Disclaimer: Bianca, Maggie, Miranda and the citizens of Pine Valley are the property of ABC and All My Children. The fictional characters they meet in Paris are mine. There is no harm intended, since I am in debt, it would do you no good to sue me. So, please, don't sue me...

Paris, France
June 2005

Chapter 3

"Mags."

"Bianca."

"Maggie."

"Binks."

"Maggie!"

"B!"

"Maggieeeee!!!"

"SHUT UUUUP!"

From the back seat Miranda whimpered softly at the loud voices. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry," Maggie apologized soothingly, reaching back with a hand to catch one of Miranda's feet and rubbing it gently with her fingers. This seemed to settle the little girl and Maggie smiled at her in the rearview mirror. "But your Mommy is driving me CRAZY!"

"Mary Margaret Stone, put that hand back on the steering wheel this instant," Bianca snapped.

"What," Maggie replied, holding her right hand up in front of Bianca's face. "This hand?"

"Maggie!" Bianca pleaded.

"Tell you what," Maggie said, giving Bianca a quick glance. "I'll put my hand back on the steering wheel if you'll stop shoving your foot into the floorboards like you've got a brake pedal there."

Bianca looked down to see that she did, indeed, have her foot shoved down hard on the floorboard underneath the dash and willed herself to relax. Next to her, she heard Maggie sigh. "Relax, Bianca, I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, well, it's not you I'm worried about." Bianca muttered under her breath. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard Maggie snickering beside her and she fought a desperate urge to pop her a good one.

They were caught in the roundabout that circled the Arc de Triomphe at the head of the Champs Elysee in the sleek Midnight Blue Mercedes sedan that had been provided for them by Cambias Industries, Maggie at the wheel, Bianca nervously seated beside her and Miranda cozy in her car seat in the back. They had decided to venture outside of Paris to some of the sights to be seen on the periphery of the city, their first chance to actually do so now that things had settled down and slowly developed into a routine. Things had been going very well until they all buckled themselves into the car.

As Chairperson of the Board for the European arm of Cambias, Bianca was not involved in the day to day running of the vast Cambais Empire; that fell to the CEO, CFO and the minions below them. Her job was to make sure the stockholders were happy and made money and that the Board functioned as one, a job she took seriously since this was her daughter's legacy. She spent many days and nights reviewing expenditures, acquisitions, divestitures, stock reports, budget reports and more financial data than she thought she would ever understand. And while she had Uncle Jack to help her, and he certainly did, she was still determined to do this on her own. And to succeed spectacularly while doing so.

As time had passed and things became more comfortable, she found that this gave her an immeasurable amount of free time since she wasn't required to be on hand constantly. This also gave her the opportunity to spend that time with Miranda and Maggie. In May they had attended the French Open, having the chance to meet and speak with U.S. tennis stars like Andy Roddick, Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati. There were fetes, or festivals, taking places at all times, and Miranda so enjoyed them that they attended as many as they could, if only to hear the baby laugh and clap at all the fireworks shot off nightly. A lot of time was spent wandering through the many parks of Paris, most especially the 166 acre Butte-Chaumont, which was once, unbelievably, an unsightly landfill. They ate all the wonderful foods at as many different restaurants as they could find, dined whenever they had a chance at a sidewalk café and strolled the boulevards talking and laughing.

For Maggie's part, she had decided to wait and enroll in the fall term at Universite Pierre et Marie Currie in their medical program. Her credits from PVU, plus a glowing recommendation by the U.S. Ambassador to France on her behalf assisted in cutting through some red tape that may have delayed her resuming her studies. This gave her more time to slowly adjust to this new part of her life, which she was enjoying more and more each day.

She reached out and grabbed Bianca's hand in hers, giving it a quick squeeze. "Relax, B, they don't give you driving privileges over here without you having some idea of what you're doing."

Bianca sighed as a tingle raced up her arm. "As much as I like you holding my hand, Stone, I sure would appreciate it if you'd put it back on the steering wheel. And I'm not so sure about that little comment, because all I see are a bunch of maniacs driving around in what they seem to think are bumper cars."

