Next chapter, hope you like it. As always thanks for the reviews.
Tked – I like that you hate Katy! She has been pretty horrible. Eden wanting them to get along so quickly was my way of trying to convey just how important this person is to her. As you will see from the following chapter, she doesn't push too hard! Anyway as one of the people who always reviews, your thoughts are always welcome, and I really appreciate them – I hope you enjoy this next chapter
Disclaimer: CSI New York and its characters are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS. No infringement is intended. Eden Ashley is an original character. All mine.
It has been about a month since Stella agreed to try and make things work with Katy for Eden's sake, but so far she has managed to avoid the actual meeting. Not that she's had to try particularly hard, or even that she's wanted to put it off, it's just the babies are officially six weeks old now, and they have been hard work. Anytime they have had a moment, the two of them have been using it to sleep. They've barely had time for each other, let alone Katy. But now things are settling down, the babies are getting into a routine, they are managing to sleep solidly for a few hours, at night too, and the women feel like they are starting to thrive in their new life and their new roles, Stella as a mother, and Eden as a working mother.
Mac couldn't be more proud of his daughter; she's been coming into work and giving her all, being as professional as ever despite the fact she looks exhausted. It seems she is getting less and less exhausted the longer time goes on, from what Eden has been telling him, she and Stella seem to be getting the babies under control. But the main thing he's garnered from his daughter's daily updates, is that her and Stella's lives currently consist of babies, work and sleep, and not much else. He decides he wants to help them with that.
He wanders into the AV lab where he finds Eden and Adam laughing and joking. Adam straightens up immediately; his fear of authority figures has always made Mac smile.
"Hey guy's how's the case going?"
Eden takes pity on her friend and answers the question. "Well Adam here is trying to pinpoint a cell phone signal for me, if he cracks it, the case will be going amazingly well."
Adam smiles and turns his concentration back to the computer screen. Satisfied that he has Eden's sole attention.
"What are your plans for tonight?" Mac's question takes Eden by surprise.
"Plans?" She acts confused. "Yeah I think I just about remember what they are." She laughs, as does Mac.
"You don't look as tired as usual." Mac comments on his recent observation.
"Yeah the babies are really good." Her grin doubles in size.
"It's Friday night, why don't you and Stella go out, have a good time."
"Well I know I said they're good. But I don't think they're quite ready to look after themselves."
Mac shakes his head exasperated. "This is me offering to babysit Eden."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Ashley is deadly serious.
"There's only one way to find out." He can tell Eden isn't convinced. "Come on Eden, I'm they're Grandpa. How about I promise to call you at any sign of trouble."
Ashley feels a bit like she's given her father the impression she doesn't want him to babysit. Which couldn't be further from the truth, she would love nothing more than to spend some quality time with her wife.
"I'm in. I'm so in." Ashley is emphatic. "But Stella might struggle to leave them."
Mac nods he knows she hasn't left their side so far, well the only other person she has trusted them with is Eden, so he can understand that this could be hard for her.
Ashley starts to think out loud. "How about we just don't tell her?"
"I think she'd notice."
Ashley rolls her eyes. "I mean we could just spring it on her later. That way she won't have the chance to freak out about leaving them."
"Arrrgh you mean ambush her?" The cheeky glint in his eyes means he's teasing his daughter.
Ashley tuts. "Dad really, you make it sound awful, it will be for her own good in the end."
"You know her best."
"Well okay she might not be happy about it to start with, but I'm sure I'll be able to charm her round." Ashley winks at her father.
Now it's Mac's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay Kiddo, I'll leave it with you. Just let me know what time I have to be at your place."
They exchange smiles and Mac wanders back off out into the bowels of the lab. Ashley is genuinely excited at the thought of spending some quality time with Stella.
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Ashley had arrived home around 20 minutes ago, and started to put her plan into action. She makes sure the babies are content, they are fed, changed, and ready for bed. She loves spending time with her two little guys. They are getting more and more of their own personalities and much to the delight of their parents have started smiling. Which never fails to melt Ashley's heart.
Stella has watched her wife intently, and she starts to wonder what's going on. She gave her a small kiss and went to work with the babies straight away, which in itself isn't unusual, but today Eden seems to be in a rush, when Stella asked her what she wanted to do for dinner, she mumbled something about ordering food in. There is definitely something fishy going on here.
