A/N: I need to start on a more somber note. My heart goes out to those affected by the tragedy in Manchester. I was stunned when I heard what happened and can't even begin to imagine what the families are going through. I will never understand senseless tragedies like this.

Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it. Yes, I'm back with this story. I told you I wasn't forgetting about it. I was actually working on something else when inspiration struck. So, I stopped that and started back on this story. This chapter picks up a couple of days after the last one. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

"Bianca, good afternoon." Rafaela had been following a server through the bistro when she spotted Bianca sitting alone at a table and thought she would stop and say hello.

"Good afternoon, Rafaela. Please, have a seat."

"Are you waiting on anyone?"

"I'm waiting for Marissa. We decided to try somewhere different for lunch."

"Oh, I don't want to interrupt."

"Don't be silly. You're not interrupting. It's good to see you, and I know Rissa will feel the same way."

"I'll feel the same way about what?" Marissa leaned in and gave her wife a quick kiss before she turned to greet their friend. "Hi, Rafaela. It's good to see you. Are you joining us for lunch?"

"She thinks she's interrupting."

"Oh please. Nothing could be further from the truth. Please join us. We can catch up. It's been a while since we've seen you. You were in Paris, weren't you? How was it?"

Rafaela glanced at the couple to try and determine if they were just being nice. "If you are sure?"

Bianca nodded. "We're positive."

"Okay. I would be very happy to join you then." Rafaela turned to the server who nodded and left the women. "It has been too long since I have been home and have seen Maura and our friends. Yes, I was in Paris for Fashion Week. It was nice but very busy since I was also working in some of the shows. Unfortunately because of that, I did not have much free time. Besides, I want to enjoy it with Maura. We have been talking about going there together in the fall when both of us will have time off."

"Has Maura ever been there?" Bianca asked.

"No, she has not. So, I will be her tour guide." Rafaela smiled.

"Ah, that sounds like a wonderful plan, and I have no doubt that she will love her tour guide."

Rafaela glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. "I hope so. I have been thinking of asking her to marry me."

"You have? That's wonderful!" Marissa smiled.

"Rissa's right. And you really can't ask for a more romantic place to propose than Paris."

"That is what I was thinking. I love her so much and have never been happier. When I met Maura, everything just seemed to fall into place for me."

Bianca and Marissa smiled as they listened to their friend talk about the woman she was head over heels in love with.

Rafaela blushed when she caught the couple's knowing smiles. "Okay. Enough about me. From what Maura has told me, there is a lot that has been going on here while I was gone. Your mother is going to write an advice column?"

"Yes, she is, and she is quite excited about it."

"I believe she will be very good at it. She has always been very helpful to me whenever I have asked her advice."

"My Mom has never been shy about sharing her opinion or advice, whether or not it's asked for."

"Talk about understatements." Marissa smirked.

Bianca chuckled hearing her wife. "Mom does care though. And you're right, I think she'll be very good at this. Mom, like everything she does, is taking this very seriously and putting her all into it."

"I have a question. I have been following this online and noticed that a woman by the name of Dorian Lord does not seem to be of the same opinion as us. She thinks that it will be very bad. I don't understand. Why is this? Does she know Erica?"

"Ah, Dorian." Bianca sighed. "That is a long story. Her real problem is with Vikki Buchanan, and their dispute goes back years. It's really not my place to go into all the details. Now, Mom and Vikki have had their problems over the years as well. Part of it was due to differences in their personalities. Mom has always been more outgoing, more flamboyant, and she wants the spotlight, to be the center of attention. That is just her nature. Having that platform has given her the opportunity to use her voice to help others. Vikki prefers to be behind the scenes and doesn't seek that spotlight out. She uses her newspaper though to help bring issues to the forefront. There is another reason they didn't get along. Me. Vikki has always been there for me, has always offered her support. Mom is a little territorial when it comes to us."

Marissa snorted. "You think?"

