There was a basket of apples for them to feed to the horses. Macy carefully handed one to the grey and white foal.

Abbie introduced Casey to her horse, "Bruiser."

"His name is Bruiser?"

Abbie shrugged. "I was 17 when I got him. I was all rebellious and junk."

"And now you work for the man."

Abbie rolled her eyes. "Like you don't, Miss. ADA."

"You're a federal prosecutor … totally different."

"Is not!"

"Narc."

"You take that back."

"Make me!"

Abbie pinned Casey to the stall. "Take it back!"

Casey stuck out her tongue. "Nope!"

Abbie pressed her lips to Casey's only to hear "EW COOTIES!"

They turned, expecting to see one of Abbie's nephews but it was her brother Tucker.

"Seriously, she has cooties. You shouldn't kiss her."

Abbie rolled her eyes. "This bonehead is my brother, Tucker, allegedly anyway. We never did get that DNA test."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever Abbie told you about me … it's probably true. Ma and Josie should be back from the market soon."

Just then, they heard a truck roaring into the driveway.

"That must be Josie," she loves revving that engine.

The kids ran to the front to see what their aunt and their grandma brought back from the market.

"Gramdma! What'ya bring me?"

The women happily handed over bags for the children to bring inside. Macy got the smallest bag. It only had a jar of pickled peppers.

By the time Abbie and Casey got to the house, all of the bags were inside.

"Way to help out," Josie sassed her sister.

"You should help out. You don't do anything all day."

"I do too!"

The sisters started to bicker. Abbie thought it was about time Josie got a job. She only helped out at the ranch sparingly; what did she do all day.

Their mother sighed. "I don't know what to do with them." It took her a moment to realize … "Oh you must be Casey!" The mother gave her a big hug. "Welcome to the ranch. Did Abbie give you a tour?"

"We went out to see the horses."

"That's all! Abbie, take you girlfriend on the tour."

"Do you want to take out Bruiser or one of the atvs?"

Casey hadn't ridden a horse in ages. "Can we take Bruiser?"

"You got it. Ma, we'll be back."

The two lovebirds were off.

Josie rolled her eyes. "How come she gets all the fun?"

"Hush Josie. We got cooking to do."

Graham was still complaining about his coat. Apparently, it couldn't handle snowballs. "Do you have any idea how much money I spent on this coat?"

Tyler looked at him. "It doesn't even fit you properly. You should have taken it back."

Alex couldn't stop laughing.

The girls were off to play with their dolls.

Lisa finally got off the phone with the travel agent, who had refused to speak to Graham anymore.

"I rescheduled our trip from the 28th to the 4th."

The snow was still falling. It was unlikely that they'd be able to get out of the house before the 27th anyway.

Olivia was on the search for firewood. She wanted to get the fireplace going.

"Can I help you Miss. Benson?"

Olivia slightly jumped. The butler was always weirding her out, appearing out of nowhere to do things for you like you were an invalid.

"I was just looking for some firewood."

"Would you like me to turn up the thermostat?"

"Oh no. I just thought it would be nice to have a fire," and maybe some pie.

"I'll have Henry (the handiman) get right on it."

Olivia couldn't figure out why they had more staff in the house than family.

10 minutes later, however, the butler realized. "It appears Henry is on vacation." Alex told him to go home. He hadn't spent the holiday with his family in two years.

Olivia eventually found the firewood and carried it to the fireplace.

"Now I just need something to start the fire." She had a lighter, but she had no kindling. Maybe the chef has woodchips.

"We got pecan, mesquite, and hickory."

"Can I have some of the pecan chips? The smaller the better."

"Of course."

Twenty minutes later, Olivia had a lovely fire going. The smell of smoke attracted Alex. "Oh, we can cuddle by it and get some apple pie, maybe a little ice cream."

"I love the way you think."

The blonde slipped into her lover's arms. "Oh this is perfect."

The chef started to make miniature pies, apple, blueberry, and pecan. The smell was intoxicating and it drew the attention of everyone in the house.

Ace and Cassie came bounding down the stairs.

"Pie! Pie!" The younger Alex Cabot squawked like a little bird.

Cassie ran to her Mama and jumped on her lap. "Is there gonna be pie? I want apple!"

"We have to wait for them to finish baking, and they have to cool."

Tyler and Lucenzo were no better.

"Pie! Pie!"

Lucenzo also had some brandy. "All you need is a good glass of this and some pie …"

When the pies were done, the Cabots enjoyed them with all of the fixings, ice cream, whipped cream, coffee, and if you're Lucenzo and Tyler, brandy.

Alex moaned happily as she brought a piece of blueberry pie to her mouth. "Oh this is so good."

Olivia slipped her arm around the blonde's waist. "A moaning Alex is a happy Alex."

Tyler and Lucenzo burst into laughter as Alex slapped Olivia's hand away. "You pervert."

"I was just talking about the pie!" Olivia smirked.

Lisa had been watching her waistline but … "Pie! Pie!" She looked to see her daughter with whipped cream all over her nose.

