Hello everyone! I do apologize for the long-awaited update but between a touch of writer's block, other stories needing my attention, real world life, and hockey playoffs starting this week, it's been a busy time! Here we are! Enjoy!

When Winnie arrived at the O&B Canteen on King Street, a short walk from her house, she didn't bother fighting the butterflies doing acrobatics in her stomach. Her girls were taking her out for a proper celebration of her birthday; it made her feel like a princess or better, like a little girl full of magic and wonder once more. Being a cop was a very disilusioning job in terms of human nature, and Winnie loved the moments that let her believe that there was still magic in the world.

Moments like that morning with Spike definitely reminded her of such things, she thought with a little snicker.

She approached the hostess stand, saw the nattily dressed woman with dark curly hair send her a friendly smile. 'Hi, I'm meeting a party here, Jules Callaghan?'

'Yes, of course right this way.'

The hostess led her to a table on the patio; it was a beautiful fall day and not nearly as busy as it had been a week ago when the Toronto International Film Festival had been on which made sitting on the patio much more enjoyable. Spike had surprised Winnie and taken her to the festival, scoring them tickets to some films thanks to one of his myriad cousins who volunteered with the TIFF. They'd even managed to see the preview screening of Good Business Sense with an up-and-coming Welsh actor named Tommy Keane. When they'd watched the film, Winnie had gotten a vibe that the man was going to be a mega-star, just like when she'd watched Gosford Park and got the same star-on-the-rise sensation from watching Clive Owen.

Focus she ordered herself, it was girl time, not time for wandering off thinking about the boyfriend she'd left sleeping like an angel in her bed after their oh so wonderfully hot and dirty birthday morning sex. Winnie prayed it wouldn't be all over her face that Spike had slipped her a little something extra before breakfast and her girlfriends would interpret it as giddiness over her birthday.

When she saw the group of women already at the table waiting for her, Winnie felt as though she were passing through a little silver curtain into a dream world. This was her life now; she'd known that logically for a while now but there was something about this moment, seeing a trio of such diverse women whom she called her friends and who called her their friend back, which seemed to drive that point home.

It was Leah who caught sight of her first, flashing a wide grin to show off her painfully perfect teeth. 'Bonjour belle femme de fête!'

'Am I late?' Winnie replied as she made the rounds to give Sophie and Jules hugs hello before plunking into the empty seat beside Leah.

'No, no, we got here early so Jules could have a snack before you arrived without feeling embarrassed,' Sophie replied, patting the pregnant woman's shoulder. 'I tried to tell her it's nothing to be embarrassed about but she wouldn't have it.'

'Yeah, I remember when you were pregnant with Issy, you refused to listen to anyone when they told you how pretty you looked,' Leah reminded her while Jules sipped her water.

'I'm so done being pregnant, I've had enough but the little one has to cook a while longer,' she replied, wiggling her toes in her sandals. Thank God she could have stylish but comfy footwear when she was this big.

'Do you know if it's a boy or girl?' Winnie asked, setting her purse down between her feet.

'We do, but we wanna keep it to ourselves since we're having the baby shower for gender specific clothes after he or she arrives,' Jules replied. 'The one that I know the boys are planning for me my last day before I start my leave is for utilities.'

'Utilities?'

'Yeah, like bottles and towels and stockpiling diapers and formula and that stuff,' Jules explained.

'Everyone likes to cuddle and coo over the cute clothes but I'm telling you when I was starting out as a new mom with Clark, I was just as thrilled to get a good sturdy baby tub and a diaper genie as I was to get the little cop costume for his first Hallowe'en,' Sophie said with a wistful, reminiscing smile.

Winnie grinned, thought of the gift she'd told Spike they would spring for. His eyes had popped out of his head when she told him the price, and that it was one of the rare times he'd see her dip into her personal savings account from her father and step-mother. It would be perfect for a boy or a girl, and certainly fell into that utilitarian category of gifts.

'Anyways,' Jules went on, 'we're not here to talk about baby stuff, we're having a girls' lunch for our favourite September baby! Has Spike let slip anything about the party tonight?'

'Not a word, and it's infuriating because the man can hardly keep his mouth shut about anything. Off the job, of course. All I know is that he is taking me to Andolini's for supper tonight since I have my race tomorrow.'

'Yeah, what is this race?' Sophie asked, intrigued. 'Eddie said it's something to do with your brother's school?'

'It's Appleton's annual Terry Fox run. Any student who raises over five hundred dollars gets to invite a family member of their choice to run the five kilometre race or walk the three kilometre casual track,' Winnie explained. 'Aaron raised around six-fifty I think and he was one of the lower end fund-raisers.'

'Man, you weren't kidding when you said that was a richy-rich school,' Leah commented. 'I'd have never guessed that you came from that kind of money.'

