It's coming to the end…just two more chapters left! :(

Thank you to the amazing reviewers who continue to love me despite my slowness in updating: xsparklesthemagicalunicornx (I saw it too! Johnny Strong is a beautiful man but the movie could've been a lot better if those fight scenes were cut in half and his shirt was off more…hehe), Magenta Stone (I'm not sure if I'll write one about Maxi when he's older, I never really thought about it!…It is a good idea though!), D274, nathansprincess (there is a third one and a prequel on the way!), Mrz LOT, sweetistofsin, Beautiful Nightmare (I couldn't bear to kill Leon. It was heartbreaking enough to watch Vince die in Fast Five, I couldn't even think about killing another one of my favorite men!), shane vanson, Rue Dawn, Vinces-Girl, and VincesDirtyGirl!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and review, you comments and thoughts are very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Alex and Michaela. :)

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 66: The Next Step

By: LoveInk

Vince came home from the supermarket to find the house completely silent. For the first time since he had moved in, there was no one else living in the house with them. If Leon wasn't in the hospital, he'd be there, but at the moment, it was just the three of them: him, Alex, and their new baby. He liked the idea of it; coming home to his wife and kid. Smirking, he put the groceries in the kitchen before calling out, "Honey, I'm home!"

There was no answer. He started feeling a little uneasy. He knew she was home. The Jeep with the baby seat was sitting in the driveway. "Tiny?" he called again, moving towards their bedroom. The door was open and he could see her small form curled up on it. He smiled, slightly relieved to see her safe and sound.

As he walked closer, he found Maxi sleeping on the bed next to her. Her hand was lying protectively over his small belly. Pictures littered the bedspread around them. There were newer ones: one of him sleeping, her delicate ringed finger on his chest, one of Leon painting her toe nails, and one of Mia and Michaela relaxing on the beach. Then there were a few from happier times: Michaela and Leon cuddled together on the floor in front of Dom's couch, Jesse elbow deep in an engine, and the last one in particular surprised Vince. It was of Dom seated at the head of the dinner table, Letty on his lap, her arm around his neck, her forehead against him. They both looked content there. Letty was even smiling a little, a rare feat to catch on camera.

He loved Alex even more then. True, she wasn't Dom's biggest fan or a fan at all, but she cared enough to snap a picture of him. To preserve a memory of him. She wasn't going to make Vince sever ties nor was she ignoring his presence in their life. She acknowledged it and accepted it despite her own feelings toward the bald man.

Maxi stirred slightly, his eyes opening as his pacifier fell out of his mouth. Vince gently put it back in and the baby calmed. His pretty blue-green eyes sliding closed again. His gaze fell back on Alex. She was sleeping peacefully, a stray piece of hair blowing in and out of her face with every breath. Her tan had faded slightly, the permanent tan line of her bikini barely apparent anymore. It had been a long time since she'd last been to the beach. He knew as soon as she was able, she'd start surfing again and those lines that he loved to trace over would come back.

Vince ran a finger over the faint scar on her cheek, the one left behind from that night with the Trans. It was the night he had decided he wanted to marry her. That night he decided she was the perfect woman for him. The next day, he'd gotten her Dad's number from Ronnie and made the call to ask for his blessing. He remembered her father, Javier's, shouts of joy and his eager blessing and smiled. He never would've thought someone's father would be so happy to have their daughter marrying a guy like him, but Javi had been and Vince was thankful for that.

He wished they could've gotten married before they had Maxi. He had planned on asking her about it and planning a quick wedding before she could get big; a quick but lavish wedding with a Church and all their friends and family. He and the guys would wear nice tuxes, and she would wear a beautiful white dress...

"You're thinking too loud," Alex groaned, cutting off his train of thought.

"Sorry," he mumbled, his hand brushing a hair out of her face just as her brilliant green eyes opened.

"Mm," she hummed, her small hand coming to rest over his. "What are you thinking so much about?"

He leaned forward to kiss her temple. "Getting married."

"Oh yeah?" she asked, a warm smile on her face. "To who?"

"Some dancer I met this one time," he replied on a shrug.

"A dancer!" she exclaimed, her eyes glittering in the dim light. "She must be pretty."

Vince nuzzled his nose against her cheek. "She's beautiful. My tiny dancer."

She giggled, scooting over so he could lie behind her. He lay down, draping his arm over her hip, his big hand settling over her small one that was resting on their son's belly. She leaned into his strong body. "Why were you thinking about marrying this beautiful tiny dancer? I believe she already said yes to you."

