Hey to anyone still reading this mess, I thank you! This one has a little Lauren. Lots of Liza and Some Josh. Please let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Lauren

Lauren rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She felt ah-MAZE-ing, and sore? Like she'd ran a marathon...she massaged her jaw. Why was her jaw so tight and tender? She looked around the strange room and remembered she was on a retreat weekend with Maggie. Where was Maggie? She felt a body part that was not her own slide up next to her. YES! She was finally back in the saddle with her OWL. She didn't remember much of last night...ok practically nothing but it didn't matter she would demand a repeat of last night and today she is sober so she won't forget anything.

She reaches out and grabs Maggie's penis...WAIT WHAT???! She turns quickly and it's not Maggie in bed with her but a young Denzel Washington circa Glory smiling at her. She pulls away and gives him some serious eye.

"Good morning beautiful, how'd you sleep?"

She had no words and she always had words. Where was Maggie?? As if she could hear Lauren's thoughts Maggie emerged from the other side of Mr. (not) Washington. Her face mirrors Lauren's confusion and the two look at each then to the stranger between them and they both jump out of bad at the same time.

"Ladies-" he croons "ladies no worries I'm up for round 4. There's plenty of Stefan to go around. 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' Lauren telepathically yells at Maggie. Who shrugs it off and cocks an eyebrow as if to say 'round 4? Must have been a good night. You ready?'

Well...yeah.

Liza

"Liza?"

Liza darts her head up at Charles. His head is cocked to the side and his left brow is raised in question. Had he asked her a question? Seeing her confusion Charles smiles kisses the back of her hand and asks "Uber or car service? Uber may be quicker but it's Uber." She rolled her eyes, his aristocracy was showing. She thought of the very different lives they'd lived growing up. Her family hadn't been poor but compared to Charles' upbringing her family was barely a step above paupers. She frowned thinking about their differences and all the reasons they shouldn't be together. He squeezes her hand gently, she looks up and his face is flooded with concern. Her heart bursts with love for him and all their differences become small and unimportant. He was the man she was in love with for better or worse, social classes be damned!

Her mind trails off and she sees a fictional version of herself in rags scrubbing floors and Charles dressed in a $10,000 Italian suit. She's just a poorly maid and he's the wealthiest person in the world but together they're just two people in love. His family hates her, even trying to buy her off, and her family will never trust him or his money. She envisions the cover of their book, Charles with his shirt unbuttoned exposing his muscular chest and abs, Liza's in his arms her hair flowing wildly as she clings to Charles staring in to his eyes they are centimeters away from kissing..."the almost kiss" as Diana calls it.

The visual causes a stirring in Liza as her mind wonders to last night in Paris and just how amazing sex was after 'I love you'. Sure they'd never had bad sex and in fact everytime seemed to the best, but last night had changed her she would never be the same again. It was as beautiful as their first time, but this felt like so much more...like they were committing themselves to each other forever. There'd be no break ups and make ups, no more 'will they or won't they' drama. Yes they still had their lives to live and not everyday would be happy or as perfect as yesterday. But through thick or thin they were it for each other.

She flipped her frown upside down and smiled up at him, finally answering his question about transportation. "I've already taken care of our ride home from the airport." They would be landing within the hour and she was pretty certain their ride was already waiting for them. She squeezed his hand back and smiled proudly at her sneaky accomplishment.

"Really? When did you arrange this?" He asked, a twinkle danced in his eyes as he spoke.

"Sometime over the Atlantic, when you were snoring as drool ran down your chin. He chuckles at her and nods his head.

"Sounds about right, sorry," he yawns overly dramatic and says "I was up most of the night, the wild woman I'm deliriously in love with can be quite insatiable." She blushes and they sit silently both reliving their Paris affair.

Later as they are leaving, and Charles is carrying both of their bags Liza makes a mental note to pack her rolling bag next time they spontaneously leave, it'd be easier to maneuver. She can't stop the smile that pans across her face as she thinks 'next time' because yes there would definitely be a next time, and a next. They'd already made unofficial plans to take the girls and Caitlin to the Grand Canyon later this summer. They were going to introduce their kids sometime next month when Caitlin came to stay with Liza for a few weeks during her school break. She was nervous but she had no reason to be, Caitlin and Charles had got along fine when she'd shown up an hour late to Maggie's birthday bash last month. Charles had been pretty toasted by that time and Caitlin had thought he was pretty funny. She'd even met Charli and the two had exchanged social media handles. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much but she doesn't care as she grabs Charles' arm and they make their way through the crowded airport.

"So this ride you've secured...?" His voice trails off as he expects her to fill him in more.

"Will be here, have faith." She rubs his arm, she knows he trusts her but he's also a bit of a control freak, and the unknown makes him uncomfortable. "C'mon slow poke" she steps up her pace pulling him with her.

