Impromptu Stops

by 0147258369

The redhead pulls back and playfully challenges her, "See, this is why we need to make those little impromptu stops, you work too much. Pretty soon you're going to forget your own name

The rain comes down in sheets upon the windshield, and the wipers do little to help as Aubrey white knuckles the steering wheel and leans forward squinting through the rain and the darkness to keep the SUV on the road. Her brights allow for just enough visibility to see a few yards ahead and the blonde doesn't dare go above forty despite the interstate speed limit being around seventy-five. There's no one else on the road at the late evening hour, and she uses that as her basis for doing what she wants. She knows she should be tired after driving nearly twelve hours already, but the pump of adrenaline coursing through her veins from the forced alertness that comes with traveling in dangerous weather keeps her wide awake. She dares to glance to her right briefly to assure herself that her passenger is still fast asleep.

She breathes a sigh of relief as her attention is turned back to the road. A flash of lightning streaks the sky accompanied by a rumble of thunder, and for once Aubrey is thankful that Chloe can sleep through anything and everything. Aubrey keeps her concentration on the road, and jumps slightly at the touch of gentle fingers on her arm.

"Jesus Chlo!" Aubrey hisses, her tone taking on a hint of agitation she doesn't mean. She feels her heart begin to settle and lets out a breath in a huff. "I thought you were asleep."

Chloe looks over at her and even through the darkness Aubrey can see Chloe's blue orbs shining brightly and her mega watt smile. That smile and those eyes have a way of calming Aubrey no matter what condition she's in—they're the first thing she sees in the morning and the last thing she sees before she goes to bed, they're the calming presence she needs after a long day in the courtroom or when they're laying around the house on a languid Sunday. Those eyes and that smile accompanied by the gentle soul they belong to is exactly what Aubrey needs in her life—the placating ying to her high-strung yang.

"It's kinda bad babe, why don't we pull off for the night?" Chloe says softly offering Aubrey's arm an assuring squeeze.

"We're only like four hours from home." Aubrey points out factually trying her best to keep her focus on the road. Chloe takes a deep breath and lets the breath out in a huff; highly uncharacteristic of the redhead. Aubrey glances over at her with a knitted brow of concern. "Why? You ok, you need to stop?"

Chloe places a hand on her extended pregnant belly smoothing out her Barden University sweatshirt over it. She shakes her head, but worries her lip and that action is enough to have Aubrey searching through the darkness for the sign to the nearest rest-stop just in case.

"I'm fine, I'm worried about you." Chloe voices. "You've been driving for the past ten hours Bree; you haven't really taken a break."

Aubrey shakes her head and offers her a reassuring look, "I'm fine Chlo. I've made this drive like a hundred times."

When Aubrey was still at Barden University she would make the trip home to Dallas every fall break, winter break, and for summer break. The route became old hat; however this would be the first time that she drove to and from Dallas from her home now in Charleston, South Carolina. Any other time they've simply flown but with Chloe grounded in her condition they have no other choice but to drive to her parents for Easter—a very important Posen holiday.

Chloe makes a protesting sound with her tongue, "You've made the drive from Dallas to Atlanta, not Dallas to Charleston."

"What's another three hours?" Aubrey counters, knowing full well that there is about another seven hours rather than three.

Her eyes are still flipping between the road and the side of the road for a blue sign that will run off a list of options for food, gas, or even lodging though she's already settled in her mind that the latter's not needed. Chloe takes her hand off her arm and Aubrey can see out of the corner of her eye the redhead shifting in the front seat. It clicks in her head for the first time that perhaps even though she doesn't need rest, Chloe probably most certainly does. At nearly nine months pregnant, a seventeen hour car ride more than likely isn't at the top of her list of things to do. She resists the urge to sigh in annoyance at her own ignorance and when her eyes finally settle on the blue rest stop sign she notes that there's a Holiday Inn and a Hilton at the exit for Birmingham.