'Dad started out as a teller at BMO when he was in high school, worked his way up. He's kinda funny about the way he spends money though,' Winnie commented.

'How so?'

'Well, he isn't cheap but he doesn't piss it away. Perfect example. He drives an oh-seven Mercedes that he got a deal on because it was one of the shuttle cars used for a year at the dealership and then put on sale.'

'That's kinda cool,' Jules commented, then let out a little moan as a waiter went past with several plates of food. 'We're going to order soon, right?'

As Leah's stomach gave a loud rumble, she giggled, 'Yeah, what she said.'

'Sure.'

Winnie opened her menu, let out a little groan. Everything looked so good, but if she was going shopping and racing the next day, no way she could indulge as she wanted to. That would happen tomorrow, when her father and Rachel took her, Spike and Aaron out for a fryer's supper.

She felt a presence hovering near her, glanced to her right and laughed – Leah was leaning over like the bad kid in class who wanted to copy off the brainiac's test answers. 'Can I help you?'

'Just seeing if your menu isn't as tempting as mine to order one of everything.'

'I can assure you they're the same.'

'Hello ladies.'

Winnie glanced up, felt her libido thrum a little. Their waiter was the definition of cute – olive skin, dark curling hair teasing the back of his neck, laser-cut cheekbones to match the laser-green eyes. He was a looker, but he wasn't her Michelangelo, she thought even as she sent him a winning smile.

'Welcome the O&B Canteen, I'm Jacques and I'll be looking after you today. Our soup today is sweet potato and pumpkin, and our salad of the day is spinach and summer berry. We are also featuring our Taste of Thailand menu which includes a pad Thai dish, spring and fresh rolls and our house-made Polynesian coconut custard on the dessert menu.'

He took their drink orders – margaritas all around, one soft for pregnant Jules – before hurrying off; Winnie glanced over, saw all three women looking at his butt.

'Oof, I bet you can bounce a quarter off his ass three feet in the air,' Leah sighed appreciatively. 'Makes me miss my Jean-Miche a lot.'

'How is he?'

'Gone until December fifteenth until his term finishes with Medicins Sans Frontiers. Doctors Without Borders,' she clarified for Sophie and Jules. 'He's been working with Red Cross to establish long-term dental care facilities for children.'

'Wow, that's hot,' Jules breathed. 'How did you meet him, when you were there?'

'Oh, no, it's not my turn for the spotlight, it's Winnie's birthday,' Leah protested, but Winnie held up her hand regally.

'The birthday queen commands her friend to share the story, because the birthday girl gets what she wants for twenty-four hours.'

'Alright,' she laughed, brushed a hand over her short buzz of hair. 'We met when I was working with the Red Cross after the earthquake, but things didn't get serious until he came to Canada about a year after I got back. After that, we decided to try things out long-distance and so far it's worked. He flies in twice a month for four days and we spend as much time together as we can.'

'That's sweet,' Winnie said with a smile. 'And he's a nice guy, he had fun at our little barbecue.'

Sophie wanted to say it was very sweet how Winnie and Spike were already acting like newlyweds settling into the start of their life together but she knew better. She'd gotten an earful of how big a pansy Spike was being and how they could all see how much it was eating him up that he'd yet to tell Winnie how he felt about her.

'You guys should do another thing like that for Thanksgiving. It's impossible to make family plans since we always end up working or on call,' Jules pointed out.

'No can do, Spike and I are spending the weekend with my family in Mississauga.'

Jules sipped her margarita, not missing the kick of tequila at all – she was being kicked plenty by the little one inside her ever-expanding uterus. 'That sounds pretty serious.'

'Well, the first part will be, I mean he's met Dad and Rachel and Aaron.'

'The mother and sister?' Leah ventured.

'You have a sister?' Sophie added on.

'Yeah, Shannon, she's a doctor down in South Carolina but she comes home about once a month to visit our mom, though why I'm not sure since they Skype every damn day.'

'Really?'

'Oh yeah, Panic can hardly function if she doesn't know what Pain is up to.'

'Pain and Panic,' Leah giggled. 'Interesting pet names.'

'Appropriate, though, trust me. I love them but they are just such different personality types than me,' Winnie explained, 'and I'm not wasting my birthday lunch talking about them. New topic, the birthday queen says so.'

'Yes, what are we going shopping for today, something to wear tonight?' Sophie asked, and Jules snickered.

'You mean tonight for the party or the after party for two?'

'Jesus, Jules, you're such a gutter brain!' Winnie exclaimed, a little flustered, which Jules just rolled her eyes at.

'Please, I am seven months pregnant. My brain is soaked in hormones so it's like high school all over again.'

'As it happens, no, I am looking for party clothes.' Winnie paused only a moment. 'I already picked out my after-party attire, and knowing my boyfriend the way I do, he is probably planning to embarrass me with such a gift too.'