"Someone's a bit of a messy eater, isn't she?"

"Yum!"

Lisa wiped off her nose, and then got herself some pecan pie. "This fireplace is so nice. It's too bad we hardly ever use it."

When Alex was a child, they'd have pie and hot chocolate by the fireplace in the winter. The family would play charades. Alex and her father always won. They just knew each other too well.

"We should use it more."

For an old horse, Bruiser could move pretty quickly. Abbie and Casey rode around the ranch, passing the horses, fruit trees, and the creek before coming back towards the outdoor seating area.

"Uncle Bobby makes the best sausage." His recipe is a secret, but it's has a delicious mix of dried herbs and spices.

They could smell the smoke as he seared the meat on the grill. Once he got a good browning, the sausages went into the smoker.

"Oh it smells so good," Casey's stomach was starting to growl.

"Get ready for a good eatin'" Abbie told her.

They brought the horse back to his stall, and then they went out to the yard.

"Abbie!" Skip called out. "Help me with this porchcrawler."

Skip had a big vat that he was trying to set up, along with an inflatable pool and some ice.

"If you salt the ice, the drink will cool faster," Casey told him.

"Huh!"

"It's chemistry." She tried to explain but Abbie shook her head. "You're going to confuse the poor boy."

They helped him get the drink ready.

Before they knew it, the yard was full of people.

It didn't take long for Casey to be surrounded by Carmichaels. The sausages were just coming out of the smoker. Mrs. Carmichael and Josie came out with the side dishes, a warm potato salad and baked beans.

"I'm Tommy, I'm the oldest."

"I'm Abel, I'm the smartest."

She already knew Tucker. "I have the biggest …"

His father kicked him. "Don't be rude."

"I was going to say bank account, you pervert."

"How do you like Texas?"

"How'd you end up with a scoundrel like our sister?"

Mrs. Carmichael looked over her daughter's shoulder. "Shouldn't you rescue your girlfriend now?"

Abbie had been enjoying her porch crawler when she turned to see her girlfriend trapped in a sausage fest.

"I'll be back." She went up to her older brothers and said, "you two better skedaddle before your wives catch you fraternizing with a younger lady."

"We were just saying hi."

"Hi my ass, beat it, and you, Tucker, there's a reason you're single."

"Oh you wound me," he said mockingly.

Abbie took Casey's hand in hers. "How about we get some food? You want anything Pa?"

He just ate a sausage. "Another sausage please."

Casey had only asked for one sausage, but Uncle Bobby gave her two. "You're too skinny. Abbie, have you been starving her?"

Everything's bigger in Texas. Casey's plate was overstuffed with baked beans, potato salad, and the best sausages she had ever eaten. "These are amazing."

"You ain't seen nothing yet Honey. I hope you brought your fat pants."

Casey wouldn't know how true that statement was until morning.

Alex and Olivia kissed under the mistletoe.

"It was a great idea to hang this all over the house," Olivia remarked between kisses.

"I know." Alex's parents used to have it up all winter. She'd tell them they were old and gross every time she saw them kissing. "We should hang some up in the apartment."

Olivia grabbed her ass. "And some in your office."

"Have you ever needed an excuse to kiss me in my office?"

"No, but I may need to remind your desk how much fun we can have on it."

"Next time, lock the door." McCoy almost caught them once.

Olivia grinned. "I can't believe he didn't notice me under your desk," especially when Olivia started using her tongue on Alex.

"You're so bad."

"I can't help it. I want you all the time."

They made their way back into the bedroom. Alex found herself on all fours with Olivia behind her.

"How long do we have until dinner?"

"Two hours."

"More than enough time." Olivia slid her hand along Alex's taut stomach. "I'd grab something to hold on to."

Alex's face was red and her hair was a mess when she got out of bed to get in the shower. "We have to freshen up and get Cassie before dinner."

Olivia stretched her arms. "Let's go Baby."

The duo started kissing in the shower before Alex broke away. "We'll never be ready in time if we keep going."

"I don't mind that."

"Olivia," Alex removed the brunette's hand from her hip. "We don't want our daughter waiting."

Our daughter, I like the sound of that. "I know. You're just too delicious."

They begrudgingly got their clothes on and went to find Cassie. She was playing dress up with Lucenzo. She got him to put on a fairy costume. It didn't quite fit him.

Alex saw him and quickly snapped a picture with her phone.

"You better delete that!"

Alex laughed. "You can only hope Lucnezo or should I say … Tinkerbell."

The things I do for Cabots.

"She didn't want to be the only fairy at dinner."

"You have to wear this at dinner."

"No way!"

"Graham will hate it."

"Well … maybe!"

As Alex expected, Graham was appalled. "What in heaven's name?"

"I'm a fairy!" Cassie declared.

"I want to be a fairy," Ace pouted.

"You look ridiculous!"

"Aw, so do you," Tyler told him.

Alex started guffawing. "We should take a family picture."

I could have been in Belize; instead, I'm here … with them!