Hi everyone! I know, it's been ages! So sorry for the delay but I gave birth to my first child (a lovely daughter) and, as you might know, having a baby takes most of your time! Especially when you go back to work! But here I am again! I hope you're here too. And I hope you'll like this chapter. Let me know you're still here too and leave me a review! :) I've been working on the next chapters though, so hopefully I will update sooner next time!


Family Love

Lucas and Alexandra were back to the colony and heading to Taylor's house where the dinner was taking place. Once in front of the door, Alexandra stopped Lucas, her hands over his chest.

"Lucas, wait. Huh… You haven't told them what you've asked me, have you?"

Lucas' eyebrows furrowed.

"Nope. Why?"

"Because… Because I think we should keep it secret for a moment."

Lucas stepped back, confused.

"Why?"

"Don't take it the wrong way. I'm very happy and proud and all about it. But I think, with the war coming, maybe it's not the right time to tell them we're engaged."

"Wait a sec. This is confusing. Because it's a hard time for everyone, we can't be happy? There must be something that I missed here in your reasoning."

"It could be our secret. Just for a few days. I don't know… I'm just afraid they wouldn't understand us planning a wedding when there's so much to prepare for the war."

"Uh-huh…"

"What?"

Lucas cleared his throat and gave her a half smile.

"And this has nothing to do with that Lieutenant of yours, right?"

"Don't call him that."

"Does it?"

Alexandra stayed silent for a second before answering, not sure what answer would be best.

"No. Not really. I mean, I'd like to tell him myself. Not let him find out when everyone else does, like he's no one important to me… I don't know. Does it sound like too much to ask for?"

"Do you have any regret?" He winced.

"No!" she replied earnestly. "Oh no, Lucas, no! Not at all! I swear! No, it's just… Our friendship is just back to normal, and I think it's still fragile, ya know. So, I don't want anything to mess it up."

Lucas let out a chuckle, feeling suddenly lighter. Even if he and Damon were not best friends, he knew very well how much their friendship meant to her. He understood why she was having this thought. Yet, he wanted everyone to know she was going to be his, forever. Above all, Damon.

"Yeah…"

"It could our private thing. Just for once," she pleaded with him. "We prepare for the war first. Then we can prepare our wedding?"

"I can do two things at the same time, ya know?" He smiled crookedly.

Alexandra couldn't avoid the smile that appeared on her face.

"Boaster," she grinned, slapping his chest lightly.

Lucas pressed his arms around her and brought his face closer to hers.

"I believe we should tell them we're gonna get married. No matter when it happens. 'Cause I wanna marry you the soonest we can. But I'll wait as long as you wanna wait. Okay?"

She nodded shyly, really grateful that he understood her decision.

"Love ya."

"I love you too," she said, her eyes reflecting tenderness for the only love of her life.

Lucas kissed her softly before slapping her ass.

"Let's go now! I'm starving!"

They entered the house without knocking. Taylor had always said his home was their home too. Alexandra's eyes widened at the sight of the inside. Taylor's living room looked transformed. A big table had been put in the middle of the place, so there was plenty of space for everyone. It was like everybody she knew was there, gathered to celebrate her recovery.

"Surpriiiiiiise," they all welcomed her, smiling.

"Wow!" She grinned. She didn't find it so hard to play the surprised girl even if she knew about it. What they had prepared for the night seemed awesome. And she felt full of gratitude for them. They really were kind to her. She let everyone embrace her in greeting and then they sat around the table to have dinner.

As everyone was chatting about everything and nothing at all, she couldn't avoid the smile that appeared on her face. It was a warm family night and she was enjoying every bit of it. They all looked happy, and it had been a long time since she had witnessed them this lighthearted.

When dessert arrived, Alexandra felt that she needed to make some kind of speech. It had been in her mind for a long time now, but she had not had the courage to do it yet. She had waited for the 'right' moment. Tonight seemed to be that one. It was really not the kind of thing she liked to do, but she needed to do it once and for all, and tonight was the perfect moment. She stood up and taped her spoon on her glass, asking for silence. She regretted her gesture the moment every eye of the room became glued on her, waiting for whatever she wanted to say. Lucas' hand reached the small of her back in an instant. She glanced at him and knew he had understood what she was doing. He was clearly giving her strength to continue, encouraging her. She took a deep breath and started speaking.

