WHAT WHAT ANOTHER CHAPTER ALREADY?! That's right fanchildren, Plesi is very nearly on the ball with her writing. So yes, I've been down and it's affected my posting schedule. But I'm feeling better now and here's the proof!
Yo, a quick word on names. It's pretty common at least amongst all the expectant parents I know for them to pick out baby names long before their bundles of joy arrive. It's also pretty normal for them to change their minds several times. So just, nothing's set in stone y'know?
As snug as a plug in a rug, right? Plug-a-plug-plug. Your butts. Get them over to The Ties That Bind Us. Shit's about to get reeeeal. I can't tell you what a delight it is to beta for that amazing story.
Content warning: implied kinkiness! Hadn't done that in a while, though y'all might miss it. Trauma, medical junk, hugs and tears.
"Good morning, Dr Bonnibel Sugar's phone. Umm, nope, she's tied up right now. I'm her partner. Can I take a message? Uhuh. Yep. No, she doesn't work weekends. Ok? Right, alright. Yeah. I'll certainly ask her to call you back when she's a little less tied up. Sure, thanks. Bye."
Marceline hung up the line and grinned down at Bonnie who frowned back and wriggled around impatiently, trying in vain to free her arms.
"You could have just held it to my face for me! Was that the hospital? Did you just tell my boss that I can't come to the phone because we're in the middle of messing around with bondage? I can't believe you actually said 'tied up'! That's not even a little bit subtle! Fucking hell, where are the handcuff keys? I need to call them back, it's gotta be something important."
It wasn't the absolute best start to a Saturday and it only got worse from there. When Bonnie was finally released and called them back it turned out that the hospital were pulling her in because they were having a crisis in accident and emergency and they needed every off-duty consultant to come in and pick up an emergency rotation.
"You've not had to work in A&E since you were a first year junior though." Marcy pointed out with a frown as Bonnie was reluctantly pulling a fresh blouse out of the wardrobe. "You're not an emergency doctor, you don't even do that kinda doctoring anymore. It's like asking me to play jazz; I can do it but it isn't something I've practiced in forever."
"It's not really the same thing as a concert, love. I'm technically qualified and there are patients who desperately need someone to see them, it's actually part of my contract. Please don't be weird about it. The juniors are on strike over that stupid contract they're trying to force on them and I fully support them so if I have to give up a Saturday morning then at least nobody has to go without emergency care. I have to go, try to have a good day. Love you, I'll call when I know what time I'll be home."
And with a hasty kiss on the cheek she hurried out of the door, leaving Marcy to sulk alone.
"Your Mama is too nice for her own good." Marceline told her bump as she slouched downstairs to the lounge. "Like, she's gonna go and spend the whole day slaving away in the most stressful department in the hospital just because the baby doctors are striking about something again. I bet she's gonna come home covered in sick people's germs and gross body fluids. It isn't fair, I had plans. Nothing you two need to know about though, it's grownup stuff. How are you feeling today, babies?"
Someone kicked her hard in the kidney and around the eye-watering pain Marceline smiled. They'd started responding to her voice, moving around more and kicking when she touched her bump or spoke to them.
"Well I'm glad you guys are happy, anyway. You wanna get some lunch? It's a bit early but I want lunch. You're such hungry little babies, you make me want to eat stuff all the time. If you keep this up I'm gonna be the size of a house by the time you get here. You don't want me to be a chunky Mummy, right? I wanna be slim and sexy at least a little bit longer, so I can make your teenage friends uncomfortable when they meet me."
Another kick, this time at the front of the bump near where she was resting her hand.
"Come on then my wiggly little salsa dancers, let's make your Mum a sandwich. Then we'll see if there's anything good on TV or maybe call your uncle Jake and ask if he wants to come over and watch and film and cook for us."
