Hey everybody... I am so sorry for over a year long wait. I never meant for that to happen with this story because I hold this story close to my heart but with life being crazy, it got put on the back burner. If you have read any of my other stories, you know that I lost my father this summer and since then I haven't been much in a writing mood. This story especially because the family relationships in it are so close to home. This chapter unfortunately is not as long as I was hoping it to be. It is kind of a chapter that is filling the gap between the wedding and the next chapter because I didn't want a confusing time jump. I have started writing the next chapter, but when it will be done I am unsure. I am trying to update all of my stories so thank you all to those who are still with me after such a long time. You are all so amazing! I promise it will not be a year again!
Enjoy :)
Chapter 14:
The light shined into the small room, waking the blonde from her sleep to find the other side of the bed empty. Piper sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes to try and get the sleep out of them. Opening her eyes, she focuses on the figure in front of her in the tiny kitchen, a smile spreading wide on her face.
Alex stood at the tiny kitchen counter wearing a sports bra and what looked like basketball shorts, shifting different food containers around. "Are you always an early riser?" Alex jumped slightly as the words left the blonde's mouth, causing her to turn around and look at the smaller woman.
"When you are in the military you have to be-" She lifted up a food container that had a red bow on the top, a smile forming on her face. "that, and we got wedding breakfast delivered to us early this morning." Leaning over the opposite side of the bed where some of Alex's shirts were spread out, Piper grabbed one and slipped it on.
Piper got up from the mattress on the floor and walked over to where Alex was standing with the food. A note with a sexual joke was written in fancy writing and signed by Nicky and Lorna, laughter falling from Piper's lips. "I guess I should've known it was from them." She grabbed a piece of bacon from one of the food containers before leaning against the tiny counter, looking at the brunette.
"Are they always this sweet while being all up in everybody's business?" The brunette's voice spoke as she leaned against the fridge, looking at the blonde.
"Wow, you really haven't been here long enough if that is news to you." Piper chuckled as she looked over all of the food containers to see what else was there to eat.
"And yet I have been here long enough to have bought a house and gotten married." She bumped her hip against the blonde's as she reached over her to the container holding the sausage links.
Both women laughed at that sentence, knowing that there is only truth behind those words. Piper dug around the plastic bag that the food containers came in, looking for plastic forks to eat breakfast with. Finding them at the bottom of the bag, she hands one to Alex before leaning against the counter once again.
As they stood there in the tiny house, eating food out of plastic food containers, both of them realized they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. "I like how quiet it is here." Alex spoke softly into the air around them.
"Yeah, this house sure is in the middle of nowhere." The blonde chuckles as she eats another piece of pancake off her fork.
"Well, yes. But I meant the whole town." The brunette shrugged her shoulders as she pushed her food around the container. "When my mom brought me around this area when I was younger, I fell in love with it back then too."
"It just has a feeling of…" Piper searches her mind for the words, trying to come up with the perfect description.
"Home." Alex says, surprised at herself for saying that word. No one place had ever really felt like home, like a place she could make permanent.
"Yeah, it feels like home." The shorter woman smiled up at the brunette, her blue eyes searching green.
Silence filled the air around them as they finished up eating, both of them looking anywhere but at the other. Alex looked around at all the different things that she needed to fix, her mind swimming with ideas. "Where do we go from here?" Alex asks, nerves gripping her spine.
"What do you mean?" Blue eyes look over to the brunette leaning against the counter next to her.
"I mean, we are married but skipped every step on the way to that." The brunette chuckles as she crosses her arms in front of her chest, a defense mechanism the blonde had picked up. "What do we do next? Besides protecting Taylor?" Green eyes continue to search the house, but this time landing on the different things the little girl had helped with.
"What do you want to happen?" Piper's voice was soft as she asked this, hoping to keep their bubble somewhat intact.
Silence once again filled the air, tension building up slowly as Piper could see the wheels turning in the brunette's head. A deep sigh leaves Alex's lips, her frame shifting slightly as she continues to think. She opens and closes her mouth several times, as if the words were on the tip of her tongue but couldn't articulate them correctly. "I will go back to tour soon…" The words trail off as she shifts the glasses to the top of her head. "But, when it's over, I want to come back to you and Taylor."
Finally, green eyes met blue and Piper could see the struggle of emotions behind those words. Piper leaned her head against the taller woman's shoulder, wrapping her arm around her waist and holding her close. "Then come home to us."
"But what does that even look like?" Alex's frame leans against Piper, taking in the feeling of the arm around her.
"Whatever we want it to look like." The blonde angles her head so she can look up at Alex, their eyes meeting once again. "If you want to move in with us, then move in with us. If it is living out here, then live out here." Alex shakes her head slightly, a slight frown line appearing in her brow line.
"This place was never meant to be permanent." Her words are spoken softly, keeping the small bubble that was around them, intact.
"Okay, then you will move in with us." A soft smile covered the blonde's features as she looked up at the woman pressed against her. "Or we can always find somewhere else, but whatever we do, we can do it together."
"We should see what Taylor wants, too. I wouldn't want to push her into something she doesn't want." Alex says, her head turning forward once again to look around the small building.
"That is going to be the easiest part of the whole thing." A small chuckle fills the air from both women at those words. "She loves you so much, Alex. I'm pretty sure you are even above me on the totem pole."
"I just don't want her to end up resenting us for something she could've had a say in." Alex shifts slightly, leaning just a tiny bit more into the shorter woman.
"Okay, well we will talk to her soon about everything. We will at least have some of this figured out before you leave." A bit of sadness floods her voice at the last few words. "Do you know when that will be?" Hesitation filling the air with her words, anxiety gripping the blonde.
