A/N: I'm back! Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it and all of you. I had a nice vacation and went to Nashville, Tennessee. Okay, I need to get something off my chest so I'm going to ask for your patience while I step up on my soapbox. You are more than welcome to skip the author's notes and go straight to the story though. I'll understand.
There's a saying that with age comes wisdom. I seriously doubt it though because it seems the older I get, the less I understand. I don't understand what is going on in this world lately. I don't understand how someone can get behind the wheel of a truck and purposefully drive it into a crowd with the goal of killing as many people as you possibly can. It just makes no sense to me. My heart aches for those affected by the latest violence in Nice, France. You are in my thoughts.
My heart also aches for those affected by the recent violence in the United States, particularly those in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights (Minnesota), and Dallas. You are in my thoughts as well. I unfortunately know that there are too many other cities to list across my country suffering through similar violence. It seems the list grows every week, and again, it makes no sense to me. What's the answer to stopping the violence? I don't know. I do know though that it's not more violence. We need to talk to each other, really listen to each other, respect each other, and try to understand each other. We all need to take responsibility for our own actions. No one is perfect. We're all different, and we need to understand and embrace those differences. I have family and friends that have different religious, political, and ideological beliefs than me. I respect their right to have them. I know for a fact that some don't understand why I believe the things that I do. Those differences don't mean that I love them any less, and I hope they feel the same way about me.
I could go on, but I'm going to leave it with that we all just need to try more. I'm going to step off my soapbox now. Thank you for indulging me by listening (actually reading). I know this story is for entertainment. Sometimes though, life happens and I need an outlet. If any of you need one, I'm here.
Back to fanfiction! I've written a little for Kegs & Eggs. I'm not sure when I'll update, but I am working on it. It can be a little daunting working on two different stories at the same time. This chapter picks up a couple of days after the last one. Hope you enjoy this update!
/
Things had quieted down considerably in the days immediately following the incident at the courthouse, and Bianca was beyond grateful for the calm. It allowed her to focus on the upcoming holiday which would be busy enough. Thanksgiving was in four short days, and her ever-growing family would be coming over to Minx Manor to celebrate. Bianca was hoping there wouldn't be a repeat of what was now referred to by Kendall, Greenlee, and Marissa as the 'Battle of the Gravy Boat'. With any luck, the addition of Jessica, Jo, and Greg along with Rafaela and Maura would help keep the others in line, and everyone would behave. The last thing she wanted or needed was for the adults to act worse than the kids. Other close friends, such as the Walkers, would be stopping by for dessert so Minx Manor was going to be bustling with activity, but Bianca and Marissa found themselves really looking forward to it, no matter how daunting it may be to have a crowded house with clashing personalities. To have their family and friends around them during this time was one of the best things they could ask for, and that was why they volunteered to have it at their home again, even after last year's 'battle'.
Bianca checked the time and noted that it was almost lunchtime. Normally, she would try and meet up with Marissa, but the courthouse was reopened which meant everyone would be slogging their way through the backlog of cases that resulted from the lockdown. Bianca knew that Marissa was most likely going to be busy all day. As for Bianca, she was pretty busy herself. She needed to make up for her trip to New York which meant that she would be working through lunch. Jan, however, had stopped by a little earlier and took her order for lunch so that was one less thing for Bianca to worry about.
Jan poked her head in Bianca's office. "Bianca, there's someone here to see you, and she doesn't have an appointment."
"What's her name?"
"Sarah Livingston. She said she would only need a few minutes because she's on her way to the airport."
Bianca paused for a moment as she remembered the events from the previous week again. When they were finally alone Friday evening, Marissa detailed the conversation she and Sarah had at Krystal's earlier that day. As she replayed what her wife had told her, Bianca wasn't really surprised by Sarah's visit. "Send her in please."
Jan nodded. "I'm going to run out and pick up our lunches. Aya will be around if you need anything before I get back."
"Thanks, Jan."
Less than a minute later, there was a knock on her office door. Bianca glanced up and motioned the blonde inside.
"Hi, Sarah. Come in and have a seat."
The blonde nodded and did as requested. "Hi, Bianca. Thank you for seeing me. I hope I'm not interrupting."
"No, it's good. I could use a break. Jan said you told her you were on your way to the airport?"
"Yes, I am. I'm headed back home. I need to get back to work. Plus, as you know, Thanksgiving is coming up, and mom is gearing up to have the family all together. I'm sure you have similar plans."
Bianca nodded. "We do. Everyone is coming over to our home. It will be crowded, but we're looking forward to it."
