Okay is it just me or is some of this couple's inherent charm due partly to the three undeniably adorable children they share? Probably not just me, so I've decided to play up on that a little and give the girls a lovely evening away from the bullshit that Dipshit just dropped on them. I'm quite certain that in spite of everything these women would manage to turn a rotten beginning to the day into something fun and possibly a little magical, with the help of their three adorable children of course, who as far as I'm concerned kind of got brushed under the rug where it came to character development so I've decided to attempt to remedy that. I always wanted to see more of them and so this chapter is just for them really.
Onward again.
A Child's Watchful Eye
"Mommy are we moving out of daddy's house?" AJ asked as soon as Bianca pulled the car out of the Chandler's extensive driveway, his green eyes fixed heavily on his folded hands in his lap and the sadness in the little boy's voice nearly shattered Marissa's heart.
"I am sweetie," she told him gently, twisting around in her seat so that she could look at her son. She placed a hand on his knee and he brought his gaze up to meet hers, Marissa doing her best to paint on a reassuring smile. "We're gonna go back to how it used to be, do you remember? Sometimes you'll live with daddy and sometimes you'll live with me, but no matter what we'll both love you just as much. We just won't be together like we used to be."
"Because daddy's so mad?" AJ asked innocently, and Marissa sighed heavily.
"Daddy's only mad right now AJ, but he'll be better soon," she promised him with as much assurance as she could muster. "We just had a little disagreement and that's why he's upset but he's not angry with you. Sometimes grown-ups just don't agree and they let their anger get the best of them, but I promise that it's nothing for you to worry about." AJ took a deep breath and stared out the window for a moment, Marissa exchanging a worried glance with Bianca who could only offer her a half-hearted smile. "Are you okay buddy?" she asked hesitantly, unsure if she was ready for the answer but the pensive look on his face was difficult to read.
"Yeah," he began, finally pulling his gaze from the passing cars to look at his mother again. "I just hoped that you would be happy after you moved back in with us, but I think maybe you're right – you're not as happy as I want you to be so if moving out again will help then I guess I'm okay. I don't want daddy's yelling to make you scared either."
"I'm not scared of your dad AJ," Marissa told him firmly while trying desperately to fight the tears that had swelled up in her eyes at the little boy's heartfelt words. "And there's no reason for you to be scared of him either. Your daddy loves you more than anything in this world. He just got upset and reacted badly but that doesn't change how he feels about you."
"I know," AJ sighed heavily, "but he's started yelling more than usual and I don't know why. I just want you both to be happy again."
"I am happy," Marissa replied with her brightest smile. "I'm happy because I've got the best kid in the whole world and a little yelling will never change that."
AJ smiled broadly in return, giggling slightly as Marissa tousled his shaggy blonde hair. "I'm glad you're happy mommy."
"I'm very happy AJ," she told him again, her heart cracking inside her chest at her son's innocent green eyes sparkling back at her. "And we're gonna have the best weekend ever with Bianca and the girls, okay? How would you like to go back to Wildwind and spend all night watching movies and eating junk food?"
"Can I stay up as late as I want?" AJ asked enthusiastically, the last wisps of sadness draining instantly from his face.
"You bet!"
"I was thinking that maybe a fort would be fun too," Bianca interjected, and AJ's mouth dropped open in excitement and the brunette laughed out loud. "I think that with the five of us all working together we could build the best fort that ever existed, right AJ?"
"Right!" the boy exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air as Marissa reached across the console and took her hand. Bianca looked over and met her eyes and the two women smiled happily at one another.
"Thank you," Marissa mouthed, and Bianca merely nodded slightly as AJ began offering ideas for the best way to go about their fort-building.
/
"Okay guys, everybody run upstairs and change into some comfy clothes," Bianca directed the three children as they all piled into Wildwind a few hours later. After retrieving both girls the five of them had gone to lunch together, the entire meal filled with endless planning on the epic fort they planned to build as soon as they got home and the kids could barely contain their excitement as they bolted past Bianca and Marissa and made a beeline for the staircase. "AJ you can drop your things in Miranda's room and after you've changed go around the house and get all the stuff we'll need for the fort and meet us in the playroom," Bianca finished hurriedly, three pairs of tiny feet already gone from sight. She chuckled and turned back to Marissa, immediately grabbing her hands and pulling her in.