Aubrey pulls across lanes mindfully with the weather and makes the exit just in time before passing it by. Chloe furrows her brow and looks at the GPS which is already 15% into rerouting them before looking at Aubrey. Aubrey stays silent as she navigates the unfamiliar roads, following the signs that tell her to make a left off the ramp and continue one-and-a-half miles until the Holiday Inn. Chloe stays silent as she watches the intent look on Aubrey's face as the bright light for the Holiday Inn comes into view. Aubrey can see Chloe visibly sigh in relief as they pull into the parking lot where a vacancy sign shines brightly. Aubrey pulls under the awning of the front doors and throws the car into park; before they even commit to a room she wants to make sure the place is up to par. She slips out and instructs Chloe to lock the doors as another streak of lightning flashes—the area doesn't look dangerous, but being exposed to dangerous people and what they've done on a daily basis in the courtroom she knows that places that seem safe are more than likely not.

She heads inside through the mechanical doors and is hit with a sterile over floral scent and rush of cold air which is comforting in contrast with the hot muggy air outside. The lobby is enough to insure Aubrey that the place meets her standards with its beautiful chandelier, marble floors and clean pressed looking employees despite the hour. The man behind the desk flashes her a bright smile and Aubrey resists the urge to scowl—no one should be this chipper at this hour.

"Evening ma'am, how can I help you?"

"You have rooms available?" Aubrey asks resting a hand on the marble counter top.

The man nods, "That we do." He clicks a few times on his computer and his eyes scan the screen as he speaks, "We have king suites, queen suites, and—"

Aubrey hold's her hand up to assure him he need not read further, "The king is fine."

The man nods, "Sure. How many nights?"

"Just for tonight." Aubrey pulls her credit card out of her clutch and hands it over.

Though she knows the process will take a minute, it feels like hours as the fatigue of the day sets into her body—the adrenaline long gone with the notion of resting for the night. She purses her lips and does her best to keep her domineer pleasant. The man runs her card, types in a bit of information before handing her the card back—with a glance and smirk at her bare ring finger that doesn't go unnoticed by Aubrey who wishes she hadn't left her wedding ring in her jewelry case in her bag—along with two other room key cards. She thanks him curtly before heading back out to Chloe. Scribbled on the room key holder is their room number; 715.

She sees Chloe captured by her cell phone that illuminates the front seat as she walks around the front of the car. She knocks on the window swiftly to get Chloe's attention and the redhead unlocks the door. Aubrey slips inside and throws the car into drive.

"Shit," Aubrey mumbles under her breath, noticing the rain once more splattering onto the asphalt of the parking lot. There was no way she was letting Chloe run through a dark parking lot in the rain. She throws the car back into park and Chloe gives her an odd look. "You know what, I'm gonna let you out here." She hands the redhead a room key. "Rooms 715, I'll be up in a minute."

"You're gonna carry all the bags?" Chloe asks slightly concerned.

Aubrey shrugs, "It's just two over night bags babe, go on up to the room."

Chloe nods and takes one of the two keys before gathering her phone and slipping out of the car. Aubrey waits and watches through the glass doors to make sure that Chloe gets inside and into the elevator alright before pulling into the closest spot. She takes a breath before reaching in the back for her own Barden University sweatshirt and tugging it on over her singlet. Gathering her blonde locks up into a messy loose bun she pulls the hood on before jamming the room key into the back pocket of her jeans. She pulls the keys from the ignition and jumps out running to the back trunk to grab the two medium sized duffle bags before slamming the trunk closed, locking it, and hurrying inside. Once in the safety of the overhang from the rain, Aubrey pushes the hood back down and enters the lobby. She takes the elevator ride up to the seventh floor wiping away the rain that resonates on her face.

The hallway is just as nice as the lobby and Aubrey's thankful that they found a clean well presented hotel on the first shot. She struggles for a moment to pull the key from her back pocket before sliding it into the lock on the door. Pushing the door open, she's hit with cool air once more and the hum of the air conditioner reverberates through the room. She shivers slightly as her wet skin is exposed to the cold air, and she moves through the room to place their bags on the bed. The closed bathroom door is enough to let Aubrey know that Chloe certainly did need to stop. The room is nice with its beige wallpapered walls and blue patterned designed carpet. The bed looks crisp and clean in the center of the room, but before the bed there's a sitting area with a crème colored couch and matching couch chair along with a plasma TV sitting on a dresser at the foot of the bed at an angle where one can watch from the bed as well as the sitting area. Aubrey walks over to the window, which Chloe has neglected to close and looks out at the stormy night. Through the sheets of rain and lightning she can see the bright lights of Birmingham off in the distance telling her they've settled in a suburb just a few blocks outside the city.

