The Way It Should Have Been

by Fantasinner

Beginning in the middle of the 6/10 episode and spinning Minx forward in a totally new direction from there. Marissa's a little wiser and Bianca's a little bolder and everyone's a little happier - and less crazy.

10. Exes: in the Plural

Oookay so here's the skinny –

Prospect Park has dropped the ball and dropped our AMC. It was a sad day for this girl to read that news and I'm sure my mourning is shared by many.

***collective sniffle***

BUT – Kleenexes everyone – now here's the good news that I've decided to create and focus on to help with all the sorrow. Now we get to take our Minx any direction we choose. Christina and Sarah bestowed on us these lovely lovelies in spite of the soapy madness around them, and now since the show did not receive its proper send-off or ending since PP asked them to leave a cliffhanger there is just an endless possibility of directions that can follow from here, many of which have already been hit on heavily and in quite wonderful ways. But the directions are endless and so I've decided to take mine. Minx will live on.

So after many hours of endless highway in which I spent a good portion contemplating my next move here I finally came to a grueling decision… I'm going to merge this story with the ending of AMC despite my repulsion of the madness they threw JR into just so he would hit bottom and charge into a room full of friends and family with a gun. I might hate the guy but I don't believe that he would really do such a thing, although I'm no AMC expert. Just an opinion. Although that's what I'm going to have to work with and so I'll deal.

So this story will eventually wind up where AMC left us hanging, but not just yet. I'd like to see if I can figure out how to borrow from the show and get JR to where he needs to be (hiding in some freaky tunnel behind the wall swigging Jack Daniels and pounding a gun against his forehead) and get Bianca and Marissa to where they need to be (in love and moving in together) while still maintaining the setup I gave them in the first part. We'll see how it goes.

And P.S. – I managed to snag some internet access out here on the road and couldn't resist putting up the small amount I've got completed. I'm afraid that unless I can manage to do some mad mad writing tomorrow (possible… but don't hold me to it) then it will be another little while before the next chapter goes up.

And once again a big loud thank you for all the wonderful kindness for my last chapter. Warm-fuzzies and goofy smiling occurred. You guys be awesome.

Exes – in the Plural

Six days, Bianca thought happily as she once again allowed herself to zone out of her work and rest her elbows on her desk, now learning to enjoy the gentle flip in her stomach every time she thought about her beautiful girlfriend. I've been with Marissa for six days.

And those six days had been as near to perfect as six days could possibly get, filled with seemingly endless hours of giggling with the kids and, as often as they could possibly manage, a substantial amount of adult Bianca-Marissa time which basically consisted of lots and lots of sex. And talking. Lots of sex and talking.

Over the course of their six nights spent together they had managed to fill one another in on many of the gaps that still remained about the other's past; Bianca had detailed Marissa on the true events of Miranda and AJ's births, or at least the minor parts to which she was still unaware, and Marissa then gave Bianca a more thorough recount of the childhood she spent with her adoptive parents, whom Marissa still did and always would consider her real family. Bianca could have willingly sat and listened to the redhead talk for hours on end and would have never gotten bored, even if she had decided to delve into the process of studying for her bar exam (which of course she didn't). It seemed that no matter what Marissa told her Bianca would unquestioningly find it to be utterly fascinating, mainly because the sound of her girlfriend's voice as well as the fact that she was confiding in her made Bianca's heart expand to the size of a basketball. And much to her own delight Bianca had quickly discovered that confiding in Marissa was equally as satisfying, even when discussing the more delicate and darker instances of her past. Without much persuasion at all Bianca had filled Marissa in on as much as she could remember about Michael Cambias, a conversation which had resulted in tears, tenderness, compassion and ultimately a three-hour sexual connection experience that still made Bianca's toes curl just thinking about it.