"That sounds great." Sarah took a deep breath and began again. "I'm really glad you're happy, Bianca. If anyone deserves to be, it's you. I already told all of this to Marissa the other day, but I wanted to tell you too before I left. And just so you know, Marissa knows that I was going to talk with you. I'm sorry for what I did. It was stupid, selfish, and wrong on every level. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat. I know you're angry with me, and you have every right to be. I just hope that maybe one day you could find it in your heart to forgive me."
"Sarah, I won't lie to you. I was pretty angry, and you're right. What you did was wrong. It was something you shouldn't have done. I had some time to think though, and I also talked with Marissa after the two of you talked. Here's what I know. You had no idea what was going on at the courthouse, and you're certainly not responsible for Marissa getting hurt. When you did find out, you stepped up and helped me get home. Odds are, I probably wouldn't have made it home until the next day if it wasn't for you. If that had happened, I would've lost it. I could have had everyone tell me that Marissa was okay, but until I saw her for myself, I wouldn't have believed them. You helped me with that, and I am grateful. Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me, Bianca. It was the least I could do to make up for what I did."
"No, I do need to thank you. Once I had a chance to calm down and think about things, I realized that there was any number of things you could have done. You could've stayed quiet and not told me that Marissa called, but you didn't. Instead, you confessed, owned up to what you did, admitted it was wrong. You could've just left after you told me what you did, run away. You didn't though. You stayed and helped me get home in just a couple of hours. I know it would've been longer if you hadn't done that. It probably would've been the next day, and like I said before, I don't know that I would've been able to handle that. You could have easily left once we got here, but you didn't. Instead, you stayed, and when you saw Marissa, you didn't run. You answered all of her questions. Trust me when I say this, there are others that would not have done that. So, I need to thank you for that. I want to thank you for that. As for forgiving you, I'm not quite there just yet, but I'm pretty sure I will get there. I think Marissa will too."
"Thank you." Sarah felt she could finally release the breath she had been holding ever since she stepped inside Bianca's office. "When I was talking with Marissa, I got it."
"Got what?" Bianca asked.
"The two of you. You just fit together so well and complement each other perfectly. I'll be honest. I was pretty worried when Marissa wanted to talk to me in private. Part of me was expecting her to ask me to step outside where she would proceed to kick my butt, nothing that I didn't deserve. She didn't though. She talked to me. No punches were pulled, and her point was definitely made. Do you know what she did after that though? Marissa asked if I was okay. She wanted to make sure that I wasn't hurting myself, that I had someone to talk to. For her to show me that kind of care was kind of amazing. It reminded me of you. When I told her that, Marissa made a point to tell me that she didn't believe that she was as nice or as forgiving as you."
Bianca nodded. "That is Marissa. The thing is, she is both of those things and doesn't give herself enough credit, but she is fiercely protective of her family. Probably a little more so than me."
"Your mom likes her, doesn't she? I kind of got that feeling at the restaurant from the way she was watching us."
The brunette smiled brightly. "Yeah, she does. Mom also respects her a great deal, and Marissa feels the same way about Mom. I think that Mom likes that Marissa has never really been intimidated by her and has never sucked up to her. Marissa has always been honest and straight with Mom, and she appreciates that because there are a lot of people that aren't. I have to tell you that it's really great that they connect so well. There's nothing Mom wouldn't do for Marissa and vice versa."
"I'm glad to hear that. Your mom is formidable, and I'm always going to be grateful to her for what she did for me regarding my mom."
Bianca saw an opening and decided to go with it. "Can I ask you something, Sarah?"
"Of course."
"Are you doing okay? Be honest."
Sarah paused. She should have known that she couldn't get anything by Bianca. "I'm … I'm okay, for the most part. I have been struggling a little though. What gave me away?"
"You look a little thin." The concern was evident in Bianca's voice.
"Well, part of that is because I've been working a lot and not paying attention to what or when I eat. Don't worry about me though. I am seeing someone professionally. I went back into therapy not long ago. It's helped more than I would like to admit. I recognized some signs though, and I didn't want to go down that self-destructive path again. Mom has actually been there for me, a lot. She's been trying to get me to ease up on work and get more of a personal life."
Bianca nodded. "I'm glad you're getting help and that your mom is there for you. A personal life is a good thing. You know that if you need to talk to someone else that you can always give me a call."
Sarah smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I appreciate that more than you know, and I'll definitely keep that in mind as long as you don't think Marissa would mind."
"No, she'll be okay. Trust me."
"You already talked with her about it, haven't you?"
Bianca simply chuckled. "Yeah, I did."
Sarah shook her head, clearly amused, and stood. "I really need to go. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Bianca, and tell Marissa the same."