Ashley wanders back into the main room, to find Stella sitting on the couch eyeing her suspiciously. Before she has a chance to question her, the door bell rings.
"I'll get it." Ashley scampers out of the room before Stella has a chance to vocalise the fact that she has no idea who it could be at the door.
Ashley walks back into the room with Mac in tow. Stella instantly smiles and rises to greet her oldest friend.
"Mac, hi." She kisses him on the cheek. "Are you here to visit the grand kids?" Stella still takes delight in the fact that her children are Mac's grandchildren; she knows it makes him feel old. She can't help but tease him.
"Err." Mac stumbles over his words, not really sure what to say. Luckily his daughter takes over.
"If you're completely against the idea, you can say no." Stella gives her wife a look which states 'I have no idea what you're talking about'.
Deep breath. "Mac is here to babysit. Just for a couple of hours, just give us the chance to spend some quality time together, just us."
Stella is touched, she knows why Eden looks so worried, the thought of leaving Theo and Elissa even if it's just for a couple of hours really doesn't sit well with her, but there's no one she'd rather leave them with than Mac.
Mac decides to try and help his daughter out, as Stella hasn't actually spoken yet, he assumes she's not a fan of the idea.
"I promise the first sign of any trouble, or if I panic I will call you guys straight away."
Ashley takes over. "I made us reservations at the Jade Hotel restaurant. So it's only like 5 minutes away, so in the unlikely event that Dad does need us back here, we're still in the area."
Stella feels like she's being tag teamed. She smiles father and daughter look as scared as each other. She puts them out of their misery, she guesses she's going to have to leave the twins at some point, why not now, and the fact that they will only be down the street really calms her.
"Great, I'll go and get ready." Stella smirks and saunters off into her bedroom. Ashley lets the go of the breath she's been holding. Pure relief, which quickly turns into excitement at the thought that she gets to take her wife on a date tonight.
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They have had a brilliant evening so far. Stella has worried a lot, Mac has had a constant string of text messages from both women, but the babies are fine, and has the evening is going on; they are both starting to relax a little. They had drinks when they first arrived, cocktails, it's been so long since Stella has had any alcohol she's surprised she's not already drunk. Truth be told, she feels a little drunk, not from alcohol, but from Eden, she has been mesmerised by her wife this evening, she is beautiful, she has been funny, considerate and loving, and Stella still finds herself thinking she can't believe how lucky she is to have the amazing woman in her life. She reaches her hand across the dinner table and places it on top of Eden's.
"Thank you for making me do this. I've had the best time."
Ashley is so pleased. It's been nice, they've just been able to chat, and look at each other, not having to worry about when the next cry is going to come through the baby monitor. Don't get it wrong, her heart aches with how much she's missing the twins right now, and she'd be lying if she said she hasn't been thinking about how they're doing every five seconds.
"The night is still young."
This gives Stella an evil thought. "Did you say this place is a hotel?"
"Yeah." Ashley wonders where her wife is going with this.
"Do you think they rent rooms by the hour?" Stella bites her bottom lip, excited at the thought.
Ashley can't believe her ears. She and Stella haven't made love in so long; she decides to continue down this playful path. "Stella, this is a very classy place. I doubt they rent by the hour. But I'd be willing to pay for the whole night if you're suggesting what I think you are?"
Stella wiggles her eyebrows. "I'm suggesting."
Ashley feels a jolt of electricity at her wife's words. "Are you sure that you're okay to?"
"I had my six week check with Ava yesterday, everything is fine. It was the first question I asked her."
Stella obviously wants this as much as Ashley does, the last obstacle Ashley can think of. "What about Dad?"
"I've already text him, he's fine to hang around for a couple more hours, and in fact he said he's in no rush to go anywhere." Now Eden is biting her lip, Stella loves the effect she has on Eden, her pupils dilated, her mouth hanging open. Stella decides to really get to her. "So Ashley, what do you reckon, do you think we could keep ourselves occupied for a couple of hours?"
Jackpot, Ashley smiles, this is turning into the best date night ever.
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What an amazing few hours, Ashley looks across at her wife who appears to be falling asleep, Ashley is in the middle of getting dressed, she kicks the bed gently causing Stella to open her eyes.
"Hey, don't you be falling to sleep."
