"She said chocolate chips." Chloe said, entering her room and changing into her nightclothes.
"No blueberries?" Aubrey asks back, without raising her eyes from her laptop's screen.
"No blueberries!" Chloe answered from the bathroom.
Aubrey kept working on finishing revising her notes for the court date she had the next morning. She was so invented in that case, she washed the dishes speaking about it. Her sexual assault cases got her even more lively about her profession.
"Oh, do we have chocolate enough? I will probably have to pick it up in the grocery shop during my morning run."
Emma had become fond of Aubrey's pancakes. In the morning after Aubrey spent the night there for the first time there, she decided to make a good impression on the tiny Beale and make her famous pancakes for breakfast. It's been months since and now every time Aubrey sleeps over, Emma gets eager for the next morning's breakfast. It's a habit that Aubrey is not interested to break, even if Chloe insists that she doesn't have to do it.
"Baby, it's okay if you can't do it this time." Chloe said, crawling on bed beside her girlfriend, getting herself comfortable between the sheets. "You have a lot on your mind, I can make them."
"You? Making pancakes?" Aubrey took her eyes off the screen to look up at Chloe.
Aubrey was so sexy wearing her reading glasses that Chloe almost forgave her mock tone. You know, just ignore it and straddle her and kiss her deeply, and move on to her neck, leaving marks all over her collarbone, and-
"They're not that bad." Chloe defended herself, putting aside her distracting thoughts.
"They are, love. Sorry." Aubrey said back turning her attention to her laptop again. "And it's just pancakes, I can handle it."
Chloe kept looking at Aubrey's side profile. She was embracing the whole being a part of Emma's life thing so bad. It was adorable. She learned Emma's preferences, allergies and fears. She made everything she could to put a smile on the little girl's face. And Chloe didn't expect any less from Aubrey Posen. She has to exceed in everything she does, it's a personal thing.
Emma had a father, of course, but it's not like he was around a lot. He lived across the country and flew occasionally to check on her, called sometimes, helped with the costs of the child. His marriage with Chloe lasted just enough to Emma be born, by her fifth month of life they had already split up, amicably. So yes, if someone she trusted and loved very much was willing to help with Emma and be a part of her life, she was down for it. If they were Aubrey, her college best friend, a trusting, careful, responsible woman, the girl she never really stopped loving, who came back to her life like a sending of God himself, then hell yes, why not give Emma the chance to have such a good influence around?
She watched as Aubrey took off her glasses, carefully closed her laptop, and put both, in her purse before coming back to bed, joining Chloe between the sheets.
"Are you sure?" Chloe asked again, settling her head on her pillow.
Aubrey sighed, supporting herself on her elbow and leaning over Chloe. She kissed her lips and pulled back to look at the woman underneath her with utterly devotion in her eyes. Chloe is sure that if she wasn't laying on a very soft bed, she would've melted into a puddle.
"I am. Don't worry, ok?" She said, breaking Chloe's thoughts, and kissed her lips again. "Good night, Chlo'."
"Good night, Bree." Chloe smiled sweetly at her girlfriend.
The way Aubrey could go from super lawyer accepting pro-bono cases of sexual assault to super girlfriend waking up earlier in the morning to make your daughter chocolate chipped pancakes in a matter of seconds was just about 2% of her charm.
When Chloe woke up in the morning, Aubrey was not in bed. Of course.
She got up and walked to Emma's bedroom, only to find her unmade bed empty. Of course.
"Why not?" Chloe heard Emma's voice asking as she got downstairs.
"Because," Aubrey's voice had the sound of frying pancakes as background. "I like my house."
"Yeah, but you like in here too." Emma replied.
Aubrey didn't reply. The sound of a pancake flipping was all Chloe heard.
"Good morning, girls." Chloe greeted walking in the kitchen.
Aubrey's face accused how relieved she was to see her girlfriend. Emma jumped into Chloe's arms and kissed her mother's cheek, seeming to forget the very serious conversation she was having with Aubrey. Chloe made a mental note as she kissed Aubrey to question her about it later.
"Ems, out of the bed that early? This must be a dream." Chloe mocked her daughter's difficult relationship with waking up to school.
"No, it's just Aubrey's pancakes." Emma replied quickly.
"That's fair." Chloe said, putting her down.
The blonde woman was wearing black leggings and one of Chloe's tank tops. Aubrey kept a few clothes there, so Chloe didn't know if she had done it on purpose or if she really thought that the blouse was one of her own. Her hair was in a ponytail and seeing that the pancakes were indeed with chocolate chips, Chloe knew she had gone to her morning run – a habit she had since when they met in college. Sometimes she wonders at what time her girlfriend awakes because she really has no idea. Five o'clock-ish? If Chloe had not spent so many hours of her life appreciating how peaceful and relaxed Aubrey looks in her sleep, she would wonder if the blonde sleeps, at all.