"I will. Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Sarah. Take care of yourself."
The blonde nodded and smiled. "I will. You too, Bianca."
/
"Hi, Ellie."
"Hi, Bianca. Is Marissa expecting you?"
"Nope. I thought I would surprise her. Is she free?" Bianca had decided to surprise her wife after lunch. The redhead had been on her mind after her conversation with Sarah. She wanted to let her know how it went. Plus, Bianca just wanted to see her. So, she told Jan that she was taking a break, stopped by Krystal's to pick up a treat for her wife, and then headed over to her office. It had been done on a whim, and Bianca could only hope that Marissa wouldn't be in a meeting or with a client.
Ellie smiled and nodded. "Yes, she is, and I know she's going to love the surprise. Go on in."
"Thanks."
/
Bianca poked her head in her wife's office and heard her wrapping up a phone call.
"That is great news, Mitch, and the timing couldn't be more perfect! Thank you for all of the hard work you put in on this. Happy Thanksgiving!" As Marissa disconnected the call, the smile she had on her face grew wider and brighter when she saw her wife. "Hey!"
"Hey yourself." Bianca gave her favorite lawyer a quick kiss. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"Nope. Your timing is, as always, impeccable. This is a great surprise. What's in the bag?" Marissa eyed the white paper bag her wife had placed on her desk.
Bianca grinned. "I got you something from Krystal's. Take a look."
Hazel eyes lit up as she saw what was inside the bag. "You got me one of Krystal's jumbo brownies! I knew there was a reason I loved you."
The brunette laughed. "Thank heaven for baked goods!"
Marissa pulled Bianca to her and gave her a loving kiss. "You're splitting this with me."
"You know I can't say no to that. I knew there was a reason I loved you." Bianca grinned.
It was Marissa's turn to laugh this time. She picked up the bag and headed over to the sofa she had in her office. As Marissa split the brownie in two, Bianca took a seat next to her.
"I take it that call was good news?"
"Mmm, really good news. Unfortunately, I can't tell you about it."
"I understand. Lawyer/client confidentiality." Bianca never pushed for information on any of her wife's clients, and neither did Marissa with the brunette's clients.
"Yep. So, how is your day going?" Marissa moaned as she took a bite of her brownie. "This is so good."
Bianca chuckled at her wife's reaction to the chocolatey treat. "It's going okay. I had a visitor."
"Who?"
"Sarah."
Marissa tilted her head slightly, clearly interested but not really surprised. She had suggested that Sarah talk to Bianca before she left. "How did it go?"
"Pretty well. She dropped by on her way to the airport. She's going back to Boston for the holiday."
"Her family is still there, right?"
"Yes, they are. Her mom was having the whole family over. Kind of like we are."
"Yeah, I'm still wondering how smart we are having everyone over again. Do you think we should hide the gravy boats?" Marissa grinned.
Bianca laughed. "I'm hoping we don't have to do that this year. Everyone has promised to be on their best behavior."
"I'll have my fingers crossed that they keep their word, but I'm not going to hold my breath."
"Me either. Back to Sarah. She apologized for what she had done."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Yeah, it was good to hear, and she owned up to everything." Bianca then proceeded to tell Marissa about her discussion with Sarah.
"Do you think she'll take you up on your offer to talk?" Marissa asked.
"I'm not sure. If she's struggling and needs to talk to someone who's been through what she has, I hope so. I don't want to see her hurt herself again. I can tell you that I really appreciate that she took your feelings into account about it though."
"I appreciate that as well. It doesn't mean that I'm going to trust her any time soon and not keep my eye on her."
"I know, and I expect nothing less. It's exactly how I would feel. I'm really lucky that I have you in my life and that I get to share it with you. I want you to know that I know that, and I also want you to know that I don't take you for granted." The kiss Bianca gave her wife matched her words and left Marissa with no doubt that she meant every word.
"You're not the only one who knows that she's lucky. I know you don't take me for granted, and I don't take you for granted either. I love you so much."
"I love you too." Bianca captured her wife's lips again. The impromptu make out session would have continued and gotten more heated if Bianca's phone hadn't started to ring. They reluctantly separated, and the brunette answered the call. When she ended the conversation, she sighed. "I need to go. Aya needs me back at the Center."
Marissa sighed as well. "I understand. I should probably get back to work myself, especially if I want to get out of here a little early. There's a good chance that I'll be able to since a couple of cases were pushed to next week. We will be picking this back up later tonight."
Bianca smiled brightly and gave her wife a quick kiss. "Definitely, and I'm going to be looking forward to it! I'm going to stop by the daycare and see our son really quick before I head back. I'll see you later, Counselor."