A/N: I have to tell you that it's been a tough week here in the States with the events that have happened in Boston, Massachusetts and West, Texas. My thoughts are with everyone affected. You're not alone. We'll get through this, together.
As always, thanks for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it! I feel like I should apologize here for the angst I might have caused by the story I posted last night. If you haven't read it, it's called "I'll See You in My Dreams". It was brought on by the previews I've been seeing for AMC 2.0. Not only is there a scene with Bianca visiting a grave, but I also saw one where she's screaming at someone that she hates them while she's being restrained. I have to tell you that I'm not feeling warm and fuzzy over those. They played with my mind and made me write that other story. I've gotten that out of my system though and am back in my Minx happy bubble. I promised you there that this chapter would be happy and fluffy. I hope I've done it. Enough of that for now. Hope you enjoy this update!
/
"I really hate this."
Marissa smiled at her partner. "I know you do."
"It really sucks being the boss sometimes." Bianca pouted slightly as she continued to pack.
"Yes, it does."
Bianca stopped and looked at her partner. "You don't seem too upset about it. I think you'd be complaining more. It's like you're happy I'm going."
Marissa did her best not to smile. She took Bianca's hands in her own and pulled her close. "I'm agreeing with you that it sucks that you have to go out of town. You know I don't want you to go even if it is for just one night, but I know that you have to. You also know that I'm going to miss you like crazy. I never sleep well when you're not here next to me stealing the blankets."
"I'm sorry. I know. I just really don't want to go, but I have to. The New York branch is hosting a walkthrough with Mayor Bloomberg, and they want me there for some reason."
"They want you there because you are the Miranda Center. It wouldn't exist without you, and thousands of women and children wouldn't have the second chance that they currently have if it wasn't for you. There is no one else better suited than handling the mayor of New York City than you. He doesn't stand a chance against you. You are going to charm him to no end, and he'll have no other choice but to have the city allocate some funds to the Center."
Bianca smirked. "I think you're overestimating me."
"Nope. I'm speaking from experience. I am one of a countless number of people that have fallen victim to your charms."
Bianca laughed so hard she snorted which caused Marissa to grin. "See, if that's not a perfect example of said charms, I don't know what is!"
"You are …"
"Impossible. I know! You wouldn't have me any other way!" Marissa leaned in for a loving kiss.
"No, I wouldn't. And I don't steal the blankets!"
"Whatever you say, babe." Marissa grinned as she left their bedroom to check on dinner.
/
Bianca quickly silenced the alarm the instant it sounded. It had been set to go off earlier than it normally did because the brunette was taking the red eye from Pine Valley to New York City today. Bianca would be meeting with New York's mayor that afternoon to give him a tour of the Miranda Center's branch there. There would also be a dinner that evening with him along with a few of the city's other power players. It would be at the Center instead of at one of New York's finer restaurants. Bianca wanted them to get a firsthand look at what the Center was really about, and there was no better way than to sit down with those being helped directly by the Center.
The brunette would have a small break in between the mayor's tour and the dinner, and she had very big plans for that time. She was stopping by Tiffany's to pick up Marissa's engagement ring. When the couple was in the city around Christmas, Bianca spotted a ring that she thought would be perfect for Marissa but didn't get to buy it at the time because her lover was with her. The brunette had looked at rings at several other jewelers since then, but none of them even came close to that first ring. When this trip came up, Bianca called Tiffany's inquiring about it. She had her fingers crossed that it was still there. It turns out that luck was with her. The ring was there in Marissa's size, and they agreed to set it aside for her. Nothing was going to stop her from getting it this time. Even if it meant taking New York's mayor with her, she was going to get that ring. Tomorrow's plans were equally important to her. She would be checking out the fertility clinic that Kendall had found for them. Marissa had checked out a clinic in Philadelphia on a previous visit to the city for work. The two would compare what they had found and make the final decision on which clinic to use when Bianca got back home.
