In case we don't get another chapter out by next Friday, we just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

Love always, keeperofwords and Hayley

Chapter 53: Food Fights, Baths, and Misunderstandings

Shelby sat in a comfortable, black covered chair, looking around her dining room table. She'd had many a dinner party in the mansion since they moved to Ohio from New York City. They had entertained former cast members, musicians, song writers, composers, directors, actors and all kinds of colleagues. Over the years they had schmoozed with the rich and famous to fund charity functions they were aligned with. Cass and Shelby had even had dinner parties with the heads of movie and television studios. But looking now around the table at her wife, baby girl, her dear Aunt Dee, her forever friend April, her incredible friend Holly and sweet, sweet teenager Natalie, this meal could not have been more special. Shelby had lit candles, Cass had run with Holly to the wine store and came home with a special bottle and some sparkling grape juice for the girls. Now they were sitting down to some of Dee's special lasagna, spinach salad, and ambrosia for dessert.

Rachel sat between Shelby and Cass. Holly and April were on both sides of their new foster daughter, Natalie. Dee sat at the end of the table and was serving while telling stories of her travels to the different places she had been visiting in the last three months. Shelby cut Rachel's lasagna into more manageable bites as she listened to Dee.

"I have been working almost non-stop on projects pertaining to Wildlife Crime in Kenya, and then child labor laws in a couple of countries…" Dee spoke to a curious Holly, also a lawyer. "This type of work is so different than what I made my money on back in the city. And I finally feel like I am making a difference."

"I had never heard of Lawyers without Borders until you started working with them four years ago," April told Dee. "I don't know why I didn't consider it, though. Doctors without Borders work has such success in some of those same third world, poorer regions of the world."

"I have never had such a variety of project themes." Dee mused. "Not just corporate compliance, mediations, electoral, and civic rights, but things very personal to me like domestic violence laws, gender rights violation laws and, recently, hate crimes against young gay women and men," Dee spoke passionately, talking animatedly by using her hands while she spoke.

"Honestly, Corcoran," Cass jibed. "You talk with your hands like you are directing a symphony every time you start up on this shhi," Cass caught herself from finishing the curse as Shelby gave her an evil eye. "Subject…this subject."

Rachel found all of this very boring. She started picking up marshmallows out of her ambrosia and squishing them with her butter knife. None of the adults had really spoken to her about dying Easter Eggs, or having Easter Baskets, or even if she could have a pretty dress like she had seen some of the girls at Reverend's church wear. The little girl had gobbled up her lasagna in short order. The green, healthy leaves in her bowl was yucky. The ambrosia seemed more fun to entertain herself with.

Rachel's brown eyes got a playful flicker as she got an idea. Across the table sat an equally bored-looking Natalie. All of the adults' attention seemed to be on Dee, so Rachel picked up a marshmallow with her finger and flicked it across the table onto Natalie's plate. She landed a direct hit on her sister's large plate with the lasagna she was two thirds done with.

An impish grin spread across Natalie's thin lips and she looked around to see if any of the adults saw. Were they paying attention?

"Don't even get me started on the way women are treated in this country…" Dee was starting to ramble on again, which Nat rolled her eyes a little at. Adults could be so boring sometimes. But the others were very intrigued by what Dee was saying, and they wouldn't see if Natalie threw something back, would they? Doubtfully.

Quickly, she grabbed a marshmallow and flicked it over at Rachel. Both girls giggled because the marshmallow bounced off the top of Rachel's nose and landed on the tablecloth in front of her plate.

Natalie's heart raced a little bit, excitedly. At the Reverend's they would NEVER have gotten away with something like this—especially not at the dinner table. But even if they did get caught, Natalie knew Shelby and Cassie well enough now to know that they wouldn't get yelled at or beaten or touched in bad places forcefully as their punishment. If anything, Shelby would probably just give them a condescending look and scold them. Cassie would probably laugh. Unless she was in a bad mood.

But she didn't seem to be in a bad mood, Natalie noticed, and Rach noticed the same, throwing yet another marshmallow. The girls' giggles grew louder and louder as more were thrown. Some landed in hair, some landed on plates, and many landed all over the tablecloth. But it wasn't until Natalie miscalculated her throw and got Cassie in the cheek that both girls froze and the other adults actually took notice of what the girls were doing.

Nat widened her eyes and looked at Rachel, whose eyes were the size of baseballs.

