RESIDENCE OF SOPHIA BENSON & CASEY NOVAK

5555 COMMONWEALTH STREET

MANHATTAN

6:45 PM


Understandably, Olivia was very upset by Dana's death. Sophia was at a loss for what to do, but Alex advised her to tend to Casey, instead.

Nobody thought twice when Casey went home early with Sophia.


She spent the rest of the afternoon letting Casey relax while she catered to her whims, collected Melissa from the babysitter, and cleaned the house. She also found time to paint Casey's nails, and make dinner, too. Sophia believed in showing love through acts of service, and she could see that Casey was very appreciative of it.

She still hadn't forgotten about the engagement ring she had for her, but she would give that to her later, after Melissa was in bed.

Speaking of whom, the little one was quick to notice that her mother was off-beat.

"Why are you sad?"

Casey was on the couch, flipping aimlessly through a book, but it was plain to see that she was quite sad about the events of the day. Melissa was now leaning against Casey's legs, looking up at her and waiting for an answer.

"You know mommy's new baby sister?" Casey asked.

Melissa understood the concept of adoption very well, having been adopted by the woman in front of her, so she answered Casey's inquiry on point.

"Serena, mama. I want to meet her."

"You will, Melissa. I'm sad because the mama whose tummy Serena came from went to Heaven too soon today."

"I'm sorry." Melissa said sincerely, after a moment of choosing her words carefully.

"Thank you, baby girl."

Melissa hugged Casey around the knees, and retreated to the other side of the room, where her toys were. Casey went back to her book, but only for a few moments.

The next thing she knew, Melissa had returned and pushed a stack of books onto the couch, and was now clambering up, to get beside her.

Casey helped Melissa up. "What are you thinking?"

Melissa pulled a book at random from the pile and turned to her mother. "I want to look at books. And be with you."

"That's really sweet, Melissa. Any other reason?"

"I don't know." she shrugged. "Maybe 'cause I just love you."

"I love you, too." she pointed to the book Melissa was holding. "Will you show mama what you've got?"

It turned out to be Where The Wild Things Are.

Casey perked up. "I read this book when I was little!"

Melissa stared.

"Yes, my tiny love." Casey chuckled. "I was a kid once."

Melissa moved closer. "No way…"

"Yes way." Casey found a blanket and spread it over them before pointing to the book again. "May I read to you?"

Melissa passed the book to Casey and slung a hand over Casey's middle; she liked feeling her younger siblings move, and sure enough, Henry felt her near. He pressed his hands and elbows to her palms, and this drew a smile out of Melissa. Personally, Casey felt a little uncomfortable because Henry was always very fidgety, but if it made Melissa smile, she would power through it.

"Please read, mama." Melissa pointed to herself, and to the baby bump. "We want to hear."

"Okay. Here we go."

Casey opened the book and began to read. Before long, she and Melissa were well into the story. And Henry was even lulled to sleep.

While this was happening, Sophia had been cleaning up from dinner, and when she was done, it was to find her firstborn and her future wife bonding together.

She decided to let them be, and left to go do something else.


Later, after Melissa was in bed, Casey and Sophia moved to their bedroom. It was the part of the night where they were lounging, but in scanty, revealing clothes that they didn't want to wear in front of Melissa: tank-tops, and for Casey, short-shorts with an elastic waistline. Sophia, meanwhile, skipped the shorts, and just wore the tank-top. Her middle was already getting so big, that she took every opportunity she could to wear the least amount of clothes possible. Not that Casey minded.

"How are you, Casey?" Sophia asked. "How are you? Really?"

Sophia sat cross-legged on the bed, and Casey was opposite her, leaning against the headboard. She'd been reading again, but set her book aside when Sophia had spoken.

"I'm emotionally exhausted, because if not for Dana, I wouldn't have undergone one of the biggest turning points of my life." she let out a soft grunt as Henry kicked her in a random spot, bored. "But then it's moments like feeling Henry's kicks, or reading a story from childhood to Melissa that makes me more thankful than ever that I didn't give up when I was going through my dark phase in Europe."

Casey smiled at Sophia. Sophia's heart melted.

"Thank you, for everything that you did today."

Sophia blew her a kiss. "It was my pleasure."