"Okay, the coast is clear," she told her quietly, squeezing her tightly and she felt the redhead slump inside her arms. "Let 'er rip."
"You know I really don't think I need to," Marissa said softly against her shoulder, her hands instinctively gripping the small of Bianca's back as she pressed herself more firmly against her. "I knew JR would have a game plan before I ever went back there so I really knew what I was getting myself into. And you know what? His little stunt actually makes me feel better in a twisted sort of way."
Bianca raised an eyebrow in bemusement as the pair pulled back to look at one another. "Oh?"
"Yep. The fact that he already had that room locked makes me think that he knew that he wasn't going to get me back this time so he didn't care about pissing me off," Marissa explained. "He just of course wanted to have the final say and he got it. But I don't care because it's over and I think he knows it. So I feel better."
"Twisted indeed," Bianca replied with a grin, her own tension finally dissipating at the relaxed expression on her girlfriend's face. "But you know it's still not really over right?"
"Oh yeah I get that," Marissa said, leaning forward to rest her head on the brunette's shoulder again and she took a deep breath of her lusciously scented hair. "I'll have to go back and deal with him – figure out some way to get my stuff. I may have to recruit Scott to bust down the door."
"Well as long as you have someone there," Bianca told her. "I know you said you're not scared of him but I don't trust JR Chandler's anger not to surprise us. It's not like that hasn't happened before."
Marissa pulled back and gazed intently into chocolate eyes. "I'll be careful, I promise," she assured her, running a finger delicately along her jawline as she couldn't help but smile broadly despite the tone of the conversation.
Bianca shook her head. "What?" she asked, a little confused by the abrupt bright smile that lit the redhead's face.
Marissa's smile only grew wider as she leaned forward and pecked Bianca's lips gently. "You want to know why I'm really okay?" she asked softly, and Bianca nodded as she cocked an eyebrow and Marissa ignored the little jump in her stomach at her girlfriend's innate charm. "Because of you," she told her, seizing her mouth again for another lingering kiss which she only pulled away from so that she could continue explaining. "Twenty-four hours ago I was sitting on that couch completely wrapped up in JR's bullshit and the thing that pulled me out of it was you. And having you there with me today, being able to get away from it by spending time with you and the kids – it makes it tolerable. And now the only thing I can't seem to figure out is why it took me so damn long to see what was clearly right in front of my face."
"Hmm… and what exactly is that?" Bianca asked playfully, and Marissa delighted in her uninhibited joy.
"Well…" she began slowly, momentarily unsure of what exactly her answer should be but she made up her mind to simply tell the woman in her arms the truth instead of playing along. "That you're all I really need to feel safe and secure," she continued, noticing the serious dip in Bianca's gorgeous eyes as she spoke. "That when I'm with you everything else just disappears because when you're around all I can feel is deliriously happy. You make me feel seen and understood and appreciated and I feel like an idiot that it took me so long to see it because it's all completely clear to me now. We belong together – and I'm absolutely positive of that."
"You're no idiot Riss," Bianca told her, her voice catching in her throat as the crashing realization that she was holding Marissa in her arms washed over her again. "I can understand that falling for your best friend who also happens to be a woman must have been a little confusing for you so cut yourself a break."
Marissa shook her head. "How do you keep doing that?"
"What?"
Marissa sighed at Bianca's continued innocence. "Make everything seem like it's just perfectly okay with you. Your level of understanding is astounding."
Bianca grinned slyly and leaned forward for a quick kiss. "I'm faking most of the time," she said, but Marissa shook her head again.
"Uh – I call bullshit on that," she told her. "And you also have the tendency to never give yourself enough credit. I plan on helping you with that."
"Oh do you now?"
"Absolutely," Marissa grinned as she kissed the brunette again before trailing a line of soft kisses across her cheek. "It's just one of the many plans I have for you," she whispered, her voice dropping an octave which caused Bianca's stomach to crash instantly down into her toes.
