March 26th

Bianca heard the elevator rumbling its way to the top of the building, which meant her girls were home. She set down the knife she had been chopping with, and walked out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and to the front door to help Maggie in.

She opened the door just as Maggie finished wrestling the stroller out of the lift. Miranda looked happy and pleasant as always. Maggie…well…the trademark loose hairs going every direction were a few less than usual.

"Have I mentioned lately how I can't wait for her to be able to walk everywhere?" asked Maggie

"Just about every time you two go out I think," said Bianca with a smile. "I could have taken her to the park you know. I am her Mother after all."

"No, you do enough at work all week, and being her nanny is the trade off for my room. So now, just let me do my job." When Maggie finally got the stroller through the front door, she noticed that the outer hall had filled with empty boxes and a wooden crate during her absence. "Get some unpacking done while we were out?"

"A few more things arrived today. I put yours in your room."

"Thanks." replied Maggie "I'll just get Munchkin here settled into the crib in the den, and then I'll help you with dinner."

"Um….ok." came Bianca's pausing reply. She didn't look forward to Maggie's reaction to the surprise waiting in the den, but she thought it better to discover it on her own. She stood in the entrance hall watching Maggie pass through the library into the far room, chattering away the whole time to Miranda.

She saw Maggie spot the surprise, watched as she froze in place and, finally, pivot on one foot to face her.

"What is SHE doing here?" Maggie hissed through clenched teeth.

February 25th

Maggie let out a long, low, wolf whistle as she walked into the living room of Bianca's new apartment. The room was two stories tall, and almost as wide as the building itself. The outer wall was comprised entirely of windows that, when you reached the 10 foot high mark, angled back 45 degrees. In the middle of the said wall were French doors that led to a patio that encircled the entire top of the building.

As she looked out the windows, it was impossible not to notice the Eiffel Tower looming as large as life itself off to the right. Straight ahead, the trees of Champ De Mars Park filled her view.

She walked to the doors, unlocked them, and exited onto the terrace. Yew plants were placed every 8 feet along the perimeter. She walked between the middle of the two plants directly across from the doors to lean against the railing, and take in her new surroundings.

Her head was swimming from all the input she was taking in. The flight…going through customs…the drive from the airport…and now, here she was staring up at the Eiffel Tower. "I was in Pine Valley less than 24 hours ago….how in the world did I end up here?" she thought. There would be time enough for being overwhelmed later though. For now, the cool February air was getting to her. She walked back into the living room to find Bianca standing next to the coffee table in the center of the room. Miranda was perched in her arms and was smiling as she looked around.

"Did you finish showing the Munchkin the rest of the downstairs rooms?" Maggie inquired reaching out with her left hand to stroke the back of the child's head.

"Yep" came Bianca's reply "From the den to the servants quarters off the kitchen" she added.

"Oh, I didn't catch that one." said Maggie

"It's like its own little apartment, and even has a door out to the outer hallway and everything." said Bianca "You can see it later though; let's go check out the bedrooms upstairs."

At either end of the enormous room were staircases to the upper floor. The girls took the full staircase to the left, as the one at the other end was spiraled, and more difficult to navigate with a baby. They were greeted at the top of the landing by the door to the master bedroom.

"Shall we?" asked Bianca

"But of course." was the blonde's reply.

The room was bathed in the very concept of Napoleonic French design from the sleigh bed to the fabric of the chairs. Bianca glanced over at Maggie and noticed her jaw gaping open as she looked around. "I think Mom combined every French bedroom she ever saw in Architectural Digest into this one room." she said.

Maggie looked at Bianca with a smile, and pointed at her left wrist "Told you the corsage didn't match the chicness of the country." Although she tried to hide the fact that it warmed her heart Bianca still had it on.

"Do you whine this much about gifts you give to other people?" asked Bianca with a hint of sarcasm

"Nope. Just the ones I travel to foreign countries with." was the patented, smartass, Stone reply.

Bianca just rolled her eyes and motioned with a nod of her head for Maggie to follow her. They passed through the master bath with its sunken tub, separate shower, marble counters and golden faucets, into the second bedroom that had been converted into a nursery for Miranda.

Famous children's cartoon characters adorned the walls, while the room itself was filled with every baby item one could imagine. As Maggie looked around, she glanced over at Bianca, who was laying Miranda down on the changing table. She caught her friend's attention and asked, "Let me guess…Erica again?" she said gesturing to the grandiose nature of the room.

