Title: A Little Respect

Author: Misty Flores

Teaser: Pursuing a relationship with Aiden after discovering Bianca in bed with Babe, Maggie begins to question even her own self worth when she finds herself delving deeper into a baby kidnapping mystery, and an intense love triangle.

PART TWENTY- Six

Lookin back on you and me, promises that will never be
I truly thought we were lovers
But now I find that I'm just like all the others

-- Heartbreaker, Dolly Parton

--

Laughter floated into her consciousness, pinging her brain like an unintentional alarm.

Bianca's eyes fluttered open, a soft, breathless sigh emerging from her lips as she adjusted to the odd brightness of her hospital room, shifting over with surprisingly little pain, to lay eyes upon a most delightful sight.

Beside her bed, sat Maggie and Miranda. Maggie, wearing a smile, chattered delightfully to her daughter, poking at her nose playfully, as Miranda's giggles grew louder, into baby chortles of laughter, fighting her off with chubby fists.

"Who's my little girl?" Maggie breathed in a high pitched tone, bouncing the baby, beautiful smile growing wider as a result. "Who's my little girl!"

Bianca took in the sight, sudden warmth causing a smile to crease over her sleepy expression. Maggie scrunched her nose, and Bianca found herself laughing softly.

Maggie's head came up, and beautiful dark eyes locked with hers.

"Hi," her friend whispered, shifting her daughter on her lap, bouncing her lightly.

"Hi." Bianca didn't quite have the strength to move. She kept still, drinking in the sight of Maggie beside her. "I thought you left."

Maggie frowned, eyebrows creasing. "That's silly, Miranda," she said, in an over-babyish tone, addressing her daughter, while dark brown eyes twinkled back at her. "Isn't it? Why would I want to leave your Mommy and you?"

"I don't know," Bianca responded, laughter tainting her tone.

The chuckles faded into silence, as Maggie once again looked up, met her hungry stare with a nervous smile, before she stood, shifting the baby on her lips and depositing her in her arms.

"That's it," Maggie breathed, when Bianca welcomed the baby girl in her arms, feeling her heart suddenly swell with emotion, taking in the tiny hands - the beautiful gummy baby smile. "That's the image I had in my head nine months ago."

"She's beautiful," she breathed, nuzzling her daughter, hearing Miranda's little babble.

"Not just her."

Glancing up, she took in Maggie's loving face, and flushed, dropping her head down at the sudden admiring scrutiny. "I know," she admitted sheepishly, unable to keep her idiotic-ly wide smile off her face. "It's like someone gave me my heart back." She sighed, feeling the shift of weight as Maggie settled in beside her, one palm on her sheet covered thigh. "Everything I wanted, right here in this room."

Her confession was followed by a brief moment of silence, and Bianca swallowed, glancing up to see Maggie's unreadable, carefully closed face.

Until her friend's palm slid forward again, over her palm, and up Miranda's back, and suddenly at her cheek, thumb tracing a careful line across Bianca's suddenly sensitive bottom lip.

Maggie's eyes were dark with feeling, and Bianca's breath grew unsteady.

"Where we belong," Maggie whispered.

Bianca's love was tangible, real, as Maggie pressed forward, shifting in beside her little girl to press her mouth delicately against hers, a beautiful, tender kiss.

Shuddering, Bianca kept her eyes closed, tilting her forehead against Maggie's, breath rushing out unsteadily.

Fragile and grateful, Bianca kept completely still, her baby and Maggie against her heart.

"Binks."

Her groan of protest - torn from her throat almost as a growl, seems suddenly out of place.

"Binks, wake up."

Gentle prodding, shaking her suddenly, sending a sharp spasm of pain up her neck, forced her to blink, eyes jolting open, focus blurry.

"We're landing soon."

Kendall, curls shaking, became more sharply defined, until her sister was a pretty picture, kneeling in front of her, wearing a small smile.

Nodding, Bianca managed a groggy half smile, sitting up and locking her seatbelt. Beside her, Miranda kicked her socked feet, arching from her confined position in her car seat, a bottle hanging from her mouth, held tightly by her tiny teeth.

Taking in the beautiful baby girl, Bianca stayed silent for a moment, a betraying moment of surprise to find her actually there flitting over her. Reaching over, she traced a thumb across the crown of the baby's head, a sudden rush of anger filtering through her at just the thought of the time she had lost.

