The weeks following Alex and Mitchie starting their fertility treatments were filled with doctor's appointments and occasional blood work to monitor their health over the course of the process. After a month of taking the shots it was finally time to retrieve the eggs. Things were finally coming to fruition, and that meant it was time to let their families in on their plan. They decided to tell Alex's parents first, with the help of Justin. Afterwards he would return to California with them for the donation, scheduling it for the day before Mitchie's egg retrieval procedure was set to take place.
Shane took Sam for the weekend so the mothers could fly out to New York. They'd decided to keep Sam in the dark until the pregnancy was confirmed, not wanting to get his hopes up in case they weren't successful the first time around. He'd been begging them for a sibling for the past two years, which is one of the reasons they decided to go ahead and do this whole thing in the first place. He didn't know anything about how much would actually go into having this baby, didn't understand that there was a chance it wouldn't work and even if it did they still might lose the baby. No, they would wait until it was a sure thing before telling him.
The flight to New York was long and bumpy, and Alex hated every moment of it. She wished she'd taken up Justin on his offer to zap them in, but in the end, they'd decided to fly. Even in first class Alex fault claustrophobic. There were too many people, and they all kept casting glances at her and Mitchie and taking pictures when they thought they weren't looking. Alex didn't suppose she blamed them, as Mitchie was famous and so was she by extension. It still made her feel weird, though. She'd never thought about what it was like to be on the other side of fame until it happened to her. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
By some miracle no one actually stopped them and asked them for a picture, though. It was odd how people would rather take awkward seflies over their shoulder from afar instead of approaching them and asking for a real photo. But Alex was thankful for that in the end because it allowed her and Mitchie to get on and off their flight and out of the airport without being bothered much.
After getting their bags they went to wait for Juliet, who was on her way to pick them up in Justin's car. Standing at the curb, Alex stretched out her arms and lifted her face into the sunlight.
"Ah, home," she said with a happy sigh, then took a deep breath. "Smell that New York City smog."
"L.A. has smog, too," Mitchie reminded her.
"Yeah, but it's not the same," Alex said with a pout.
"You're so weird," Mitchie said, shaking her head. She looked through the sea of cars, mostly cabs, in search of the tan Buick her brother and sister-in-law drove. "Is that her?" she asked, pointing.
Alex squinted and followed Mitchie's finger. "Yup." She waved her hand, trying to grab the blonde's attention. "Juliet!"
The driver of the tan vehicle turned at the shout and a huge smile spread across her face. She maneuvered through traffic until she was able to park and put her hazards on, popped the trunk, and hopped out of the car.
Juliet looked just as beautiful as ever, her golden hair long and curly, hanging over her shoulders. She wore a bright red blouse and shorts that showed off her toned legs. A joyful smile lit up her face.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite lesbians," she joked in greeting and pulled Alex into a hug.
"My favorite blood-thirsty vampire," Alex cooed in return, pulling out of the hug to look at the woman before her. "Good to see you."
"Same, chick," Juliet responded before pulling Mitchie into a hug as well. "And you, you're fucking gorgeous as ever, Mitch."
Mitchie laughed as Juliet picked her up and swung her around before setting her back on her feet. "Me?" she asked. "What about you? Eternal youth and all that."
"Please, I would kill to look older than I do," Juliet complained with a frown. "Like, I know I look eighteen, but I'm well over a hundred years old. Please just accept my forged ID and give me a beer when I'm at the bar with my husband."
Mitchie and Alex couldn't relate because they didn't drink, neither of them finding much interest in it after Mitchie's one and only experience with alcohol turned them both off to the idea of it. But they nodded sympathetically before they all climbed into the car and started making their way through traffic.
As soon as they walked into the Russo apartment Jerry and Theresa were upon them, both of them wrapping their arms around Mitchie and sandwiching her in between them as they hugged her. Alex stood awkwardly next to them, feeling dejected.
"Really?" she asked in exasperation. "Remember me, Alex? Your daughter?"
"Mitchie's our daughter, too," Theresa told her, still hanging onto her daughter-in-law.
