Author's Note: Hey Everyone! I don't know where the time goes, and obviously I've become one of those writers who simply cannot post very often - sorry! I'm working on two other short Lost Girl fics right now, so this one unfortunately has taken a back seat. Hope to get it finished quickly because I won't post the others until then.

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The following day - Sunday Supper

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Bo listened to the echoes of voices laughing and chatting away on the far side of her home. Her family, including her firefighter family, had once again joined them for Sunday Supper and filled Bo and Lauren's house with smiling faces. Bo made sure to welcome each and every guest as they arrived, but as more and more people poured through the front door, Bo's need for space grew more and more apparent. The crowd made her cautiously guarded, and she mostly stood near the corner of the living room protecting her arm from any potential accidental bumps. She was grateful for such wonderful support from her network of friends and family, but the sudden arrival of so many people caught her off guard in a very unexpected way. Truthfully, Bo felt overwhelmed: overwhelmed enough to take refuge in her bedroom, where she had been sitting alone for the greater part of a half hour.

The door popped open and Lauren poked her head inside.

"Bo? Are you okay?"

Bo knew it was only a matter of time before Lauren noticed her absence. With an apologetic glance, Bo looked across the room to a visibly concerned blonde and nodded.

"Fine hon. Just needed a little breathing space."

Her smile quivered as she said it and her voice was strained. She didn't even know why she tried to hide her feelings. After all, Lauren knew her too damn well to hide anything.

Lauren's concern spread across her face as she entered the bedroom and quietly shut the door behind her. A few steps later, Lauren sat next to Bo on the bed, placing a gentle hand on Bo's lap and offering her silent support. She did not want to push, but after a few moments of quiet with Bo just looking out the window, Lauren probed gently.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lauren asked quietly.

Staring out the window, Bo said nothing. She feared her voice would crack and her emotions would spill down her cheeks. Truthfully she did not want to talk about it, but she wanted to let Lauren in.

"I'm worried about you," Lauren stated.

Bo closed her eyes, not daring to look at Lauren. She knew looking at Lauren's concern would make her break, and crying would lead to puffy eyelids, and any puffy eyelids would bring forth a slew of questioning from Kenzi the moment she saw her.

"Babe, look at me please." Lauren pleaded, her own voice cracking.

With a deep breath, Bo couldn't deny her love. She slowly opened her eyes and looked to Lauren, who instantly brought tears to her eyes.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to cry," Bo whispered as she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"What's going on, love?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know. I'm so happy everyone is here, but I'm so overwhelmed. I can't take any more questions about how I'm feeling, or how my arm is doing. Like how the fuck does it look like it's doing?! It's been less than a week and I have no idea if it's ever going to work properly again, so why can't people just stop asking me for answers that I don't have? I just can't handle it right now. I...I just..."

Lauren carefully yet lovingly wrapped her arms around Bo, holding her as she let out her frustration and her sadness. It pained the doctor to see Bo so upset, but she could easily understand how difficult this line of questioning could be for her. Hell, Lauren was a doctor and not even she could provide any answers to questions like that. In hind sight, Lauren should have prepped everyone before their arrival. She should have thought ahead to tell everyone to not go down this road with questions about Bo's arm, but it was just something she never thought of.

Lauren had yet to respond to Bo's revelation, but knowing her partner well, she knew Bo did not want her to say anything. She just wanted her support. And so they sat there quietly, together, allowing the comfort of each other's presence to bring about some calm and peace. They didn't move from each other's arms until Bo finally pulled away, fanning herself in the face.

"Whew it got warm in here."

Lauren smiled, brushing a strand of Bo's brown hair behind her ear. Bo's cheeks were pink. Crying would do that to a person. And sensing Bo was trying desperately to move past any additional crying, Lauren tried to deliver a joke that would get Bo to smile.

"That's because you're cuddled up with all this hotness," Lauren replied as she gestured to herself. It was a statement completely out of character for Lauren, which brought a big smile to Bo's face.

"You are definitely all hotness, my love."

Lauren smiled, thrilled to see a smile on Bo's face again. She wiped away one remaining tear and rested her hand gently on Bo's thigh. The peace of the moment was ideal for Bo, and so Lauren let it be just that and sat quietly at her lover's side until she seemed to relax her posture a bit.

"Thanks Laur. Look, I'll be fine. I feel better, for now at least."

Lauren shook her head. "You're welcome. But honestly Bo, you don't have to be fine. It's okay to feel the things you're feeling. And for the duration of this little gathering, I shall divert all further questions away from the topic of your arm as long as I am within earshot, okay?"

