"So, I found a baby ballet class," Red said one morning over breakfast, in between cajoling Parker into taking another bite of her eggs. She frowned as yet another piece hit the floor instead of her mouth. "I think you should enroll Parker."

Nicky drew her coffee from her lips, rolling her eyes. It was too early to argue, especially before she'd even drained her first cup of coffee. "She takes three steps and suddenly you think she could start pirouetting? What can they even do at eleven months old? Stand and look cute?"

"What's the fun in having a little girl if you can't dress her up?" Red complained. She turned to Parker, brushing a finger down her cheek. "She would look so sweet in a tutu. You want to twirl, don't you, Iva? You have to remember I never had a little girl to dress up. Boys clothes just aren't as fun. Besides, she started walking weeks ago. I think she has the hang of it now."

"Yeah!" Parker shrieked, responding with an uncoordinated round of applause.

"My little traitor," Nicky said as she raised her eyebrows. Turning to Red she said, "That's not sexist at all, is it?"

Red scoffed. "Bullshit! She can wear a potato sack and become a builder if she wants when she's grown up, but for now, a tutu is not a glass ceiling. You're going to rob me of dressing my granddaughter up as a ballerina to prove that you're a modern woman." She sighed dramatically. "I remember those days."

"I'll bet," Nicky said under her breath. She downed the rest of her coffee and set the mug down. "Fine. Enroll her in whatever class you want. But you know she screams at her baby sensory class, so she probably won't be in the toddler version of Swan Lake anytime soon. She's like her other grandma," Nicky said, nodding toward the empty chair at the table. "Anti-social."

"I heard that!" Marka sang as she walked into the room. "I am not anti-social," she said, frowning. "I had a business meeting. You know, to afford all these classes."

"Well, she doesn't like baby sensory anyway, so you won't have to pay for that one next time," Nicky said, waving her hand.

Marka rolled her eyes and poured herself a coffee. She brushed already perfectly styled hair out of her eyes and sighed. "She just knows what she likes," she said offhandedly. She wrinkled her nose. "What is 'baby sensory' anyway?"

"They never had that when my boys were little," Red mused. "People don't know what to waste their money on next."

Nicky shrugged. "Well, the doctor said it would be a good idea."

Red raised her eyebrows. "She probably has shares in it."

"So cynical," Nicky smirked. "So, Red...I actually had something to ask you."

"Mm?" Red asked as she helped Parker guide her sippy cup to her lips. "Am I going to like this?"

"I think so," Nicky confirmed with a nod. "I was wondering if you could watch Parker for a little bit sometime next week. I got a message from Lorna last night. She wants to meet up...said she missed me."

Red nodded slowly. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

Red didn't want all of Nicky's progress to be halted by being thrown back into the past. Lorna and her were so wishy washy. They loved each other, there was no doubt about it, but would it throw her backwards? Lorna was with Vinny. Would Nicky be able to cope seeing Lorna free but not free to be hers? Red didn't know.

Nicky pushed her food around her plate. "I mean, yeah. I've missed her too. I know we had our ups and downs, but she was there for me...she's my best friend. And it's not like I didn't already see her."

"Mm, but that was in prison," Red said. "And even that was a few months ago now. You weren't really yourself then."

"Hang on. Who is Lorna?" Marka interjected. She leaned against the sideboard, a wrinkle of concern forming on her brow. "Should I be worried?"

"She's just a friend," Nicky said dismissively. "Maybe you'd feel more in the loop if you'd ever visited me when I was inside."

Marka straightened. "Nicky, I can't change what happened, and what I did or didn't do-"

Nicky stared into her empty coffee cup. "I'm just saying. If it had been Parker, I would have been there every single week."

"Well, that might be so, but you don't have a job. And when you were a baby, I didn't imagine you would be going to jail, so it wasn't exactly something I'd had time to contemplate. It wasn't exactly the life I'd envisioned for you."