She never made it as far as the kitchen, the doorbell rang and Marcy turned to answer it with one hand still resting calmingly on her bump where the babies were wriggling around restlessly. It was the postman with a largish parcel addressed to both of them. Marceline took it inside, frowning down thoughtfully at the German postmark indicating it had come from Munich. Usually Bonnie's parents only wrote their daughter's name on anything they mailed, it was unusual to receive anything addressed to both of them.
"So what do you think your Oma and Opa have sent us, babies? Something nice? I bet it's something for you two." Marcy told her stomach as she lifted the box carefully into the lounge and rested it on the coffee table to open. They fluttered around a little more in reply and she smiled fondly again, stroking a hand down her stomach and grinning when something that could definitely have been a tiny foot prodded her in the palm. Inside the box there was a selection of cute baby clothes, some German language reading books and two hand-knitted plush bunnies. There was also a packet of Bonnie's favourite German candy and a bag with the Baynern Munich FC logo on the front that Marceline opened with a rueful smile, already knowing what it would contain. Sure enough two bright red newborn sized football shirts fell out; when she turned them over they were numbered 'one' and 'two' and each bore the name 'SUGAR' underneath their number.
"Oh your Granddaddy isn't going to like this at all, babies. He's a Manchester City fan, I can guarantee that the minute he sees these he's gonna make you wear tiny little Man City shirts instead. Poor babies, you don't even care about football, do you? I bet we can put one of these on Cinnamon though. He'd look super cute in a football shirt."
She was about to put the box down on the lounge floor, certain that before long the cats would be amusing themselves playing in it, when she noticed the DVD case at the very bottom of the box half hidden under the tissue paper that had been packed around the gifts. There was a note under the clear plastic lid;
Your mother found these old tapes in the attic and had me make a video for you, just to give you a little reminder of what you're letting yourself in for. I hope you have as much fun with your two miracles as we did with you and your brother. Please remember we're only ever a phone call away if you need anything.
Much love,
Dad xxx
With a grin of anticipation Marceline slid the DVD into the inbuilt player on the side of the TV. Home videos from when Bonnie was a kid? Yeah she could have watched those for hours, they were almost certainly a goldmine of teasing and blackmail material as well as utterly adorable. She wasn't disappointed.
The screen flared to life with a shaky shot of a chubby white and cream cat asleep in the sun, surrounded by what looked like a slightly overgrown summer garden. There were childish giggles off screen and someone with a high pitched, bossy voice hissed;
"Neddy, be quiet! You'll wake him up!"
The scene whirled in a swirl of colours and refocussed onto a little girl's face, maybe six or seven years old with long light red pigtails and a sprinkle of freckles on her pink slightly sunburnt nose. She nodded seriously to the camera and began speaking in a quiet, solemn voice. Marceline almost laughed out loud when she realised that Bonnie had been trying to imitate her favourite wildlife documentaries.
"Ahem. Here we can see an adult male of the Old Mr Creampuff species of big cat, napping after stealthily hunting down a lunch of tuna bits and half of my ham sandwich. This magnificent creature can sleep for up to ten hours at a time and smells like kitty poop and love. He's a- Neddy!"
The cameraman had apparently gotten bored and was now filming a large bumblebee that had landed on their mother's marigolds. The picture shook violently for a minute as the siblings presumably struggled for control of the camera and then tilted to show a close up of someone's freckly nose before a little boy's voice cut in.
"Bonnie let go! I wanna do the pictures! MAMA! BONNIE ISN'T PLAYING FAIR!"
"Gimme the camera! You woke Creampuff up, Ned! NED'S BEING MEAN TO THE CAT, MAMA!"
"What are you two fighting about now? Is that your father's camera?"
"Ned, run!"
The little film ended with a shaky shot of grass and the indistinct background of an adult shouting and breathless childish laughter.
"Your Mama is going to be so embarrassed when she sees this." Marcy murmured to her bump. "We'll have to time it perfectly. This video is just pure gold, it's amazing. Do you wanna watch it again? Let's make a sandwich and then watch it again. There's probably more too, this is the best film I've seen in months."
