Winters in Univille, South Dakota are unpredictable. This particular evening, the chilly winter wind had settled in quite earlier than expected, by a few months. Haley Bering sat on the curb outside of her parent's bookstore, only after finding it locked a few hours before. She shivered as another brisk wind traveled by. She pulled her sleeves farther down over her hands, trying to get as much warmth as possible.

She scribbled in her notebook, writing down anything that came to her mind in this instant. As she wrote about the cold, she found her mind wandering to her favorite nook of the family store, right next to the fireplace. The thought made her growl in frustration, pulling out her cellphone and punching in her mother's number with cold fingers.

"You've reached the cell phone of Myka Bering. Please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you."

Haley checked the time on her phone, making a split second decision. Sighing, she put her notebook into her backpack, and started down Main Street.

It was dark by the time she arrived at Leena's Bed and Breakfast. She knocked tentatively, standing outside the door underneath the bright porch light. Claudia Donovan answered the door, a knowing smile breaking out on her face when she saw Haley. "I have a feeling you got locked out."

"How'd you know?"

Claudia shrugged guiltily. "Because I may or may not have gotten a phone call from Mykes telling me to come and pick you up."

"Claudia!" Haley pushed past the redhead, grinning playfully. "Why didn't you?"

"I forgot?"

"You are insufferable!" The teenager punched her arm, reminding Claudia just how alike she was to her mother. She wiped her boots on the welcome mat, dropping her school bag onto the floor. "I just walked all the way here from the bookstore!"

"My bad, little girl," Claudia said, basically throwing it over her shoulder as she walked into the warm living room of the inn. Haley followed suit and found Pete, Leena, Aaron, and Steve all crowded around the game table. Pete glanced over at her as she came in, smiling. She beckoned her over, letting her see his hand in poker.

Everyone had their poker faces on, except Steve, who wasn't allowed to play, due to his amazing abilities.

xxxx

Helena Wells sat in the hallway, feeling like she was waiting for her demise. Except, she had actually done that before, so maybe it wasn't quite the same. She brushed her raven hair out of her face, leaning her head against the wall trying to listen in as much as she could. One thing was for sure, Myka was yelling.

"You can't do that! He's done nothing wrong!"

Then there was Mr. Kosan. "Miss Bering, no need to raise your voice-"

"No need? I have a daughter! Just because Pete has a son, doesn't mean he can't be an agent!"

"Agent Lattimer's work is more involved. Jane was able to successfully raise him without him figuring out she was a Regent, and the same goes for you and Miss Wells."

"Then make him a fucking Regent!"

Helena smirked at that. Hearing Myka curse was something she enjoyed a lot.

"You do not have to inform him of this decision, yet. I'll ask the other Regents to reassemble and reassess the situation."

Myka seemed to have calmed down. "Thank you. And I expect my wife and I to be involved in the discussion this time."

Mr. Kosan mumbled something Helena couldn't quite make out, but just then Myka stormed out of the office, streaking straight past Helena, causing the writer to run to catch up. She knew not to question Myka when she was steaming, so she waited until her wife opened up on her own. Being a Regent wasn't all it was chalked up to be. For one thing, both of them missed the field work. The so-called 'snagging, bagging, and tagging'.

But running a bookstore was fun, and Helena had gotten back into writing. They loved the domestic life they lived, as well as missed the dangerous life they had.

Myka finally spoke up when they were in the car, her behind the wheel, somehow knowing how nervous the things made Helena. "They wanted me to fire Pete. Because of Aaron, they wanted me to fire Pete," she said, still obviously dazed from the mere suggestion.

The car hadn't moved yet. Helena put a hand on Myka's arm in comfort, wishing they had the room for a hug. Aaron Lattimer, the one and only child of Pete, whose mother had passed away when he was two. The kid was Pete's pride and joy and being around him was the only thing that helped with his wife's death.

Helena had liked Julie. Julie had turned out to be Pete's 'one', even more so than Kelly. It was safe to say that they were all shaken when she died. Helena cleared her throat. "I'm sure they'll reconsider."

"They better." She started the car then, and began the four hour drive back to Univille.

xxxx

Pete gulped down another shot of Apple Cider, giggling like a girl as he watched Steve make a face at his own not-so-non-alcoholic scotch. It wasn't really fair, as Pete could go for hours on Apple Cider and Steve got a little woozy after two shots.

Claudia came in from the sitting room, the deck of cards in her hand. The two teens were passed out in there, Haley on the couch while Aaron crashed on the floor. It was nearly one-am, but the adults of the inn figured that someone should stay up to wait for Myka and HG. Why not all of them?