Bo nodded, appreciative of Lauren's support. And in perfect timing to interrupt the moment, Bo's stomach rumbled loud, causing both women to laugh with one another.

Lauren stood from the bed and offered a hand to Bo.

"So...would you want to sit here for a little while longer, or would you like to go get some food? Because if we don't get out there, your entire fire station is going to eat every last bite."

xxx

Their house was packed. The group chatter was ever growing. Food was devoured quickly in multiple rounds, and drinks were flowing. Fortunately the crowd remained thoroughly engaged in conversation with one another, allowing Bo and Lauren to slip back into the party unnoticed. Lauren grabbed an empty plate and immediately started filling it up with items she knew Bo would enjoy. Getting food for Bo allowed the brunette to stay away from the bulk of the crowd and keep to the far corner of the living room, where she knelt down to play with Charlotte and some very colorful building blocks.

Lauren caught a glimpse of the two as she slid a small piece of chocolate cake on Bo's plate. The sight of Charlotte handing every single block to Bo warmed Lauren's heart. It kept Lauren's mantra echoing through her mind: everything will be okay.

As Lauren added a few barbecue ribs next to the chocolate cake on Bo's plate, she felt a hip bump into the side of hers. A quick glance to her left revealed her soon to be sister in law Kenzi, staring toward the front door.

"Well look at that doc - guess he decided to take us up on our invite."

Lauren slowly shifted her glance toward the front door to see none other than Cassie allowing Vex to enter their home. He walked directly toward them and smiled as he placed a large container of cookies on the table.

"Hello doc. I'm sorry I am a tad bit late. Baking is definitely not my field of expertise."

Lauren glanced at the container. It must have had over four dozen cookies in it.

"You baked all those?" Lauren asked curiously.

Vex widened his eyes and smiled. "Oh, absolutely not. I bought this lot after I failed at baking the others."

Kenzi busted out laughing. "Amen, brother. I'd skip the baking part all together and just buy them. Or better yet, ask doc here to bake some next time. She's great at baking."

Lauren smiled appreciatively. "Thank you for the complement Kenz, and thank you for the cookies Vex. I was just about to take this plate over to Bo, and I'd love for you to meet her."

"Great. Lead the way and I shall follow," he replied.

Lauren grabbed a few napkins and tucked them under the full plate. She maneuvered through the people standing about chatting and ventured toward the living room. Vex followed, only stopping when they both arrived next to Bo and Charlotte.

"Babe, do you have a second?"

The use of the affectionate term grabbed Bo's attention. Without looking up, Bo stacked a few more building blocks in front of Charlotte and stood up. Before even noticing the plate of food in Lauren's hands, she noticed the unfamiliar face standing next to Lauren.

"Ahhh, so this must be the lovely Fire Chief Bo Dennis."

Bo forced a smile. "Well I don't know about lovely with this bulky thing weighing me down, but yes I am Bo. And you must be Vex."

"Guilty as charged. It is very nice to meet you. I appreciate the invitation to join you all here today."

Bo shook Vex's extended hand with her uninjured arm, glancing down at his exposed stitching and scars. She couldn't help but stare, and both Vex and Lauren noticed her carefully examining the remnants of his accident. Rather than pull his arm away, Vex allowed the inspection of his healing wound.

"It's still healing, but I remain optimistic about it," Vex stated.

His words grabbed Bo's attention. She quickly dropped his hand and replied. "Uhhh, that's great. Healing is great."

Inside, Bo's mind was reeling. Healing is great? What the hell kind of statement is that? Bo tried to quickly recompose her thoughts. It was a struggle, for sure. All the attention on her injury was emotionally challenging. She simply wished no one would talk about it, and then here she is, doing the one thing to Vex that she didn't want anyone doing to her: staring at her injury.

"I'm sorry Vex. I didn't mean to stare."

Her apology was heartfelt. Lauren remained speechless, seeing Bo's emotions shift all over the place. It was hurting Lauren's heart to see Bo suffer like this, and she was terrified to say or do the wrong thing. After such an amazing night with Bo, just trying to be "normal as usual," this afternoon was suddenly feeling like a setback. Lauren quickly placed the plate of food on a nearby end table.

"It's not a problem at all, Chief Dennis. I am thinking this stitching, when it heals, could scar, right? So then I am thinking I will extend this tattoo, here, and have it follow the scar line down to here. What do you think?"

Bo watched Vex as he outlined his tattoo idea with his finger.

