Author's Note: I have to first of all apologize tremendously for the delay in posting. What happened was that I was a klutz and accidentally broke my computer charger LITERALLY after posting chapter 37. I couldn't buy another computer charger until now. SORRY, SORRY, SORRY! Thanks for your patience. Sorry…

CHAPTER 38

Five days. Five days had past since Bianca found the engagement ring in Reese's luggage. Reese didn't carry herself as if she was preparing to give it to her and Bianca didn't dare bring it up. In a couple days, they would leave for Pine Valley and as much as Bianca relished in the future they had together with Reese now in Pine Valley for work, the discovery of the ring still consumed her thoughts.

Once Bianca was able to get a quiet moment to herself, she grabbed her iPad and Skyped her sister Kendall and told her all about the discovery of the ring in Reese's bag on Christmas morning.

"And you haven't spoken to Reese about it?" Kendall asked after her sister explained everything.

"How could I? This was supposed to be something that I had no knowledge about."

"Is that Bianca?" She heard the voice of her cousin, Greenlee ask off screen.

"Yeah," Kendall looked away from the screen presumably to Greenlee.

Greenlee's smiling face popped up over Kendall's shoulder, "Binks! What is this I'm hearing about a ring?"

"Bianca found it in Reese's bag," Kendall explained, "she thinks that Reese was going to propose, but second guessed it and gave her a charm bracelet instead."

"Whhaaattt?" Greenlee vocalized dramatically.

"Uh huh," Kendall nodded to her friend.

"And neither of them have spoken about this at all."

"No, no yet."

"Well I guess that it would be awkward to speak about that sort of thing. I mean, if she doesn't want to marry you – not saying that she wouldn't want to marry you, Bianca!" She briefly smiled at Bianca on screen before turning back to Kendall.

"Well they've only gotten back together four months ago. Maybe she second guessed proposing since it's been such a short space of time," Kendall continued to converse with Greenlee.

With a frown Bianca snapped her fingers, "Hey, ladies!" She captured their attention, "Still here!" She dramatically pointed to herself.

"Sorry Bianca," Kendall bowed her head.

"Our bad," Greenlee further mumbled.

"It's okay. But what should I do? Should I bring it up? Should I just let it go? I don't know what I should do in this situation. It's been five days and nothing. She's doesn't seem to be carrying on like someone nervous to propose."

"Would you say 'yes' if she asked you to marry her?" Greenlee quirked a brow.

Bianca picked at her finger tips, "Like you mentioned before, it's been four months…"

"Yeah," Kendall nodded, "but seriously, Binks. Can you see yourself with Reese for the rest of your life? Honestly?"

Bianca smiled, "Honestly? Yes. Reese gave me a charm bracelet instead of a ring – she more than likely realized the enormity of marrying me again and probably the proverb: 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,' came to mind and caused her to rethink the proposal."

Greenlee shook her head, "You rethink proposals before you shell out money for a ring. At least that's how I would do it. I work too hard to spend money on something all to do nothing with my purchase… was a there a receipt with the ring?"

"You're not helping Greenlee!" Kendall nudged her roughly until Greenlee was completely off camera.

"Bianca," she sweetly smiled to her sister, "stop focusing so much on this ring. Reese loves you. Reese as sacrificed to be able to be with you and the girls here in the states. Ring or no ring, she isn't going anywhere."

Greenlee once more made another appearance on screen over Kendall's shoulder, "True! Hey, maybe she's planning on giving the ring to you when the ball drops on New Year's Eve night!"

Kendall whipped around slapping Greenlee's arm, "How are you going to bring that thought into her head when I'm trying to calm her down from having to even think about the damn ring?"

"Hey, someone was thinking it."

"I wasn't until now!" Bianca shrieked.

"Opps…my bad?" she innocently shrugged.

Kendall pointed, "Out of my office. You've done enough damage."

Greenlee groaned lightly as she exited right side of the screen and moments later Bianca heard the closing of a door.

Kendall turned back to her sister, "Bianca, why don't you talk to Reese? The sooner the better."

Bianca forced a smile, "I should talk to her. Keeping this in is admittedly getting to me. I should talk to Reese."

"Speaking of Reese, where is she?"

"She's spending the day helping her uncle with a few cars at his mechanic shop. August was falling a bit behind after the holiday season and Reese offered her help."

"Maybe you should get your words together first before talking to Reese. The last think that you would want to do is say something on the fly that ends up making matters worse."

"You mean prepare a speech?"

"Not a speech per say, but have something prepared enough to not ramble like you tend to do when you get anxious." Before Bianca could argue with her, Kendall lifted her finger to pause her.

