The alarm goes off early on Sunday morning. Piper groans and pulls her pillow over her head as Alex clumsily reaches for the night stand and hits the snooze button. Alex decides to let Piper sleep for a few more minutes as she thinks about what a huge day this is-this is the day that she will buy Piper an engagement ring! If someone would have told Alex even six months ago that she would be living with her girlfriend and buying her a ring, she would have laughed in their faces, but then a hot, blue eyed blonde walked into her bar and everything changed.

Alex reaches over and pulls the pillow off Piper's head and receives a mumble of protest from the blonde. "Come on Pipes, we need to get up. It's Mother's Day, you promised your dad that you would show up for family brunch downtown and Nicky and I are meeting my mom at the diner," Alex whispers gently pulling Piper into her embrace. Slowly Piper's eyes open and she gives Alex her pouty look that the raven haired woman finds incredibly adorable.

"Al, I don't want to go! I want to go to brunch with you, Diane, and Nicky! I am so not in the mood to put up with my mom's pretentious attitude today, plus I don't want to upset Diane by not showing up."

"Pipes, I already explained to my mom that you have a family thing today, she understands, plus I signed both our names on the card. You know you cannot let your dad down by not showing up, and even you have to admit that your mom has been making an effort to accept you-us as a couple," Alex says remembering Carol's awkward hug at her surprise birthday party a couple months ago and more recently, the four of them had dinner at Tavern on the Green where Piper's mom had been surprisingly cordial toward both of them.

"Argghh okay, but can we at least have shower sex before we leave?" Piper asks innocently giving Alex her Bambi eyes that she knows the brunette can't resist.

"Yes babe…we can have shower sex, but you need to come quickly because we have like thirty minutes before we need to be out the door."

Piper winks at Alex and jumps out of the bed stripping off her tank top and boy shorts along the way, "Come on Al, you know I come quicker than you do, you're the one that needs to hurry up!" Alex hears the water start in the bathroom, "Alex! Come on! Time's ticking away!" Piper shouts from the shower. Alex smiles and shakes her head, getting out of bed and joining her girlfriend in the shower.

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Exactly thirty-seven minutes later, Alex and Piper dressed and ready to leave after their quickie in the shower. Alex brews them each a cup of coffee from their Keurig and pours them into travel cups as well as one for Nicky before grabbing Piper's hand and leading her out of the penthouse and to the elevator. Alex offers to drop Piper off at the restaurant on her way out of town, but Piper decides it will be much easier if she takes the subway. Alex presses the button for the fifth floor as well as the lobby before pulling Piper in for a tender kiss. "You will make it through this Pipes, it will be over before you know it. Just don't let her get to you okay? And please tell Carol I said Happy Mother's Day, I need all the brownie points I can get!" Alex murmurs with a chuckle into the blonde's ear. Piper wraps her arms around the older woman for one last hug before the elevator stops on Nicky's floor. "I love you Al, tell Diane Happy Mother's Day for me too, and tell her I love her!" "I will Pipes, I love you too, see you in a few hours!" The door of the elevator closes and Alex begins walking down the hallway toward Nicky's apartment. Stopping in front of number 523, Alex knocks loudly, "Hey Nichols it's me! I brought you coffee!"

A moment later the door opens, "You are ten minutes late Vause…let me guess how many orgasms were had this morning to cause this," shouts the wild haired woman with a shit-eating grin on her face grabbing her coffee from her friend.

"Shut the fuck up Nicky, and not that it's any of your business, but the number is three."

"Damn! You two are something else, for your sake I hope that doesn't change when you put a ring on it," Nicky replies jokingly.

"So hey, how was your date the other night? Was Lorna surprised?"

"Stretch, she was floored that I shelled out for premier seats to the show and she raved about the filet mignon at Red's—and then I got laid three times that night, so it was a pretty fuckin good night if I do say so myself!" Alex laughs at her best friend. Nicky can be disgusting and brash sometimes, but underneath it all she has a heart of gold. "Let's go Nichols, I don't want to keep mom waiting, especially on Mother's Day!"

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After a quick detour to a local farmer's market to buy her mom a bouquet of flowers, Alex and Nicky show up at Harriet's Waffle House at 9:59. Walking into the diner, Alex and Nicky immediately spot Diane in their booth in the back corner. "Sorry we're a little late Mom, Piper and I overslept this morning." "Overslept? Is that a new term for ravaging each other that I've never heard of before?" Nicky asks crudely. Diane just laughs, "Honey you're not late, I was just early," Diane gets up to give her daughter a hug. "Nicky! I'm so glad you could join us today. You know that ever since you and Alex became friends, I think of you as my daughter also." Diane lets go of Alex and pulls Nicky in for a huge bear hug.