Getting her baby back was the most amazing discovery of her life, and Bianca knew her joy was genuine. She had been living in a haze of despair and denial, and beautiful little brown eyes and a drool soaked smile had awoken something inside of her she had long since thought dead.

Hope.

But it was a bittersweet discovery - Miranda was hers. No one was going to take her from her again, Bianca would kill before that would happen.

But months were lost - precious moments that would never be given back, stolen from her by the very women who she had betrayed Maggie for.

Bianca never thought it was possible to hate someone the way she hated Babe now. The feeling inside her, nurtured as carefully as her love for Miranda, for Maggie, created a flare of heat, and she bit her lip against it.

No news from Maggie. Not in the past week.

Bianca had stopped waiting for the moment when she would look up, and discover Maggie had come back to her. Even if they had never spoken, Maggie's answer to their future had been crystal clear.

Now, she and Kendall were nearing Pine Valley, and Bianca couldn't help the bitter frustration, the soft ache inside of her, the still fluttering hope that somehow this was all a misunderstanding.

That Maggie would somehow explain and it wouldn't be what Bianca feared most: that it was too late.

"You're a little quiet."

Lifting her eyes to her sister, sitting casually across from her, Bianca pressed her lips together in a thin smile. "Just a lot on my mind, that's all."

Bobbing her crossed leg, stiletto heel dangling, Kendall tugged on a curled bang, watching it bounce back into position. "Yeah," she murmured, eyes darting to the baby chortling beside Bianca. "The last couple weeks have been... well... batshit crazy is an understatement."

Her sister had a definite way with words. Bianca's smile quirked, threatening to smile.

The plane jerked into a descent, and Miranda's bottle dropped into her lap, the little girl screwing up her face, staring at her with wide eyes, babbling at her.

Automatically, she placed her palm on the baby's chubby thighs, squeezing. Miranda awkwardly reached for the ring on her finger, fumbling to pry the stone off the jewelry, distracting her from the plane's jolt.

"Well... now that we're home..." Bianca glanced over her shoulder, studying the tops of the Pine trees as they skidded past them, looming larger every second. "Maybe I can actually get some quiet. Some time with my Miranda."

Miranda had been raised for months as Bess, but the mention of her real name still caused a distracted smile, as her baby girl babbled incoherently at her, slapping at her mother's hands.

Bianca trembled suddenly, but managed to keep her smile calm for her child.

"Uh... Binks?"

Distracted, Bianca frowned when she discovered her sister wearing a transparently guilty frown, suddenly fascinated with picking at nonexistent lint on her expensive dress.

"Kendall?"

"You know, I'm not supposed to tell you..." Kendall clucked her tongue, a small blush settling over her sharp cheekbones.

"Tell me what..." Bianca began suspiciously.

Licking her lips, Kendall smiled a little too tightly, "I just um... well, you know Mom... she-"

"Kendall, spit it out."

"She planned a huge... welcome home bash for you. Everyone's waiting at your apartment."

Oh, God.

Bianca's eyes closed in sudden irritation. "Kendall..."

"I know! I know! I tried to talk her out of it, but this is Erica Kane, here!"

Coming home to a bunch of well meaning, LOUD friends and family members who knew a little too much for their own good was the last thing Bianca wanted.

"I'm really not up for this, Kendall."

"I know!" Kendall sighed, cut off when suddenly the plane jerked, causing an unexpected cry from Miranda, her face contorting with sudden fright. Bianca immediately turned to her daughter, shushing her with a soft, gentle smile, a contrast to her annoyed state of being. "But she was so excited, Binks, and all I could think of when she was talking about it was - your baby shower."

Bianca's eyes slid over to her sisters, suddenly cold at the memory.

"This is about hope, Bianca. It's about miracles. Not just yours, but all of ours."

Hope. Bianca bit her bottom lip, hands still against Miranda's.

"Maggie will be there." The sentence was interjected quietly, and Bianca sucked in her breath at the sudden pain that caused.

Staring into Miranda's big, wide eyes, she swallowed, feeling the plane slow, outside her window, the outline of Pine Valley suddenly visible.

"Fine," she whispered.

--

Aiden's palm felt sweaty, but she figured it was more her fault than it was his.

Still, she held on tightly to it, grimacing as she purposely made an effort to roll her other shoulder, feeling the tightened wounded muscles creak in protest.

