alexander and Liz brought us lunch. We ate, and the girls fell asleep maybe 15 minutes before you two came out here," Alex summarized.

Emily and JJ were following along, then Alexander came back out with coffee which was greatly appreciated. "I booked couples massages for tomorrow morning," Casey said, the thought randomly popping into her head. "We have a sunset dinner Thursday night, another Sunday night, and a Luau Friday night, and a sunset boat tour with the dolphins Tuesday—besides that, I truly haven't planned much because I didn't know if you wanted to go off and do your own things, or be together. Yes, all of what I just listed is for everyone as this table—however if you don't want to attend, please let me know so I can update the reservation. I won't take offense at all. We can also plan more together or separately, at some point maybe tomorrow." She looked over at Alex who offered a hand for her to take, which she did. "Lex and I do have one outing we'd like to take together with Charlotte that Harper is too young for, it would be for about 3.5 hours and would be very grateful if—" before Casey could finish all four of them started to say some form of response.

"I'll watch Harper, it would be my pleasure." Emily said.

"Emily and I will stay with Harper," JJ smiled.

"Absolutely, say no more!" Alexander said proudly.

"Of course, honey, we'd love to watch the baby," Liz smiled.

Everyone laughed and Alex spoke, "Woah—well I don't know if we need all four of you to watch Harper, but hey, if you insist. Anyways—Case and I have been up forever! And I for one, would like to try and sleep while the babies do. I know Casey is trying to be polite, but I'm not. So," Alex stood up and walked over to Liz, "Mom, please give me my child because we're going to bed. Come on babe, say goodnight to everyone," Alex said, looking back at Casey.

Casey looked have stunned and half turned on. She loved when Alex took charge, but she was too tired to do anything about right now. Maybe I should sit here a little longer, Emily and JJ just got up, wouldn't it be rude to leave them here? But I'm so tired. They are guests. Technically it's my vacation too. Alex already went inside. Ugh my wife is so hot when she's bossy. Everyone is looking at me, should I say something?

Liz stepped in breaking Casey from her internal battle, "Listen to my rude daughter honey, you need some sleep. We'll be okay. I promise, we don't bite," she winked. Casey already knew Emily and JJ loved her in-laws so she just smiled carrying a sleeping Harper into the house. By the time the women got settled into bed, it was now 8:25am; they shared a kiss and the minute their heads hit the pillows, they were asleep.


Liz made sure Casey had pumped, then snuck into the master bedroom taking both of the baby monitors so that when Charlotte and Harper work up from their naps, the mothers could continue to rest. Everyone else had gotten plenty of rest in the last few days, but neither Casey nor Alex had—and they needed it. There was plenty of breastmilk, and if it got to be too late Liz told Alexander she'd go in and wake them up so the women would sleep that night, but they each needed more than the couple of hours of naptime.

When Casey did wake up it was in a panic, jumping out of the bed and racing around the bedroom searching under the bed for the baby monitors to see if they had fallen onto the floor, if she had left them in the bathroom, she even checked the shower. Casey woke up Alex checking in the bed not knowing if they made it in with them she had been so tired—it was 12:32pm, and there was no way the girls slept for over four hours! Both Alex and Casey raced out of the bedroom and heard Harper babbling, and Charlotte giggling about something and took a big deep breath. Neither Casey nor Alex thought someone took them, but the panic of everything paralyzed Casey so much she wasn't even able to bring herself to go check their bedrooms, she just raced out of the bedroom after seeing the monitors weren't there.

Alex didn't say anything, she just grabbed her mothers arm and tugged her aside so they were out of view of everyone—she wasn't going to let this slide, she couldn't. This was her doing. "Lexie honey, what's wrong?"

Alex was still catching her breath, watching as Casey picked Harper up putting her on her hip, then went up to Charlotte and peppered kisses onto the top of her head listening as she spoke about going to the beach to make sandcastles with grandpa after lunch which was 'so tool betause we getted to have bwekfist two times den brench den wunch momma' the little girl explained.

"Mom I appreciate the fact you let us sleep, I really do…but the fact that my wife had to wake up in a panic not knowing what the hell happened to the baby monitors and feel like she lost her mind—and nearly have a nervous breakdown because of it, crying her eyes out paralyzed in fear before I could even figure out what is happening god mom leave a fucking note or something! They're babies! They were practically just fucking taken from us, from her while I was at work, by HER mother. Use your head. I love you, but please, this is supposed to be relaxing."

