A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for the awesome support for both of my stories, you guys rock!

Chapter 13

Lauren stood in her kitchen putting the finish touches on dinner; a tender and juicy honey glazed ham, yummy. She was a little nervous, this was the first dinner party she had thrown in awhile that included people beyond Kenzi and Nate. Her parents were joining them, as well as Tamsin and Hale, both possibly bringing dates. Lauren had extended an invitation to Ciara, but had spoken to her explaining that Bo specifically stated that Dyson was not welcome, therefore she need not feel obligated to attend. Ciara was very understanding, even teasing Lauren about feelings harboured between exes then politely declined. Bo had sent the obligatory invite to her mother and new step-father receiving her mother's standard noncommittal response. The woman had never accepted a prior invite, but the fastidious doctor was well prepared on the food front, lest this be the one time she shows.

Diner party trepidations aside, Lauren was excited, as things had been going well for her both professionally and personally. Her research in regenerative medicine utilizing stem cells to regrow tissue just had a major breakthrough and she found herself one step closer to making organ transplants and skin grafts a thing of the past. OK, so maybe she was getting a little ahead of herself, being able to grow fully functioning organs from stem cells was still a long way off, but her team was making great progress by implanting stem cells into the damaged kidneys of mice. The process was slow, very slow, and desperately needed to be streamlined; however, based on the test results, kidney function had improved in all but one of the mice, Mouse G. The little bastard just didn't want to play with the rest of the class. Lauren smiled, one mouse doing his own thing to the detriment of his health, instantly made her think of Bo. Her wife probably wouldn't appreciate being compared to a mouse, but they were both so stubborn and headstrong, it fit.

Lauren could admit however, in the past month that they had been going to counseling, she had noticed a real difference in her wife. Bo was more open with her and had stopped running from all of their arguments. Internally Lauren was pessimistic about how permanent the changes were, but still seeing Bo really making an effort was very encouraging. Lauren started noticing the little things Bo would do to make her feel appreciated or to make daily things run smoother. Bo was more conscious of her slovenly nature and Lauren couldn't remember the last time she had to ask her to pick up after herself. It had been nice, and as an added bonus, this new peace had carried over into their lovemaking, which had once again become a nightly occurrence.

The entire time Lauren had known her, Bo had always been, for lack of a better term, a horn-dog. Lauren could hold her own, but she found now that they weren't fighting or nit picking with each other, she had a lot more energy and a greater desire for sex. On a whim, she had even gone to an adult boutique to purchase some flavored body oils and a few other, uh, devices, that she was eager to try out. She and Bo had always enjoyed experimenting with new things and tonight after this dinner party was over, she had a feeling she was going to be in need of some serious naked stress relief.

The dinner party had been her idea, it was in essence a congratulatory dinner for Kenzi on landing the accounting job at her lab, but it would also serve as an easy way to appease her visiting parents. They had a preference for formal dinners and by using some of their friends as buffers it would cut down on the tension between her mother and Bo. Lauren loved her parents, but they were snobs, her mother especially. They had absolutely never approved of her marrying someone without "good breeding", although Lauren was fairly certain a lot of their reservations had more to do with the "gay thing" then any black marks Bo put on the family crest. Lauren knew Bo was less than thrilled with the dinner party idea, but had sucked it up to appease her wife. Luckily Bo had been in an especially good mood the last week since the Leaf's were going to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Lauren had offered to include that as part of the evening's celebrations, but Bo was keeping her excitement close to the vest as she was worried to much enthusiasm would jinx the team and get them booted out in the first round.

Lauren removed the gourmet meat and imported cheese platter she had purchased from the refridgerator and carried it in to the sitting room. Her parents were going to fashionably late, it was a typical high society power move Lauren was used to. She was beyond caring about that sort of thing. Lauren was proud of the life she and Bo had built together and unlike her siblings, they had done it independent of them. She had a trust fund of course, and as tempting as it had been in the past, especially during med school and her residency, to dip into it, she had refrained and now when she and Bo were ready to retire or if their future children wanted to attend college it would be available.

Placing the platter on the coffee table, she took a seat anxiously fidgeting while making idle conversation with Kenzi and Bo. Kenzi was annoyed, Nate had a gig the previous evening and now was running late. Lauren had been so focused on her research and working on her marriage that she hadn't really talked with Kenzi recently and apparently this was something that had been happening a lot. Nate had been taking off for random gigs here and there, not keeping in contact with Kenzi, then showing back up whenever and without any real money. Kenzi was frustrated because she was making strides in the right direction for her future family and he was off chasing pipe dreams about rock stardom.