She pulls the heavy curtain across the window before heading back to the bed; the lingering thought of whether or not she's locked the car tugging at the back of her mind briefly at the simple notion that they were so close to the city. Just as she's convincing herself she did indeed lock the car and was certain she'd heard the horn signaling so, the bathroom door opens and Chloe walks—or waddles as Aubrey affectionately calls it—out with a heavy sigh. Her limbs are tired and heavy, and the wear and tear of the day combined with the strenuous activity of carrying a disproportionate thirty pounds around has really taken its toll on her. Aubrey glances over and smiles at her affectionately.

"This place is nice," Chloe says wrapping her arms around Aubrey from behind as close as she can with her belly and resting her cheek against her back. She takes in a big breath and lets it out with a huff before pressing a kiss to Aubrey's sweatshirt clad back, "Why don't you take a shower?"

Aubrey hums indifferently as she begins pulling necessary items to get ready for bed. "You can take one first if you want."

Chloe let's her hands fall from around the blonde before shifting to the side and plopping down onto the bed sending the neat pile Aubrey is making toppling over. Aubrey looks at Chloe with a look of admonishment as if she were scolding a child, but the look in Chloe's eye is an all too familiar one to the blonde and she can't help but fight a losing battle with the smile tugging on her lips.

"Or, we can take one together." Chloe says with a wink and smirk; her blue orbs darker than dark.

Aubrey arches a brow at the redhead as Chloe slips off the bed and saunters towards the bathroom pulling her sweatshirt off over her head and tossing it onto the couch chair. Months of prenatal yoga and exercise classes have kept her tone and the epitome of a woman who is certainly "all baby". In fact, the only thing that has changed in her appearance is her very prominently pregnant belly and her boobs which have gone up two sizes—not to Aubrey's complaint. Despite Chloe's protests, Aubrey's positive that she's never looked more beautiful; pregnancy certainly suites the redhead. Perhaps this is why when Chloe pokes her head out of the bathroom after stripping down and turning the walk-in shower on all it takes is a coy bite of her lip and suggestive crook of her finger to send Aubrey stumbling towards the bathroom fighting to get her sweatshirt off over her head. They've long since mastered sex in the shower and pregnant sex in the shower, but pregnant sex in the shower in a shower that's not theirs is always more exciting and enticing.

After almost an hour the lights are off with the bathroom light still on acting as a night light and the bluish glow from the television bouncing off the walls. Chloe is finally comfortable in the large bed propped up on her side with every pillow but one that she spares for Aubrey. She's entangled her limbs with Aubrey and uses the blonde more as a body pillow with one arm tossed over her waist and her leg hooked over the blonde's legs. Chloe nuzzles her cheek into Aubrey's chest as the blonde wraps an arm around her drawing lazy feather-light patterns on her upper arm. Chloe hums contently as she blinks heavy languid eyelids.

"See, this was a good idea." Chloe says as Aubrey casually flips through the channels. "Right?"

As much as Aubrey would rather be on the road knowing they would only be an hour or so from home by this point, the heavier pounding of rain accompanied with the howl of wind and rumble of thunder outside tells her she would much rather be here than trying to fight through that. She doesn't want to admit it, but Chloe is right—she's always right.

"Yes, this was a good idea." Aubrey replies factually. She doesn't need to see Chloe's face to know she's smiling triumphantly. Aubrey tucks her chin down to press a kiss to the top of Chloe's damp locks before murmuring with her lips still against her hair, "You are full of good ideas Chloe."