"I only tell you this because you are my sister, I love you, and my blunt honesty comes from a place of caring about you. I have to get back to work, but I'll talk to you soon. Later, Binks," she ended their video chat definitely insuring that she got the last word in.

Bianca took her iPad off and tossed it beside her on the bed lazily. "Kendall's right," she said aloud. "I need to stop thinking of the ring." In the same breath that she coached her way through that manta, her eyes glanced over to the duffel bag luggage that she found the ring in the first place.

"Mom!" Miranda popped her head into the room, "You wanna come for a walk? Gabi and I are taking the puppies on a walk. Since we don't know the neighborhood, Aunt Vera is leading the way for us."

Bianca glanced from the luggage in the corner back to her eldest daughter, "Why not? Let's go," she hopped out of bed and followed after Miranda.

oooOOOooo

August smiled to his niece through the open car door as she attentively was working inside of the car that they were repairing together in is full body auto shop. Reese was working on the center console while he was working on replacing the spark plugs.

Augusts' mechanic repair shop was one of the few places that fixed everything from the outside to the inside of the car. When Reese was about thirteen, he would bring her to the shop and taught her all that he knew about interior designing of a car when he found out that she had such a strong interest working with tools.

August remembered a day where Claire made a surprise visit to the shop and was beyond mad to see Reese with a tool belt around her waist and a few grease stains on her shirt, face, and hands. As he remembered, she dragged a then fifteen-year-old Reese out of the shop and told August that he was making 'the problem' worse and to stay away from Reese. August did his best to see Reese despite Claire's warning, but Claire did and even better job of limiting all access to Reese. He figured the best he could do was hope that when Reese had gotten older that she would be able to breakaway from her mother's grip and find him when ready.

Reese frowned slightly at her uncle, "What? Do I have something hanging from my hair?"

Her uncle quickly chuckled, "I was just thinking to myself. It's been some years since you've worked on a car with me, kiddo. It's nice."

Reese smiled to her uncle, "So, whom are we fixing this car for?"

"It's actually a car that I'm fixing up to flip. I have a buyer interested, but I needed some help with getting her done."

"I haven't worked on a car really since I was a teenager. I'm surprised that you even wanted my help."

He waved a finger, "You're like elephant when it comes to this sort of thing. You were always meticulous and your work was always clean. Look," he pointed to the job that she had done on the center console of the car, "nobody but you could pick up from where they left off and being good at anything the way that you can," he encouraged.

She felt herself blush, "In a way, the work that I do now allows me to still be able to do this. Thanks for encouraging me. Back when my parents wanted me to be anything but an architect, you literally gave me tools and the push that I needed to really find myself."

August cleared his throat uncomfortably and closed the car hood, "I think we're about done," he changed the subject.

Reese shook her head thinking how her father and uncle were very much the same changing the subject if they thought they might cry.

"I've just completed installing this center console anyhow," Reese exited the car, closing the door behind her. "You and Vera seem to have gotten pretty close. She's been humming happily around the house even."

Augusts' face perked up with a pleased grin, "Humming happily, huh? That's the August Williams charm right there, I tell you!" He cockily strutted over to his workbench to put away a tool.

Reese shook her head as she opened the trunk of the car double-checking the work she had completed earlier on the interior. "You are incorrigible."

"At least I'm something to someone," he leaned against the side rear of the car.

She couldn't help but laugh. "I'm happy for you and Aunt Vera – I really am."

August sighed out contently, "I love her."

"Did you tell her?"

"I may be known for being off kilter, but I'm not an idiot! We've only been on a few dates. If I tell her that I love her so soon after us finally getting together, then she's going to think that I'm a weirdo!"

She deadpanned, "And Vera thought you to be a normally sane man until now?"

August opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it on second thought, "Good point. The version of me that I was before I was able to get her was a way too impulsive. Now that I have Vera I don't want to screw things up by jumping the gun early and telling her that I love her. I want to romance my lady first," he wiggled his brows.

"So you're not going to tell her that you love her?"

August waved a hand, "I've told her that I've loved her bunches of times when we weren't together – this is different. However, this time I'll let her say it first. Play it cool."

"I respect that game plan."

"I knew that you would. Gone in a couple of days huh? Back to Silicone Valley?"

"Pine Valley," she corrected.

"Oh yes, that's right. I'm glad that things worked out for you. I'm glad to see you so happy, kiddo. You really do deserve it."

"So do you," she closed the car trunk. "Done?"

August gave the car a quick once over, "She is done." He announced.

"I have to admit, I've missed the smell of this place over the years?"

