June 12th – Morning

"Maggie?"

Maggie continued to stand motionless with her whisk in one hand and bowl of eggs in the other, staring blankly into space.

Bianca sat Miranda back down on the floor and walked over to her best friend. "Maggie…are you ok?"

Maggie shook her head and squinted her eyes like she was shaking away something. "Yeah…yeah…" she opened her eyes again and stared right at Bianca. "Yes." She spun around on the last word, and went back to whisking her eggs.

Bianca walked up closer to her, and put her right hand on Maggie's left shoulder. She could feel the muscles under the spot she touched spasm. "Are you sure you're ok? You were talking to yourself when I walked in, and just now you went almost catatonic. Here, let me take that and you sit down." She took the eggs from her friend that had now been whisked to within an inch of forming stiff peaks.

The shorter girl gave them up and walked over to one of the stools at the butcher block. "Yeah, I'm fine. I promise. I just had……I had a bad night's sleep is all."

Pouring the eggs into the pan, Bianca scrunched up her face as if she had just smelled something unpleasant. "Nightmares again?"

"No…it was….it was something else…don't worry about it, I'll be fine." She smacked her palms against her thighs and ran her hands up and down her legs. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Nothing as fun as beach day for me I'm afraid. I have a pile of reports to wade through that you wouldn't believe. I should have been reading them yesterday, but somebody…" Bianca looked over her shoulder and smiled at Maggie, "dragged me outside all day."

"Yep, I'm evil." she said, half-heartedly.

Maggie was oddly silent throughout breakfast, barely picking at her food. While Bianca was concerned, she knew she could only ask her if she was alright so many times without going overboard.

As they stood at the sink, rinsing off the dishes from breakfast, Maggie turned to her right to look at Bianca. "Since you have all those reports to read today, do you want me to take Miranda in my room to give you some quiet?"

"Oh you don't have to do that. I can watch her if you have things to do."

"Naw…I have all my assignments done, I just thought I would do some reading, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind the company, she doesn't tend to talk back much when she disagrees." Maggie said with a chuckle.

"Well, if you are sure she won't be a bother…"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Please…it's my job during the week anyway, you know I don't mind."

"Well, I probably should concentrate on these reports, so yes, thank you, that would be great!" Bianca said in her most chipper voice, but mainly she was accepting the offer because she thought it might perk Maggie up some to spend some time alone with Miranda.

After Maggie had disappeared into her room with the little girl, Bianca moved the box full of reports to the coffee table in the living room. She plopped herself down on the couch facing the seldom-used spiral staircase, as she figured if the tower was in front of her it would distract her too much. She found she still couldn't help but to stare at it sometimes.

Pulling the first folder from the box, she dropped her head in a show of defeat. "Oh joy…the first quarter synopsis for Estonia is finally done…I can barely contain my excitement." she muttered. She set it off to the side, sure there must be something more exciting in the box. There wasn't, but she went with a different folder anyway.

She snuggled back in the couch, trying to pretend she was about to read a juicy romance novel, but upon opening the page and being immediately greeted by a multi-colored graph, the fantasy died. She reminded herself that this was all for Miranda's future and that gave her the resolve to brave her way through.

Maggie sat at her desk, staring at her computer screen. She had no homework at the moment, but she still would explore medical websites to learn whatever she could. She looked at it as getting a jump start in what she would need to know eventually anyway. Today though, she had started the computer, opened her browser, and just sat there staring at it ever since.

She was still shaken up from her dream of Frankie the night before. It had seemed so real, but how could it be? There was no such thing as ghosts….or at least she thought there couldn't be. She tried pushing it out of her head, it wasn't like she didn't have plenty of other things to think about. All of her talks with Patrick…the comments Guilia had made at dinner…her surprising conversation with Lena….and of course, Frankie. And that doesn't even include all the people back in Pine Valley who had ever said something about her and Bianca becoming a couple. Reggie and Jamie had always been two of the biggest supporters. A smile crept across her face as she thought back to something Reggie had said to her once.

"Maggie! How can you go wrong with a couple whose initials would spell BAM? It's like the universe is trying to tell you something Mags! You just have to listen to it."

She chuckled. "Leave it to Reggie to boil everything down to initials." she mumbled.

Maggie leaned back in her chair and stretched. Once done, she brought her hands down and cupped them behind her head to make a headrest of them. She turned her head to look over at Miranda, who was quietly sitting in her crib, bouncing a stuffed bear up and down. "What do you think about all this Munchkin?"

Miranda looked up at Maggie, squinted her eyes, and giggled while rocking back and forth.

"Oh really? You think so? You think all these people are right and I should just go for broke with your mommy?"

Miranda continued to giggle while Maggie rose from her seat, and walked over to her. She picked up the little girl, and walked back to her bed to sit on the edge, with the little girl in her lap. The tiny girl giggled, and turned so she was facing Maggie and hugged her. Maggie closed her eyes and smiled while she hugged the little girl as tight as she could.