As they are riding down the escalator she spots their entourage before he does. Sitting on the floor are two angels and their aunt. From the looks of it Bianca has fallen asleep in Charli's arms and Nicole has her nose in a book. There's a discarded sign propped up next to the trio that reads 'Daddy' with Chucky written in parenthesis and the her own name next to it. They must have spent a lot of time on the sign it's decorated with glitter and what appears to be an Eiffel Tower drawn in the background. She felt the moment Charles caught sight of them his whole body reverberated with joy and excitement. He looks down at her and there are no words worthy of his gratitude so he bends and kisses her his eyes shining with emotion, happy tears threatening to fall down his cheek.

He hadn't seen the girls since last Sunday when he'd dropped them off for their week with Pauline. With all the drama involving Pauline and custody of the girls, Liza knew he'd want to see them the second they got home. She'd made the arrangements with Charli while Charles had napped on the plane. She was so very excited to have pulled this surprise off for him, even if their welcome wagon was a bit lackluster. They reach the bottom and Charles is almost sprinting towards his girls, they haven't seen him yet and he actually gets the jump on Nicole as he goes down on one knee in front of her. The quiet child is startled and looks up from her book cautiously, but abandons her worries the second she realizes it's her father invading her space. Liza notices that Bianca wasn't the only one sleeping that Charli appeared to be dozing too. Her eyes shot open as she felt Nicole move from her, ready to take down anyone getting to close to her niece. She relaxes as she sees it's just Charles who has scooped Nicole into his arms, he hugs his eldest and kisses her forehead.

"Hey pretty girl, I've missed that smile" Liza melts...the love this man-her man-has for his kids is almost too much to bear. He leans back and examines Nicole. "did you grow another inch? You've got to stop growing young lady I can't handle it, ok?" He asks her earnestly and as if the child could actually will herself to stop growing she nods her head sincerely in agreement and hugs his neck again. Charli squirms awkwardly as the sleeping Bianca has her weighed down. Nicole steps aside to greet and hug Liza as Charles transfers Bianca into his arms effortlessly. The girl barely flutters an eye lid, as Charles asks her if she wants to be a big girl and walk. She snores in response and he laughs as he kisses her cheek and looks to Charli.

"What have you done to my child? Any other time she'd have a three card monte game set up hustling innocent bystanders." Liza suppressed her laugh, as she could clearly see Bianca doing exactly as Charles had just described. Charli rolls her eyes and struggles to stand apparently her legs had gone to sleep sometime ago but she'd ignored it and continued to hold the child. She comically makes it to her feet and her legs are as shaky as a new born fawn, she motions for Nicole to come stand next her as support so she can stand without falling.

"Just a couple of shots of whiskey and half an edible. Nothing more than I've given her in the past." Charles is in too good of a mood to take Charli's bait and she sighs upset that he won't spar with her. "She was so excited about coming to the airport-I think she thought we were going to go to Paris to pick you up-that she tired herself out within the first half hour of waiting. You guys are 2 hours later than Liza said by the way." She shoots Liza a look, and before she can defend herself Charles beats her to it.

"There was no room to land, we've been riding in a holding pattern for the past hour and a half. Did you drive my children here?" He asks concern squashing his good mood. Nicole jumps to her aunts defense.

No, daddy Josh did and he's a great driver. And-" she bends to pick up the forgotten sign-"he helped us make this sign! Look he drew the uh-" She looks up at Charli who mouths "Eiffel Tower" nods and repeats "Eiffel Tower, but we did all the glitter and coloring...aunt Charli messed up the first sign she can't draw at all." Liza smiled finally something the great Charlotte can't do perfectly, she looks up to Charles his face is unreadable as he looks at Charli. Who rolls her eyes and grabs the bags he dropped to hug Nicole, and leads them out of the airport. As she walks she explains that Josh had been there picking up his wallet. He'd left it there the day before when he came over to check on her, and then she filled them in on all the work he'd done to help her save the day. Charles was silenced by that bit of information, but Liza knew he was still uncomfortable with Josh driving his girls. She wanted to ease his worry and vouch for Josh by saying that he really was a very safe driver and obviously they were ok now, but she felt that may not sound so great coming from her. Charles asked the question a had been gnawing at her too, if Josh had driven them here then where was he now?

"He took a car back to Brooklyn, no room for him in the Rover for the trip home. It's no big deal Chucky, I'll drive us home."