Bianca carefully moved the arm Marissa had draped over her. She didn't want to wake up her lover just yet. The brunette knew that Marissa would be awake before she left so they could say goodbye but she wanted to delay that from happening for a little while longer if at all possible. After having successfully gotten out of bed without disturbing Marissa, Bianca headed to their bathroom to get ready.
Once she was dressed and ready to go, Bianca went upstairs to give their sleeping children a kiss goodbye. She walked into the kitchen and smiled. Marissa had set the coffee maker for her before going to bed last night. On the counter next to it was a travel mug so Bianca could have a much needed cup on her way to the airport. A small white bag was next to the mug with a note attached to it. Don't forget your breakfast. The brunette opened the bag and found a chocolate chip muffin from Krystal's inside. Bianca shook her head. She didn't know how Marissa had managed to sneak it past her, but she had somehow. It was the thoughtful little things like this that had Bianca fall more and more in love with Marissa every day. The brunette filled the mug and got her coffee ready. All she needed to do was grab her purse, keys and breakfast before she left since she had put her carry-on bag in her car last night.
Bianca checked the time. She needed to get going but not before saying goodbye to her sleeping lover. She headed back to their bedroom and sat next to Marissa. Bianca gently brushed a stray lock of copper hair from her lover's face causing Marissa to stir.
"Hey, you're all ready to go."
"Yeah, I am. Thank you for my breakfast."
"You're welcome, but it's kind of selfish on my part. I have to make sure you're taken care of. Old and gray, remember?" Marissa smiled sleepily.
"I remember. Have I told you that I like it when you're selfish when it comes to you taking care of me?"
"You might have mentioned it."
Bianca chuckled. "Good. Have I told you how much I love you?"
"Not yet today." Marissa grinned.
"I guess I need to fix that. I love you with all of my heart and all of my soul." Bianca leaned in for a lingering kiss.
Marissa hummed. "I love you just as much. I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too. I'll call you when I get there."
Marissa nodded. "You better."
"I need to go." Bianca gave her lover one more loving kiss. "Get some more sleep. The alarm's already reset for you to go off in an hour. Have a good day."
"Thank you. You have a good day too, and good luck. Go show all of those people in New York who Bianca Montgomery is. They don't stand a chance."
"I'll do my best. I love you."
"I love you too."
Bianca smiled and pulled the blanket up around Marissa before giving her a quick kiss and heading out.
Marissa turned onto her side and pulled Bianca's pillow to her tightly, inhaling her lover's scent before drifting back to sleep with a smile on her face.
/
It was just before noon when Marissa entered Krystal's. She found Kendall and Greenlee sitting at her and Bianca's table. The redhead chuckled when she remembered Opal calling to confirm that she was in fact joining them and to get her permission to allow the friends to be seated there.
"Hey, Red."
"Hey, Curly, Greenlee. How are you both doing?"
"Hi, Rocky. We're doing good. The real question is how are you doing without Bianca around? She seems okay so far. I'm seeing any signs of withdrawal just yet." Greenlee smirked.
"No, I don't see any yet either, but it's only been a couple of hours. The real test will be tonight."
Marissa rolled her eyes. "You two are funny, but I wouldn't give up your day jobs. You'd go broke if you did. Besides, it's just one night."
"But for the two of you, it will be one really long night." Kendall laughed seeing Marissa's scowl. "Did you hear from Binx yet? Did she get in safe?"
"Yes, I did, and she got there safely. Right now, I'd say she's meeting Mayor Bloomberg and dazzling him in true Kane fashion."
"Wow, and you say you're not whipped." Greenlee smirked.
"I don't recall ever saying such a thing. In fact, I fully and happily admit to it."
"Yeah, Binx is the same way when it comes to Red here. Did you have any problems with the kids?"
"Nope, but they did miss seeing Bianca this morning. I told them that she would call this evening, and that seemed to help."
"She's having dinner with the mayor and some other bigwigs this evening, isn't she?"
"Yeah, she's hosting a dinner for them at the Center to show them more about what they really do there. Some of those that the Center has helped or is currently helping will be attending so it'll be a private affair in order to protect them."