"I wanted to say few words. Nothing really long, just… Things I want you guys to know. Okay… Huh… First, Taylor, thank you for this dinner. It was amazing, a really great surprise."

Taylor nodded with a small grin.

"Second, well, thank you all for your presence here tonight. It really goes right to my heart. So, thank you for your kindness, your care, your love… And your forgiveness," she smiled. "Terra Nova is my family and I'm more than glad to be home, safe."

"It was time you realize that!" Josh beamed, teasing her.

"We all do make mistakes, don't we? We do deceive our family sometimes, don't we?" She replied, embarrassed.

"Yes, sometimes. But then, as parents, we always forgive you," Jim replied to her in a fatherly manner, while his hand went slapping the back of Josh's head.

Alexandra smiled warmly to him. He had always been so good to her. She felt her eyes prickle. No, she had promised herself she would not cry. She swallowed hard and continued.

"Thank you all for loving me... Because you really do it perfectly."

"Perfect, that would be me," Josh smiled.

"Shut your mouth, Josh! I'm in my 'apologize mode'," she said half joking, half serious, hooking air quotes around the last phrase. "Honestly… I never meant to start so much trouble. I am really sorry for my horrible behavior. I think I could give you a lot of reasons why I acted like a stupid, spoiled child, but I won't. I'm just ashamed it happened, and I am truly sorry I caused you so much trouble."

"I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that we all forgave you a long time ago," Taylor reassured her.

"And I will never be able to thank you enough for that. Really. Thank you all."

Damon started laughing in silence and Mark made a face.

"I told you she would say that!"

"That's not fair, you know her better than me!"

"If you don't wanna lose, don't play! Hand over the money, boy!"

Alexandra stared at the two of them, her eyes narrowed on Damon.

"Hang on you two, what's this all about?"

"Nothing…"

"Nothing? No, wait…" Seeing Damon's smug face, she suddenly understood the situation and her face slackened in shock. "You bet on my apology?"

"No, not at all," Damon denied.

"You did!"

"No!" Damon chuckled, amused.

"Oh my God! You did bet on me!" Alexandra claimed, half frowning and half smiling.

"Come on," he grinned. "It was just a game!"

"You bet I would apologize tonight?" She asked, dazed.

"No… We all knew you would apology tonight," he smirked proudly. Alexandra looked at everyone who was trying not to smile, but it was obvious they were all in on the secret. "We just bet on the words you would say," Damon beamed.

"You!" She warned him before throwing the peel of a fruit in his face.

"Easy girl! You're still recovering," Taylor smiled. "And I don't want you to damage my Lieutenant," he whispered to her with a wink.

Alexandra groaned, vexed, and sat back on her chair. She turned to Lucas, her face bright red, feeling suddenly utterly stupid.

"You knew it?"

"No," he lied, trying hard not to smile.

"You knew it!'

She slapped his shoulder roughly, making him chuckle.

"Lucas, this is not funny!"

"I know! They didn't even let me in on the bet!" He replied, rubbing his shoulder.

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am! I would have won and given you the money!"

"And you're the one who wants to be my husband?"

"You said yes," he grinned widely, approaching her.

"I said yes but there's plenty of time for me to change my mind until the wedding day," she teased, her face inches away from his.

"Na, you love me way too much, honey," Lucas stated, a beam of victory spreading over his face.

"You're a jackass, Mister Taylor," she grinned, her mouth inches away from his.

Lucas bit his bottom lip, coming even closer.

"I love you too, wife."

Alexandra couldn't suppress the little giggle that came out of her throat. She actually liked it. Wife. It sounded good in his mouth.

"You should be more careful, hubby, or there won't be any wife," she warned him jokingly.

