Franky was awake, but there were still a few minutes before their alarm was set to go off, so she laid there just enjoying the quiet of the morning with Bridget still in her arms. After a moment, she felt the blonde stir. She thought that maybe the older woman was starting to wake up, but then she heard a barely audible moan escape her lips. She pulled back and lifted her head a bit to look down at Bridget's face, and saw that she definitely wasn't waking up, she was having a dream. A very good dream it seemed. Franky smiled to herself, then rested her head back on her pillow, careful not to disturb her girlfriend. The brunette felt Bridget's fingers flex against her back a few times, then she was quiet for a few seconds before Franky saw her blue eyes open.

She moved her fingers over the blonde's side. "Good dream, babe?"

"Mmm." Bridget smiled, and turned her face into the pillow. "Was it that obvious?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"Yeah." The brunette let out a small laugh. "Hey, look at me," she whispered quietly. The blonde turned to face her, and Franky lowered her head to give her a soft kiss. "Was it about me?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Of course." Bridget placed her hand on the back of her girlfriend's head, and pulled her in for a long, slow kiss.

As Franky deepened the kiss, the older woman wondered how long they had before they had to get up and ready for work. She quickly opened her eyes, and glanced over the brunette's shoulder. They didn't have a lot of time, but they had enough. Bridget's dream had been good, but it had really only served one purpose, and had only left her wanting more. She quickly found Franky's hand, which was still resting on her side, and covered it with her own. Bridget then slid her girlfriend's hand around to rest on her stomach, and pushed it down, causing the brunette's fingertips to dip under the waistband of her underwear. The blonde felt Franky's lips stretch into a smile.

"Dream got you all hot and bothered, huh?" the younger woman said against Bridget's lips.

"Mhm." The blonde nipped at Franky's bottom lip. "Please."

Franky slid her hand the rest of the way into Bridget's underwear and let her fingers brush over the older woman's clit then down across her folds. "You're so wet, babe. What was I doing to you in that dream?" The brunette watched as Bridget shook her head slightly. "Tell me." Franky moved her fingers over the other woman again, gathering more wetness.

The blonde let out a small moan. "You were fucking me."

"Is that what you want?" Franky asked. She pulled back just enough that the blonde couldn't connect their lips when she tried.

"Yes."

The brunette pushed two fingers inside Bridget, and set her pace. She curled her fingers and the blonde let out a moan. The younger woman felt Bridget shift from her side to her back, as she pulled the brunette on top of her. From her new position, Franky was able to get a bit more leverage. She lowered her head and gently bit the small patch of exposed skin at the base of the blonde's neck. The younger woman felt her girlfriend's leg tremble against her own.

Franky worked her way slowly up Bridget's neck, leaving small bites and soothing them with her tongue, until she got to the sensitive spot under her ear. Bridget turned her head slightly to allow the brunette better access.

As Franky lingered there, she again felt all the small movements of Bridget's muscles. The brunette could tell that her girlfriend was nearing her climax, then she felt the older woman take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Franky knew this meant she was trying to calm herself down. The brunette slowed her pace a bit, and lifted her head. She met Bridget's eyes, and held her gaze for a few seconds before the blonde reached up and wrapped her arms around Franky's neck. The younger woman placed a soft kiss on her lips, then lowered her head again as Bridget pulled her closer. Franky picked up the pace again, curling her fingers to hit that spot inside the blonde, and it wasn't long before she felt Bridget's body tense as her orgasm hit her.

The brunette gradually slowed as she felt the last waves of pleasure run through her girlfriend. She picked up her head and placed a small kiss on Bridget's cheek, then her lips.

"I love you," Franky whispered softly.

"I love you, too," Bridget replied as the younger woman placed light kisses on the side of her neck.

Franky placed one final kiss on the blonde's neck. "We should get up now. I'll make breakfast."

When Bridget entered the kitchen, Franky was just putting breakfast on the table. She and Emily had made omelettes.

"Are you guys excited for your first class tonight?" the brunette asked as they all sat down to eat.

It was almost the end of the first week of summer classes at the Centre. Emily had enjoyed the ones that she had been to so far, but tonight was the first session of the one she and Bridget were taking together. Franky was looking forward to having them both in her class.

"Yeah! What are we making?" Emily asked with a mouthful of food.

"That's a surprise, bub." Franky winked at her.

