Christmas Eve
Casey was still full from dinner when it was time for breakfast.
"I ate so much last night," the sausages and there was pecan pie for dessert.
"You'll need the energy," Abbie assured her. "Knowing Ma, she'll put us to work today."
When they got out of bed, the first thing Casey smelled was coffee.
"Oh that smells good."
When she looked at the table, her eyes bugged out of her head.
They had flapjacks, fried eggs, biscuits, gravy, bacon, grits, and French toast.
"Are we feeding an army?"
Skip laughed. "Get ready for a real Carmichael feast!"
What was last night?
They had too many people for one table, so everyone gathered around two.
Food got piled onto the plates like mountains.
When Casey asked for French toast, she didn't expect to get three huge pieces.
"I can't eat all this," she whispered to Abbie, not wanting to offend.
"Just push it on Skip's plate."
He ate faster than he could breathe.
Casey carefully slid a piece onto his place and it disappeared like his mouth was a Dyson.
The food sliding technique came at a cost. When Abbie's mother saw that Casey's plate was empty, she thought the girl was still hungry.
"You ate that real fast dear."
The next thing she knew, Casey's plate was full again. "Dear god."
"Nothing beats your cooking Ma," Abbie did miss having everything made fresh. It took too much time while she was in DC.
"Best food on Earth," her father declared.
After the meal came to an end, the men headed outside to work on the ranch. The women were either cleaning the kitchen or tending to the kids.
Abbie was off to take care of the horses. "They need to be fed and brushed." Casey went out with her, waddling behind.
"How can you move with such a full stomach?"
"Trust me, we'll burn it off."
"EW!" Abbie's brother yelled at her.
"Shut up!"
The smell of roasted pecans filled the air.
When Alex woke up, she was instantly hungry. "Oh that smells good."
She tried to wriggle out of bed, but she had a sleeping detective on top of her.
"Liv, let's get food."
Olivia heard Alex whisper against her ear and gave her a kiss. She was on the verge of waking up.
Alex melted into the kiss, reaching up to grab Olivia's broad shoulders.
The women melded against each other, only thin fabric separating them. Olivia dipped her head into Alex's tank top and began kissing her firm stomach.
"OH!"
A hot tongue swirled around on quivering flesh. The Bureau Chief gripped the sheets tightly as her detective made her way lower.
Olivia pulled on Alex's legs, guiding them over her back before dipping her head between the blonde's legs.
"OH FUCK!"
The brunette took her time, savoring the pink spongy skin.
Alex's voice got impossibly high. Her back arched as the detective teased around her hardened nub. "PLEASE LIV!"
"Shh!" Olivia teased. "You don't want to wake up Cassie."
"FUCK ME!" she demanded.
Olivia covered Alex's mouth with a bruising kiss before she slid her fingers into silky, wet heat. She placed her thigh behind her own hand, allowing her to rock against her lover intently.
Alex bit her lip hard, her nails digging into olive skin as Olivia took her over the edge.
Her body shook uncontrollably as she reached her climax. Olivia kissed her through the aftershocks and then they fell under the covers.
"Good Morning Baby," Olivia said with a grin on her face.
Before they could get ready for round two, a five year old started rapping on their door.
"Mama, Papa, I'm hungry!"
Alex needed to freshen up first. "Head on down Honey. We'll meet you there."
Five minutes later, they were all seated in the kitchen.
Chef's pecan cinnamon rolls were awaiting them, along with crispy bacon, poached eggs, and mixed fruit.
"I wish we always lived here," Olivia declared as she dug into their breakfast.
Alex wasn't sure if she were serious. She decided to file away the question for later.
Cassie was too busy easting to talk. She had sugar all over her face as she tore into her cinnamon roll.
They were almost done when Lexi and her mother came into the kitchen.
The little girl looked rather sleepy.
"She had bad dreams last night." Graham didn't want Lexi in their bed, so Lisa had to squeeze into her daughter's bed with her.
"When I was a little girl," Alex told her niece, "my mom gave me a dream catcher to catch my bad dreams. Do you want a dream catcher in your room?"
Lexi nodded.
Alex sent the butler to get it for her. "It should be in the storage room."
"Why don't we put a movie on?" Olivia suggested. They were pretty much snowed in today and it would be nice to snuggle under a blanket.
They opted for Miracle on 34th Street.
Horses need a lot of work. They had to be brushed and fed. Their stalls had to be "mucked out," and they needed to be taken out to run.
"How does your family make money with horses?" Casey knew people raced them, but these aren't racehorses.
"We rent them out for events and we board other people's horses here. We also sell the manure."
"Ugh!" was all Casey had to say about that. The next time they saw horse manure it would be too soon.
"Let's go freshen up," it was starting to get hot and they were covered in dirt.
They took the back staircase into the house. Ma hated it when they tracked mud into the front of the house.
As soon as they got to the bathroom, Abbie started peeling away her clothes for a shower. Casey couldn't help but admire her strong back and abs. She had the perfect physique, strong but not too vascular, oh and her legs!
Abbie flashed a cheeky grin. "Like what you see?"
"You know I do."
"I might have to charge you."
Casey shed her clothes and followed the brunette into the shower. Hot water cascaded upon them as they washed each other affectionately.
"I think I should wash these again," Abbie growled as she moved her loofa over Casey's chest.
Soapsuds made a trail down Casey's stomach to her hips.