"I mean your real daughter," Alex said, rolling her eyes. "Good to see you, too, parents."
Finally Jerry and Theresa let go of Mitchie and tried to hug Alex. She hung her hands limply at her sides and frowned, still peeved she hadn't been greeted first. Harper then came running down the stairs, a blur of multi-colored fabric and red hair. She pulled the Russo parents off Alex and threw herself at her best friend, giving her the greeting Alex felt she deserved. Alex smiled and squeezed Harper.
"I missed you so much," Harper said, finally releasing the other woman.
"I missed you, too, Harp." Alex beamed and picked up a bag from the floor, handing it to her. "Wanna help me with these?"
Harper nodded earnestly and grabbed another bag from Mitchie, and together the two best friends climbed the spiral stairs to put the luggage in Justin's old room. When they returned to the living room Juliet had come back from parking the car. She was greeting her in-laws with kisses on the cheeks and smiles. Alex bristled. They saw Juliet on a weekly basis and still greeted her with more warmth than her. She'd have to talk to them about their priorities later.
Alex sat beside Mitchie on the couch, Harper following and sitting on the other side of Alex. She scooted closer and wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder, pulling her into another sideways hug.
"At least you love me, Harper," Alex said, patting her friend's head affectionately.
"And I don't?" Mitchie asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"Well, that's a given," she said with a smile. "My parents seem to love their daughters-in-laws more than their biological one."
"You know that's not true," Theresa said, and Alex looked up to see her mother standing on the other side of the couch, hands on her hips. "I love you. You're my baby." She leaned over and hugged Alex from behind.
Alex rolled her eyes but grinned at her mother's actions. "Max is the baby."
"You're all my babies. You'll always be my babies. Just like Sam will always be yours," Theresa said, releasing her daughter and straightening again. "Who I'm still upset I don't get to see, by the way."
"Yeah, guys, what gives?" Harper asked with a frown. "As happy as I am to see you, I miss my nephew."
Alex and Mitchie exchanged a glance as all eyes turned to them, Jerry and Juliet now joining the conversation. The only other person in the room who knew about the baby was Juliet, since her husband's sperm was involved. She'd been involved with the decision from the beginning, encouraging Justin to agree when he had doubts. Harper had not been told, even if they had told Caitlyn. Alex didn't want to keep it from her best friend, but Harper tended to have a loud mouth. How she'd kept the wizard secret all these years Alex honestly didn't know. But Harper lived with her parents. Seeing them every day would be too tempting for her. And this was something that was better coming from her.
"He's with Shane," Mitchie said, which was the truth technically.
"Where's Max?" Alex asked quickly, hoping to take the attention away from Sam's absence.
"He had a date," Jerry said, frowning. "We told him you were coming in, but you know how he is."
"He had a pretty girl on the brain and nothing else," Alex said, nodding. "I understand completely."
Jerry shook his head at his daughter's response. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by a bright flash and a pop. Justin appeared, still wearing his WizTec teaching robes. Alex frowned at his flaunting of his powers. Obviously, their last talk about toning it down hadn't stayed with him.
"Sorry I'm late. Lesson ran a little long," he said, immediately going over to Juliet and draping an arm over her shoulder. She reached up and laced her fingers through his as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.
"Justin, when are you going to get your hair cut?" Theresa asked, frowning.
Justin reached up and felt his man-bun. "Juliet likes it this way."
"It makes him look sexy," she agreed.
"Sexy? Him?" Alex asked with a frown.
"Yes, Alex, people who aren't my gay sister find me attractive. Shocking, I know." Justin rolled his eyes.
They all sat down to dinner, enjoying roast and potatoes while conversation flowed freely. Mitchie and Alex shared funny stories about the things Sam had gotten into recently, Juliet and Justin told them about the group of goblins that had recently run amuck across the city they had finally managed to track down, and Harper bragged about her online clothing store finally taking off. Soon it was time for dessert, and Jerry's eyes lit up as Theresa cut up a pecan pie and started serving it. Alex watched him attack his piece, finishing it before her mother had even served everyone and held out his plate for a second serving.