Chloe shrugs her shoulders smugly before pressing an open mouth kiss to the exposed skin that Aubrey's t-shirt allows on her chest before settling her head back down. Under Chloe's whiney insistence, Aubrey settles on an episode of Family Guy before tossing the remote to her side on the bed. In a matter of minutes, she feels Chloe's silent chuckles that had been reverberating through her body and into Aubrey's subside before her breathing evens out entirely and the only movement Aubrey feels is the deep rising and falling of Chloe's chest accompanied by the fluttering kicks in her side from within Chloe. Aubrey still can't figure out how Chloe can fall asleep so easily so pregnant when every book says that sleep should come the hardest at this point, but she chalks it up to the fact that Chloe was always capable of sleeping in the oddest positions and under the oddest conditions. She's long since given up trying to figure out how Chloe could sleep when their baby was visibly kicking her; sometimes so much so that Aubrey felt like she was watching a scene from Alien as a clearly visible foot or hand would press outward from Chloe's taut skin.

Aubrey reaches for the remote and turns the television off before setting it down on the night stand beside the bed. The illuminated lights of the alarm clock tells her it's nearly two in the morning and she knows she needs to get some sleep if she expects to get up early to get out on the road. Sighing contently she places one last kiss to the top of Chloe's head before settling in for the night. Aubrey feels like she's only slept for minutes when she wakes back up, but the pale light filtering in from the corners of the window tells her it's morning and a glance to the alarm clock tells her she's gotten at least five hours of sleep; enough accompanied with a coffee to get them home in one piece. By the good graces of the lord, they're still lying in the same position they went to sleep in—a rarity since Chloe even in her condition manages to toss and turn like the Tasmanian Devil in her sleep. It's an indication that Chloe was certainly tired the night before and Aubrey decides to let her sleep a bit more as she ready's them for checkout. She slips out of her embrace and pads quietly to the bathroom to get herself ready.

After tugging on the same jeans from the day before and a fresh LSU long sleeve shirt, she pulls her blonde hair up into a simple ponytail and applies minimal makeup knowing that it would be another long day on the road. She then grabs one of the room keys before grabbing her cell phone off the charger and quietly exiting the bedroom to head downstairs to the lobby to grab some breakfast. There's a slight wash of relief when Aubrey notices that the man from the night before has been replaced with an older professional looking woman—she's not ready to deal with any flirty notions he could pose this morning. She makes her way to the small eatery section and piles a plate of any and all foods she knows Chloe will eat; a waffle, a bagel, bacon, fruit and a muffin before grabbing a water bottle and a coffee for herself. When she slips back into the bedroom she finds that Chloe is awake, but not yet out of bed.

The redhead is sitting up in bed tracing patterns on her belly with her phone pressed to her ear with her other hand. She looks to the door and smiles at Aubrey before mouthing to her she was on the phone with Beca.

"Yeah, Aubrey just got in she says hi." Chloe says breaking away from their conversation.

Aubrey rolls her eyes at Chloe's white lie but smiles nonetheless. Despite their rocky start, Aubrey and Beca had seemed to form a bond—under Chloe's insistence—and are more like sisters now than adversaries. Of course they still pushed each other's buttons and knew how to well, but when it came down to it they would fight tooth and nail for each other. Aubrey is proud of the life Beca has made for herself in Los Angeles as one of the world's hottest up and coming DJ's and Beca is also proud of Aubrey's law career. Even if she doesn't always admit it, Beca watches every and any time Aubrey is on television doing what she does best as State Prosecutor in many of the more high profile cases Aubrey participates in—even if Beca has no idea what was going on and refuses to allow Aubrey to teach her.

Chloe turns the phone out so Aubrey can address her. Aubrey sets down the balancing plate on the dresser near the TV before calling monotonously over her shoulder, "Hi Beca."

"What up my Captain oh Captain?" Beca's voice rings out through the room on speaker. "I figured you'd power through last night and get home in record time."

Aubrey purses her lips, "Yeah, well weather was bad so…"

There's a pause for a moment before Beca chuckles lightly, "So the hot steamy shower sex has—" Aubrey's jaw drops aghast as Chloe's eyes got wide and she quickly took the phone off speaker pressing it back to her ear and hissing at the brunette to shut up.

