Here's Chapter 2. I was going to write it yesterday, but my college professors thought it would be a great idea to give massive amounts of homework during our fall break so I've been pretty busy trying to cram it all in by Monday. So just a heads up that I might not be updating this as often as I want to, but I will not abandon this I promise :) Will try to have the 3rd chapter up some time this week. This chapter's for all the CC/Niles fans out there, enjoy!


The dynamic duo came through the unlocked back door after walking over from next door, going through a mud room before reaching the kitchen. It was quite obvious who had the upper hand in the decorum for this house with the kitchen done over in a sterile black, white and metallic palette. Thankfully Niles managed to divert his wife away from the kitchen long enough to add in pops of color to the otherwise natural habitat for the Ice Queen.

"There was a kitchen just like this in Home & Garden. Spent a fortune getting it all redone!" Val commented as they walked across the kitchen.

Fran stopped in her tracks and looked at her friend with confusion, "Since when do you read Home & Garden?" Val placed a hand on Fran's arm, "I saw it flipping through to find the article on Barbra's Mansion in Malibu." Fran's mouth began to form a large "O", smacking Val's shoulder. "And you didn't tell me. What issue was it?" "The recent one." "Oh, nevermind," Fran waved it off, "I've already got ten of those."

They continued their way from the kitchen into the adjoining living room where they saw a woman sprawled on the sofa, her blue eyes concentrating on an issue of VOGUE and her medium, platinum blond hair over her shoulders. Her posture was poised as she lifted her head, the clicking of their heels giving themselves away. She gave out a "Hello, Hello" as she untangled her legs to stand. This could only be -

"C.C! Oh my Gawd!" Val exclaimed with her arms outstretched and embraced the woman as she stood.

The blond woman looked at Val, "Excuse me, have we met?" Val pointed to her herself, "Oh, surely you remember me. It's Val! C'mon I'm not that unrecognizable, I only spent an hour doing makeup. Fred was so anxious to get on that plane!"

Fran had been watching this entire event unfold, but this was too much, "Val!" she whispered before hearing the click of heels coming down the curved staircase, her blond bob bouncing as she walked, moving with her head as she turned to look over at the sofa.

"Look at you, you have a grown daughter and you age better than she does. I've got two boys at the the hotel and I can barely do well with a tube of lipstick... what's your secret?" The blond woman stayed silent, trying to find words to say. "Oh c'mon! Please?" Val begged, "Oh, wait, let me guess..." She held her hands up, imitating a syringe going into the side of her face. Fran's mouth made a big "O" just as she saw the blond bobbed woman slowly coming down the stairway, her shadow looming over Vals as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave a sly smile.

"Even if she knew, she wouldn't tell you." So busted!

Val turned around and looked up at C.C, doing a double take as she looked upon the Babcock sandwich she was in. "It's very hard to tell the two of you apart." she explained meekly.

Fran walked over to put herself between Val and C.C , turning her friend around, "Val, this is Sara. Sara, Val. We go way back to high school... not that was too far back."

"Nanny Fine, you didn't say her real name." C.C came around the glass coffee table and her arm around her daughter's shoulder. They looked even more alike standing next to each other, almost like twins.

"It's Sara Babcock Brightmore." She corrected Fran's introduction.

Sara sighed before protesting, "Mom, they can call me Sara. This is not a formal soiree"

This began to short circuit C.C's overly white smile, "You're a Babcock, you should be appreciating it."

"I do, but there is no need to put in the last part when they obviously not investors."

"Sara, practice makes perfect, and you need to get used to saying your last name. Otherwise who is going to know who you are." C.C commented as she took the VOGUE issue and went across the room to put it back on the shelf. Sara trailed across the room behind her.

"They know who I am." She motioned to Fran and Val.

"They might, but what about everyone else? What about everyone else here in Los Angeles, or the Tony Awards in a few months? That "Babcock" in your name is more than just a name. It's a - "

"A ticket to opportunity, I know. I practically hear that a million times in one day."

"Then you should be used to it by now, shouldn't ya?!"