"Jerry, really?" Theresa asked, rolling her eyes. Alex fought the urge to laugh. It was nice to see her father's sweet tooth hadn't disappeared.
Mitchie placed a hand on Alex's knee, turning her wife's attention to her. She raised her eyebrows, looking at the former wizard pointedly. Alex nodded, understanding what Mitchie was asking without her even having to say it. She put her hand atop Mitchie's and laced their fingers.
"Well, now seems as good a time as any," Mitchie began and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. Everyone stopped and looked at the songstress, then to Alex, who seemed nervous all of a sudden.
"For what?" Jerry asked, his eyes returning to the pie as Theresa began to cut his second piece.
Alex took a breath, trying to steady herself. She felt like she was shaking. "We're not just here for a visit. We're here because we wanted to tell you something."
"Something we didn't want to say on the phone," Mitchie added.
"Is everything okay?" Theresa asked quickly. She put down the knife, to Jerry's dismay. "Is one of you sick? Is it Sam? Oh my god… Is Sam sick?" She put her hand over her heart, panicking slightly.
"Mom, calm down," Alex said quickly. Her mother had a habit of always jumping to the worst conclusions. "Everyone's fine and healthy, we promise."
"Then what's going on?" Jerry asked, suddenly interested. His eyes grew wide as a thought occurred to him. "You're not getting a divorce, are you?" He looked to Mitchie. "Mitchie, I know Alex is hard to deal with, but give her a chance. She can change!"
"Dad, why do you assume if we are getting a divorce it's my fault?" Alex asked angrily. "We're not, by the way."
"Good," Theresa said, thankful that hadn't been where the conversation was heading. They'd grown to love Mitchie as one of their own over the years, and the thought of part of their family splitting up was one of her greatest fears.
"Guys, can you stop guessing and just let them tell you?" Justin shook his head at his parents.
"You know what's going on?" Jerry asked, turning to his son.
"Justin knows what's going on, but I don't?" Harper asked in an accusing tone, her eyes darting between Alex and Mitchie.
A loud whistle cut through the voices and everyone turned to see Juliet with her fingers in her mouth. Once it was quiet she removed her fingers and smiled at everyone apologetically.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "Now, Alex, Mitchie, please continue." They gave her appreciative smiles.
"So… uh," Alex said nervously. "We decided that it was time to expand our family."
"So, we're having a baby," Mitchie said for clarification. "Alex… Alex is having a baby."
The occupants of the table were silent, staring at the women for a moment. Then Harper's face broke out into a huge smile, and Theresa wailed happily, going over to Alex and wrapping her arms around her daughter.
"My baby's having a baby!" she said, tears springing to her eyes. "I never thought this day would come."
"This is amazing!" Jerry beamed and glanced at Alex's stomach, then back to her face. "You're pregnant?"
"Not yet, but we're working on it," Alex said as her mother finally stopped suffocating her with a hug.
"We have a few more steps before we're there," Mitchie added. "Next we just need our donor to make his… donation."
"Don't they have them readily available at the sperm bank?" Theresa asked, returning to her chair and resuming cutting the pie for Jerry to have another slice. She was so happy with the news she didn't mind letting him have a little extra treat now.
"We're using someone we know," Alex said.
"Please tell me it's not Shane," Harper said with a frown. She'd met him a few times and greatly disliked the man, mostly for Alex's sake. "Can he even father children anymore after Mitchie's dad kneed him at your wedding reception?" she joked.
Since Shane had gone to Mitchie and Alex's wedding it was inevitable that Steve finally met Shane. The ceremony went fine, mostly because Steve actually thought Sam's dad's name was Shawn. Mitchie had thought he'd been kidding all that time or simply getting it wrong on purpose out of spite. But after seeing Sam next to Shane at some point the dots connected in Steve's head. He was ready to kill the infuriating popstar, but his wife calmed him down enough by reminding him not to ruin their daughter's special day. But he did knee Shane in the groin. Mitchie didn't mind, mostly because Alex doubled over with laughter, and the sound of her laugh was music to the singer's ears.