Really she wasn't at all annoyed that Bonnie had been unexpectedly called away to work, not when she had the funniest, cutest, most adorable blackmail material to watch and a wiggly, kicking bump to watch it with. Life really wasn't so bad, Marceline reflected as she made her way through to the kitchen.
...
Across town a fully adult and much more stressed out Bonnibel wasn't having anywhere near as much fun with her day. She pulled off her examination gloves and scrubbed her hands clean for what felt like the hundredth time that hour then tiredly picked up the next patient file, making her way on aching feet to the noisy and overcrowded A&E waiting room. The name on the triage sheet was halfway out of her mouth before she'd even really looked at it.
"Finn Madigan? Wait, Finn?"
It was him alright, with an icepack held over a rapidly swelling black eye and more than just his own blood soaking into his on-duty police uniform. He grinned up at her lopsidedly and managed to get to his feet on his fourth attempt, wobbling a little and grabbing her arm when she reached out to him.
"Hey Bon Bon. Dr Bon Bon. I got hit in m'head. Feel kinda weird. Eheh, you're a cancer doctor. Have I got cancer? Ooh my teeth're vibrating."
There was a muscular female police officer next to him with an obviously very drunk man in handcuffs also covered in blood. She nodded and stood up too, putting a hand on Finn's shoulder and peering worriedly into his face.
"You gonna be ok, buddy? I'll look after this guy, you go get your head looked at, right? Do you two know each other?" she added to Bonnie.
"Yes, he's a friend. Come on Finn, I'll check you over."
"That dude's my collar. I 'rested him." Finn told her proudly as she gently lead him to one of the examination cubicles.
"Awesome, well done." Bonnie replied, because she didn't know what else to say. Finn's chest puffed out with pride anyway and he swayed dangerously. She got him to sit and then carefully lie down on an examination table while she shone her pen light into his eyes to check his pupil dilation reflex and reaction times.
"Can you tell me where we are now, Finn?"
"Hospital. Mhm. But you're not an emergency doctor. M'confused. An I feel a bit sick." he replied with a frown. "S'Marcy here?"
"No honey, she's at home. I'm just filling in because the juniors are on strike today and they needed as many doctors as possible to help out. Here, you can be sick into this bucket if you need to. Can you tell me what happened just before you hit your head?"
"Uhh. Think I was at work. We got a call, someone fighting in th'pub. Came in to break it up, an one of them hit me with something. Bottle, I think. Didn't break though. An Fionna, that's my buddy outside. She called an ambulance. The sarge thought it was funny t'put us together cause our names sound the same an we're both blonde. I like her, she's cute."
"I doubt Phoebe would be happy to hear that if you still want to get back together." Bonnie replied with a distracted frown. "Can you touch the tip of your nose with your finger?"
He managed it the third time, scrunching up his face and concentrating far harder than she was comfortable with.
"S'hard. All blurry an stuff." Finn told her. "Hey, Bon? M'head hurts. Someone hit me."
"You said. Do you remember telling me that, Finn?" Bonnie asked him gently. He shook his head.
"Can you feel everything normally? Any tingling in your arms or legs or anything?"
"No, don't think so. Are we in hospital?"
"Yes, honey. I think you've got a concussion and you'll need a CT scan to check your head's ok. Do you want me to call your Dad?"
"M'Dad?"
"He's your next of kin, right?"
"Uh, dunno. If y'wanna?"
"Finn I legally need your consent to contact your next of kin and let them know you've been hurt."
"Wait, m'what? I'm hurt?"
Bonnie sighed; there was no pleasure at all in having to use the legal pathways for patients unable to make decisions for themselves. Not when it was her friend and he'd been hurt in the line of duty yet again. She hoped that once he was recovered from the concussion it didn't cause him any psychological problems, she knew how much Finn hated hospitals and being injured.