Sophia then fell silent, furrowing her eyebrow in a way that illustrated deep thought. Casey had the same expression on Olivia, Melissa, and now Harper, too, so she moved things along.

"What else is going on in your brain, Starshine?"

"Have you ever lived somewhere else?"

"Besides New York and England, you mean?"

Sophia bobbed her head. "Yes."

"I have not—I even went to law school in the city. Why do you ask?"

"When I was a kid, and wondering who my parents were and where they could be, I always dreamed of moving somewhere else. A warmer place."

"Like Florida?" Casey suggested.

"And be in the way of hurricane season?" Sophia laughed. "I mean somewhere like California. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Disneyworld, Hollywood, Palm Springs, the desert, the ocean…"

Casey caught Sophia's drift. "Copy that."

"I actually entertained the notion of getting out of New York after Melissa was born." Sophia continued.

"Wow, really? What changed your mind?"

"Life; it got in the way, and last year, Melissa and I caught the chicken pox. At the same time."

Casey winced. "That's a bummer."

Sophia shuddered at the memories. "Anyway, life caught up with me, and I realized that Melissa was getting bigger, so I had to focus more on getting out of the place we were. Then I decided to start looking for Olivia, and…"

"Then you fell into my life, that day you found Alex and me."

"Bingo. I fell in love with you, that first day, and then I got to know Olivia and Alex and Noah, and the squad. Somewhere along the way, I just decided to stay."

Casey beamed. "I'm glad you stayed."

"Me, too." Sophia agreed.

"I also wanted to go to California, too, but I didn't have the money." Casey confessed.

"So what did you do?"

"I got myself emancipated."

Something clicked somewhere in Sophia's memory. "And that's why you got your own place when you were sixteen?"

Casey nodded. "That, and also because I couldn't stand being cooped up with my parents, Junior, Ellington, Beatrix, Virginia, and Tiffany, too. My siblings are all older than me, but they all somehow decided to live at home or in other places about town. It saved money, but still…"

Sophia had been to the Novak residence above the flower shop, and while she found it quaint, she would never imagine how eight people had sneezed into such a small space for so long. And that had still been long before the births of the two youngest Novaks.

"It couldn't have been fun." she offered.

"It wasn't. I was the only one who had any real ambition to get good grades and turn my job at the florist into saving money for my own place."

"That's amazing. And what about now?"

Casey arched an eyebrow. "Do I want to ditch New York with you, Melissa, and the babies, you mean?"

"Yes."

"I don't. New York is our home, and now, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else, even when we retire."

Sophia breathed a sigh of relief and crawled over, kissing Casey's cheek. "Good. I just had to ask."

"I understand."

Casey patted her lap, and Sophia straddled it. This was one of their favorite (and most comfortable) ways to sit on the bed.

"I haven't asked yet." Casey said. "How was work?"

"Oh!" Sophia sat up straighter and smiled. "I found that my apron pockets were stuffed with money and trinkets when I arrived!"

"That must have given you quite a turn."

"It did, but then Savannah explained the tradition." Sophia pointed to the ring box on her bedside table. "Could you get that for me, please, Red?"

Curious, Casey obliged and handed it over.

"What's in there?" she wanted to know.

Sophia opened it and showed her the ring from earlier. "It's a family heirloom, and Olivia sent it over this morning. It was hers, and she gave it to me to give to you. Before it was hers, it belonged to Serena, and before Serena, it belonged to her mother, Juliana."

"Incredible…"

"Here you go." Sophia lifted it out of the box and put it on her finger. "It's a perfect fit."

Casey examined it and then kissed Sophia. "I love it!"

She arched her back as Henry turned over and gave her an errant kick as he slept.

"Henry is being funny and keeps kicking me while he sleeps." she pouted. "How are Agnes and Esme?"

Sophia removed her shirt and glided her hands over her middle, experimentally. She breathed a sigh of relief when they stirred in a way that told her they were both asleep and dreaming. At dinner, they had been bouncing around like they'd been fed caffeine.

"They're sleeping, too. Why? What are you thinking?"

"That we should at least settle on what month to get married in."

Sophia nodded. "Good point. What do you say to getting married after the babies are born?"

"I think that's perfect. What kind of wedding do we want?"

"Just a regular one—please, nothing over the top." Sophia decided. "And it should be in a spot that's big enough to accommodate all of the Novaks."

