Ice-skating was a huge success, and Emma was bursting with excitement when they got home. "Mum, we had so much fun!" She turned to Bianca. "Didn't we, Bibi?"
Bianca was equally delighted. "We sure did. And you got the hang of it much quicker than I did on my first go."

Emma beamed. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be." She grimaced. "Well, the ICE was hard, the couple of times that I fell!"
Bianca laughed. "And wet."
Emma screwed up her nose. "Yeah. But it was worth it."

Liam wanted to know, "Did you skate out in the middle by yourself?"
"No, just near the rail. Bibi took me in the middle. When we go again, I'm trying by myself."
Her brother grinned wickedly. "You might fall and get wet again."
Emma was still too excited to be bothered by the teasing. "And I might not. Gonna have a go anyway."

Bianca broke in. "Sorry guys, gotta go. I'm on duty this arvo. You get another turn tomorrow night, Liam. Get your games ready!"

Emma gave her a big hug. "Thanks for taking me, Bibi." Bianca hugged her tight. "I loved it. Thanks for being such a good sport." Liam fronted up for a hug, too, then Janet shooed them off upstairs - Emma to get changed, and Liam to clean up his mess in their room.

She dropped her forehead on Bianca's shoulder. "Must be my turn for a hug."
Bianca tipped her chin and kissed her lightly. "I can hardly believe the change in Em."
Janet leaned against her for the hug. "Yeah, such a relief that she's over the insecurity."
"I really do have to go. See you tomorrow night. Should I bring noodles?"
"Nah, we're making curry tonight. There'll be enough for tomorrow night, too."
"Mmm I can taste it already. Something to look forward to."
"is that all you're looking forward to?"
Bianca smirked. "Why? Is there something else?"
"Smart-arse. Get outta here."
"Have to." She tipped Janet's chin again, a thorough kiss this time, then breezed out the door.

The minute she arrived next night, Liam was at her to come good on her promise. She laughed out loud and tousled his hair. "Good try, mate. Dinner first, then we play. Where's that curry?"
Emma was busy helping Janet in the kitchen. "Right here, and it's soooo yummy."
Bianca put an arm around the child, at the same time leaning over Janet's shoulder. "Mmmm, it sure smells good." Janet turned for a quick peck. "Yep, should be even better second time around."

Both children were clamouring for Bianca's attention throughout the meal. Emma was on about the skating, and when they might go again, as well as wanting to show Bianca her art and her new library books. As expected, Liam was focused on computer games, but he had to try to keep up with his sister, so threw in that he had Lego that needed building. Normally they would have been constantly reminded to eat, but this time the women kept that to a minimum, soaking up Emma's enthusiasm for Bianca's attention. All the while, across the chatter, the charged looks, silent promises.

The twins joined forces, begging to be allowed to stay up and watch a movie. Liam was prepared to forego the games with Bianca. Janet pretended to resist, finally "giving in", not letting on how happy she and Bianca were to prolong the unity. But it all had to come to an end, and two tuckered out kids were finally asleep.

Janet, sprawled in the corner of the lounge. "What a marathon, but it was fun."
Bianca, eyes brimming with emotional tears, pulled her to her feet. "It was more than fun. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed." Janet undid the pony tail, held her lover's face in her hands, her voice husky with emotion, "Love you, woman. Love that my kids love you, too." A tear escaped, rolled down Bianca's cheek. Janet gently wiped it away, kissed the misty eyes and shared the salt of the tears in a tender kiss. "So, now how do you feel about belonging?"
"Amazing, isn't it? Even more than I ever dreamt of."

They held each other in a quiet hug of comfort and security until Bianca stirred, murmured in Janet's ear, "Should I have been looking forward to something other than the curry?"
That got them giggling, kissing, whispering, and heading for the bedroom.

Over the next few weeks, they were right back into the reality of fitting a relationship around their work schedules. To ease the pressure, Bianca stayed over more often, which pleased the twins no end. Emma even got to go ice-skating again, managing to skate out in the middle by herself without falling. A feat she was very quick to share with her brother, who was suitably impressed.

That night, out of the blue, in the middle of dinner, she asked, "Are you going to get married?"
Completely taken aback, the two women held a questioning gaze. Were they? It hadn't been discussed, but each had certainly thought about it.
Liam had to have his say. "Yeah! Then Bibi would be here all the time."

Janet regained her composure. "Why do you ask that, Em?"
"Some of the kids at school were talking about it. And like Liam said, Bibi would be here all the time." She chewed on her lip, "And you mightn't be so grumpy."

Bianca laughed. "So it's grumpy when you don't get your own way, is it?" Emma went very red in the face, started to protest, but Bianca kept on, her tone light-hearted. "Come on, Em, nothing would change much if I were here more."
Janet joined in, also keeping it light. "And you might get sick of Bibi backing me up. Think of that!"

Liam chuckled. Emma started to glare at him, thought better of it and joined in. Not to be deterred, she went back to the question that neither of the women could answer. Her mother fobbed her off. "We're not thinking about that right now. Maybe one day."

When the twins were finally asleep, skating excitement done, Liam's games played, Janet put her arms around Bianca, buried her head in her shoulder. Running the back of her fingers gently from Janet's cheek to her chin, Bianca kissed her softly. "I think the kids are on to something."
"Could be. Not an option yet anyway."
"But it will be if the referendum is successful. November is not far off. Do you want to?"
"Do you?"

By now they were sitting up close on the lounge. The little half-smile played around Bianca's mouth. "I asked first."
Janet gave her the rolled-eyes. "Yes. If you do."
The little smile turned into a grin. "Roll on November."
"If the vote fails, we can always cross the ditch."
"I wouldn't say no to a holiday in New Zealand, but the vote is NOT going to fail!"
"Did we just decide to get married?"
"I think we did." She quoted Janet's words. "Forever - a very long time."