Was Mama Cassie going to be mad? Was she actually in a bad mood, was she going to yell? Or would she just laugh like she usually does when stuff like this happens?

Cass made them wait for a few seconds to find out, after which she gave her signature smirk and sighed, "Silly girls. You know you can't have a food fight without Mama Cassie involved." She promptly started whipping marshmallows back across the table at Natalie for payback, making sure to get Holly a few times while she was at it.

Holly gasped and joined in the little war herself, which was turning out to be not so little second-by-second for April joined quickly afterward.

Suddenly there was a table set for a proper dinner party filled with squealing women and girls attacking each other with mini marshmallows. Shelby sighed and rolled her eyes playfully, noting how immature they were all being.

That was when Dee clicked her tongue and stood up from the table, making her way into the kitchen. Shelby doubled blinked. Was Dee clicking her tongue at their lack of sophistication? Surely she wasn't, she knew how Cassie and Holly could be and most days Dee was the exact same way. So she was clicking her tongue at me?! Shelby determined to herself, shocked. For what, not joining a marshmallow war? Are you kidding me?! She stood from the table to follow Dee and tell her that maybe she wasn't being stuck up or over mature, maybe she just didn't want to have to wash marshmallow out of her hair.

She never got the opportunity, however, because as soon as she turned around she inhaled a face full of whipped cream, for Dee had greeted her with a pan completely filled with it.

The noise in the room stopped immediately and everyone stared, jaws agape at the scene in front of them. Shelby, dressed up as usual with her hair curled so prettily, was standing with her mouth wide open in shock (yet filled with cream); the whipped cream was all over the sides of her face and starting to fall down her dress and her hair. She moved her hands to wipe the cream out of her eyes and flicked it on to the floor, letting out a little breath of surprise.

Dee bit her lip, quite amused with herself.

"Gods, Shelby, let loose. Live a little." She laughed and started a train of laughter echoing throughout the room.

Shelby wasn't laughing. She was, however, smirking, as she reached over the table to grab the bowl of the rest of the ambrosia. There was enough to continue to eat it the next day, but payback was far more important.

Dee figured out Shelby's plan a second too late, for Shelby had dumped the rest of it on Dee's head. It fell down the back and front of her top, her long brown hair sticky and absolutely covered.

"Oh, I see." Dee whispered, pressing her lips together. "I see. This is WAR."

Shelby squealed and moved to grab her plate of lasagna before Dee could make true to her declaration. She grabbed the remainder of her dinner and shoved it, noodles sauce and all, into Dee's face, smearing it across her cheek.

Dee let out a yell. "SHELBY KIMBERLY CORCORAN!" she demanded, grabbing her glass of water and flicking it in Shelby's face.

With a gasp from the cold, Shelby jumped back. "Cassie, help me!" she insisted with a laugh. She didn't even care how dirty the room was getting. She was having too much fun with her family.

Cass laughed loudly as Shelby ran behind her to take cover. The dancer grabbed a tray to use as a shield and grabbed the pitcher of water from the middle of the table to use as ammunition. Dee took a cautious step forward, backed by April and Holly—they had the lasagna, bread, and salad from the dinner. Rachel and Natalie took Shelby's side and stood with their ambrosia in their hands, ready to be thrown. Meanwhile, Cassie had the water and Shelby had whatever she could grab.

The young locked eyes and grinned at one another—their little game had turned into a complete war and Shelby wasn't even getting upset about the mess, she was laughing along with the rest of them.

Maybe, Rachel thought to herself as Cassie took the first move and tossed half of the water out of the pitcher, drenching her best friends across the room. A few screams sounded, followed by the throwing of more marshmallows. Maybe Mommy really is getting better. Maybe the family therapy is helping her!

Rachel was happy that Shelby finally seemed happy. Maybe having her family with her again was all she needed, after all.

. . .

"So my sweet," Cass purred, taking a finger and reaching it over to hook some of the sweet dessert her wife was wearing after taking a pie to the face. "So, so sweet and delicious," Cass's voice continued in a low purr. "So delectable and tasty," the blonde commented ignoring the food fight that continued around them to flirt with her wife. The blonde's tongue took a long exaggerated lick of the whipped cream on her finger. "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm," Cassandra moaned, mimicking the sounds her singer wife was making earlier in the day when she took her in the kitchen. Cassie knew just how to seduce her wife. Even now in the dining room, during a food fight. The intensity in Shelby's look from the food fight was still there, but a surge of lust had flooded the singer from head to toe. The rest of the fight was taken over by the girls and their aunts. Shelby knew nobody was going to hear her when she pulled Cassie closer and whispered, feeling sexier today than she had felt in a long time.