Bianca smiled and returned her attention to Miranda "If you want, you can go to the next room and check it out. I'll be over in a minute, I just want to lay Miranda down for a nap."

Maggie replied in the affirmative and walked out to the landing that overlooked the Living room, and made her way down to the next room. It was done up far more simply than the master bedroom, but the fingers of Erica Kane's designers were still evident in every corner. It was a far much more normal room though, with its own private bath.

After exploring the room for a few moments, she turned to leave when Bianca strode in with a bag slung over her shoulder. "This is where you're staying tonight; the suite at the hotel won't be ready for you until tomorrow." she said as she set the shoulder bag on the bed "You can borrow some of my clothes for now and tomorrow we will head out and do some shopping." she added with a large smile.

"Thanks Bianca" said Maggie. "Joining you at the last second was a great idea except for the lack of clothes part."

"Don't worry about that, I called Mom while you were going though customs and she said she would ask Reggie if he would pack up your stuff for you. She didn't think it would be a problem."

"Oh." said Maggie "And…how did Erica take the idea of my being here?" she asked with an obvious sense of foreboding.

"She was rather non-comitial. But don't you worry about her, I'm happy you're here, and that's all that matters." she said with a grin. "Now, go take a shower. I'm going to take one too, and then we can figure out something for dinner."

"Thanks B…"said Maggie as she began unzipping the luggage, "for everything."

Bianca smiled, and leaned over and clasped the hand Maggie was unzipping the bag with "And you can stop saying that right now! There is nothing to thank me for! Now go wash up…you smell like a plane." she said with a wink and a scrunching of her nose, before she turned and walked out.

Maggie selected some jeans and a simple long sleeved, blue shirt from the bag and went to the bathroom. She opened the cabinets and discovered it was stocked with a large selection of shampoos and soaps. Another obvious sign Erica had been involved in the prepping of the apartment.

She peeled off her clothes and stepped into the shower. The instant the water made contact with her face, she felt like a new person. It was like the water wasn't washing away only the grime of the trip, but everything else she had been carrying around with her. The after effects of Jonathon…her decision to leave Pine Valley with Bianca…the impulsive act of throwing herself at her friend on the plane…."Man, what was I thinking when I pulled that maneuver?" she wondered. Everything seemed smoothed over now, but she still regretted making Bianca feel uncomfortable.

Her mind went blank for the rest of the shower, as she just let the water massage her skin and hair. Finally done, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in one of the large plush towels. As she used a second towel to dry her hair, she glanced in the mirror and paused. She leaned forward, and wiped the steam off the glass and studied herself for a moment in the reflection. "As soon as possible, that dye job has to go! Until I get rid of it, it's going to be a constant reminder of the stupid mistakes I've made lately." she thought to herself.

She finished drying off and put on the clothes Bianca had loaned her. She made a mental note that her first shopping excursion would have to be for shoes and underwear as she was sorely lacking both. She left her hair damp and went out to find her friend.

Even though the second spiraled staircase was just outside her room, she walked to the other end to check on Miranda and to see if Bianca was still in her bathroom. The littlest member of the trio was fast asleep and B was gone from the shower. She couldn't have left long ago because Maggie could still feel the steam hanging in the air. She passed through the bathroom and into the master bedroom to see if her friend was by chance, there.

A suitcase was laid out in the open position on the bed and her clothes from the flight rested next to that. Though Bianca wasn't in the room, Maggie took a moment to make a closer inspection of the décor than she had earlier. As she walked around the furnishings, she spotted the corsage sitting on the top of the dresser. She walked over, ran her finger tips over the wrist band and smiled a tiny, pleased grin.

Deciding she was getting hungry, she left the bedroom and used the full staircase to get down to the bottom floor. She paused only slightly to marvel at how much of the window wall was filled by the famous Paris landmark of the tower.

She found Bianca in the kitchen wrapped in a robe, her hair also still damp from her shower. She was sitting upon a stool next to the butcher's block in the center of the room. She looked up from the pile of restaurant menus that someone had left for them and smiled at her freshly washed friend. "Feel better?" she inquired.

"Like a whole new woman." came Maggie's reply, as she leaned forward to rest her forearms on the block, across from her friend "But a starving whole new woman! What are our choices?"