"Plans?" she managed to stutter, her eyes fluttering madly at the wild intoxication of Marissa's warm lips against her face. She felt them smile against her ear and she shuddered.
"Yes – I have a feeling when it comes to you I will be utterly incapable of not making plans," she said sensually just loud enough for her girlfriend to hear, her hands running slowly up the subtle arch of Bianca's back as the brunette cleared her throat.
"Ahem – what exactly did you have in mind?"
Marissa grinned and chuckled quietly, nuzzling her nose into the crook of Bianca's neck. "Well as of right now my plan is for us to go upstairs and build a badass fort with our kids. After that I guess you'll have to wait to find out." She pulled away abruptly and skipped across the room, careful to add a flirtatious swagger to her hips as she sauntered toward the stairs. She threw a tantalizing look over her shoulder and winked at the woman who stood completely frozen in the middle of the room, her mouth hanging open slightly with her hands still held up in midair where they had just seconds before been holding the redhead.
"Oh you are such a tease," Bianca croaked as she regained her composure, finally moving to follow her across the room and Marissa grinned mischievously and grasped her hand, leading them up the staircase toward the sound of children's laughter.
But as Bianca followed her, their fingers entwining easily behind Marissa's back, she had two very vivid thoughts on her mind.
Okay – opt to ignore the fact that the back of your hand is bouncing against Marissa's butt;
And Our kids. Marissa said our kids.
/
"Well guys, I'd say we definitely pulled it off," Marissa stated triumphantly as she stepped back to admire the enormous fort they'd just assembled, blowing a flyaway strand of hair from her nose. "Just three hours later and there she is – it's beautiful."
"It's awesome!" Miranda exclaimed as she crawled through the entrance, the bottom of a sheet catching around her forehead as she grinned happily up at Marissa and her mother and both women chuckled at her unbearable cuteness.
Bianca reached down and grasped her daughter's hand and helped to pull her to her feet, smoothing down her static infested hair. "I'd definitely call this awesome Mimo – and your idea of making it two separate rooms worked really well. Great idea."
"Thanks mom!"
"Where'd your sister get off to though?" Bianca asked, recalling seeing the little girl curled up in some of the extra pillows about half an hour before.
"Oh she passed out while you two and AJ were putting the finishing touches on the ceiling so I tucked her into the couch in the playroom for a nap," Marissa told her, gesturing toward the cracked door adjoining the TV room where they'd built the fort to the playroom. "I think she was exhausted after spending the night out last night."
"She was," Bianca agreed, unable to hide her goofy grin as she imagined Marissa carrying her sleeping daughter and she felt her heart flutter madly as the redhead winked at her again.
"Where's AJ?" Marissa asked after a moment.
"I'm in here!" came his muffled voice from inside the fort, his shadow barely visible through the hanging sheets. "I'm trying to get the TV set up so none of the sheets or pillows are in the way."
"I'll help!" Miranda called happily as she dived back inside, and as soon as her feet disappeared Bianca reached out and pulled Marissa to her for a tight hug.
"What's this?" Marissa whispered as Bianca buried her face inside flowing red hair.
"Nothing, I just wanted to hold you for a minute," Bianca told her honestly, her mind filling with memories of the previous three hours as she'd watched her daughters giggle endlessly with both Marissa and AJ, her heart barely able to contain her happiness. "My girls love you."
"And I love your girls," Marissa replied, scooping Bianca's face into her hands so that she could look at her. "I love them like they're my own."
Bianca couldn't even think of a reply as she swallowed the giant apple in her throat; Marissa had said those words plenty of times before but there was something different about the intent this time, as she now carried the dual title of "best friend" and "girlfriend." Marissa of course understood this as well and smiled assuredly at her. They stood there for a long moment merely smiling happily at one another and listening to the sounds of their children bantering back and forth about how it would be best to set up the pallet where they would sleep, but soon the two seven-year-olds bounced outside again and both women reluctantly pulled away.