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that's caused friction. Over the years however, Mom has come to accept that Vikki is not a threat to her and our relationship. As for Dorian and Mom, Dorian has not been very kind in her reviews of anything Mom has done."

"As you can imagine, Erica is not a fan of anyone who constantly criticizes her for really no discernable reason. I wouldn't be either." Marissa added matter-of-factly.

A couple of years ago, Dorian decided to go after Vikki, again. This time, she wanted some help so she wanted to enlist Mom in this endeavor. While Mom had her problems with Vikki, they were simply that, her problems which had pretty much been resolved by that time. There was no way that Mom was going to join Dorian's vendetta against Vikki, especially after everything Dorian had said about Mom. Dorian took that personally. Mom told me what Dorian had planned, knowing full well that I would tell Vikki. A year later, Vikki returned the favor, again through me, when she found out that Dorian was writing a less than flattering article about Mom. It was full of lies, and Mom threatened to sue if she published it. Dorian backed down, but she's obviously not forgotten."

"It sounds like your mother and Vikki are good friends then."

"I wouldn't go that far. They do have mutual respect, but their relationship is still a little prickly. Again, that's because of me. As for this advice column, it's simply good business. Both of them appreciate what the other can do and believe this will be a success."

"Plus, it also helps that this really ticks Dorian off." Marissa smiled.

"True. That is a bonus."

Rafaela laughed at the couple. "Well, I cannot wait to read it. Maura told me there was some other excitement while I was gone. Something to do with AJ and Miranda's friend, the one who has that horrid mother."

Marissa nodded. "The Baldwins. Unfortunately, that's true. Their friend's name is Amber, and her parents are Doug and Tammy."

"Ah yes, Tammy. I don't like that woman at all."

"Well, you're in good company. A lot of people don't, including Bianca and myself."

"From what I have heard, you have good reason."

"We do. She has done nothing but try and cause us grief. Amber though is as sweet as can be, and she's become a really good friend to AJ and Miranda."

"AJ likes her a little more though?"

Bianca laughed. "Yes, he does have a crush on her, and she likes him as well. Neither has said or done much about it though."

"Ah, young love. I remember my first crush. Believe it or not, I was very shy and couldn't speak very well around her. I would get all tongue tied." Rafaela smiled fondly at the memory.

"Obviously, you grew out of that phase." Bianca chuckled.

"That I did. It is a good thing I did too. Otherwise, I would not have Maura." Rafaela smiled brightly. "I would not worry too much about AJ though. If he is anything like either of his mothers, he will grow out of that phase, and then, he will be charming all of the girls."

"I don't know if either of us is ready for that. Although, I can definitely see him having some of Rissa's charm."

"Thank you, but you're pretty charming yourself, in an adorkable way."

Bianca snorted.

"See. How could I not fall for that?" Marissa grinned.

Rafaela shook her head at the couple. "Very true. So, what happened? I heard Tammy was arrested."

"I'll give you the short version. Doug and Tammy's divorce was finalized, and he was given full custody of Amber. Tammy was livid when the judge made that ruling. That was obvious at the hearing, and she was not going to just roll over and take this lying down. None of us thought she would go as far as she did though. Doug was pulled over by the police after he had dropped Amber off at school. Someone had called the police and reported a driver swerving near the school. After a search of the car, drugs were found pretty much out in the open. Fortunately for Doug, Brot was the one who pulled him over, and he's a very experienced officer. Something seemed off to Brot, and he asked Doug to follow him to the police station. That's when Doug called me. I told him to cooperate, and after some investigation, they discovered that Tammy had a co-worker plant the drugs in Doug's car."

"Why would she do that? He could be arrested."

"That's exactly what she wanted to happen. In Tammy's mind, she would get custody of Amber if Doug went to jail."

"But what about Amber? How would she feel about her father going to jail? She would be crushed."

"Tammy didn't care about that. It wasn't really about Amber. It was about Tammy and her winning, no matter what the cost or who got hurt, including her daughter."

"That's the saddest part about all of this. Amber is the one who has been hurt the most." Bianca said.