"Well maybe if you'd been a bit more understanding I would have wanted to tell you about Lorna instead of hiding her from you!"

Marka frowned. "Why would you hide her from me?" she asked, looking to Red. "Is this girl trouble? Is this meeting a bad idea?"

Red hated being in the middle of it. She sighed and looked from mother to daughter. "No," she said diplomatically after a moment. "It's just...complicated."

"Complicated?" Marka prompted. She turned to Nicky. "Is she dangerous?"

"Lorna, dangerous?" Nicky scoffed. "No."

"I just don't want Nicky getting hurt...emotionally," Red continued, despite Nicky's glare. "I know you're an adult but that doesn't stop me worrying. Just think about it, okay?"

"This girl was...more than a friend?" Marka asked tentatively. She sat down across from Nicky at the table. Parker's gaze went from Nicky's to Marka's and then back again. Though of course she didn't understand what was going on, she could sense the tension in the room and didn't like it. She squirmed in her high chair despite Red rubbing her back.

"Listen, Marka," Nicky said, using her name pointedly. "I'm not asking you to watch Parker so I don't really understand why you care. I know you've always hated the fact that I'm a lesbian but you can go to work and I'll be back by the time you are and you can pretend it's not even happening, so-"

"For Christ's sake, Nicky!" Marka snapped. "I don't care who you go to bed with. I care about you."

Nicky stopped in her tracks. She mulled over what Marka said. It occurred to her that she didn't remember ever hearing those words coming from her mother's mouth before. I care about you. She turned the phrase over in her head for a moment.

"More to the point," Marka continued, "I know you care about Parker in the same way. I'm just worried that if you get attached to...Lorna...again, then you'll only end up with a broken heart at the end of it. You've just got out of trouble yourself. Don't bring it back to our doorstep."

Nicky's hand tightened around her mug. Deep down, she knew Marka was right. Lorna was a loose cannon. Yet she still wanted to see her. And Lorna might have been crazy, but dangerous? No. Lorna wasn't dangerous. She couldn't be. Nicky felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing her again without a table in between them.

"Well, she already met Parker," Nicky replied a little sullenly.

"That was different," Marka challenged. "Like Red said, it was in prison."

"And like I said, I won't take Parker this time. But Parker is my daughter. You don't even know Lorna. If I wanted to take her, I would. And there would be nothing you could do to stop me."

"No," Marka said after a beat. "There wouldn't be. But I hope you've grown up enough not to make those rash decisions to spite me."

Nicky took a deep breath. Sometimes, when she spent lots of time with Marka, it was easy to revert back to being an angry fifteen-year-old girl with a huge attitude problem and two parents who didn't particularly care. But she had to remind herself that she wasn't that girl anymore and as much as she didn't show it sometimes, Marka did care.

She swallowed hard. "No, you're right. Listen. I'm going to invite her to Parker's first birthday party. That's not negotiable. But why don't I invite her over for dinner so that you can meet her first? Would that make you happy?"

Marka blinked. In truth, she had braced herself for a full-blown argument and now it hadn't arrived, she felt her adrenaline rushing through her veins. She let her fingers release from the vice grip they'd assumed wrapped around her coffee mug and paused for a moment.

"Bring her over for dinner?" Marka asked, sounding uncertain. "But you've never brought anyone over for dinner. Not even friends. And she's...she's more than a friend."

Nicky stiffened a little. Marka was reading a lot into this. Maybe it was a big deal. And big deals made Nicky feel uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well. I'm not fifteen anymore, am I?" she said, as much for her own benefit as Marka's. "We've moved past all of that. I want you to meet her."

Marka looked up. Yes," she said, nodding quickly before Nicky could change her mind. "I want to meet her too."


"Nicky, I don't know," Lorna said, concern seeping into her voice. She held the phone between her ear and her shoulder, biting her lip. "I'm not sure I want to meet your mom. Christ, you don't even like her. And she's sure as hell not gonna like me."

