Breathe Again
By Aeris
Breathe Again
Toni Braxton
If I never feel you in my arms again,
if I never feel your tender kiss again,
if I never hear "I love you" now and then,
will I never make love to you once again?
Please understand, if love ends,
then I promise you, I promise you that,
that I shall never breathe again.
Breathe again, breathe again,
that I shall never breathe again.
And I can't stop thinking about,
about the way things used to be,
and I can't stop thinking about,
about the love that you made to me.
And I can't get you out of my head;
how in the world will I begin
to let you walk right out of my life
and throw my heart away?
And I can't stop caring about,
about the apple of my eye,
and I can't stop doing without,
without the center of my life.
And I can't get you out of my head,
and I know I can't pretend that I won't die
if you decide you won't see me again.
If I never feel you in my arms again,
if I never feel your tender kiss again,
if I never hear "I love you" now and then,
will I never make love to you once again?
Please understand, if love ends,
then I promise you, I promise you that,
that I shall never breathe again.
Breathe again, breathe again,
that I shall never breathe again.
And I can't stop thinking about,
about the way my life would be.
No, I can't stop thinking about,
how could you love me then leave?
And I can't get you out of my mind,
God knows how hard I've tried,
and if you walk right out my life,
God knows I'm sure to die.
And I can't stop doing without,
without the rhythm of my heart.
No, I can't stop doing without,
for I will surely fall apart.
And I can't get you out of my mind,
and I know I can't deny,
and I would die if you decide
you won't see me again.
(Chorus one more time)
She felt the shorter woman's presence even before she saw her. Fiery, passionate, glowing with an intensity that took her breath away. Blazing green eyes swung around, over her, through her, past her. Settling onto Malucci's retreating form, moving onto Mark's quiet presence.
The muscles under the bulky lab coat seemed to wind up, then relax in a refined control. The crutch was almost invisible to her eyes, or rather it was a natural, organic part of her. A unique extension of her grace and loveliness, instead of a cold shaft of metal.
Kim stared at her, admiring the leader and the doctor, yet seeing only the woman.
'My god, how could I not love her?'
"...exam three. She said that she fell down the basement stairs, but the bruising is consistent with being hit."
She nodded mutely, suddenly finding her mouth too dry to talk. Her eyes drifted down Kerry's body, taking in the black slacks that hugged her body just enough to give everyone a hint as to the body under them. The dark green shirt's top two buttons were left undone, allowing her to glance down her shirt as Kerry bent over Randi for a nearby chart.
"Did you need something else?" the Chief asked, all business.
Kim felt her cheeks burning as she stared into Kerry's curious green eyes. "N-no." Don't let her see what you feel. Be strong. Be calm.
She reached for the chart Kerry offered, and their hands brushed in the process. Without thinking, she grabbed the redhead's hand, holding it tightly. The need to be with this woman overwhelmed her. She missed the woman before her more than she would ever care to admit.
A dim ache in her chest taking the place of the calm that she felt every time she was in Kerry's arms. Right now, here, she needed her. Needed to hear her say the words that had stunned her when reading her letter. She didn't care about the ER, or patients, or her job... The only thing, the only person that mattered was the one person she feared the most.
Kerry's eyes met hers. Was she feeling the same things? Or did she just want to know why Kim was grabbing her hand instead of the chart?
She dropped the warm hand as the world around them came back into focus. The cool mask slipped back into place, allowing her to regain her senses. "Sorry," Kim managed to say as her fingers closed around the cold, lifeless chart. "Little clumsy today."
Giving Kerry a cold smile, she brushed past her towards exam three.
Kerry blinked, a dozen conflicting impulses canceling each other out and leaving her frozen in confusion. "What the hell just happened?" she wondered aloud.
"If you ask me, she still has the hots for you," came the inevitable reply from the oh-so-casual young woman in the weird outfit.
"I didn't ask you," she muttered, unable to take her eyes off of Kim. The whole thing had taken maybe a second, the contact between their hands less than half that time. But that instant of contact had transmitted more messages than the fastest modem ever made. It was like being struck by lightning.