"So where did he say he was?" Lauren asked.

"Mississauga," Kenzi sighed, "I know I should be glad he's working, but he is going to show back up here with 50 bucks in his pocket after the trip easily cost him half that in gas and food." Kenzi was clearly upset so Bo put an arm around her best friends shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, "I love him and I know he has his dreams, but I can't keep doing this. We have a child on the way, he needs to get a real job."

Bo kissed her forehead, "I agree, but honey you have to talk to him and soon, I hate seeing you like this."

Kenzi laid her head on Bo's shoulder, "I know."

Lauren opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the doorbell. Bo made an attempt to stand and Lauren waived her back down, "I'll get it, you two sit." She left them there, silently hoping that it would be Nate so that Kenzi could at least enjoy her party. Instead, upon opening the door she was greeted with Hale's smiling face.

"Hello Dr. Lewis, thank you for inviting me." He awkwardly held out a casserole dish, "My mom made this since I can't cook, but, uh, yeah, here you go."

"Please none of that Dr. Lewis stuff, tonight it's Lauren, OK?" Hale nodded as Lauren smiled taking the dish, "Tell your mother I said thank you, go ahead and put your coat on the bed, first bedroom at the top of the stairs then please join the others in the sitting room."

Hale complied easily enough, Lauren noted that he seemed really nervous, but she attributed that to the fact that he was what Bo would call an "egg head". From Lauren's perspective, he was like most people she had met with genius level IQ's; they often only made sense to each other and being forced to slow their brains down when dealing with people who don't think at the same speed often truncates their social skills. Of course it could just be because he has an enormous, and blatently obvious, crush on Kenzi. Smiling, she placed his dish on the counter, mmm... scalloped potatoes and ham, deciding it would go best next to the broccoli salad Kenzi had brought over. Originally she had planned on setting everything up on the table, but if Tamsin brought a dish as well she felt it would look to cluttered, it was better to lay the food laid out on the bar, buffet style.

The remaining guests trickled in, her parents being last of course, save Nate, who had yet to either show up or call and Bo's mother who sent a simple "Sorry" text. Tamsin had arrived right after Hale, bringing a lemon meringue pie, Lauren's favorite, for desert and surprising everyone by bringing Ciara as her "date". Lauren explained that she had introduced them on St. Patrick's Day, which had segued into Tamsin telling a ridiculous, and unfortunately true story, of a karaoke machine and a horrific drunken rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" by the three of them that night. Lauren was impressed with her wife, Bo was doing a good job keeping her jealousy in check. Even Tamsin greeting her with a hug and a peck on the cheek garnered no response, maybe her wife was growing, ugh finally.

Lauren noticed that despite Nate's absence, Kenzi seemed to be in better spirits. She was glad, it was her night after all, although she was fairly certain it had less to do with the pary and was more about the attention Hale was giving her. Lauren had been torn between watching their awkward flirting and counting how many times Ciara and Tamsin had eye sex. Lauren had been a little surprised at this potential new coupling, especially since neither of them had bothered mentioning they had been spending time together. Ciara did always have a thing for blondes and considering Tamsin could be quite charming if she wanted to, Lauren figured it made sense. The only remaining question really being Ciara's relationship status, did this mean she had finally broken things off with Dyson? Whatever was going on Lauren knew Tamsin was firmly of the "don't kiss and tell" variety so she made a mental note to pull Ciara aside later and ask her.

The evening moved seamlessly into the dinner portion; Lauren observed her parents turn their noses up at the idea of serving themselves, though that hadn't stopped them from filling up their plates. On most occasions her parents had usually ignored everyone besides herself and Ciara, whom they had deemed worthy because she came from "good stock". Lauren was used to their asshole behavior, but since she only saw them two or three times a year she never really pushed it with them beyond making it clear that disrespecting Bo or their relationship was unacceptable, to which they had always more or less complied. Tonight however, they were, for the most part, engaging with everyone.