Charles snorted his response to her driving them home, and Charli pouts as they wait for the Land Rover to be returned by the valet attendant. Nicole rattled on about her week with her mom and the new book she was reading (the third Harry Potter book-Liza smiled and remembered going at midnight to get the seventh book with Caitlin when she was was younger), and then how Bianca had glued the pages of The Prisoner of Azkaban together so their mom had had to go out and by a brand new copy of the book. Charles looked at the sleeping girl in his arms and shook his head at Nicole's last story. Liza smile doesn't leave her face as she watches the family, they were so comfortable together. She felt slightly awkward standing there like she was intruding. Charles must have sensed her worry as he shifted the sleeping girl to his right side and grabbed her hand with his left he squeezed encouragingly. She wasn't going to become woven into their lives overnight, but she also wasn't going anywhere so there was no need to worry or try to force her way into their lives. She wouldn't expect Charles and the girls to be instantly comfortable with her and Caitlin she can't except that of the Brooks clan. She squeezed back and he smiled that special smile he had just for her. They continue to wait as Charli tells them a story about the time she saved Taylor Swift from choking on a cocktail olive. Nicole, who's was standing on Liza's other side slips her hand into Liza's free hand. Her heart was in danger of exploding, any passerby would assume they were a family of five returning home from vacation. When the car arrives and Charles is getting Bianca settled she refuses to let Charles leave her side. In a trance between sleep and being awake she insists that he sit with her in the back seat. She sees Charles grappling with himself on the verge of letting Charli drive she volunteers selflessly. Relief washes over Charles' face as he buckles the small girl in and settles himself on the seat between his girls. He looked cramped but Bianca was appeased as she fell back to sleep almost instantly. Nicole was happily content too, crawling in next to her father and resting her head on him as she opened her Harry Potter book. This left Charli to sit up front with Liza, she was openly pouting and didn't care who saw her. Maybe Liza had been worried about not being apart of this family a little prematurely, because this certainly felt like they were a big happy slightly dysfunctional family. She smiled as she pulled them out of JFK international airport, she'd never forget the love and fun they'd shared in Paris but she'd also treasure the sight of Charles stuffed into the backseat of his car between two small girls forever too.

Charlotte was being uncharacteristically quiet so Liza took the opportunity to catch up with her friend. Her last day had been less than three days ago but her final days had been spent training John, Diana's new assistant. Then their farewell luncheon had been ruined by Pauline, she looked over at the sour Charli and asked gently

"Your legs feel better?" Wow that was a dumb question Liza thought, of course her legs were fine they'd walked out together and stood waiting for 15 minutes. Charli gives her some major side eye and just nods irritably. "Oh that's good then." Liza sighed and drummed her thumbs on the stirring wheel. "Paris was beautiful..." still nothing. Just as she was about to tell her about the airplane food her phone pings from her pocket. She couldn't answer it now and decided to ignore it when it pings for a second and third time and then it starts ringing, Charli looks down at her pants.

"You going to answer that?" She fishes it out quickly and shoved it towards Charli. "Can you answer it? It's probably Maggie or Kels just calling to make sure we made it home ok." She takes the phone and answers

"Liza Miller's phone...Josh?...what?! Seriously NOW? Yeah we just left the airport, which hospital?...uh we have Charles and the girls do you think we'd have time to drop them off-...wow yeah no we're on our way." Liza's eyes were wide as she glances at Charli in the passenger seat. "Claire went in to labor, there was a complication and they're doing a cesarean section right now, we have to go to the hospital now." Liza's head is spinning as Charles leans forward and asks what's going on.

"Josh is having a baby, which hospital are they at Charli?"

Josh

Josh looked down at the tiny human in his arms. He'd been a dad for all of 5 hours. A tear ran down his face as he thought of how crazy things had been when his son had decided to make his appearance a whole three weeks early and in a breeched position. He looked up at a sleeping Claire, she'd been a real champ and he was so proud that she was his baby mama. Liza, Charli and crew had arrived just as things were getting crazy. Liza had been exactly what he needed to keep him calm, having Charli there had made him braver. Even and having Charles and the girls there had been a welcome distraction, when he couldn't be in the room with Claire. He hated that he hadn't been there when his baby took his first breath, but Claire had needed her mom in there with her.

"Hey there Oliver Scott, are you always going to be a little trouble maker?"

"If he's anything like his dad I'd say so." Liza walked in the room quietly as not to wake Claire and rubbed his shoulder. "He's perfect Josh"

"Yeah we think so" he looks up at her and marvels at how far he's come since he met Liza. She was his first real love, she'd introduced him to Claire and subsequently she was responsible for the very life he held in his arms, she was also responsible for him finally growing up and he'd be indebted to her for the rest of his life. He was feeling so grown up and selfless he decided to gift Liza with something he been meaning to do for a month now. "I like you with Charles, I know you don't need my approval or blessing but you two are uh pretty great together and I'm happy you're happy."

She looked away no doubt trying to hide her tears and squeaked out a shaky "you don't have to say that josh"

"I know, but you're my sons Godmother I don't want there to be anymore negativity between us going forward. Oliver deserves better of us." Liza bent kisses Josh's cheek and ruffles his hair as she leaves.

"I'm going to go, all three of you need to rest. Call me when you get home. Maggie and I will bring over tons of food. Speaking of have you heard from Maggie or Lauren I can't believe they missed this. I tried calling them both multiple times but...nothing."

"Uh yeah they'll be home tonight, they had turned their phones off to "disconnect"...which seems super weird of Lauren so I'm guessing disconnect is code for some crazy sex stuff." Liza nods in agreement. "Hey is uh Charli still here?"

"She went home with Charles and the girls she'll be back I'm sure. Kelsey is here, she's dying to meet little Oliver." Josh smiles and nods, Liza leaves to get Kels and Josh hums a lullaby his mom use to sing to him when he was a kid. He's never know I love like this and he can't keep the smile from his lips.

End