For just a moment she'd felt the same passion from the younger woman that they'd had before their break up. In that moment she'd found herself hoping that they were finally going to be okay. The feelings that invaded her body when she'd taken her hand.
Then it was gone. The distant woman that had taken the place of her outgoing lover was back. A woman she was responsible for creating. That, in itself, was the worst thing she had to live with.
"By the way, Jaime's on line one. She needs to talk to you."
She smiled at the desk clerk that seemed to be going to great lengths to protect her from any more gossip. The dark-haired woman had accidentally found out about Jaime a few days earlier. To say she was shocked when the ex con had become her personal guardian would be an understatement.
She'd learned just how great an ally Randi was after the whole Romano incident, more so after Randi had discovered she had a daughter. In turn, she allowed her to see the human side of herself, creating a strange friendship between them. One that she was grateful for.
But all she said as she picked up the phone was "Thanks." It was enough.
Kim ran a tired hand through her hair as she left the exam room. Ten years of this and she still couldn't understand how a woman could protect the very man that was hurting her. The worst thing was that it never got easier. Talking to these women only seemed to get more frustrating and even harder on her emotionally.
She stopped beside the admittance desk, subtlety looking around her.
"She's not here," Randi stated without looking up.
'So much for being subtle.' "Who's not here?"
Randi rolled her eyes at her, barely hiding her annoyance. "Weaver," she replied, foregoing her customary sarcasm for once. She turned back to the Rolling Stone magazine she'd been reading. "Some sort of family emergency."
"Family emergency?" Kim flinched inwardly at the concern in her voice.
"Yep."
"And...?"
Randi closed her face off, ignoring the temptation of telling what she knew. She liked Legaspi a lot, and she felt that the blonde was good for Weaver. However, she wasn't about to violate the redhead's confidence. She'd given Legaspi too much information as it was.
"And...she left." Her body language added: and don't even bother trying that psyche-out trick on me again. It ain't working this time. Got it?
Kim's brow wrinkled up in confusion at the stone wall that Randi was throwing up. She'd been finding it particularly difficult to get anything out of her about Kerry recently, and she was finding it impossible to figure out the sudden camaraderie that the clerk apparently felt for Weaver. 'Damn. The one time she decides to clam up instead of gossiping...'
"It's just for a few days..."
"No. I'm not going."
Kerry glared at the pre teen. "You agreed that..."
"That was before I found out you were my mother."
April exchanged a glance with Karen. They had both decided that they would allow Jaime the time she needed to adjust. They had hoped that Jaime would still want to go to Lake Michigan with them, but obviously it wasn't going to work that way.
"All right, you can stay here," Karen finally said, then grinned sheepishly. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to have that second honeymoon we're always talking about."
"Can anyone say 'yuck'? Geez, talk about a bad visual." Jaime shuddered as the three women glared at her suspiciously.
"And just how would you know what they were talking about?"
Jaime rolled her eyes at them. "Oh, please, I've known all about that for a few years now. I mean, really, how dumb do you think I am?"
"We are going to have a talk about that when we get back, do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am."
April nodded as she relaxed. "If we're going to make our flight, we should leave."
Jaime squeaked as both her mothers pulled her into a tight hug. She quickly squirmed her way out of their arms and retreated to the safety of the sofa next to Kerry. She was not going to risk going into the field again, not if it meant getting squeezed to death.
Kim shifted nervously in front of the door. She hated the fear she had of Kerry, she hated the worry that had invaded her heart when Randi had told her there'd been a family emergency. She'd been standing outside for the last ten minutes trying to get up the nerve to either knock or walk away.
The problem was that her body didn't want to obey either decision. Once more she raised her hand...and froze as a young girl threw open the door. Her eyebrows arched up at the familiar blue green eyes that seemed to drill into her. "Hi," she ventured, "I'm..."
