Dee Hensley: I'm glad you think Alex is adorable. A commitment phobic Abbie is always a good time. Poor Serena. SthrnGrlAddicted2Fanfic: Thank you very much. I'm glad you love the story so far. nany85: Your review really made me smile. It makes me happy that you like the story and Abbie and Serena. Alex and Casey and Abbie and Serena are my absolute favorite pairings. :)

Casey woke up early in the morning to the sound of her phone ringing. Judging by the ring tone, it could only be one person: Alex. As much as she loved her fiancee, five o'clock was too early to talk to anybody. She decided to let the phone keep ringing and fall back asleep. When Alex called for the fifth time in a row, Casey finally decided to answer the phone.

"Babe, it's early. I wanna go to sleep," Casey said.

"You barely woke up?" Alex asked in disbelief. "We have to leave soon. I knew I should have spent the night with you."

"Alex, the sun isn't even up yet."

"It doesn't matter, babe," Alex told her. "Okay, I'm not going to stress about this. Just start getting ready and I'll be there in a few minutes so we can finish getting ready together. I love you."

"I love you, too," Casey said and started smiling uncontrollably. It didn't matter how much Alex nitpicked every single detail about their engagement, Casey just couldn't get enough of her.

When Casey got out of the shower, she heard a knock at the door. Knowing it was Alex, she wrapped a towel around her body and quickly walked over to the door. As always, her fiancee was well put together and it was beyond Casey how someone could make jeans and a sweater look so glamorous. In one hand was a make-up case and in the other was a wardrobe bag that was protecting the red dress that Alex had bought specifically for that night.

"You look beautiful," Casey said and gave her a kiss.

"You do," Alex insisted. "I wish every time I entered a room I was greeted by a gorgeous redhead wearing nothing but a towel."

Casey grabbed Alex's belongings and led her over to her room. "Are you nervous?" Casey asked.

"Yes," Alex admitted. "Are you?"

"It's my first Cabot wedding and we're announcing our engagement to your father. Of course I'm nervous," Casey said.

"That's why I want to be there early," Alex pointed out. "I want to have brunch with Daddy before my cousin's wedding and tell him about our engagement. It'll be just the three of us and if he wants to tell other friends and family, he can. I don't want to make a formal announcement."

"You just made me feel so relieved,: Casey told her. "I love you, Alex. I love you! I was expecting some sort of grandiose announcement that involved you clinking a fork against a champagne glass and telling everyone at the wedding that you and I were getting married. But brunch is good. Brunch, I can do."

"Everyone is going to find out sooner or later," Alex told her. "This ring on my finger isn't exactly discreet."

"I can't get over how good it looks on you," Casey said and kissed Alex's hand.

"While we're on the subject of looking good, I made an appointment with a bridal consultant for May," Alex said excitedly. "I wanted us to go on the same day, but I couldn't get you in until June."

"That's fine," Casey told her. "I'm more excited about seeing you in your dress."

"Not until December," Alex reminded her. "It's bad luck to see your bride in her wedding dress before your wedding day. I've told you this countless times, Casey."

"Fine," Casey groaned. "Besides, what I'm looking forward to the most is taking the dress off of you on our wedding night."

"I can top that," Alex said and pulled Casey close to her. "I'm not letting you get out of bed during our honeymoon and I'm not going to let you wear any clothes."

With one quick gesture, Alex yanked Casey's towel off and started to caress her naked body. She knew she should let Casey get dressed, but she couldn't resist her. Her original plan was to make love to Casey on her bed, but she didn't want to wait that long. Instead, she got on her knees and started tasting her fiancee right there in the middle of the room.

Casey arrived at the Cabot household completely relaxed and with her head held high. She had met with Mr. Cabot once before, but this was under completely different circumstances. She was no longer a woman that his daughter was seeing; she was her fiancee. She started to think about what Alex had done to her in the bedroom and what she had done to Alex during the drive over. While they were driving along a lonely, two-lane road, Casey started running her fingers along the inside of her fiancee's thighs and suggested that they pull over. When Alex asked why, all Casey would tell her is that she had a surprise for her. Knowing what that surprise was, Alex pulled over and suggested that they get in the backseat, but Casey just had to one-up her. She grabbed Alex by the hand and led her deep into the woods until they could no longer be seen from the road. Casey had Alex's body sandwiched between her and a tree when she started to pleasure her fiancee. Alex had never done anything so daring before so she went against her best judgement and gave in to whatever Casey wanted to do to her.