"I feel like a circus freak," she muttered, watching the numbers continue to roll up. Aiden glanced down at her, and she rolled her eyes as he studied her large walking cast, her immobilized shoulder plastered against her tanktop, her rigid posture, thanks to the tape pressed against her ribs.

"You look beautiful, Maggie."

"Shut up."

She was annoyed. Very annoyed. She clung to that.

It helped to be irritated, and the fact that her hissy fit amused her boyfriend annoyed her even more.

"Maggie, if you're in pain, you didn't have to come. I would have brought you later - you could have seen her in a quieter... "

"Noooo." Maggie sucked in her breath, waiting as the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open with a rush of air. "Erica Kane would have never forgiven us for missing out on this dramatic entrance. She would have made our lives hell if we didn't come here, and she does guilt better than any Jewish mother. Better than MY mother."

She looked at him miserably, and Aiden finally just smiled, pulling her in for a quick kiss against her forehead. "We'll make this quick."

She hoped to hell they would.

Hobbling into the hallway, she waited as Aiden knocked on the door to Bianca's apartment.

She heard murmurs, a loud, intruding voice, and heels clacking toward them.

"Here we go," she mumbled, before the door swung open, and her smile became ridiculously cheesy. "HI!"

"Oh, THERE YOU ARE!" Erica Kane looked like a guest in 'All About Eve', all class and dramatic sincerity. "Aiden! Maggie! How lovely to see you both!" Maggie sucked in her breath when Erica offered a hug that was a little too tight, her sharp collarbone jamming into Maggie's windpipe, causing her to sputter slightly. "Everyone!" Erica said, pulling back and opening her arms wide to the room. "They're here! My two heroes!"

She lost her grip on Aiden, as suddenly the room erupted in applause, and she felt the heat flood to her face, eyes darting wildly over the royalty of Pine Valley, the Chandlers deliberately missing.

Smile pasted on, she was suddenly swarmed.

"Maggie! Oh, my God! You look like hell!"

"Thanks, Greenlee," she said insincerely, cocking her head in mock gratefulness. "That's what a girl loves to hear."

Greenlee Lavery, the one person who was maybe almost as small as her, only quirked an eyebrow. "Try going crazy. It's no picnic."

"Maggie-" Ryan's voice was husky with emotion, as he gently placed a hand on her good shoulder, squeezing. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks, Ryan-"

"Oh, Darlin' look at you!" Opal's southern twang was heavy in concern, cupping Maggie's chin to inspect the fading bruises. "Honey, you look almost like your sister!"

She inhaled sharply, nearly glaring at the well-meaning debutante. "THANKS, Opal."

"Maggie." Anita Santos. Maggie found herself actually relieved.

"Hi."

"Let's get you out of this circus," Anita said, leaning forward to take her by the hand, pulling slightly. "It can't be good for all those injuries."

Not wanting to protest, Maggie followed, ducking her head under the well wishers, and following Aiden's former crush out into the corner of a room, leaving Aiden to take the brunt of the admirers.

"Thanks," she muttered, wiping her sweaty palm on her jeans, shaking her head with a soft sigh. "It's been a little overwhelming."

Anita smiled, running a gentle hand over Maggie's strapped shoulder. "Well, I have to admit," she murmured. "When you both went to Florida, I expected a little confrontation, not pitching over balconies."

"Oh, that was just part of the fun," Maggie said dryly. "Don't forget bullshit arrests, and one blonde skank getting away with Thing 1 and Thing 2."

Anita sighed, massaging at the back of her own neck lightly, arching a beautifully lined brow. "Do the Chandlers at least have a lead on where they might be?"

Maggie shrugged, tapping her heeled cast gently on the floor in an attempt to rid it of the insatiably itchy feeling underneath the plaster.

"Aiden's promised to help, as has Erica Kane, but J.R. hasn't exactly been receptive to it."

Noting her haggard tone, Anita pressed her lips together and nodded, taking a moment to glance over the crowded room before she leaned in and asked sincerely, "And how are you?"

It was a loaded question, and Maggie kept quiet for a moment, ignoring the sudden shudder of her exhausted self, ignoring her panicked state of being, thanks to being suddenly forced to confront the woman she had left behind with no explanation - standing in a room with both her lover and the woman she had loved so intensely, and smile and act like it was okay and not broken - both literally and figuratively.