The young girl slowly looked her over critically before grabbing her arm and dragging her inside unceremoniously. "I was wondering how long you were going to stand there," she said, not bothering with introductions or pleasantries. "I mean, from what Mom told me you're supposed to be this straightforward, sassy psychiatrist, so when you didn't knock I thought that something was wrong. I mean, why else would you just stand there for so long? But then again, I guess you could still be mad at Mom for that whole Shannon Wallace thing, but if that was why then why would you be here to begin with? So why are you here? Oh, Mom's in the kitchen by the way."
Kim managed to make it to the couch before her legs gave out. Her dazed mind was struggling to grasp everything that the young girl had said -- all of it in a single breath -- but no matter how hard she tried, her mind kept coming back to her calling Kerry 'Mom'. At least she thought she was referring to Kerry.
"I...maybe...I...I should go." She tried to stand up, but her legs seemed to be rubber. Unable or unwilling to cooperate.
"Kim...?"
'Oh boy...' Kim swallowed hard as Kerry entered the living room, drying her hands on a dish cloth. She tried to find something to say while Kerry pointedly glanced at the young girl.
The young girl, in turn, smiled innocently and plopped down in the overstuffed lazy boy.
"I see you met Jaime."
Kim nodded, letting her eyes take in the young girl in more detail. She could easily see the resemblance. The same red hair, the same eyes, the same body build, even allowing for the age difference. This is what Kerry looked like as a child, she thought with sudden wonder.
She cleared her throat. "I'd heard that there was an emergency of some sort, and wanted to make sure you were okay."
Kerry shot a glare at Jaime. "It was more of a disagreement than an emergency."
"My parents wanted me to go with them to the lake, but I wanted to stay here."
Kim sighed at the first sign of a headache began to appear. She'd never been so confused in her life. "But you said Kerry was your mother..."
"She is, but so are April and Karen."
Kerry groaned softly at the evil glint in her daughter's eyes. She knew what that meant for the person on the receiving end of her scheming.
"April and Karen?" Kim asked faintly.
"My parents."
"Your...but Kerry is also your mother?" Kim, of course, knew several children with two mothers, but three? How did that work?
Kerry decided to put an end to this before Jaime caused Kim to have a breakdown. "It's a long story... Is that all you wanted?"
"Um...I also wanted to thank you...for what you did with Romano..."
"Oh." Kerry relaxed visibly, her defensiveness punctured. "It was nothing."
Jaime smirked at the blush that was spreading over her mother's ears. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"
Both women stared blankly at Jaime, neither woman knowing what to say.
Jumping up, the girl started for the kitchen. "Great, it's settled then. I'll set another place..."
"Jaime...!"
Kim looked from the front door back to the kitchen. On one hand her little voice was screaming at her to get the hell out of there, on the other she was itching with curiosity. She wanted to know what was going on, and just how this girl was related to Kerry.
She finally smiled seductively at her ex-lover. "So...what are we having for dinner?"
"...so the basketball coach at the middle school wants me to try out for the team."
Kim couldn't help but get caught up in the young girl's enthusiasm. They'd explained everything to her earlier, and now that her brain had stopped hurting she found herself truly liking the young girl. Jaime was a lot like she imagined Kerry would've been if she'd had a better childhood.
"Oh, you know what? My best friend is having an ice skating party Friday, and Mom is going to take me. Why don't you come with us?"
Kerry rolled her eyes at the sweet innocence Jaime was practically radiating. She knew exactly what the young girl was up to, and she planned on having a very long talk with her after Kim left.
"I don't kn..."
"Please?" Jaime turned on her infamous pout. "I'd feel better if Mom had someone to keep her company."
Kerry smirked at the blonde as she threw her a desperate look. She was glad to know she wasn't the only one that had trouble saying no to her daughter.
"I guess I could..."
"Yes!!" Jaime hugged the psychiatrist, then jumped up to help her mother clear the table. "It's going to be so much fun. We'll eat pizza and ice cream, and we'll skate and... Oh, wait until you see the cool outfit Mom bought me..."
