AUTHOR'S NOTE: now this was a fun chapter to write, let me know what you think!

The morning of the family dinner there was tension in the house as soon as everybody woke up. All Alex wanted to do was have a good day, which meant turning on the stereo and dancing in the kitchen while getting things ready for the day. She was the first to wake up this morning, followed by Marco, who only matched her spaz dancing after his first cup of coffee. Not too long after, a tired looking, but smiling, Paige came walking down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to be met by tossing flour and pancakes in the air.

"Hey Babe!" smiled Alex as she semi-danced her way over to Paige, wrapping her arms around her, half spinning her around before kissing her sweetly, "good morning to you!"

Paige chuckled, "whats with the mess?" she pointed to the counters that were filled with packages and containers.

"we are making breakfast, then afterwards we will be starting on the dinner" Marco replied, looking over his shoulder after flipping the pancakes.

"dont forget the cookies" laughed Alex, still holding onto Paige, "how'd you sleep?" she whispered.

Paige yawned with a smile, which only meant she slept well.

"well go get ready then come join our party!" Alex smiled herself before playfully pushing Paige toward the stairs.

Paige walked up the stairs and was met by her brother at the top, who appeared to be just waking up himself. She beat him to the bathroom where she proceeded to take a shower to wake herself up and get ready for the day.

Today's going to be a good day she said to herself as she finished getting dressed. She looked in the mirror, fixing her hair, still smiling. Thoughts of the day were running through her head as she hummed softly, but when she opened the bathroom door she heard some arguing downstairs, where she immediately rushed down the stairs to see who the arguing was coming from.

Everybody!

"Why are you guys fighting?!" she snapped, watching Dylan try to grab one of the mixing bowls out of Alex's hands.

"Mr. Uptight-Know-It-all doesnt know how to have fun!" Alex retorted, forcefully reclaiming the mixing bowl Dylan managed to take from her. She stopped in her tracks, "You need to leave for the day, Dylan" she said harshly

"Excuse me?!" he said, with a hint of irritation in his voice, but before he could say anything else, Marco interrupted, "I actually think that's a good idea. I mean, we have it under control, Dyl"
"We know how to cook, Dylan!" Alex continued ranting, "I didnt put on my best Apron for nothing, nor did I come down here to put on my rave music only for it to be turned off and bashed by you! Either calm the fuck down and work with us as a TEAM or leave us alone!" She glanced at the open fridge, "dont make me give you a cookie! Now leave!" she said as she pushed him towards the front door. They looked at each other in the eyes before Alex continued, "trust me" which was almost a whisper, low enough that only Dylan could hear her.

"Go to the store and buy Mom flowers or something" Paige managed to squeak out before he headed out the door. Dylan knew he wouldnt win so he shook his head and left.

About 20 minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"ooooh, the main cookie ingredient has arrived!" clapped Alex excitedly as she skipped towards the door. She opened it and Jay was standing in front of her, holding up a plastic bag.

"Cant stay Lexi, but I'm sure your guests will love this!" he winked before heading back to his car.

"Thanks Jay!" she yelled back to him. She shut the door and skipped back to the kitchen.

"This is going to greeaat!" she shrieked looking at Paige. "hold that thought!" she smiled, just thinking of an idea. She ran to the other room then came running back into the kitchen with a CD. "Now, dont laugh, this is one of my all time favorite songs. Its a little different than the rave music." She put it in the CD player then grabbed the wooden spoon she was using from the mixing bowl before sidestepping her way towards an amused looking Paige.

"I've heard people say that

Too much of anything is not good for you, baby

But, I dont know about that"

As soon as the song started Alex lip-synced the words, but since it was a song nobody was expecting, especially a slow sappy song from Barry White, both Paige and Marco looked at each other and cracked up laughing! Alex twirled around Paige who was still laughing, but finding this random act of sweetness too cute she stopped laughing and watched Alex continue to twirl and sing.

"Oh, some things I cant get used to

No matter how I try

Just like the more you give, the more I want

And baby, that's no lie, oh no, babe"

Alex winked before stealing a kiss from Paige, then whispering in time with the music, "I cant get enough of your love baaaaaaaabe!"

"aww!" Paige sighed, "leave it up to you to think of something this sweet!" she wrapped her arms around Alex's waist, "I think you just made my week."

"Is that why you wanted Dylan to leave?" joked Marco as he began preparing the cookies.

"ha, no, I wanted Dylan to leave because he's too uptight and would not have let me play that song and 'fool around' like I just did. Dont get me wrong, I love him like a brother" which, she paused and chuckled at what she just said, "well, I guess he is my brother-in-law. Haha! Anyway, sometimes he just needs to chiiiilll"

As Paige and Alex were helping prepare the rest of the things being made for dinner, Alex couldnt help but every now and then tickle Paige or steal kisses or just touch her. Paige noticed this but wasnt complaining, "somebody's extra lovey today." she joked.

"well" Alex began, licking her finger that had some dough on it, "I kept having these weird dreams last night, like, we kept breaking up and then you'd go off and date guys. There was one where I got fired from my job and because I didnt have a back up plan, you kept getting on my case and I said something about not everybody has their life planned out to a T or something like that. Then I woke up so I dont know how any of them ended." she chuckled.

Paige moved closer, "well, if it helps any, you're the one who taught me that not having a plan is okay." she smiled widely.

"sweet!" Marco thought aloud, "all we have to do is let everything set and we're good to go!" he didnt notice the girls having a little semi heart-to-heart discussion as his back was turned away from them and he was jamming out to the music, "Just two more hours and everybody will be here!" he turned around, only to see Paige and Alex slow dancing to the music.

"Gross, guys" he said playfully, "get a room will you!"

Paige joked back, "this is our house too, so dont start with me!"

"Hey, so Marco, is your dad coming?"

"thats a negative on that one" he said, rolling his eyes, "he's still not too keen on the fact that he has a gay son...who has a boyfriend...and is living with two gay girls." his eyes lit up, "But my mom will be here! She said 'with bells on' whatever that means." he chuckled.

"I think that just means she's happy to be coming." replied Alex, "my mom is coming, and she's been sober for 2 months now, which is longer than the last time I think."

"my parentals will be here, how about we give them a cookie as soon as they arrive?!" Paige joked, "I'm so nervous and I dont even know why! Oh wait, yes I do, it's because we're going to give them pot cookies and tell them I like women but love one in particular!" of which everybody chuckled.

Not too long afterwards, Dylan came in the front door with two dozen roses in his possession. He handed a card to Alex and said softly, "I've been a jerk and I realize that." he shrugged his shoulders, "I'm anxious and nervous about the family dinner-" he looked at his watch, "in less than one hour, and sometimes I get carried away."

"you're forgiven" smirked Alex.

While Dylan went into the kitchen to try to find a vase or two, the other three finished getting ready for the party and met in the living room where they continued to chat and make light conversation.

Not too long afterwards Dylan came out, but something appeared to be off. Dylan stumbled into the living room with a smirk on his face.

"why is your equilibrium off?" inquired Alex looking at him suspiciously, "the parents should be here any minute."

Just as the doorbell rang and Marco went up to answer it, Dylan uncovered a cookie he had in his hand, "now these are pretty good, why didnt anybody tell me about these cookies!?"

"you weren't supposed to have them!" Alex said forcefully, not sure what to make of the situation since she didnt know how Dylan acted when under the influence.

"let the party begin!" he laughed, raising both his arms as Alex's and Marco's moms appeared around the corner.