"I don't know what I would do without you some days Munchkin, I really don't. When everything seems so confusing, and I feel like I am about to drown again in my own thoughts, all I have to do is look at you and the world seems just a little bit better because you're in it." Maggie pulled Miranda away so she could look her in the eyes. She studied them for a moment, looking as deep as she could, and whispered, "Not a sign of him in there…you are 100 Bianca's daughter, through and through, and that makes you a pretty special little girl."

Miranda smiled, and then made a big yawn. "Well, I think that's my hint I'm boring you! Why don't we see if we can't lay you down to get some sleep huh?" Maggie stood up, but then paused, and again looked at Miranda, but this time with a devious grin. "Or….we could use this as an excuse to go through the living room and take you upstairs to nap. And if that would just happen to mean passing by your mommy…oh well!"

Miranda giggled her approval.

Four reports later, and three thousand to go, Bianca stood up, and stretched and walked around the living room to un-cramp her legs. She found herself standing at the doors to the terrace, and she looked at the chair she had occupied just the day before while Maggie had told her the story of how she and Frankie had come to acquire their tattoos. It had touched her deeply and shown her a side of Frankie she thought existed, but had never been sure.

She folded her arms around herself in a hugging motion as she thought of the end of the event though. The moment when Maggie had placed her hand on her knee. She knew it was a touch of friendship, and her placing her own hand on top of Maggie's had just been an automatic reaction, but she would be lying if she didn't admit to it giving her a small thrill.

Sure, she had the daily hugs she shared with Maggie, and she looked forward to each and everyone, but ever since the plane ride, there had been no real movement towards them becoming a couple. She had to admit, it was beginning to get a bit discouraging, but understandable with all the distractions they had. So she had to take joy in every little moment she shared with Maggie, even if it was just a hand on her knee.

She was hopeful that Maggie hadn't caught her longing look at her. She was sure the hand had meant nothing to Maggie, but it had to her, and she didn't want her stare to make her uncomfortable. She did think later, that maybe the kiss on the head had been too much, but there was nothing she could do about that now.

There was one thing she knew for sure, she was still willing to wait for her, no matter how long it took. When Maggie had placed that business card of Lena's in front of her that night, there had been a millisecond she had thought of running to a phone and calling her. When she looked up at Maggie though….that had all gone away. For better or worse, she now knew that her heart truly does belong to Maggie.

As much as it pained her sometimes that her feelings may never be returned to her, she was happy enough for now just being near her all the time. And bringing Lena back in, even as a friend, would probably muddy those waters. And a friend was all she could be at this point, since Maggie had informed her that Lena was seeing someone else now. That did bring a smile to Bianca's face as she wanted nothing but happiness for her.

She turned around with a sigh, and walked back to the couch, pulling out another report from the box. She folded her legs up on the couch Indian style, and laid the report on her lap. As she read a ways into it, she finally noticed some movement out of the corner her eye. She was subconsciously rubbing the spot on her knee where Maggie had touched her the day before. "Girl….you've got it bad." she mumbled.

"Got what bad?" came a voice from her left. There stood Maggie with Miranda in her arms.

Bianca could feel the heat rising in her cheeks from the embarrassment. "Oh…um…got it bad with how many reports I have left to read!" She knew she had forced that out a little unconvincingly, but it was all she could think of.

"How many have you read so far?" Maggie asked, walking closer.

"A whopping four." she replied with disgust.

"Well, I would offer to help, but I would probably be asking you after every second word to explain to me what I had just read." Maggie replied with a grin.

"Your offer is much appreciated, but alas, this is my burden to bear." Bianca saw Miranda close her eyes and offer a mighty big yawn for such a small girl. "She wouldn't nap in your room?"

"No she wouldn't, which is odd since she usually goes right down. So I thought I would take her upstairs and see if that helped." Maggie turned towards the staircase behind Bianca. "And as for you, back to work! We have distracted you enough!"

"I'll pay you to distract me some more!"

Maggie laughed all the way up the stairs.

Miranda was lying in her crib, her eyes finally getting heavy and closing as Maggie sang softly to her. The little girl's eyes finally failed to open on one of their prolonged blinks, and Maggie couldn't help but to stand there for a moment and stare at her. She wasn't sure she could ever get tired of looking at this little girl….or her mommy.

Maggie hung her head while resting her arms on the side of the crib. She stared at her feet…they were suddenly fascinating to her. "You can't do anything without her popping into your head anymore you goof." She thought. "If you keep this up, she'll start showing up everywhere. 'Why, so that's what the heart looks like professor? Oh, I bet that's just how Bianca's looks!'" She snorted a laugh at that one.

She stood back up and walked out onto the landing outside of the nursery, closing the door behind her. She leaned forward on the railing, folded her arms, and rested her head on top of them. She kicked her right foot back so it was on its toes and bounced them up and down against the wood floor. She stared at the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes, something she was not sure she would ever tire of, while she got lost in her thoughts again.

