Stef sat in the living room staring off into space as she held a cup of tea tightly between her hands.
"Mommy, watch!" Brandon giggled as he pressed bars on his play piano.
"That's beautiful, Baby," Stef smiled as he continued to play.
"See Daddy?" Brandon asked as he looked up.
"Ofcourse, We'll leave in just a little bit. Give Mommy enough time for you to watch one Ninja Turtles" Stef said as she flipped on the tv, pulling up on of Brandon's favorite episodes.
As Stef finished packing stuff to for Brandon to spend the weekend at Mike's, she looked around. It had been a month and a half and still, she did not want her Baby away fom her. Not like he could stop anything from happening, or that he would ever know but... it was comforting having her child there.
Slipping out her phone she noticed a text "Hey Babe, Brandon's going to Mike's tonight right? Want to come have dinner?" Stef smiled at that, Lena seemed to always be one step ahead of her.
"Sure, dropping him off and 20 minutes, be there in 45?" she sent as she threw the bag onto her shoulder, sighing a little in relief. It would cut a few hours off of having to come home.
"Come on Baby, lets get your coat on," She said as she pulled a windbreaker out of the hall closet and held it out to help her child into it. Brandon talked non stop on the ten minute drive to Mike's, telling her all that he wanted to do that weekend, which seemed to be everything under the sun.
"Hey!" Mike yelled from the front porch when they drove up. Brandon shot out of the car and to Mike, who threw him up into the air. Stef pulled out Brandon's bag from the trunk and headed up the driveway.
"He's recovering from a cold, I put some medication in his bag, he should take it every 6 hours" Stef said as she handed the bag over "Does 7 on Sunday work for you to drop him off?" She asked, ticking through things she needed to tell him about.
"Yeah, that's fine Stef," Mike said a litle awkwardly "How are you?"
"Fine," Stef shrugged "I will see you Sunday. Baby, Give Mommy a hug and I'll see you in two days," She said as hugged the boy tightly and gave him a kiss.
As she was walking back to her car she heard Mike call after her. Surprised when he walked over to her "I, uh, I wanted to make sure you were doing alright" he said finally, looking at the ground.
"I'm fine, Mike, it wasn't your fault," Stef said as she got into the car and slammed the door. Part of her felt like it was. How could he have been so stupid as to go tell all his drunk friends she was seeing Lena. She shuddered as she started the car and drove around to clear her head.
By the time she drove into Lena's driveway her head was clearer. SHe didn't want to think about it or for Lena to know. She smiled when she knocked on the door and Lena yelled to come in. "Hey, Babe," Stef said as she found Lena in the kitchen, her hair piled on top of her head, walking over she wrapped her arms around Lena from behind, kissing her neck softly.
"Hi, Honey" Lena smiled as she placed her hands on top of Stef's "How's B?"
Stef smiled into Lena's shoulder, this woman who never had kids of her own, knew that B always came first "He's doing good. The cold is almost gone. Other than a 'I want Daddy, not you' tantrum this week, it wasn't bad at all."
"That's great," Lena smiled, turning in Stef's arms so they were face to face. Lena kissed her lips softly, smiling when she felt Stef kiss her back for a moment. Breaking the kiss Lena giggled softly "Do you want some wine or a beer she asked as she pulled a wine glass out for herself.
"Wine sounds good" Stef said as she sat on a chair at the table "Anything I can do to help?"
"Can you grab some napkins and silverware?" Lena asked "Napkins are in the second drawer down." She said as she started plating chicken alfredo, warm bread, and a salad, kissing Stef's cheek when she set the plate infront of her.
"YOu didn't have to go to so much trouble, Lena" Stef said as she took a bite, humming at the taste "though you make the most amazing food."
"Yeah but if I didn't cook for you every once in a while you would live off of frozen foods and take out," lena teased, taking Stef's hand and kissing it.
"Yes, well, when I have the extra time when I'm ot working or watching a five year old," Stef said.
"And that's why I make you home cooked meals," Lena smiled as they started to eat in a comfortable silence. Once dinner was done they refilled their wine glasses and made their way to the couch, where they put on The Kid, a favorite of both of their's. Stef smiled softly as the 60-year-old Russ started walking towards the plane. She felt Lena turn from where she was snuggled on Stef's chest and kissing started to fall on her jaw. When she felt Lena's mouth head towards her neck she swallowed hard, manuvering them so Lena was back up to her lips.
Lena smiled into the kiss deapening it as they sat face to face. Lena ran her hand up Stef's arm, slowly moving to hold the back of Stef's neck when Stef jumped back, covering her face in her arms and curling into a ball.
"Stef, Honey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-to- what happened?" Lena asked, trying to gently pry Stef's arms away from her face and middle "Please talk to me." she asked softly.
Stef took a ragged breath and slowly started to uncurl herself, wiping the tears that fell from her face quickly in hopes Lena didn't see them, or at least wouldn't mention them "Nothing, I'm fine, sorry, I had a minor freak out," she said as she sat up.
"Was it something I did?" Lena asked in a small voice "What did I do?"
"Babe, it wasn't ANYTHING you did, it's me."