They were going to kiss when something stopped them. A strange feeling. Suddenly, the two lovers realized silence had engulfed in the room. Memories of their last words rushed to their mind. They both turned to see that everyone was staring at them, a different range of emotions on each one.

"I think our little secret is not a secret anymore," Lucas whispered with a tiny smile, not even bothering playing annoyance. It was what he had wanted since the beginning.

"I guess you're right…" Alexandra confirmed.

"Is congratulation appropriated? Or should we act like we didn't hear it?" Jim asked to his wife, loudly enough so everyone would hear it.

"Well, I don't think we can hide it any longer," she replied, amused.

Alexandra pressed her lips together, forcing a smile.

"We're gonna get married?" she announced with an embarrassed wince, shrugging.

"That's fantastic!" Maddy screamed, hysterical, before jumping on Alexandra and hugging her so much that it made it hard for her to breathe. Maddy was making strange noises into her ears, leading Alexandra to smile happily. Her friend was so special, always extreme with her emotions, but so sincere. It was touching.

"Calm down, Maddy!" Alexandra chuckled.

Taylor walked to his son and pressed his large hand over his shoulder.

"I'm really happy for you, son," he stated, trembles in his voice.

Lucas could see how serious he was and understood how important this moment was for him. So instead of teasing him for his 'girly' attitude, he simply thanked him. Taylor grabbed his glass and rose his hand up.

"To Lucas and Alexandra," he proclaimed.

"To Lucas and Alexandra," everyone repeated, their glasses in the air.

Alexandra's eyes met Damon's eyes and they stared at each other a moment. Alexandra wasn't sure what he was thinking. She guessed it was a mix of happiness and disappointment. Then, Trinity put her hand over his arm and his attention came back to his girlfriend. Never mind, she would talk to him later.

Everyone ate their dessert, euphoric, already discussing, planning, and organizing for the wedding. It was way too much for Alexandra who had not even thought about it yet. It was already a big event for her to know she was going to get married one day. Organizing the wedding had not crossed her mind yet. However, while everyone was wondering and guessing about it, Alexandra realized she was sure about three things. Actually, she was sure about three people she needed to talk to.

She stood up and walked to Maddy who was coming out of the kitchen, already helping to clear the table.

"Hey, Maddy, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Yep," she replied, following Alexandra over to a window, away from the other people. Alexandra made a solemn face.

"Maddy, I wanted to ask you..."

"Yes!" She almost screamed.

Alexandra's eyes widened and Maddy's hands reached her mouth to cover it. She had not thought she would scream so loudly.

"I didn't even say what I wanted to ask you!"

"Sorry, continue," she said after a moment, trying to keep calm. But her body was already betraying her, moving hastily from side to side.

"Okay, so I wanted to ask you if you wanted to..."

"Yes!" She beamed, overexcited.

"Maddy!" She scolded her. "I didn't even finish my question!"

"Sorry, I'll shut my mouth!" She promised, gesturing her hand quickly, asking her to continue.

"Maddy Shannon, do you wanna be my maid of honor?"

"YES!" She screamed, jumping on Alexandra, embracing her. "I'm so happy you asked me! I already thought about all the things we could do for your bachelorette party. Because there'll be one. You have to tell me who you want to be there. Or maybe I should let you have a surprise. I don't know what's best. I need to plan everything. And we need…"

Maddy was talking quicker than Alexandra had ever seen her, making her beam happily. Maddy was really the greatest friend she had. Her joy about the announcement was proof of it.

"Hold on, Maddy! We have time to discuss the wedding, okay?"

"But there are so many things to prepare! We have to start talking about it! The sooner the better!"

"We haven't even chosen a date!"

"Yeah, so? We must be prepared!"

"Okay, okay! We'll do that. Promise. Huh… First… I..." Alexandra could see Damon was finally alone and she wanted to go talk to him before Trinity came back to him. She grabbed Maddy's elbow to make her stop her incessant wave of words. "Maddy, I'm sure it's gonna be perfect. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

"Huh, okay," she replied, quite disappointed. Maddy already had plenty of ideas she wanted to share with Alexandra. Never mind, she would write it down so she would not forget any of them. She ran to Mark who had observed the scene, looking forward to telling him what had just happened.

