It's three years into future for our lovely Lena and Stef. They were finally able to adopt Callie last year. Brandon is at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, a whole continent away from his mothers and dad. Callie is at the University of California – Berkley where she is studying forensics. The two oldest kids often "battle" via skype or facetime over who is at the better "Berkley/Berklee." Jesus and Mariana are seniors at Anchor Beach and are preparing for college, and Jude is sixteen, dating Connor, and learning to drive.

Stef and Lena's marriage is different after the loss of baby. Although love was still abounding, sex was done seemingly as a requirement of marriage, not from a deep desire. Sometimes it was as if they were merely going through the motions. Sometimes their grief came through in their lovemaking, like last night. Stef released a deep sigh as she sat in the kitchen waiting for her loves to come downstairs. The sun had just started to peek over the hill, and then birds were singing their "end of summer" songs. She thought back to the night before, when she and Lena had gone upstairs to their bedroom, leaving their kids to finish school assignments.

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"I'm not blaming you, or your job, or my job. We're busy. But if we aren't mindful about these things, it all gets messy." Lena stated as she threw the decorative pillows to the floor.

"Lena, honey, the dishes will get done tomorrow, it's not a big deal!" Stef replied, walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"If we let it go one day, we'll let it go two, and then three, and then what?" Lena shared.

"And then we do the dishes!" Stef shouted from the bathroom, "but it won't get that bad."

"It's easy to think this conversation is only about the dishes," Lena said, shaking her head sadly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stef asked sternly, returning from the bathroom to stand at the foot of the bed.

"You know what I mean." Lena retorted, sitting on the side with her feet beneath her.

"Oh, so you are blaming me, but it's about so much more than the dishes now." Stef said angrily.

"Do you hear me specifically blaming you?" Lena said with a glare.

"I can feel it, Lena. I'm sorry I know you well enough to know you don't have say it to feel it." Stef muttered.

"You're projecting, Stef. You feel guilty about it, and you also blame me, so you're assuming I'm blaming you."

"Oh, no. Don't you do that psychology stuff on me right now!"

"Stef, when was the last time we had crazy sex?" Lena asked matter-of-factly.

"We had sex three weeks ago! Jude was at Connor's, the twins were, well I can't recall at the moment because I'm so angry. But we were here. We had sex. In our bed!" Stef shouted. "Can you not remember?!"

"You didn't answer my question." Lena replied calmly. "When was the last time we had crazy sex? Not, 'ooh! Quick sex while the kids are out,' or 'it's been our obligatory dry spell, let's grease the engine,' or "hm, the opportunity is here and convenient, let's give it a try!' sex. When was the last time we screwed to show we wanted each other, needed each other, craved and desired each other?" Her voice had risen considerably, she was now shouting.

Stef simply stared at Lena.

"I'll tell you the answer, it's been about three years. Three years. Three years. We haven't had hungry, animalistic, creative sex in three years, Stef. And I miss it."

They didn't argue often, but when they did it was always a bit loud and harsh.

"Well, if you wanted it tonight, you can kiss that dream goodbye" Stef said in a huff.

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Jesus and Mariana looked at each other over the table. They hated hearing their Moms argue, but it had been happening fairly steadily in recent months. It always started over something seemingly minor and then escalated to their sex life.

Jude sat next to Mariana at the table; he posed a question trying to break the awkward tension in the room. "So, how does the college search go?"

Before either twin could answer, shouts from upstairs filtered down. "We had sex. In our bed!" Stef shouted. "Can you not remember?!" Jesus started to respond, "well, we're-" when another shout was heard. "-When was the last time we screwed to show we wanted each other, needed each other, craved and desired each other?" Lena shouted. Mariana gave Jude's hand a squeeze, and Jesus started to speak again when Lena's voice was heard, "-three years. Three years. Three years."

Jesus swallowed the knot in his throat, Mariana wiped a tear from her eye. Three years ago they had lost Frankie. And although that little baby never made it to their home, she made it to their hearts, and some scarring was left behind.

"Hey," said Jesus, his voice cracking, "Why don't we go get some ice cream, get out of here for a bit." Mariana and Jude nodded, slowly rising and heading for the door.