They were wedged into the 3rd of the nine lanes of the roundabout which encircled the Place Charles de Gaulle and the Arc de Triomphe, between a bright yellow Lotus Esprit and what appeared to be World War II-era Volkswagon Beetle. Bianca could swear they left the apartment an hour ago, only to get caught 2 miles up the street in this circular hell on earth. Suddenly, the Beetle lurched ahead and jammed its way between the Mercedes and a Mini Cooper, causing Bianca to give a little shriek of surprise. Maggie laughed.

"Not funny, Stone! Not funny!" Maggie laughed harder. "Goddammit!"

"Bianca Christine Montgomery! Such language! And in front of the baby, too…"

"Oh, I am so getting you for this, Maggie. Seriously, you are so in trouble."

"Honey, you need to calm down or you're going to hyperventilate," Maggie said, still chuckling.

"Get me the hell off this street and we'll talk about it," Bianca snapped back. Quickly, she gave Maggie a look out of the corner of her eye, wondering if the small blonde realized the term of endearment she had used just a moment ago. Bianca was trying so hard to stand by her assurances of no pressure, but each day spent with Maggie and Miranda like a family made it that much harder. Man, I am soooo screwed, she though to herself. Ha, interesting turn of phrase…

Suddenly, Maggie saw a bit of daylight, flipped on her turn indicator and hit the gas, making her way to the outermost lane, and then turning away from the circle. They were now on the Champs Elysee, a street wide enough for Bianca to take a deep breath and relax, the Arch receding in the distance behind them.

"I can't believe you actually used your turn indicator," Bianca muttered. "I'm surprised the cars over here even come with them as standard equipment for all the use they get."

"Force of habit," Maggie replied. "Okay, can you breathe now? I can't imagine how freaked you'd get if I tried to read these directions and drive at the same time, so I need you to navigate. Can you do that without lapsing into a coma?" Bianca shot Maggie a particularly nasty look. "Okay, poor choice of words."

"Extremely." She snatched the papers Maggie had printed that morning off the Internet.

"Where are we going, by the way?"

"Vaux le Vicomte," Maggie stated smugly.

"Vaux le Vicomte?"

"Oui."

"Okay, history, please."

"The castle was built in the 17th century and purchased in… 1641? Yeah, 1641, by a 26 year-old parliamentarian, Nicolas Fouquet. He was Louis the 14th's finance minister. In 1661, I think, the chateau and incredible gardens were completed and Fouquet and his wife had a huge housewarming party which included good old Louis as a guest. Well, apparently, this was a party to end all parties and Louis was pretty pissed off about it because he wasn't the center of attention. Two weeks after the party, Louis had Fouquet arrested and thrown in jail for embezzlement, which was completely untrue. Fouquet was sentenced to life and died in prison and his wife was exiled. Louis took possession of the castle and decided that he'd do it one better. While he kept Vaux le Vicomte, he hired the exact same architect that Fouquet used, La Vau, to design and build Versailles, which was a bigger and better Vaux le Vicomte."

"Wow," Bianca whispered, thoroughly impressed.

"And, and, and," Maggie added, holding up her hand to make a point. "Fouquet was actually arrested by D'Artagnan of the King's Musketeers."

Bianca grinned. "Okay, now that's cool."

"Yep."

"How long did it take you to memorize all that?"

That made Maggie chuckle. "About 3 days, because that's how long I've been researching this place." Bianca laughed with her and Maggie reached out to catch Bianca's hand in hers again. They had reached the outskirts of the city and were moving onto the highway. "Okay, now?"

Bianca felt her heart rate speed up, but decided to keep that little tidbit a secret. "Yeah, thanks" she replied, settling back into the soft leather seat. She laced her fingers with Maggie's and was pleased when Maggie didn't make a move to pull away. Sighing, she closed her eyes for a moment. "But please use both hands more often." Bianca's eyes snapped open. "On the steering wheel, I mean!" she stammered. "When you're driving, you know…" She slapped her free hand over her eyes. "Oh, God…"

Maggie just chuckled softly. "It's okay, Binks, I get it. Man, you need to relax a little. Maybe you should cut back on your caffeine intake. You think?"