"That's a really good idea." Greenlee stated, clearly impressed.
"It was Bianca's." Marissa beamed proudly.
"So, since it will be a late night, that's why she's coming back tomorrow. Will she back in the morning then?"
Marissa had to scramble to answer Greenlee's question. Bianca's activities for tomorrow were only known by her and Kendall. No one else was privy to that information yet. "No, she'll be back early tomorrow evening. She's going to take care of a few other things at the Center while she's there."
"That makes sense." Greenlee's cellphone rang. "I need to take this. I'll be back."
When Kendall and Marissa were alone, the redhead leaned in. She had a question for the other woman and was really hoping to receive an affirmative answer. "Kendall, I've got a huge favor to ask you."
"Okay, what is it?"
"I was hoping you would be willing to watch the kids tomorrow, and that since it's Friday, they could sleep over."
"It sounds like you have special plans for tomorrow night." Kendall's eyes widened when she saw Marissa's sheepish expression. She had to restrain herself from shouting. "Oh my god! You're going to ask her tomorrow, aren't you?"
"I … I … Yes, I am, but please, please, please, please, please, don't tell anyone. That includes Bianca."
Kendall could barely contain her excitement. "You know that your secret is safe with me. I won't say anything to anyone, especially Bianca. Of course we'll watch them. What are your plans? How are you going to do it? You're not nervous, are you? Because you have nothing to worry about."
"I'm a little nervous. You really don't think I need to be?" Marissa bit her lip.
Kendall shook her head. "I'm positive. My little sister is head over heels in love with you."
"And I am with her. That doesn't mean she'll say yes."
"Red. Marissa, trust in yourself and how much you love each other, and you'll have nothing to worry about."
Marissa sighed and nodded. "I will. Thanks."
"I expect details first thing Saturday morning. Got it?"
"Got it. In the meantime, in case she asks about the kids, could you make something up? Maybe say it was your idea?"
Kendall laughed. "No problem. I got you covered. She's checking out the clinic tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah, she's got a meeting with the head of the clinic. When she gets back, we'll compare that one to the one I visited in Philadelphia, and then we'll make our decision. We've been working on a list of attributes we want the donor to have."
"Let me guess. Bianca wants him to be a redhead."
Marissa laughed. "Yes, she does. In fact, she's pretty adamant about it."
"I'm not surprised. It turns out that she's pretty partial to redheads. I'm also going to guess that you agreed." Kendall smirked.
"You would be right again. It's hard to tell her 'no' sometimes."
"I'm shocked that you have a hard time telling Bianca 'no'." Greenlee feigned disbelief. "What's it about this time?"
Kendall jumped in to bail out the redhead. "Does it really matter?"
Greenlee shrugged. She suspected there was something going on that she didn't know about, but she was sure she'd find out what it was. "I suppose not."
/
"I have to say, Ms. Montgomery, I'm very impressed with everything you've done here at the Center."
"Thank you, Mr. Mayor, but I can't take most of the credit. That goes to my staff here. They are pretty remarkable. I'd be lost without them."
"They are impressive. They also think the world of you." One of the mayor's assistants came over and whispered to him. "I'm sorry, but I have to go or I'll be late for my next appointment. I'm looking forward to tonight. Will I have the pleasure of meeting your partner Ms. Tasker?"
"I'm afraid not this time. She's back home in Pine Valley with our children. In addition to taking care of them, she's preparing for a trial that starts next week."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Perhaps the next time you're both here, we can meet. I hear she is an excellent attorney."
Bianca smiled proudly. "You hear correctly. She is amazing and brilliant, if I do say so myself. I know she would be honored to meet you."
"As will I with her. Well, I will see you in a few hours."
Bianca nodded and waited for Mayor Bloomberg to leave before heading back to the office she was using. She grabbed her purse and stopped by the Center's receptionist on the way out. "Hannah, I need to step out for about an hour. If anyone needs me, have them call my cell."