"Never mind, right now you're definitely lacking mental capacity. I'm gonna get someone to make you comfortable and put you on the assessment ward, ok? I'll ring your father and let him know you got hurt. You'll probably need to stay at least tonight so we can keep an eye on you, I'll come check on you when my shift finishes."
Finn just stared at her in confusion as she scribbled some notes onto his chart and then made a quick phone call to the assessment ward to make sure they had a bed for him. When the porters came to wheel him up to the ward she dug out the correct paperwork and called his father. The police had probably already called whoever Finn had as his emergency contact; no doubt Jake was already on his way to the hospital. But if someone needed to make medical decisions for Finn when he wasn't able to make them for himself then for now it would need to be his father unless he got married one day or Joshua passed away. She sighed again to herself, worried about her friend as well as exhausted from the relentless pace of a Saturday afternoon in a packed accident and emergency department. Soon she'd be able to reduce her hours and focus more on her growing family. Bonnie loved her job, she really did, but a part of her couldn't wait to have a little more free time and a little less crippling stress piled on top of her.
...
It was past eight in the evening when the front door finally slammed closed, announcing Bonnie had made it home at last. Marcy glanced at the clock over the TV; Bonnie had been working for more than ten hours and she was almost certainly ready to drop from exhaustion. Marceline hauled herself up off the sofa and went through to the hall to greet her girlfriend.
"Hey babe, how was work?" she asked gently while Bonnie hung up her coat and shook the rain out of her hair.
"Urgh, just awful. Honestly, the day I've had. Is your bump bigger? It looks bigger than it did this morning, I'm sure of it." Bonnie replied with a frown.
"Probably. I think they've been running through their kung fu poses all afternoon, little monsters have only just stopped dancing on my bladder and decided to take a nap. You said you'd call when you were coming home, your dinner's still in the fridge. Sorry."
Marcy murmured the last part quietly, she'd slipped around the other woman and began gently kneading her tense shoulders while Bonnie rolled her head from side to side and made happy relieved noises at the attention.
"Mmm , sorry. That's absolutely the best thing I've felt all day. Finn ended up in A&E with concussion, someone tried to break a bottle on his face in a bar brawl. Gave me the shock of my life when he landed on my patient list. I went up to check on him before I came home, forgot to call. He's fine though, they're discharging him tomorrow. I was pretty surprised by apparently he's having Phoebe stay with him for a couple of days to recover, guess him getting hurt made her think about their relationship? No idea who even told her about it but I'd gamble on maybe Jake. I was really worried about him but his CT came back clean so it's nothing too awful, no bleeding or obvious brain swelling. Thought we could take dinner and a film over tomorrow night, keep them company if you like?"
"Poor Finn. Yeah, that sounds good. Go put your feet up and I'll reheat your dinner, babe."
Bonnie shuffled off to get changed out of her work clothes and Marceline went through to the kitchen, accompanied by Cinnamon who'd magically materialised the moment he'd heard Bonnie's voice.
"Come on ginger-butt, I need to get to the fridge." Marcy told him, shoving him out of the way gently with her foot. Cinnamon looked up at her with big sad eyes and meowed plaintively. The only warning Marceline got before he jumped was when he bunched himself and wiggled his butt for half a second. Then several kilos of affectionate but rather stupid cat landed heavily on her shoulder and his whiskery face was breathing gross fishy breath into her ear.
"Oof, Cinnamon! You're not a parrot, you can't ride around on my shoulder. You're such an adorable moron." she told him, reaching up to pet his ears and making no effort to move him.
Marcy reheated the pork steaks and mushroom sauce she'd made earlier with Cinnamon proudly supervising from his place on her shoulder. When Peppermint came in through the cat flap in the back door he hissed in annoyance and slunk off to sit on the stairs, the only place in the house he would still be able to see what was going on in the kitchen and also be higher up than Cinnamon.