"I've been better," she finally breathed, tone a little unsteady. Anita kept quiet, letting her continue. "I just - with all the distraction, Bianca and then Anna - I haven't been able to concentrate on school, and a couple reports didn't get done, and now I'm afraid I'll have to withdraw from the semester."

"Ouch." Anita sucked in her breath companionably, obviously commiserating, what it meant to lose an entire semester's worth of credits. "I'm sorry, Maggie."

Not looking for sympathy, Maggie just closed her eyes for a moment, sucking them open to smile and breathe. "Hey - I wouldn't do anything differently."

"Well, if you need help." Anita smiled. "I'm not a doctor but my sister is, I'm sure we both wouldn't mind helping you out."

Anita was genuinely sweet, and glancing into the beautiful face and sincere smile, Maggie couldn't help but see what had infatuated Aiden. Anita and her beautiful goodness.

"Thank you."

--

"I know you haven't had a moment to breathe," Greenlee began.

Dragging his focus away from his beautiful young girlfriend in the corner, Aiden crossed his arms and regarded Ryan's tiny young wife. She was purposely quiet, eyes hovering from him and back to her husband, talking and laughing with Erica.

"I have," he admitted. "Tad and I were working toward finishing the studio for the business-"

"You can't still work together?"

Aiden's frown was firm. "I can't work with a man that I can't trust," he said frankly.

"But you can still work."

Greenlee Lavery was at heart a selfish debutante, and while she loved fiercely, she tended to focus mainly on her own orbit, those she considered worthy.

"Yes," he answered dryly. "I can still work."

"Good." Greenlee sucked in her breath, glanced back at Ryan, and still leaned in further. "I know you're investigating my poisoning for my husband."

Arching an eyebrow, Aiden simply nodded.

"I think his brother did it."

The words were said haltingly, almost apologetically, and it caused a prick of surprise. "You think his brother would be capable of drugging his brother's wife?"

"I think he's capable of a lot more than that." Greenlee tightened her smile, voice dropping even lower. "I know that Ryan would never think that... But I can't shake the thought."

Aiden considered the dread and fear in Greenlee's tone. "I'll admit the thought crossed my mind."

"You should have seen the hysterics he went into when Ryan told him he was going to sign Cambias over to Miranda. He called her a rapist's bastard."

Aiden sucked in his breath, sudden anger forcing a stiff posture, clenching fists. "I'll look into it."

"Aiden." Small hands drifted down onto his arm. Greenlee's eyes were dark with concern. "Don't tell Ryan. Not yet."

Aiden shifted eyes back to her husband, and nodded grimly.

"Everyone!" Erica Kane, like the little force of nature that she was, swept into the living room, arms outstretched, summoning the room. "She's coming! She's coming!"

--

Pulling her baby tighter to her, Bianca took a moment to summon her strength, unable to keep the flutters in her stomach from rapidly increasing.

Waiting patiently, Kendall kept her key in the lock, glancing back. "You ready?"

Bianca had to smile at her sister's clear concern. Connecting a stoic glance with her daughter, Bianca nodded breathlessly. "Let's do this thing."

"Okay..." Kendall twisted the key. "Here we go!"

The door opened, and suddenly they were both sucked into a room with thunderous applause, whistles and cheers.

Bianca took in an unsteady breath, sighing when she glanced around the crowded apartment, friends and family laughing, a few crying.

There was so much love in this room: for her and her daughter.

For a moment, she paused, closing her eyes to remind herself to be grateful for this, and opened her eyes again, brighter, smile more sincere.

"Hi!" she said, as her mother greeted with her a smack of lips against one cheek, careful, as always, not to smudge her lipstick. "Welcome home, sweetie!"

Bianca smiled in response, but her gaze was already searching the room, roving over the residents of Pine Valley, until, like a homing beacon, she locked eyes with Maggie, standing twenty feet away, in the corner with Anita.

She wore a sling, a cast, and a small, almost insincere smile.

Bianca's throat closed in suddenly, fighting a large lump as she was suddenly pulled into a fierce hug by Palmer, losing sight of her friend in the chaotic crowd of well-wishers that now greeted her.

--

She had to sit down thanks to her aching, uncomfortable clod of a foot, and from her new vantage point, interspersed with the younger generation of the Kane-Montgomery clan and Aiden beside her, Maggie found it much easier to keep an unassuming eye on her beautiful best friend.