Alex had just spent almost 10 minutes calming her wife down, stating she couldn't race around the house on shaky legs, crying her eyes out because she'd scare the girls—Alex had told Casey that her mother would have wanted them to sleep (granted she wasn't completely sure of it, but god she hoped that to be the case, and boy was she happy that it was true) After everything Casey has been through with Cassidy, she couldn't believe that her mother would do something like that and not at least ask them before hand, or leave a note—I mean, how hard would that be? It was a really nice thought, and she knew the sleep would be great for them in the long run, but this trip was supposed to help them all, especially the Novak's.

Liz felt terrible, obviously she didn't forget what had happened, but that thought didn't cross her mind—she only wanted to give the mothers a chance to get some extra sleep. Alex had pulled Liz into the hallway far enough away from everyone where they wouldn't be heard, but they could still see into the kitchen; Liz turned to see Casey who had Harper cuddled close to her, the baby clutching her shirt, as Casey stood behind Charlotte's highchair a hand wrapped around the front of her body protectively as the little girl smiled up at her mother. This only made Liz feel worse, Casey needed to physically be close to them because she had been so afraid after waking up in such a panic.

"Lexie, I'm so sorry," Liz took both of her daughters hands into her own. "You're right, I should have left a note. No, I should have spoken to both of you before you put the girls down. I thought I was helping, and clearly I made things worse. I never meant to cause you or Casey any pain honey," Liz wiped the tears from her eyes. Alex knew her mother didn't mean to upset her wife—but she also needed to protect Casey.

"Thank you, mom. I know you didn't mean to, just, please ask next time. I love you."

"I love you too, baby girl," Liz hugged her daughter and excused herself to the bathroom as Alex went to see her family.


By the time everyone was ready for the beach the babies had already taken another nap which made the mothers extremely happy. The six of them walked down to the beach, Emily and Alexander carrying beach chairs and coolers, JJ and Liz carrying beach toys and the diaper bag, Alex and Casey carrying the babies. They say it takes a village, and that's exactly what they had.

"MOMMA WOOK! Ooo see dos trees? Dey so pweety and da sand wook!" Charlotte pointed, seeing anything through the eyes of a three-year-old was the greatest thing in the world, but they definitely didn't get this reaction the last time they were here.

"I see baby, those are palm trees," Casey smiled, watching as her daughters eyes darting around to take everything in. Everyone turned to watch Charlotte as well, they couldn't help but smile, her excitement was too cute, she was almost overwhelmed by it all.

Alexander and Emily set up the chairs, a few umbrellas as well to provide plenty of shade with a blanket underneath for Charlotte when she was done 'playing' in the sand. JJ spread out the beach toys for Charlotte not sure how the little girl liked them, sure she'd been around her plenty of times, but never in this capacity. Although, how many people can say they had been on vacation with their bosses and their children? JJ went over to the Novak house many times, playing with Charlotte there but that seemed different to her somehow.

"Okay baby, I'm going to put you down but DO NOT go down to the water without me or mommy promise?" the redhead asked Charlotte. Truthfully, she wasn't worried. There were plenty of adults there, and she was going to be right next to her the entire time, or someone would be—but she wanted it engrained into Charlotte's head that she wasn't allowed to go near the water without an adult just like the pool. Charlotte had her swimmies, but didn't wear them if Casey or Alex held her. If she wanted to jump in by herself, they'd put them on her.

"Pomise!" Charlotte smiled.

Casey put the little girl down and she ran the few feet towards JJ who was standing there with her beach toys and squatted down in the sand. Emily took JJ's hand and led her down to the water so they could go for a swim and Alex walked over with Harper and sat her down next to Charlotte who picked up a shovel. Not that she really knew what to do with it, but Charlotte tried to help her which was adorable. Casey wrapped an arm around Alex as they watched their girls interact, laughing and 'building' a sandcastle. In actuality, Charlotte was filling the bucket with sand, and Harper was just waving a shovel around.

Charlotte looked up at her mothers and smiled, "Momma help me pease!"

Casey kissed Alex then knelt down behind Charlotte so they could do the hard part together. Alex sat behind Harper and took her hand in her own, showing the little girl how to properly use the shovel to dig in the sand while also watching her wife and daughter.

Casey took both of Charlotte's hands and gripped the sand pail, then they flipped it over together—they patted the top, and lifted it. Charlotte gasped in excitement. "WOW! Wook Mommy, oo see what me maked. Wook Hapa it a sandtasil! It so pwety write momma?" Charlotte asked, turning around to see Casey's face, who was smiling at the strawberry blonde.