"Are you kidding, after what you just did to me, I'm exhausted. I want to stay here forever."
Ashley smirks, the passion reignites within her at Stella's words, and she would love nothing more than to dive back into the bed, but she knows they can't. "And what about our children, and my father?"
"Okay, okay, spoilsport." Stella reluctantly moves and starts to search for her own clothes which are strewn around the hotel room. As she's pottering around, she remembers a subject she had wanted to bring up over dinner, but had been somewhat distracted.
"I was thinking about Katy." Stella starts tentatively.
Ashley can't pass this opportunity up. "What just now?" She gestures her head towards the bed.
Stella's head whips up, just in time to see her wife dissolve into giggles. "Ha ha very funny." She supposes she left herself wide open for that one.
"Seriously Eden."
Ashley gets serious; she knows Stella's thoughts on the matter are hugely important to her, she nods, face deadly serious.
"I think I'm ready to try to get on with her?"
Ashley can't believe it, she hasn't really pressed the issue since Stella had agreed to go out with Katy all those weeks ago, instead preferring not to push her, and hoping that Stella would come to her regarding the issue. It appears today is the day.
"Really?"
Stella nods. "I know how important this is to you. And you do so much for me and the twins; I guess I can do this for you."
"Stella I do those things for you, because you're my family. I love you and the twins. I don't expect anything in return."
"I know that. But it works both ways Eden, I love you. And I want to do this for you. Because I know how much it hurts you, to not have her in your life. And I hate the thought that you're in pain."
"Thank you." Ashley feels really emotional, she is frantically trying to fight back the tears she can feel forming. It's not long before she finds herself being encompassed in her wife's arms, and the tears flow. She clings onto Stella for dear life. What did she ever do to deserve someone like this in her life?
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The 'date' was set up pretty quickly after Stella brought it up at the hotel, Stella deciding she wanted to bite the bullet and get it over with. She can't say she's particularly looking forward to it. But the night has arrived. Stella has been locked away in the bedroom getting ready, she wants to make sure her outfit is perfect, she wants it to exude confidence, but not be too scary, she is supposed to be making her peace with this woman.
Stella wanders into the front room to find Eden set up on the living room floor, with the babies laid out in front of her on a blanket, she currently hovering over the two children and pulling funny faces at them, Theo and Elissa are squealing with pure delight at their mother. Stella loves watching Eden with their children, she is so good with them, a natural, and she can tell, even at only a couple of months old, the two babies absolutely idolise her.
"So how do I look?" Stella feels bad almost for breaking the magical moment.
Ashley turns to look at her wife and her jaw drops. "You look stunning." She rises up onto her knees to give Stella her full attention. The smile drops from her face. "Should I be worried? I mean you are going on a date with my ex girlfriend."
Stella smacks her wife gently on the shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm doing this for you remember. I just wanted to show her how hot your wife is."
"Well mission accomplished."
Before they have a chance to discuss it further, they hear the sound of their front door opening, and within seconds Flack and Adam waltz into the front room. Ashley decided that the boys could keep her company this evening, and if they're honest, they are looking forward to spending some quality time with Theo and Elissa, so much so, Flack has come baring gifts.
"Ah good, Stella you're still here. You can see the greatness that I have purchased your children."
All eyes are on him, as he rustles around in his bag. He looks well pleased with himself when he pulls out two small pieces of material, one blue and one very pink. He holds them up for the two moms, so they can see what they are; bibs. And can see what they say; 'Mommy's little Knicks fan'. Ashley smiles delighted, Stella rolls her eyes, which Flack picks up on.
"Hey, I had to have these custom made, the ones in the Knicks store all said 'Daddy's little Knicks fan'".
Adam not to be out done, pulls out his own present, he follows the same pattern as Flack, revealing them to be baby grows, holding them up long enough for the two women to read the inscription on the front. Ashley reads it out loud.
"'I love my mommies'. Cute."
Adam and Flack throw their gifts onto the table, highly satisfied with themselves. Before shrugging their coats off and diving down to join Ashley on the living room floor, they instantly take over playing with the babies, these two absolutely love being uncles. Again Stella's heart swells at the sight of the five of them all playing. She checks her watch and realises she needs to leave. Now all she feels is dread.
"Right guys, have fun. I'll see you all later."