"Well, apparently this area isn't too big on the whole concept of delivery….so….Pizza Hut?" she said holding up a menu with the familiar logo.

Maggie threw her head back in a laugh "I can see the new travel ads now 'Move to a whole new country, dine at the same old places!'" both girls continued to laugh in the way only best friends can, when Maggie finally added, "Just no anchovies please."

Bianca nodded in agreement and went to pick up the phone to call in their order. As she began talking with the restaurant, Maggie finally noticed the door in the far right corner of the room that led to the servants' apartment. She walked over, pushed the door open and flipped on the lights. To her surprise, she found it fully furnished, and as Bianca had said, it was an apartment into itself. She walked around to find a full bathroom and the door at the far end that led to the outer hallway, so the servant could come and go without disturbing their employer.

As she turned to walk back to the door to the kitchen, Bianca entered the room "There you are. So…what do you think?"

"Not bad at all, reminds me a little bit of the studio we shared."

Bianca glanced around "A little….all it needs to really get there would be Portia hanging on the wall." Bianca said with a mischievous smile.

Maggie shuddered at the thought of that painting, which made Bianca laugh. "So, are you actually going to hire someone that will be living here?" inquired Maggie

"I don't know yet. I'm going to need some help with Miranda, but that will only be during the daytime. At night I will want to take care of her, so….hiring someone to move in seems a bit silly." replied Bianca "Plus, I have to find the time to even interview people, and who knows when I will be able to fit that into my schedule."

"Well….I can take care of her until you do." said Maggie in a somewhat sheepish voice.

"Oh Maggie! That would be fantastic, but I don't want to inconvenience you."

"Inconvenience me? From what? My hectic schedule of not being in school? Having no job? And heaven forbid you would pull me away from my busy social schedule! Wow…not sure how I would fit taking care of a kid in there!" said Maggie

Bianca had learned long ago that when Maggie got on a roll like this, it was best to just agree with her. "Ok, you made your point. You'll watch Miranda for now, but I am going to be looking for a nanny as soon as possible."

"Good….now let's go see if we have things like plates… silverware… glasses… drinks…you know the essentials to actually being able to actually eat." Maggie said as she shoed her friend out of the servants' quarters.

Though it shouldn't have shocked them, it did when they discovered the kitchen was fully stocked with all forms of pans and utensils "I really want to meet whoever got this place ready and kiss them." said Bianca

"You'll have to get behind me in that line." added Maggie.

As the girls set the two middle, opposing spots of the dining room table for dinner, they chatted about their plans for the next day. "So are you free tomorrow?" asked Maggie

"I don't officially start work until Monday, but I do have a few phone calls to make to let everyone know I am here. Otherwise, I am free and we can start shopping to get you some clothes!" Bianca said with an enthusiastic grin.

"I'm not going to go hog wild tomorrow or anything B." Maggie said as she brought the drinks from the kitchen "I have no income right now, so I am going to stick only with the essentials. That will hold me over until my clothes get here from Pine Valley."

"Well….we'll see about that." said Bianca

Maggie was too tired, and too hungry to argue with Bianca at the moment. She did have a feeling there would have to be some discussion the next day about what was being purchased, and by whom. "By the way, are we going to be able to hear Miranda if she wakes up?" she asked. Bianca reached into the pocket of her robe and fished out a baby monitor that she set on the table. Maggie shook her head and chuckled, "but of course."

The girls made idle chatter about the décor of the apartment, and how they loved it, until the pizza finally arrived. It was then that the girls sat down in the dining room to enjoy their first meal in Paris together.

As Bianca grabbed her first piece of pizza and set it on her plate, she took a moment to look across the table at Maggie and ponder their situation. Maggie was talking, Bianca could see the lips moving, but she couldn't hear her. It was just finally starting to fall into place for her. "She's here…she's really here" she thought. "After all the struggles, the hurdles and roadblocks, no matter what happens with our relationship from this point on, at least we are here… together….at long last, together."

It might not be the way Bianca had hoped for, but that might come with time, as the plane ride had certainly given her hope. For now, she was just thrilled to have the two most important women in her life with her, and all to herself.

She thought how all the interruptions were gone for now, there was no one plotting schemes any longer to keep them apart. But Bianca also knew that she and Maggie could be their own worst enemies when it came to their relationship. They had proved time and time again that it was not always the outside forces that kept them from being together. All that stood between her and the woman she loved now was their own fears and anxieties.