"I want a hug too!" AJ cried as he untangled himself from a loose sheet, but instead of running to his mother he collided gently with Bianca's torso and squeezed her hard. Bianca instinctively wrapped her arms around the boy's back and held him just as tightly in return, her stunned expression mirrored by her girlfriend as Miranda crashed cheerfully into her side. Marissa's arms reached down and scooped the girl into a tight hug.
"Thanks Marissa," Miranda twittered. "I'm really glad that you and AJ are staying with us this weekend."
"Me too," Marissa agreed somewhat breathlessly, relishing the surge of delight at the young girl's arms wrapped so eagerly around her hips and her eyes found Bianca's again, who appeared to be collecting herself as well as she rubbed AJ's back.
"Thanks for letting us build a fort Bianca," he told her with a wide grin. "You and mom really are the coolest moms ever."
"You think so?" Bianca asked elatedly. "Well we happen to think that you and Miranda and Gabby are the coolest kids ever."
"Then we're just the coolest family ever!" Miranda shouted as she peeled away from Marissa and darted toward her mother, gripping her hand as she tugged her toward the hall. "Come on mommy – let's go get the snacks so we can all get in the fort and watch movies like you promised!"
Bianca managed a stunned glance over her shoulder at Marissa as the girl led her eagerly away, both women's eyes now shining with suppressed tears. Did she really just call us a family?
As Bianca and Miranda disappeared around the corner AJ crossed to his mother and wrapped his arms around her. "You seem really happy mommy," he said, and Marissa's heart nearly gave out on her.
"I am so so so so happy AJ," she told him as she kissed the top of his head, still completely taken aback at his apparent intent on making sure she was happy. "Are you happy AJ?"
"I'm really really happy," he replied as he pulled away. "I love getting to spend time with Miranda and building this fort was so much fun! I can't wait to use it tonight."
"You really love Miranda don't you buddy?" Marissa asked him, sensing that this may be the perfect time to approach talking to AJ about everything.
AJ nodded. "She's my birthday twin," he stated with a smile, the gap in his front teeth making him look so beautifully innocent. "And Gabby too – Gabby's a lot of fun when she's not asleep."
Marissa giggled and led her son over to the only chair they hadn't used in building the fort and sat down, pulling the boy onto her lap. "Yeah they're all a lot of fun, huh? Miranda and Gabby and Bianca too."
"I love Bianca," AJ agreed. "She's always been really nice to me and Miranda always talks about how cool she is. And you like Bianca too don't you?"
"I love Bianca too," Marissa replied. "And Miranda and Gabby of course. I love them all."
"Are you going to live here with them now?" he asked, and the question made Marissa reel a little but she managed to push forward.
"Yeah I think so, at least for a little while," she said. Oh my god – we haven't actually talked about it. But Bianca and I just got together so would that seem too much like us moving in together right away? I told AJ that we were staying here but I never actually asked Bianca about it… what if she thinks I'm forcing myself on her? And we haven't even slept together yet so did that seem like I was being extremely presumptuous? What if I'm imposing too much on Caleb by expecting to be able to crash here until I find something else? What happens if…
"Mommy?" AJ's soft voice cut in to her frenzied thoughts and Marissa's attention snapped back to him. "Are you okay? You look worried."
"No buddy, I'm not worried," she told him evenly, forcing a sincere smile which the boy returned. "I'm incredibly happy, remember?"
"I remember," AJ grinned, resting his head gently on her shoulder and he sighed deeply. "Are you happy because of Bianca?"
If his question about her moving into Wildwind had caught her by surprise that was nothing to the shock of his latest inquiry, but Marissa felt her head nod impulsively against her son's shiny blonde hair. "Yes AJ – I'm happy because of Bianca."
"I thought so," he told her quietly as his fingers played with the dangling strings of his hoodie. "You both seemed extra happy today and you were hugging a lot."
Marissa couldn't help but laugh. "I guess we weren't all that subtle huh?"
"Not really, but it's okay," AJ shrugged. "So does that mean that you're going to be a couple now?"
Marissa could only blink repeatedly as she gazed down at the top of her son's head, his incredible perception shocking her once again. Damn this kid doesn't miss anything, she thought wildly. "I… we're… yeah buddy we are. Bianca and I are a couple now."