"You want to break up, don't you?" Lena said with a sigh "You thought you were a lesbian but now that the novelty weared off you want to go back to your husband. That's fine Stef, but at least you could be honest with me."
"That's not it, Lena," Stef said harshly.
"Than what is it? I'm tried of being pushed away from you," Lena yelled as she stood up "I'm not good enough? I don't... don't know. Tell me, because I'm about done."
Stef had tears running down her face. Not only did that man take her sense of security in her own house but now she was going to loose Lena over it "I was raped, ok?" She yelled to hide her tears as she started to walk towards the door, grabbing her keys off the coffee table.
"Stef?" Lena said a little confused as she saw her leaving, when Stef opened the door something snapped in her and she started running "Stefanie, wait, Baby!" she yelled as she ran to where Stef was getting in her car "Come back inside, please" she said as Stef sat in the drivers seat, almost in a trance.
"Lena" she said tirdly "I c-can't do this right now. I can't fight with you." she whispered.
"Well, come on, and we won't fight," she said as she kissed Stef's forhead, closly judging Stef's reaction. Stef got out of the car and followed Lena slowly back into the house "Come on," she said softly, walking back to her bedroom.
"Lena," Stef said as her eyes widened and her breath started to quicken.
"No,no, not that, trust me, ok?" Lena said softly. Sitting Stef on her bed while she rifeled through dresser drawers "Do you have plans tomorrow or any reason you have to go home tonight?" Lena asked as she pulled a couple loose t-shirts out of her drawer and threw them at Stef, who shook her head. "Ok, now you have to be honest with me, would it make you uncomfortable to spend the night, I know you haven't yet," Lena asked as she turned to Stef for a moment, who again shook her head.
Lena pulled out a package of sports bras "I bought these on a whim but they are a little big for me, they should fit you perfect," she said as she pulled a white one out and threw it on the bed along with a pair of short shorts, longer basket ball shorts, and a pair of PJ pants "There is anything possible you could want to wear to bed. I don't care what or how much you do or don't wear, and if you don't like any of this feel free to look through my dresser" Lena smiled, kissing Stef gently "I'll be out in the living rook to give you privacy, come out when you're ready, alright?" She smiled.
Stef nodded "Yes, thank you" she said, seeming to come back to herself more. Lena kissed her once more before going out to the living room and sipping on her glass of wine while her head realed. Stef hadn't said anything about this before, and now she understood. "Hey Baby," SHe smiled when Stef walked out in a tight tank top with the sports bra underneither and a pair of shorts Lena hadn't pulled out, they were sort of loose and came down halfway to her knees, "I'm going to go get changed," SHe said as she set her glass down, walking to Stef "And you look beautiful in my clothes" she grinned.
In a few minutes Stef heard Lena come out from the bedroom "You need anything before we go lay down?" She asked as she threw the plates in the sink and turned off the lights.
"No," Stef smiled as she turned the tv and dvd player off. In Lena's bedroom Stef kind of stood to the side. SHe wasn't sure how to- or wat to do. Eating dinner togehter, snuggling on the couch, all those things seemed to come second nature to her.
Lena crawled under the covers and scooted to the left side "YOu can come in too, you know," She smiled "I don't expect you to sleep on the floor."
Stef giggled nerviously before slipping under the covers on the right side, she didn't know that in ten years it would be considered her side. Stef's throat caught as she felt engulfed by the scent that was Lena "Can we snuggle?" Lena asked, holding her arm out, Stef went to pull Lena onto her chest, like they always did when they snuggled, but Lena shook her head "Ok, I mean, can I hold you? I just really want to hold you right now," she smiled softly. Stef's breath hitched but nodded, scooting closer. and gingerly laying her head on Lena's chest, trembling slightly.
"You don't have to, if it makes you uncomfortable, or if I do something that makes you uncomfortable, let me know, ok?" Lena asked as she felt Stef start to relax against her.
"No, I'm ok, I-I like it" Stef murmered, pressing her face into Lena's chest and breathing deeply.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Lena asked softly, as she started running her hand up and down Stef's back. When she went to Stef's lower back, Stef flinched, so Lena worked her way back up.
Stef shook her head quickly, pressing her face, Lena took that gesture to pull Stef closer to her, holding her tightly in her arms "It was one of Mike's drinking buddies," she said as Lena felt Stef's face clentch "Wanting to show Mike that I just needed to be satisfied" she spit out, wrapping her arms tightly around Lena. Lena didn't know what to say so she kissed Stef's temple, though Stef seemed to want to end the conversatino there.
"Are you wearing something under this?" Stef asked, pointing to Lena's shirt. Lena nodded "Can you take your shirt off?" she whispered. Lena smiled sofly, pulling the loose t-shirt over her head and Stef peeled off her tank top, breathing in deeply when she wrapped herself around Lena once again, her pale skin coming in contact with Lena's mocha skin. She felt safe, and she felt like it was going to be ok.
"Thank you," she murmered, as her eyes struggled to stay open as her cheek rested on Lena's sports bra clad chest.
"Go to sleep, Baby" Lena murmered as her own eyes started to drift,"I'll see you in the morning."