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
July 2005

Chapter 4

Bianca rolled over in bed, nestling deeper into the down pillow beneath her head. Maggie would be back from her morning run soon and Bianca wanted to be awake when she returned. Since their talk on the balcony just- wow, was it only four days ago? –it seemed to Bianca that she had awakened from a black and white dream into a Technicolor world. Laughing sheepishly at her melodramatic thoughts, she covered her eyes with her hand, then yanked the covers up over her head.

"God, Montgomery," she muttered to herself. "You are one lovesick sap…"

Since Saturday night, things had changed between Bianca and Maggie. Okay, not so much changed as evolved. It was as though the last of the walls Maggie had built around her heart had come tumbling down. There were lingering touches, frequent kisses and long stretches of comfortable silence while they simply reveled in each others presence.

Bianca lowered the covers and listened for a moment, trying to hear any noise coming from the nursery next door, but there was not a peep from her daughter. It seemed like the baby insisted on waiting for Maggie each morning to wake her up with kisses and tickles. Hmm, lucky baby… Bianca thought.

The front door opened downstairs and Bianca smiled. Maggie was home.

After getting the coffee maker going, Maggie trotted upstairs, tossing her windbreaker into her bedroom and grabbing a dry t-shirt to pull on before heading in to get Miranda.

"Hey, little girl," she whispered softly, reaching into the crib and lifting out the sleepy baby. She kissed Miranda's forehead. "How's my little munchkin, huh?" Miranda squeaked sleepily, then nestled her head under Maggie's chin, grabbing a handful of Maggie's clean t-shirt in her little fist. "Oh, what you do to my heart, little one." Quickly, she changed Miranda, put her in a clean outfit and lifted her off the changing table. "Come on, honey, let's go check out Mommy's bed head today."

"I heard that!" Bianca called as Maggie headed through the door into the master suite. Unconsciously, though, she smoothed a hand over her hair.

Maggie stopped in the doorway, holding Miranda up so she could see her mother still tangled in the sheets. Maggie's mouth went suddenly dry and she swallowed quickly to regain her composure. Dear Lord, she thought, is it always going to make me crazy when I see her looking all sleepy and sexy in bed like that? Oh, yeah, I'm sure it will. It always has before…

"Look there, Miranda," she mock-whispered in the baby's ear, quickly recovering from her wayward thoughts. "Mommy's actually awake today. And it's not even seven a.m."

"Oh, ha-ha, Stone," Bianca cracked. "I get up when you come back from your run so we can eat on the balcony. Every morning."

"Yeah, after Miranda has crawled all over you and pulled your hair a couple times." Maggie started for the bed, gently setting Miranda down on the comforter. "Seriously, Binks, sometimes I don't think a stampeding herd of elephants could wake you up."

"Yeah, well, at least I don't snore," Bianca replied.

"It's better than drooling," Maggie retorted. She started for the door, thinking about making a quick getaway, before she climbed into that bed and held both her girls close in her arms.

"Maggie."

"Yeah."

As though Bianca had read her mind, she pulled Miranda into her arms and said, "When are you going to start joining us here every morning, instead of dropping Miranda off and racing out of here like your hair was on fire?"

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.

Maggie shook herself out of her daydream. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, moving back toward the bed. She kicked off her Nike's and climbed up the 2 little steps to settle on the bed beside Bianca. Miranda squirmed free of her mother's hold and settled herself between them. "I think there are still some things I need to work through before I've got stuff settled in my mind."

"It's not like we've never been in the same bed before. Maggie, you've held me as I cried myself to sleep more times than I can count."

Miranda crawled into Maggie's lap, tugging playfully at the hem of her t-shirt. Maggie took the baby's hands in hers; making faces at her until she laughed. "Well, B," she said with a crooked grin, "I think we're in a completely different place here. That was for comfort. This," she waved at their surroundings, the pillows, the incredibly soft mattress beneath them, "this has nothing to do with comforting you."

"Actually," Bianca assured her, "you sitting here with me and Miranda like this every day would be very comforting."

Maggie shoved a pillow behind her back and settled against the headboard. "Good, because I'd like to spend every day sitting here with you two like this."

"Of course, it would be even better if you showered first."

That comment earned Bianca a pillow in the face.

A half hour later, they had adjourned to the balcony for breakfast. Miranda was attacking a bowl full of grapes and chattering away as Maggie and Bianca nibbled their croissants and drank their coffee.

"Now," Bianca said after a long moment of silence. "You want to tell me what's going on in that head of yours?"

"What do you mean?" Maggie replied, taking a sudden great interest in the flaky crust of her croissant.

"What do you need to work out in your mind? About us?" Silence. "Come on, Maggie, talk to me."

"Okay, here's the deal." She paused and took a deep breath. "God, this sounds so stupid now that I think about it..."

"Maggie, quit stalling."

"Okay! I don't want to put any pressure on you! There! Happy?!"

Bianca burst out laughing. "You don't want to put any pressure on me. You." She pointed at Maggie. "On me." She poked her finger into her own chest.

"See?" Maggie snapped. "Didn't I say it was stupid?"

