"Maybe she hasn't been down to visit us because she's busy?" Abbie told Serena. They had given Alex a standing invitation to come see them in DC, and she had yet to make use of it. Serena wanted to go check on her, but Abbie thought she was overreacting.

"Busy doing what? She doesn't take cases to trial anymore, and she doesn't have any other commitments."

"Maybe she's seeing someone?"

"She'd tell me."

Abbie knew this was a losing battle.

On Friday, they took the train to New York and called Alex from Penn Station.

The Bureau Chief had left work early to go get dinner ready. She and her ladies each had a long week, so she wanted to have a nice comforting meal for them.

She went to the butcher, and they had a nice big rack of pork available. Her girls loved meat, especially when it was still on the bone.

She bought the big hunk of meat and the butcher said, "I bet your family's going to be very happy today." Too many people just eat McDonalds or takeout. It was nice to see people come to their shop and actually buy real food to cook, not to mention they needed the money.

"Oh they will be." Casey and Olivia were her family.

Casey and Olivia would be at her place at 7:30, which gave her a couple of hours to add some flavor to this pork before she had to cook it. She got out some parchment paper and added to it crushed garlic, rosemary, thyme, crushed black pepper, salt, and fennel seeds. She wrapped the pork in the parchment and stuck it in the fridge.

Most would not expect Alex to be much of a cook, but it was how she had bonded with her mother, who had been born and raised in Toulouse. For Caroline and for Alex, meals were to be shared with family, both the cooking and the eating.

Alex did not cook much when she first got to New York. She was often busy working and got takeout, but once she got with Olivia, she naturally started cooking for her. It's what you do for those you love. There would always be a sadness, since Alex couldn't cook with her mother anymore, but she could remember what her mother had taught her and hopefully, someday she'll be able to pass it down to her own children.

Alex made the dessert next, since it would need to set in the fridge. She decided on a simple chocolate mousse, which only needed three things, chocolate sauce (chocolate, egg yolk and sugar emulsion), whipped cream, and egg whites whipped to stiff peaks. Fold them all together and let it set in the fridge and that's a done deal.

She was just getting the ingredients together when her phone went off.

"Cabot."

"Southerlyn."

"Hey Serena what's going on?"

"Abbie and I are in New York, and we thought we'd take you out tonight."

SHIT! "Um, I would love that, but I'm having people over for dinner and …"

"What time?"

"7:30. Maybe we could …"

"Why don't we bring dessert? It will give you one less thing to do."

Alex could hear the insistence in Serena's voice. "Sure, I'll see you soon."

Now what to tell Olivia and Casey?

"We're having dinner at Alex's," Serena told Abbie.

"What's she making?"

"I don't know, something French knowing her."

"She didn't have to cook for us."

"She said she was having people over, so she would have been cooking anyway."

"We're crashing her dinner party?"

"She would have invited us if she knew we were in New York."

"Didn't we come to rescue her? It sounds like she's fine."

"I already said we'd bring dessert."

Abbie sighed. "Let's get boozy cupcakes."

"Yum!"

Casey and Olivia had just gotten out of the shower when Alex called.

"Hey Sugar Plum what's going on?"

"Well, we're going to have Abbie and Serena with us for dinner."

"Do they know …"

"No they don't. They kind of just showed up, and I don't know how to …"

Olivia could hear Alex's panic. "Let's just play it by ear. If it seems right, we'll tell them. If not, we don't. It will be fine."

Casey came over. "What's going on?"

"Abbie and Serena made a surprise visit."

Casey shivered. She didn't know them that well. She only knew Serena scared her.

"What's for dinner?"

Olivia grinned when she heard the menu. "Well that sounds delicious. We can't wait."

"What's the game plan?"

"To make sure Alex relaxes. I don't know why she's so nervous."

"I should be nervous. Serena hates me." She made a point to glare at Casey every time she saw her.

"No she doesn't. She's just protective of Alex. She'll see that we're all friends, and it will be okay."

"I'm counting on you to protect me."

"Always," Olivia promised with a kiss. "Always and forever."

When they got to Alex's apartment, Olivia groaned at the smell of the pork. "That smells fucking amazing."

"Well I hope it tastes just as good."

Along with the pork, Alex had a pear, chevre, and pecan mixed green salad and roasted potatoes with rosemary.

"It's so pretty," Casey commented. The salads were plated individually with artistry. Everything else was family style.

"I wanted this to go just right."

Olivia kissed her neck. "It will Love."

The doorbell rang. Alex opened the door to get lambasted with a Serena hug.

"It's so good to see you."

Alex could hardly breathe. "You just saw me last month."

"We still have three years of catching up to do."

"Hey Abbie, how are you?"

"I'm good, sprout. We brought boozy cupcakes."

"Great. We're all here, so why don't we get started?"

Serena frowned when she saw that Olivia and Casey were their guests. What the hell?

Abbie was surprised too, but she smiled. "Olivia, Casey good to see you."