Liz and Alexander were sitting in their chairs and watching their family, "They really do make the most beautiful family," Alexander said.

"I know, we are so lucky. Casey and Lexie are so great with them."

"Think they'll have another one?" Alexander questioned.

Liz swatted at her husband with the newspaper she was holding, "Harper isn't even a year old yet!"

Alexander just shrugged, "I love being a grandpa, it's my favorite job in the whole world."

"And you are—to two little girls mind you. So get your ass your out of that chair, and go 'grandpa' in the sand and stop pestering me!" Liz said, her courtroom voice making an appearance.

Alexander got out of his chair and walked over to see the cutest little girls, "G'ampa! WOOK! Oo see what me maked." By now, there were not 1, but 5 sandcastles, along with some type of moat that Alex had helped Harper dig, although Alex had really done it while making sure Harper didn't destroy all of Charlotte's hard work. Oh the glories of life with a baby and a toddler, Charlotte loved her baby sister, but there were a few occasions where Harper accidently destroyed something of her big sisters. A piece of artwork, building blocks that were stacked, a particular order of toys the little girl liked things in (Charlotte had developed Casey's neat freak tendencies), and when Harper had done one of those things, it ended in many tears. Obviously, it wasn't her fault as she's just a baby, but Charlotte is too—the mothers explained this to Charlotte and helped her fix it, or make another painting. But today, Alex was able to keep Harper away from the sandcastles.

"I love it little princess!" Alexander had brought over a sippy cup and bottle filled with water. They had recently introduced Harper to water after talking to Dr. Molly about it along with knowing the added benefits of introducing water at a young age—that, and the fact they were in Hawaii. It was only in small amounts for her, but for Charlotte, they were planning on keeping her well hydrated through the trip. "Here sweetie, can you drink some of this for me?" He asked, handing her the sippy cup, then giving his daughter the bottle to give to Harper.

"Tank oo," Charlotte smiled readily accepting it, she always preferred water over juice and gulped it down. Alexander sat down in the sand as well, talking with the women, and listening to Charlotte about how she built her sandcastle.

"Momma, wanna go to da wata hands icky…pease?" Charlotte said, holding her hands out in front of her and making a face.

It was common knowledge Charlotte hated messes, hates being sticky, if anything got on her hands, or clothes, but she had been doing well in the sand so far. Clearly, she had enough. Casey knew it was coming though. She quickly stood up and held out a hand for the little girl, bending down nearly in half so she could hold her hand but Charlotte wanted to be picked up should have known she wanted me to be covered in sand too, Casey thought to herself, scooping her up.

As they got closer to the water, Charlotte reached in between her and her mothers side and pulled at her bottoms while squirming—Casey didn't understand what she was doing at first, then it clicked, "Do you have to go potty baby?"

Charlotte burst into tears and buried her face into Casey's neck; the redhead started rubbing her back, "Shh, shh, shh, it's okay baby girl, you're okay. Can momma what's wrong?"

"I—I al-weady g-oed pot-ty," Charlotte hiccupped, as the tears continued, never picking her head up. Before they left for the beach they put Charlotte in a pair of swimmies as well not knowing how long they'd be there. The house was close to the beach but it was a bit of a walk, and with a three year old, they don't always give you much notice so to prevent an accident, so it was the safest bet. They told her it didn't make her a baby at all, that all the three year olds at the beach wore them. Was it a lie? Who knows what the other parents did with their kids, they didn't care either. If Charlotte came to them and they could get her to the house in time, great, if not, they'd avoid an accident.

"Oh baby, it's okay," Casey coaxed. "That's why you have on a swimmy, just in case of an accident right?" She felt Charlotte nod against her. Charlotte had been potty trained for a while now, but she still wears a pull up at night. For the most part, it's completely dry in the mornings but sometimes not as much which is apparently normal according to Dr. Molly. She's making great progress, and they aren't the least bit worried, hell, they didn't think she'd be completely potty trained so quickly.

"How about we go back to the house and get you a new swimmy so we can come back and play?" Charlotte shook her head back and forth. "Why not baby?"

"Swim in da big pool momma?," Charlotte whispered.

"Okay," Casey hugged the little girl tighter, "Then let's go tell mommy we're going back to the house to get you a new swimmy, and see if she and Harper want to come too. Sound good?" Charlotte nodded again her sandy hands wrapping around Casey all in her red locks. God I do love the beach, but hate sand in my hair.