"Do I get to know?" Bridget asked with a smile.

The brunette signalled for her to lean in close. Franky put her hand up so the young girl couldn't see what she was saying to Bridget.

"No," the brunette whispered. Bridget laughed.

"Hey, no fair!" Emily exclaimed from across the table.

"She didn't tell me, love. We'll find out together tonight." The blonde reached out and patted her niece's hand. "And speaking of tonight, how about I pick up something for us for supper, and meet you guys at the Centre?"

"That sounds great! We can eat in the classroom or there's some tables outside." Franky said, putting a forkful of omelette into her mouth.

After they had finished eating, Emily went to her room to gather the things she'd need for the day.

"We should go shopping soon and get her Christmas presents," Bridget said as she helped Franky clear away the breakfast dishes.

"Yeah definitely! I picked out some things…" The brunette reached for her phone, and the older woman gently reached out to stop her.

"Shh, baby. She'll be back any second." The blonde gave her a small kiss. "And we're not going to spoil her, yeah? We agreed." Bridget waited until Franky nodded her head.

"I did pick out a couple things I want to get for her though," the brunette whispered.

Bridget gave a small laugh. "Okay. You can tell me about them later."

"Hey, Vera. I haven't seen you in here all week," the blonde said as she sat down at the staffroom lunch table with her friend.

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just been a crazy week. I've had meetings and mountains of paperwork." Vera let out a sigh as she unpacked her lunch.

"Is that all you brought?" Bridget looked at the small container of salad that Vera had sat in front of her. It looked to be mostly lettuce.

"Yeah, I've just been so tired these past few days that I haven't been cooking when I go home." She stuck her fork into the salad.

The blonde got up and walked over to the small kitchen area, she put her bowl of soup in the microwave and grabbed a plate off the shelf. She waited the few seconds for the microwave to finish then carried her food back to the table.

"Here." She set the bowl of soup in front of Vera, and placed half of her sandwich on the plate, which she also put in front of her friend. Vera opened her mouth to protest, but the blonde cut her off. "Franky always packs way too much. I still have yogurt, fruit, a granola bar, and a salad. So you eat that. Besides, I'm picking up supper for us to have at the Centre, and tonight is my first class with Em, so I'll probably have something to eat there too."

"Thank you so much. God, this soup is amazing." Vera closed her eyes when she tasted it.

"Something Franky made the other night. I don't even know what it's called." Bridget let out a small laugh.

Vera gave her a small smile. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you. Do you guys have plans with Em this weekend?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, nothing with me, and nothing that I know of with Franky. Why?"

"I was thinking it was time for her and I to maybe have a fun night again. Watch a movie and have some snacks. She can spend the night if she wants."

"Sounds lovely, but I thought you were seeing Jake this weekend. You were going to cook for him." Bridget took a bite of her sandwich and leaned back in her chair. She had had a feeling ever since Franky had told her about Vera's question that maybe she and Jake's relationship wasn't going well.

"Oh, uh, we decided to postpone it. This weekend just wasn't a good time." Vera caught the blonde's eye, then quickly looked down. She knew her friend could read her like a book, but she didn't really want to talk about it, especially not at work. If Vera was being honest, she was looking to keep herself busy and keep her mind off her boyfriend. She loved spending time with Emily anyway, so this solution was a win-win.

Bridget knew there was more to the story, but decided to drop it for now. She would talk to Vera more when they were alone. "Okay, well, I think it's a nice idea if you want to spend some time with Em. Just let me know which day works for you." The blonde gave her friend a small smile.

"Maybe I could pick her up Saturday morning? That would give you and Franky most of the day and all evening together, and I'll bring her back Sunday morning." Vera took a bite of the sandwich Bridget had shared with her. "Seriously, even the sandwich is amazing."

"She makes her own mayo." Bridget gave a small laugh.

"Of course she does," Vera said with mock sarcasm.

"That doesn't leave you much of the weekend though, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Plus it'll give you and Franky some time to yourselves." The governor gave her friend an awkward smile.

"Well, that's very thoughtful, Vera. You're welcome to come pick her up whenever you want. I'll make sure she's got her things packed." Bridget thought for a moment. "Why don't you join us for supper tonight? That way you won't have to worry about making anything when you get home."

"Oh, uh, that's very nice of you, but I couldn't. That's your time with Franky and Em."

