Intently focused, Alex pressed the last few inches of blue tape along the white wooden molding, rubbing it vigorously with her fingertips to crowd out any bubbles and wrinkles. Tearing it off with a nip of her teeth, Alex tossed the roll back to the floor and turned cautiously around on her stepstool, scanning the room for any corner or edge as yet unmarked with blue tape. Spotting none, she stepped down and nudged the stool away with her toe. She flipped the lock on the window and, with some effort, hoisted the sash up. Pausing, Alex took a moment to admire her new view.

The noise filtering up from the street assaulted her but the landscape laid out for her viewing pleasure was worth it. The early autumn afternoon sun glinted off of countless window panes and made the air seem to sparkle. Over the shoulder of a gilded grey building, if Alex stood just right, she could see the trees of Central Park. It was a lovely location for their first family home and Alex was delighted.

Naturally prone to spoiling her normally Spartan brunette, Alex had of course made a stab at talking Olivia into something a little more upscale, maybe something right on the park, but Olivia had predictably refused to be coaxed. She acknowledged that Alex could certainly afford such luxury and that, as her wife, Alex was willing to pay the lion's share of their expenses, but Olivia simply couldn't agree. Maybe it was pride and maybe Elliot would lecture her that pride was a sin but Olivia wanted financial equality. Alex loved to tease her that she was certainly pretty enough to warrant arm-candy status for any sugar mama but Olivia always acknowledged such statements with a roll of her eyes and a patronized chuckle. Olivia would and could pay her own way, even if her way wasn't quite up to the style Alex was accustomed to but the blonde had grudgingly given in, subjecting herself to living two blocks from the park to keep her wife happy. At least, she figured, Olivia's lack of interest in her financial resources was a weapon she could stockpile for her rapidly escalating arms race with her mother. She grinned and mentally smacked herself back into the present. Olivia was practically ready to pop; if Alex didn't get this nursery finished, the bassinette would end up in the hallway.

Turning to reach for the ventilation fan, Alex jumped as she caught her wife watching from the doorway. Laughing off her startled reaction, Alex wedged the fan onto the windowsill and flipped it on. "Jesus, Liv, you scared me. I don't know how you manage to sneak up on me like that. Maybe I should consider getting you a bell."

Olivia ignored her wife's wit. "The movers just left. Alex, this place is huge. Our furniture looks a little ridiculous. Tell me again, how much are we paying?" Scowling, she batted Alex's hands away from her waist. She wanted answers before she let Alex touch her but, predictably, the blonde persisted until she got what she wanted. Hands on Olivia's hips, she drew their bodies together until her flat stomach was pressed to her wife's swollen one. Trying to restrain her guilty grin, Alex met Olivia's unamused gaze.

"Perhaps the number I quoted you was a slight underestimation." Olivia's eyes narrowed dangerously and Alex made a quick decision to come clean. Any more dillydallying and she had the sinking feeling that she too would be relegated to sleeping in the hall. Leaning close, she pressed her lips to Olivia's ear and whispered, as if saying it quietly would do some good.

Olivia jerked away, flinging Alex's hands from her body and staring with horror and indignation in her eyes. For a moment, Alex was distracted from her impending doom. Olivia, pregnant, sweaty and irate, made a very sexy picture. Alex almost wanted her to start yelling, just so she could muffle those yells with a kiss. Too soon, she was yanked from her vivid fantasy by her wife's furious swat at her arm.

"Six thousand dollars?" she growled. "Six? Alexandra Grace Cabot, you told me four. Two thousand dollars a month is a 'slight underestimation' to you?" She paused to suck a breath through her clenched teeth and then, her irritation spiking, she followed the line of Alex's gaze. Her breasts, Alex was staring at her breasts and practically drooling on herself. She couldn't help but goggle in utter disbelief at her brazenly unrepentant wife. Breathing forcefully, she flexed her fingers open and then closed them into shaking fists. Clearly, she wasn't going to get anywhere right now. She jabbed her finger accusingly at Alex's nose. "We're talking about this later. Don't even think you can talk your way out of it." Without another word, she spun on her heel and strode from the room with as much dignity as her waddling gait afforded her. She needed to cool down; attacking a few of the boxes stacked in the living room ought to do the trick.

