"Oh! You startled me!" Lindsay cried out.

Melanie snaked her way around the cardboard moving boxes, over to the bookshelf. It was so damn sexy, that Melanie walk. Oh, can't we just go to bed and forget about all this? Lindsay thought.

"Looking for that dirty magazine again, Lindz?" Melanie grinned slyly.

"I – no." Lindsay climbed down from the chair and placed a large photo album carefully on the table. She laughed nervously and walked up to Melanie. "Not. Interested. Although, I'll admit, there is one hot little brunette in there that gets my motor running."

Melanie grabbed her and pulled her close. "Come here, you."

Lindsay gave her a quick kiss and pulled away. "Later. I promise." I hope. If everything goes well.

She smiled. "Actually, I was looking for this." She took Melanie's hand and led her to the table.

"Oh, sweetheart." Melanie began to leaf through the photo album. She picked it up and sat down on the couch. "The most beautiful wedding two women ever had. Come here, let's relive it."

Lindsay sat down. "Actually, I wanted to…" She gasped, and said, a little too loudly. "Ohhh, there we are tossing the bouquet!"

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Is that thing ever accurate? Remember, Emmett was the one who caught it."

"He'll find someone, Mel."

"My wife. Ever the hopeless romantic. It's why I love you so much." Melanie drew her in for another kiss.

All right, Peterson. Quit stalling. Gus is watching a DVD. Michael and Ben are babysitting Jenny Rebecca. You picked this night, now go for it. Lindsay drew in her breath. "I think we should…" She smoothed her hair back and lifted her chin. Stop doing that. God, I always do that when I'm nervous. "I don't know quite how to say this."

Melanie crossed her legs and looked at her patiently.

"All right." Lindsay gave a quick smile. "I don't want to move to Canada."

Melanie's face fell. "Shit. I knew it. I knew it. Fuck!" She got up, stuffed her hands in her pockets, and paced the room. "You don't really want to get back together. You were just freaked out about the bombing."

Lindsay gasped. "Mel! No, no, that's not it at all!"

"It's not?"

Lindsay laughed, almost wept with relief. "No, I wasn't saying I wanted to break up again! My God, don't you think we've had enough of that for one lifetime? Don't you think poor Gus and JR have had enough of that?" She thought I wanted to break up! Maybe that will soften her up for what I really have to say.

Melanie sat down. She gave a tight smile. "Okay. Sorry. So what is it you want?"

"Yeah. I didn't phrase that right. What I mean is, I don't think we should move to Canada. Us. Our family."

"Oh God, Lindz, we've been over this a million times."

"Mel…"

"There are crazy people in this country. Dusty died. Michael nearly died. What if the benefit had been some daytime thing and it had been Gus and Jenny Rebecca? What if it had been" – she drew in her breath – "you? And you know the cops won't do a fucking thing about it. And this shithead will get away with it and there's gonna be more and more of this shit and you think anyone will care? The cops, the government? The fucking president will probably declare a national holiday. And what about Prop 14?"

"Okay, if there's any possibility that Gus and Jenny Rebecca will be taken away, yes, we can move. Maybe to a different state. But Prop 14 is going to lose. You've seen the polls." Lindsay sighed. "Mel, I understand how you feel. I'm just as infuriated about everything as you are. But Bush isn't gonna be president forever. And we can work for change, and fight for change, like we always have. The way women and people of color did in the '60s. They didn't leave their country. And" – she smiled sheepishly – "I think Brian's right. Bad things are always gonna happen. We shouldn't be teaching our kids to run from adversity."

"Oh." Melanie laughed mirthlessly. "I should've known. It's Brian. You want to stay in Pittsburgh because of Brian."

Shit. I should never have mentioned his name. When will I learn? "No, you'll be happy to know, it's not about Brian."

"What is it then? No, let me guess. There's another random French guy you want to marry."

Oh God. This is going better and better. If she mentions Sam… Lindsay was suddenly struck by the hurt look on Melanie's face. No matter how hard Mel tried to hide her hurt behind sarcastic remarks, she never could. Lindsay had seen that look on her face a couple times before. She shuddered, and put her head in her hand.

"I was such an idiot. What was I thinking? I could have gone to jail. I could have lost Gus." She looked up. "I could have lost you forever."

"I'm sorry," Melanie said. "That was uncalled for. Still, shouldn't Gus and Jenny Rebecca grow up in a country where their family is accepted?"

"That's the thing!" Lindsay said passionately. "Their family is here." She took a deep breath. "Mel, your biological family may not be perfect, but at least they accept you for who you are."