"Too soon." Disappointment settles in the brunette's chest at the continuous thought of leaving the new life she had built here.
"I guess the sooner you go, the sooner you get back to us." Piper's grip tightens just that little bit more. "I don't like it though."
"Me either." Alex rests her head against Piper's, a deep sigh leaving her lips. "But until then, we are going to start a life together. So, when I come back, we can pick up right where we left off." Alex snaked her arm around the shorter woman's shoulders, pulling her in closer.
"I like that idea." The blonde shifts so that they were looking at each other. "And that starts with you adopting my kid." A chuckle falls from her lips as she says this, the idea sounding crazy at how fast it came about.
"So, technically, she would be our kid…" A soft kiss was placed on the blonde's forehead.
"I don't know why, but I kind of like the sound of that." Blue eyes sparkled as they met green, a genuine smile pulling at the corner of her lips.
Closing the passenger door to the truck, a small human ran into Piper's legs while laughter filled the air. "Hey, baby." Piper squatted down, giving her daughter a proper hug after being away from her for the night. "Were you good for your aunties?"
The little head nodded before she was distracted and ran over to the taller woman who was making her way around the truck. "Alex!" She launched herself, Alex reacting just in time to pick her up and hold her in her one arm.
"Hey, munchkin." A big smile covered the brunette's features, happiness looking good on her features.
"Since you and mommy had a sleepover last night, can you and I have one tonight?" Her little voice was pleading, her beautiful eyes begging for what she wanted.
"That will have to be a question for your mom." Alex looked over to the blonde, her eyes rolling, knowing that Alex more than likely would be staying the night.
Piper made her way towards the house where Nicky and Lorna were both standing, watching the exchange between the new family. "Thank you both for watching her." The blonde says, a shy smile covering her features.
"Well, it was about time you got some." Nicky said, followed by a small elbow hitting her in the ribs.
"What she means to say is, we are glad that you found somebody to make you happy." Lorna spoke with a giant smile on her face.
"Yeah, that too." All the women laugh at this as they watch Alex listening to Taylor talk animatedly with her little hands. "So, what now?"
"Now, I file for Alex to be the other legal parent of Taylor." Piper says, turning back to look at the other two women.
"But what about after that?" Nicky asks, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What do you want?" The woman asked, sensing the hesitation in Piper's thoughts.
The blonde looked back at the truck where the two. People who owned her heart were. Alex had been letting Taylor crawl all over her, making her way to her shoulders. Taylor leaned over Alex's head looking down at her and talking at her extremely fast pace. "Honestly, I want to be with Alex."
"You're married..." Nicky asks, confused at the words spoken.
"Yeah, but I want to get to know her. I want to really be her wife and share my life with her." She turned to look back at the couple next to her. "I want her to move in, to parent Taylor, and just grow old together. I know it's crazy but-"
"Sometimes crazy is good." Lorna speaks up, breaking off Piper's rant. "Something tells me, she is just as serious about these next steps as you are."
"I hope so, we just need to get past her tour." The blonde sighed, the anxiety from earlier still sitting in her bones.
"When does she deploy again?" The short brunette asked, her face showing her sympathetic feelings well.
"Soon, probably in the next couple of weeks. She's cleared for duty technically, but she's just waiting to report to the new place they are sending her."
"Is there any chance she will stay in the States?" The taller woman of the couple asks, her arm wrapping around her girlfriend.
"I doubt we will be that lucky." Piper shakes her head, shifting from one foot to the other. "She will more than likely be sent back overseas."
"Well, you still have some time with her. And after she leaves, you have us until she returns home to you." Lorna rubs her hand against Piper's arm, trying to reassure her the best she could. "Plus, you have Taylor. She is always good at making the time just fly by." The three women laugh at that, turning to look at Alex and the little girl walking up to them.
"What's so funny?" Taylor asks, her little face covered in a smile as she continued to sit upon Alex's shoulders.
"You!" Nicky says as she reaches for the little girl, pulling her down from the taller woman's shoulders. "Now, give us hugs. We're going to head out." Taylor wrapped her tiny arms around Nicky, giving her a big hug before giving the same one to Lorna.
"What do you say to your aunties?" Piper prompts, trying once again to teach the little human manners.
"Thank you for having a sleepover with me!" She gave a big smile up at them, her features bright with joy.
"Well, thank you for letting us have a sleepover with you." Lorna says as she bends down for one last hug, loving the hugs from the little girl.
"We will see you guys soon, okay?" Nicky says as she pushes Lorna towards their car in the street.
The little family stood in front of the house, waving at the couple as they got in the car and drove away. Taylor stands between the two women, one hand wrapped around each of their legs. Alex turns to look at the blonde, their eyes meeting and in that moment, Alex can tell she wants this family more than anything she has wanted anything before. The brunette could feel the sudden lifting feeling filling her bones, wanting to start fresh with a new life with these two people.
As Taylor runs into the house, Alex grabs Piper's arm to stop her from following her in. Blue eyes search green, confusion and curiosity filling her features as she moves to stand directly in front of the taller woman. "I know what I want." Confusion completely fills Piper's features at these words.
"What's that?" She asks gently, praying the answer doesn't tear her apart.
"I don't want to move in here with you." Offense and pain start to creep up on the blonde's face. "I want to build us a house. Let's tear down the shack and start new." She reaches for Piper's hands, not looking in her eyes, nervous at the rejection that may lie there.
"Okay." Green eyes snap up to see blue eyes holding back tears, a smile pulling at the corner of her lips. "Let's build a new house for our new lives."