Aubrey passed Chloe her coffee before sitting by the kitchen island with the Beales. Emma was absolutely enamored with her pancakes, so Aubrey and Chloe kept chatting.
"I was thinking, maybe we could all go to that cute pizza place tonight." Chloe suggested.
"I'm sorry, baby, I'm having dinner with my parents." Aubrey said.
Chloe had met them during college. She knew they could be a little hard on Aubrey, but that they truly loved her and respected her choices. Aubrey told them about Chloe a few months ago when they started dating and they proposed a dinner, to see the redhead again and meet Emma, but Aubrey suggested them to give all the situation a little bit of time.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about it. Say hi to them for me." Chloe replied. "And maybe we could schedule that dinner with them for next month?"
"Are you sure?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah, I think we're okay." Chloe paused, sipping her coffee. "Emma will do anything if you promise her these pancakes," She gestured to her plate, with 3/4 of her third pancake resting there. "So I think she will also be okay there."
Aubrey chuckled lightly and ruffled Emma's hair, who was still very oblivious to the world outside her pancakes and orange juice. Chloe smiled at the sight.
"So, after your parents, are you coming here?" Chloe asked, returning the conversation with her girlfriend.
"I don't think so, I really should go home. Make sure I wasn't robbed or something like that." Aubrey said.
Emma grumbled.
"I'm sorry?" Chloe asked in confusion an explanation for her daughter behavior.
Emma dropped her fork onto her plate after shoving into her mouth her last piece of pancake.
"Mommy, why can't Aubrey just sleep here all the nights?" Emma asked, very seriously.
"Because-" Chloe was caught a little by surprise, but now the conversation she overheard earlier made sense. " Because she likes her house." She turned to Aubrey who caught her glance and knew she had heard her answer from before.
"Yes, she told me that, but I said that she also likes in here, so it doesn't make sense." Emma replied in a very sure tone.
Chloe was curious. And shocked. She and Aubrey never really had spoken about living together. It was so ahead of them, they were still getting used to this sleep arrangement. But now, she could imagine. Because, honestly, if it wasn't for Emma, she probably would already be thinking about that. (This would be unthinkable with anyone else, Chloe is very extroverted but she loves having her space, but she lived with Aubrey all her college years, so it was just easy to share everything with her. The whole being with Aubrey but living in different places thing is an actually new thing in their relationship.)
"Baby, why do you want Aubrey to live in here so bad?"
"Because then she can make me pancakes everyday."
"I feel so used." Aubrey said in a fake-hurt tone. Chloe turned to her, like realizing just now she was there all that time.
"That's the only reason you want Aubrey to live in here?"
"And because she helps you with the dishes." Emma replied.
"Now I definitely feel used." Aubrey said.
"But also because when she's here we can play Twist. And explain to her all the princess movies."
Aubrey and Chloe exchanged a look and took their time explaining to Emma that it's still very soon for Aubrey to live there all the time, but that soon she could very well do it, but not now. After all the questions the little girl had about this, and all the explanations, Aubrey promised her she would be at that house as much as she could and make her lots of pancakes every morning. This propose seemed to satisfy Emma, because she agreed to get ready for school without any resistance.
As Aubrey buttoned her shirt in front of Chloe's mirror, her girlfriend sneaked her arms from behind and embraced her tightly. Aubrey smiled to Chloe through the reflection and the smiles Chloe gave her back made her feel like she had her own ray of sunshine.
"She adores you." Chloe says, lips against Aubrey's cladded with the shirt shoulder.
"She adores my pancakes." Aubrey chuckles.
"Well, I can't deny that." Chloe laughs, laying the side of her face on Aubrey's back.
Aubrey turns to her girlfriends and kisses her unexpectedly.
"What was that for?" Chloe asks, amused, when Aubrey pulls back.
"I don't know." Aubrey shrugs. "I just love you so much, Chloe."
"I love you too." Chloe says, getting on her tip toes to kiss Aubrey.
Aubrey used to smell like an expensive French perfume (which name Choe didn't knew how to pronounce), even back in college. Now, Chloe thinks Aubrey smells more like chocolate chipped pancakes, the kid's shampoo Emma uses and clean bedsheets. Aubrey smells more like home.
"Oh, and I love your daughter too." Aubrey says and Chloe thinks she's lucky that Aubrey's grip in her waist is firm and her own arms are strongly wrapped around the taller woman's neck, because the phrase made her knees weak. "Even if she thinks I'm some kind of domestic elf."
Hey! I would love to hear what you guys are thinking about the story and maybe some prompts?