-Chapter 5-

Amanda decided to leave the rest of the girls early and head back to New York with Anna in tow. So this just left Alex and Olivia in the vintage Mustang, with Abbie and Serena following closely behind in a decidedly less cool Honda Accord rental. Alex, however, was not feeling as hot as her counterparts. The entire ride from Boston to Cape Cod had filled the car with tissues, and a stop in Plymoth was made for cough drops and Dayquil.

When the girls finally pulled up to Caroline's beach front estate, Olivia's mouth fell open and a tiny gasp fell out.

"Holy shit…"

"Yeah," Alex chuckled while applying hand sanitizer, "She tends to overdo things a bit."

The home was made entirely of brick. Not a dark brown color like most colonial styles, but a lighter shade, reminding Olivia of sand. This was unusual for the area, as most of the homes were made of neutral colored paneling reminiscent of stereotypical beach houses. The porch in the front wrapped all the way around to the back of the house, and there was an immaculately tended garden with lilies, geraniums, hydrangeas, and a few big ass rose bushes, just for good measure.

Olivia got out of the car more slowly than usual, taking a few deep breaths to get ready to enter her version of the Twilight Zone. In the driveway, there were already three cars. A navy blue Infiniti G37, a Mercedes CL550, and the crème de la crème, an Aston Martin Vanquish. She grabbed her bags and Alex's out of the back seat and made her way up the drive. Alex could sense the tension Olivia was carrying, both literally and figuratively.

"Liv, are you nervous?" Alex asked gently.

"A little," Olivia blushed.

"Don't worry. They may all have a lot of money, but they're the most ridiculous, inappropriate bunch of people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with," she replied as she placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "They're going to love you." At that, Olivia laughed and finally let some of her nerves disappear. She gathered enough courage to ring the doorbell, but Alex just turned the knob and walked right in.

"Aunt Caroline, I'm here!" Alex yelled in a nasal tone into the empty foyer. Not five seconds later, a pair of heels made their presence known, the same sound Olivia loved to hear through the halls of the precinct letting her know that Alex was nearby.

"Darling!" Caroline exclaimed as she finally turned the corner. "I've missed you so much!" She wrapped Alex up into a crushing hug, making it clear that her niece was indeed a sight for sore eyes. "You look more like your mother every day," she said with a bright smile. The elder woman was exactly as Olivia would have pictured her. Blonde hair up in a loose chignon, reading glasses perched atop her perfect nose, a cream cardigan draped around her shoulders, and legs for days. Caroline must have been in her late 60's, but she didn't look a day over 55. Obviously good genes ran in this family.

"I missed you too," Alex sniffled into her aunt's shoulder. "It's been too long."

"Honey, what's that sniffling? Are you crying?"

"No, I think I have a cold. All this pollen in the air has finally taken its toll."

"Well you go upstairs and rest while I make Olivia a cup of coffee," she smiled brightly at the brunette. "I've heard so many good things, Detective." They hadn't even been formally introduced yet, but Olivia already felt welcome in this spectacular home.

"That sounds lovely. Let me just bring our bags upstairs-"

"Nonsense, dear. Just leave them here for now."

xx

Three hours later, Olivia, Abbie, Serena, Caroline, Alex's brother Evan, her sister Charlotte, and their spouses were still lounging in the backyard drinking yet another cup of coffee and taking in the beauty of the Atlantic in May. Olivia had learned that Caroline was a retired gynecologist, had done her undergrad at UC Berkeley, medical school at Northwestern, had no children of her own, and had lost her husband to cancer almost a decade ago. Evan, the oldest sibling, ran a non-profit in DC and he, Abbie, and Serena remained good friends. He stood about 6'4" with a gorgeous head of salt and pepper hair and sparkling blue eyes. Charlotte, just two years older than Alex, was a neonatal surgeon at Cleveland Clinic and basically a carbon copy of her younger sister.

But more than just professional details, Olivia learned that her girlfriend's family was indeed ridiculous and inappropriate. Caroline, refined and graceful, had said fuck at least 25 times. Evan referred to Charlotte as ugly on more than one occasion and told her that her pants made her ass look fat. Charlotte replied to this by saying, "At least I don't take it up the ass, which is more than I can say for you, fairy." This led Evan to wondering, "Where is my favorite lesbian sister, anyway?" If Olivia hadn't known any better, she would have thought she stumbled into a family of homophobes. But she quickly realized this was just friendly sibling banter to which she was unaccustomed.

Speak of the devil, Alex wandered out into the yard just a minute later, looking much more rested and alert than she had just a few hours ago. "Hey dicks," was her initial greeting, which earned a snicker from Caroline and a gasp from Olivia. "You look like shit, Al," Charlotte replied. "But what else is new?" Olivia was left to silently wonder what the hell she had gotten herself into.

xx

Birthday celebrations were in full swing by 6 PM when more guests had arrived. Family, friends, neighbors, former colleagues, all bearing desserts and alcohol. And for a woman who spent the majority of her life in the social spotlight, Caroline could definitely still drink with the best of them. Everyone was positively shitfaced, Abbie maybe the most, but Olivia decided to take it easy since Alex was sticking to iced tea. By midnight, most of the guests had gone home or passed out in a guest room.

After saying their goodbyes Sunday morning, exchanging hugs and kisses and backhanded words of endearment, the Cabot kids and Abbie and Serena were back on the road.

xx

By Sunday night, Alex was starting to feel like her old self again. Not looking forward to returning to work and blowing her nose every five seconds, but she didn't feel like a sledgehammer was pounding her head either.

Olivia was in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes while Alex sat at the island on her laptop.

"What are you looking at, sweetie?"

"Just the sale at Barneys. I need some new jewelry."

"Oh babe, don't bother, I already bought you a beautiful piece of jewelry last week."

"Well why haven't I been made aware of this gift, hmm?" Alex asked as she got up from her barstool and wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist, smelling her lingering perfume.

"I wanted to give it to you after we got back from the Cape. I put it in your nightstand drawer," Olivia said with a slight smirk and a twinkle in her eyes.

Not 15 seconds later, Alex walked back into the kitchen with a black velvet box in her hand, looking like she had seen a ghost. A single tear streaked down her cheek as she realized that Olivia had gotten down on one knee and linked their fingers together.

"Alexandra, my beautiful Alex, I love you so much. I don't need a year or two or ten to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are the only person that makes sense to me, the only person who has ever made sense. You are the only person I want to fall asleep next to and the only person I want to see when I wake up in the morning. I want to make you pancakes every morning and run together in Central Park and read the newspaper together when we come home. I want to watch 30 Rock every night and drink wine and make love to you for the rest of my life. I want to spend time with your crazy family and buy an island in Tahiti and live there together forever. You are my forever, Alex. You are my always. Will you marry me?"

By now, both women were crying and Alex threw her arms around Olivia's shoulders and squeezed tight. She kissed her neck, then her jaw, and then kissed her lips with more passion than Olivia could ever remember. Olivia deepened the kiss and tongues explored with new fervor, new commitment, new promise. When they finally had to break for air, Olivia said in a small voice, "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, Olivia Benson. A thousand times yes."

-The End-