Now that Mr. Cabot was approaching them, Casey wished she hadn't suggested sex in the open woods. She noticed a little twig in Alex's hair and some dirt on the back of her sweater. She quickly removed the twig from her fiancee's hair and started to brush the dirt off of her sweater.

"Casey, what are you doing?" Alex asked.

"No more sex in the woods while we're driving to your childhood home," Casey responded. She then looked past her fiancee and noticed that Alex's dad was already standing there. He heard everything; she knew he had to have.

"Daddy!" Alex said excitedly and gave her father a hug. While she was hugging him, he was able to successfully remove another twig from his daughter's usually flawless hair.

"Casey?"

"Yes, Mr. Cabot?" Casey asked nervously.

"Stop violating my princess in the woods," he said and then gave her a hug. "Or, if you do, at least have the decency to remove the debris from her hair and her sweater."

"Yes, sir," Casey said, suddenly feeling like a child.

Once they were sitting at a table in the backyard, Alex wasted no time with small talk.

"Daddy, I wanted to meet so I can tell you something very important," she said nervously.

"You're marrying Casey," he pointed out. "That ring says it all."

"I love your daughter," Casey began. "I know Alex is your only child and you want to protect her, but I want to protect her, too. She's my best friend, the love of my life, and now she's my fiancee. I promise to always look out for her best interests and most importantly I promise to always be good to her. I know the decision to marry me is Alex's and Alex's alone, but we still want your blessing and we want you to be a part of our special day."

Alex looked at her dad and tried to maintain her composure. "I know it hurts you to do so, but will you give me away?"

No matter how old she had gotten, Mr. Cabot would always see Alex as his little girl. She was his pride and joy and his greatest accomplishment.

"I won't give you away to just anyone," he told Alex. Alex had never known her dad to be an emotional man, but at that moment she swore she heard his voice start to quiver.

"Daddy, Casey isn't just anyone," she insisted.

"I always knew this day would come, but I had pictured you marrying a man. I hoped and prayed he would be someone who was good to you, someone who would take care of you and someone who loved you so much it would hurt to be apart from you. I wanted you to find yourself a good man, a kind man, but then you told me you were only attracted to women and I had to rethink everything I wanted for you," he told her. "I realized the same qualities I wanted for you in a man are the exact same qualities I wanted you to find in a woman. You're my baby, Alex, and I want you to be sure about this."

"Daddy, I'm 38. A 38-year-old woman isn't exactly a baby."

"She is when she's your baby," he told her. "You'll know what I mean someday when you and Casey have the same conversation with your daughter. You two are going to give me grandchildren, aren't you?"

"Yes, Daddy," Alex said. "Casey and I have already started talking about starting a family right after we get married."

"Not right away," Mr. Cabot urged them. "You two are going to need time to get acquainted as a married couple and then you can start having children. We waited five years before we had Alex."

"I can't wait that long to see a little version of her," Casey said and started smiling. "Besides, in five years Alex and I will both be in our 40s. We probably shouldn't wait that long."

"I'm hoping you will pass on your genes as well, Casey," Mr. Cabot told her. "I've always thought you were a very beautiful young woman."

"Oh, we plan on having a little redheaded terror, Daddy," Alex insisted.

"Do you love my little girl?" Mr. Cabot asked in a serious tone of voice. He was looking directly at Casey and she knew no answer she gave would be good enough for a father who is giving his only daughter away.

"With all my heart," Casey said sincerely. "Alex is everything to me. I can't live without her."

"I expected a more convincing argument from two lawyers," Mr. Cabot teased. "But I can tell you're both being sincere. All I can say is, 'welcome to the family, Casey.'"

"Thank you, sir," Casey said and held her hand out so they could shake hands.

"No more calling me 'sir,'" he said and pulled her in a for a hug. "You can be as informal with me as you'd like. You're a Cabot now."

Alex and Casey exchanged worried glances as soon as Mr. Cabot wasn't looking. Alex had every intention of changing her last name to Novak once they were married, but she knew her dad wasn't ready to hear that yet.

"Baby steps," Alex told herself. "Baby steps."