"She did." He sighed, his warm breath blowing across her face. "I just wish…I wanted to do things right. I wanted to us get married and then have a baby. "

"You wanted to make an honest woman out of me," she commented on a light laugh. She'd always known Vince was traditional in most of his views. It didn't surprise her at all that having a baby out of wedlock made him uncomfortable.

"Don't laugh," he growled, his lips moving against her neck. "I do everything wrong all the time, I thought this time…I could do something right."

Alex turned her head to kiss his forehead. "Big guy, you didn't do anything wrong. You asked me to marry you and then we had a baby."

"But we're not actually married," he reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "So? Who gives a shit? I consider you my husband, official or not. I'm not going to go date anyone else…"

"You better not," he interrupted, his arm around her waist tightening its hold protectively.

"If it makes you feel better, we can go to city hall and do it tomorrow," she suggested nonchalantly. She'd been thinking about doing a simple civil wedding for awhile now.

Vince raised his eyebrows, this was not something he was expecting. "Don't all girls want a big fairytale wedding with white dresses and glass slippers or some shit? Mia's been planning hers since she was eight. She has scrapbooks."

"That's unhealthy," Alex muttered with a smirk. "I don't want a big wedding. Just you, me, and our closest friends is perfect."

"What about your family?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Izzy had a big wedding, Lena had a big wedding, and both of them hated it. If there's anything I learned from my sisters, its bigger isn't always better. There were tears and fights. Both of them didn't speak to their husbands the week before because there was so much drama."

The gritty sound of his laugh sent shivers down her spine. "No big wedding then," he murmured, kissing her shoulder.

"My parents are coming up next week though…"

"And it shouldn't take long to put a wedding together," he said, his mind following her train of thought.

"We just need a marriage license."

"And a church."

"With a priest."

Vince smiled, pulling her in closer. "We're really gonna do this."

"Oh hell yeah, we are." His slow chuckle made her raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Mia's going to be so pissed."

Leon shifted uncomfortably in Michaela's car. He couldn't find a position where the seatbelt didn't lay heavily on his cracked ribs. "Stop fidgeting," Michaela ordered, looking at him over her sunglasses. "You're making me nervous, Lee."

He stopped moving and settled for putting his hand between his body and the seatbelt. "How's the Skyline?"

She grimaced and shrugged a shoulder. "It's…pretty fucked up."

"Fuck," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Jesse's been working on it," Michaela explained. "He says it's comin' along well. It will take some time though."

Leon frowned, rubbing a hand over his face. "Damn semi."

"Our team doesn't seem to have much luck with trucks, huh?"

He chuckled, shaking his head at her; it seemed wrong to laugh about the heists since the team barely survived them. "Guess not."

"Too soon?"

Leon shook his head, reaching out a hand to squeeze her thigh. He knew humor was how she dealt with things. "Nah, Princess. You're good."

She smiled at him briefly before biting her lip as she thought of how to phrase her next question. "Lee, where are you going to live now?"

"I don't really know," he said slowly as his mind worked out the different places. He knew he didn't want to live with Vince and Alex especially since they had Maxi at home. He knew what newborn babies were like from experiences with his older sister; they didn't sleep and neither did anyone living with them. He could go back and live in the basement at the fort with Letty and Mia, but he really didn't want to be there. There were too many memories. Another option was to move in with Ronnie and Fisher like Jesse had; the place was big enough and it would be fun. He knew there was one more choice, but he wasn't going to bring it up…not unless it was offered.

"Umm…well, I'm gonna be alone at my house since my brother pretty much moved in with Lex and they have the baby now so…if you want to stay with me…that'd be cool," she said, mentally smacking herself for how awkward she sounded.

He smirked. "You want me to move in with you?"

Michaela shrugged a shoulder. "If you want to. It's no big if you don't. I just…don't want to be alone in that house."

"Why do you call it "that house"? What happened there that made you hate it so much?" he asked perceptively.

"My childhood, my high school years…I went through hell and it all took place there. The fights, the mistakes, everything. There hasn't been a single happy moment in that house until I came from Vegas to visit my brother," she explained on a sigh. "Happy moments happened at the Toretto's; everything else happened at that house."

Leon fought the urge to roll his eyes; sometimes Michaela could be quite the drama queen. "Yet you still want to live there."

She smirked. "I figured I could make new memories there," she said suggestively.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Is that right? Anyone in particular you want in those memories?"

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"Say what?" he questioned, playing dumb.

"Leon Donati, will you move into that house with me and help me make new memories?" she asked, feeling like she was proposing to him for some reason.