Alex waited for her wife to stalk out of sight before finally letting her grin loose. That had gone much better than she had expected. She hadn't even gotten kicked to the couch, not even for one night. Olivia was furious but she never stayed mad long, at least not at Alex. She could come around in a little while and let Alex have her way. And then… well, the movers had already set up the bed and making up was always fun. But, risky as it was, Alex couldn't resist one last barb at her fuming wife. She poked her head into the hall, the better to be heard in the living room. "Don't get your panties in a twist, firecracker. I don't have the time to come untwist them for you." She ducked back into the nursery but not before Olivia's exasperated shriek reached her ears. Uncapping a gallon of duckling-yellow paint, Alex smirked. Yes, making up was going to be very amusing indeed.

Olivia moaned low in her throat, the guttural rumble closer to a growl than a mewl of pleasure. The sound only made Alex suck harder, pursing her lips and flicking her tongue against her wife's taut nipple. She knew from enthusiastically thorough experience exactly what she was doing to Olivia, exactly how exquisitely sensitive the pregnant woman's breasts had become. Olivia hissed and Alex popped her mouth off of the inviting flesh to lean up and look her wife in the face. Olivia's eyes were narrow; clearly, she was still ready to fight despite having allowed Alex into her bed. But, though she was angry, Alex was certain that arousal was beginning to take the edge off of the accusation in her eyes. Grinning wickedly, Alex touched her lips to her wife's wide-stretched mouth in a teasing facsimile of a kiss. "So, are you ready to apologize yet?" Instantly, Olivia spluttered against the black rubber ball, furiously squeezing unintelligible words around its silencing effect. Though she couldn't make out the syllables, Alex could read the meaning in Olivia's expression. Needless to say, it wasn't kind.

"Tut, tut, dearie," Alex crooned in a cloying, syrupy tone. "That wasn't very nice. I painted the whole nursery without you and you didn't say how nice it looks. You didn't even say thank you." Olivia glared indignantly up at her and Alex threw up her hands, shifting her weight as if to crawl off of the bed. "I'm so sorry you feel that way, Liv. See, girls who aren't polite don't deserve to have orgasms. I think you need a time out to reconsider your manners."

Instantly and much to Alex's smug gratification, Olivia reared up against the silk scarf connecting her wrists to the headboard and her voice took on a new character. Alex chuckled; it seemed that a touch of the proper encouragement was all it took to make her plump little birdie sing a much sweeter tune. "I suppose," she purred, "that this means you're ready to apologize after all, hmmm, sugar buns?" Olivia nodded eagerly, though her enthusiasm was still tempered with a hint of irritated reluctance. Alex decided to take what she could get. She was quite familiar with Olivia's wide stubborn streak and Alex really preferred not to go to bed without one of her wife's shuddering orgasms to replay in her dreams. Keeping her smile plastered slyly on her lips, she unbuckled the gag and gently withdrew it from Olivia's mouth. "Let's hear it, candy lips."

That last remark earned Alex a sharp look from her nonplussed wife but Olivia appeared resigned to giving Alex what she wanted. She began with a deep, huffy breath. "I'm sorry. You did a nice job. Thank you." Her apology was admittedly polite but far too curt. Alex decided to play with her a little longer.

"Close, but I just know you can do a little better than that. Try again, jelly belly." As she spoke, she slithered back down the mattress, poising her lips tantalizingly close to Olivia's quivering breast and waiting patiently. Olivia's eyes were fixed on hers and Alex took the opportunity to lick her lips with not-so-subtle intent. Olivia's sudden reaction made her want to bubble with smug laughter. Pushing Olivia off of the fence she had been riding had been almost too easy.

Alex's breath caressed her nipple, the warmth unbearable and irresistible, and Olivia's willfulness dissolved like a wisp of smoke in a hurricane. Her words flowed from her mouth in a rush, so badly did she want those lips on her skin again. "The nursery looks wonderful, perfect, great, amazing. Thanks you for painting it, ma'am. Thank you, thank you, thank…" Her voice cracked, cutting off her frenzied apology as Alex returned busily to her suckling and teasing. Olivia let her head fall back onto the pillows with a thud. She was still determined to have a talk with her tricky wife about her underhandedness, as well-intentioned as it had been, but that could be put off until later. Sneaky fingers crept between her all-too-pliable thighs and Olivia heaved a dry sob of pleasure. It could wait until much, much later.