"Please, sit down... I'll make you some tea..." Fareeha yawned as she padded into the kitchen. She idly scratched the looming underside of her big belly, suddenly very aware of how exposed it was in the too-small shirt. It was not how she wanted to greet a guest, but as usual her mother had just let herself in.

"Uhm... Angie's not here and usually she, uh, handles this stuff, but I'll find it..." Not only was Angela responsible for buying the groceries, she was almost always the one who used them as well, so Fareeha had no idea where anything was.

"Nonsense, habibti." Ana undeniably had a nose for tea and had not only already located it but even put the kettle on. "You go put your feet up and I'll bring you the tea once it's done."

Fareeha crossed her arms in protest, muscles bulging impressively even with this simple gesture. "It seems like that's all I ever do these days," she huffed in exasperation. "Angie treats me like a porcelain doll who can barely leave the bed unsupervised. Apparently eeeverything is 'too dangerous', so suddenly she's doing everything around the house."

"It's because she cares about you," Ana said warmly, gesturing for Fareeha to sit before bringing over the freshly brewed tea. "You should enjoy it while you can. When I was pregnant with you, I was always running around, never a moment to rest."

"That sounds pretty good to me..." Fareeha opined impatiently and took a sip. Usually she found her mother's tea too sweet, but this time it was perfect. She sighed and looked down on her midsection: "What was I thinking..."

"This is something you can never fully prepare for," Ana smiled inscrutably as she observed her daughter over the rim of her tea cup. "But don't see it as a burden; think of it as a challenge."

Fareeha bit her lip. Her mother knew she was never one to back down from a challenge and she did not appreciate the manipulation attempt: "That's easy for you to say, you're not the one sitting on your ass all day, going stir crazy." Her voice was less defiant than she intended – just because she recognized it didn't mean said manipulation wasn't working, after all.

"You keep yourself busy with the recruits, don't you?"

"Yeah..." Fareeha took a big sip rather than say anything more. She had been about to complain that she only did so a few hours per week, but as much as she enjoyed whipping those hapless kids into shape, she had to admit she was increasingly happy when she did not have to leave the house.

Fareeha put down her cup and rubbed the side of her belly: You and Angie are making me lazy, she joked silently to her child.

Noticing her daughter's conflicted expression, Ana nodded solemnly. "You need a hobby, habibti," she said firmly and started to rummage around in her medical bag. "I suspected as much so..."

"Don't bother with any sedatives or stuff like that, if I need to knock myself out I'll send Angie out for a few of Gibraltar Fried Chicken's 'Endless Buckets'."

Ana just shook her head in confusion and tossed a box onto the table. "1000 pieces" the jigsaw puzzle boasted.

"Eh... what?"

"You used to love these as a kid," Ana insisted and pushed the box closer to her daughter.

"I want to be less bored..." Fareeha grumbled, but accepted the gift. She knew there was no use in arguing with her mother anyway. Safer to just toss it into a cupboard once Ana had left…

"I'm hooome!" Exhausted from a long day at work, Angela still managed to affect a cheerful greeting as she came through the door. Hastily tossing aside her coat, she made her way towards the bedroom.

"I scored us some brownies!" the blonde smiled as she entered. Fareeha wasn't the kind of chocoholic she was, but Angela knew that with some thousand island dressing on top, the brownies would satisfy her wife's cravings of the week. However, her enthusiasm quickly turned to confusion.

Rolled over on her side, Fareeha was utterly absorbed in piecing together a jigsaw puzzle on the back of a large picture frame lying in front of her on the bed. While scanning the board for where to put the next piece, she idly munched on some leftover cookies, seemingly oblivious to Angela's presence.

"I... uh... noticed your mother was here?" The blonde raised her voice.

This had the desired effect. Realizing she had forgotten to clean up in the kitchen, Fareeha did not relish having to get up to do it now: "Ah, sorry... I'll go get those dishes..."

"No, no. You stay here and enjoy your, uh, puzzle," Angela smiled. "I'll only be a moment and then we can enjoy these brownies together."

Almost breathing a sigh of relief, Fareeha watched her wife leave to tidy her mess. Rubbing the side of her belly thoughtfully, she placed piece number 712 and thought to herself: Maybe this isn't so bad after all…