Nicky sat cross legged on her bed that night, her phone balancing on her knee. Lorna's voice filled the room and if she closed her eyes it was almost like they were together again. Inviting Lorna round had taken some courage (although not of the Dutch variety) and the doubt in her voice was making her regret ever picking up the phone to begin with.

A nervous smile played on Nicky's lips. "Lorna, don't worry so much. She doesn't have to like you. If her opinion was a driving force in my decision making then I probably wouldn't have even met you. It's not a big deal."

"Do you bring all your friends back to meet your mama?" Lorna asked skeptically. "Or is that just me?" She wondered who Nicky was trying to convince.

"You're more than a friend, Lorn," Nicky said quietly. She watched Parker breathe in her sleep, hawk eyes staring as her chest rose and fell. One breath. Then two and three. Four breaths and still no answer from Lorna. The silence was unbearable. "You know, maybe you're right and it is a bad idea. I'm sure Vinny won't like it, anyway."

"I'm not with Vinny anymore," Lorna said finally. "And besides, I want to come."

Nicky nodded slowly as if trying to process. "How about tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Lorna said, and Nicky could hear the smile in her voice. "I'm pretty busy what with being on parole and everything." She giggled.

Nicky smiled. "6PM okay? I know it's early, but Parker will still be awake and I thought you'd like to see her for at least a little bit before she goes to bed."

"I do," Lorna said. "Text me your address, okay?"

"Okay."


"She's coming tonight?" Marka exclaimed. "But you've given me no time to prepare! We don't have any food in, I'm at work until five-thirty, the whole house is a mess-"

"I'll clean up today," Nicky said easily, biting into her piece of buttered toast. "And I thought we could just order a pizza. Easy for everyone, eh?" She tickled Parker under the chin, offering her a bite of toast too.

Marka didn't look convinced. Fixing one earring into place as she poured herself a coffee, she looked at Nicky doubtfully. "Pizza isn't exactly a food for when you have guests," she said, frowning. Her mind went to greasy fingers and sauce smeared on faces. "And it's too late for me to call the caterers."

Red looked at Marka. "I am your caterer," she reminded her, stirring her cereal lazily. "You worry too much. Lorna was brought up on frozen TV dinners. She wouldn't appreciate fine dining anymore than you would appreciate mac and cheese from a box."

"You don't wanna spend the evening cooking," she said anxiously. "And I don't want to be a third wheel at the table."

"So I can order something in?" Nicky asked impatiently.

"Hang on," Red said, holding her hand up at Nicky. "I can prepare everything this afternoon and then by this evening we'll only have to serve," she offered. She sighed wistfully. "I haven't cooked a family meal in so long. Nicky can help me."

Nicky sighed this time. "Fine," she huffed. On the inside, she felt pretty happy. It had been a long time since she'd helped Red in the kitchen and despite never intending to tell her this, she had missed it. There was something strangely therapeutic about chopping and stirring.

Marka sighed but nodded. "That sounds good.. Next time please give me a little notice, will you?" She raised her eyebrows at her daughter. "I would have booked the afternoon off so that I could have gone to the salon."

Nicky resisted commenting. "Do you want to get started on dinner prep?" Nicky asked. "I kind of want to get it over with."

"Nope," Red said, a twinkle in her eye. "I told you I found Parker a baby ballet class. It starts this morning at ten."

"But she doesn't have a tutu," Nicky countered. She smirked. "You wouldn't want her to look stupid in front of all the other babies."

If she hoped it would deter Red, she was wrong. "That's not a problem," she said, smiling proudly. "I phoned them already. You can buy everything there. Marka already paid online for the class," she added. "I'm treating my little Iva to a tutu, so you don't even have to run and get your purse."

"Remember to take pictures!" Marka called as she grabbed her own purse to leave. "I bet she'll look just darling!"


On the other side of town, up two flights of stairs, a ballet class was taking place. Nicky looked to Red before pulling open the door to the studio.