Alex was watching the interaction while Harper sat in her lap on the blanket—they had been under the umbrella for a while now and had no idea what was going on. She saw Charlotte crying, and Casey comforting her which made her worry. What is going on? Why is she crying? They haven't even washed the sand off…and Charlotte was already started to freak out about the fact she's messy. Alex was bouncing Harper trying to distract herself smiling at the little girl who looked exactly like her wife, "Gosh you look like your momma, peanut."

Harper had wrapped an entire hand around one of her mothers fingers on each hand as she bounced up and down, smiling and cooing, listening to the blonde. Almost as if she was nodding along to what she was saying.

Charlotte still had her head buried in Casey's neck as they approached where everyone was now sitting; Emily and JJ were now eating a after swimming in the water for a while, Liz was still reading, Alexander was taking a nap under one of the umbrellas, and before Alex could ask her wife what was wrong the redhead mouthed 'accident' while pointing to the little girls bottoms. Casey then said, "Charlotte wants to go swimming in the pool," winking at he wife so she would catch on, which she instantly did. Without another word, Alex nodded and said they'd come as well (her and Harper that is). Alex let her wife go ahead with Charlotte so she could get her changed, then stayed to explain to her mother what they were doing. With two babies on a vacation, catering to them was the most important thing which everyone agreed to—they were all grateful to be invited along on the vacation at all; if Casey or Alex had asked them to pack up at the beach for the day, they would have. But Alex said to stay and enjoy themselves, which seemed to always be the case with the Novak mothers—both so attentive with their girls, even when they had all the help in the world they were always the ones who would take care of everything: no matter what.


The next few days were spent in pure bliss—they were relaxing, fun, absolutely perfect: memories were made by all. Today, Casey and Alex were taking Charlotte to see the dolphins and the blonde was beyond excited—she couldn't contain herself. She was devastated Harper was too young, but Casey promised once she was old enough they would take her: and her wife never broke a promise. Alex was also happy that she'd be able to focus all her attention on seeing Charlotte's reaction too, because the little girl like herself, loved dolphins.

The four other adults were all adamant about caring for Harper, but Emily and JJ were able to convince Alexander and Liz to go into town, explore and get some lunch—they'd be fine taking care of the baby. After all, Emily was the nanny and she truly loved the grandparents; they had always been very kind to her—treating her like part of the family. Emily had an extremely complicated relationship with her mother, to say the least; she had never spoken to anyone about it until she met Casey and Alex. Even then, she held back until Casey broke down her walls making her feel comfortable and safe. They became the best of friends after that, Liz and Alexander showering her with nothing but love as well—the type of love she could only assume you'd get from parents. So she tried really hard to convince them today to take some time for themselves, she and JJ would be fine.

Alexander and Liz left for the day first knowing they'd be gone the longest—everyone said goodbye, and Charlotte squealed about something her grandpa whispered into her ear that she wouldn't reveal. Alex just shook her head, who knows with those two, it could be anything. The rest of the morning went by rather uneventful until it was time to go, and then Alex was buzzing with excitement. Casey kept telling her she needed to control herself, but the blonde just knew Charlotte would love this and in return, the little strawberry blonde was jumping up and down like she had just eaten all the sugar in the world. Casey pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head pretending to be annoyed, but it was truly adorable—then scooped Charlotte's tiny body into her arms peppering her belly in kisses causing her giggles to fill the room.

"Aright my silly baby, are we ready to go see the dolphins?"

"YES MOMMA! WET'S GOOOOO!" Charlotte screamed, kicking her legs as Casey still had the little girl in her arms.

Casey put her down at patted her bottom, "Go give your sister kisses, baby. Then we can go." Casey went into the kitchen to make sure they had the diaper bag packed. It was another day of wearing a swimmy because the excitement might be too much for Charlotte. She was great about telling her mothers when she needed to go potty—but they didn't want to risk it. Plus they'd hate for the little girl to have to stop in the middle of their dolphin experience to go potty—it's not like you can tell a three year old to 'hold it', but if she's too distracted, a swimmy is the perfect solution. The mothers gave Harper one final kiss, said there thank you's to Emily and JJ, and off they went.


After they left, Harper started to fuss a bit—she was used to the fact Alex or Casey had to go to work, even not seeing both of them at once because one was always in the home office while the other was in the office, but she always had Charlotte there; now she didn't have her sister and didn't know what to do. They had been apart before, the grandparents taking Charlotte out for the day, or the mothers taking Charlotte out for the day but right now she was in a different location, and this…this wasn't right, was it?

