Chapter 3
It was nearly 7pm and Piper was still asleep, so Alex decided to wake her up. Charlotte was almost due for another feed anyway. She left Diane and the baby in the lounge room and slowly opened the bedroom door, smiling at what she saw.
Piper had wrapped herself up in their blanket and was cuddling Alex's pillow, holding it against her chest. Alex sat next to the sleeping figure and gently ran her fingers over her cheek, "Hey Pipes."
The blonde shuffled closer to her girlfriend's body but didn't wake up. Alex quietly slipped under the covers and cuddled her from behind, whispering in her ear, "Think you can wake up? My mum's looking after Charlotte, and I'm about to cook you the most amazing spaghetti bolognaise you've ever had."
Piper still didn't say anything, but rolled over and buried her face in Alex's chest. These actions still made Alex's heart melt, they probably always would.
"If you get up now and feed the baby, you can go straight back to sleep, I'll bottle feed her during the night. I just wanna make sure you eat some dinner."
Piper finally opened her eyes and placed a hand on Alex's cheek, "Is she okay?"
"Is Charlotte okay? She's perfect babe. I mean, she doesn't do a whole lot right now, but she's pretty fucking cute. My mum has officially kidnapped her."
The thought of Diane and Charlotte bonding made Piper smile, "I'll get up, I don't know why I'm so tired."
"You did just push out a baby Pipes, you're allowed to be tired. And I know you're nervous right now, so just let me look after you, deal?"
"Mmhhh, deal."
Piper slowly got up, put on her robe and walked into the lounge room. She was so happy to see Diane, she'd started to look at the older woman as her own mother. She sat next to Diane on the couch and took the baby in her arms, who was starting to get grumpy.
Diane leaned into Piper and kissed her on the cheek, "Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"
Diane could see that Piper's smile was genuine, but she still worried about her, "I'm really happy. I'm still struggling to believe this is real."
Charlotte finally started to cry, and Piper got ready to feed her. Alex made her way into the kitchen to start dinner, she knew her mum wanted some alone time with the blonde.
"She's so beautiful Piper, she already looks just like you."
Piper looked down at her daughter, she really did look like her, "I know, it's so crazy. I've read so many books about being a new mum, but it still doesn't prepare you for it. I want to do everything right for her, I want her to grow up knowing how much we love her."
"You can call me with any questions Piper, day or night. I went through it alone when I had Alex. There are gonna be so many things you don't know, so just pick up the phone."
"Thanks Diane."
They kept sitting and chatting until Piper was done feeding Charlotte, it felt nice to have Diane next to her right now, especially since her own mother wasn't in the picture anymore. Piper moved the small baby in her arms and started gently patting her back, it made her think about how much this little person needed her. Charlotte was relying on them for everything, Piper was going to be the most important person to this little girl for a long time, relying on her for food, love, and care. Instead of making Piper feel scared, it made her feel good, she wanted so badly to be a good mum, to give her daughter everything she'd ever need. Her fear only kicked in when she worried about something bad happening, when she thought about someone trying to take Charlotte or Alex away from her. She tried to shake those thoughts from her mind and focus on Charlotte, she was all that mattered now.
0-0-0-0-0
4 months earlier
Alex sat in Fahri's apartment, she was more than a little nervous about what she was about to ask him, but she didn't have a choice. She sat across from him at the kitchen table, thanking him as he handed her a scotch.
"Look, you know Piper's pregnant. I need to be there for her once the baby's born, I need some time off."
Fahri wasn't surprised by Alex's request, he was actually expecting it, but it put him in an awkward position.
"Kubra has already given you a lot of leeway Alex."
Alex knew exactly what he was about to say, and she didn't want to hear it, "Yeah because it was my work in Indonesia that's making him fucking millions! No one else could've done that for him!"
"I get it Alex! But you need to re-join reality here! You know he's not going to just let you walk away. I know what you want Alex, but it won't come easy."
Alex pushed her glasses to the top of her head and rubbed her eyes, "You know everything that has happened, you know I need to be there for Piper and the baby. And you know I don't want this life anymore…"
Fahri just sighed, "I know Alex, I know all of it. But seriously, if he ever lets you leave, what the fuck are you going to do for money?"
"I have more fucking money that I'll ever need Fahri! I've got plenty saved, it'll be enough."
They both sat there and sipped their drinks. Fahri didn't want to talk anymore about Alex asking for more flexibility, but she wasn't about to drop it.
"I need time off after the baby is born, at least a month."
Fahri slammed his drink down on the table, "A fucking month! Are you insane? You already don't travel anymore, all you have to do is local work, and you expect him to let you have a month off!"
"Yes! I have made him more money than anyone else in this fucking organisation!"
He knew arguing with her was pointless, "Just be really fucking sure you understand what you're doing here Alex. Fine, I'll talk to him, and maybe he'll even say yes. But I can't protect you from him. If he decides that you're becoming too much of a pain in the ass, I can't stop him. And I don't want to see you go through anymore shit."
"I know. But I need this Fahri, this is gonna be my kid too, and I want to be there. I need to keep believing that there's a way out of this, there has to be….."
0-0-0-0-0
Back to present day
It was the end of the night and Diane had gone home, leaving Alex and Piper to go to bed. Alex was trying to get Charlotte to sleep while Piper finished showering. She was walking around their bed cradling the baby in her arms, gently swaying her, thinking about how amazing the next few weeks would be. She never thought of herself as a mother, she never thought about having kids before Piper came along. But this felt so right.
Alex didn't want to think about what would happen once these few weeks were over. She needed to decide on her next move. She didn't want to still be stuck in the cartel once Charlotte was old enough to know what her mum did for a living. She needed to try and move things along faster, she didn't want to wait anymore.