"Please, just kill me now."

"Oh, no," Maggie replied. "This is just waaay too much fun."

"Oh, yeah, a laugh riot."

Maggie laughed harder. Bianca covered her eyes again, shaking her head in mortification. Miranda giggled from the back seat.

Vaux le Vicomte was 55 kilometers, or a little over 35 miles, from Paris, so the three settled into silence, broken only when Bianca gave Maggie an update on the directions to their destination. Miranda fell asleep in her car seat, lulled by the gentle thumping of the cars tires over the pavement. Maggie handled the beautiful Mercedes sedan expertly, thinking how this was absolutely nothing like her Toyota P.O.S. back in Pine Valley.

Glancing over her shoulder to check on Miranda, Maggie smiled to herself. She couldn't recall a time she had so thoroughly enjoyed herself as she had the past few months. The talk, the laughter, watching Miranda grow, the complete and total sense of self and belonging. Unconsciously, she rubbed her thumb back and forth along Bianca's, enjoying the soft feel of her skin, thinking over how things were so vastly different in France than they were back in the States. Nobody cared if she held Bianca's hand here. No one cared if, as they walked down the Rue de Rivoli, she put her head on Bianca's shoulder. No one thought anything of it if, as they strolled, Bianca wrapped an arm around Maggie's shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze, laughing as she kissed her on the temple. And certainly no one seemed to notice anything wrong when Maggie hugged Bianca around the waist, looked up into her eyes and smiled as her heart filled to bursting, which seemed to happen a lot lately.

No condescending narrowmindedness to affect what she was feeling. No bigotry to tell her she was wrong to feel that way. No prejudice for feeling that way.

Maggie sat up suddenly. Dear Lord, she'd just had an epiphany. For the rest of her days, Maggie would remember the date, time and place she came to the realization that she was truly, hopelessly and completely in love with Bianca Montgomery and wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. As her friend, her partner and her lover. On July 9, 2005, 11:38 a.m. Paris time, driving through the picturesque town of Melun, France, Mary Margaret Stone finally admitted to herself that this was her destiny.

They arrived at Vaux le Vicomte a little after noon and decided to take the tour before eating at The Squirrel café on the grounds.

The tour began in the main hall, then worked its way through the main floor of the chateau. The rooms were massive and ornate, filled with artwork, murals, tapestries and heavy lavish furniture. Virtually each room had some unique feature, from the intricate friezes to the huge chandeliers to the huge dome in the Grand Salon. Each room was more impressive that the previous one and Bianca thought if she said "Wow" one more time she would get the "Ugly American" treatment from the tour guide.

In Fouquet's bedroom, the murals on the ceiling caused neck aches for both Maggie and Bianca as they tried to take it all in. The garish red bed with its red and gold canopy had both girls speechless. Its opulence was almost too much and Maggie heard Bianca chuckling to herself.

"Good," she whispered to the taller woman. "I was afraid it was just me."

"Oh, no," Bianca murmured back. "Can you imagine living like this? Talk about a brocade overdose."

"It looks like a tapestry factory threw up on the place."

They both laughed, then crossed the floor to try to catch up with everyone else. The tour had paused at the door to the next room, so Maggie took a moment to study the frieze that bordered the room. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Bianca pushed Miranda's stroller toward the door to follow the group, then noticed Maggie was not behind her. She turned to find the blonde staring intently at the frieze that circled the room where the wall and ceiling met. Maggie's head was tilted slightly to the left and the totally fascinated look on her face had Bianca curious as to what had her so mesmerized. She pushed the stroller in front of her until she was back at Maggie's side. Miranda cooed quietly to herself as Bianca focused her attention on the artwork that had captured Maggie's eye. It was in intricate border featuring all types of frolicking squirrels, which was actually the word Fouquet in one French dialect and the former finance minister's family symbol. Squirrels abounded in the chateau, so proud was Fouquet of his family and his name. As Bianca looked closer, her eyes opened wider and her jaw dropped. Those squirrels…

"Oh. My. God," she whispered in awe.

"Bianca," Maggie breathed as they both stared upward.

"Yeah?"