"It's okay sweetie," Emily soothed, rocking the little girl in her arms. "You're okay, shh, shh, shh, you're okay honey." After a little longer than usual, Harper realized that everything was actually okay. She knew these women, she loved these women. Emily was with her all the time when her mommies worked, and JJ played with her sometimes.

JJ had been watching the interaction, while holding one of Harper's interactive toys—it was a colorful sensory rattle teether toy and the baby suddenly realized, reaching out to her grasping at it causing the blonde to smile. JJ reached over and smoothed over the baby's silky strawberry red hair, it was beautiful—lighter than Casey's, but definitely red: green eyes to match Casey's as well. That small touch made Harper smile as she put the toy in her mouth and cooed. Emily couldn't help but get lost in JJ's eyes watching her interact with the baby.


"WOOK AT ALL DA DOWLFINS MOMMY!" Charlotte screamed, causing even bystanders to turn and stare, smiling at the little girl.

Her excitement was radiating off of to everyone in the establishment—Casey and Alex were proud mommies. Yup, that's our girl. "I see them, baby," Alex said, then looked at Casey, closing the distance between them to kiss her.

Casey checked them in, and Charlotte was so excited she got to wear a pink bracelet and a special dolphin coin to use in the gift shop. Charlotte thought it was a toy and was super excited, continuing to tell Alex how she couldn't wait to show everyone; the woman who was checking them in thought it was so adorable that she told Casey that Charlotte could keep the coin, and still pick something out in the gift shop—apparently every 100th customer got a coin to use, and they happened to be it that day, but the woman was so taken with Charlotte and didn't have the heart to take the coin back from her. Casey tried to tell her it would be okay, but the woman insisted showing the redhead the bucket of dolphin coins they had. "If I can make your daughters day that much more special, please allow me to," she smiled.

"Well thank you so much," Casey said, then walked back over to join her family.

Now it was time to meet the dolphins, and even the redhead was excited. They weren't swimming with them again, Charlotte was much too young for that, but there would an interact dolphin show and they'd be getting into the water with one of the dolphins having a one on one personal 'visit'.


Emily and JJ got ready for the beach not realizing how much longer things actually took with a baby. Yes, the brunette had been a nanny for a long time now. Hell, she was a nanny 24/7 for 4 years to the presidents children, but still…she had a break for a long time. She started working for the bureau again, then when she decided to make a change—it was a big change. Working for Casey and Alex isn't a typical job. I mean, yeah she takes care of the girls and all, but one of them is home every single day and they put the girls down for nap time each day because they like that time with them. It's nothing personal and they've said that many times to Emily—it's just something they've always done. Emily thinks it's incredible that the mothers love that time with their daughters, hell she never remembers seeing her own mother—and truly never took offense to the fact Casey and Alex put their own girls down for a nap. JJ on the other hand had never been around babies until she met Charlotte in Casey's office the day Emily brought her in. They didn't speak much about Charlotte that day at coffee because it wouldn't have been polite to talk about the little girl—just the fact that Casey and Alex had a daughter, and Emily was her nanny, how she was absolutely adorable, loved strawberries, her elephant, was shy, and loved her mothers.

Over the time JJ had been working for the Alex and Casey, she had grown to love both the babies, but always wanted to please them. More so, please the mothers. She didn't have nieces or nephews, and in a way, Charlotte and Harper were the closest thing to in her mind. Liz and Alexander also treated her like a part of the family as well which was amazing. It was really nice—her mother lived in Pennsylvania, and they did speak but she never left the state, not visiting JJ once in New York, even when Emily, and the Novak's offered to fly her out for a visit. Hell, Casey offered to send a driver. She really did love them more than anything. Alex and Casey were like the sisters she always wanted, and in a way, they were one big happy family. That thought made her really happy.

"Are we sure we have everything? What if Harper has a major blowout? We can easily clean her up. Oh my god what if she get's sun burnt? Alex and Casey will never forgive us… they will never trust us again. Did we put on enough sunscreen? What if we put on too much? What SPF did we put on? I should check the diaper bag one more time. Maybe we shouldn't go at all. I don't know…" JJ rushed out, starting to panic.