"We haven't asked him," Alex said in reference to Shane's child producing abilities. "But honestly, that could only be a good thing. We got lucky Sam is so much like Mitchie. Can you imagine little Shanes running around?" She shivered, the thought chilling her to her core.
"Well if it's someone you know, and it's not Shane then who is it?" Theresa asked.
Justin cleared his throat, blushing when all eyes turned to him. "That would be me." Both Russo parents looked back and forth between their children with confused expressions.
"How—" Jerry began.
"It's my egg," Mitchie cut him off quickly, knowing this was probably going to go the same way it had when they told Shane. "It's all done by doctors in a lab."
"Like Kim and Kanye did?" Harper asked excitedly.
"Exactly! Thank you, Harper!" Alex smiled at her friend appreciatively. "Finally, someone gets it."
"Justin, are you sure about this?" Theresa asked, turning to her son. "Are you really okay with fathering their child?"
"I mean, I won't be the kid's father," Justin said. "I mean, technically, yes, I will. But I signed papers that relinquish any rights, and I'm honestly fine with that."
"How can you be fine with not being a dad to your kid?" Jerry frowned.
"Because it's not my kid," Justin said. "I am the closest thing to a male Alex there is. They're my sisters. I love them. I would do anything for them." He briefly glanced around. "I'm fine with just being Uncle Justin, really. Alex and Mitchie are all the parents any kid could ever need."
Theresa frowned and looked to Juliet. "And what about you? He's your husband. How do you feel about this?"
"Are you kidding?" Juliet asked with a laugh. "I'm the one who convinced him to do it. I think it's a great idea."
"Yeah," Mitchie said. "This way the baby is still related to me and Sam by blood, but also to all of you as well. You can finally have a real grandchild."
"Sam is our grandchild, Mitchie," Theresa said quickly. "We've always loved him as if he was blood. Please know that." She reached across the table and took her daughter-in-law's hand that wasn't still joined with Alex's under the table.
Mitchie smiled shyly and bit her lip. She didn't want to get too choked up, not in front of everyone. "Thank you. He loves you, too."
"And we are happy," Jerry said softly. "I don't know if that message got across, but we are." He smiled at them, his eyes getting misty like Mitchie's.
"Dad, you haven't even realized the best part yet," Alex said with a smirk. "Since this is going to be a Russo baby there's going to be a little something special about it."
Jerry stared at her blankly for a few moments before his jaw dropped open. "We get another family wizard!"
"Exactly," Alex said, smiling brightly now.
Since Juliet was a vampire she was unable to have children. That meant that Justin would, by extension, not father children unless they used a surrogate themselves. It was something they had talked about, especially since Justin felt the pressure to carry on his family heritage. Since he was the family wizard that meant his children would get powers. The only reason they got powers was because their uncle, his generation's family wizard never had children. So, they got them by default. By technically fathering Mitchie and Alex's child he automatically stopped Max from being able to pass down the gene. And since finding out his now-adult brother was most likely sexually active, that seemed like a good idea. Plus, there was always adoption. He liked the idea of giving a child who needed one a home, and maybe that would be an avenue they explored someday. But at the moment, he was happy just giving this gift to his sister and her wife.
Later, after Theresa and Jerry had gone to bed and Harper had gone down to the basement (which she had turned into her clothing workshop), the two couples of Juliet and Justin and Alex and Mitchie sat in the living room watching the family television. Mitchie and Alex sat cuddled on the couch while Juliet and Justin occupied the armchair, the petite blonde seated comfortably on her husband's lap. Alex groaned as another commercial interrupted the program. She and Mitchie didn't have cable, only ever streaming or downloading what they wanted to watch. Alex had forgotten how annoying commercials were now that she didn't have to deal with them anymore.
"We should get them a smart TV and a Netflix subscription for Christmas," Alex said.
"We'll get them Netflix and Hulu if you by them the TV," Juliet chimed in.