Alex hands her mom the bouquet of flowers, "Happy Mother's Day Mom!" "Oh Allie these are just beautiful, you didn't have to buy me anything, I just love spending time with you-with both of you," Diane clarifies looking from Alex to Nicky. "I just wish Piper could have joined us as well, but I know she needed to spend today with her own mother…" "She really wanted to come Mom, and she made me promise to tell you Happy Mother's Day and that she loves you." Diane's eyes well up a little, "Well make sure you tell her thank you and that I love her too…now how about we order some food, I'm famished!" The three women enjoy brunch and conversation for the next hour or so before Diane asks Alex and Nicky what they have planned for the rest of the day. "Actually Mom, we are headed downtown to do something very important and I'm hoping you will come with us…"

Diane glances curiously from her daughter to Nicky and then back to Alex again. "Of course hon, what are you two up to?" "Well Mom…I'm going to ask Piper to marry me and we are going to pick out her engagement ring," Alex blurts out quickly. Diane literally screams jumping up from the booth and running around to hug her daughter excitedly, "Ahhhh Alex! Yea! I'm so happy for you, Piper's wonderful, and you guys are so good together! I'm just glad you finally came to your senses and abandoned your anti-relationship and anti-marriage attitude!" "Relax Mom, she hasn't said yes yet so it's far from a done deal," Alex stammers averting her eyes slightly. "Oh come on Allie! You can't be serious! Of course she will say yes! Have you even seen the way she looks at you?" Alex makes eye contact with Nicky and both women burst out laughing. "I'm confused…what's so funny?" Diane asks Alex and Nicky. "I told her the EXACT same thing!" Alex pays for the brunch and the three women pile into Alex's SUV and head downtown to the jewelry store.

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Alex became slightly overwhelmed after entering the jewelry story and seeing the vast number if engagement rings available. She really has no idea what she is looking for, but she is hoping she will know when she sees "the one." The brunette wanders around glancing into the glass display cases remaining very quiet when either Diane or Nicky point out rings simply replying with, "Yeah that's nice," or "Yeah that's pretty." Alex is about to give up hope at this store when she spots it. The ring is a two carat princess cut diamond ring. The band is platinum with smaller princess cut diamonds surrounding the center. Alex sucks in her breath, "This is it," she whispers to herself, "This ring is Piper."

Suddenly Alex is pulled out of her trance when she hears Nicky say loudly, "CHAPMAN what the hell are you doing here?" Alex's heart drops all the way to her stomach as she spins away from the glass display case. "Nicky? Wow what a small world!" Finally spotting Alex and then Diane, Piper rushes over and gives Alex a hug and then Diane. "What are you guys doing here?" Piper asks looking from Alex to Diane to Nicky and back to Alex again. Diane jumps in, "Oh Piper honey, it is so good to see you! We are here because that stubborn daughter of mine insists on buying me a new pair of earrings for Mother's Day, even though I told her it was unnecessary!" Alex finally takes a breath as her mom saves her surprise.

Alex puts her arm around Piper's waist and kisses her cheek, "What are you doing here Pipes?" "Oh I was just heading back to the subway when I decided to stop in to see if they would be able to fix the clasp on my necklace that broke during brunch," Piper explains holding up the necklace in her hand. Diane gives Alex a sly look and steers Piper to the other side of the store to ask if her clasp can be fixed. Alex quickly grabs Nicky by the arm and pulls her toward the ring she had found just as Piper walked in. "This is the one Nick! When I saw it I just knew that I had to get it for Piper." "Damn Vause! That is beautiful! Thank God your mom thought of that excuse so quickly, you and I were just standing there dumbfounded!" Nicky laughs, "I don't think Piper suspects anything, I think your secret is still safe!" Alex quickly glances over her shoulder to make sure Piper is still distracted by Diane and the jeweler, before grabbing the attention of the woman behind the counter, "Excuse me," Alex whispers, "I want to buy this ring for my girlfriend, but I want it to be a surprise and she's actually right over there getting her necklace fixed. Can I put down a deposit to hold this ring and I will return tomorrow to buy it?" The woman whose name is Mille smiles, "Congratulations! And yes of course, I will just need a deposit of $1,000 and we can hold it for you for up to three days." Alex smiles back, "Okay, I will also be buying my mother over there a pair of earrings so when she picks out the pair she wants, you can just add them to the $1,000 deposit and put it on this," Alex hands the woman her American Express card.

Alex and Nicky quickly rejoin Piper and Diane on the other side of the store. "Hey babe! Good news they are fixing my necklace right now, and your mom found a pair of earring that she loves!" "That's great Pipes!" Alex gets the attention of Mille, "Excuse me, Millie? My mom has found a pair of earring that she would like. Can you please ring them up for us while we wait for my girlfriend's necklace?" "No problem Ms. Vause," Millie responds and proceeds to remove the earrings from the case. While Nicky has Piper distracted with information about her date the other night with Lorna, Alex gently pulls her mom aside and whispers, "I found it mom! This is the ring that I'm going to give Piper when I ask her to be my wife," subtly pointing out the ring. "Oh Alex, it's gorgeous and I couldn't be happier for you! I'm just sorry you ended up having to buy my earrings as well" Diane laughs. "Are you kidding Mom? Your quick thinking saved my surprise for Piper, you are the best mom in the world and you deserve it."