"So, if you think about her constantly…everyone, including possibly your dead sister, says you should go for it…why aren't you? Nothing has ever taken this long for you to figure out. You are usually the one making the random decisions like telling Bianca you should go for a midnight swim…or convincing her to jump in the lake with her clothes on or…" she shut her eyes, and laid her forehead on her arms. "Ok, you can't even give examples of your bravery without thinking of her….you're a sad, sad woman."

She opened here eyes again and slid her head forward enough that she could look down in the living room. There she was. Still sitting on the couch, her back to Maggie, reading her reports. "She's right there….you could say something to her right now. What in the world do you say to someone you live with, and suddenly you want to go out on a date them?"

Maggie started biting her lower lip, and bouncing her foot more rapidly. "Do you even go on a date? I mean, we're living together…and is it our first date, or was prom our first date and I just didn't know it at the time?" Her foot was a blur now, and she was in danger of chewing through her lower lip. "Maybe I should take more time to think this through…what exactly it is we would be doing…".

Her lower back began to itch and she moved her right arm around to scratch it with her finger tips. "Yeah, that's it. I'll just take a little bit more time and…man this itch just won't die!" It was then that it dawned on her….she was scratching her tattoo. She cast her eyes skyward. "Alright already! I get the point!" and the itching ceased.

"Will the German and Austrian budgeting divisions merge? They really seem to love each other." Bianca though as she turned the page. "NO! De-nied! Poor German budgeting division." Bianca had found the only way to keep her sanity in reading these reports was to make a game out of them and it was failing miserably.

"What'cha ya doing Ms. Mogul?" came Maggie's voice.

"Same thing I have been doing for oh….the entire blasted day." she said despondently.

Maggie walked to where she could stand in front of her. "Sounds exciting." She just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Bianca finally looked up at her. "You ok?"

"I….um…I was….I…." she looked behind her, shoved the box of reports to the side, and sat on the coffee table. "I was wondering if I could…well….if I could ask you something."

Bianca could tell Maggie was as nervous as could be, and she tried to lighten the mood some. "What? And pull me away from these enthralling reports?" She threw the report in her hand over the back of the couch for dramatic effect. "So, what did you need to ask me?"

Maggie's palms suddenly felt very sweaty and she started to run them up and down her denim shorts, but due to their length, there wasn't much drying space. "Well…I've been doing some thinking…"

"Always dangerous." Bianca added, again trying to break some of the tension.

Maggie smiled. "Too true. Anyway, I was…I was thinking about us….you and I…and what a lot of people have been saying to me…and that maybe…" her throat was suddenly dry, and she was finding it hard to swallow. "maybe…you would….ah hell…Bianca would you like to go on a date with me next Saturday night?"

Bianca tried to hide her shock, but knew she was failing miserably when she saw Maggie's face turn from joy at getting her question out, to horror. She realized her jaw had dropped. She tried to close it, but it was too late.

"I knew it!" Maggie stood up and stormed off. "I knew this was a mistake! But no! People had to keep pushing me and pushing me." She stormed over to the glass wall and stared out over the city. "I'm sorry Bianca….I shouldn't have asked, I…"

"You should have waited for an answer." She walked up next to Maggie and stared straight ahead also. "Was that what you were going to say? I'm sure it was." Maggie was silent while Bianca continued. "I'm sorry if my expression shocked you…I was just caught off guard." They stood staring out at the city in silence for a moment before Bianca continued. "If I were to say 'yes', do you feel you are truly prepared for the consequences that answer brings with it?"

Maggie sniffled a bit, fighting back the tears. "What consequences? That I had finally asked the most wonderful person on the planet out on a date?"

Bianca blushed. "Well more to the point, that you would be asking a 'girl' out on a date Maggie…not a 'person'."

"I know full well you're a girl Bianca. It's kind of hard to miss."

Bianca's blush deepened even more. "I just want to make sure you are ready for what comes with this."

Maggie turned and looked at Bianca finally. "What do you think the first thing is I think of every morning when I wake up."

"I…I wouldn't know."

"It's you Bianca. And what's the last thing I think of before I go to sleep?"

"I…"

"It's you again Bianca. I think of you every minute of everyday. If you were a guy, and I thought of you like this, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I would have been going out with you ages ago."

Bianca turned to look at Maggie also now. "And that's the heart of the problem Maggie. I'm not a guy, I'm a girl. And after all this time, all the false starts we've had…Maggie, I want to make sure. I want to make absolutely sure that you are ready for this."

"I couldn't be more ready if I was sent away to a 'Girl/Girl dating camp' Bianca. I want to go out with you, Bianca Montgomery…the most incredible woman on the face of the planet."

They stood and stared at each other for a moment, their eyes searching each other for a sign, any sign that the other was wavering in their convictions. There wasn't even a glimmer of such a thought.

"Well?"

"Ask me again."

"Bianca…would you like to go on a date with me next Saturday night?"

"Why Maggie….I believe I would be honored to be your date."