"Like you and daddy used to be a couple?"
"Yeah – like me and daddy used to be."
"So… does that mean that Miranda and Gabby are like my sisters now?" he asked slowly, but Marissa noticed that his hands had dropped the strings they'd been absently playing with and she tried very hard not to let it terrify her.
"Well," she began hesitantly, but quickly realized that that was likely exactly what would end up happening. "Yeah I guess in a way they are. I mean not really right now but hopefully one day soon they will be for real."
AJ's head shot upward and he jumped gleefully from Marissa's knee, whirling around and flashing his sparkling eyes back at his mother. "That's awesome!" he bellowed, pumping his fist in the air as he whooped happily again. "I've always wanted a sister and it's even more perfect that it's my birthday twin! This is great!"
Marissa sat back and watched her son dive back into the entrance of the fort, her mind reeling from his completely unexpected reaction to the news. That – that went better than I ever dreamed it would, she thought, utterly amazed at both AJ's insightfulness as well as his evident open-mindedness to the idea of his mother being a couple with another woman, a fact which he'd basically completely forgotten to mention and Marissa wondered briefly if she shouldn't pull him back and try to explain but AJ's blonde head soon stuck out of a hole in the side of the fort.
"So wait – does this also mean that I have two mommies now?" he asked, and Marissa crossed the room and knelt down beside him.
"Well – would you be happy if Bianca was your mommy?" she asked hesitantly, but AJ only briefly considered the question before responding.
"Yeah!" he said, the sudden jerk of his head threatening to tug one of the sheets down and Marissa's hand shot upward to steady the swaying side of the fort as AJ giggled. "Oops. But I think that would be kind of awesome – one daddy, two mommies, and two sisters. That sounds like a pretty cool family to me."
"Me too AJ," Marissa managed to choke as tears stung her eyes, the torrent of affection for the brightly grinning boy causing her to momentarily lose her voice.
"Do I still call her Bianca though?" AJ asked as his head disappeared through the small gap again.
"You can call her whatever you want to," Marissa replied, happy to have the opportunity to wipe her tears away without AJ seeing.
"I think I'll probably still call her Bianca for a while," AJ's muffled voice called to her, and Marissa suddenly wondered what he was doing inside the tent as she saw the shadowy outlines of pillows go flying across the floor.
"What are you doing in there buddy?" she asked, but it was a few seconds before he responded.
"You'll see when Bianca and Miranda get back and we all get in," he said and his head reappeared at the hole, startling Marissa slightly but AJ merely leaned out and gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek. "You're not allowed in here until they get back, okay?"
"Okay," Marissa agreed as she stood up again. She sank back down in the chair and watched her son's outline inside the fort, relief mixed with overpowering elation washing over her body and she felt her shoulders relax.
Of course it was going to be that easy, she thought. Everything about this is just so blissfully easy.
/
"AJ said that Marissa's going to stay here with us for a while," Miranda told Bianca pointedly as she loaded a bag of popcorn into the microwave and she spun around to face her daughter who had climbed up onto a barstool and sat peering across the island counter at her with her chin resting on her hands. "Is that really true?"
"Well I hope that she is," Bianca replied in what she hoped was a tone that appeared casual while bracing herself for the onslaught of questions she knew were boiling behind Miranda's beautifully glowing eyes. "We haven't really talked about it but yeah – I think she'll be here at least for a little while since she decided to move out of the Chandler's house."
"Yeah, AJ was kind of bummed that his parents aren't getting back together," Miranda told her, and Bianca only barely managed to swallow the lump in her throat. "But Marissa seems a lot happier now so I think AJ's happy now too."
"Did he tell you that?" Bianca asked, trying to feel her daughter out of the information she'd collected over the course of the day.
Miranda nodded. "Yeah – he said he was hoping for his parents to get back together but it kind of seems like now that they're happier apart. At least Marissa seems to be and so AJ said he was happy for her."
"Well I hope that Marissa is happy now," Bianca replied as she turned back to the cabinet to retrieve a bowl for the popcorn but she felt Miranda's heavy gaze on her back and she twisted around again. "What?"
