A/N: I'm very glad you all enjoyed the citrus. I tried really hard to balance the tender emotional aspect with the kink. There's something oddly erotic about not using euphemisms, ya know? There will probably be more of the lemony goodness, but I'm definitely pondering an Alex/Ziva NCIS crossover focused more on kink. Please do not even try to tell me how hot that would be.

Also, as a very loyal fan of NCIS, I am absolutely in love with Diane Neal as a person. Her tweets have soothed and encouraged legions of Tiva shippers who would otherwise be running around crying over Cote de Pablo leaving. Someone go give her a medal.

And in a final note, my college career is picking up, so updates will not be as frequent. Patience, please, my dear readers. Baby will come in a few chapters, I promise.


"Here's your tea, my love." Alex said, kissing Casey's cheek as she handed her the mug.

Casey inhaled, peppermint tea had been her favorite ever since the morning sickness began. "Thank you, honey!" Casey chirped as she wrapped her hands around the warm porcelain. She leaned forward to peck her fiancee on the lips.

Alex grinned, taking a seat next to the redhead in the Adirondack chair with her coffee. Taking Casey's hand as she sipped, she brought it to her lips, brushing a couple kisses to the pale skin. "Isn't the sunset beautiful?" She asked.

Casey hummed contentedly, relaxing against the cushions under the unseasonably warm spring evening. "Not as beautiful as you, babe." She threw the blonde a wink.

The Attorney General snorted. "I love that we have a porch and a backyard to watch it from. It just makes everything seem so..." She paused, racking her extensive vocabulary for the right word. "picturesque. Like how I imagined it. You and me watching our kids in the backyard while the sun set in the distance..." She trailed off wistfully.

Casey's hand moved to her well-rounded stomach, rubbing circles into the strip of exposed flesh where her shirt had ridden up. "Even though things will never be the way we planned, I've found that I no longer care. We've never lived according to plan. Why start now?"

Alex patted Casey's hand on top of her bump. "I've always loved you for your mind, you know."

"Bullshit." Casey retorted. "You just liked how my ass looked in my court clothes."

Alex almost spit out her coffee, barely stifling her laughter. "Objection! The witness is asserting that the prosecution is an ass woman!"

Casey rolled her eyes. "Well since you seem to have such a high opinion of it, even while I'm this fat, I'll gladly sustain."

There was a high pitched squeak as Alex moved to straddle the pregnant woman, carefully scraping her teeth against an ivory neck. "For the fiftieth time, you are not even close to fat. It's completely normal to be curvier when you're pregnant, and personally, it turns me on like you wouldn't believe." She licked up to behind Casey's ear, reveling in the little gasps issuing from Casey's lips. "I love your curves baby. Don't be ashamed at all."

"That's crap, Alex." Casey bit out between breaths. "I'm so fat, this house we bought is no where near big enough to hold me."

The attorneys had moved into their new house about two weeks previously, as an engagement present from Alex. While Casey had thought the size was a little unnecessary, Alex had been insistent. Their new home in Queens had 4 bedrooms, a lovely kitchen, and a very spacious yard, complete with the porch they were sitting on. To complete the picture, Casey had adopted a tawny little pitbull puppy she lovingly named Gizmo.

Undeterred, Alex kissed Casey soundly. "Maybe a repeat of last night would convince you otherwise?" She raised a perfectly styled eyebrow.

Casey laughed bitterly. "Star Hitter is sadly making it a bit difficult for me to perform as of late."

Moving silently to sit across Casey's lap, Alex kissed her temple. "When are you going on maternity leave?"

"I'm finishing up this week, seeing as we have no major cases right now." Casey sighed. "My replacement will be taking over for me, and may potentially become a partner at the firm."

"Meaning?" Alex questioned.

Casey exhaled. "I'm not sure if I'm going to go back full-time at this point." She admitted, looking away from Alex.

Alex's eyes widened at Casey's statement. "Because of Star Hitter?"

The redhead nodded. "I don't want her to be alone. We have no family. And there's no way in hell I'm putting my special needs child in a day-care with strangers. It's what I have to do."

"But you loved doing this! It's your passion!" Alex cajoled. "Think of how happy Lizzie is. She's so confident now. She thinks of you almost like her second mother. She really loves you. Think of how many other lives you can change." She kissed the top of her head. "You told me not to throw it all away. Please don't make that mistake." She whispered in her ear.

A slight smile crossed Casey's lips. "I'm still playing with the idea of working as much as I can from here. You're right that it would be a shame to give this up." She tangled her fingers in Alex's golden locks, curling against her fiancee. "I'm just worried that I won't be able to balance mothering my baby and mothering these poor souls."

Alex chuckled lowly. "You're such a sap." She kissed Casey's ruby hair. "As much as I don't like Sarah Palin, I gotta hand it to her. Raising 4 kids, and then having a baby with Down Syndrome while Governor? She's gotta be Wonder Woman." She nuzzled her hair, breathing in raspberry mingling with an essence that was unique to Casey. "If she can do that, I think we can manage." She finished, smiling warmly at her love.