"There is more cream between my legs that wants that tongue," her voice was low and seductive as she let her tongue peek out from out of her lips to lick off some of the sweet, sugary dessert on her upper lip. The Tony award winning singer usually did not talk like this in the dining unless she and Cass were alone. Shelby's libido all day had been quite high, and after some wine to relax her and figuring nobody was listening to her, Shelby thought "why not?" She loved talking dirty to Cassandra July. Especially when Cass wasn't expecting to hear it. The look of shock on Cassandra's face was thrilling to be the cause of, for it was rare that Cassandra July was ever taken off guard.

"Are you inviting me to eat you?" Cass replied innocently, knowing she and her wife were walking a fine line over appropriate behavior out of their bedroom and in front of two young girl's eyes especially.

"More like eat her out," Holly called from across the table, unable to contain herself anymore despite the young ears in the room.

Rachel looked across the table at her Aunt Holly curiously and Holly pressed her lips together,

Oh, shit. When are we going to get used to not talking like this in front of little kids? Holly thought to herself. You'd think we'd be better at controlling ourselves, being around children as often as we are…Then again, after work hours it used to be fair game. We're going to have to have a swear jar or a dirty talk jar or some shit like that…

What does Aunt Holly mean, eat Mommy out? Rachel thought to herself, doing a quick glance to all of the adults around the table.

Aunt Holly was laughing, as was Auntie April. Dee Dee was smiling and doing more of a wicked Elphie laugh. Mama was laughing silently. Mommy was just sitting there with her mouth in a tight line. Natalie looked just as clueless about what Aunt Holly meant as Rachel was.

Come to think of it, Mama had been talking about Mommy being delicious and Mommy said her legs tasted good, Rachel thought to herself, trying to figure what was going on and what eating mommy out meant. Shelby's daughter finally decided she was just going to have to ask.

"Mommy?" Rachel asked, getting up from her chair, her face dirty with tomato sauce and pasta and marshmallows in her brown hair. "Why did you invite Mama to eat you? What food do you have on your legs?" Rachel misinterpreted Shelby's earlier flirty comment to Cass. "And Mama? How is Mama going to eat your insides out?"

Shelby let out a groan of irritation. Even though the two women had been speaking quietly to each other of course they were overheard. She was so tired of Rachel overhearing these naughty things but she supposed that Rachel had seen and been through much worse. What she and Cassie spoke about was consensual at least, albeit inappropriate.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie, and don't repeat it. Mommy was just joking around with Mama and Aunt Holly was, too. It is adult stuff, baby, and it's okay that you don't understand it just yet."

"I am not worried, mommy," Rachel spoke, moving to climb on to her mother's lap and getting even more food on herself as it was transferred from her mother's clothes to her own. "So, what am I not supposed to talk about? You being food or mommy eating you?"

Rachel basically decided to ignore everyone at the table except her two mothers.

"Do you have food fights when I am bed or something and eat each other?" the curious child asked, persistently trying get an explanation. "And if it is adult stuff why are you talking about it?" Rachel wondered, her last comment sounding quite like a little diva. The nine year old looked first at her mommy and then over at her mama who was laughing into a napkin while trying to clean off her face.

"You're right, we shouldn't be talking about it in front of you," Shelby nodded seriously, pulling Rachel's head to her shoulder so that the little girl was looking away when she flipped Cassie off with fervor. The entire room laughed and Rachel turned her head to see what they were laughing at but Shelby had already dropped her hand. "Mama and I got carried away and we are sorry. I'm not going to explain it to you, Rachel, because I am not sure how to without being inappropriate. And little girls don't need to know inappropriate things." She tapped Rachel's nose with the tip of her finger and smiled. "Okay?"

Rachel harrumphed to herself, not quite satisfied. The whole room was laughing except for Mommy, Natalie, and herself and she was not in on the joke. The nine year old suddenly did not want to be there anymore. Mommy was holding her close and picking marshmallows out of her hair. Rachel just wanted to take a bath and have her mothers to herself for a while.

"I wanna go," Rachel wiggled to try to get out of her Mommy's arms. "Let me down, Mommy."