"You've got it. See you in a bit. Oh, I'll have a sandwich here for you when you get back."
"Thanks!"
Bianca couldn't hide the excited smile forming on her face as she left to hail a taxi to take her to Tiffany's.
/
Bianca walked up to a counter at Tiffany's and was promptly greeted by a saleswoman.
"Good afternoon and welcome to Tiffany's. My name is Laura. How may I help you?"
"Good afternoon. I'm looking for Ms. Carter."
"That would be me. Would you happen to be Bianca Montgomery?"
"Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine. If you'll just follow me, I have everything set up for you in a more private area."
Bianca nodded and followed the saleswoman. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. I was here in December and saw this ring. I thought it was perfect, but I really couldn't look at it any closer let alone do anything else about it for that matter because Marissa was with me."
"Who is Marissa?"
Bianca smiled. "She's the one the ring is for."
The saleswoman saw how the brunette's eyes lit up just saying the other woman's name and smiled. "Ah, I see. So, you're going to propose. Does she suspect anything?"
"I suppose maybe to a degree she might. We've discussed getting married so I don't believe it will be a complete surprise." As Bianca was getting situated, her cellphone rang. Marissa's smiling face appeared on the caller id. "I'm sorry, but I need to take this. I promise to be quick."
"Take your time." Laura nodded and set about her tasks. She happened to catch a glance at the picture that had appeared on Bianca's phone. The redhead looked familiar to the saleswoman, but she couldn't place her.
"Hey, to what do I owe this extremely pleasant surprise?"
Marissa could hear Bianca's smile on the other end of the line. "Hey, I won't keep you long because I know you have a lot going on today. I just wanted to call and see how things went with the tour and to tell you that I love you, most definitely not in that order."
Bianca laughed. "I love you too, and I'm very glad it wasn't in that order. The tour went great. He said he was very impressed with everything."
"Well, I'm not surprised. It is you we're talking about after all."
"Wow, you just can't help yourself, can you?"
"When it comes to you? Never!" Marissa grinned.
Bianca snorted. "Ditto! Oh, Mayor Bloomberg asked about you. He was looking forward to meeting you and was disappointed that you weren't going to here tonight."
"Seriously?"
"Yep, he heard you were an excellent attorney, brilliant in fact."
This time it was Marissa's turn to snort. "Brilliant? He honestly said that?"
"Okay, you got me. I added the brilliant part, but he did say he heard you were excellent. Your reputation is preceding you, Counselor."
"Well, I'm glad it went great earlier. Are you taking care of yourself? You're not skipping lunch, right?"
"I'm heading to a quick meeting right now, but Hannah is getting me a sandwich to have after I'm done."
"Okay, good. I'll let you go."
"I'll call you tonight before the dinner."
"Sounds good. Love you."
"Love you too." Bianca disconnected the call. "I'm sorry about that."
The saleswoman shook her head smiling. She had finally made the connection and remembered how she knew the redhead whose picture showed up on the phone. Marissa had been a customer that past December. She stopped by in between meetings and had a very specific purpose in mind. She was looking for an engagement ring. Laura remembered the redhead practically gushing over the woman she was planning on asking to marry her. The saleswoman couldn't help but smile at how much in love the woman was, and it didn't take long for Marissa to find the perfect ring. The redhead left smiling so brightly that Laura still remembered it. She had never seen any customer as happy as Marissa was then, until today. It looks like she hasn't proposed yet, but she wasn't sure when she was going to do it. It looks like things are going to change though. Good for them.
"It's no problem. I'm going to guess that was the hopefully soon to be fiancée."
Bianca smiled brightly. "Yes, that was Marissa. She's amazing. I'm sure you hear that from a lot of people when they're buying engagement rings."
"I do, but I can honestly tell you that I've only ever seen one other person smile like you are now."
"Do you know if it worked out for them?"
"I don't know for sure, but I have very good feeling that it did. Now, let's look at this ring. I've got the size you requested."