Aubrey shoots Chloe a look and rolls her eyes again before slipping the second plate she'd grabbed out and divvying up the food so as to make sure nothing spilled over. She keeps her back to Chloe as she hears her assure Beca she will call her when she gets home. After insistence that the brunette get some sleep as she was just returning from a gig accompanied by a quick love you too and hang up. There's a silence that hangs between them before Chloe creases her brow.

"I'm sorry," She offers, taking Aubrey's turned back as a sign of annoyance. "I didn't think she would say anything…"

Aubrey turns around with a placating smile and waves her off, "Honey, it's Beca. If I took everything Beca says to heart I think I might have smothered her in her sleep by now." She picks up a plate and hands it to Chloe before setting the other on the nightstand beside her.

Chloe smiles appreciatively, her mood shifting quickly, "Thanks! You got all my favorites!"

Aubrey chuckles breathily as she walks back to the dresser to grab her coffee and the water bottle she got for Chloe, "Not too hard since I just got some of everything."

"And right now everything is my favorite," Chloe assures with a smirk before bringing a forkful of waffle to her mouth. The redhead stabs another piece off before holding her fork out for Aubrey who settles on the bed beside her propped up on an elbow. Aubrey shakes her head and takes a sip of coffee; early work mornings have completely squelched her need for the most important meal of the day and she's learned to function solely on coffee till lunch. "Babe, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten since last night."

Aubrey scrunches her nose as she blows on the coffee, "I'm fine." Chloe makes a face and Aubrey rolls her eyes, "Whatever you don't eat I'll eat."

She knows it's an empty promise since as of late Chloe leaving a thing on her plate was as common as a photo of Bigfoot, but it seems to appease the redhead who brings the fork she offered to Aubrey to her mouth. Aubrey sighs heavily as she looks at her phone to scan through her emails. She had taken four days vacation time to allow two days prior to the Easter weekend and two days after to insure they would have plenty of time to drive calmly, and now she's happy since they took an impromptu little break in the drive. The only emails are from her intern reminding her that he was taking the Monday after Easter off, and another from one of the public defenders reminding her of a deposition that needed to be discussed before Thursday as opening statements for the case would be Friday. Aubrey responds to the email pertaining to the deposition, but knows the man would more than likely not get it until the following day.

"I'm just gonna finish this and then I'll start getting ready so we can get on the road." Chloe promises.

Aubrey tosses her phone before her onto the bed. "Take your time," Aubrey assures. She shrugs and adds with a shake of her head, "No rush, we don't need to check out until like eleven so you've got plenty of time."

She wants nothing more to get back onto the road, but she doesn't want to rush Chloe. She knows that it takes her a bit longer to get ready now in the morning, and on more than one occasion earlier on in the pregnancy Aubrey had brought Chloe to tears with her insistence of hustling while getting ready to go somewhere.

"I know, but I can tell you wanna get on the road and get home." Chloe says with a smirk before taking a sip of water.

Aubrey crooks her brow, "Am I that transparent?"

"Babe," Chloe snorts unceremoniously. She rolls her eyes a bit as she adds, "I think you've wanted to get on the road since Friday when your mother opened the door and welcomed us in."

Aubrey lets out a breathy laugh at how well the redhead knows her. Holidays at the Posen household had always been tense for the blonde. Being the youngest and only girl with four older brothers, teasing was more than expected as well as heavy scrutiny from her father. Michael Posen held a legacy in the state for his high win count as his days as State Prosecutor and expected nothing less from his daughter. Though he doesn't always show it, he's proud of her and when he doesn't say it Chloe reminds her. Chloe seems to be the only one who is off limits when it comes to crude comments and incessant teasing. Chloe points it to the fact that everyone loves her, but Aubrey knows her brothers took it easy this year given her condition. Aubrey mentally prepped herself for the entire drive to Dallas for the meltdown that she was sure was going to come when her brother's poked fun at Chloe's weight gain. However, even they—as non empathetic as they were—knew better than to make the redhead the brunt of their jokes and Aubrey is thankful for that.