"Are you sure this is how you want to spend your morning?" she asked doubtfully. Then she looked at Parker's face, who was looking through the glass of the studio door. Nicky sighed as Red gave her a gentle push toward the door.

"Come on. I bet she'll love it."

After greeting the teacher and buying an extortionately priced tutu and leotard, Parker looked the part of a ballerina. Red grinned as Parker flopped to the floor when they stood her up in it. She looked up at her mom and grandma with a quizzical look on her features as she grabbed for fistfuls of tulle.

Nicky snickered. "She doesn't know what to do with her legs with that thing on, Ma."

"She'll figure it out," Red insisted, helping Parker up by holding her hands. "She's a smart cookie. Can you give me a twirl, Parker?"

Parker twirled albeit a little unsteadily but when she spotted the other children in the class she squawked and toddled clumsily over to them. An older little girl around two years old shyly took her hand and helped her stay steady.

True to her word, Red took out her camera and snapped a few photos for Marka. She looked over at Nicky, who looked misty eyed.

"What?" she asked.

Nicky shook her head, her eyes fixed on Parker. "Nothing," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's just...everyone says they grow up so fast but the days and nights feel so long. Then suddenly you look at your baby and she's walking and talking.."

Red laughed. "And then suddenly they're having babies of their own," she finished, pulling Nicky close. She dropped a quick kiss on her cheek.

"I can't believe she'll be one next month," Nicky admitted. "Where did the time go?"

Red's gaze fell to Parker, who stared up at the teacher in wonder as she stretched. "I've wondered the same thing for years, malyshka."

Upon their return home, Nicky and Red went straight in the kitchen after Nicky put Parker down for her nap. She fought it, too excited to drop off, but after a while of patting her back, she finally drifted off.

"So," Nicky asked as she tied an apron behind her back. She rocked on her heels, peering over Red's shoulder. "What are we making?"

"I'm making lasagna," Red corrected her. "You're chopping veg and boiling noodles."

"Whatever," Nicky said, swiping a piece of cheese that Red had set out on the countertop and nibbling on it. "Just tell me what I have to chop."


Marka returned at 5.30PM having rearranged some meetings. Her nose was instantly in the air, sniffing appreciatively. "Something smells amazing!"

"It's garlic bread," Red called back from the kitchen. She rose from her stooped over position in front of the oven and looked to Marka with pride in her eyes. "I made it fresh."

"Mm," Marka hummed as she came through. She placed her bag down where she always did. "I hope Nicky helped like she said she would!"

"I did," Nicky confirmed, coming through to the kitchen behind a toddling Parker, dressed back in her blush tutu. She squealed upon seeing her grandmother and Marka scooped her up, just as happy to see Parker as she was to see her grandma.

"Look at you!" Marka gushed, holding her on her hip. She chuckled. "Have you been in your tutu all day, sweetheart?" Marka exclaimed, kissing the top of her baby soft curls. Parker buried her head in Marka's neck. "Oh, isn't she gorgeous? She looks just like you did, Nicky."

"We put her back in it for you getting back," Nicky admitted. She went to the stovetop and went to sneak a piece of bread before Red slapped her hand away. "We didn't want you to miss it."

Marka adjusted Parker's tutu and looked over at Nicky in surprise. "You did?" she asked. Then she reached over and squeezed Nicky's arm. It was a small act of affection, a baby step really, but it was more than had passed between them before. "Thank you, Nicky."

6PM came and went without a knock or a ring of the doorbell. Nicky anxiously flipped over her phone as she bounced Parker on her knee. The baby grizzled a little, upset at not being able to play on the floor. She still preferred crawling over walking and the tutu was getting in her way. Despite that, Nicky had been sure Lorna wouldn't be long. She wanted Lorna to see how sweet she looked in it, but she didn't want to restrict Parker for much longer.