Leon grinned, leaning over the seat to kiss her cheek. "Sounds like fun to me."

When Alex had brought up her urge to go to the mall, the other girls looked at her like she'd grown a second head; she almost hated shopping as much as Letty, especially if she had to shop with Mia. Yet there they were, all four of the girls with Mia leading the pack.

"So what are we here for?" Mickey asked, her eyes sweeping the mall for a good sale; she loved the mall just as much as Mia did.

"I wanted to find a dress," Alex replied vaguely.

Mia stopped walking, her brown eyes widening with shock."A dress? You?" she questioned, her voice loud. "Hell must have frozen over. Let, are you looking for a dress too?"

"Hell no," Letty said with a short shake of her head, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Are you talking about one of those beachy dresses you wear. Because I already told you those are cover-ups, not dresses and they don't count," Mia stated, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Alex.

Alex rolled her eyes. They'd discussed that topic many a time when Mia was "helping" her get dressed for the races. "No, Mia. And they do count. A dress is a bodice and a skirt and those "beachy dresses" have both."

"They don't count when you have to wear something under them, Lex."

"You wear panties under a dress, don't you?" Alex pointed out.

Letty smirked. "Not all the time."

"Macy's usually has cute dresses," Michaela put out there, cutting off what was sure to turn into an argument.

Alex shook her head. "Not the kind I'm lookin' for."

"I bet you're lookin' for one of those stripper dresses, huh?" Letty said with a naughty grin. "Tease V a little now that you popped the baby out."

Michaela made a gagging noise but Alex just smiled. "Mmm, good idea, but no," she replied. They turned the corner and she grinned as she saw the store she'd come for. "Those kinds of dresses."

Mia's eyes widened. The dresses Alex was pointing to were intricately decorated with lace and flowers and very...white. "Lex, those are wedding dresses."

"Good," Alex said on a nod. "Because last time I checked, I was getting married."

Michaela, Letty, and Mia stared at her slackjawed as she walked into the store in front of them. Mia charged after her. "Are you kidding me? When is this happening?" she squealed excitedly, clapping her hands as she started to plan out the wedding in her head.

"Anytime within the next ninety days. We were thinking about next week since my parents will be here."

"Excuse me?" Mia's happy tone was gone. All the ideas she had faded from her mind. That was not enough time to plan a good wedding. "That's only like five days of planning! Where are we doing dinner? Where are we going to have it? We have to plan seating arrangements and send out invitations! What the hell, Alex?"

"Mi, we're not having a big wedding. It's just going to be simple. Just family and friends. Hell, we were thinking of doing just a civil service."

Mia gasped as if that was a horrendous idea. "Are you crazy? A civil service!"

"I think you just broke Mia's heart," Letty said on a laugh.

Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "But we're not. It's just not going to be a big deal...okay?"

Mia frowned. "This is so unfair. I could've planned an amazing wedding for you two with flowers and musicians and doves!"

"Mi, you can still be my maid of honor," Alex said flippantly.

"What?" she screeched excitedly. She looked at Michaela who didn't look at all surprised.

"Congrats, Mi," Michaela said with an honest smile. While she and Alex were close, she had to admit that Alex and Mia were closer. Though they were polar opposites, the two girls got along surprisingly well. The awkwardness that always existed between Michaela and Alex because of their significant others was absent between Mia and Alex so there was less tension and a lot more things they could discuss without risking a fight. Michaela looped her arms through Mia and Alex's, pulling them toward the store. "Let's go see some dresses!"

Over thirty dresses later, Alex was regretting taking Mia along with her. Everything Mia chose was so fluffy and princess-y. There was nothing Alex would ever feel comfortable wearing. While Mia chatted excitedly with the saleswoman, she wandered over to where Michaela and Letty were rifling through simpler dresses. Michaela gave her a sympathetic smile. "How you holding up?"

"I'm starting to think I'll just wear my white bikini with a white skirt and be done with it," Alex answered on a sigh. "Don't get me wrong, I love Cinderella, but I don't want to dress like her. I want to be able to walk down the aisle and not look like a white marshmallow."

Michaela giggled as she moved to another rack. She pushed a few back before stopping. "Oh Lex," she breathed, gently running her hands over the silky material of the skirt. "This is it."

Alex looked over Michaela's shoulder and felt chills go down her spine. It was perfect.

:) What'd you think?

Next chapter: The Wedding! Any suggestions? Things you want to read? Don't want to read? Ideas?

For those of you who celebrate it: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Hope your Turkey Day is phenomenal! ;)

~Love Ink