Shelby was stricken by this sudden change in Rachel's mannerisms. "Where do you wanna go? Rachel, you're covered in food, you need to go into the bathroom so we can get you washed up-" she moved to set Rachel down on the floor and the little girl ran off to the bathroom, practically slamming the door behind her.

Shelby double blinked and the laughter in the room died down.

"What the hell was that?" Shelby asked after a beat, her voice jumping an octave as she stared down the hall towards the bathroom. "What. The hell. Was that?!"

. . .

"Stupid food fight and why do they talk about things and laugh when I don't understand them," Rachel grumped, talking to Barbra who was sitting in her mothers' bathroom sink. "Laughing at me. They were all laughing at me, and would not explain why. Mommy wouldn't tell me and Mama just laughed too."

Rachel thought about locking her mothers' bathroom door then thought better of it. The nine year old looked at herself in the mirror. She was dirty and felt it too. She wanted her mommy but she didn't. Now that she was alone, she let the tears fall. She looked at her best friend, Barbra and hugged the cat close.

"I'm a coward Barbra. I should have stayed down there and told them to not laugh at me. The reverend laughed at me. The kids at church laughed at me."

The Siamese licked Rachel with her rough tongue. Rachel sniffed back her angry tears and tore off her filthy formerly white shirt…It was redder now from all the food. Rachel wanted to be alone but she didn't. She really just wanted her mother to give her a bath and them to rock in the chair. She wanted Mama to tell her a story in her mother's bed. Rachel kicked of her shoes and fell to the bathroom floor in a more hurt than angry huff. She was now feeling mostly embarrassment and hurt. Rachel put her head in Barbra's fur when the cat jumped into her lap.

"Rachel?" Shelby knocked on the door before opening it to find Rachel crying into Barbra's fur. "Sweetie, what's the matter? I'm sorry I can't explain this to you, you're just too young to corrupt your mind with things like this...it was just an inside joke between the adults, it's really not a big deal..."

"It is a big deal!" Rachel yelled, looking up at her Mommy. "You were all laughing at me!"

"Honey!" Shelby got down on her knees as Rachel cried harder and Shelby ran a soft hand down Rachel's cheek. "Honey, we weren't laughing at you, we were just laughing in general. The situation was funny."

"What's funny about me not understanding?!" Rachel harrumphed.

Shelby tried to find a way to explain.

Those watery brown eyes caused tears to collect on Shelby's eyelashes. What could she say? She came to the realization that it was not so much the lack of an explanation, but the fact that her baby girl felt like she was being laughed at primarily and singled out due to her innocence.

"I am so sorry, they were not laughing at you, sweetie, but at the situation. Sometimes adults laugh at adult things when they should just keep their mouths closed around children and young teenagers like Natalie," Shelby spoke tenderly, still rubbing Rachel's cheek.

The singer dropped down to her knees, longing to take Rachel in her arms but understanding the girl was put out with her. So instead she wiped the quietly falling tears with her thumb. "Rachel, what the adults were laughing about was a sex joke," Shelby finally decided to be blunt with her daughter. "I know you know more about sexual things than most nine year old girls should ever be exposed to." Shelby cleared her throat. Her own libido was gone now. It had withered away in her daughters falling tears. "But you are a child and I want to keep what innocence you have intact and not talk about adult sexual acts and jokes until you are much older. Eating can a sexual term between two consenting people. Can we leave it there, baby girl? I love you so much and I am sorry that anything I said or did has hurt you and made you feel this way."

Rachel crinkled her nose, understanding now why Shelby didn't want her to know. It was still very hard for Rachel to understand that sexual acts COULD be consensual, and she was so very young and confused. Part of her wanted her mommy to explain more and the other part of her never wanted to talk about sex again. She knew that her mommies loved each other very much even though they fought sometimes, so she knew that anything sexual between them couldn't be bad like it was with the reverend, but it was still hard for her to wrap her head around.

It gave Rachel a headache and she did not want to think about it. She nodded up at Shelby and gave her a soft smile. She really wanted her mommy to hold her now, but they were both very dirty.

"Mommy?" Rachel asked the singer, gently putting down Barbra who scampered out of the bathroom. "I want a bath. But how can you give me one if you are dirtier than me?" Rachel asked shyly. "And where is Mama?"

"Mama better be cleaning the mess she helped make in my dining room," Shelby commented, a hint of teasing in her voice. She laughed. "I don't know how we're all supposed to get cleaned at once, Rach. But this house does have like 5 showers in it... I suppose we could all take turns if we have to...April and Holly have a few next door as well..."

