Half a bottle later, with more than two thirds quickly drank by Piper, who was already feeling a little tipsy; she finally finds a comfortable position on the couch, her feet landing on Alex's lap. Alex looks up at her and gives a small smile, along with a slight relief that maybe they wouldn't drag their argument for too long, then she takes her wife's shoes off and starts slowly massaging her feet.

"Al?"

"Yes?" – Alex lifts her glasses up to her head and looks at the blonde

"I'm sorry I was such a bitch…" She looks down, ashamed.

"It's ok, kid"

"I'm serious, I shouldn't have-" – Alex interrupts her, grabbing one of her hands and squeezing it

"Just promise me that once we have a kid you'll tone down on the f word. You were on fire"

Piper lowers her eyes and takes her hand off of Alex's, who quickly grabs it back, intertwining their fingers and running her other hand along the outer side of Piper's leg, not really knowing what to say.

"Al? Do you think we'll ever have a child? Sometimes I think I just wasn't meant to be a mother and this is how the universe is trying to show me that? Does that make sense?"

"No. I mean, yes, I think we'll have a child, I just think," Alex puts her glasses back on "I just think that maybe we should consider other options… Seriously, Pipes, what could be so terrible about giving a homeless child two loving parents and a safe home? Is there really a down side for adoption? Birth parents can be completely useless, you know. Or land you working in a drug ring…"

Piper looks into Alex's eyes, squeezes her hand and gives her a rather sincere smile.

"Let's do it"

"What?"

"Adopt. Let's adopt a child."

"Wait, what? How can you be so quick to decide?"

Piper leans closer to Alex and uses her index finger to put some dark hair behind her wife's ear, looking into her eyes and smiling brightly.

"You are right. You simply are. You worded everything right and it all makes sense. Maybe this is why I can't get pregnant, maybe we could change a kid's life. Let's do it, Alex!"

They both smile widely, and then proceed to a big hug and a small, tender kiss.

For the first time in over a year, they felt hopeful and on the right track, and, to be honest, truly happy.

Five months had gone by since they filed all adoption forms and began their wait for some to choose them, but they were both concerned about being ex-cons. Alex convinced Piper that she should fill up her mind with a different hobby or something else to do in her spare time, so it would keep her mind full and she would finally stop counting down days, until she finally gave up on arguing and decided she would get violin classes in addition to her daily yoga and occasional run. Alex took on a new, second job; She had been working as the manager of a bar for a few years now and she decided to get some extra shifts as a bartender in order to increase their income so they could save up enough money to afford a couple months' rent in a bigger apartment once they had their child. In theory, everything was going smoothly, money was coming in and saved up, but soon the longer hours apart from each other started taking effect on their relationship. Piper was now teaching English at both a middle school and private classes to foreign and immigration students who were trying to get their visas, both jobs came with horrible paychecks and severe migraines.

Alex was out for another night shift at the bar. Her clock out hour being 3a.m, she had been working since 10am. Completely worn out and smelling like beer and fried food, she finally arrives home at 3:52am, after some drunk costumers insisted they wouldn't let the staff close down until they decided to stop drinking, making Alex turn almost red and being held back by a fellow workmate from smacking one of the drunk assholes. She opens the door, grunts at the fact that Piper left the living room's lights on and takes her shoes off, her stomach screaming out in hunger as she opens the freezer and grabs some leftover pasta, already stale, microwaves it for 45 seconds and falls sleep, resulting in her not turning it off before the bleeping, resulting in a very upset Piper, who was woken up by the sound. She walks up to the kitchen in heavy steps, her feet sounding like they were making holes on the ground below.

"Can't you be quieter?! Some of us have work in the morning, you know"

"I'm sorry if I woke you up, I didn't mean to, I just have a terrible migraine and drifted off to sleep while waiting for it to be done, so I couldn't stop it before the beeping" Alex apologizes, too tired to argue.

"Well, keep it down!"

Alex shakes her head in disbelief of how cranky Piper has been; Not only had their time together had been reduced, but it had been over a month since they went somewhere together and over 6 weeks of absolutely no bedroom action. Sure, they were both tired, but it didn't mean they should drift apart, right? Was that their life now? Two bored, cranky and sleep deprived women who lived like roommates who happened to share the bed? Alex took two bites out of her food until deciding to just throw it away, taking off her shoes and jeans and hopping into to bed, not even bothering to brush her teeth, as she knew there probably wouldn't be a good morning kiss. God, she missed Pipers lips and hands, but mostly, she missed feeling comfortable and smiling around her wife.

Sighing, she decides that she has way too much to lose and should not to waste any more time: she would let Piper rest and wake her up in the morning with a nice breakfast and, hopefully, a few orgasms. She wasn't going to give up on them or their happiness that easily.