"Bon, food's ready." Marcy called up the stairs. She frowned when she got no reply and hastily set the plates down on the dining table before grabbing Cinnamon and pulling him down from her shoulders.
"Don't you dare even think about touching that food, fur-butt." she told him seriously. "I will make you into a hat, I'm not even kidding."
He stared back with big innocent eyes and Marcy shook her head at him before putting him down and pushing him in the direction of the lounge. She made her way upstairs as quickly as she was able and couldn't quite keep back a smile when she looked around the bedroom door. Bonnie was fast asleep on the bed with her glasses mashed against her face and halfway into her pyjamas.
"Hey, nerd. You can't nap like that, you're gonna get a sore neck." Marcy told her gently, shaking her shoulder and stroking back a loose wisp of strawberry blonde hair from her partner's face.
"Uh, sorry. I, um, I was napping?" Bonnie asked fuzzily. She blinked up owlishly at Marcy before the taller woman slipped her glasses off for her and put them on the night stand.
"Yeah, you were flat-out. I made you some dinner, do you feel up to eating?"
"Food sounds wonderful. Thanks, love. Oh hey little guy." Bonnie added with a sleepy smile, reaching out to pet Cinnamon where he'd jumped up on the pillow next to her. After a second though she frowned in confusion. "Marcy? What's on his face?"
"Mushroom sauce. Goddammit. What did I say, ginger-butt? Did you think I was joking about making you into a hat? Babe, I dunno how to break this to you. I think Cinnamon might have eaten your dinner."
Cinnamon narrowly avoided being turned into a hat but only because he rolled onto his back and started purring adorably while Marcy was telling him off. In the end they ordered Chinese and curled up on the sofa together with a film. Bonnie was fast asleep again before the end of the third scene.
...
They got a taxi to Finn's place the next afternoon, Bonnie wouldn't even consider parking either of their cars in the bad neighbourhood his apartment was in. He answered the intercom after a minute and pressed the buzzer to unlock the door to the main building.
"Would it kill him to move somewhere with an elevator?" Marcy groused as she hauled herself up the stairs to his third floor apartment.
"You like walking, you always say you'd rather walk." Bonnie reminded her.
"Liked. I liked walking. Past tense. It's not fun when I'm lugging around two increasingly large passengers."
"You wanted babies, love. I suggested we get another kitten." Bonnie reminded her mischievously.
Marcy opened her mouth to reply but at that moment Finn opened his apartment door and grinned at them so she had no choice but to shut up and accept his hug. The look on her face said their conversation was far from over, though.
"Hey, there's my hero! Thanks for patching my head up yesterday." the blonde man grinned to Bonnie once he'd finished squeezing her a little too hard around the ribs.
"Just try not to get hit on the head again, ok?" she told him gently. "You look like you lost a pro boxing match."
They followed him inside; the first thing that Marcy noticed was that the place looked suspiciously clean.
"Finn, did you spend the day cleaning before Phoebe came over?" she asked him in an undertone as they trooped into his tiny lounge.
"No, she was here when Jake dropped me off. She cleaned. Cooked too, and, um, I think we might be back together." he muttered around a deepening blush. Marcy and Bonnie exchanged a look but they didn't say anything, the redhead in question had just come through from the kitchen with a huge tray of pasta that she put on the table with a flourish.
"Lovely to see you both again, I made mac n cheese. Is that ok for everyone?" Phoebe asked brightly.
"Sounds great. How are you?" Marcy replied with an easy smile.
It was plain to see why Finn thought they were back together over dinner. He was attentive and caring towards her, complimented her on a range of things from her looks to her intelligence and smiled warmly every time their eyes met. If she hadn't been so worried about him before Marcy might have found it a bit sickening but she was just happy for her friend, she knew how badly he'd missed Phoebe. So after they'd finished eating while Bonnie was checking Finn's reflexes again in the lounge Marcy eased her way into the small kitchen and began helping the younger woman wash up, thoughtfully composing what she was going to say in her head.