"I think that would blend in well," Bo replied. "Maybe if I should get a tattoo to cover up my scar too."

She laughed as she looked at Lauren. "Remember our conversation at the hardware store? You did say you were going to get Charlotte some press-on tattoos. Maybe mine could match hers?"

Upon hearing Bo laugh, Lauren instantly relaxed. She smiled as she scooped up Charlotte. "Well what do you think Char? Do you and mama want to get matching tattoos?"

"Too," Charlotte repeated, bringing the group to a round of laughter.

"Perhaps you won't have much scaring at all." Vex then glanced to Lauren. "Not that I am checking out your love, here, Doctor Lewis, but I'd say Chief Dennis has a lot more muscle than I. I bet a tattoo would looking dashing on her."

Lauren raised a brow and smirked. "Who says she doesn't have one already?"

She winked at Bo and smiled, bringing the brunette's smile front and center.

"Well it wouldn't necessarily hurt to get another, right Vex?"

"Exactly, Chief Dennis." Vex replied.

"Please Vex, call me Bo."

"Right then. Okay Bo, where I was going with all of that is, well, I think your muscles are bigger than mine."

Bo smiled and flexed her uninjured arm. "Not too bad, huh?" Bo joked.

Lauren and Vex both smiled. They shared a quiet laugh as Vex continued. "Well this may be a random question, but have you ever strength trained individual muscles and tendons in your arm before moving into compound movements? Excluding adding weights specifically."

"Um, not that I can recall," Bo replied.

"Well if you are interested, I can show you some unique exercises that may surprise you. Something you could practice with your uninjured arm and then in time, and with your doctor's permission of course, you can switch them over to your other arm as it heals. They aren't traditional exercises though; mostly things passed down to me through martial arts."

"Wow that sounds interesting," Lauren blurted out.

Bo agreed. "It actually does sound interesting. I'd love to hear more about it, but how about you get something to eat first and then we can chat more."

"Perfect. I'll just fix myself a plate over there and be right back."

Vex excused himself and headed toward the dining room. It didn't take long for Bo to grab the plate Lauren placed on the nearby end table.

"Chocolate cake? Laur..."

Bo's tone was firm but pleasant.

"I know, I know. I just thought that maybe you'd want one bite. It is delicious," Lauren replied.

Bo smiled, but carefully avoided the chocolate cake as she began to eat a few of the other healthier items on her plate. She did feed Lauren a bite of the cake off her plate though, and Charlotte licked the fork that had a bit of chocolate icing on it.

Lauren glanced across the room, noticing Kenzi and Cassie chatting up Vex. With a moment of somewhat privacy between them, Lauren turned to Bo and leaned close to her ear.

"You doing okay?" Lauren whispered.

Bo nodded. "I'm a little tired but I'm okay. Beyond my emotions getting the best of me, you also wore me out this morning."

A slight blush crept into Lauren's cheeks. "Mmhmm, well you wore me out last night. And I'm sorry about, um, kicking your arm this morning. "

Bo swallowed her bite of food and smiled. They reconnected that night prior and again that morning before getting ready for a houseful of friends and family. And during one of the peak moments when Lauren cried out Bo's name, her muscle jerked and Lauren kicked against Bo's injured arm. Her leg hit the cast, and of course it was an accident, but it sure did hurt.

"It's okay babe. Beyond that moment of tears and pain, everything else we did felt fucking amazing."

Lauren kissed Bo on the temple, lingering a bit longer than necessary so she could whisper into Bo's ear.

"God I love you."

Bo put her plate of food down, wiping her hands one more time before reaching her uninjured arm around Lauren's back. She looked from Lauren to Charlotte and back with tired but loving eyes.

"I love you too. I think we should tell them," Bo whispered.

"Tell them what?" Lauren asked.

Bo widened her eyes and rolled them. "About us. Then we can wrap up the Sunday Supper and send everyone home."

Lauren's eyes widened with her smile. "Oh! Yes of course! I think that would be great. Whenever you are ready, babe."

Bo looked through the crowds of people. "I'd say I'm ready now. Besides, Kenzi will not be able to hold the secret much longer."

Lauren's heart beat just a little faster. Bo's dimple was out in full force, and Lauren could have melted into the fire chief's arms had they stood there much longer.

"I love you Bo Dennis," Lauren replied. She kissed Bo on the cheek as she ended her statement, her lips lingering just above Bo's skin for a bit longer than necessary.

"Mmm, I love you too babe."