And curl they did as she sat behind the large oak desk in her office, finding it nearly impossible to concentrate on the work she was desperately trying to catch up on after her two – ahem – sick days at the start of the week. Nothing could really hold her attention quite like the memories of the past few days and suddenly an unexpected realization hit Bianca out of nowhere as she once again replayed the many highlights.

"Oh my god," she whispered into the silence of her office, her eyes wide as they gazed out the open window. "We haven't even been on a real date."

And indeed they hadn't, not with the hubbub of keeping up with three children as well as their jobs, their hours at home spent taming the kids' constant excitement about their new family situation and their hours at work – when they forced themselves to go – spent pouring over all the things they kept trying to ignore. But Bianca immediately knew that their lack of a first date would have to be remedied and soon – JR's impending arrival back in Pine Valley the next day would likely wipe out the weekend which basically left her with two options: either wait until the following week or set something up for that night.

"Tonight it is," Bianca smiled as she reached for her phone and dialed Kendall's number.

"Hello?" she answered after the fourth ring, and Bianca instantly sensed the edginess in her voice.

"Hey Kendall – you okay?"

"Oh hey Binx," Kendall said with a heavy sigh. "Yeah I'm fine – just trying to sort out some stuff for Fusion that I really don't understand. Something about legal jargon just makes my head spin. I may have to make a call to your girlfriend soon and see if she can help me. I'm about to go nuts."

"Well I'm sure Marissa would be happy to help you," Bianca replied, her face flushing as her sister used the term 'girlfriend' in reference to her. "You should call her if you're having that much trouble."

"Are you sure she isn't too busy playing catch-up after her illness earlier this week?" Kendall responded, laying heavily on her sarcasm and Bianca could clearly see her mockingly raised eyebrow in her head.

"You… you know Marissa called in sick?" she asked, and Kendall chuckled on her end of the line.

"Binx you know that nothing is sacred here in Pine Valley," she told her. "I'm pretty sure that no one besides Caleb really knows the reason for the sick days but there are a few who happened to notice the correlation between her call-ins and yours. You know how it goes – everyone's a private investigator when it comes to everyone else's business." Bianca inhaled a sharp breath and tried to keep her mind from scattering, but once again Kendall already knew what she was thinking. "Relax Binx," she went on soothingly. "As far as I know there are no rumors about you two yet, although I wouldn't be surprised if they start to spread soon. And while we're on that topic when are you planning on going public together?"

"Well we've kind of talked about it and we're pretty sure that once JR gets back tomorrow there's going to be no way to stop it from exploding all over town, not with his uncontrollable anger and aptitude for revenge," Bianca replied with a heavy sigh.

"I hear that," Kendall agreed. "Well what about Marissa? How is she feeling about all this? Still as incredibly happy as she looked on Sunday?"

"I would certainly like to think so," Bianca said with a wide smile. "I've actually been amazed at her assuredness about everything. As far as I can tell she's not scared of anyone finding out, we've only kept our mouths shut this far because we felt like the most important people knew with the exception of mom and we wanted to enjoy it by ourselves for a little bit. But with JR coming back I'm certain that it's not going to stay that way. I'm almost positive he's going to come back and pop the happy bubble we've been living in for the past few days."

"Well let's hope not, but if he tries he'll have the Kane women to answer to."

"I'm trying to be prepared for anything," Bianca told her. "Five days alone in Paris is plenty of time for JR to come up with something that could shock the rest of us – it's not like he hasn't done it before."

"Yeah well if he gets too out of control you know who to call for backup," Kendall said with a sly edge to her voice. "The Kanes shall overcome."

"Well speaking of backup I do have a small favor to ask you, although I don't want to overload you since you're having such a tough time with Fusion apparently."

"Ah – don't worry about that. It'll sort out one or another. Hit me."

"Well – uh – Marissa and I haven't actually had our first date yet," Bianca started, blushing again as she tried to think how to skirt around telling her sister the real reasons for not having done it yet, feeling like it could be rather uncomfortable to admit that they'd simply been too busy sexing one another up to think about much else. "And I'd like to make that happen before JR comes back," she went on hurriedly, "and that pretty much leaves tonight so I was wondering if you'd be willing to watch the girls and AJ for the evening."