"Thank you by the way." Aubrey says reaching out and placing a hand Chloe's knee. She gives it a little squeeze. "For putting up with my family. I know they're certainly not like yours but…"

Chloe leans over and captures Aubrey's lips, and the blonde can taste the syrup still there. "It's fine." Chloe assures. "There's no more mine and yours when it comes to family. They're our family. Besides, this year was actually almost normal."

Aubrey can't refute that. Nobody had cried this year, no one had been taken the hospital after things got aggressive during the annual Easter Egg hunt, and there had been no guns taken out to accompany an accusation as to who had the best shot—a typical argument in a family of law enforcement (all three of her brothers were respectable police officers). In fact, everyone was pretty placid and dinner had gone off without a hitch. It did almost feel normal.

"Yeah, well I think my brothers gave you a break because of your condition." Aubrey smirked moving her hand up from Chloe's knee to splay on her belly.

Chloe shrugged indifferently, "Well, then maybe I should just be pregnant for every Posen-Family-Holiday."

Aubrey raised her brow and nodded. "If I could I would arrange that."

"Or…" Chloe began with that mischievous smirk and look in her eye as she trailed off stressing the word. She continued, "Maybe next holiday you could take a turn this way we can evenly distribute the heat of The Brothers' Posen."

Aubrey isn't opposed to the idea, but for right now she feels as if attention should solely be on their first child before even considering the second. It was decided upon early on when Aubrey and Chloe first discussed children that Chloe would carry the first, Aubrey the second and then from there they could draw straws this way both women can experience the ordinary everyday miracle that was pregnancy and childbirth. However, there's a small feeling in Aubrey that once she watches Chloe go through this she may have second thoughts.

"Let's just concentrate on the baby we yet to have ok?" Aubrey sighs. She pushes herself up onto her hands and capture Chloe's lips again before adding, "Finish eating honey."

Though Aubrey did her best to hurry Chloe along, they don't actually check out until ten to eleven and don't actually get on the road until eleven thirty; just in time to hit midday traffic outside the city. Traffic has slowed almost to a crawl and Aubrey huffs and puffs as she fights her way through it. The GPS now assures them they won't be home until nearly eight o'clock at night, and Aubrey can't help but internally chastise herself for stopping for the night—had they not they stopped they would already be home by now and she could be calmly preparing for the rest of the week ahead in her home office.

"Relax sweetie," Chloe murmurs with a sigh interlacing her fingers with Aubrey's bringing their hands to rest on the middle console. "Don't get excited, it'll break up."

Aubrey let's her breath out in a huff trying to take her wife's words to heart, but it's hard with all these terrible drivers on the road. They play inch for inch with traffic for another hour until before it clears up and they continue on their way. Despite the night's sleep Chloe got, she passes out two hours into the trip leaving Aubrey with nothing but the low radio for company. Though Aubrey would love to have Chloe to talk to throughout the drive, she knows if the redhead is awake they would need to make more stops along the way and she's happy the only time they need to stop aside for gas is when Chloe stirs somewhere around Augusta, Georgia. By the time they're crossing the Ravenel Bridge, the sun has already descended and the moon and stars are dotting the inky black sky. Aubrey pulls the SUV into the driveway of the beautiful beach house they call home.

The house is pale mint green colonial with white shutters and pale grey roofing up on pilings with a big wraparound white porch that sits above the dunes with a perfect view of the ocean yet blocked by tall and short palm trees for some privacy. Putting the car in park on the rock driveway has a way of completely relaxing Aubrey and she feels the stress of the entire holiday combined with the stress of the drive completely dissipate. She opens the car door and is hit with the scent of the ocean and the chill that comes with early spring living on the water. Chloe only stirs when Aubrey opens her car door and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"We're home," The blonde murmurs and Chloe languidly opens her eyes. Aubrey helps her out of the car and instructs her to wait at the bottom of the stairs for her. Aubrey grabs two bags from the trunk before rushing to Chloe's side to accompany her up the stairs. "Ok, let's go."