Jaime frowned as the phone began to ring, interrupted her. She eyed her mother as she made her way to the phone, leaving her with Kim. She shrugged and turned back to the blonde, tuning out Kerry's conversation as she went on excitedly describing the skating outfit. She was determined to get the two women back together, even if she had to lock them in the closet together.
It didn't take her long to realize that Kim was only half-listening, and even as she opened her mouth to complain, she saw the psychiatrist's attention focus entirely on Kerry. Jaime turned to see what was so important, but even before Kerry came into her field of vision, she froze at the soft voice of her mother, aware that something was horribly wrong.
"No, no, oh no, sweet god, no..." Kerry's eyes were wide, filling with tears, and her voice was small. The only time she'd heard that tone was after Kerry'd found out her adopted parents had died. Her stomach sunk as she noticed the tears streaming down her mother's face.
Kim was already on her feet. "Kerry, what...?"
Jaime collapsed into the chair, shaking her head. While her own eyes filled, she squeezed them shut and covered her ears, not wanting to hear what she knew her mother was going to say.
Aeris Jade Orion
Grey Fox, and cause of Discord.
Gabrielle: "Do you deny spying on these women?"
Joxer: "I resent that."
Gabrielle: "Do you deny it?"
Joxer: "No, I just _resent_ it."
Joxer: Hello--heh-heh-- name's Joxer-- spelled, uh [Clears throat]--
J-o-x-e-rrrrrrrr.
Rh: "Would you wanna make a baby with me?"
Jox: "What?!"
Rh: "Will you help?"
Jox: "Wait a minute! You want me to-- to-- to-- make a-- "
Rh: "Right-- will you?"
Jox: "Of course not! Hey, listen! We're not just machines, you
know, you can use to-- . Besides-- you know, uh-- we can't just
do it on command. We need stuff like, uh-- cheap motel rooms and
dirty pictures and lingerie-- stuff like that! We're _not_
animals! But I can get those things!"
** --------- End Original Message ----------- **
By Aeris
Breathe Again
Toni Braxton
If I never feel you in my arms again,
if I never feel your tender kiss again,
if I never hear "I love you" now and then,
will I never make love to you once again?
Please understand, if love ends,
then I promise you, I promise you that,
that I shall never breathe again.
Breathe again, breathe again,
that I shall never breathe again.
And I can't stop thinking about,
about the way things used to be,
and I can't stop thinking about,
about the love that you made to me.
And I can't get you out of my head;
how in the world will I begin
to let you walk right out of my life
and throw my heart away?
And I can't stop caring about,
about the apple of my eye,
and I can't stop doing without,
without the center of my life.
And I can't get you out of my head,
and I know I can't pretend that I won't die
if you decide you won't see me again.
If I never feel you in my arms again,
if I never feel your tender kiss again,
if I never hear "I love you" now and then,
will I never make love to you once again?
Please understand, if love ends,
then I promise you, I promise you that,
that I shall never breathe again.
Breathe again, breathe again,
that I shall never breathe again.
And I can't stop thinking about,
about the way my life would be.
No, I can't stop thinking about,
how could you love me then leave?
And I can't get you out of my mind,
God knows how hard I've tried,
and if you walk right out my life,
God knows I'm sure to die.
And I can't stop doing without,
without the rhythm of my heart.
No, I can't stop doing without,
for I will surely fall apart.
And I can't get you out of my mind,
and I know I can't deny,
and I would die if you decide
you won't see me again.
(Chorus one more time)
She felt the shorter woman's presence even before she saw her. Fiery, passionate, glowing with an intensity that took her breath away. Blazing green eyes swung around, over her, through her, past her. Settling onto Malucci's retreating form, moving onto Mark's quiet presence.
The muscles under the bulky lab coat seemed to wind up, then relax in a refined control. The crutch was almost invisible to her eyes, or rather it was a natural, organic part of her. A unique extension of her grace and loveliness, instead of a cold shaft of metal.