Lauren put Charlotte back on the floor to play with her building blocks. The doctor leaned back, standing tall next to her love. Bo looked across the crowded living room before quickly releasing a very loud whistle into the noisy room. It was the same loud whistle she could create in the middle of the fire station and bring a team of rowdy firefighters to a standstill. And just like all the previous times she used it at work, everyone in the room ceased conversation and turned their attention to her.

Bo didn't expect the sudden wave of butterflies that rose up in her chest and tinted her cheeks a pink hue. She was nervous and excited but she didn't show it. Instead, the attention she commanded brought out the confidence Bo typically exhibited.

"Hello everyone."

It came out a bit stuttered but Bo quickly recovered, continuing her speech to the crowded house.

"First, thank you all for coming over for Sunday supper. Thank you, Kenzi and Hale, for organizing this one. And to whomever brought that chocolate cake - thanks for the temptation."

A round of laughter followed her thanks. The house full of guests issued their gratitude in the form of mumbled "you're welcome's" and simple nods of their heads. A few raised glasses dotted the room as well before everyone fell silent and Bo continued.

"So I learned something about myself recently."

"That you love carbs in the form of chocolate cake!" Lambert blurted out, bringing the room to laughter once again.

"Well yes that is true, but no cake for me for awhile," Bo laughed again, pausing to compose herself before she continued.

"I learned that, ultimately, there are two types of fires. The one we are most familiar with is the devastating type: when flames scorch everything in their wake, destroying everything in their path. Those are the types of fires that my station works so very hard to extinguish."

There was another pause. Bo tightened her grasp on Lauren's hand and glanced to her standing at her side. As she continued to speak, Bo never moved her eyes off Lauren.

"And then there is another type of fire. It's the type that all the rain in the world won't stop from growing. It's the kind of fire you'd gladly stand in forever, because nothing makes you feel stronger and more alive than absorbing the power it blankets over you."

Lauren smiled brilliantly. Her brown eyes stayed affixed to Bo's, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to see where this was headed.

"And so because Lauren loves me with a burning flame brighter than any fire I've ever fought against, and because truthfully I couldn't imagine my life without her, I asked her to marry me. And do you know what she said?" Bo laughed slightly, the look of love still awash across her face. "She said yes."

The room erupted in cheers.

Bo raised a hand, quieting the room as she continued. "I actually asked if she was sure, because I didn't even have a ring for her and we were standing in the garage. So, don't ask to see her ring because she doesn't have one yet, and don't ask us about the date because we haven't set one yet."

Bo took Lauren's hand and placed it against her heart. She smiled that million dollar smile of hers, making the doctor blush.

"If you need a best man, Chief, I'm your guy!" Lambert yelled out, bringing the group to a rousing bit of laughter.

"Fat chance Lambert! She needs a best lady, and whomever would be better than moi?!" Kenzi tossed back at him from the kitchen.

"Damn! Okay well Doc, looks like my schedule is now open so you can have me as your Best Man!" Lambert yelled out to the group.

Lauren smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but she was abruptly cut off.

"Fat chance Lambert. I'll fight you to the death for that role."

That voice froze Lauren in time. Sure, there were voices everywhere in her house as she had dozens of guests present. But this voice was different: different because she heard the echo of the one voice she had been waiting to hear from in months. With a sudden glance across the room, all eyes shifted to the dining room entryway to the other woman who had just made her presence known.

Lauren gasped at the sight of Tamsin standing in the back of the room. Lauren covered her mouth with the one hand not squeezing Bo's in a death grip. She knew it was Tamsin, even though her hair was a little shorter and her skin looked a lot more tan. She lost weight too. This was definitely not a hallucination because Lauren was sane enough to hear Bo say "holy shit" under her breath.

In Lauren's mind, she said Tamsin's name but in reality her hand was still covering her mouth. It wasn't until Kenzi pounced on Tamsin with a massive hug that Lauren snapped out of her catatonic stare at what she deemed to be the most profound fashionably late entrance Tamsin had ever made to anything.

Bo leaned into Lauren, who had not moved except for the tears welling in her eyes. "Well it looks like perfect timing for her to finally come home."

Bo's whispered words to Lauren were followed by a brief kiss her on the cheek. The fire chief released Lauren's hand and crossed the room to greet their friend with a solid one armed hug, but Lauren just continued to stand there.

Lauren watched Bo welcome Tamsin home. She watched everyone welcome Tamsin home. She was shocked speechless honestly. She felt dazed. She felt happy. And she definitely felt one hundred percent pissed off.

xxxxxx