"Those squirrels…"

"Yeah?"

"Are they…"

"Yeah?"

"Gettin' busy?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of silence as they both tried to comprehend the subject matter of the frieze, then Maggie suddenly shook her head, gave the squirrels one last amazed look, then hurried after the tour group. Bianca started to laugh, and laugh hard, quickly chasing to catch up. Once back at Maggie's side, she bumped shoulders with her. When Maggie met her eyes, Bianca made a face at her. Suddenly, they both burst out in a fit of laughter, unable to believe that this lovely old chateau featured x-rated squirrels in the artwork.

A little while later, they sat at an umbrella-covered table in the courtyard, eating a light lunch before attempting to examine the gardens that dominated the rear of the chateau's grounds. Maggie gave Miranda a wedge of apple to gnaw on while Bianca dug into her salad and grinned at her daughter and best friend.

"Okay," Maggie began with a shake of her head. "That most certainly was not in any of the research I did on this place."

Bianca started to laugh again. "I wish you could have seen the look on your face," she replied. "It was a MasterCard commercial, I swear."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, 'Entrance to Vaux le Vicomte, 12 Euro; lunch in the courtyard, 24 Euro; seeing Maggie Stone's face when she notices the humping squirrels in Fouquet's bedroom, priceless'."

Now Maggie laughed, laughs that suddenly began to escalate into uncontrollable giggles. "Oh, my God, who thinks of something like that! And what artist says, 'Oh, yeah, I can do that for you. Where do you want it? Around the ceiling? No sweat'." She shook her head, trying catch her breath. "I'll never be able to look at a squirrel the same way ever again!"

Bianca grinned evilly. "Have you noticed they seem to be quite abundant around the grounds? Look over there, they beg for food from the people eating out here."

Maggie shook her head. "Please, no. I can't look at squirrels right now. Seriously."

Bianca laughed, which caused Miranda to start giggling. Suddenly, Maggie was laughing again so hard she was snorting. That set Bianca off on another fit of laughter, which had Miranda chortling anew. It kept happening throughout the afternoon, for no apparent reason, the squirrels would pop into their heads and they'd burst out into laughter that they could not control. By the end of their exploration of Vaux le Vicomte, their bellies and cheeks ached from laughing so hard.

The drive back into Paris was spent the same way as the drive out. After stopping for a late dinner in Melun, Miranda fell asleep in her car seat, Maggie took Bianca's hand in hers, and they drove home in comfortable silence. But this time they managed to avoid the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe.

Once home, Bianca went to put Miranda to bed, the little girl exhausted by her all day outing. Maggie went into the kitchen and opened a bottle of Margaux Cabernet Sauvignon, filled two glasses and headed out onto the balcony. She sat at the table and propped her feet up on the railing, waiting for Bianca to join her. Suddenly, the lights in the apartment behind her went out, except for a small lamp glowing near the stairs to the second floor. A moment later, Bianca stepped out onto the balcony and joined Maggie at the table.

"It's a beautiful night," Bianca murmured, accepting her glass of wine.

"Isn't it incredible how you can hear the city?" Maggie replied, letting her head fall back and closing her eyes. "I can hear music and people talking and laughter."

Bianca smiled in the darkness. "I think that's the Ferrarre's television down on the 4th floor," she joked.

Maggie laughed. "I'm serious," she said. She looked over at Bianca. "Close your eyes," she instructed. After a moment, she watched as Bianca's eyelids fluttered shut. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she watched her best friend sit quietly in the dark, thinking to herself just how beautiful Bianca was. "Listen," Maggie whispered. "Can you hear the wind blowing through the trees across the street, the leaves rustling? Do you hear that music from the bar around the corner?" She paused a moment. "There's a group of people on the street down below, talking and laughing together." She watched as Bianca cocked her head a little to listen. "What are they saying?"

Bianca listened for a moment. "Breakfast, tomorrow at Le Notre," she whispered. "Michel is paying." She opened her eyes and looked over at Maggie. "Okay, that's pretty incredible."

"See?" Maggie looked down into her wine glass. "You know, I love this balcony. I think it's our new boathouse."