'Actually, I know what he got you and you will love it,' Leah reassured her, 'though I have to say it is a lot of fun to see you get all squirmy whenever we bring up the fact that everyone knows you and Spike are like little bunny-rabbits in springtime.'

'Leah!'

'Dude, please,' Jules jumped in, sounding so much like Sam it was almost scary. She pointed her index fingers at the round bump of her belly. 'Imagine being the only girl in a family of four with the only parent being your father, and you have to tell all those country farm boys that you are pregnant.'

'Okay, point but still-'

'On top of which, the reason you two are teased about it so much is because we love watching you get so red.'

'Meanies,' Winnie replied.

'No, that's what friends do because we love to tease you about the embarrassing parts of your life and then compare it to ours.'

Winnie thought back to the conversation she'd had with Spike about wart contests. 'I suppose but still, it's kinda strange isn't it to talk about that stuff so casually?'

'Usually it would be saved for after you've had some drinks at the Goose or Jake's Dilemma, but as that requires waiting and I'm short on patience these days, we get to talk about it now.' Jules rubbed her belly where the baby was booting her in the kidney. 'When's the food getting here?'

'After we order,' Sophie chuckled , then pointed at Winnie, 'and before you say it, your lunch is on me, birthday girl.'

'Oh, Sophie-'

'To be followed up by your mani-pedi at Urban Bliss courtesy of moi,' Leah added, with Jules tacking on, 'and a full leg and eyebrow wax and massage on me.'

'And all three of us are going to help you pick out something hot to seduce Spike in so you get the best ever birthday loving,' Sophie finished with a flourishing grin.

'Already got that this morning but-'

'Hang on.' Leah lifted a finger to stop the approaching waiter to take their orders. 'Food can wait. Details please.'

Winnie stood in front of her bedroom mirror, hoping she didn't look too vain or too worried about the clothes she'd picked out – snug, ass-hugging black pants which were deceptively stretchy along with a turquoise blue top that fell in stylish waves over her breasts. She'd been pampered and polished like the birthday queen she was – after their delectable lunch at O&B, they'd gone for a afternoon of indulgence courtesy of Sophie. All had received manicures, pedicures, ankle-to-forehead body waxing, and full body massage. Winnie had picked out a ridiculously neon shade of cherry pink for her toes while she'd gone with a subtly sophisticated pearly amethyst for her fingers. Spike probably wouldn't notice it until later when he was getting her naked for more birthday fun time but that was fine with Winnie. Things like that were her sexy little secrets, the kind that made her feel pretty and powerful all at once.

'Tell me you are going to be this worried at supper or I will make sure that Bruno force-feeds you the fattiest things on the menu.'

Spike watched his girlfriend, saw the light in her eyes; he knew her eyes well and right now he could see the internal debate lighting them. He adjusted the collar of his shirt, came up behind Winnie to wrap his arms around her waist. 'You are sexy and you know it.'

'Quoting pop songs is cheap but that's not what I'm thinking about right now.'

'No, I know you're worried about how much you can indulge on your birthday without having it bleed over to tomorrow. What time is the race?'

'Aaron's is at twelve thirty, mine is at two.'

'Okay, so we're home at one, sleep until nine-thirty, get a good breakfast, and drive to the park for noon. Done.'

'Mike,' Winnie laughed, 'you're so annoying when you do that.'

'Do what?'

'Point out that I'm worrying for no damn good reason at all.'

'Not for no damn good reason, your reasons for worrying are perfectly understandable. You've got a running meet tomorrow, and it's your birthday so you wanna be indulgent without being stupid about things tonight. But try this on for size - have a little faith in me that you are the most important person in the world to me and when I planned your party and dinner out tonight, your race was my first priority to consider. So.'

Spike spun her around, held her close to his body. 'Tonight, we are gonna have some delicious homemade Italian, then go play with our friends and then you are gonna kick ass at the race tomorrow and make your brother even more proud of you, though somehow I doubt that's possible.'

He kissed her, squeezing her ass soshe would be puled tight against him. He heard her little 'mm' of appreciation when she felt the subtle swell against her body of his mild arousal. 'Better keep that gun holstered until later, Constable,' she murmured against his lips.

'Five bucks says we'll cross a few naughty things off of our hit list later.'

'Five?'

'Too much for you?'

'Not enough,' Winnie replied in mock indignation. 'I'm worth more than a dollar a sexual favour.'

'Yes, you are,' Spike purred back. 'Make fifty?'

'Done. Now let's go eat. You know I'm a fan of Italian sausage.' When he spluttered a little, Winnie gave a throaty chuckle. 'Did I say something?'

'You have such a way with innuendos, Winnie. That's one of your many tricks.'

'Oh, Mike, that fifty is gonna be mine before midnight.'