Aubrey makes sure Chloe's alright in the house and after tossing their bags on the master bedroom bed heads outside and down the stairs to grab the rest of their things and lock up the car. When she returns, back into the house she locks the front door behind her before setting the last of their things on the kitchen table to be dealt with later. She climbs the stairs once more and enters their bedroom to find Chloe stretched out on the bed with her arm splayed over her eyes blocking out the light.

"Tired?" Aubrey asks with a smirk—for sleeping all day, she should be wide awake.

Chloe moaned before pushing herself onto her side and holding her head up with her hand propped up by her elbow. "Exhausted, aren't you?"

Aubrey scoffs as she heads into the adjoined master bath pulling her shirt off over her head. She glances at her reflection in the mirror and tries to wipe away the black circles forming under her eyes with her index fingers, knowing the action would do nothing. She sighs heavily before turning around and starting their walk-in waterfall-head shower. She's thankful that Chloe is too tired to sneak up on her in the shower, because though she would never turn her away she's too exhausted for that right now and simply wants to shower away the fatigue of the day. By the time she's dried off and in her favorite pair of baggy pinstriped pajama bottoms and simple white singlet brushing out her damp hair Chloe emerges from the bathroom sopping wet sans towel. Aubrey would scold her for trailing water onto their rug if she weren't so tired, but instead she chuckles and rolls her eyes.

"Is there to be no shroud of mystery in this marriage?" Aubrey quips.

Chloe shrugs with a smug smirk, "I might be carrying a little more cargo, but I'm still pretty confident about all this." She runs her hands over her belly as she motions to herself and Aubrey does her best to suppress a chuckle.

The blonde simply shrugs and nods, "You should be." She's not lying or biased; Chloe still looks model-like-sexy even in her condition.

Another forty minutes later and the two are finally curled up in bed. Aubrey is just about to fall asleep when she hears her phone vibrate on the nightstand beside her. She resists the urge to whine allowed as to who would be trying to get in touch with her at this hour, but as she rolls out of Chloe's vice grip and reaches for her phone she realizes it's still moderately early in the evening. Glancing at the front screen she sees the text is from Beca and furrows her brow as she opens it. It's a quite lengthy message, but Aubrey's able to scan it quickly for information with years of practice scanning legal documents.

"Who is it?" Chloe mumbles, her eyes still closed.

Aubrey looks over at the blonde, "Beca. You forgot to let her know we were home."

Chloe makes a protesting sound, "Nope. I sent it."

"Well, she didn't get it." Aubrey mumbles back. "She's also coming earlier than she thought. She'll be here the week before your due date."

Chloe struggles, but manages to prop herself up onto her elbow and with an arched brow and small smile she says, "So, Tuesday?"

Aubrey's rereading the text message, but knits her brow and shakes her head absentmindedly, "No, the week before your due date."

Chloe suppresses a chuckle as she insists, "Tuesday."

Aubrey finally looks at her wife ready to defend herself when it clicks on in her head—Chloe is due in only two short weeks. She's been so consumed with work she's lost track of all dates and days not consisting with her trail schedule. She feels foolish as she admits to herself that if they weren't going to her parents for Easter she more than likely would have forgotten about it all together.

"Oh shit you're right." Aubrey finally says.

She can feel her cheeks tinge pink at the realization she's forgotten her first child's due date. It's supposed to be the most important day in her life, and yet she cast it aside—and normally Aubrey Posen could remember dates that were deemed important.

"It's ok." Chloe says softly and gently before she presses a kiss to the corner of the blonde's mouth. Aubrey offers her a small sheepish smile, but she makes a mental note to stop on the way home from work the next day for flowers and Chloe's favorite candy. The redhead pulls back and playfully challenges her, "See, this is why we need to make those little impromptu stops, you work too much. Pretty soon you're going to forget your own name." Aubrey sighs with a smile and Chloe giggles at her own attempt to ease the tension. With one more final kiss to the blonde's lips Chloe whispers, "Get some sleep."

Aubrey nods and sets her phone back on the nightstand before pulling Chloe close to her. There were things that she would forget from time to time, but she would never forget the feeling of simply lying beside Chloe Beale—a feeling she's known all too well since college, and a feeling she couldn't fathom having ever lived without prior.