Casey laughed and rubbed Sophia's thighs. "Now there's an undertaking, but still doable. Good thing you and Melissa have met everybody now."

It was true: just the previous weekend, it had been Tiffany's birthday, and she'd had a major party because she'd turned forty. The party had been at her house, and it was more people with red hair than Sophia had ever seen in her life, but after Melissa went off to play with one of her newfound cousins and had fun, Sophia let herself relax. She ended up having a very pleasant evening.

"Definitely. Also—I have to learn Irish Gaelic now."

The Novaks did speak English, but when they were all together, it was a combination of that, and standard English. It was a little dizzying at times, but Sophia had been around the clan long enough to adapt and pick things up.

"Yes, you do, and that can be arranged. But," Casey kissed Sophia. "You're getting off-topic, beautiful. We were talking about our wedding."

"Right." Sophia nodded. "A regular wedding, after the babies come. What month?"

"Sometime in the summer."

"How about August?" Sophia suggested. "The babies will be four months old, and Melissa will be on summer vacation. I still can't believe that we got her into a class that starts in January. Where did the time go?"

Her voice wobbled, and Casey patted her cheeks.

"Hey. Keep it together." she warned. "If you start crying about this—again—then we will have gotten off the wedding train altogether."

Sophia refocused her determination yet again. "I like the last week of August: it won't be too hot, and that's enough time to plan things out."

"And I'm down with that," Casey said. "Oh, come on! Oof…"

Casey's words ended in a moan of displeasure, and Sophia got off her immediately because she looked like she was going to cry.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked cautiously.

Casey rubbed her eyes. "I was going to go to bed early, but I wanted to see if you wanted to have some fun before… specifically me taking care of you, since you've been taking care of me all day."

"But what? Henry is being difficult again?"

"He's being very difficult, and even kicking me with both feet! He was just asleep, five minutes ago!"

Sophia put a hand over Casey's heart, and immediately, Casey focused on it. Doing this, she felt her breathing return to a regular pace, but she didn't say anything.

"First of all," Sophia began. "I love taking care of you because you are gentle and very thoughtful. I've also never been with anyone like that before. Second, you've experienced a very unexpected loss today—Henry is just reacting to your feelings with feelings of his own."

Recalling that Sophia had experienced a handful of major, life-altering events during her first pregnancy, Casey was very sympathetic. "So you totally get how I feel right now."

"I really do." Sophia gave Casey's hand a gentle squeeze. "The third, and final thing I want to add to that list is that I would love to have some fun, but right now, I'll help you calm Henry down, and next time, you can take care of me."

"Deal."

Casey laid down on the bed, and was quickly rid of her clothes. Then Sophia began kissing her, all over.

Through experimenting, they had discovered that Casey found it very comforting when Sophia pumped her with her fingers. She did this, and for a few minutes, all that could be heard was the sound of Sophia's handiwork, and Casey's blissful, sensual sighs.

"For better or for worse, I love you, no matter what." Sophia purred, without breaking her pace. "You are my soulmate, and I'll always take care of you, even when we're old and grey. I knew that you were my one-and-done the moment that me met."

At that moment, Casey came and cried Sophia's name out.

When she had some control of her faculties again, Casey turned to Sophia again and said, "That's when I knew that you were my one-and-done, too."

Sophia kissed Casey's brow and wiped her brow down. "What would you like me to do now?"

Casey made room for her. "Will you lay with me?

"Of course I will."

With some careful maneuvering because she didn't want to wake the twins up, Sophia got under the covers and laid opposite Casey.

"What would you like me to do?"

"Just keep touching me. I need to feel you." was the reply. "Henry still hasn't slowed his roll."

"Alright." Sophia resumed touching Casey and playing with her in a way that had her mewling again very quickly. "You just relax now, and it's okay if you fall asleep."

Casey closed her eyes. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Only every single day." Sophia whispered. "Rest, darling. Rest."

Casey yawned, and even moved closer to Sophia when she began stroking her hair. She was drowsier than ever. It was as if she hadn't slept in a week.

"I love you forever." she told Sophia.

"I love you forever, too." Sophia continued stroking Casey's hair. "Forever and always. Rest, darling. Rest."

These were the last words that Casey heard before falling into a very peaceful slumber.