After some notable criticisms from her mother about her choice of dinnerware, Tamsin lightened the mood by telling a few humorous stories about her and Lauren in Afghanistan. Then followed it up with the clean version of the tale of her first bombing raid. It had been her second day there; she was taking a shower, she had been so startled by the sirens that she simply reacted and had run to her designated station in shower shoes and a towel. Lauren watched Ciara's eyes light up and a slight blush cross her cheeks making her wonder if Tamsin had told her the unedited version of that story. The one where she had been wearing only shower shoes and one of the guys in her unit had to give her his jacket to cover her naked ass. Lauren frowned, she noticed Bo smirking, not surprising; the woman was so good at reading attraction, of course she had noticed the exchanges between them, no wonder her wife hadn't been acting jealous, so much for growth.

Dinner ended and everyone adjourned to the sitting room for cocktails, while Lauren, Tamsin, and Kenzi did the clean-up. Tamsin gestured to the pile of plates Lauren was carrying, "Go on Lo, we got this, spend time with your folks."

Kenzi gave her a questioning look, "Yeah Lo, we can put this stuff away. Besides I think your mom has cornered your wife and I distinctly heard the words 'baby clothes'."

"Shit, seriously?" Lauren's mind instantly went into panic mode, Bo alone with her mother, and talking about children, fuck! This was not good, they hadn't even told them about being in counseling.

Kenzi shook her head and started laughing, "Chillax doc, I'm just kiddin', jeez." She took the stack of plates out of Lauren's hands and made a shooing motion, "Go be with your guests babe, Tam Tam and I got this."

Tamsin quirked an eyebrow, "Tam Tam, really?"

Kenzi never minded and made another shooing motion. Lauren put her hands up in defeat, "OK, OK, I'm going, thanks guys." The two nodded then turned their attentions to the mess in the kitchen.

Lauren made her way to the siting room where Hale was at the wet bar mixing drinks for everyone, Ciara was chatting with Lauren's father about finances, and her mother was engaged with her wife. Seeing Lauren, Hale excused himself to go help Kenzi with the clean-up. Lauren opted for a glass of white wine, her fourth of the night, not to mention the two before dinner martini's and the shot of tequila she had with Kenzi. OK so maybe she was a little tipsy, she was sure her mother would have something to say about that. Even still, she decided to join Bo and her mother as their conversation had to be more interesting then projected stock increases.

Taking a seat next to her wife, Lauren relied on her years of grooming to feign sobriety while she politely waited to be acknowledged before speaking, "So what are we talking about?"

Bo turned to her wife plastering on her best fake smile, "Your mom and I were discussing the right way to decorate this room."

Lauren was confused, "This room is already decorated."

Bo shrugged, "That's what I said, but your mother has other ideas."

Ah, now it made sense, her mother knew Lauren wouldn't tolerate the woman insulting her friends or her wife, so she picked the next logical target, her home. Mustering the most firm, but polite tone she could, choosing her words carefully, Lauren looked at her and spoke, "Mother, Bo and I spent a lot of time on this room and we like how it is decorated." OK so technically that was a lie. The only thing she and Bo had done in this particular room was mount the television over the fireplace and move in a "u" shaped sectional, but still she liked how it was set up and was absolutely not interested in changing anything.

"Oh I know dear and I meant nothing by it," Lauren resisted the urge to say something snarky as her mother patted her knee in the most patronizing fashion, "It is just that your house is your calling card Lauren and this room should be it's center piece. I was merely informing Bo that a lighter paint color would really brighten the room and if you moved the wet bar to the out of the corner and along the east wall facing the fire place the room would look more symmetrical."

Struggling to keep her voice even, Lauren replied, "That would obstruct the couch."

"Yes," her mother acknowledged, "that was another thing I wanted to talk to you about. The furniture in this room is much to large. I think it would be best if you bought something a little more, modern."

Lauren took a deep breath, now she was getting pissed, "I bought it less than a year ago, how much more modern would you like me to get?"

Thankfully Bo, sensing the obvious tension, stepped in, "So Nancy, did Lauren tell you, the Maple Leafs are in the playoffs this year."

"She mentioned it, I would say congratulations, but since you are neither a coach nor a player, it isn't exactly warranted."

Lauren was shocked, "Mother, that was really uncalled for. Bo works very hard and does an amazing job."

"It's fine babe," Bo laughed it off and patted Lauren on the arm. "I suppose you are right, I did nothing to contribute to the building of this team, I just sit in my office and fling paper clips at Kenzi. I was actually feeling good about my self, career wise, thank you for putting me in my place." Bo set her drink down and smiled, "Oh and I was going to say congratulations to you on how well you are aging, but since that belongs to your plastic surgeon, I won't."

