"Gail, wanna talk about what's been on your mind lately?" Holly soothingly asked as she ran her fingers through the blondes hair.

It'd been a week since they laid everything out and Holly gave Gail the choice to stay or leave. She still had yet to get an answer but Gail had changed, she'd seemed more at ease, and had gotten more affectionate. Gail had begun to shyly kiss her cheek randomly, play with her hair when she laid in her lap, and she'd caught the blonde more times than once checking her out. It was really nice to have those small things again, whether or not Gail did it with years of familiarity or brand new curiosity, it was her Gail none the less. Nine months was far too long to not have her wife's touch, her wanting, loving blue gaze on her, so Holly wasn't going to complain. Instead she was going to bask in it. She was going to soak in every moment while she had it, for she didn't know if it was going to be taken away from her again.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?" Gail wondered around the string in her mouth.

"You're eating your hoodie string, and you've been sleeping with the blanket in your mouth. Which means you're upset." She continued to play with the dark blonde strands of her wife's hair, trying to pry as little as possible. She didn't want to set Gail off, make her run and hide like she used to do. "Is. Is it about last week?"

True Holly understood that she couldn't expect Gail to stay because of some ring around her neck, some words she didn't remember saying, but it hurt to give her that option. To open the door and tell her wife that if she didn't chose her than she'd have to leave. It killed her. Especially that Gail seemed to be standing in the doorway, watching in the house and playing along, almost like she was getting a taste of their life before she ultimately took that step out the door and out of their cozy home.

Gail immediately shook her head in protest. "No."

"Then what is it? Maybe I can help."

"Really it's nothing, Hol. I've just been a little stressed. Getting back to work has been weird, and everyone is trying to act cool, to not bring up the things I don't know but that only makes it worse. Plus they all want to throw a party for me getting back, have they still not met me or did I really change that much?" Gail looked expectantly at the brunette.

She knew Gail was lying, or at least not telling her the whole truth, she could see it in the way Gail finalized it as she answered and then changed the subject to try and divert her attention. Though frustrated, Holly smiled fondly down at her, and let her change the subject. They were lounging in their bed, it was better for Holly's swollen feet and the bathroom was right there unlike if they hung out in the livingroom, Holly leaned on the headrest propped up with pillows and Gail was practically laying in her lap -her thighs sat in Holly's crossed legs, her ass pressed to Holly's thigh. Gail had been watching a movie but muted it after fifteen minutes and asked Holly to read the baby book she was reading.

"No, that never changed."

Gail nodded thoughtfully.

"But we did end up at a lot none the less. Weddings, birthdays, cases, and other celebrations of the sorts, so I think they have just gotten used to the fact that we go anyway." Holly explained, trying to help in anyway she could. "But we usually ended up in a coat closet or some odd quiet place, just the two of us."

"Coat closet?" Gail pulled a face making Holly laugh.

"Inside joke. We were just starting to be friends, in that awkward stage of learning each other and how we fit -thought it was never that hard with us. natural really-, and you needed a plus one to Frank and Noelle's wedding. I of course didn't hesitate in saying yes, even if I hate weddings too. It was good with you, fun actually. We danced and mingled only when necessary, after like an hour of that I snagged a bottle of champagne and we hid out in the coat closet." She retold the story with fondness, grinning at the memory, and turned to her wife. "You started asking curious-straight-girl questions, it was so adorable I kissed you. Then ran away because I did the one thing I said I wouldn't."

"And what was that?" The innocent questioned was mumbled as Gail still had the string in her mouth.

"That I wouldn't kiss another straight girl. I wouldn't let myself get out of control with you because I really liked you and didn't want to scare you away." She answered amusingly. She didn't do a great job with either of those things.

Gail laughed. "Well you didn't do such a hot job about that now did you, Holly?" She teased.

"No."

"What the hell is this and why do you think it's needed?"

Holly laughed when she saw what Gail was turning over in bewilderment. "It's for boogers. It'll help when they have a runny nose, so we-I won't have to use one of those," she squeezed her hand in the motion it would be used, "thingys."

"We need a snot sucker? Put that on the ever long list of things I didn't know about babies." She huffed and threw the snot machine back into the cart.

Holly hadn't shopped much for the baby, even when going through her nesting phase, she just couldn't bring herself to do it without Gail. The blonde had huffed about it but she knew her wife really wanted to pick out all of the things for their child, to find the coolest colours and patterns, to convince Holly of things they didn't really need but 'how cool/cute would it be'. So Holly put it off until Gail was home from her UC, and when it ran a little later than planned and her due date was growing closer and closer she had given in and gotten a few things, but nothing major. She'd gotten some books to read to them in the womb, an outfit or two, a rocking chair, a stuffed animal, general supplies such as diapers, and a few art pieces.

So they took Gail's day off to do all of the shopping, and made plans for Dov, Chris, and Chloe to spend the day painting the nursery. A gentle sea green they decided on over dinner one night.