"First date huh?" Kendall asked amusedly, and Bianca could tell that she assumed more than she was going to say. "What did you have in mind?"

"Er… I don't know yet actually," Bianca admitted, sitting back in her chair. "I hadn't really thought that far. I just wanted to make sure that you could keep the kids first I guess."

"Binx you know you don't really have to ask," her sister told her. "Of course I'd be happy to. Spike will be especially thrilled that AJ will be there. But seriously – where are you taking her? Since it's Marissa you're going to have to do something outstanding you know."

"I know," Bianca agreed as she rubbed her eyes, a few ideas running through her head but none of them really seemed good enough. "Any advice?"

"Well Binx you know I've never actually dated a girl so I'm somewhat unfamiliar with the goings-on of a lesbian themed date, but I would assume that they are for the most part quite similar to those of us heteros and so I'm just gonna throw out dinner and a movie. Or a play. Or maybe even the opera. I'm not really sure it matters since we all know where dates usually end up. It's really all just build-up to the main event, right?"

"My goodness you're forward," Bianca said, covering her blush with her hands despite the fact that she was alone in her office. "And while you're pretty much right I still would like to do something special for her. Dinner and a movie just isn't going to cut it."

"A hot air balloon ride? A horse-drawn carriage to a private dinner in the park? A personal orchestra for dinner music? And maybe for effect you could have a song composed just for the two of you which you can then have a troubadour serenade you while you profess your undying love. That would be kind of epic. Ooh! Or you could…"

"Okay you're no longer being helpful," Bianca cut her off, laughing aloud at her sister's absurdity. "All of those sound like some over-the-top marriage proposal scenarios and I'm pretty sure we're not quite there yet. But thanks anyway."

"Okay well, if you still draw a blank I'll just add the possibility of a private band on a rooftop lit by candlelight with…"

"Okay thanks Kendall, that's a big help," Bianca interjected again, reaching for the disconnect button on the phone base. "I'll drop the kids at your place around six unless you hear otherwise."

"Alright," Kendall replied happily, clearly quite amused with herself. "Oh! And what about…"

But Bianca merely pressed the button to end the call after another thanks and goodbye, shaking her head at what Kendall believed to be 'helpfulness.' But once she hung up the phone she was left inside the pressing stillness of her expansive office, gazing unseeingly out the windows while she scrambled to come up with something to fill the evening. After a few minutes of futile contemplation she allowed her mind to wander, obviously very quickly settling on the gorgeous redhead she was so extraordinarily in love with.

What does Marissa like to do? she asked herself, and immediately answered with Sex. Marissa is a very sexual being as it turns out. And once again she blushed without any outside help. Okay move on – I can't plan a date around sex. That will certainly be included but there has to be a precursor. Something amazing that will lead us to that part. And of course the irony of her thoughts and Kendall's earlier declaration were not lost on her, but she pushed past it. But her thoughts were interrupted by the intercom on her phone signaling her assistant beeping in. She clicked the button and answered, "Yes?"

"I have Marissa Tasker on the line for you," her assistant Amanda told her, and Bianca's face instantly stretched into a smile.

"Thanks," she replied as she went to answer the line. "Hello beautiful," she said, and Marissa's soft sigh at the other end made her stomach flip over.

"Hmmmm – hello yourself," she said. "How's your day?"

"Better now," Bianca told her honestly. "Just sitting here trying to stay focused on work. How about you?"

"About the same," Marissa replied. "These case reports just aren't nearly as appealing as daydreaming about you all day. I haven't gotten much done."

"Ditto to that. I keep checking the time wishing it was five o'clock already."

"Well only three hours to go – I think we can make it," she said, but Bianca still heard the deep sigh as she spoke and her grin widened. "In the meantime I'm calling to ask you something, something that will hopefully make both of us feel better."