Kim stared at her, admiring the leader and the doctor, yet seeing only the woman.
'My god, how could I not love her?'
"...exam three. She said that she fell down the basement stairs, but the bruising is consistent with being hit."
She nodded mutely, suddenly finding her mouth too dry to talk. Her eyes drifted down Kerry's body, taking in the black slacks that hugged her body just enough to give everyone a hint as to the body under them. The dark green shirt's top two buttons were left undone, allowing her to glance down her shirt as Kerry bent over Randi for a nearby chart.
"Did you need something else?" the Chief asked, all business.
Kim felt her cheeks burning as she stared into Kerry's curious green eyes. "N-no." Don't let her see what you feel. Be strong. Be calm.
She reached for the chart Kerry offered, and their hands brushed in the process. Without thinking, she grabbed the redhead's hand, holding it tightly. The need to be with this woman overwhelmed her. She missed the woman before her more than she would ever care to admit.
A dim ache in her chest taking the place of the calm that she felt every time she was in Kerry's arms. Right now, here, she needed her. Needed to hear her say the words that had stunned her when reading her letter. She didn't care about the ER, or patients, or her job... The only thing, the only person that mattered was the one person she feared the most.
Kerry's eyes met hers. Was she feeling the same things? Or did she just want to know why Kim was grabbing her hand instead of the chart?
She dropped the warm hand as the world around them came back into focus. The cool mask slipped back into place, allowing her to regain her senses. "Sorry," Kim managed to say as her fingers closed around the cold, lifeless chart. "Little clumsy today."
Giving Kerry a cold smile, she brushed past her towards exam three.
Kerry blinked, a dozen conflicting impulses canceling each other out and leaving her frozen in confusion. "What the hell just happened?" she wondered aloud.
"If you ask me, she still has the hots for you," came the inevitable reply from the oh-so-casual young woman in the weird outfit.
"I didn't ask you," she muttered, unable to take her eyes off of Kim. The whole thing had taken maybe a second, the contact between their hands less than half that time. But that instant of contact had transmitted more messages than the fastest modem ever made. It was like being struck by lightning.
For just a moment she'd felt the same passion from the younger woman that they'd had before their break up. In that moment she'd found herself hoping that they were finally going to be okay. The feelings that invaded her body when she'd taken her hand.
Then it was gone. The distant woman that had taken the place of her outgoing lover was back. A woman she was responsible for creating. That, in itself, was the worst thing she had to live with.
"By the way, Jaime's on line one. She needs to talk to you."
She smiled at the desk clerk that seemed to be going to great lengths to protect her from any more gossip. The dark-haired woman had accidentally found out about Jaime a few days earlier. To say she was shocked when the ex con had become her personal guardian would be an understatement.
She'd learned just how great an ally Randi was after the whole Romano incident, more so after Randi had discovered she had a daughter. In turn, she allowed her to see the human side of herself, creating a strange friendship between them. One that she was grateful for.
But all she said as she picked up the phone was "Thanks." It was enough.
Kim ran a tired hand through her hair as she left the exam room. Ten years of this and she still couldn't understand how a woman could protect the very man that was hurting her. The worst thing was that it never got easier. Talking to these women only seemed to get more frustrating and even harder on her emotionally.
She stopped beside the admittance desk, subtlety looking around her.
"She's not here," Randi stated without looking up.
'So much for being subtle.' "Who's not here?"
Randi rolled her eyes at her, barely hiding her annoyance. "Weaver," she replied, foregoing her customary sarcasm for once. She turned back to the Rolling Stone magazine she'd been reading. "Some sort of family emergency."
"Family emergency?" Kim flinched inwardly at the concern in her voice.
"Yep."
"And...?"
Randi closed her face off, ignoring the temptation of telling what she knew. She liked Legaspi a lot, and she felt that the blonde was good for Weaver. However, she wasn't about to violate the redhead's confidence. She'd given Legaspi too much information as it was.
"And...she left." Her body language added: and don't even bother trying that psyche-out trick on me again. It ain't working this time. Got it?