Alexandra walked to Damon, giving him a little wave as a hello, a lot less confident than she was a minute ago with Maddy.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So…" She drawled.

"So you're gonna marry Lucas Taylor?" He finished her sentence, his face unreadable.

"I guess I am," she confirmed with a grimace. Half of her was disappointed by his reaction. Why couldn't he be happy for her? The other half was feeling bad about how the conversation seemed to be going. She surely didn't want to lose him because of her decision.

"Well… I guess I should have known it would happen someday," Damon stated with a small smile.

"Sooooo…," she repeated shyly.

"So?"

"You're not mad at me?"

"Mad at you?" Damon laughed loudly. "Why should I be mad at you?"

Alexandra exhaled deeply. She had not noticed she was holding her breath.

"I don't know. I mean… Because I didn't tell you? Because we… we are…"

"We are?" He frowned, arching his eyebrows.

"We are best friends… And more than that…"

"Alex," he smiled warmly, grabbing gently both her arms with his hands. "I love you, too. I can't understand why you love that guy so much, but since he makes you happy, I'm okay with it."

Alexandra's face seemed so desperate that Damon felt the need to reassure her. Having her speechless in front of him was always disarming.

"Really, I'm not mad at you. I promise!"

"I love you so much," she suddenly blurted out before jumping in his arms and hugging him tightly.

"I know," he chuckled, responding to her hug by pressing her closer to him.

Alexandra knew she wanted Damon to be part of her life. So she had never imagined he wouldn't be an important part of her wedding. Even Lucas knew it, she was certain. She felt so much lighter to know he was not angry with her.

"And anyway," he added, pushing her away gently. "I have a girlfriend you know," he reminded her with an arrogant smile.

"Oh I know," she smiled, slapping his arm lightly.

They both laughed, unable to stay serious. Their relationship was based on a deep respect for each other, honesty, and a true unique love. They wanted it to stay that way and the best way to do it had always been to enjoy life and keep it light whenever they could.

"I know my love for her must seem quite ordinary for you in comparison to the... epic love you've got with Lucas. But I think my feelings for her are real," he said more seriously. "And hers are definitely sincere."

"There's no ordinary love, Damon. Every single love is unique. My love for you is nothing to compare to the love I have for Lucas. But my love for you is real and intense. And I'm very, very happy to hear you found love with someone. You're my best friend, and I wish you the absolute best with Trinity."

"Stop it, you're gonna make me cry," he mocked.

"You're an ass, Keagan! You don't deserve me!"

"You don't deserve me!"

"Well I guess there's no point in me asking you to be my witness then," she said, pretending she didn't care. Yet, she was extremely nervous.

Damon stared at her with his intense dark blue eyes. He was breathtaking when he would look at her like that. In another life, with no Lucas in it, she would have probably fallen in love with him and would have been the happiest and the most satisfied woman in the world.

"Well, if you do ask me someday if I'd want to be the witness of your union, then my answer would be yes. Just so you know. If you want to ask me. Someday," he winked.

Alexandra smiled. There was no more to say. Damon had accepted to be with her that day. It was a wonderful gift from him.

"This day might be sooner than you think," she grinned. Her hand reached his cheek and she caressed it slowly. Damon put his hand over hers, his eyes strangely bright. Was it from happiness or sadness? Alexandra didn't want to know. She could feel tears threatening to run out of her eyes too.

Jim passed next to them, and she took the most of it. She gave a last smile to Damon and followed Jim, calling him to stop.

"Jim?"

"Hey, Alex! Congratulations," he smiled, rubbing her shoulder lightly.

"Thank you," she smirked shyly. She stayed in front of him, fidgeting embarrassingly.

"You wanted to ask me something maybe?"

"Yes!" she said, grateful he would give her a hand to start this conversation. "Jim, you know how much I like you. I could not thank you enough for all the things you have done for me. I consider you family, and I..."

"I would be honored to walk you to the altar."