Stella leans down and kisses Eden, who feels sympathy for Stella, but immense joy that her wife is doing this for her. "Good luck. Call me if you need me."
Stella makes her way to the front door, throwing back over her shoulder. "Try not to mess the place up too much guys."
The three remaining adults snigger. Then Adam remembers he has something he wants to discuss with Ashley.
"So Ash, where's Mac, did he not want to get involved in this babysitting party?"
"I don't think he's recovered from last week, when he had them both to himself." She chuckles, but that wasn't really the answer Adam was after. Flack decides to help him out a little.
"So it's not that he's got other plans or anything?" The penny drops for Ashley, these two are fishing for information and with good reason; she knows where her Dad is tonight. Flack continues.
"It's just when I went to the lab earlier to collect my man Adam here, Mac seemed a little dressed up. Y'know really dressed to impress."
Ashley smirks, as Adam takes over. "Yeah and the cologne, you could smell from the elevator."
Ashley cringes hoping her father hasn't really overdone it with the aftershave. These two are worse than women for gossip. She takes pity on them.
"Well let's just say Stella isn't the only one who has a date tonight."
She laughs out loud as both Flack and Adam allow their jaw to drop. Adam speaks first. "Who's he on a date with?"
"I don't know, Christine something?" She can't help her next line. "Tell me guys, is it upsetting that your 50 year old boss has a better love life than you do?"
That certainly shuts them up. Only momentarily though Flack turns to Elissa, and tickles her stomach. "Your Grandpa's on a date huh. Your grandpa's on a date." He does it in his best baby voice, and he's rewarded with an almighty giggle from the young Bonasera. The three adults can't help their own laughs, and they decide their main mission for the next 20 minutes at least will be to make both babies giggle like idiots.
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Stella and Katy have arranged to meet at a small bar, which should be relatively quiet, which will give them a chance to really talk. Stella has just crossed the threshold of the bar, and spots the younger red haired woman straight away. She takes a deep breath and heads right over. Katy rises from her chair as soon as she sees Stella ready to greet her.
"Hi Stella, thank you for coming." It's all a bit awkward, neither woman really knows what to do; Stella just nods and starts to remove her jacket. Katy can't help but appreciate this woman, she really is very beautiful, she can see why Eden fell for her.
"I thought we could order a bottle of wine, Eden said you like wine."
"Wine's fine." It seems Stella isn't going to make this easy for Katy, and why should she. The younger woman has acted horribly throughout.
"Stella I'm sorry." Katy feels like she needed to get that out there from the off.
Stella looks her over; she decides to be brutally honest. "I'm not sure I believe you." She sees Katy's face drop. "But my wife believes you are sorry, and for her I'm willing to give you the chance to explain, why you did what you did. And once all the cards are on the table, maybe we can move forward."
Katy smiles, although she's a little scared of Stella right now, she's glad she's going to get the chance to try and explain herself.
"I need to know why you acted the way you did when you arrived in New York."
Katy nods. This is not going to be easy.
"Eden was the love of my life. While I was working for the FBI, for that whole 13 years, I hated myself for what I'd done to her. Being in the FBI had its perks; I could keep an eye on her, up to a point. I knew when she was released from hospital, when she finished school, when she went to Detroit, and when she moved to New York."
"Pro stalker." Stella tries to lighten the mood a little she can tell Katy is getting pretty emotional.
"I did feel like a stalker. But when she moved to New York, I had my hopes raised."
Stella doesn't really understand this, but Katy is about to explain. "Eden and I had always dreamed about moving to New York, and living our life here. When she moved, I guess I thought she moved for me. It's ridiculous, I know, as far as she was concerned I was dead. But I really did have hope, you know?"
She looks at Stella to see if she's understanding anything she's saying, Stella nods, and that gives her the confidence to continue.
"What you've got to remember Stella, is Eden had 10 years to get over me before she met you, and she didn't exactly cope very well. I don't know how much she told you about her time in Detroit, but I think more often than not she tried to find happiness at the bottom of a bottle, she had more than a few DUI's back then."
"She lost her drivers license and almost got kicked off the force." Stella and Eden have discussed her past and in particular her drinking, especially when it threatened to become a problem in her present. Stella doesn't think her wife is or has ever been an alcoholic, but she knows when it comes to drink, she has a tendency to go too far.