"….and that's why I've decided to become a rodeo clown." said Maggie

Bianca tilted her head and realized she had obviously not heard one word of anything Maggie had said "Wh-what?" she asked, as her face scrunched up in confusion.

"Well I needed to say something that would get your attention as it looked like you had left our solar system." said Maggie "You grabbed that piece of pizza, set it down, and then never took your hand off of it. You just sat there staring into space this whole time."

"I'm sorry" Bianca said with a sigh "I guess the jet lag is catching up with me. I didn't sleep that much on the plane."

Maggie shifted uncomfortably in her chair thinking back to being caught with the shirt on her nose. "Well, get a slice or two of pizza in you, I haven't seen you eat anything since the hors d'oeuvres at Erica's party!"

Bianca caught the uncomfortable shift Maggie had made in her chair. She smiled and took a bite of the pizza. "Well, as soon as I am done here, I think I am going straight to bed. They say the best cure for jet lag is to go to bed at a normal time, but I just don't think I can make it!"

"I think I will take that advice and stay up for awhile, see what Paris TV is like ….wait…we do have a TV don't we?" Maggie said, a tinge of panic to her voice

Bianca laughed "Yes, it's in the den. It was the large thing hanging on the wall."

"Whew…ok. Just wanted to make sure."

The girls continued to chat through out the dinner, Bianca getting down two slices of pizza to Maggie's three. They cleared the table and put the leftovers in the fridge.

"Mmmmmm Cold pizza for breakfast." Maggie said licking her lips and doing a poor impersonation of Homer Simpson.

Bianca rolled her eyes and put the dishes in the washer.

The girls finished up in the kitchen and walked through the dining room to the entrance hall. Here is where they would part ways for the evening as the den and stairs were in different directions.

"Well….good night." said Bianca with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Maggie looked at her a bit perplexed "Everything ok B?"

"Yeah, I….well…." she said hesitantly

"Spit it out B."

"I …..wanted to give you a hug, but I wasn't sure how you would feel about it with everything that went on and…"

Maggie reached out, and grabbed Bianca by the right arm and forcibly pulled her towards her, making the taller girl trip over her own feet. Maggie quickly wrapped her arms around Bianca and pulled her tight, her head going to her own left, to rest on Bianca's right shoulder. Slowly Bianca relaxed and returned the hug. They stood like this for what seemed like an eternity to them, but what was in reality probably a mere minute.

As they pulled back from each other, Maggie looked Bianca squarely in the eyes "You and I are best friends Bianca. And one of the perks of being best female friends is that we get to hug each other." she said smiling.

"I know." came Bianca's timid response "I just…"

""Didn't want to pressure me"…I know…I'm getting really tired of that line."

Bianca laughed. She reached up with both hands and tucked her hair behind her ears as she took a step back from Maggie "Well, it's true. I don't want you to ever feel pressured."

"I would be more upset if you didn't hug me B…..Ok? And I mean that…I want at least one a day, via future Dr. Stone's orders!" she said pointing her finger in Bianca's face

"Ok, I promise. I now know hugging is inbounds!" Bianca said between laughs

"Good…now go check on Miranda and go to bed…I'll see you in the morning." And with that, Maggie turned to walk through the library and into the den.

Bianca turned and walked towards the living room to head for the stairs. For some reason her heart felt lighter, as did her feet, and a huge smile had crept across her face. "At least I can get my daily hug fix." she thought.

Maggie plopped down on the couch and spotted the remote controls on the coffee table in front of her. She scooped them up and turned on the giant wall mounted television across the room. She flipped channels until she came across a news channel in English. She wasn't a huge news hound, but at least she could understand them. "I have so got to learn French." she thought.

As she sat there only half listening to the stock report, she tilted her head back until it rested upon the wall. She reached her arms above her head and stretched them in a big sweeping motion, until she brought them to a rest on either side of her, along the back of the couch.

She sat there all relaxed staring at the ceiling, knowing that directly above her was Bianca. That gave her a warm feeling knowing she was so close. She smiled at the thought that they now had all the time in the world to focus on each other and Miranda.

Something had tickled her nose and she went to scratch it by rubbing it against the sleeve of her shirt. She stopped mere centimeters from her nose and let out a small laugh "No thanks" she thought "Bianca's shirts have gotten me in enough trouble lately." and switched to just using her fingertips to scratch her nose.