"What are you talking about, Maggie? I'm the one who's gay here, there's no black or white where I'm concerned in all this. How could you possibly think you'd be putting any pressure on me?"

"Bianca, this last year and a half has been so... beyond crazy for you." Maggie looked into her coffee cup, not seeing the dark liquid, but rather all the events they'd lived through the past 18 months. "I'm feeling like I'm ready for us to actually have a real relationship and I'm not taking into consideration anything that you might be feeling. Especially considering all you've gone through."

"You think I'm the one who may have reservations?" Bianca asked in amazement.

"Let's recap, shall we?" Maggie began ticking off points on her fingers: "Well, rape." She cleared her throat, still enraged over that harrowing event in Bianca's life. "Being terrorized by Michael Cambias. Pregnancy. Um, killing Michael Cambias. Me kissing you, freaking you out. Natural childbirth in some remote cabin with Babe as your midwife. Helicopter crash. Losing your daughter- or should I say, being made to think you lost your daughter. Small bout with temporary insanity. Me finding you in bed with Babe and me freaking out. Jonathan and your shirt. Breaking up with Lena." Man, it was hard to force that name out of her mouth. "Jonathan and your letter. Finding out Miranda was still alive. Confronting J.R. in Florida. Half gainer off the balcony. Coma, nearly dying. Getting Miranda back. Trying to save my sorry ass. Being treated so badly by me because all you wanted to do was save my sorry ass. Being terrorized by Jonathan." She took a breath and glanced at Bianca. "Have I missed anything?"

"There might have been a couple things, but I think you got the gist of it."

"My God, Bianca, how much of that was my fault?" Maggie put a hand to her forehead, thinking over that list again. Suddenly unable to stay seated, she jumped to her feet and moved to the railing, leaning her forearms on the wrought iron. She rested her head on her crossed arms and closed her eyes. "How many times in that list was I involved?" she croaked. "Or Jonathan was involved because of me?"

"Maggie-."

"How many chances are you going to give me to get it right?" Maggie whispered, feeling ashamed for all the times she'd hurt the one person she cherished most in the world. "How can you keep giving me those chances?"

Bianca moved to Maggie's side and put her hand to the small blonde's back, rubbing in gentle, comforting circles. "Maggie," she said softly, "none of that was your fault. You got me through after the rape. If I recall correctly, you held a knife on Michael. You took care of me throughout my pregnancy, watched out for me. As far as Jonathan goes, that was all Jonathan's fault, not yours." Bianca touched Maggie's shoulder, urging her to turn and face her. Taking Maggie's hand in hers and holding it tightly, Bianca smiled reassuringly into her eyes. "I'm going to give you as many chances as you need," she stated. "Because I love you."

"I love you, Bianca."

"Come here." Bianca pulled Maggie into her arms and they stood there on the balcony, holding on to each other tightly, never wanting to let go.

Suddenly, Miranda chirped happily behind them. When they turned to look at her, she had a foot in each hand and a huge brioche-crumb grin on her face. Both women laughed, the tension finally broken.

"Okay," Bianca said with a sigh. "What were we talking about?"

"Oh, yeah," Maggie replied with that trademark crooked grin. "Why I'm not putting any pressure on you."

"Ah, yes, all the turmoil that has been my life the past year plus."

"It just seems like I'm changing gears on you, again, and you haven't even had a chance to recover from anything else."

"Well, Mags, honestly, this gear change I really like. And if you want to really know the truth, out of the past 18 months this is the best thing that's happened in my life. Making this move, being here with my daughter. And you."

"I just don't want you to think that, well, you know, Maggie's finally come to her senses, I better jump on this right away before she changes her mind again." She looked at Bianca and smiled. "I'm not changing my mind. We don't need to rush anything."

"Okay, Maggie. You've convinced me. We'll take this at any pace you'd like. Something comes up, we'll talk about it. Deal?" She stuck out her hand.

Maggie took Bianca's outstretched hand in hers. "Deal." Before they could shake, Maggie tugged on Bianca's hand, pulling her close. Then she reached up and kissed her soundly on the lips. "I prefer to seal the deal this way," she said with a grin.

After a stunned moment, Bianca smiled. "I like the way you think, Stone. I surely do." They returned to the table, resuming their breakfast. Bianca wiped Miranda's face with a napkin. "So," she said, "what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, I thought we'd take it easy today. You know, maybe go to the park, then come home and watch a movie or two. Sound okay to you?"

"Sure." Bianca gave Maggie a curious look. "Okay, Mags, what's the deal?" she asked curiously.

"What's today?" Maggie asked back.

"Wednesday?"

"The date, you goober."

"Uh, July 13th."

Maggie grinned. "Tomorrow is Bastille Day."

"Oh, yeah!" Bianca smiled as she thought about it. "The French Independence day."

"Actually, more like French Revolution day," she corrected. "There's a military parade up on the Champs Elysee, and about 5,000 festivals going on all over the place. I thought we'd rest up today and make tomorrow an all day thing." She gave Miranda a little tickle. "Then tomorrow night we could go over to the Eiffel Tower for the fireworks. Deal?"

Grinning, Bianca leaned across the table and caught Maggie's lips with her own, kissing her thoroughly. After several incredible moments, she sat back. "Deal."