Her mother wore no expression as she picked up her empty wine glass and stood up, "If you will excuse me, since my daughter didn't hire a bar tender for this little soiree, I shall refresh my own drink."

On instinct Lauren rose as her mother departed while Bo remained seated. Lauren sighed looking down at her snickering wife, she held out her hand, "Come on, the night is still young, let's go see if we can offend my father as well."

Seeing her wife's expression, Bo instantly got herself under control, "Laur, you're not mad are you?"

Lauren tried to maintain her best stern face, but couldn't help the grin that broke out, "No, seeing you stand up to my mom like that," Lauren leaned in whispering in her ear, "It was actually kind of hot." Lauren placed a quick kiss on her cheek before pulling away and walking over to where Ciara and her father were sitting, as her stunned wife slowly followed.

Her father looked up and smiled, "Hello girls." He stood up and pulled them both into a warm hug. Her father had always been more accepting of Bo than her mother, the two had even bonded over hockey, naturally, so it was not surprising when he pulled her to the side and focused his attentions towards her. Lauren was grateful that at least one parent liked her wife and with them distracted this gave her an excellent oppotunity to convince Ciara to spill about whatever was going on between her and Tamsin.

"So Ciara," Lauren smirked, "What's new?"

"Oh nothing really," Ciara tried to act all innocent, but the blush creeping across her cheeks betrayed her.

"Hmm... right, so you and Tamsin," Lauren cocked her head to the side, flashing a sly grin, "I wasn't aware that you two had been spending time together."

"Oh Lauren honestly, I think Bo is a bad influence on you." Ciara took a breath and composed herself, "Tamsin and I are just friends."

"Just friends, sure, OK." Lauren didn't buy it for a second, but she decided to let it go, for now at least, even though she had noticed the way Ciara grinned when she said her name or how her eyes had lit up as soon as Tamsin had entered the room. Lauren sat back, hmm... now this was interesting, Tamsin, who was currently standing over by the wet bar talking to her mother, had been in the room for easily 10 minutes, so where did that leave Hale and Kenzi? Emboldened by the drinks she had consumed, Lauren excused herself to "investigate" the whereabouts of her missing guests.

Giggling to herself as she snuck around the hallway, she stopped next to the kitchen, making sure to stay hidden from view. Lauren couldn't exactly make out what they were saying, but their voices were light, mixed with intermittent laughter. Eh, boring, for some reason her alcohol saturated brain had thought this would be more exciting, instead they were just talking. As Lauren turned to walk away she heard the telltale smacking of a wet kiss, followed by a slew of Russian curse words and a loud slap. Shit! Cognisant of her guests, Lauren decided that now was as good a time as any to make her presence known.

She came around the wall feigning surprise at seeing them both there, "Hi guys, I just wanted to see if you needed any help?"

Startled, Kenzi and Hale instantly flew apart and failing miserably at trying to not look guilty. Kenzi, staring at her shoes, managed to find her voice first, "Nope doc, all set here."

Hale, still holding one of his cheeks, presumably where Kenzi had slapped him, nodded and smiled, "Yes Dr. Lew-, uh Lauren, we were just finishing up."

Lauren glanced around at the now spotless kitchen and was about to say something when she was interrupted by the ringing doorbell. She made a move to answer it, but the person on the other side decided to forsake protocol and simply crash on through. The three of them were greeted to the sight of Nate in all his glory. His clothes looked like they had been slept in and judging by the way he was swaying and the smell of booze surrounding him, he was what Bo would refer to as, "drunk off his ass".

Nate wobbled around the entryway until his bleary eyes fixated first on Kenzi and then on Hale who, sensing a threat, had instinctively placed himself in front of her. Drunk or not, apparently Nate was still able to comprehend that it was a protection move, one his girlfriend didn't seem to mind. He stumbled forward angrily pointing and shouting, "What the fuck bro!?" He blinked a few times the bright lights of the room were seemingly disorienting him, he attempted a few more steps then collapsed forward, taking one of Lauren's potted plants with him.

Lauren cringed, great, just fucking great, she didn't even have to turn around to know that rest of her guests had come into the room to see what the commotion was all about. Lauren swore she could feel her mother's judgemental eyes boring through the back of her skull. She held her breath, waiting for the snotty comment, and as if on cue her mother didn't disappoint.

"It's so wonderful the kind of company you keep Lauren," she sneered.

Lauren turned, looking directly at her, "Oh stuff it you uptight bitch."