"The odor of burnt motor oil and gas fumes have you feeling reminiscent?" Her uncle teased as he wiped his grease stained hands with a towel.

"For two years of my life this was a sanctuary for me. I wouldn't be where I am today if not for you and this garage and you showing me the ropes of interior restoration."

"For cars."

"It started out that the focus was just cars, but it only had to start from there and branch out to building a shelf here and there… You let me build you a tool shed and taught me how to create a blue print and take measurements. You have done so much for me."

August modestly pushed his hands into his pockets, "Reese, everything you achieved, you did for yourself. Now that we've completely wrapped up that Brady Bunch moment why don't I take you out for lunch? That deli that you and I used to go to is still just around the corner."

"Nelly's Deli is still standing?"

"Oh yeah. Grab your coat and let's go."

oooOOOooo

After arriving back home from walking their dogs, Miranda dressed her puppy, Beverly up in the pink doggy top that she bought for her. The puppy nipped a bit at the slightly baggy shirt but seemed to be allowing herself to get used to it as time went on.

Miranda scooped the small Yorkie into her hand, "Come along, Bev." She carried the whimpering puppy. She made her way to the living room where her mother, and Aunt Vera were seated. She could here Vera telling stories of her travels to different countries as she lightly strummed on her guitar.

"Cute puppy shirt on Beverly," Vera complimented Miranda was she approached everyone.

"Beverly looks very cute in that," her mother further complimented.

Miranda sat on the couch cross-legged and placed the small terrier in the middle of her legs. "Thank you."

"Guys! Look at what I found in Pop-Pop's bookcase!" Gabi ran over to the trio with a photo album, pointing to the picture she found.

"Oh my god!" Vera loudly giggled as she gently took the album from Gabi.

"Is that really Reese?" Bianca asked as she looked at the misty glamour photo of a young Reese overly made up and overdressed in her headshot.

Vera nodded, "Yes it is."

Miranda and Gabi laughed along with Vera and their mother at the photo.

"Reese was about…six. Claire insisted on having Reese dress up for this picture. I remember Reese was bawling her eyes out, crying that she didn't want to dress up or wear make up. Forrest bribed her with something – I forget what, but it worked and she took the photo."

"Those are some really poofy bangs," Gabi commented.

"Forget the bangs – the whole head of hair is huge and poofy!" Miranda added.

Vera turned to the next page of the album and they all began to laugh at a picture of Reese who had to be around six or seven. She smiled brightly missing one front tooth wearing presumably one of her father's suits. The large shirt and blazer consumed Reese's small, six-year-old frame as the tie hung loosely around her neck.

"I love this picture!" Bianca beamed over the picture of Reese as a child.

"I remember that I took this picture right before I left for the U.K. I was babysitting Reese at their old home," she laughed as she held the page out for everyone to see the young image of Reese.

"Mama was a really pretty as a kid."

"Yes, she was. Her eye color was this golden honey brown back then. They got a bit darker with age obviously, but those eyes…she could get away with anything when she'd look at you."

As they continued to look through more of the pictures in Reese's childhood album, Reese entered the house. Bianca could see that Reese looked tired while taking her coat off and hanging it up.

"You guys are quite giggly," she commented while beginning to unbuckle her tool belt from her waist. Reese's hands frozen when she realized that in her Aunts hands was a red photo album.

"No, no, no!" She rushed over to Vera who quickly got on her feet and with one hand held the album up and away from Reese's grasp while the other hand held onto one of Reese's arms.

"How long have you all been looking through that album?!"

"Long enough to see a picture of you in a kiddie pool and putting water balloons in the top of your swimsuit as boobs!" Gabi laughed along with enough else.

Reese's face furiously turned a deep shade of red, "I was like three or four years old!"

"By the way, awesome glamour shots, Mama," Miranda chimed in causing an uproarious of laughter to follow.

Reese narrowed her eyes at her eldest daughter, "You know what? I think that you all have had enough laughter at my childhood expense, so Vera hand over the album." Once again she reached for the red book to have her Aunt hold it at a distance.

"You were so cute though, Reese!"

"I don't care. Give it!"

"Ok," Vera slumped. "I'll give it…to Miranda!" She handed the album to Miranda who then began running once she saw Reese determined to take the album away from her.

"Rand, give it to me," Reese held her hand out once she had her cornered.

Miranda smiled sweetly to her mother, "You know, it does pay to have a best friend who is into sports. AJ showed me how to dodge!" With that, Miranda slickly dodged Reese's grasp and handed the album to Bianca.

Bianca gripped the album as Reese approached her, "Baby, I've been working on cars for half of the day and I'm tired. Give me the album please?"