"Jen, you need to calm down honey," Emily said, taking the baby from her arms. Harper cuddled into Emily's neck. JJ couldn't help but smile as the baby's body relaxed in her girlfriends body her bathing suit was the cutest thing ever. Alex and Casey had all matching suits for the girls, although some matched their mothers as well. Yes, Charlotte and Harper's were a bit different because the baby's were a bit different than those for a three year old but they were the same pattern. Todays was a blue one piece, long sleeve, pink zipper up the back (pink snaps making for easy 1,2,3 diaper change) with a pink ruffle butt for decoration, and matching pink headband. It was truly adorable, and even though Charlotte wasn't physically there matching here, she was in her matching one piece, not long sleeve though because she's a 'big girl', and had pink bows to go with the ruffle butt that matched as well.

"I know, I just—I'm sorry," JJ relented.

"Don't apologize babe, come on everything's fine—we'll go for a walk on the beach before we come back and put this little one down for a nap," Emily said, picking up the diaper bag.

JJ gave Emily a kiss then they were off. They set down their bags, and started to walk closer to the water's edge, as Harper started to kick her little legs. Emily could tell she was excited, cooing and babbling about who knows what. JJ carried a bottle that contained water in it, knowing the mothers had been giving the baby water in little spurts through the day—and didn't want to risk her possibly getting dehydrated while they were caring for her. As they continued to walk, an older couple stopped them.

"Oh you have a beautiful daughter, how old?" the woman asked.

Emily was used to these types of comments, especially with Charlotte. She had taken Charlotte for countless walks through Central Park in the stroller, eventually Harper joining as well. For many, many months she would correct them, saying 'oh no, I'm not her mother, I'm the nanny,' then realized it was just easier to smile, nod and keep walking. Emily didn't know what to make of at her girlfriends reaction, her jaw was dropped wide open. So many questions were flooding Emily's mind…they weren't anywhere close to that point of there relationship yet, hell they weren't even engaged yet, but Emily wanted to marry JJ. But did she not want kids? Did she not want my kids? I mean, I can live without children if I can have JJ—I've found happiness with her. I know she's driven, and wants to focus on school right now, there is a big age gap between us…maybe she just doesn't want kids. Maybe it's me. That thought made her sad. Emily looked down to Harper, then back at the woman.

"Thank you, she's 6 months," Emily answered.

"What a wonderful age, you're both great with her—but my husband and I have been trying to figure out where she got that beautiful red hair from. Did you adopt her? He told me to leave it be, but I'm just a nosy old lady," she laughed, and the old man standing next to her shook his head causing Emily to smile.

JJ had still hadn't said anything, she was lost in her own head, so Emily spoke again, "She's actually not ours. I'm her nanny, and this is my girlfriend." Emily said, wrapping her arm around the blonde. "Our bosses, have another little girl who is 3 and they took her out to see the dolphins today."

"How fun, are the lesbians too?" the woman questions, a smile on her face.

Emily didn't know if the question was in good faith or not, but she answered honestly, "Yes."

"Oh that's wonderful dear! Our daughter is a lesbian, she has a little boy he's 9 little spitfire. Such a daredevil you know it's just—"

"Sweetheart, let these lovely ladies enjoy their day," the older man said, leading the woman away, "I'm sorry my wife could go on all day. Thank you for being so patient with her," he winked over his shoulder.

As the couple walked away, Emily turned to face JJ who still hadn't said one word through the entire conversation. Emily was starting to worry about her girlfriend, "Babe, talk to me. What's going through that beautiful mind of yours."

JJ opened her mouth multiple times, closing it each time when nothing came out only causing Emily to panic even more. The brunette led them back to the stuff they brought, then back to the house. After a quiet lunch, Emily said they'd talk when JJ was ready, to which her girlfriend agreed to—the blonde then went to take a shower, and to think. Emily brought the baby into the living room where they had set up some toys to play and when she saw Harper had rolled onto her back, sucking on her pacifier, holding the side of her blanket, eyes fluttering, she grabbed a bottle and brought her into the bedroom.

JJ was lost in thought why is this getting to me so much? It was just a comment? But it meant so damn much. It meant so much because I wish it was true. I want a life with Emily, I'm not ready for it yet—well I'm ready for the next step of things, but definitely not for kids or anything. But I'd maybe like to talk about moving in with each other if she'd like that. God what if she isn't ready? JJ sat on the edge of the bed and hung her head, hearing the door open. Oh fuck.


Charlotte was gripping Casey's neck like a vice: her body was shaking with pure excitement, and a hint of fear of the big mammal in front of her. The trainer along with Casey and Alex had told her that she couldn't squeal or yell because that would scare her new friend Flipper away, so all Casey could do was hold onto her little body even tighter. Which was proving to be harder than normal because of the life jackets they were required to wear; that being said, Casey was able to slide her hand under the little girls life jacket so she could touch her back, the calming presence helping her daughters shaking body. Although she kept saying 'Momma I no ascawed' Casey knew she was, which was perfectly normal because the dolphin compared to Charlotte's little body was huge.