Kim's brow wrinkled up in confusion at the stone wall that Randi was throwing up. She'd been finding it particularly difficult to get anything out of her about Kerry recently, and she was finding it impossible to figure out the sudden camaraderie that the clerk apparently felt for Weaver. 'Damn. The one time she decides to clam up instead of gossiping...'
"It's just for a few days..."
"No. I'm not going."
Kerry glared at the pre teen. "You agreed that..."
"That was before I found out you were my mother."
April exchanged a glance with Karen. They had both decided that they would allow Jaime the time she needed to adjust. They had hoped that Jaime would still want to go to Lake Michigan with them, but obviously it wasn't going to work that way.
"All right, you can stay here," Karen finally said, then grinned sheepishly. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to have that second honeymoon we're always talking about."
"Can anyone say 'yuck'? Geez, talk about a bad visual." Jaime shuddered as the three women glared at her suspiciously.
"And just how would you know what they were talking about?"
Jaime rolled her eyes at them. "Oh, please, I've known all about that for a few years now. I mean, really, how dumb do you think I am?"
"We are going to have a talk about that when we get back, do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am."
April nodded as she relaxed. "If we're going to make our flight, we should leave."
Jaime squeaked as both her mothers pulled her into a tight hug. She quickly squirmed her way out of their arms and retreated to the safety of the sofa next to Kerry. She was not going to risk going into the field again, not if it meant getting squeezed to death.
Kim shifted nervously in front of the door. She hated the fear she had of Kerry, she hated the worry that had invaded her heart when Randi had told her there'd been a family emergency. She'd been standing outside for the last ten minutes trying to get up the nerve to either knock or walk away.
The problem was that her body didn't want to obey either decision. Once more she raised her hand...and froze as a young girl threw open the door. Her eyebrows arched up at the familiar blue green eyes that seemed to drill into her. "Hi," she ventured, "I'm..."
The young girl slowly looked her over critically before grabbing her arm and dragging her inside unceremoniously. "I was wondering how long you were going to stand there," she said, not bothering with introductions or pleasantries. "I mean, from what Mom told me you're supposed to be this straightforward, sassy psychiatrist, so when you didn't knock I thought that something was wrong. I mean, why else would you just stand there for so long? But then again, I guess you could still be mad at Mom for that whole Shannon Wallace thing, but if that was why then why would you be here to begin with? So why are you here? Oh, Mom's in the kitchen by the way."
Kim managed to make it to the couch before her legs gave out. Her dazed mind was struggling to grasp everything that the young girl had said -- all of it in a single breath -- but no matter how hard she tried, her mind kept coming back to her calling Kerry 'Mom'. At least she thought she was referring to Kerry.
"I...maybe...I...I should go." She tried to stand up, but her legs seemed to be rubber. Unable or unwilling to cooperate.
"Kim...?"
'Oh boy...' Kim swallowed hard as Kerry entered the living room, drying her hands on a dish cloth. She tried to find something to say while Kerry pointedly glanced at the young girl.
The young girl, in turn, smiled innocently and plopped down in the overstuffed lazy boy.
"I see you met Jaime."
Kim nodded, letting her eyes take in the young girl in more detail. She could easily see the resemblance. The same red hair, the same eyes, the same body build, even allowing for the age difference. This is what Kerry looked like as a child, she thought with sudden wonder.
She cleared her throat. "I'd heard that there was an emergency of some sort, and wanted to make sure you were okay."
Kerry shot a glare at Jaime. "It was more of a disagreement than an emergency."
"My parents wanted me to go with them to the lake, but I wanted to stay here."
Kim sighed at the first sign of a headache began to appear. She'd never been so confused in her life. "But you said Kerry was your mother..."
"She is, but so are April and Karen."
Kerry groaned softly at the evil glint in her daughter's eyes. She knew what that meant for the person on the receiving end of her scheming.
"April and Karen?" Kim asked faintly.
"My parents."