"Oh?" Bianca inquired curiously, her attention perking as she sat up straight again. "Is it whether I'd be willing to sit through Finding Nemo for the fourth time this week because the answer is going to be a firm no."

"Ah! You were supposed to let me ask!" Marissa said with mock exasperation. "Now you've gone and ruined the whole thing. Way to go."

"Oops," Bianca replied apologetically. "Sorry baby. Next time I'll hold my tongue."

"Maybe you just need me to come over there and occupy it for you," Marissa said, her voice dropping to that sexy husky level that made Bianca's legs go numb. "Would that help?"

"Exponentially," Bianca told her, swallowing hard. "How soon can you be here?"

"Unfortunately not very soon," Marissa said regretfully. "Caleb's weighing me down with tons of paperwork because I'm pretty sure he knows the real reason for my absence earlier this week. But I'll make it up to you, I can promise you that."

"How?" Bianca questioned, unwilling to drop the playful flirting that was going on.

"Well actually I was calling to ask you out on a date," Marissa replied, and Bianca imagined the gorgeous smile she could clearly hear in her voice. "I realized that we haven't actually gotten one and so I'd like to fix that. I've got the whole thing planned – all you have to do is say yes and call your sister to see if she can keep the kids, otherwise I'll call Krystal or maybe Tad."

Bianca had to laugh aloud at the constant symbiosis between the two of them. "I actually hung up with Kendall just five minutes ago to ask her that very thing, though I hadn't actually progressed to the date planning portion."

"You're kidding?" Marissa asked, joining in on her chuckling. "And once again we apparently have the same thoughts. So I guess that's a yes?"

"That's definitely a yes," Bianca told her. "So what will we be up to this child-free evening?"

"Uh uh. You're going to have to wait to find out."

"Tease."

"Guilty," Marissa accepted. "So I'll see you after I pick up Miranda and AJ from school. You're getting Gabby from daycare right?"

"Yeah that's the plan. And I told Kendall we'd drop the kids around six. Is that good?"

"That will be perfect. K I'm gonna have to hang up now if I'm going to have a prayer at finishing this casework before I leave. Bye baby – I love you."

"I love you too," Bianca told her, hating to hear the click on the other end as Marissa hung up but still smiling like a teenager at the prom. As she hung up the phone she couldn't help but lean forward and rest her face in her hands, her eyes drifting once again out the open window as she allowed herself a long moment to bask in the flooding happiness that only Marissa's voice could bring.

/

And Bianca was gifted with another two and a half hours of basking in that bliss before most of it was ripped forcefully out of her chest, and it all started with just another phone call.

She heard the beeps before she saw the flashing red light of Amanda paging in, finally looking up from the Miranda Center's financial statements after two hours of making herself focus on it and absently hit the button to answer her.

"Yes?"

"Uh – Bianca you… you have a phone call," Amanda told her, and Bianca's eyebrows furrowed at the obvious hesitation in her voice.

"Okay – who is it?"

"It's… well it's uh… it's your ex-wife. Reese Williams is on the line."

And when Bianca heard her name she was almost certain that she was going to revisit her lunch at the violently painful flip of her stomach and she froze solid with one hand in the air, holding up a sheet of paper that she could no longer see to read. After a few forced breaths she asked, "Did she say what she wanted?"

"No," Amanda replied quietly. "Just that she needed to speak with you. I can take a message if you'd rather…"

"No – no I'll take it," Bianca said despondently. "Thanks Amanda." And she disconnected from her assistant's desk but didn't click over to the other line yet, instead taking a moment to collect herself.

Okay – no need to panic, she thought. Reese is allowed to call. Even though she hasn't bothered to for months, not even to check on the girls... And just like that her uneasiness was replaced with a swell of bitter anger and her finger hit the button as she snatched up the receiver.

"Reese," she said flatly, not bothering with further pleasantries as she waited for the woman to respond.