Once Charlotte saw Alex touch the dolphin, then saw Casey do the same thing, the little girl put her hand on the dolphin as well. After that, it turned into the most amazing experience for the strawberry blonde, giggling, seeing the dolphin do tricks, waving at her, getting to wave back just at her and not her mommies—Casey booked a private session just for them knowing it would be the best experience to work one on one with the trainer, and 'their own dolphin'. The entire session was recorded so the little girl could always remember her special day with her new friend, and show her grandparents as well—pictures were taken, laughs were had, memories were made: it was perfect. Charlotte asked if Flipper could come live with them, but they settled for a lookalike in the gift shop.

Charlotte picked out a stuffed animal dolphin that she of course, named Flipper; then she picked out another dolphin for Harper. No matter where they went, or what they did, Charlotte always thought of her little sister. "Mommy, Hapa wike this?" Charlotte said, holding up a pink shirt with an underwater scene on it.

Alex cocked her head at the thought, Charlotte didn't quite understand that Harper needed a onesie, not a t-shirt like she wore. Luckily, they had a matching onesie to the t-shirt Charlotte had picked out for herself with her little friend Flipper on it. "I think Harper would love it baby, but we need to get a different size," Alex said, lifting the little girl into her arms, then walked back over to the rack to switch out the shirts.

Eventually, they made their way over to the checkout to meet the friendly lady Casey met when she checked in earlier that day. They now had two stuffed animals, one of which was free due to being the 100th customer so Charlotte got to keep it in her arms, a new shirt for each girl, and an adorable pair of dolphin pjs for them as well. It was a great experience for all of them, and they'd definitely be back—not just with Charlotte, but when Harper was old enough as well.


JJ broke down into tears causing Emily to race over to the bed sitting down wrapping her arms around the smaller blonde; she still had no idea what was going on with her girlfriend. It broke her heart to see her so upset. "Jen, please talk to me—what's going on? Did I do something?"

JJ shook her head back and forth, "NO, god no! No you're amazing. It's me, I just—" JJ pulled back from Emily's embrace not knowing how to approach the subject without scaring her girlfriend. She knew all about Casey and Alex's relationship, they both did—and they loved every minute of it. God, JJ wanted to be just like them. She looked up to them, idolized them. She wanted everything they had: the perfect relationship, the love she only thought you saw in the movies. "I really love you Emily, but—"

Emily felt like she couldn't breathe—she saw tears running down JJ's face and all she heard was the 'but' she didn't want to hear anything else. The brunette went to stand up however, JJ grabbed her hand pulling her, "STOP!" JJ said louder than she intended to. They both paused, luckily Harper's room was on the other side of the house, but they still waited to make sure no noise was heard through the baby monitor.

"I was going to say…but I don't want to screw this up and rush things. That being said, I really want—I've been thinking, I'd like to," Emily sat back down on the bed again so she could hold both of JJ's hands. "I'd like to talk about moving in together, if that's something you might like to do. If it's too soon, then we totally don't need to do it and I get it, and won't bring it up again and we can forget I ever mentioned it and really hope I didn't mess up the best thing in my life and—"

JJ was cut off by a kiss on the lips, silencing her. When Emily pulled back, she was smiling, "I'd love nothing more than to wake up seeing your beautiful face every morning, Jen." This only fueled JJ's tears again. "Oh baby, don't cry." Emily pulled her close, rubbing her back. "Is this why you were so upset? Because you thought I would push you away?" JJ nodded against the brunettes shoulder. "Aww honey. Never. But why did the comment about Harper being ours bring this on?"

JJ pulled back, blushing, then looked down finding a sudden interest in her hands and Emily's question was answered for her: she did used to be a profiler. Ahh, she does want babies. Gosh she's going to make beautiful tiny humans one day. "Because umm, the fact that she thought Harper was ours filled my tummy with butterflies," JJ admitted. "I'm nowhere near ready for kids, I mean, I want to graduate first, get married, experience life, but—"

"I got the same feeling, Jen."


When Casey and Alex got back, Charlotte was sound asleep; the dolphin experience wore her out for a late nap, which they would pay for later when it came to bedtime because her bedtime would be thrown off, but it was definitely worth it. Harper was still down, but would be up shorty as it was near the end of her nap. Alexander and Liz were still out, but everyone was happy they were enjoying their day out—they work so hard and it's nice to know they were exploring the island.