"Vera." Bridget waited until her friend looked at her. "I live with them. I see them all the time. I'm sure they'd love to see you."

"I'll have to check and see what I need to have done by tomorrow." Vera sighed.

"Well, you need to eat either way, so you might as well eat with us. I'm thinking either Thai or Mexican." Bridget checked her watch and realized that she had a session starting soon. "I need to get back to work. But anyway, I'm heading straight over there at the end of the day, so I'll check back with you before I leave, okay?"

"Okay. And thanks again for the lunch."

"Anytime." Bridget gave her one last smile, and headed back to her office.

The afternoon had gone by quickly, and Bridget was on her way to Vera's office to make sure she was going to eat supper with them. She knew her friend would probably try to make some excuse to stay late or head right home to start on her paperwork, but the blonde had decided that she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Vera was clearly stressed out about work, and upset about whatever was going on with Jake.

The governor's office door was open when she arrived, so she stuck her head inside. "You ready?"

"Um…"

Bridget sensed there was a 'no' coming her way. "Come on, pack up. Did you decide what you wanted to order?" The blonde had emailed the menu from the restaurant she'd chosen earlier in the afternoon.

Vera sighed. "Yeah, I'll have the Pad Thai. And here." She came around from behind her desk and handed her friend some money.

"Don't be silly, Vera." Bridget handed it back to her. "I'll see you at the Centre soon."

When Bridget arrived at the Centre, Emily and Franky were just finishing cleaning up from the last class of the afternoon.

"Hey guys." The blonde placed their food on the table, and went over to the prep counter. She gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, babe." Franky turned her head to give Bridget a kiss as Emily wrapped her arms around her aunt's waist.

"I hope you don't mind, but I asked Vera to join us for supper. She's been really stressed lately, and I thought it would be nice."

"I don't mind." The brunette gave her girlfriend a smile. "Do you want to eat here or outside?"

"Let's go outside. I've been in my office all day." Bridget took her phone from her pocket. "I'll let Vera know where we'll be."

They had just finished unpacking the food, and Emily was still climbing on the play structures when Vera arrived.

"Hey, Gov." Franky greeted the governor. She could tell right away that Bridget hadn't been exaggerating when she said her friend was stressed. The brunette put her arm around Vera's shoulder, and pulled the smaller woman into her side. "You alright?"

Vera nodded. "Yes. Thank you."

"This is yours." Bridget set a container down on the table that contained Vera's Pad Thai, then turned her attention to her niece. "Em, come sit. We're ready to eat."

"I got to try some of your soup and homemade mayo today. They were both delicious," the governor said as she sat down at the picnic table.

"Oh, I'm glad you liked them. I can give you the recipe or make a batch for you." Franky knew Vera probably wouldn't confide in her about anything that was causing her stress, that was more Bridget's thing, but she figured maybe by making Vera some meals, she at least wouldn't have to worry about that part of her day.

"Maybe you could show me how to make them sometime? I can't just keep asking you to make me food." Vera took a mouthful of her supper, and reached over to help Emily open her container of food.

"Ah, why not? That's what I do." Bridget was hoping a joke would lighten her friend's mood. "Franky's very generous like that."

"I was pretty generous this morning, wasn't I? I made you lunch, I made you -"

"Franky," Bridget said in a warning tone.

"An omelette….for breakfast." The brunette looked at her girlfriend with one raised eyebrow. "What did you think I was going to say?" Franky had a smug grin on her face as she glanced from the blonde to Vera.

"Uh, nothing." Bridget stirred the food in her container before taking a large forkful.

The brunette leaned over and gave her a kiss on the temple before she turned her attention to her own meal.

"So Em, Vera has asked if you'd like to spend the weekend with her, what do you say?" Bridget smiled as she watched the excited look appear on the young girl's face.

"Can we play the new card game Auntie Bridge taught me?" Vera nodded. "And can we watch Frozen again?"

"Sure." Vera gave a small laugh, and nodded again.

"I think that's a 'yes'." The blonde smiled again.

They all talked while they ate, and when they had finished, Franky excused herself to go get things set up for the evening class. Emily had made her way back over to the small playground, while Bridget and Vera cleaned up the garbage from their meal.

"Do you know what your plans are for Christmas?" Bridget asked her friend as she gathered their empty food containers.