"Deal," Alex said.
"Do you really think Dad will be able to figure out how to use a smart TV?" Justin asked with a laugh. "They got a DVR, and Dad got so mad trying to hook it up that the only thing that kept him from throwing it off the balcony was Mom reminding him how much money it cost."
The door to the loft opened and Max walked in, a dreamy look on his face and shirt inside out. He'd shot up over the years, now standing nearly a foot taller than Alex, and he had stubble on his chin. He plopped down heavily on the couch on the other side of Alex, seeming to not have noticed his sister or sister-in-law.
"Uh, hi, Max," Alex said pointedly to her brother.
He turned his head and looked at her. "Hey, what's up?"
"What's up?" She curled her lip at him. "That's how you greet me? You haven't seen me in months. I don't get a hug, a 'good to see you.'"
"Is your shirt inside out?" Mitchie asked, looking across Alex to Max.
"It's also backwards," Alex said, pointing to the tag sticking out and nearly brushing his chin. "On second thought, don't hug me. Just go wash your hands."
"Why?" Max asked innocently. "What'd I do?"
"Alex, to be fair, it not may be what you think," Juliet jumped in. "I've seen him wear his clothes backwards before."
"Still, it's Max," Justin said thoughtfully. "When's the last time you washed your hands?" he asked his brother.
"After Brianna and I hooked up," he answered.
Alex and Justin buried their faces in their hands while Mitchie and Juliet found amusement from the situation, both of them snickering.
"Okay, so it was what you thought, but at least he washed his hands after," Juliet said.
"I'm actually a little proud," Alex said, removing her face from her hands.
"For the sex or for the hand washing?" Mitchie asked, laughing.
"Both?" Alex said, pausing to think about it briefly before nodding. "Yeah, both."
Shane had cut back on the drinking a lot since the first week after finding out about the damage he caused to Tess's life. He'd had a month to get over it, and though he wasn't there yet, he was finding ways to keep it off his mind. He threw himself into writing a new album, which would be his second solo album since Connect 3 broke up.
Seeing Sam more often was a great help. It reminded him of why he'd done what he'd done in the first place, even if it had been one of the lowest parts in his life. Sam still had no idea any of this had even happened, but Shane hoped if he did find out one day he wouldn't look at him badly.
But for the moment Sam was over the moon. He loved spending so much time with Shane, even if he was sad about being left behind while Mitchie and Alex visited his grandparents and uncles and aunts in New York. Shane could see he was still slightly dejected about the whole situation over breakfast Saturday morning, so he suggested they play catch to hopefully get his mind off it.
Shane had some old gloves and a baseball somewhere in the house, he knew it. They were just buried in a box in the attic somewhere. So, after breakfast he and Sam headed up there in search of the sports equipment.
After going through several boxes and getting dusty in the process, Shane finally came upon the box with the gloves and ball. He sighed in relief, glad he still had them after all. He picked them up, nearly dropped them again when he saw what was hidden underneath. He checked over his shoulder to make sure Sam was still occupied, and when he saw that he was he set the baseball equipment to the side. With a shaky had he reached into the box again and pulled out an old video camera.
His insides turned cold as he realized he'd accidentally lied to Mitchie and Alex. Yes, he'd destroyed all the copies of the video he'd made with Tess. But he completely forgot about the camera. He'd simply copied the files over. He'd never bothered to delete them from the hard drive of the camcorder itself. That meant a single copy of it still existed. And he was holding it in his hands. He quickly dropped the camera back in the box before Sam could see it. Composing himself, he picked up the mitts and ball again.
"Found them," Shane said, his voice sounding odd to him.
Sam didn't seem to notice, though, because he smiled and pumped his fist. Together the descended the stairs to the attic, Sam never realizing that Shane's mind was now far away. He kept thinking about the camera, hidden once again in a box in his attic. There was nothing he could do about it at the moment. Not with Sam present. So he would just have to wait, wait until Mitchie and Alex got back from New York, wait until Sam went back to their house so he could destroy the video.
Until next time,
DF