"Alright, what next?"

Holly pulled out her list and skimmed it over. "Bottles, things for cleaning them, and bibs."

Just down the aisle Gail pulled off a couple packs of bottles and went to throw them in with the rest of the stuff but the brunette stopped her mid toss.

"You can't just get any old bottle, there's a lot to go into the decision." Holly explained. And when getting nothing but a raised eyebrow and confused stare she elaborated. "For example, the nipple, there's different shapes and sizes."

"I've seen my share of nipples, Hol, I know they aren't all the same. But do you think this is a conversation to have in the middle of a baby store?" Gail held back a smirk.

Holly rolled her eyes and turned away before she could be caught smiling. "I don't agree, I think it's one of the normalist places to talk about nipples. Expectant parents, breastfeeding, the free the nipple movement and all that jazz."

"I'll give you that point."

They went on to read all of the bottle packs after Holly told her the list of things they were looking for in a bottle, which Gail rolled her eyes about but didn't need to be told twice afterwards, and settled on two different kinds. And while Holly picked out the cleaning supplies -boring- Gail wandered off to the bibs.

Most of them sucked, too cheesy or just gross. But she did find herself with stacks of bibs in her lap, laughing at a stupid joke.

"First?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

Gail's head whipped up, she hadn't heard anyone approach. "Um. Uh. Y-yeah." She stuttered and climbed to her feet, making the dozens of bibs fall to the floor.

"Are you just really prompt or are you one of the lucky ones that hardly show?" The short haired woman asked.

"Neither. I'm actually late for getting all the stuff and I really hope I'm not showing, one baby is more than enough." Gail nervously chuckled. For unknown reasons the conversation felt wrong, she wasn't sure how to answer, which words were okay to say when her and Holly weren't on the same page.

"Oh?" The woman prompted.

"My um, my wife is the one who's pregnant." She explained.

A wide smile spread across the woman's face. "I see. Are you excited or just terrified?"

Gail couldn't help but grin. She'd said the words aloud, Holly was her wife and they were having a baby, and this stranger was the first to hear it. It made it all real, made everything click into place. "Yeah."

"I was too. Well still am," She laughed at Gail's reply, "not to try and freak you out, but the second doesn't get any less scary. Especially when you decide to be the one to carry instead of your wife, I'll tell you it's a whole different experience on this end." She caressed her stomach lovingly, Gail hadn't even noticed the small bump until then.

"It doesn't?" Was all she could muster to say.

"Nope. Because it's two you have to learn to deal with. Sure you've got the newborn stuff down, but it's not like the first time at all because it's a newborn and a toddler together."

"That is even more terrifying." Gail whispered, caught up in thinking about what that would be like, whether or not her and Holly would one day be in the same situation.

"Yeah, but I can't wait for it. Just wait until you see your baby for the first time, hold them, see your wife with them. It's worth all of the worry and pain ten times over."

"Gail, I'm starving and I have to pee again, can we-" Holly said rounding the corner, stopping mid sentence when she met the stranger's eyes. Her cheeks grew the most adorable pink Gail had ever seen.

"Of course, we can pay for what we have and come back." Gail smiled reassuringly at the doctor.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you were late to shopping." The stranger chuckled and looked from Holly's baby bump to Gail.

Gail cracked a smile. "Kinda my fault. Holly this is..."

"Kim." The woman offered.

"Kim, this is my very pregnant wife, Holly."

"It's nice to meet you, Holly." Kim held out a hand and Holly took it. "I don't want to keep your bladder waiting, so I'll give you guys this," she pulled a card out of her purse and handed it to Gail, "and if you ever wanna talk or hang out don't hesitate to call."

Gail took the card and pocketed it. "Thanks, I'll definitely use it."

She waited until Kim left before taking the over loading cart from the brunette and started toward the cash registers. They made it two aisles before Holly said something.

"Who was that and what was it all about?"

"Kim, and we were just talking babies. She's got a toddler and another on the way. I think she'd be very beneficial to us both." Gail replied casually, skating along with the cart.

"How so?"

"Well it's her first time being pregnant, that's for you. Had her wife through pregnancy, me. And has a toddler, so there's plenty she knows way before we get to those stages, that's plenty useful all on it's own. And to top it off she seems cool." Gail finished as they got to the front of the line. "Now go pee while I pay for this stuff and put it in the car, I'll meet you across the street at that restaurant you eyed on the way in."

Holly didn't have to be told twice, her bladder felt like it was about to burst and the baby wasn't relenting in pushing against it. So with a quick kiss to Gail's cheek she was off to the restrooms.

She was bubbling with joy, her cheeks hurt from smiling, and people were staring but she didn't care. Gail introduced her as her wife, had proudly stated they were having a baby even though it was blatantly obvious. Holly hadn't been that happy, giddy, over such words since they had first gotten married. After she finished and washed her hands, Holly took her phone out of her pocket and sent out a text to Traci.