"Bi – Bianca," came Reese's diffident voice. "Hello."

"Hello."

Silence.

"Umm… how are you?" Reese ventured after a tense moment, and Bianca was pleased to hear that she was clearly very uncomfortable.

"I'm quite well, thank you," she replied, and then continued to wait in stony silence for her ex-wife to go on.

"Well g-good. And the girls? How are Miranda and Gabrielle?"

"They're doing well too," Bianca told her, purposely stopping herself from continuing. If Reese really wanted to know she would press the subject, but unsurprisingly she moved on instead.

"That's great," Reese said. "I uh – I'm actually calling with a somewhat peculiar question for you but I don't know who else to call." She paused as if waiting for Bianca to respond to that but the brunette kept her resolve and didn't cave so eventually Reese went on. "Okay well umm… well JR was here in Paris this week – I'm not sure if you knew that or not – but he was here checking on the progress of our newest building and… well… he wasn't really acting like himself. I'm not sure if you knew anything about what might be going on with him."

"How was he acting?" Bianca asked, her chest constricting in anticipation of whatever Reese was going to tell her. "What do you mean he hasn't been acting like himself?"

"Well he's been drinking mostly and as far as I knew he's a recovering alcoholic and it certainly raised some flags among the staff over here when he'd show up wasted every day. Outside of that he's also been outwardly angry toward pretty much everybody and this morning he actually threw a chair and smashed it after he stumbled over it in his drunken state. Is there something going on personally that's caused him to be like this or has it been going on for a while? Because it's been pretty much constant since he showed up on Monday morning but he won't tell anybody what's wrong. He just mutters something about how he's fine and then stumbles off someplace."

Bianca was quiet for a long moment, unable to figure out how to respond. How much should I tell her? How much does she really need to know? How am I supposed to tell my ex-wife that her boss is getting drunk because he found out that I'm sleeping with his ex-wife? The ex-wife who also handled my side of our divorce… sweet Jesus this is one hell of a corner I'm in…

"Bianca?" Reese said after a minute. "If you don't know anything that's fine… like I said I just really needed to see if I could get some information and there's no one else in Pine Valley that I felt like I could call. We're just a little worried about him over here and there are lots of members of the board who would like some answers. So anything you can tell me would be really appreciated."

"He… ahem… JR hadn't had a drink in two years as far as I knew," Bianca finally stammered, searching her voice for the unyielding resolve from before but it had fled along with Reese's information. "He's been very proud of his sobriety so the news that he's fallen off the wagon is new to me."

"So there's nothing going on back home that might have set him off?" Reese pressed, and Bianca finally decided that the vaguest answer possible was the best way to go.

"Well his ex-wife recently moved out of the mansion again," she told her. "He did appear pretty upset about that."

"Why was his ex-wife living with him at the mansion? Were they getting back together or something?"

"She moved back in to be closer to AJ but moved out when JR got up to his old tricks again," Bianca informed her, careful not to go too far. This was not a conversation she really wanted to have, especially with her ex-wife who she could hardly stand to continue talking to due solely to her evident disinterest in their daughters. She was far too preoccupied with investigating JR's problems and it was really beginning to piss her off.

"And I guess that was fairly recent then?" Reese asked, and much to Bianca's chagrin she clearly heard the interest in her tone and she worked to hold on to her patience.

"Yes Reese that was at the beginning of this week," she told her pointedly. "Marissa tried to get her things from the mansion on Saturday but JR had locked them up. We weren't able to go over and get them until after he'd gone to Paris."

"We?" Reese questioned, her interest plainly spiking at Bianca's use of the word. "You helped his ex-wife move out of the house?"

Bianca sighed heavily at her slip-up but charged forward anyway. "Yes I did."

"Wait – did you say Marissa? Is this the same Marissa that handled our divorce for you? Marissa… Tasker was it?"

"Yep that's the one."

