iCome To Terms

With the passage of time, cooler heads had prevailed. Shelby had explained – time and again – to Wendy, who had finally relented. Shelby was her wife and, like it or not, Shelby was a fighter. They had gone around and around with this for a significant portion of the evening. Wendy had finally fallen asleep somewhere in the vicinity of two in the morning. Shelby kissed her gently, hoping she wouldn't stir.

Like a cat, she quietly slipped out of bed and the master suite. It wasn't that she didn't adore Wendy; just that she had other things that required her attention.

She stealthily made her way to the baby's room. Kat's tiny chest rose and fell in time. She was a wonderful little person. She reminded Shelby so much of Megan when she was small, only that Kat was far less moody. Shelby kissed the tiny little girl on the crown of her head – just as she'd always done with Megan – and left the room.

Entering the living room, the former champion had to smile. Her eldest daughter was sprawled across the sofa with Sam's daughter cozied up next to her. It wasn't ideal, and teenaged romance was not exactly encouraged in the Marx home, but they were good for each other, besides, they were reasonably dressed, so Shelby had a fair idea of what had and had not happened. She slowly crossed the room, grabbed her jacket and hit the door.

LATER THAT MORNING…

Shelby sauntered back through her front door, this time to an empty house. She was drenched, her hair wet and matted, as she crossed the threshold. Wendy bounced a toddler in her lap, sipping a cup of tea. The look on her face was stern. Shelby did her best to be bright and pleasant. She was winded, but bright.

"Good… Morning… Beautiful…"

Wendy's tone was clipped. She had accepted Shelby's terms, but that didn't mean she was entirely comfortable with the arrangement.

"Yes, I am beautiful, thank you, not that my wife would notice… How was your run?"

Shelby was hurt.

"Wen, now that's not fair…"

Wendy knew that she was being unreasonable, but she was hurt and frustrated. She wanted very badly for Shelby to realize that fact. Shelby did, though she couldn't always articulate it properly.

"Shels, I love you more than life… but why this? Why now?"

Shelby flounced down into the kitchen chair opposite her beautiful redhead. She was hot, sweaty, tired, and emotionally spent. They'd do this dance again, but Shelby didn't want a fight.

"Girls get off to school alright?"

Wendy choked down a swallow of tea, swallowing hard.

"Of course… don't change the subject…"

Shelby wanted to pound the table, smash things, with all her pent up tension, though she knew that it would frighten their precious little baby. She kept it all inside. She spoke to Wendy as lovingly as she could, stifling the anger, hatred, and vitriol that was bubbling beneath the surface. It wasn't Wendy's doing. Shelby was simply handling this the best way she knew how.

"Wendy, it's… I've… there's still stuff, you know, 'down in the basement'…"

Wendy knew Shelby's euphemism. The basement was the place that Shelby stuck all the emotional baggage that she couldn't readily deal with. She'd used this all throughout her CFC career as fuel for training and fight nights. She would channel her pain and anger into something she could use to defeat her opponents. It worked well for her. Wendy thought – thanks to Shelby's own words – that the basement had been cleared out years ago, by the time Megan was born. Wendy looked dumbstruck.

"What do you mean there's still stuff down in the basement, Shelby?"

Shelby sighed.

"It just is what it is, Wendy…"

Wendy didn't quite get it, but she couldn't stay mad at Shelby. She needed her wife back.

"Oh, c'mere and kiss me, you big, muscley, hot mess…"

Shelby smiled. This was the Wendy she knew and loved.

MEANWHILE, AT RIDGEWAY HIGH SCHOOL…

Melanie Puckett and Bridget Xi babbled back and forth during their early Spanish 3 class. Both girls were, of course, light years ahead of their classmates. They were lost in a conversation that only Senora Moya could keep up with. Melanie's PearPhone blinked at her. She clearly had a new text.

NEW MESSAGE

FROM: David

Sent: 9:27 AM, PST

Hey,

It's been a long time since we've talked. I miss you. Can we just hang out sometime?

Melanie didn't quite know what to feel. He was a wonderfully sweet boy and a dear, old friend, but he had also kissed her. It had sort of come out of nowhere, but she hadn't done anything to prevent it. It was before she and Bridget were really 'together', so she knew she couldn't really beat herself up over that, but it was still weird.

He had two moms, so they understood each other there, but he was a Briarwood boy, so it was weird that way. She loved Bridget Xi with everything that she had, but something about her friend David was compelling. She liked boys well enough – just not That Way – so what was the harm in seeing him again?

She knew the harm. Friend or not, the possibility existed that his lips would be all over her again, his DNA all over the place. She liked him and he her. They knew they could only ever be just friends, but still, she thought he was beautiful, in that creepy shirtless underwear model sort of way. She did the only thing she could think of. She forwarded his text to her sister, with an addendum:

HELP…

Mel knew Megan and her sister had likely skipped out of class and were holed up in the union, where they were due to meet up for lunch in roughly two hours. Melanie was, in fact, gifted, but for the day-to-day things, she needed her big sister. Her phone blinked.

FROM: Ash

Umm… WTF? Do I need to hurt him?

Melanie shut her phone and returned to the world of Español and pretty Korean girls. She needed to go to her Happy Place.