"Maybe there's traffic," Marka offered, though she omitted that there had been no more than the usual when she'd arrived home from work. She picked at the garlic bread that sat in a basket in the middle of the table, starving after a day of working through lunch.

Red raised her eyebrows. "Or maybe she's had a better offer."

"She wouldn't do that, would she?" Marka asked. Her brow knitted together. "I'm sure she won't be too much longer."

Nicky looked to Red, who said nothing more.

"Here," she said to Red finally, passing Parker to her and picking up her phone. "Let me call her."

Red nodded as she rubbed circles into a very restless Parker's back. She removed the tutu from the leotard and set her down on the floor as Nicky went to make her phone call.

The phone rang endlessly before Lorna finally picked up. When she did, she sounded breathless. "Nicky!"

"Yeah...where are you?" Nicky asked.

"Where am I?" Lorna sounded confused. Then she dissolved into giggles. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Nicky, I totally forgot! We can do it another time, right?"

Nicky prickled with annoyance. "Well, yeah, but-"

"Ooh, before I forget, I have the best news!"

Nicky closed her eyes. Please don't be pregnant. "Yeah?

"Vinny came around this afternoon, and guess what? We're back together! He came round with a bunch of roses and…"

Lorna's voice felt faraway as Nicky held the phone outstretched. She didn't particularly want to hear about what Vinny had done or how much she loved him. For once, she wished Lorna had chosen her. Yet at least she found out now, before she got involved. Before Parker knew who she was or got confused by their arrangement. Before she got attached.

"Wow, Lorn, that's great," Nicky said, interrupting the stream of consciousness coming from the other side. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks, sweetie! Vinny said that-"

"Hey, um, I have to go," Nicky said quickly. "I have this family thing going on and I can hear Parker screaming for me...listen, look out for the invite for her birthday party in the mail, huh? Bring Vinny along if you want." She put the phone down and stared at it for a few moments before composing herself. She allowed herself a few hot angry tears before brushing them away and rejoining her family in the other room.

"Well, um...I guess you were right, Red," Nicky said, heaving a sigh. She slid onto her chair, shrugging. Parker reached out her arms for her mommy and Nicky immediately took her back. "I guess you can put your PJs on, hm?" she asked Parker. She rested her cheek against Parker's head. "I think I will too."

"What?" Marka exclaimed. "You're not serious! Did she not even think to ring? How long was she going to leave us sitting here?"

Nicky pressed her lips together. "That's Lorna for you," she said numbly as she balled up her napkin. She took a deep breath. "But we don't need her. At least I know where I stand now."

"Nicky's right," Red said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "We can still have a lovely evening, can't we?"

"Of course," Marka agreed. "Next time, we'll invite your sons, Galina. Then it will be a proper family meal for everyone. No more flakes." She pressed her lips into a thin line just like Nicky had done. A smile flickered on Red's face as she noted the resemblance.

"Now can I order pizza?" Nicky asked, one hand already hovering over her phone. "Seeing as our plans have been changed anyways…"

Marka hesitated. "But what about the lovely meal you two made? You put so much effort into it. I wouldn't want it to go to waste," she said.

"We could reheat it tomorrow," Red offered. "I think we could do with a little comfort food." She kicked off her shoes and leaned back in her chair, watching Parker playing happily now she was free. "And Nicky, I'm sorry about Lorna."

"Me too," Marka said, pouring herself a large glass of wine and offering Red the bottle. "She doesn't know what she's missing."

"No," Nicky agreed, looking from Marka, to Red and then Parker. A smile flickered over her lips. "She doesn't."

A/N: Hello lovelies! I hope you're all staying safe and well. I know times are hard at the moment but I hope you're all doing well. I also hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you for reading. As always, I'd love to know what you thought. I was listening to At The Ballet (the Glee version) whilst writing this so that explains the title. I just finished the series. If anyone has watched it and wants to chat PM me, I loved it! Anyways...

Stay safe.

- Star xoxo