Piper grabs Alex's face with both hands, pulling her down slowly and locking their lips together. It's not what you would call a real kiss - their lips are simply pressed together, not moving, and it seems to speak through the silence; this is Piper's way of thanking Alex for the kindness of stopping by to bring her medicine, but even more so for talking to her and for staying. Or so Alex convinces herself.

When they finally pull away, Alex lowers her head again, this time to kiss Piper's forehead, who closes her eyes at the touch.

"Get some rest, kid"

———

The rise of a new day and the pills taken the previous night seem to have had an effect when Piper wakes up feeling much better. She had been awoken by Noemi's little fussing, and her eyes quickly shot open as she remembered that Alex had been there, in her bed, the night before.

She takes sight of the girl that's surprisingly still there and also still asleep: Alex is on her side, using one arm under her head to support it and her breathing is slow and controlled, much different to how Piper's became when her heart skipped a beat at the sight in front of her.

She tries to get up and jump over the brunette in order to get out of bed.

Noemi is too young and still can't sit by herself which makes it a bit harder to pick her. As Piper stretches over Alex, her stomach touches the girl's arm and wakes her up.

"Shit, shit, sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you"

Alex rubs her eyes before she fully opens them and looks from the girl on top of her to the baby laying down next to them. She realizes that Piper is trying to pick her up and lets her do so, before pressing her own palms against the bed and lifting herself up to sit. She presses her back against the headboard, albeit embarrassed to have fallen asleep there. "Hey. Good morning"

"I'm so sorry for waking you up, I wanted to pick her up before she started crying"

Alex yawns and ignores the girl's worries, asking with genuine concern "How do you feel today?"

"So much better" she takes breaths between each word to emphasize them "Yesterday I thought I was dying, today I feel like there's a small chance I'll survive"

Noemi places her head against her mother's chest, making herself comfortable, nested against it as she sucks on her thumb.

Alex watches.

"I guess I better get going" she searches the nightstand for her glasses that sat by a roll of toilet paper Piper had been using as tissues, and puts them on. "I didn't mean to fall asleep"

"Alex, wait" Piper bites her lip "Can I at least make you some coffee first? As a 'thank you'?"

The brunette shrugs with a small smile "I never say no to a cup of coffee" she says as she fixes her hair, throwing it to the side, and proceeds to stand up.

—-

The three of them are in the kitchen, Noemi expertly placed on Piper's hip for support as the blonde handles the small french press and pours each of them half a mug.

"Can this be my turn to ask you something?"

Alex smiles as she takes the good smelling beverage. Nothing like hot black coffee in the morning "Yeah"

"Was it really that scary?"

Alex lifts a questioning eyebrow, not really getting what exactly the blonde was talking about.

Piper looks around for some sugar, avoiding looking into the girl's eyes so she can gather the necessary courage to continue speaking. "That first night you came over... was it really that scary for you?"

Alex sighs at the memory "I won't make excuses, okay? I didn't know what to do and I guess I... panicked. I'm not proud of what I did. I just... didn't know how to handle that information? I mean come on, Piper. We were both super drunk and I thought I was only going to drop you off at home and go home myself. I definitely wasn't expecting you to make a move on me." she takes a sip of the hot beverage "I'm not proud of how I handled things... but I really am sorry, Pipes. That was a shitty move on my part"

It was Alex's first time calling her by a nickname. It felt comforting and natural.

"I wasn't expecting you to find out about her... at all" Piper says, holding the cup in front of her mouth, almost covering it.

Alex chuckles at the obviously impossible and somewhat ridicule plan. "You thought you'd be able to hide a baby forever?" she looks fondly at the little girl then laughs as she redirects her attention back to Piper "Were you planning on keeping her in a cage or perhaps something more intricate like a dungeon...?"

"You're an asshole" Piper smiles wide, her teeth showing "I guess sometimes we just don't know what's going to happen next, do we?"

"No... no, we don't"

——

They all approach the door together, Noemi now in Alex's arms, one of her little hands placed on her forearm, holding onto the woman's skin. Alex appears to be more confident with carrying the girl, no longer scared to drop or injure her.

As Piper puts her hands under the little armpits to bring her back into her own arms, the baby protests, curling her fingers tighter into Alex's skin, trying to hold on to the girl as she starts to verbally protest in intelligible grunting. They both laugh at it and Alex mumbles something into the baby's ear that Piper can't quite comprehend, and tickles the baby so she'll become distracted. Soon as she starts to giggle and loosen up, Piper takes the cue and brings her into her own arms.

"Thank you for coming and staying the night. I hope it wasn't that bad of a sleep considering the position you were in"

Alex shrugs it off with a smug smirk "I'm flexible enough to adjust into many different positions"

Realizing she caught Piper off guard by how much she was blushing, Alex kisses her cheek then the top of Noemi's head, walking herself out after saying a quick goodbye.

Closing the door behind Alex, both mom and daughter go back inside the bedroom, where she places the baby on the bed and hands her a noisy toy to entertain her with. Her favorite kind of toy - the ones that play songs. If Piper keeps it going, she will be quiet for hours. Is this what people did before cellphones and youtube?

She pops a couple more pills so her health can continue to improve. She's feeling better, yes, but not well enough yet. Alex had given her a couple sick days off to rest some more, for which she was thankful, even if concerned about how it would affect her earnings.

The brown paper bag that held the pills Alex had bought over was still scrunched up on the nightstand and Piper stretches it so she can read "we are going to be under staffed without you. get well soon. -a".

She already knows how to recognize Alex's handwriting and smiles at what's written, even if it's just a tiny note. She's slowly getting to know a different side of Alex, one she'll bet most people can't even fathom the possibility of existing. The thing is, as hard as Alex might try to act and how tough she makes herself out to be, Piper already knows that deep inside that is just an image she enjoys portraying. And she knows there's more to the little note than just 'being short on staff'. She can read between the lines. And she feels the same. She wants to be around Alex more often, too.

Just as she starts to get lost in her thoughts, she hears an already familiar sound and lifts Noemi up to smell her diaper.

"Oh, come on Noemi. That's a horrible smelling poop"

———

so terribly sorry for how long this took. appreciate your patience for the updates and the slooooow build up. we're getting there - like reeeeeally there with the next chapter.

for the guest that left numerous comments in all my stories and said they'd be giving up on me for the lack of updates, i am terribly sorry. and i really enjoyed reading each and every one of your reviews.