Maggie's eyes were still closed. "Huh?" she squeaked. Then she opened her eyes and saw Bianca's mischievous little grin. "Yeah, you're right, that's the only way to seal the deal."

Beside them, Miranda squealed happily and clapped her little hands, seemingly giving her stamp of approval.

Wednesday was spent at the park, eating lunch under the sun, swinging Miranda on the swings, and taking a walk along the river. Late in the afternoon, they returned home and watched a couple of movies, "Finding Nemo" for Miranda and "Miss Congeniality" for Bianca.

"Oh, my God," Maggie exclaimed, during the swimsuit competition. "You've got the hots for Sandra Bullock!"

"No!" Bianca denied. "What? No!"

"Yes, yes, you do!" Maggie started laughing. "You're hot for Sandra Bullock!"

"Okay!" Bianca shrugged a shoulder. "I think she's pretty in that if I was to ever get involved with a movie star who's almost 20 years older than me, she'd be the one, kind of way." Maggie stopped laughing and gave Bianca a look. "I think she's hot, okay?"

Maggie just shook her head. "You're weird."

"And yet, here you are."

"I know, sometimes I just have to question my own sanity."

This time, Maggie took a pillow to the face.

That evening, they walked up to the Champs Elysee for dinner. After strolling a short way, they decided on Le Vesuvio Café for a change from French food to Italian. The weather had been so mild and pleasant that they jumped at the chance to dine on the terrace, directly on the grand Parisian avenue. Foot and vehicular traffic was heavy as people prepared for the festivities the next day.

Miranda sat and raptly watched people walking by, laughing and clapping, squealing in delight when someone strolled by with their dog in tow. Seeing her reaction to the animals had Maggie wondering if they possibly needed to get a pet of their own.

"I know what you're thinking," Bianca said in warning. "Don't."

Maggie gave her an innocent look. "What?"

"You're thinking about a puppy or a kitten. No."

"Oh, come on, Binks, don't you think the munchkin deserves a pet?"

Bianca rolled her eyes. "What you really mean is, 'don't you think Miranda and Maggie deserve a pet'," she corrected.

"Well…"

"Yeah, I can read you like a book."

"A comic book, maybe…"

Their food came shortly thereafter and they settled into a comfortable silence as they ate, broken only when they sampled each others meals, or laughed at Miranda's antics with her bowl of spaghetti. The evening was so beautiful that they lingered over dinner, enjoying coffee and a shared dessert of tiramisu.

"Maggie!" Bianca exclaimed as she caught the blonde giving Miranda a small bite of the rich dessert. "Don't give her that! Those ladyfingers are soaked in Cognac!"

"So she'll sleep well, what's the big deal?"

"The 'big deal' is that it's liquor!"

"Actually, it's liquer, which is different. Plus, hey we're in France, kids here drink alcohol their whole lives."

Bianca gave Maggie a look. "I don't think they start as toddlers."

Maggie grinned. "You never know…" Once they'd paid the check, Maggie wiped Miranda's face again then looked at Bianca. "Ready?"

"Let's go home."

They made the walk back in leisure, Maggie pushing Miranda's stroller, Bianca with an arm hooked through Maggie's so their shoulders bumped gently together with each step.

"Do you believe this night?" Bianca asked, raising her face to the night sky. "It's spectacular."

Maggie looked up to see the Bianca walking with her eyes closed and head tilted back, the moonlight caressing her face. "Spectacular," Maggie whispered, not thinking for a moment about the night, but rather about her companion. "That's a good word for it."

Bianca glanced down and caught Maggie staring at her. She gave her a smile, then squeezed her arm gently. "Everything has been spectacular."

After arriving back home, Maggie went to put Miranda to bed while Bianca set about cleaning up the den and turning out lights before retiring for the night. She reached the top of the stairs just as Maggie was slipping out of Miranda's room, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Everything okay?" she asked the smaller woman.

"Just fine," Maggie replied softly. "Not a peep out of her at all. I think she's wiped. She's going to need her rest for tomorrow anyway."

"You've planned everything out, haven't you?"

"Yep, tomorrow will be a very full day, so you should get your rest, too."

Bianca gave Maggie a smile. "Okay. Good night."

"G'night."

And neither one moved. They stood there in the hallway for a long moment, just staring at each other.

"Well," Bianca whispered. "Good night."

"You said that already."

"Yeah, I know."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Jeez, Bianca, what are we doing? I mean, seriously, what are we doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know why I'm still here in the hallway. Why are you?"

Bianca shook her head. "I don't understand."

"God, sometimes you can be so dense." With that, Maggie stalked up to Bianca, took her face in her hands and planted a liplock on her that Bianca was sure she had never experienced before in her life. Just as she recovered and started to return the kiss, Maggie pulled back and winked at her. "G'night, Binks."

Bianca decided that she would be better off not moving until Maggie disappeared into her bedroom, since Bianca's legs suddenly had the same consistency as the cooked pasta she'd had for dinner just hours before. "Great," she muttered under her breath, after watching Maggie's door close. "Like I'm going to get any sleep now."

TBC-