"Uh, I'm not really sure yet. Maybe spend some time with Jake." Vera said, returning from her trip to the garbage can.

"Well, if you like, you're more than welcome to spend it with us." Bridget had stopped cleaning up, and waited for Vera's response.

"Oh, I couldn't, I mean it's your first Christmas with her and Em. I don't want to barge in on that." The governor gave the blonde an awkward smile. While what she had just told Bridget was the truth, it wasn't the only reason she felt like it should be a time just for their family. As far as she knew, she was the only one that Franky had told about the proposal.

"You're not, I'm inviting you. I've already talked about it with Franky. In fact, she was the one who asked what you usually did for Christmas." Bridget walked over to Vera, and rested her hand on her friend's arm. "If you want to spend it with us, then you're more than welcome. Just be prepared to eat. Franky is already picking out all the food she wants to make." The blonde gave her a smile, which Vera half-heartedly returned. Bridget pulled her close, sensing that her friend could use a hug.

"I will let you know for sure soon, but it would be lovely to spend the holiday with you guys." Vera was truly touched, not only by Bridget's invitation, but also by the fact that Franky had thought of her, and wanted her there given what her plans were.

"I really do hope you'll be there. Liz is coming too, and spending Christmas Eve night. There's plenty of room if you want to do that as well."

Vera thought for a moment. Her choice was between spending the holidays with someone she'd only been dating a few months, and was already having some doubts about, or spending them with her best friend's family. There was no choice. She realized that Jake may be upset, but the fact that that didn't bother her, made her realize even more where she belonged.

"I'll be there." Vera had made up her mind.

"Really? You don't want to check with Jake?" Bridget was surprised at Vera's sudden decision.

The governor shook her head. "Nah, I'd rather be with you guys."

"Aw, that's great! Franky and Em will be excited." The blonde had finished cleaning up the last of the trash. "I should head inside now, the class is starting soon. Try to get some sleep tonight, okay?" Vera nodded, and Bridget gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she called out to Emily that it was time to head inside.

When they arrived in the classroom, Franky was in her office putting on her chef's jacket. Emily grabbed an apron, and headed to pick out the station that her and her Aunt would be working at.

"You look good, baby." Bridget wrapped her arms around the brunette from behind.

"The jacket really works for you, huh?" Franky said with a small chuckle.

"Mmm, yeah pretty much." She stepped around the younger woman so they were now face to face.

"You gonna be too distracted to pay attention to what I'm saying tonight?" The brunette let her hands rest on Bridget's hips, and applied a slight pressure with her thumbs as she moved them across the blonde's sensitive area. Even through the fabric, Franky still got a reaction.

"I'll try to behave." Bridget gave her a quick kiss then turned and headed for the office door.

"No fun in that, Gidge." Franky finished buttoning her jacket.

When Franky made her way out to the classroom, a few of the students were already there. Franky recognized the young girl, who had told her the day that she went to pick Emily up early, that she and her mother had signed up for this class. When the girl saw her, she gave the brunette a quick wave, which Franky returned. Bridget caught the interaction, and smiled.

Out of the corner of her eye, the blonde saw someone walk up to the workstation beside her and Emily. She looked up to see a man about her age, with dark hair and brown eyes, who was nicely dressed. He was there with a young girl who she guessed was close to Emily's age.

"Hi, I'm Richard." He held out his hand to Bridget. "This is Mia," he said nodding towards the young girl beside him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Bridget, and this is Emily." The blonde gave him a smile, and shook his hand.

"I'm not much of a cook, but Mia here really wanted us to take this class together, so I thought hey why not, right?" Richard gave a small chuckle.

"I'm not much of a cook either. Em here is better than me. Maybe they'll be the ones helping us instead of the other way around, yeah?" Bridget laughed at her own joke.

"Most likely." She glanced over again to see Richard smiling at her.

"Okay everyone, if I could have your attention." Franky was standing at the front of the classroom, ready to start her lesson.

This was the first time that Bridget was seeing the brunette in action. She had seen her with Emily of course, and had shown up at the very end of a couple classes to pick up her niece, but Franky had been done the actual teaching part by that point. She liked seeing this side of her girlfriend. She was confident, and in control of the room. Bridget remembered back to the first time she'd met her, then their first kiss here in this room. She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. She needed to pay attention to what her girlfriend was saying. If she screwed this up because she was too distracted to follow the directions, Franky would never let her live it down.