Melanie was silent for a moment. "Yeah. You're right. I kvetch about them all the time, but I do appreciate that."

"I don't have that. I mean, for God's sake, the only times my parents cared about me, showed the slightest interest in their own grandson, was when they thought I was heterosexual. So I had to create my own family, as an adult. And that includes you, and Gus, and Jenny Rebecca. But it also includes – well, everyone. They're my family, Mel. And I want them to be Gus's and Jenny Rebecca's, too. So" – she looked up – "yes, this is, in a way, about Brian. Gus's father, Brian. And his, maybe, someday, stepfather, Justin…"

Melanie snorted.

Lindsay threw up her hands and laughed, thankful for a distraction. "Hey, I'm not giving up hope. Stranger things have happened. And it's not just them. It's Jenny Rebecca's father, Michael, and her stepfather, Ben, and her brother Hunter. Her grandmother, Debbie."

"Yeah. Debbie" –

Lindsay held up her hand. "And their uncles, Ted and Emmett. Yes, there are plane rides and phone calls and emails, but it's not the same thing. I want our kids to grow up" – her voice broke – "I want them to grow up close to this wonderful, irritating, fucked-up family that will always be there for them no matter what. Mel…" She picked up the wedding album.

"Remember our wedding vows? Things got so crazy that day that I never said what I'd planned – I didn't read you that poem or anything – I was so overwhelmed by that moment when I was finally marrying you in front of God and the world."

"Yeah, I remember," Melanie said softly. "We just said what was on our minds."

"What was in our hearts. We talked about all the love and support surrounding us, and how it brought us to that day. How with our family behind us, there was no obstacle we couldn't overcome. And Mel…" She took a deep breath. "I think that if we move – if we leave our family – we would be contradicting something fundamental in the vows we made that day I made my commitment to you. One of the most important days of my life. And I couldn't live that way."

Melanie sat there gazing at her. She looks upset. Say something, dammit!

"We go again, Mommy?"

Lindsay glanced at the doorway. Gus was standing there, a forlorn look on his face. It made Lindsay's heart hurt. "Sweetie, go back to your room. Mommy and Mama are still talking…"

Melanie interrupted. "No, Gus, you can come here." She looked at Lindsay. "Gus, remember what I told you about not playing with the pop paper until Mommy and Mama were sure they had some left over that they didn't need for the move?"

"Yeah?"

She leaned toward him, a big smile on her face. "Well, I changed my mind. Do you know what that means?"

Oh my God. Gus nodded solemnly.

"You can have all the pop paper you want, right now."

"Yay!!" Gus's face lit up, and he ran toward the biggest box.

Lindsay grabbed Melanie's hand. "Mel! Are you saying…?"

"Yes! We can stay. I want us to stay."

"Woo-hoo!" Lindsay yelped. She dived into Melanie's arms.

Melanie laughed. "She cuts loose!" Then, trying to be heard above Gus's enthusiastic popping of the bubble wrap and Lindsay's delighted laughter: "Sweetie, you can only have the pop paper on special nights like tonight, when your sister's not here trying to sleep…"

And Lindsay silenced her with a kiss.

THE NEXT DAY

"So we decided we're staying," Melanie concluded. "We're going to stay, and fight for our rights, and help make this country a better place."

"Oh!" Michael looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "Oh, that's…that's great!" He swooped Jenny Rebecca from Lindsay's arms and nuzzled her face. "Hear that, honey bun? You're gonna get to be with Daddy all the time now!"

"I'm glad you're staying," Brian said quietly.

Melanie laughed incredulously. "That's it? No snarky comment about how we dykes always have to turn everything into a soapbox, and how we can never make up our minds, and how we are just so pathetic?"

Lindsay looked at him. She understood. She understood that Brian always had a quip or sarcastic remark ready when people were disappointing or abandoning him. But this time, they were giving him a gift. He wasn't used to that.

"Okay, but there is one condition," Melanie said.

"What?" Brian looked suddenly wary.

"Michael, you and Ben get Jenny Rebecca again tonight, and Brian, you get Gus tonight."

"Oh." Brian suddenly smiled. "Come here, sonny boy." Gus ran into his arms.

Lindsay turned toward Melanie. "What's this all about?" she murmured. "Date night for the mommies?"

"Oh God, Lindz. You're doing it again."

"What?"

"That look. That look you have that's like you're all wistful but at the same time, like, eye-fucking me. It just kills me."

"Oh, really?" Lindsay smiled slyly. "Well. I had no idea it was such a weapon. Does it help me get what I want?"

"It depends. What is it you want?"

"You. Tonight."