Alex went to put Charlotte in her room and Casey knew something was up with the women right away, "What happened with you two while we were gone?"

"Not much; we played with some toys, took a walk on the beach, ate some lunch, and Harper went down for a nap," Emily answered.

Casey rolled her eyes, "I'm not naïve, Emily. I'm referring to you two. What's going on here? I know you two didn't have sex while watching my daughter, you're not that irresponsible," she winked, letting them know she was joking. Truthfully, her and Alex have sex all the time while the babies nap, and if Emily and JJ had sex while Harper napped, so be it. If the baby cried, she knew they would have gotten up to take care of her. "So what gives?"

JJ had already turned beat red, not because they had sex, because they didn't—but because Casey had suggested it. Emily being the former profiler didn't even blink—she didn't scare easily, JJ was cracking under the pressure, "Weremovingintogetherwhenwegetbackbutwedidnthavesexipromise!" JJ said in one full breath.

Emily looked over at her girlfriend, jaw dropped opened and Casey just smiled proudly—she could always get information out of JJ. Alex walked into the living room, plopping herself right in Casey's lap, planting a kiss on her wife's cheek then looked across the room; Emily was still staring at her girlfriend like she gave away state secrets and JJ was as red as Casey's hair, "What's going on with them?" she asked her wife.

"They're moving in together," Casey smiled, rubbing Alex's right thigh with her left hand.

"Oh that's great news! Congratulations you two." Then turned to face her wife, "Why does she look so embarrassed?"

"Her interrogation techniques on my girlfriend!" Emily piped up.

"You didn't!" Alex swatted as Casey's arm, faking annoyance, then captured her lips. "Don't worry honey, even if you two did have sex while the baby slept, it wouldn't be a problem. We do it all the time," Alex winked.

"Alexandra Elizabeth!" the blonde visibly gulped hearing her mothers voice.

"Oh leave her alone dear, she's a grown woman! We were young and fun once too," Alexander's voice was heard as well, then they both appeared in the living room. "Hello ladies!"

A round of hello's and hugs were exchanged, and then Casey excused herself to go get Harper when she was heard on the baby monitor—Alex quickly followed wrapping her arms around Casey's waist, "Lex! Your mother just scolded you for this very thing not even five minutes ago," Casey said, "Not to mention our daughter is crying."

"I'm not trying to seduce you, babe. I'm just offering you love and support, plus I missed our little peanut," Alex said, pushing open the door.

Casey went over to the crib and Alex went to turn off the monitor, "Hi baby girl, oh we missed you little one." Harper's hand took a swan dive down the front of Casey's V-neck shirt, and Alex couldn't help but laugh, girl after my own heart. Casey just shook her head at her wife's antics, then they walked into the master bedroom to get comfortable on the bed, Casey lifted up her shirt unclipping her bra and started to feed Harper. Alex ran her fingers through red hair, moving as close as she could to Casey, watching as her wife fed her daughter.

"You're so beautiful babe, I love this shirt, this color really brings out your sparkling green eyes," Alex said, playing with the material that was bunched up above Casey's breast, the blondes body impossibly close to her exposed side.

Casey smiled, leaning over to capture Alex's lips, "Sweet talking will get you nowhere just because you like the view Mrs. Novak." Casey laughed when she heard Alex huff in response, even though she didn't move from the position. Harper briefly tried to look behind her to see what her mommy was doing while continue to feed, but realized feeding was more important to her.

"Hey, a girl can hope—my wife is sexy, I can't help myself," Alex winked.

"I love you, Lex."

"I lov—" before Alex could finish her sentiment, Harper sprung her little body up and said, 'MA!'

Casey and Alex looked at each other then back at the Harper, "What was that baby?"

"MA!" she repeated. "MA! MA!" staring right at Casey. She wasn't putting the word together yet, and they weren't sure if it was even directed towards Casey at all—but it was amazing.

They smiled and Alex clapped her hands; Casey spun the baby around as she raised her knees so she could sit her down, "Yeah baby, ma-ma," Casey said. There was no point in teaching her the difference of their names right now, she knew who was who—and this was something big for her.

"MA! MA!" Harper screamed.

"Ma-ma!" Alex said, hoping to encourage the baby as well.

"MA!" Harper said again, then started babbling, no longer interested in the word. "MA!" it would come in and out of her babbles and the mothers couldn't help but hug her, and kiss each other. Her first word, here in Hawaii. How special.