"If I am good and keep my eyes closed, can I wait here with you until you shower, then could you give me a bath?" Rachel asked her mother under her breath. "I won't get in there with you or anything because we aren't married." Rachel defended herself. "I just want to be nearby, Mommy. Please don't make me go to my room."

Shelby didn't laugh because she didn't want to hurt Rachel's feelings again, but Rachel's defense of "because we aren't married" was kind of cute and also kind of sad. She had so much to teach and explain to Rachel but wasn't even sure where to begin.

"Honey..." she tried to figure out how she wanted to word this, "I'm going to get serious for a moment, okay? I know you don't like when I do that but sometimes we just have to, alright? Nod, honey, so I know you understand Mommy..."

Rachel nodded slowly, holding her Mommy's hands while Mommy talked to her.

"What the Reverend did to you was very bad. VERY bad. VERY wrong. VERY not okay. You understand that, I know you do..."

Rachel nodded again.

"Okay. But sometimes Mommies and Daughters can see each other without clothes even though they aren't married, because they are family. Does that make sense? They don't do ANYTHING sexual or bad to each other, because to them it's not sexual. It's just mother and daughter. Just intimate in a nonsexual way, because they are blood related, they are family. Does that make sense?"

Shelby felt herself relax when Rachel moved to sit beside her and snuggle against her. The singer was forgiven. Her explanation had been enough. Her child was now trying to wrap her head around the explanation she had just received. Shelby had an idea what Rachel was wanting, even if she would not dare say it out loud.

"Rachel, how about you and I take a bath together in the big tub tonight?" Shelby proposed the idea. "And we can help pick the food out of each other's hair."

"Well," Rachel thought about it. "You do have a lot of food in your hair. I could help clean you right?"

"Yes, honey. And it's okay for us to do that because why?" Shelby wanted to make sure her message had sunken in.

"Because you and I wouldn't be doing bad things." Rachel said after a thought. "Because you are my Mommy and you don't hurt me like Revered does. You are gentle and don't do bad sexual things. Because we are blood related. Because family doesn't hurt family or do wrong things to them."

Shelby's heart fluttered a bit. It was such a beautiful start to this little one understanding that she was not in the wrong and that there are people she can trust in this cruel, cold world.

Shelby almost felt she was bonding with her daughter in a whole new way as the two climbed in the tub together. It was intimate, yes. It was physical, yes, but not sexual. It was trust in a whole new way. Rachel was so cute using the wash rag to clean the whip cream off of Shelby's earrings that she had forgotten to take out before they climbed in. Mother and Daughter had sung "Popular" and "The Wizard and I" as they took turns scrubbing each other clean. Shelby felt warmth spread through her heart.

Cassandra July's breath caught in her throat when she walked into the master bedroom five minutes after hearing the water start.

She smiled softly to herself. "What is this?" she wondered, motioning to mother and daughter who were no longer covered in that night's dinner, but finally starting to look clean.

"Mommy and I are taking a bath together even though we're not married because we're mother and daughter and it's not sexual and it's okay."

Under normal circumstances, the word "sexual" coming out of a nine year old's mouth would have been enough to make Cassie cringe. But their circumstances were hardly "normal" and she figured Rachel had been through enough that she could be mature enough to use the word. After all, Rachel as so very mature in many aspects and so very innocent in others.

"I see." Cassie agreed with a nod. "That seems logical to me. Everyone else has taken up the other bathrooms, and we had to use Holly and April's too. We're all going to regroup tomorrow morning. I cleaned the kitchen," she let Shelby know.

Shelby nodded and motioned for Cassie to get in with them.

Cass hesitated. "Are you sure?" she asked, mostly for Rachel's sake. Sure, Rach was comfortable with her birth mother, but was she comfortable enough to let Cassie join them as well?

Cassandra gave Shelby a soft smile as the two communicated with their eyes. They expressed deep love for one another and communicated a promise. It was a promise that they were here for each other and also to the sweet brown eyed brown haired little girl who sat in the tub. It suddenly struck Cass that she was making a memory. All inhibitions were coming down. Rachel was trusting them to love and nurture her in the deepest and basic of ways, where she had been taken advantage of not too long ago in the past. Somewhere in her mind, Cass realized this level of trust and intimacy as a family would serve them well in the days ahead. There would be a trial. There might even be some publicity due to the fact that she and Shelby were famous Broadway stars…Cass let those kinds of thoughts drop away with every layer of clothing she dropped on the bathroom floor.