"Your...but Kerry is also your mother?" Kim, of course, knew several children with two mothers, but three? How did that work?
Kerry decided to put an end to this before Jaime caused Kim to have a breakdown. "It's a long story... Is that all you wanted?"
"Um...I also wanted to thank you...for what you did with Romano..."
"Oh." Kerry relaxed visibly, her defensiveness punctured. "It was nothing."
Jaime smirked at the blush that was spreading over her mother's ears. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"
Both women stared blankly at Jaime, neither woman knowing what to say.
Jumping up, the girl started for the kitchen. "Great, it's settled then. I'll set another place..."
"Jaime...!"
Kim looked from the front door back to the kitchen. On one hand her little voice was screaming at her to get the hell out of there, on the other she was itching with curiosity. She wanted to know what was going on, and just how this girl was related to Kerry.
She finally smiled seductively at her ex-lover. "So...what are we having for dinner?"
"...so the basketball coach at the middle school wants me to try out for the team."
Kim couldn't help but get caught up in the young girl's enthusiasm. They'd explained everything to her earlier, and now that her brain had stopped hurting she found herself truly liking the young girl. Jaime was a lot like she imagined Kerry would've been if she'd had a better childhood.
"Oh, you know what? My best friend is having an ice skating party Friday, and Mom is going to take me. Why don't you come with us?"
Kerry rolled her eyes at the sweet innocence Jaime was practically radiating. She knew exactly what the young girl was up to, and she planned on having a very long talk with her after Kim left.
"I don't kn..."
"Please?" Jaime turned on her infamous pout. "I'd feel better if Mom had someone to keep her company."
Kerry smirked at the blonde as she threw her a desperate look. She was glad to know she wasn't the only one that had trouble saying no to her daughter.
"I guess I could..."
"Yes!!" Jaime hugged the psychiatrist, then jumped up to help her mother clear the table. "It's going to be so much fun. We'll eat pizza and ice cream, and we'll skate and... Oh, wait until you see the cool outfit Mom bought me..."
Jaime frowned as the phone began to ring, interrupted her. She eyed her mother as she made her way to the phone, leaving her with Kim. She shrugged and turned back to the blonde, tuning out Kerry's conversation as she went on excitedly describing the skating outfit. She was determined to get the two women back together, even if she had to lock them in the closet together.
It didn't take her long to realize that Kim was only half-listening, and even as she opened her mouth to complain, she saw the psychiatrist's attention focus entirely on Kerry. Jaime turned to see what was so important, but even before Kerry came into her field of vision, she froze at the soft voice of her mother, aware that something was horribly wrong.
"No, no, oh no, sweet god, no..." Kerry's eyes were wide, filling with tears, and her voice was small. The only time she'd heard that tone was after Kerry'd found out her adopted parents had died. Her stomach sunk as she noticed the tears streaming down her mother's face.
Kim was already on her feet. "Kerry, what...?"
Jaime collapsed into the chair, shaking her head. While her own eyes filled, she squeezed them shut and covered her ears, not wanting to hear what she knew her mother was going to say.
Aeris Jade Orion
Grey Fox, and cause of Discord.
Gabrielle: "Do you deny spying on these women?"
Joxer: "I resent that."
Gabrielle: "Do you deny it?"
Joxer: "No, I just _resent_ it."
Joxer: Hello--heh-heh-- name's Joxer-- spelled, uh [Clears throat]--
J-o-x-e-rrrrrrrr.
Rh: "Would you wanna make a baby with me?"
Jox: "What?!"
Rh: "Will you help?"
Jox: "Wait a minute! You want me to-- to-- to-- make a-- "
Rh: "Right-- will you?"
Jox: "Of course not! Hey, listen! We're not just machines, you
know, you can use to-- . Besides-- you know, uh-- we can't just
do it on command. We need stuff like, uh-- cheap motel rooms and
dirty pictures and lingerie-- stuff like that! We're _not_
animals! But I can get those things!"
** --------- End Original Message ----------- **