Alexandra's mouth dropped open.

"Is it a Shannon's thing to answer a question before it's finished?" She chuckled lightly.

"I'm a cop, remember?" He winked.

Alexandra exhaled lightly, while Jim embraced her fatherly. She really liked the man. They never had to talk too much to understand each other. He was so nice to her, she definitely saw him as a paternal figure in her life. The Shannons were her family from the start. She had inherited parents, sisters, and a brother the day she stepped into Terra Nova.

Alexandra pulled back from his hug when she noticed Skye, playing with her fingers behind them. Obviously waiting to talk to her.

"Thank you Jim," she told him before walking to Skye.

"You're welcome," he winked.

"Hey," Alexandra said to Skye. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I… I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you," she said once again. 'Thank you' were the words of the day it seemed.

"Lucas asked me to be his witness," she started, unsure. "Did you know that he was going to?"

Alexandra would be lying if she responded no. She knew his 'sister' would be his witness. Just as much as Damon would be for her.

"No," she forced a smile. "But I'm glad he did."

"Thank you."

'Thank you' were definitely the words of the day, Alexandra told herself.

"Well, it's normal. Lucas has always had feelings for you. He likes you as his own sister. I can't be surprised he chose you, can I?"

Skye didn't know if Alexandra was testing her or playing with her. Was it a good idea to be Lucas' witness when she had almost destroyed their relationship? Yet, Skye had felt proud to be chosen by Lucas. It was an honor.

"You two are made for each other. Lucas is a strong character who needs someone with a strong personality too. You're perfect for each other," Skye stated.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Alexandra replied awkwardly. This conversation was strange and it was clear that even if the two women had made peace a long time ago, there was still something strange between them. Maybe with time, it would disappear.

"Hey, sweetheart," Lucas interrupted them, putting his arm around her and giving her a soft kiss. "Is everything fine?"

"Yes, perfect. Skye just told me you asked her to be your witness. That's great."

Lucas looked at Skye and winked at her.

"Yes, that's not too bad," he joked.

"Ass hole," she shook her head, pushing him lightly.

"Come on!" He said, grabbing her with his free arm and pulling her into his embrace. "My two girls," he smirked proudly, tightening them against him. The two women couldn't fight the laugh that came out from his action while they were trying to get out of his grip.

"Alright," Skye chuckled. "I'm gone. I work early tomorrow. See you. And congrats again."

"Bye," they both answered.

Alexandra turned to Lucas, frowning.

"Who's your second witness?"

"Mark."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really! Why?"

"Maddy's my witness. She's gonna drive him crazy with preparation!" She grinned, thinking about poor Mark, forced to talk about this marriage for hours, days, maybe weeks!

"I guess Damon's your second witness," he said, his tone not even interrogative.

"He is."

Alexandra was not sure what was on Lucas' mind. But he had chosen someone she was not so inclined to like at first. She clearly had no reason to feel guilty about her choice with Damon.

"Good! Seems like we're heading to a wedding!"

"Seems like it, yeah!"

"I remember I married Ayani before I had to go to the war too. I can assure you, it gives a man a good reason to come back alive," they suddenly heard Taylor confess to Jim behind them.

Alexandra felt Lucas tense and she quickly looked at his face, only to notice his smile had vanished. Then he put on a happy mask again and, as he felt her gaze pointed in his direction, looked back at her. Lucas was not a fool, the way Alexandra was looking at him with her big, worried, blue-violet eyes right now, he knew she had seen his sad thought cross his mind. He was going to say something, but his father tapped his hands over their shoulders and they turned to face him.

"Kids, I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," they both responded.

"The degree of loving is measured by the degree of giving," Taylor started. "Lucas, you have given a lot lately. You had changed in a bad way, to prove something I was not ready to hear, nor to listen. Then I found the real you again. You're back to this boy who dreamed about discovering the world, who had plenty of theories to explore. I know how much effort you put into this, your life here, your attitude here, and I know I'm not the reason why you made all of those radical decisions," he declared, giving a slight smile to Alexandra. "Still, I'm very glad you did and I want you to know, even if it might mean nothing to you, that I'm proud of you, very proud. And that I love you, I always have. You're my son, and I'm very proud of the man you've become."