Sara shook her head at the ridiculousness of all this. "Besides, don't you have homework to do, or a dog to feed?" her mother asked. "Already fed Chester, and gave him his treat. The low fat one, to keep his belly from looking too puffy." This was not the original Chester that C.C. had been quite fond of from all these years. He actually died two years after Sara was born, but Niles was kind enough to surprise the family with another Pomeranian that looked just like him. He was even incredibly fond of Fran, the icing on the cake.

"But I can't start our science project until Jonah gets home." Sara said with her arms crossed over her chest uncomfortably.

"Then... maybe..." C.C struggled to say, "Oh, go see if there's a book to read on the upstairs mantle." She said, patting her daughter's back and allowing her to run along upstairs, Sara's thigh high boots clomping down on the marble steps. C.C watched her from below, her fingers wringing on her wedding band glittering in the sunlight, looking down at it with a sigh.

By this time Fran and Val were seating on the sofa, watching C.C look at her hands before she came over towards the sofa. The two looked at each with sympathy. It was obvious that she was not the best in the mothering department, but it did seem like she was trying her best. C.C made a stop at the wet bar in the corner of the room, pouring herself a small shot of brandy and downing it in one gulp, allowing the alcohol to trickle down her throat and warm her body.

"They can be deceptive, can't they?" C.C smiled sarcastically over at them, "They first look up at you like you're... their world. And the next moment...BAM! They hate your guts..." she made another shot for herself and brought it with her to the sofa, noticing Fran's sympathetic smile. "Oh, honey, don't get so hard on yourself..." She patted C.C's hand, "She's just going through a phase, wanting her own independence, that's all."

C.C downed her shot, cringing slightly. Even after being exposed to alcohol so long, you never get over the burning sensation it gives off. Especially since minimizing her intake of it ever since the night she married Niles, and gave it up completely while she was pregnant with Sara.

"When Val was her age,"Fran pointed over to her best friend, "she couldn't stand her mother. They would be yelling and screaming and hollering at one another from across the room every time I came over. Now look at 'em, calling everyday, checking on each other, complimenting each other in what the other sees in certain New York Giant players. " Val nodded with a smile.

Fran then turned to her and whispered, "You did forgive her for that Pate recipe, right?"

Val looked up at her liked she had two heads, "Are you kidding? The bitch tried to kill me. She should know I'm allergic to nuts!"

Fran looked at her steadily, "The woman's 70 with mild Alzheimers."

"That's no excuse!" Val exclaimed, pointing her forefinger up at her friend, "She can remember Oscar is allergic to seafood, but manages to forget her own daughter can't have nuts."

Fran waved her off as she turned back to C.C, "I mean, I've tried to be the best mother I can be: I've given her everything she has wanted and needed, I've been involved in her school pageants and plays, I've tried to make her the best that she can be, I've given her a supportive family life... And you saw me enable the importance of family." C.C shook her head, "What am I doing wrong?"

Fran shook her head, "Nothing. She's turned out to be a bright, sensible young woman. Just let her try out her new wings, she'll get used to them soon enough. And by the time you notice, she'll be eager to fly out of the coop."

C.C smiled at the slightly saddening thought of the day that will come, "Thanks, Nanny Fine." She put her shot glass down on the coffee before leaning back on the sofa. Then a cell phone went off. C.C quickly pulled it out of her pants pocket and looked at it, "It's Maxwell." she mouthed to the other two women before answering it.

"Talk.." Fran grabbed Val's hand, the anticipation bubbling up within her. This could be the call they've been waiting for. She watched as C.C put a strand of blond hair behind her ear, listening intensively. "Oh, Thank God! Who are they?..." She asked as more silence in the room went by. "I'll be right over." C.C turned off the phone and turned to Fran and Val, "We've got ourselves a show!"

Fran and Val hopped in their seats as they both hugged each other like schoolgirls that just realized they were assigned the same classes, while C.C gave off her signature devious deep throated laugh. She hastily grabbed her purse and followed the other two to the door, following each other back to the Sheffield residence.


Sorry, no C.C/ Niles bantering in this chapter, but there will be in the next chapter. Pinky swear :) Review!