"What's do wrong about going through your album? I saw some of the pictures and you were a really beautiful child. I have plenty of pictures in my mother's home of me that are plenty embarrassing, too." Bianca rationalized.

Reese dropped her hands to her sides, "Fine. Knock yourselves out with those photos. I'll be in the bedroom," she sounded annoyed and defeated as she went into the bedroom.

Concerned, Bianca followed after Reese, still with the album in hand. When she walked into the bedroom, she saw Reese once again unbuckling her tool belt. Bianca placed the book on the nightstand next to her and embraced Reese from behind lovingly.

"Talk to me," she kissed Reese's shoulder.

Reese sighed, "My childhood wasn't horrible…but it wasn't the most joyous either. Some of those photos just…they make me remember. It makes me remember the moment that I figured out that I liked girls at six and then freaking out because my mother told me that gays go to hell. I remember telling my dad that I didn't want to marry a boy that I wanted to marry a girl and him telling me that it wasn't how it worked. I had to marry a boy because girls don't marry girls."

Bianca held Reese closer to her, wishing that her embrace would chase away the remaining feelings of sorrow the six-year-old version of her felt. "I remember asking my mom when I was younger if she kissed girls. I had to be maybe nine and I knew that I didn't want to kiss a boy – I wanted to kiss girls. When I asked her that question, I think I was more asking to gauge her reaction to me finally telling her that I was gay."

Reese turned in Bianca's arms so that they were now face to face, "And what did your mother say?"

Bianca winced remembering her mother's words to her, "She said, 'Of course not! Why would I? That's unnatural and disgusting!' When she said that I knew that she wouldn't accept me being gay. So I hid that part of me until I was a teenager and couldn't do it any longer."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Reese lovingly cradled Bianca's face.

"My mother came around…eventually. I'm only sorry that your mother never did. I wish that I could give that to you."

"It's okay. I don't think that she ever was going to come around and accept you, our kids, or me. If you asked me years ago if it bothered me, I would tell you yes, but now it's something that I've come to accept without the constant bitterness that I carried before. On the bright side, my father at least came around."

Bianca grabbed the album and handed it to Reese, "I love seeing pictures of you when you were a child. It makes me…"

"It makes you what?"

Bianca looked up at Reese solemnly, "It makes me wish that we had a baby in your image. You were going to carry next," Bianca rested her forehead against Reese's.

"I remember," she smiled. "I wanted us to have a boatload of kids together," she placed the album on the bed.

"I remember," Bianca looked into Reese's eyes. "Do you still want that?"

"I'm happy with the two that we have."

"I know…but if we could..."

Reese's head perked up in realization, "Are you saying to you want us to have another baby?"

"Seeing pictures of you growing up…admittedly, it brought the itch back."

"And I would carry it?" Reese asked.

"Yeah."

Reese wiped at her mouth in thought, "Bianca, we've only been back together for four months."

With that comment, it made Bianca remember the ring that she found in Reese's luggage. For someone who bought an engagement ring after four months of being with one another, she sure wasn't conversing with her as someone on the brink of proposal.

"I don't mean let's do it now, but in the future…soon. If you wanted to."

Reese could see Bianca's insecurity come through and immediately took her hands in hers, "All I ever wanted was to share a life with you and have a family. Do remember how long we were together when we decided that we wanted to have a baby?"

Bianca shrugged, "seven months?"

"We talked about having a baby by the time we hit six months into our relationship. You were pregnant by the time we were together for seven months. Do you know why I was a little hesitant a moment ago? My biggest fear is losing you again. If rushing through decisions like this equates to losing you, then I rather take it slow."

Bianca laced her fingers into Reese's, "You are not going to lose me. Not this time, never again. I love you."

"I love you, too. So…you really want to have me knocked up with a third child?"

Bianca laughed loudly at Reese's choice of words, "Maybe not now, but yes if that's something that you would want. A baby that looks like the gorgeous image of the woman I love…I can't imagine anything better."

"If we plan this – really plan this then we're looking at a small window of time. I am 36 after all. Doctors tend to make you feel as though you're a grandma trying to have a kid by the time a woman hits my age."

"I'm not worried," she kissed Reese's hand lovingly. "Definitely within the next few months?" She pouted to Reese who laughed as she one more cradled Bianca's head.

"It's an absolution. I can't believe that once again months into us dating we are talking about and planning on having a baby."

Bianca simply smiled, "You can turn tail and run if this is more than you bargained for."

She pulled Bianca closer to her causing her lips to brush against hers as she spoke, "I'm not running anywhere but to you." They kissed deeply.