"Tonight we'll be making something that can be either a snack or dessert; oatmeal chocolate chip snack cakes. I have a list here of what we'll be making each week, and there's a copy for everyone, so be sure to pick one up on your way out." The brunette pointed to the stack of papers on the end of the counter. "Some nights we'll make something smaller like this, and some nights we'll be making a main course dish. On those nights, maybe you want to skip supper at home and eat here instead. Okay, so first things first, before we start with any of the ingredients, we need to preheat the oven, and get the baking pan ready."

Franky went on to explain how to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then slowly mix them together. Overall, she had picked a fairly easy recipe for the first night. After she had finished her demo, she walked around the classroom, answering questions and giving advice.

When the brunette passed Bridget and Emily's workstation, she gave the blonde's hand a squeeze as she walked by. Bridget grinned. It reminded her of something that would happen in a forbidden relationship where the two people had to rely on sly, secret gestures such as that, even though there was nothing secret or forbidden about her relationship with Franky.

Once they had their creations in the ovens, they all set about cleaning up their stations. The timing worked out almost perfectly, as most of them were just finishing tidying up when their timers signalled that their food was ready. Bridget watched as Emily checked theirs with a cake tester to make sure that it was fully cooked in the middle, then helped her lift the pan onto the counter to cool for a couple minutes.

"Looks like we survived week one," Richard said as he placed the squares into the small cardboard boxes that Franky had handed out to everyone.

"Barely," Bridget said jokingly. "Actually, Em loves to cook. I signed her up for Franky's class in the spring and she really took to it, so I decided to surprise her by signing us both up for this one."

"She seems like a good teacher, and the kids all love her." He nodded to the front of the room, where some of the kids were handing Franky samples of their cakes for her to taste and critique, and of course she said they were all excellent.

"Yeah, she's good with them."

"Well, I think we're all packed up. Same time next week?" Richard smiled at her.

"We'll be here, right Em?" Emily nodded as she ate one of the treats they'd made.

They said their goodbyes, and waited while the rest of the class made their way out.

"You guys ready to head home, too?" Franky asked as she hung up her jacket and got her bag from the office.

"Definitely. It's been a long day." Bridget signed.

"Alright, let's go." Franky turned off the lights on the way out, and closed the door behind them.

After they had put Emily to bed, they both decided they were ready to call it a night themselves. Bridget felt Franky stretch out her muscles, as she laid down beside her.

"I ate way too many pieces of those cakes, Gidge." Franky pushed on her stomach. "Look, you can feel how full I am."

Bridget laughed. "Baby, don't do that, it'll make you feel worse if you keep pushing on it. Why did you eat so many?"

Franky sighed. "I would have felt bad saying 'no', or trying some, and not the others, so I just ate whatever they handed me."

"Aw, such a softie," Bridget teased, and Franky gave her a sideways glance. "It's not a bad thing. In fact, it's something I love about you." The blonde reached over and placed her hand on the younger woman's cheek, so that she turned her head to face her. Bridget stretched up to connect their lips, and repositioned herself so she was laying more against Franky's side.

"Please don't lay on me, babe. I mean, any other time yeah, but not tonight." The brunette mumbled against the older woman's lips.

Bridget smiled. "I'm not going to."

"Good, cause I might throw up on you if you did." Franky connected their lips again in a small kiss.

"That would be grounds for a break up I think." Bridget laughed a bit and heard the brunette do the same.

The blonde reached down and slid her hand under Franky's shirt. She let her fingers trail up and down over the younger woman's soft skin.

"How does that feel? Any better?" Bridget asked quietly.

"Yeah, a bit."

"Okay, good." The blonde continued her motions, with her and Franky sharing a small kiss every so often. In reality, Bridget knew what she was doing was nothing more than creating a distraction for her girlfriend to take her mind off how full she was feeling, but as long as it worked, she didn't care. She just wanted Franky to feel better enough to be able to get to sleep.

After a while, she could tell the brunette's breathing had slowed, and when she placed a kiss on Franky's lips, it wasn't returned. She had fallen asleep. Bridget smiled and cuddled in close to her girlfriend's side. She left her hand resting on Franky's stomach, just in case the younger woman could somehow sense that it was still there, and closed her eyes.