There was a short pause before Reese continued. "Huh… alright. So that Marissa is JR's ex-wife. Interesting."

"Why is that interesting?"

"Oh only because now I can make a connection I guess. I didn't know that. I mean I knew that JR had been married but I didn't know who it was with. And he's obviously pretty broken up over it, which is even more surprising since you said that they were already divorced. They weren't getting back together? Are you sure? If she had been living in the mansion with him then…"

"No they weren't getting back together," Bianca cut her off, her patience wearing extremely thin. "Why do you care so much? What difference does it make really?"

"I might be able to ask you a similar question," Reese fired back. "Why are you getting so defensive? Did this Marissa do something besides simply move out that sent JR over the edge? Because his reaction seems pretty severe if they weren't getting back together. He's basically fallen apart. I hardly recognize the man."

Bianca took a steadying breath before answering. "She moved on to someone else," she said finally, "and when JR found out he got pretty upset. I'm sure that's why he's responded so badly – you know how JR hates to lose."

"I do," Reese agreed, and there was a long pause that had Bianca worrying slightly. "Did you see what happened? It sounds like you're obviously friends with this Marissa woman so do you know what happened?"

"That's really none of your business," Bianca told her, but she could tell from Reese's tone that she was growing suspicious and likely wouldn't let up.

"Hey I'm just trying to gather some information to pass along to the board," Reese told her innocently. "The more I can give them the better and you are obviously quite informed on the subject. So if you didn't see what happened did Marissa tell you about it?"

"Yes Reese I was there," Bianca finally caved, by then kind of liking the idea of slapping her ex with the knowledge that Marissa wasn't the only one who had moved on. "Marissa and I are together now. JR is pissed off not only that she moved on but that she did it with a woman. His homophobic undertone is coming out apparently and quite frankly it really doesn't surprise me that he's gone running back to the bottle to help him deal. He's done it many times before. So there – is that enough information for you or would you like a blow-by-blow of the coming out scene as well?"

"No – no that's enough," Reese muttered quietly, and they both sank into a tremendously tense silence filled only with the sound of their shallow breathing. "So you've moved on," Reese finally said after the quiet became unbearable. "That's… good for you. Umm – congratulations I guess."

Bianca couldn't find it in her to reply, instead blinking down at the scattered papers in front of her as she rubbed her temple. "Look Reese," she said after a moment, "I'm sorry I just blurted it out like that and I'm sorry I got irritated. But it is still pretty new and I wasn't expecting to hear from you and telling you wasn't something I'd actually considered. But that's the way it is and evidently it's causing some pretty bad repercussions with JR. I'm sure tomorrow when he gets back it's going to be even worse."

"Uh – JR said he was going back to Pine Valley this evening," Reese told her, and Bianca's head shot up.

"What?" she asked, her heart starting to race. "How long ago was that? What time is it there?"

"It's after two in the morning. I tried to wait until it would be a good time for you before I called. But JR announced he was flying home after our last meeting, which wrapped up about six hours ago I guess."

"Oh shit – I've got to go," Bianca said, jumping up and scrambling around for her purse and her keys. "Thanks for the warning Reese but I've got to go pick up Gabby and then get back to warn Marissa. We weren't expecting him until tomorrow and I don't want him to try anything stupid before we have a chance to plan ahead."

"You're getting Gabby?" Reese asked, some of the sadness gone from her voice as she said their daughter's name. "Give her a hug and kiss for me, will you?"

"I tell you what Reese, why don't you take some time out of your obviously busy schedule of investigating the personal life of your boss and come over here and do it yourself," Bianca told her, done trying to play nice in her anxiousness to get back to Marissa. "Thanks for the warning. Goodbye."

She slammed the receiver down and bolted out of her office without waiting for the reply, calling over her shoulder to Amanda that she'd see her tomorrow and to forward her calls as she wildly dialed Marissa's cell phone and broke into a dead sprint in the direction of her car.