Concussion aside, Bianca had been remarkably lucky in her fall. She wore a fading bruise on her right cheekbone, covered expertly with make up, and her smile was dazzling, her eyes were sparkling.

It was if that fall had never happened on Bianca, and Maggie found herself breathing in a little unsteadily, rubbing at her suddenly tight chest as Bianca glanced her way, and Maggie felt a sudden jolt, looking away.

She discovered herself inches away from a small, solemn face.

"Oh." She blinked, sitting up slightly when Aiden waggled his eyes at her, bouncing the curiously even-faced Miranda on his knee. "I think she's the type who makes you earn her smiles."

Beautiful Miranda inspired a sudden smile of her own, as Maggie sighed with genuine affection, reaching forward to poke the little girl in the ribs, tickling her slightly. "Oh, we have to work for it, is that it?"

"Hey, nothing good is ever free, right?"

"Look at that baby girl!" Reggie leaned in across from her, squinting as he studied the face. "That's crazy! She looks just like Bianca - seriously, how the hell did we not see it before?"

Maggie bit her lip, taking in the large brown eyes, the large, gummy smile that began to emerge on the baby's face.

She was the picture of Bianca.

An unexpected lump caught her, forcing her to clear her throat as she leaned in, whispering comparatively to the baby girl, "You're going to be the best Kane of them all, aren't you, munchkin?" Miranda's eyes widened, reaching forward to suddenly slide her hand against her cheeks. Maggie smiled, eyes sparkling as she caught the little hand in her own, pressing a kiss on the tiny digits. "You're going to get your Mommy's heart, and your auntie Kendall's flare for dramatics - and hopefully none of her slaps!" The cartoonish voice made Miranda laugh suddenly, chubby arms flailing and accidentally wacking Maggie across the face. "Oww." Maggie grimaced, exaggerating. "Nevermind, then!"

Reggie laughed, but Aiden's smile was a different one - odd and a little frightening.

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Maggie slapped him on his shoulder. "Don't get any ideas," she warned him. "Maggie's going to become a doctor before she has ANY babies."

"I didn't say anything."

"Uh-huh," she mumbled. "You got a ticking clock? Have your own baby!"

He rolled his eyes, and overcome with a sudden surge of affection for the big galoot, Maggie leaned up over Miranda and pressed a kiss to his mouth, smiling in response.

A sudden sixth sense and a chill up her spine had her sudden shifting her eyes, until they locked with another set of brown orbs, locked intensely on the scene, face wearing a plastic, hard smile that didn't reach the eyes.

Maggie found her breath catching somewhat unexpectedly, and suddenly weak, she swallowed hard, and pulled back from Aiden and Miranda. "You know what?" she said, somehow unsteady. "I think I'm going to get myself some air." Using Reggie for support, she pushed hard on Reggie's thin shoulder and teetered to a stand, ignoring both men's attempt to walk her. "Nope! I got it!"

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Maggie forced a grin on her face. "Well - don't look now, honey, but you're about to get ambushed."

He frowned, unsure what that meant, until suddenly Opal's southern twang filled the air, and both Erica and her friend came rushing over on their heels, headed straight for the irresistible sight of a beautiful man and a gorgeous baby girl.

Saluting, Maggie headed for the balcony, sliding out to step into fresh, crisp air.

Suddenly feeling suffocated, Maggie closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath.

The night sky was beautiful, crystal clear, and she took in the stars, the chill of the wind against her skin welcome, compared to the suffocation of the Kane's nearest and dearest.

It was a refuge, from the confused ache of her heart, from the dark, haunting, accusing glare of her best friend, from Aiden's wistful smile of happiness to come.

Right now, there was merely the present, merely Maggie.

A shooting star dashed across the sky.

She closed her eyes, and imagined herself a child again, sitting on their rooftop, staring up at those zooming flashes of light, and wishing they could down and carry her away.

"Starlight," she began softly, slowly, "Star bright... First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might-"

"Have the wish I wish tonight," a soft voice broke in.

Maggie sucked in her breath, clamped her mouth shut, and prayed against her fluttering heart that she'd have the strength to somehow deal with this.

To somehow deal with the monumental force that was the beautiful Bianca Montgomery.

end chapter