Casey grinned widely. "So that's Wonder Woman's alter ego? Damn. I thought it was you." She joked, kissing Alex's nose, and then passionately on the lips. As she pulled away, she suddenly jerked into awareness, eyes wide. "Hey, Alex, I haven't heard Gizmo in a while. You wanna go bring him out here?"

Alex sighed in mock-exasperation. "The things I do for you, darling." With a final kiss to her cheek, Alex eased herself off of Casey, making her way into the house.

"Here, puppy puppy!" She whistled. "Come here boy! Good boy gets cookie!" There was no response. Concerned, Alex searched every room methodically for the pup, until she noticed that the door into the garage was open, as was the garage. "Shit!" She cursed to herself, unexcited by the prospect of having to find the dog without Casey knowing, lest she trigger her hormones. Sitting down at the breakfast bar to gather her thoughts, she was startled by a knock at the door. Praise the Lord! She ran to the door, opening it to reveal a very short, pixie-like girl, maybe 20-something years of age. Her skin was so pale, almost unnaturally so, even Casey had a warm glow in comparison. Hair the color of cinders fell in tight ringlets past her shoulders. Her features were elegant, yet held a kind expression. And in the crook of her arm was the squirming form of tiny Gizmo.

"Hello, is this your dog?" She inquired. Her voice was somewhat nasally, accented by a midwestern dipthong.

"Yes, he is. Thanks for finding him, my fiancee would not be pleased to find out I accidentally let him out." She chuckled.

The girl laughed, almost like wind passing through chimes. "Is he your first dog? I remember mine. My mother breeds Samoyeds, but none of them are quite as cute as this little bugger!" She gave the pup a scratch under his black chin, handing him to Alex, who immediately shooed him in the direction of the porch.

"Can you tell?" Alex joked, blushing slightly.

"Just be careful not to let him escape again. He could get hit by a car, not to mention your other neighbors who may not be as nice as me."

Alex paused. "So you're my neighbor?"

The girl gestured to the small house next door. "I live next door with Jessie. She's a service dog I'm training. Maybe we could get our dogs together sometime, Ms.-" She fished for a name.

"Cabot. Alexandra Cabot, but you can call me Alex." She smiled, shaking the girl's delicate hand.

The girl's jaw almost hit the ground. "Alexandra Cabot as in the Attorney General?! Oh my God, wow..."

Alex laughed earnestly. "Honey, I don't bite. I am, in fact, human, as you have just observed."

This time, the girl blushed, her pale cheeks easily turning several shades of pink. "Well, I'm Natasha Marzak. And I'm not nearly as cool as you, I just do some consulting for a firm from home, nothing special."

"You should meet my fiancee. She's a victim's rights lawyer, but wants to be a stay-at-home mom and work from home like you." Alex suggested.

"Who is this that I should meet? Your mistress?" Casey called, waddling towards the door with Gizmo in tow.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Darling, this is our next-door-neighbor, Natasha Marzak. Natasha, this is my fiancee, Casey. You two will have plenty to talk about."

Natasha extended her hand. "It's a pleasure."

Casey laughed, batting aside her hand and instead pulling her in for a hug. "Come here, kiddo, have some enthusiasm."

"I take it congratulations are in order?" Natasha queried, gesturing at Casey's bump.

Casey wrapped herself around Alex. "Only two months to go." She beamed. "We couldn't be happier."

"Well, that's good. You'll have to bring the little one 'round when they're born, I love kids."

"Oh we will." Alex replied, before suddenly getting an idea. "Hey, you mentioned your service dog. What exactly does she do?"

Natasha twiddled her fingers. "She's trained in basic service dog commands, such as opening doors and retrieving dropped objects, and the like. Specifically, she's also trained in emotional support and seizure detection. She'll likely be placed with a special needs child when she's done."

Casey's face fell for a moment, which Natasha noticed but chose not to comment on. "So this is a hobby for you?"

"In a way. My brother is autistic, and his dog was the first one I trained. After seeing the joy on his face when he's with him, along with how much more confident and successful he is in life, I decided to bring the same joy to others. I've trained five others already. I find it fulfilling to put so much joy into these children's lives. Because these dogs make it possible for them to feel like they will always be awesome to somebody."

"That's so incredibly noble of you, I have no idea how to express how awesome I think what you're doing is." Casey blushed.

Natasha waved it off. "I'm just doing what I love."

Casey smiled warmly. "Well, anytime you wanna chat, our door's open. Never mind miss Ice Queen over here, she's a real softie once you warm her up."

Alex playfully smacked her arm. "Shhh! Now she knows all my secrets!"

Natasha laughed. "I'll be seeing you around! It was very nice to meet you two! And watch your dog!" She called out as she left.

Closing the door, Alex turned to her love. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The redhead's eyes softened. "I know I am. I think we just met Star Hitter's new best friend."