It was times like these, early in the morning, when Pete got the courage to let Steve join in on their poker game. Also after he'd let the younger man down some shots to make him a little dizzy.

But tonight was not a night for poker. Tonight was a night for UNO.

Claudia dealt out the cards quickly, a glint in her eye and she stared down her opponents. They played it safe for a few rounds around the table, no one saying anything until Leena held out her hand towards Pete.

"Don't you dare," she growled. He couldn't hide the smirk that spread across his face as he laid down the draw four card, just for her. "Dammit Pete!"

"Draw four, Leena," he said in his most annoying tone, which sounded like a vague impression of HG. The innkeeper drew the cards, all the while keeping eye contact with Pete.

"You'll pay for this," she mouthed as Steve and Claudia played their cards. Suddenly, the redhead shrieked in victory as she shot from her seat, holding her arms in the air.

"UNO!" Everyone's eyes went towards the one card she held in her hand before returning to their own hands, trying to figure out the best way to ambush the young inventor. She sat down again, giddy with happiness as she held her card menacingly. There was the slightest hint of a smile on Steve's face as he leant back inconspicuously, casting a gaze on Claudia's card.

He laid down a red card when it was his turn, causing the young woman to groan in defeat as she drew a card to compensate. She kept drawing until she could put one down, but by that time she had more than five in her hand.

The game would go on.

xxxx

Myka's SUV pulled up to the inn around three am. She stepped out of the car, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she realized that Helena was fast asleep. She left the keys in the car and went towards the old-fashioned building.

She opened the front door as quietly as she could after unlocking it, smiling softly when she saw Aaron and Haley asleep. She side-stepped Aaron on the floor and went into the kitchen, finding Pete snoozing on the table.

"Pete," she said, loud enough to wake him, yet quietly enough not to disturb the teens in the other room.

"Hey, Mykes," he greeted groggily.

"HG's in the car… I think we're going to crash here, since Haley's asleep."

Pete nodded, glancing at the clock. "Jeez, what did you guys go do?"

"It was four hours away. Four," Myka complained as she sat down next to her best friend. "Just for a stupid meeting that didn't even amount to anything."

Pete missed the obvious annoyance in her eyes, fighting sleep. "I'm sorry," he said, patting her arm. "Need me to get HG for you?"

She nodded. "I think we'll just take the spare room."

"No problem." She followed him out to the car and watched as he almost effortlessly picked up her wife, and took her inside and upstairs to the spare bedroom at the end of the hall. She stood out in the hallway with him after he laid Helena on the bed.

"Was Artie here tonight?" Myka kind of missed him. They hadn't seen each other much since she'd been made Regent, as he spent much of his time at the warehouse and she spent much of her time living a normal life. Despite the whole, I work for a top secret warehouse in the middle of South Dakota thing. She was lucky that they'd even let her and Helena stay in Univille.

Becoming a Regent had been offered to them a little while ago, and at the time it had seemed perfect. The life of domesticity it promised was enticing, but the thrill of field work was still missed. Not to mention that Regent paperwork was hell.

Pete shook his head. "He pretty much stayed holed up at the warehouse. Anyway," he said, leaning in to give her a hug. "I'm going to crash. But I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

Glancing into the bedroom at Helena's sleeping figure, she smiled. "Yeah, you will."

xxxx

The sun filtered in the inn's curtains and tickled Myka's face in a familiar way that she found she missed. She'd have to ask Leena what kind of curtains they were and buy them for her own place. She reached over to Helena, wrapping her arms around her wife's middle and pulled her closer. She got a face full of raven hair. Not that she minded.

"Just five more minutes, darling," Helena mumbled in the cutest way.

Myka smiled. It was near ten, and knowing that Helena didn't like sleeping in, she decided to indulge her a little bit. Her thoughts strayed to the bookstore, which would most likely already be opened by Tanya, the only other employee there besides Myka. Technically, Helena worked there, but the only thing she did was read or write when she was there.

It wasn't called Bering and Wells Bookstore for nothing. Myka loved that their daughter enjoyed living at a bookstore almost as much as she did as a child, loved that Haley seemed completely at ease most weekend mornings when reading a book or talking about one with Helena.

Haley didn't seem to mind having two moms, either. It was clear she loved both Myka and Helena, and that love was reciprocated.

It was one week when they were on the hunt for a lethal artifact, which had killed both of Haley's parents. The girl had stolen both of their hearts, so much so that they decided to adopt her. She hadn't asked that many questions about her birth parents, and Myka and Helena had only told her the truth: they hadn't known them.