"Come on, mama," Rachel extended her arms in invitation while scooting over closer to her mother to make room. "Mommy promised after we got clean we could use bubbles."

Cass smiled not just at her daughter's expression and words, but the look on her wife's face. Shelby was so serene and calm. They would talk about it later as a couple but for now she would enjoy her own special moment with her wife and their child.

Rachel looked at her mama strangely and laughed as Cass let out a soft "Ahhhhhhhhhhh" when she softly plopped down in to the tub. The dancer usually would have the water in the tub higher than it was, but if they had done so the water would be up to their daughter's armpits and they didn't want Rachel swallowing bathwater. The tired muscles Cass's her legs appreciated the warm water when she stretched them out. Her foot came in contact with Rachel's side. The blonde could not resist tickling the little girl's side with her big toe.

"Mammmmmmmaaaa," Rachel squealed, falling back into Shelby's bare front with a surprised squeak. "That ticklessssssssssss!"

An equally surprised Shelby quickly gathered up her daughter before she could slip and possibly hurt herself.

"Cassandra," Shelby used her Coach Corcoran's voice, albeit not loudly, complete with raised eyebrow. "No roughhousing in the bathtub."

"Ahh, Shelby," Cass pouted, poking her lip out like a chastised four year old. "I'm just playinnnnn," the blonde explained, reaching out and taking Shelby's foot in hand and kissing it. Shelby squeaked in mock disapproval. She wagged a finger at her lover who now was peppering Shelby's bare wet toes with kisses.

"You give a new meaning to the words kiss my feet," Shelby told her lover in a way that could be interpreted one way to Cass and another less sexual way to her little girl.

In truth however, Shelby fell in love with her soulmate all over again. It was so obvious that Cass was trying to make this moment lighthearted for Rachel's sake. Their little girl had long since relaxed, not worrying about her mother's nudity by the time she and Rachel started singing together. Cass had reinforced it further by playing in the tub as the three of them soaked. They were trying to connect with Rachel in a way that would simultaneously fight her fear of adults and help her to trust. Though Cass had not heard Shelby's mother/daughter talk, the blonde was reinforcing exactly what Shelby had said to Rachel to help her try to understand. Mothers and daughters cared, loved, and could have fun together always. And nudity did not need to carry a stigma of pain and shame to it. Rachel was starting to get now why and how the Reverend had been the one in the wrong, and that relationships with adults were not always like that.

Rachel thought that her Mama was acting hilarious and immediately stuck out her foot also.

"Me too, kiss mine too," Rachel begged, joking and leaning more of her weight into her mother's front.

"Is it stinky?" Cass asked, playfully bantering with Rachel while Shelby started the process of leaning over Rachel to start washing Cassie's gorgeous blonde hair. Both women noticed Rachel seemed un-phased when Shelby's chest brushed Rachel's bare shoulder.

"No mama, I'm clean it's you that's so dirty," Rachel laughed as Cass sighed. The blonde gave her wife a quick wink before grabbing Rachel's heel and blowing a raspberry on Rachel's little foot. "Be good, so Mommy can wash your hair." Rach laughed.

"If I must," Cass sighed dramatically and then spoke again. "Little star, pass me the soap so I can clean my front so we can open the bubbles."

Thus set the mood for the bath of the Corcoran-July family. Rachel reminded her mothers as they wrapped her in a fuzzy towel that she had been the peanut butter and they were the bread. Rachel did get her story in her mother's big bed. Snuggled in the middle under the covers between her mother's, Rachel soaked up their love and attention. Neither Shelby nor Cass had the heart to move the nine year old nor did they want to when she fell asleep half way into the story. All three of them seemed to instinctively know that they had shared a very special moment and did not want it to end.

"I love you," Shelby whispered after Cass turned off the light and placed Rachel's storybook of fairy tales on the bedside table.

"I love you," Cass purred back, leaning over Rachel to kiss her wife passionately before pulling away. The kiss left both women breathless as Rachel slept, blissfully unaware. The three settled down to sleep, feeling loved and closer as a family. The two women felt proud of themselves for making as much progress with Rachel as they had tonight. Their family was slowly starting to fall into place.

Aunt Dee's visit was just icing on the cake.