"Oh, my God, I never thought of that. It's perfect!"

"You think?"

Bianca smiled. "Oh, yeah, I do." She held up her wine. "To our new boathouse," she toasted.

Maggie returned Bianca's smile. "To our new boathouse," she echoed, touching her glass to Bianca's. They both drank. "You know, since we're in the boathouse, I've got something very important I'd like to say."

"Okay."

Maggie took a deep breath, ready to bare her soul. "Bianca, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I have never been in a better place in my life than I am right now." She drew her feet back from the railing and turned in her chair to face Bianca, to look in her eyes. "It's because of you. You and Miranda," she whispered in a husky voice, feeling herself getting a little choked up. She swallowed. "I'm done with being scared, Bianca, and most of all, I'm done with being confused. It's time – actually, it's well past time, for us to take this forward. To wherever it leads us."

"Maggie, what are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying so very poorly to say is… it's time for us to get involved."

There was silence for a moment. "Oh, God, those squirrels really got to you today, didn't they?"

"Bianca, I'm serious!" Maggie grinned at her friend, who was trying so very hard not to laugh. "Now, really, listen to me, okay?"

Bianca became very serious, suddenly hoping against hope. "Okay," she replied, holding her breath.

Maggie steeled herself and continued. "Do you remember when I said on the plane that maybe we could wait to get involved? Which, by the way, is the second stupidest thing I think I've ever said, right after that whole 'I'm into guys' fiasco- I don't know why you didn't just smack me upside the head right then and there, I mean, come on-"

"Maggie!" Bianca called out, laughing over her best friends ramblings and cutting her off mid-sentence. "Deep breath, honey. Slow down and breathe."

Maggie stopped and heaved a sigh. "Sorry, I suddenly can't seem to shut up." She blushed bright red, even in the darkness Bianca could see it. "Okay, this is stupid." Quickly she ran her hands through her hair then turned back to Bianca, leaning close over the table and looking deep into her eyes. "No more waiting," she said softly, with a shake of her head. "Let's get involved."

Bianca's breath jammed up in her throat. Her heart skipped a beat, then started thudding in her chest. Thudding so loud she was sure Maggie could hear it. Dear Lord, could this really be happening? Was her fondest desire actually coming true? Oh, please, she never asked for much, but she was certainly asking for this. With all her heart.

"Maggie, do you mean it?" she asked, then held her breath. Waiting in fear that the rug would be yanked from under her feet yet again.

"I've never meant anything more in my life." She stood up and went around the table, taking Bianca's hands in hers and pulling her to her feet. "It's real, it's right, and by God, it's time." Maggie took another step closer. "From this moment forward, I'm never going back on anything I say to you. I'm never going to give you hope then try to take it back, I'm never going to be confused or wishy-washy or just plain stupid. I'm just going to be yours. I want this. I want you. I want us."

"So do I," Bianca whispered.

Maggie felt her knees go weak for a moment, but she quickly straightened up. "Um, you know, every time we seem to kiss, it's either me kissing you or you kissing me. We've never had a mutual kiss, you know?"

Bianca smiled. "I know."

"That's not to say you didn't kiss me back when I kissed you that day. God knows I kissed you back when you came to see me in January."

"I know that, too."

"So, I've kissed you and you've kissed me. You think maybe it's time we finally kissed each other?"

"Yes, Maggie, I do."

"Me, too." Bianca started to dip her head when Maggie suddenly leaned back. "Just so you know," she whispered, "I go better to my left than my right."

Bianca chuckled softly. "That's good to know. I hate it when noses get in the way."

"Yeah," Maggie breathed, "me, too."

And then their lips met.

It was more than either of them had ever dreamed it could be. As the kiss deepened, Maggie slid her arms around Bianca's waist, pulling her closer, reveling in the warmth of her touch. Bianca gently held Maggie's face in her hands, enjoying the feel of Maggie's lips beneath her own. After moments, or possibly hours, they pulled apart. The heavy-lidded look on Bianca's face made Maggie's heart lurch in her chest.

"I think my hair caught on fire," Maggie said breathlessly.

That made Bianca laugh.

TBC -