AN: I'm back and with zero heartache and tragedy to show for it (well, maybe there is a TINY TINY BIT OF IT if you squint)! This is a nice, fluffy, future!fic, set maybe 7 years or so in the future. I hope you enjoy this story, and if you do, please review! XOXO- E

It was hard to believe any incarceration would have provided any sort of a positive outcome. Especially for Red. Especially for Nicky.

But during their time there, they had found each other. And beyond Litchfield, they really had become a family. A real family. With holiday dinners and weekend visits. Red was the only witness when Nicky and Lorna finally tied the knot. She was in the hospital waiting room, alone, waiting and pacing and worrying when, her beautiful granddaughter, was born. Little Lily Galina Nichols. Red's heart had swelled when Nicky and Lorna told her together what her name was to be.

From that day on, that little girl was Red's shadow.

Sometimes, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

The years passed by at an almost blissful pace. Red lived close by to Nicky and Lorna, and saw them often. They had Sunday meals together, and Nicky would call her almost everyday. That girl. Needing Red's comfort, and their closeness, so keenly even all these years later.

Today, Red was to babysit Lily while her mothers went out for the evening. It was their anniversary and they hadn't had much alone time together, so Red offered to watch her little vnuchka for the night. Lily of course, was delighted, as she compared spending time with her babushka to spending the day at Disneyland.

Red had promised her that they would make cupcakes for her mother's, so they would be surprised when they got home. As usual, the little girl was full of questions.

Red seemed to be doing okay at answering them, until she asked the question she had hoped Lily wouldn't have asked her without Nicky there with them. "Babushka...did you make cupcakes with Mama when she was little like me?"

Red stopped stirring the cake batter for a moment, starting at Lily's very innocent, but very deep, question. She cleared her throat. "No, malyshka. I didn't know your Mama until many years later." She knew that the truth would be best. She continued whisking the cake batter and watched as Lily contemplated this bit of information for a minute or so.

"But...you are her Mama, aren't you?"

Red looked at Lily and kissed the top of her head. "Yes. That's right. And she is my daughter. And you are my granddaughter."

When Lily looked up at her with wide, confused eyes, Red sighed. "Someday your Mama will tell you all about when she was a little girl, before I met her. But sometimes, honey...family...it means more than just being bound by blood. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lily shook her head, so Red chuckled and ruffled her hair a bit. "Okay, Malyshka, let's finish these cupcakes and then we will watch a movie, okay? I'll explain it all to you before then, I promise."

About an hour later, they managed to finish up the cupcakes and clean up the kitchen. Lily did her best to help. She was a good little worker in the kitchen, something Red was very proud of. Nicky had never really grasped the love of cooking that Red had, but Lily seemed to enjoy it.

When they settled on the sofa, Lily's little body tucked against Red's, a blanket covering their legs, Lily reached up to kiss Red on the cheek. "Will you tell me now, babushka?"

Red smiled and nodded, putting her arm around her little girl. "You know how your Mama Lorna carried you in her tummy before you were born?"

Lily nodded.

"Well...your Mama Nicky, her Mama that carried her in her belly well, they don't get along very well. Sometimes it makes your Mama sad. But...a few years ago, she met me, and I've been her Mama ever since."

Lily took a deep breath, trying to take all of this in. "Are you sad that you didn't carry Mama Nicky in your tummy?"

Red's eyes welled up with tears. "Sometimes, my love. Only sometimes. But it doesn't matter, does it? Your Mama Nicky didn't carry you in her tummy, and you love her as much as you love your Mama Lorna, right?"

Lily nods in agreement. "Okay, then. This is the same thing. I love your Mama Nicky so much, Lily. As if I did carry her in my tummy. That's what I meant when I said that family sometimes means more than just being bound by blood."

Lily suddenly wraps her arms around Red's neck. "I'm happy you met Mama Nicky. She's always so happy when you are here."

Red returns the embrace eagerly, a tear falling down her cheek at this revelation. "I'm happy I met her too, malyshka. So happy."

~NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR~

A few hours after that fateful conversation between the inseparable grandmother and granddaughter, Lorna and Nicky tiptoed back into the house. When they reached the living room, they stopped dead in their tracks at the sight before them.

Red and Lily were both sound asleep on the sofa, Red holding Lily close to her, a blanket draped over them.

The TV was on, but the movie had long since ended. They both had fallen asleep trying to stay up to watch it.

Lorna quickly took out her phone and took a few photos, and Nicky rolled her eyes affectionately at the pair. She looked at Lorna questioningly, and spoke in hushed tones. "You think we should get Lily to bed and wake up Ma? The sofa can't be good for her back."

Lorna shrugged, speaking in the same hushed tone. "I don't know. They look so comfy lying there!" She looked around suddenly. "Something smells good!" and she tiptoed into the kitchen, motioning for Nicky to follow. "Oh how sweet, they made us cupcakes!"

Nicky smirked at that. Of course they did. She looked back at two of the most important people in her life and sighed deeply. They both looked so content. Nicky was grateful for them both, and Lorna, everyday. They all helped her get through so much, even when they weren't even trying.

Nicky walked over to them and tucked the blanket a little tighter around them. No one would be waking them or separating them for the night. If Red's back was hurting her tomorrow then Nicky would just have to dote on her until she felt better, something the both of them relished in, though neither would admit it.

She reached down and kissed Lily's forehead, and then kissed Red's, too. She winced when she saw Red's eyes flutter open. "I'm sorry, Ma. I didn't mean to wake you."

Red yawned, careful not to move too much so as not to wake her sleeping granddaughter. "It's okay. Looks like I'm staying here tonight, hmm?"

Nicky nods, her eyes sparkling with mischief and love. The same look Red could never resist, even after all these years. "Guess so. Will you be okay here for the night or would you rather I take her to bed?"

Red shook her head. "She's fine here. I'm okay, Nicky." It was something she found herself having to say to Nicky every once in awhile. Sometimes when Nicky looked at her, she knew she worried. She knew that Red wasn't always going to be with her, and it scared her.

Nicky nods. "Kay. Well, Lorna and I should get some rest. You just call out if you need me, or if Lily wakes up and needs anything."

Red nods, her eyelids feeling heavy again. "I will. Go. Get some rest. I'll make breakfast in the morning."

Nicky rolled her eyes. "No, Ma. I'll make it. You're a guest!"

Red rolled her eyes back. "I can whip us up something better than just cereal, Nicky."

Nicky giggled a bit at that. "True. Well, you don't have to. But...I know you will so I'm looking forward to it."

Red smiled at her. "Good." She would tell Nicky all about her and Lily's conversation tomorrow.

Nicky reached over to turn off the lamp that was about the sofa, and in the darkness she smiled at the pair of them again. "I love you, Ma."

Red swallows hard. After all this time, those words meant the world to her when they came from Nicky. "I love you, too, honey. Goodnight."

FIN.