A/N: I just wanted to thank you all for your reviews. Here's chapter four and if you love it, review it.
"Okay," Fran said leaning back in her chair. She firmly placed her hands on the table. "There are still a few things I don't understand, Miss Babcock." The brunette understood why C.C. and Niles had to keep their relationship secret and acted like they hated one another, but the blonde woman died her hair and flirted relentlessly with her boss, who she should be trying to destroy. Fran wanted an explanation for all of C.C.'s questionable behavior.
"Figures," C.C. muttered almost inaudibly. Fran glared at the blonde holding a feather duster. "Such as?" C.C. asked as sweetly as she could muster. She arched an eyebrow and met Fran's brown eyes that were rapidly begging for an answer. C.C. sighed realizing there was so much more to the story that the woman, from Queens, could possibly imagine.
"Well," Fran began as if she had a list of questions, "Why do you flirt with Maxwell after what he did to ya'? And how did you start dating? Are you two still together?" She took a deep breath after hurriedly asking her list of questions. The blonde smirked knowing that Fran wanted to know all about the mysterious lives of Babs and Butler-boy.
"Nanny Fine," C.C. replied calmly as if she was reading a story to a small child, "I am getting there."
Even though Niles and I had to keep our friendship secret, we spent our days off together. We knew each other's schedule by heart. I knew when to bother him for tea, and I knew when he would come into the office to clean. When I was "delivering contracts", he would "go to the store", and we would meet in a small diner or coffee shop for lunch before returning to our jobs.
One monday night would change our routine, and we had no idea how much. I was in my pajamas watching the news. As I made myself comfortable on the black leather couch, my phone began ringing. I picked the phone off the reciever lying on my glass coffee table. "Hello, hello," I said coolly as I stared mindlessly at the television, "This is C.C. Babcock."
"C.C." Niles's familiar baritone voice replied with urgency, "Mrs. Sheffield has gone into labor. Can you meet us at Memorial Hospital?"
"I'll be right there," I answered. Without saying goodbye, I slammed the phone down on the reciever. I rushed to my closet and slipped into a pair of tennis shoes. I grabbed my keys and purse off my bed before running out of my apartment. I took the stairs and rushed out the lobby without a word to Charlie, the doorman. I got into my car and drove to the hospital. By the time I parked my car in the hospital parking lot, I wondered if I would ever find the Sheffields. Luckily when I entered the lobby, I saw Niles reading a magazine about home living or something like that. I bit my lip to keep from laughing and took a seat in one of the blue chairs beside him. "Is she okay?" I asked.
"She's in a lot of pain," Niles answered with a boyish grin, " however, she wants you to promise not to eat her young." I smacked his arm lightly as Maxwell wandered into the lobby from the hallway. I couldn't help wondering why he wasn't in the hospital room with Sara.
"Sara wants to see you," the man told me. He gave me her room number, before I ran down the hall in attempts to find her. I pushed any patient, nurse, or doctor out of the way. I finally found her room and opened the large wooden door. Sara looked exhausted and sweaty, but a faint smile lingered on her face. She rubbed her large stomache gently before looking upon my face.
"Hey Sara," I said warmly as I took my seat in one of the grey chair beside the hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm in excrutiating pain," she admitted before releasing a screech. She mumbled something about Maxwell being an idiot before closing her eyes. "There is something, I would like to talk to you about." I nodded as I leaned in towards her. She met my blue eyes and smiled. She said gently, "I know you are still mad at Maxwell, and I don't blame you. However, we want you to be this baby's godmother."
"Of course," I replied. "I would be honored." I gave her a small hug before a nurse, who looked at me angrily, and Maxwell entered the room. I left the room only to see Niles waiting in the hallway. He was leaning against the off-white walls of the hospital and running his fingers through his hair. Before I could process what happening, his hand had a firm grasp on my wrist, and he was pulling me through the hallway. He pushed open a door to an empty hospital room and allowed me to enter first. He closed the door behind him then locked it.
"What the hell is going on, Niles?" I demanded. I crossed my arms against my chest, although I couldn't be intimidating wearing a grey baggy t-shirt and pale blue pajama pants. We stared at one another until he took a seat on the empty hospital bed.
He said looking up into my eyes, "This isn't enough anymore."
I furrowed my brow in confusion as I placed my hands on my hips. "What are you going on about?" I asked. I had been friends with him for nine months, but I had never seen him acting so strangely. His blue eyes flickered with urgency and desperation for me to understand. "I mean I know being my friend has it's challenges, but you don't have to..."
"Not that you buffoon!" he snapped. He stood up and our eyes met. He placed his hands on my arms and examined my face and my dissheveled hair. "I want to be more with you," he explained. His arms wrapped around my waist and one of my arms snaked around his neck. My other hand rubbed the side of his face. His lips were firmly pressed to mine, and I had no desire to pull away. I kissed him back with all the passion that I had secretly possessed. Once we needed air, my head rested on his shoulder.
"And you tell me when I look like shit," I mused jokingly, "how fitting for us."
Niles chuckled as he kissed the top of my head. "No matter what you do," he said, "You are beautiful. Even if I don't say so." He unlocked the door and held it open for me. Luckily on our way to return to Sara, we found Maxwell looking for us. When we entered her room, it was close to time for Maggie to appear in our lives. The birth of the baby, although beautiful, was going to be harder on our relationship than we realized.
As soon as Maggie was brought home, our schedule changed. Sara was suffering from postpartum depression and required a lot of attention from Maxwell and help from Niles. SInce Maxwell wanted to spend time with Sara; thus, I got promoted to his assistant. Along with a pay raise, I had to run more errands, go to more business meetings, and watch more rehearsals at the theatre. Although I was at the mansion more, I saw Niles less than I wanted.
Niles had a similiar problem. He had to take care of a child even at odd hours of the night. Along with cooking and cleaning, he had to take care of a baby. All the dirty diapers put him in a foul mood; however, Maggie slept a lot and sometimes, when she was taking a nap, I was able to spend time with him. When Sara began cheering up, Maxwell felt bad for our sudden undertaking of mountains of work so he gave us a few days off. Needless to say, we spent them at my penthouse apartment relaxing and getting to take advantage of uninterrupted time together.
"Wow," Fran said, "that must have been hard on you." She always complained about how long it took Maxwell Sheffield to make a move or "the thing"; however, she had it easier than C.C. and Niles. Maxwell would come around, but the secret couple had to hide everything and constantly bend their schedules because of Maxwell. No wonder the blonde was always in a foul mood or drinking her sorrows away.
"It wasn't too bad," C.C. shrugged while lightly touching the brown feathers of the featherduster. "It was hard at first, but we adapted. By the time Gracie was born, Sara and Maxwell knew how to take care of a child so Niles had less he had to do." C.C. grinned as she remembered how happy Niles and she was the Sheffields announced they were going to take a family vacation, or watching old movies in her apartment, or him bringing dinner to her when she had to work late and the Sheffields went out to eat. She remembered how every kiss had the intensity of their first, and how they never took for granted any sign of affection or their banter.
"That doesn't explain why you flirt with Mistah Sheffeild though," Fran said. She couldn't fathom why C.C. would ever flirt with him especially in front of Niles.
C.C. sighed and looked down at her hands. Her eyes lingered on Niles's featherduster before she met Fran's gaze. "Nanny Fine," she said, "Sara's death didn't bring any good to anyone, but my mother brought an evil plan to the funeral."