"OH!" Abbie's fingers slid in between Casey's legs. The brunette held her up with her other hand, pinning her against the shower wall.
Casey clamped onto the fingers, using her legs to pull Abbie even closer. "Fuck me!"
Abbie grinned before covering Casey's mouth with her own, ravishing her relentlessly.
The shower water was cold by the time they got out.
"Let's get dressed," Abbie said breathily.
Casey nodded and they went into her room. The redhead had just put on her underwear before she heard Skip yell, "Abbie! Casey! You better come to lunch before it's all gone!"
"I could eat," Casey said as she rushed to put her clothes on.
"I ate plenty," Abbie bragged.
They headed downstairs where smashed sausage and cheese sandwiches awaited them.
"Oh this smells amazing," Casey said as she found a seat.
Tucker raised a brow. "Abbie, Casey care to explain why your hair is wet right now?"
Abbie rolled her eyes. "Care to explain why your only relationship to last more than two months was with your right hand?"
Casey started cracking up.
Mrs. Carmichael scolded both of them, "not in front of the children!"
It was a Cabot tradition to let the children open one present on Christmas Eve.
"What about me?" Tyler wanted to open one too.
Lucenzo rolled his eyes. "You're so silly."
"We get to drink," Alex reminded him.
"There is that," Tyler grumbled before drinking his hot toddy.
Ace got to go first, since she was the youngest. Her mother handed her a present from Tyler and Lucenzo.
She opened it up and they were "tap shoes! THANK YOU!"
Graham groaned. "She better not scuff our floors."
Cassie opened her present from Uncle John John and it was a toy drum set.
"This is awesome!" It light up when the correct notes were hit.
"If you're a good girl, I'll let you open your present tonight," Alex whispered to Olivia.
"Ohh!"
The children fell asleep waiting up for Santa. The chef had made him some of his famous ginger chocolate chip cookies.
Olivia carried the little girl to bed and then she went on to get her Christmas present.
Alex was waiting for her on the bed, wearing a red baby doll. She had a cute little bow in her hair.
"Merry Christmas Olivia."
Hell yeah!
They made love through out half the night.
When morning came, they were both dead to the world until …
Tyler wanted to open his presents.
"Wait for the family," Lucenzo chided.
Not wanting to wait, Tyler sent Ace and Cassie. "Why don't you go get Alex and Olivia?"
The two little girls went inside and started jumping on the bed.
"Mama!"
"Auntie!"
Alex woke up and quickly pulled a sheet over them. "What are you two doing?"
"Time to open presents!"
"Christmas!"
"How about you go wake up Tyler?"
"He's already up."
"Of course he is," little jerk!
"We'll be right down."
When Alex and Olivia finally got downstairs, Tyler said "about time! I want my presents!"
Alex groaned. "Coffee! I need coffee stat!"
Luckily they had espresso 24/7 in the Cabot estate.
Olivia sat down with a cappuccino and they were ready to watch the children open their presents.
"Tyler goes last," Alex declared.
"You're mean!"
Lucenzo only laughed.
The Christmas tree was full of presents.
Ace got a giant toy panda.
Cassie opened up a toy pink convertible.
"Aw her first car." Alex had to get a picture of her with it.
Alex got some beautiful cashmere scarves. "They're perfect Lucenzo."
Olivia loved her new leather jacket. It was black with shiny silver hoops. "It fits like a dream."
They went around the tree, opening present after present, until there was one box that said "Alex" on it.
"It doesn't say who it's from."
"It's a surprise!" Tyler declared.
Alex opened it and inside was another box.
There were four boxes in all, one inside of the next.
"What the hell?" Alex was starting to get mad.
She got to the last box and inside was a ring box.
Olivia knelt in front of her. "Make me the happiest woman alive."
Tears fell down Alex's face before she pounced on her fiancée. "YES!"
At the Carmichaels, they only got presents for the children (and for their significant others of course). This made Christmas much more affordable than everyone trying to get a present for everyone else.
The real beauty of Christmas was that the family all came together, no matter where they lived or what else was going on.
There was plenty of eggnog (spiked of course) sticky buns, and bacon to go around.
While the adults ate and drank, the children opened presents.
When they were done, Abbie and Casey went for a walk.
"It's beautiful here," Casey told her.
"Yeah, there's something wonderful about Texas."
"I meant, standing here with you."
Abbie kissed her. "I love you Casey. I never thought I could be so happy, and I hate that we aren't together all the time."
"Me too."
Abbie handed Casey an envelope.
Casey opened it. It was a letter. "What's this for?"
"It's my one month notice. I want to leave the US Attorney's Office."
Casey's eyes bugged out of her head. "What, why?"
"Because maybe getting to see you on weekends isn't good enough anymore. I want to be with you all the time."
"You're going to leave your job for me?"
"You're worth it baby."
Casey shook her head. "I'm not going to let you do that. You wanted this your whole life."
"Not as much as I want you."
"What if I move to DC?"
"What?"
"I don't care where I live, Abbie. I just want it to be with you."
"Maybe we should make a final decision later, but one of us is moving to be with the other one."
"Or we could move somewhere together, pick a whole new city!"
Abbie shook her head. "You always know how to make things more complicated."
"That's why you love me."
"Bet your sweet ass it is."
They shared a tender kiss.
"EW COOTIES!" Tucker yelled at them.
Abbie just flipped him off.