Lucas felt tears prickle in his eyes and immediately stared away to keep them from falling.

"Okay, I think we should go back home now. It's already late, and you need to rest," Lucas said, using Alexandra's recovery as an excuse to escape.

"Thank you," Alexandra said, once again, her eyes pleading for Taylor to understand his son's behavior. "For everything."

"Good night kids," Taylor simply added.

On their way back home, Lucas could see something was bothering Alexandra. She was way too quiet for his liking.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?"

"No," she answered too quickly. "I mean, no. Do you?"

"No. But you, you seem a bit… lost in your thoughts."

Alexandra grimaced and sighed.

"You don't think you're gonna die, right?"

Lucas started laughing before realizing her question was really serious.

"Have you ever seen me doing something I thought I could fail at?" He said, trying to lighten her mood.

"I know you like challenges..."

"Alex, I won't die. Not now, not yet."

"This is serious!" she scolded him. "Don't die! I don't want to be a widow..." She exhaled.

"What's the real problem?" He frowned.

"Lucas, you're not asking me to marry you just because you're afraid to die alone, are you?"

"No, of course not! Who made you think such a thing?"

"No one…"

"Come on!"

"Nobody! It's just, with the war coming…"

"Alex?" He insisted.

"Okay, fine. You heard your father telling the others that he married your mother before going to war. So it was a good reason to come back…"

"I'm not my father", Lucas replied seriously, hurt, his gaze heading to the horizon.

Alexandra stepped in front of him and stopped him.

"I know," she informed him, putting all she had into those two words to reassure him.

Lucas stared at her and his hands went to her face.

"I'm marrying you because I love you. Isn't it the best reason why?"

"It is", she confirmed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought such a thing. You're not like that."

"I'm tired of dreamin' about what we could be. I don't wanna wait to see if life is gonna be nice to us or a bitch like she has already been. That's why I wanna marry you. Because I know we would have probably never talked to each other in a... real life," he quoted in the air with his fingers. "But there's no other life. This is our life and I like it this way, with you."

"But…"

"Look, it feels right. I'm not old but I'm not that young. We're both mature enough to know what we're doin'. I want to marry you because I love you. I love you unconditionally. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to be my wife, I want my love for you to be official, I want everyone to know how much you mean to me."

"You want to show them or to prove to them?"

"A bit of both. And also officially say that you're taken," he smirked teasingly.

"Right!" She chuckled lightly. "No one touches what's yours! Do you want to piss on me to mark your territory?"

"I was waiting for you to ask," he joked, wrapping her in his arms to keep her with him as she was pretending to leave. "I love you," he murmured, rocking her gently.

"I love you too," she replied honestly.

"You know, you remind me of my mother."

She raised her eyebrows at his statement.

"Your mother?"

"Not in an odd, dramatic kind of way," he tried to explain, feeling suddenly stupid. "I'm not looking for a second mother with you."

"Yeah, I prefer that," she taunted him, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"I mean, you remind me of how kind and generous she was. And how much I liked it."

"So you like me because I'm your mother?" She teased him, making him uncomfortable.

"No, I mean, yes. But, no, you… Come on I'm sure you know what I mean!"

"I'm joking Lucas, I'm joking! I know exactly what you mean," she laughed. "And I'm very flattered to be compared to her. You're so easy to torture when it comes to your feelings!"

"You talk too much," he groaned before kissing her hungrily. He felt her chuckle against his lips. She pushed him gently, still secured in his warm arms.

"Before the day I met you, life was unkind. You make me feel good inside, alive. I'm no longer doubtful of what I'm living for, who I'm living for. And if I make you happy, then I'm the happiest woman in the world."

The corners of his lips went up, lightening his face.

"Let's go home. I'm sure you know another way to make me happy," he teased, his eyes full of lust.

"I should have added that you could make me happy too," she laughed when he threw her on his shoulder, heading eagerly to their house.