Ironically, Haley's middle name was Christina, which after some consideration, Helena decided she liked very much. The girl had inherited her father's raven hair, which made her look more like Helena's daughter than Myka's. Haley wore glasses to read and Helena had bought her some the vaguely resembled the ones Myka used to wear.

She fenced with her eighth grade class, something Myka was happy to teach her. As much as she was influenced by them, she was still her own person, which worried Myka to no end.

She saw Haley's friendship with Aaron as probably more than it was. The two were inseparable whenever there was a get together. He spent a lot of time at the bookstore, but he was definitely not interested in reading. He followed after his father in that way, Myka guessed.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, rising slightly to check the clock and make sure five minutes had passed. She shook Helena's shoulder lightly, dragging her fingers along her wife's arm.

"Mmmm. Not yet," Helena argued, curling up tighter.

Myka slipped her hand under the hem of Helena's shirt, grazing the warm sin on her hip. "How about now," she asked, her voice a deeper register.

Helena stirred at the jolt of arousal that surged through her at Myka's touch. She flipped over, eyes fluttering at the bright light coming in. She cupped Myka's cheek. "I'm awake. Now, what do you need?"

"This," Myka said, leaning in to fuse her mouth to her wife's. She wasted no time with pushing her tongue in, eliciting a soft moan from Helena. She pushed the shirt up her chest, her hands going everywhere on Helena's body. The writer arched towards her unconsciously, yearning for her touch.

Myka pulled back, resting her forehead on Helena's. Her wife was flustered. "That was certainly unexpected."

Chuckling, Myka pulled her back in for another searing kiss.

xxxx

The wind ruffled Haley's dark hair as she climbed even higher into the tree. She was almost the highest she could ever get, but this time Aaron was attempting to follow her. This was the first time, he'd always just watch from below as she climbed higher and higher, but now he was almost in step with her as she grabbed branch after branch.

She finally reached the stopping point, giggling as Aaron almost lost his footing. "I don't know how you do it, Bering."

"I've been doing this, like, three times a week since I was ten. You've been doing this for ten minutes."

"Not how you climb the tree," he said, finally standing on a limb next to her. He was close enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her cheek. "I meant how you manage to look cute doing it every single time." He shook his head slightly, gazing past her. "Still don't."

Haley blushed and looked down, spotting Trailer on the deck. When she looked back up at him, he was staring at her like she was the only thing in the world. Before she could say something, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers before pulling away with a smile on her face. Haley smiled back at him.

xxxx

Helena and Myka came down into the kitchen with the most obvious sex-mussed hair anyone had ever seen. Pete held up his hand for a high-five on Myka's part, but she only glared at him.

"C'mon Mykes! I'm just trying to congratulate you!"

"I've been married for almost ten years. I have sex a lot, Pete."

He held up a hand in front of his eyes, not needing the mental picture of Myka naked in his mind. Sure, she was hot, but oh my god they were best friends. "Didn't need that Myka."

Helena watched them with a smirk on her face, and then turned to the window and the back yard. She saw Haley drop out of the tree, followed by Aaron who stood a little too close when he spoke to Haley. Helena's jaw dropped uncharacteristically.

She glanced back towards Myka and Pete, who were still arguing (it looked like Myka was winning), before getting up to go outside. "Haley!"

The girl responded quickly, raising her hand in goodbye as she ran towards her mother, before settling on the stone wall. "Did you guys spend the night?"

Helena nodded. "Is there something happening between you and Aaron?"

Haley looked completely surprised, glancing back towards the tree and towards Aaron, who was lying on the ground looking up at the sky. "I'm- I'm not—"

Helena held up her hand. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing," she elaborated. She shot a glance towards the inn, where Myka was sitting at the table reading the paper. "Though I'm sure your mother would disagree with me on that standing."

Haley smiled sheepishly. "I still don't know what it is."

"And that's fine," Helena said, glad her daughter hadn't lied. She knew Aaron was a good young man, but that didn't mean she wanted him courting her daughter. "Just promise me you'll be careful, will you?"

Haley stepped forward to give her mother a hug. "I will," she mumbled into Helena's shirt. Then she turned and ran back towards Aaron before collapsing onto the ground next to him. Smiling, Helena went back inside and gave Myka a kiss on the cheek.

She stalked towards the stairs, calling over her shoulder. "I'll be taking a shower."

Myka snapped her head up at that, before hastily following after her.

"Go Myka!" Pete raised his hands up in victory as the brunette shot him a searing glare. Today would be a good day.


And this is a one-shot, cause I just liked it okay. Reviews are awesome.