"Abbie, how's DC?"

"It's great. I still love my job, and they still think I'm good at it."

"I'm sure you're great."

There was a Pinot Noir and a white Burgundy on the table. Olivia opened the bottles.

"One red wine and one white wine, some things never change Cabot," Abbie told her.

She shrugged. "It's how my mama raised me." They always had a bottle of each available at dinner.

"How is your family doing?" Serena questioned.

"Good, Warren and Vivian are getting ready to send out their wedding invitations. Father is already getting excited for grandchildren, but I think he'll have to wait a few more years."

"I think this is the best salad I've ever eaten," Abbie told her.

"Of course, it has goat cheese and pecans in it. It's more fat than salad," Serena told her.

"That's the best part," Casey insisted.

"Yum, fat," Olivia was happy.

After the salad came the pork and the potatoes. Abbie did the honor of carving the pork.

"How did you get the skin so crispy and amazing looking?" Abbie only had pork skin deep-fried.

"I scalded the skin with hot oil before I roasted the pork, so it would puff up."

They all dug in. Casey liked hers so much she didn't talk at all. She just ate until her food was gone.

"Like your dish?" Olivia teased.

"I think this is the best thing Alex ever made."

"You say that every time she makes something."

"It's always true."

"Do you two come over often?" Serena found that so unusual. Why would Alex torture herself with her ex and her ex's new girlfriend?

Casey said no while Olivia said yes. Oops.

"We see each other often. Sometimes, we go over to Casey's and sometimes they come here."

"How bizarre!"

"Serena," Abbie warned.

"What? You don't find it odd that Alex spends her time with her ex-lover and her ex's new girlfriend."

"It's not our business."

"Fuck that. She has girls throwing themselves at her left and right and she turns them all down, for what, a hope that maybe she and Olivia will get back together. It's unhealthy!"

Before any of the women could explain Abbie and Serena got into a full blown argument.

Abbie said that Serena shouldn't assume anything without the information, and Serena told Abbie that Alex has not been herself since she came back, and they had to get to the bottom of it.

Finally, Olivia whistled. "Enough!"

Both women stopped and stared.

"I think it's time we tell them Alex."

She cringed. "I think you're right." She took a breath. "The reason, I see so much of Casey and Olivia is because we're together."

Abbie frowned. "Who do you mean by we?"

"She means, all three of us," Olivia told her. "We're all in a relationship."

Serena's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Alex is with me. I'm with Casey. Alex is also with Casey."

Casey wanted to hide under the table. Now I know Serena's going to murder me.

Abbie laughed. "Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that straight-laced Alex Cabot has a ménage a trois situation with you two."

"Not exactly," Alex corrected. "A ménage a trois would mean we were all living together, and right now, we have separate apartments."

Abbie couldn't believe it. "You're serious."

"Yes, I am. It's why I haven't been down to DC. They keep me quite busy."

"Oh that's awesome." Abbie was quite a fan. "I mean I've heard of power couples before, but this is amazing. All criminals should be ready to run to another city right now!"

Serena couldn't believe this at all. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Here it comes.

"Whatever you have to say," Alex told her, "just say it."

"This makes absolutely no sense. What happened, Olivia couldn't choose, so you split her down the middle?"

"No," Alex said quickly. "I mean Olivia couldn't choose, and then I realized I didn't want her too. She fell in love twice, and so have I."

This was the first time that Alex said she was in love with Casey. It was music to the redhead's ears, and it gave her the power to speak.

"I know you don't like me," Casey told Serena. "I can't really expect you to given all that happened, but I love Alex just as much as I love Olivia. I'd never do anything to hurt either of them."

Serena may be stubborn, but she could tell Casey was sincere. "All this time, I thought Alex was secretly miserable and hiding from the world. You were just having too much fun to leave your apartment. I shouldn't have been so presumptuous."

"How about we move on to dessert?" Alex suggested. "I have plenty of coffee."

Over Baileys/Guinness cupcakes and coffee, Alex, Casey, and Olivia explained how the three of them came to be in one relationship. It had started off as a trial run that mostly entailed three overlapping couples, but they weaved together into one relationship seamlessly. It felt just as natural for Alex to be with Casey as it did with Olivia or to have all three of them or for it to just be Casey and Olivia.

"What are you going to tell your family?" Serena questioned.

"I don't know, but I have until Christmas to tell them."

"All three of you are going to Boston?" Abbie questioned.

"Yep."

"Oh, I want to be a fly on the wall when that conversation happens."

The mood was much more pleasant at the end of the night than it had been at the beginning. The five ladies agreed to meet up at Lucky 7 tomorrow night.

"Good night. Try not to break the bed," Abbie told them with a laugh.

"You're so hilarious," Alex deadpanned.

Once Abbie and Serena left, Casey let out a breath that she knew she was holding. She sank into Olivia's arms and Alex kissed her pulse point.

"How about we take a hot shower and go to sleep?"

Casey and Olivia grinned, great idea.