Katy doesn't know why she's surprised that Eden has shared this aspect of her life with Stella they are married after all, she nods to show she agrees with Stella's statement, and then carries on with her explanation.
"The point I'm trying to make, is that neither of us acted favourably, when she thought she'd lost me, she turned to drink, and it took her 10 years, and meeting you to get over me. When I realised I'd lost her for good, I couldn't cope either, and I acted disgustingly, but I haven't been given the luxury of ten years, I've been told 'you've lost her, deal with it', I'm expected to be okay with it straight away."
"Katy believe me, I can imagine how heartbroken you must have been when you found out about me, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost Eden, but I was six months pregnant, and you told me you were going to take away the mother of my children, that's low regardless of the circumstances, that's what I'm having a hard time forgiving." Stella hopes that she's being clear here.
"I understand that. And I am truly Sorry Stella. I was grieving I wasn't myself, and I can't believe I put that extra stress on you, when you were so far gone in your pregnancy. I hate myself for that, and worse I know Eden hates me for how I acted too." She is doing a fair job of keeping the tears at bay; a few deep breaths help her compose herself further.
Stella gets it, she really does, grief can have an almighty affect on someone, and make them do horrible and hurtful things. As well as coming across as being completely genuine, Katy also seems highly ashamed at her behaviour. She can just about let this slide, but there is one other thing that Stella has to know. "Are you still in love with my wife?"
In the interests of being completely honest Katy delivers her answer. "Yes." She struggles to keep her composure. "But Stella you have to believe me when I say, I'm trying really hard not to be."
Stella knows this isn't an easy task from back when she was trying to deny her own feelings for Eden. Her heart goes out to Katy, Stella can tell she's resigned to fact that she's lost Eden, and she's really trying. Stella is actually quite worried about her; she has a dullness to her eyes almost as if the life has drained from them. She knows how self destructive Eden became when she lost Katy, and she finds herself terrified that Katy will go down the same path, and if she succeeds, Stella knows Eden won't recover from losing this woman again.
So Stella makes her peace with it. Partly because she has no idea how she would react in the same circumstances, only that it wouldn't be pleasant for the people around her. That along with the fact that she can tell by looking at Katy that she needs to be a part of her family, just as much as Eden needs her to be a part of it.
"I know that feeling." Katy looks shocked. "You haven't heard the story of me and Eden getting together yet have you?"
Katy shakes her head no; delighted that Stella seems to have softened towards her. Stella continues. "Well let's just say I'd never been with a woman before, and I wasn't exactly welcoming of Eden's advances. . ."
And just like that they settled into an evening of stories about Eden, and rather than being jealous of the other, they both embraced them as a part of Eden's life that they missed out on, and they both really enjoyed them, and more than that, needed to hear the stories. It seems they may well be able to be civil after all.
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Stella has just returned home it's around 11.30pm she's surprised at just how good a night she has had with Katy. Once they got the heavy stuff out of the way, it had been brilliant; she can see why Eden has been so adamant about having her in their lives. She walks into the front room and finds Flack and Adam asleep on one couch and Eden slumped in one of the comfy chairs also sock on, gripping one of the baby monitors in her hand against her chest. The twins obviously wore the three of them out.
Stella moves towards Eden, and leans down placing a gentle kiss onto her lips. Ashley catches them straight away, and pulls Stella into a more forceful kiss; maybe she wasn't as asleep as first thought! Ashley pulls Stella onto her lap, never breaking the kiss. Eventually she pulls back; Stella can't help but think she looks cute, with her tired eyes. Ashley smiles, Stella is in a very good mood, that's got to be good right?
"How did it go?"
"Put it this way, I'm sure in time, Katy and I could be friends."
"Really?"
"Really." Stella doesn't want to talk any more; her lips are back on Eden's. She becomes acutely aware that Flack and Adam are still in the room, so before things progress any further, she pulls Eden from the chair, and drags her towards the bedroom, kissing all the way. As they pass the couch Ashley drops the baby monitor onto Flack and Adam on the couch, enjoy boys.
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There you go. I've been thinking about introducing the Christine character for a while, I feel like Mac's getting a little lonely. So she will be sticking around. As will Katy, although things may get a little darker for her as she starts spending time with Eden and Stella. . .
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