"You're trying to think of a subtle way to tell me not to break his heart again, yeah?" Phoebe spoke up unexpectedly. Marcy shrugged, there was no point pretending otherwise.
"He's one of my best friends in the world. Anyone who breaks his heart is automatically my enemy and I like you too much to hate you. So please, if you're not sure this time be honest with him. But don't pretend like everything's going great then just drop him without warning. He's been a real mess." she replied after a long moment of silence. Phoebe was staring down into the sink, avoiding her gaze.
To Marcy's absolute horror the redhead let out a little sob and next second she'd thrown her arms around Marceline's neck and was crying against her shoulder.
"I didn't mean to hurt him! I just got scared, he started talking about wanting a family and I freaked out! It just all got really intense really fast and I needed to breathe. The more I tried to pull back a little the harder he clung on, it was too much in the end." she whispered around her tears.
"Hey, it's ok. Just, maybe you should tell him that? He thought you thought he was too immature." Marcy replied as she patted Phoebe's back awkwardly.
"I didn't know what to say, I love his stupid jokes really. I love him. And that frightened me because I'm not used to loving people. I'm a bit messed up." Phoebe sniffed guiltily.
Marcy hadn't been wrong in what she'd told Finn before Christmas, she mused. Phoebe must have been tortured by guilt over hurting him. And it wasn't like Marcy couldn't sympathise with how that felt; she'd had a freak out of her own when things has been just that bit too perfect with Bonnie.
"Hey, look, I've been there. I can't judge you for doing the same thing I did, you just kept it going longer. Best thing you can do just open up and tell him everything." Marcy told Phoebe. The younger woman unwrapped her arms from around Marcy's neck and backed up a little, wiping her eyes in embarrassment.
"I dunno what to say to him. I was so glad you guys offered to come over tonight cause I knew we were gonna need to talk it out but I haven't worked out what to tell him." Phoebe mumbled.
"Then how about writing a letter? Put it all down on paper and you can work out exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it, read through it and make sure it's perfect before you give it to him." Marcy suggested. Phoebe nodded slowly as she turned back to the washing up.
"I can do that. That sounds like a really good idea, thanks Marcy."
"Turns out I'm a bit of a love expert. Who'd have known?" she replied with a small smile.
Marcy was still turning it all over in her head that night as they took a taxi home; she desperately hoped Finn wasn't about to get hurt again.
"Hey. You ok?" Bonnie asked her as they were sliding into bed together. "You've been kinda quiet."
"Just thinking. Hey, you didn't mean what you said earlier did you? About wanting a kitten instead of the babies?" Marcy replied carefully. She tried to keep any trace of insecurity out of her voice but when warm arms slid around her waist and gently pulled her the rest of the way down into the sheets she knew she'd been rumbled. Marcy struggled over onto her side so she could look Bonnie in the eyes, momentarily distracted by how lovely her partner looked in the golden glow of the bedside lamp.
"I was joking, love. I want these babies as much as you do." Bonnie told her softly as she traced a long, slender finger around the curve of Marcy's smile.
"Ok. I just got worried, you know?"
"I know. Sorry, it was a bad taste joke. I didn't mean to make you sad."
"You didn't. I was thinking about Finn and Phoebe. You think they're gonna work it out?"
"Hope so. He's crazy about her, it's plain to see." Bonnie replied. She reached over and flicked the light off, not even complaining when Marcy wrapped around her like a living blanket and rested her head on the redhead's shoulder instead of the pillow.
That was how every day should end for everyone, Marcy thought drowsily. Arms around someone they loved, safe and comfortable together and certain of how each other felt. Secure. She hoped Finn was going to sleep like that too, he deserved happiness and it looked like Phoebe made him happy.
"Love you." Bonnie mumbled in the darkness.
"Love you too. Sleep well, babe."