"Shouldn't we tell them we're leaving?" asked Jude.

"I'll send them both a text message," Mariana responded, "no one should go up there right now."

The three kids walked out the door, giving their Moms time and space to figure this issue out.

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Lena and Stef were at a stand-still. Neither spoke, neither moved, they simply glared at each other. Stef stood, her arms folded across her chest. Lena sat, her feet now crossed at the ankles.

It was the chiming of their phones that broke their silence. Lena picked up her phone from the bedside table.

"The kids went for ice cream." she said to Stef.

"Tell them to be back by curfew." Stef replied.

"I know how to parent our kids, Stef." Lena responded.

Stef huffed and walked around to her side of the bed. Climbing on top and leaning back, she began vigorously rubbing her face with her hands. Through her palms a muffled voice came, "What are we going to do?"

"Are we done being angry for the moment?" Lena asked, turning her entire body to face Stef.

"Love, I'm tired of being angry. I don't enjoy being angry. I don't want to be angry." Stef implored.

"Well, we can try counseling." Lena suggested.

"We've tried that on three separate occasions," Stef replied, "and it hasn't exactly proved a wealth of success."

Lena nodded knowingly at Stef. "Do you blame me for losing the baby?" Lena asked.

"Oh, Love, no!" Stef responded, tears forming in her eyes. "I could never blame you, it wasn't your fault that we lost Frankie."

Lena nodded and lowered her face. Stef brought her hand out to Lena's chin, raising her lover's face until they looked into each other's eyes. "Honest and truly, I could never blame you, Lena."

Stef caressed Lena's cheek, Lena leaned into her hand. "So what do we do now, Love?" Stef asked.

"All we can do," Lena said, "is love each other."

Lena and Stef began to lean into each other, their lips meeting softly, barely touching. Caresses were soft and loving, kisses smooth and placid. Hands explored slowly, and fingers brought them to a shared orgasm that brought relaxed breathing to the room. As the women untangled themselves, Lena turned away from Stef, facing the opposite wall. As Stef laid on her back staring at the ceiling, she heard the kids come in downstairs, laughter filtering up the stairs. She also heard her wife crying. Stef turned to cradle Lena in her arms, and they drifted off to a painful sleep.

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Jesus was the first person to come downstairs and greet Stef.

"Morning, Mom."

"Morning, Baby. How was your sleep?"

"I slept well, but too much sugar before bed was a bad idea."

"Mhm." Stef said with a knowing smile.

"We heard you and Mama arguing again. Is everything okay?"

"You know, Baby, I can't say that it is okay. Your Mama and I are kinda broken right now, and we're trying to find our way back."

Jesus looked at Stef, waiting for her to say more.

"But listen, Honey, your Mama and I love each other," her voice softening with a sigh as she caresses Jesus's cheek, "very- very much, and we will continue to work together to get better. We will be okay again someday. But in the meantime, things are a bit rough."

"Are you going to split up?" Mariana asked from the doorway.

"No, Sweetie, no. Not at all. We're not going to split up, we're just trying to work through some stuff."

"Like your grief and anger over losing Frankie," Jude offered from behind his sister.

"How'd you get to be so smart?" Stef asked with a smile.

"I've got some great Moms who helped me." Jude replied.

"Yes, Mama and I are still working through our issues related to losing Frankie. We've come a long way, but we have some road left to travel." Stef shared.

"But we don't want you kids to worry, we're going to be fine!" Lena whispered, joining them in the kitchen. "Your Mom and I are going to work through our stuff, we love each other very much."

Lena walked over to Stef and leaned in, giving her a kiss. As she did so, her bathrobe front opened a bit, giving Stef an opportunity to peek at her naked form underneath. As Lena stood back up, Stef said, "oh, oh, a few more please," beckoning for her wife to lean back in. Stef enjoyed the view as the kids cleared the cereal bowls and went about their morning rituals. "Thank you!" Stef declared.

"You're incorrigible!" Lena replied.

Clearly, though unbridled sex wasn't in their repertoire right now, both women still found the other as sexy as all get out.