Bianca nodded happily. She carefully examined the ring when the saleswoman handed it to her. "It's perfect. It's definitely Rissa. I'll take it!"
Laura smiled. "Very good. Do you want to take it with you now or come back later for it?"
"I'll take it now, please."
"I'll get it ready for you." The two continued to chat as the saleswoman polished the ring, packaged it and rang up the sale. "When do you plan on asking her?"
"Tomorrow night when I get home. That reminds me. I need to call and ask my sister if she'll watch our kids. I'll do that on my way back to work."
"Do you have big plans for it?"
"Not really. Between us, we have three kids, and she'll be taking care of them by herself for two days while I'm here. So, I'm going to surprise her and take her out to dinner, give her a bit of a break. I've made reservations for us at our favorite restaurant, one that doesn't have coloring books and crayons. I've had them set aside their best table in a nice quiet corner for us. Before all of that though, I'm going to stop on my way home from the airport and pick up our favorite dessert from her mom's place. Her mom owns a restaurant, but we go there all the time. I thought it would be a nice change of pace to go to someplace really nice and …"
"More geared for grown-ups?" The saleswoman smiled.
Bianca chuckled. "Exactly. Now, I'm not going to propose there at the restaurant. I don't want anyone else around. I want it to just be the two of us. So, I think I'll ask her then when get home, over dessert. Marissa doesn't need the grand gestures. Don't get me wrong. Those are great, and we've had our share of them. For some reason though, I think just having it be the two of us and it being simple is the way to go."
"Well in my experience, it truly is the thought that counts. Just tell her what's in your heart, and everything else will fall into place. From everything you've told me about her and seeing that smile of yours, I think everything is going to work out just perfect for the two of you." She handed Bianca her credit card back after the brunette signed the receipt. She then handed her the telltale blue bag with the box containing the ring inside. "Thank you for letting us be a part of your special moment. If you need anything, here's my card. Good luck, Ms. Montgomery!"
"Thank you!" Bianca practically skipped out of the store and quickly found a cab to take her back to the Miranda Center. She would lock her precious purchase and purse in a safe located in one of the offices that contained petty cash that was sometimes needed at the Center. On her way, she pulled out her cellphone and called her sister.
"Hey, Binx. How's it going?"
"It's going great, Kendall. I'm on my way back to the office. I need to ask a big favor."
Kendall could hear the excitement in her sister's voice. Something was going on. "Uh, sure. What's up?"
"I was wondering if you could watch the kids tomorrow night and maybe keep them overnight?"
Kendall smiled and shook her head. While she couldn't be positive, she had a hunch her sister had the same plans that Marissa did for tomorrow. Same page again! "I'd be happy to."
"Could you not let Marissa know that I asked and make it seem like it was your idea?"
"I can do that. It sounds like you have big plans. Anything you care to share? Maybe popping a certain question?"
"Not yet. I don't want to jinx anything. Tell you Saturday if everything goes okay?"
"Alright, I'm going to hold you to that."
"Thanks, Kendall."
The older sister could hear Bianca's happiness and could picture the mega-watt smile that was most likely gracing her face at that very moment. "You're welcome. Let me go set things up. Hey, I have a feeling that it's going to go more than okay. Good luck!"
/
Marissa was still smiling as she turned out the light and settled under the covers in the bed she shared with Bianca. The redhead was replaying the conversation she had just finished with her lover. Bianca would be home tomorrow, and with any luck, they would be celebrating their engagement this time tomorrow night. Marissa drifted off to sleep as she went over her plans for the next evening.
/
A noise caused Marissa to sit up in bed and look around. She got up and padded down the hallway in the direction of the mysterious noise thinking maybe Max had gotten into something since the alarm hadn't gone off. The redhead opened the kitchen door. Hazel eyes widened in surprise at who she found on the other side.
"Hi, Marissa."
/
A/N: Damn if I couldn't help myself at the end here. The last paragraph is in italics for a reason. Any guesses as to why? See you soon!