Marissa nodded. "That's true. We tried to keep it quiet, but with something like this, we were only able to do that for so long. Doug kept her out of school for a few days and has her in counseling. He's talking to someone professionally himself as well. Amber is back in school, and things seem to be going okay. According to the kids, none of the other students have said anything to her about all of this, and that's a big relief."

"I can imagine. What is going on with Tammy now?"

"Well, she and her co-worker have been arrested. The co-worker confessed immediately and made a deal with the district attorney to testify against Tammy for a lighter sentence."

"Very smart of her."

"Yes, it was. She had a very strong feeling that Tammy would throw her under the bus if something went wrong. It turns out she was right. Tammy tried to do exactly that, but she didn't count on her partner in crime having recordings of their conversations. They backed up her version of events and not Tammy's. Which leads me to the latest. I have news."

"Something else happened?" Bianca asked.

"You could say that. Tammy's latest attorney, and she's had several, is planning an insanity defense."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was, B. Mike called me just before I left and told me about it. He's the district attorney, Rafaela."

The model nodded. "You are friends with him."

"I am. Tammy's attorney presented a report from a psychiatrist they had examine her. He cited diminished capacity at the time all of this started. Mike isn't buying that for a minute and asked to have the D.A.'s psychiatrist administer their own psychiatric evaluation of her, and the judge agreed." Marissa checked the time. "Tammy should be on her way to Oak Haven right about now."

"Mike is right. Tammy knew exactly what she was doing. She just didn't give a damn who was hurt." Bianca said angrily.

"I couldn't agree more. Mike is having Dr. Russell examine her, and she's very good. Dr. Russell isn't someone that you can easily fool."

"Good. Tammy needs to face what she's done. She's gotten away with too much for far too long."

"You are preaching to the choir, Babe."

/

"Why am I still handcuffed? I'm going into a hospital. I demand that these be removed!"

The two officers transporting Tammy looked at each other and rolled her eyes. She had been ranting from the moment they had left the jail, and that had made for an extremely long ride. They couldn't wait to drop her off just to have a break from the woman no matter how brief it may be.

"The cuffs are not being removed until you are secured in the facility." Officer Barnett said evenly.

Tammy huffed. "Whatever. This is completely ridiculous."

Officer Baxter sighed when the hospital came into view and mumbled. "Thank god."

The police cruiser came to a stop, and the officers got out. Officer Barnett helped Tammy out of the car, and the officers escorted her inside. Officer Baxter checked them in while the other officer stayed with Tammy who was still complaining. Both officers would be having a well-earned drink when their shift was over. A burley orderly followed Baxter over to where his partner and Tammy were.

"This is Eric. He'll be taking you from here, Mrs. Baldwin."

"We'll call you when Dr. Russell is done with the exam." Eric informed the officers.

Barnett nodded as he removed the handcuffs.

"Finally! Thank god! You won't believe what they've put me through. I had to drive all the way here with these handcuffs on like I'm some kind of common criminal."

Eric raised an eyebrow as he looked at the officers. The orderly had read the paperwork on Tammy. He knew why she had been arrested.

"Good luck." Baxter whispered as he and Barnett headed out.

"This way, ma'am. I'll take you back to Dr. Russell's office."

/

When they got to Dr. Russell's office, they were informed that the doctor was running late due to a crisis with another patient. The nurse instructed Eric to take Tammy to an activity room to wait which the orderly did.

Tammy rolled her eyes when she saw some of the patients. She wasn't anything like them, but she knew she would have to mimic their behaviors if she wanted to fool the doctor and get off. Tammy wandered over to a table where a woman with light brown hair was sitting.

"What do you want?"

"I was wondering if I could have a seat."

"Sure, knock yourself out."

"I'm Tammy Baldwin."

The other woman stared at Tammy for a minute before she finally spoke. "Annie Lavery."

/

A/N: Yep! I left it there! You can probably hear my evil side cackling. What can I say? She wanted to come out and play! See you soon!