"Well… I was just kind of curious… I mean I kind of started to wonder if maybe…" Miranda's voice trailed off as she dropped her eyes to her hands, and Bianca walked over and leaned across the counter so they were eye level.
"You were wondering what Mimo?" she asked gently.
Miranda took a deep breath and brought her eyes up to peer into her mother's. "Well… I mean you and Marissa are such good friends and everything… and you both seem to be extra happy today because we're all here together and you kept hugging all the time while we were building the fort… and I like Marissa and AJ so so much and love it when they're around and so I was just kind of wondering if maybe you and Marissa could be a couple and then you could both be this happy all the time."
Bianca's knees nearly gave out on her at the astounding comprehension of Miranda's words, her voice becoming lost somewhere at the back of her throat as she blinked furiously at the beautifully innocent little girl in front of her. Did she really just suggest that? Did she figure it out already and so she's asking because she wants me to tell her? That really wouldn't surprise me… she's so damned perceptive and so I can't hardly be surprised by it. Or is she genuinely asking…? "You… you want Marissa and I to be a couple?"
Miranda nodded shyly and shrugged her tiny shoulders, her braided plaits sliding around and tumbling down her back. "You've been really sad since mommy Reese left us and Marissa's been the only one who makes you smile like she used to," she told her quietly as her eyes darted nervously around the kitchen. "She makes you smile bigger actually and so I was just wondering even though Marissa doesn't love other women like you do. But you always say that love doesn't see gender so I thought maybe Marissa would know that too since you guys are always so happy when you're together. Plus it would be really awesome to have her as a mommy and AJ as my brother – they both kind of already are anyway."
Tears started pouring from Bianca's eyes halfway through Miranda's speech with her helpless to stop them and she pushed herself back from the counter and crossed to her daughter on the stool, wrapping her snugly in her arms as she finished speaking. "You are the most wonderful little girl in the whole world," she told her fondly as she kissed the top of her head, her heart swelling so much that her chest actually ached slightly as Miranda's tiny hands grasped across her back and held her tight. "I love you so much that I can't even tell you how much I love you."
"You don't have to cry mommy," Miranda said against her shoulder, but Bianca felt her arms squeeze her closer in comfort. "I really just want you to be as happy as you used to be, or stay as happy as you are today. I like it when you're happy."
Bianca laughed aloud as more tears erupted from her eyes and streaked down her face into Miranda's glossy brown hair and after a moment she reached up and wiped some of them away as she pulled back to look at her daughter. "You are incredibly thoughtful Mimo," she rasped as a tiny delicate finger reached up and swept away more of her tears, the action only causing more to spring forward and Bianca started laughing again at her emotional absurdity. "Well I have some very good news for you then sweetie," she said as she stepped back. "While you are just immeasurably thoughtful you are also quite perceptive. Marissa and I are already a couple."
"You are?" Miranda asked, the tentative excitement in her voice bursting through.
"We are," Bianca replied with a nod, and the young girl jumped from the stool and ran back into her mother's arms, the force of her colliding with her stomach momentarily winding Bianca slightly but she didn't care; she bent down and scooped her daughter under the arms and lifted her up, the two spinning around in ecstatic circles as they both giggled uncontrollably.
"I'm so happy mommy!" Miranda exclaimed, her arms squeezing Bianca's neck so tightly that she was starting to get a little dizzy but she didn't care, instead just ceasing their spinning as she clung more firmly to her daughter. "This is going to be so great!"
"It is going to be great," Bianca agreed dazedly as Miranda finally pulled back and beamed at her. "I'm so glad that you think so too."
"How can I not? I love Marissa! She's so much fun and she's AJ's mom which only makes her that much cooler! And she makes you happy and you make her happy and so then everybody's happy!" she cried as she jumped down again, immediately bolting back toward the kitchen staircase. "Come on let's go celebrate with them!" she called as she disappeared around the corner, and Bianca could do nothing but follow her in a silent trance.
"Marissa!" she heard Miranda cry and she thought momentarily of quieting her daughter for the sake of her other sleeping child but thought better of it; at that point she wanted nothing more than to wake her up and hug her tightly from the explosion of euphoria in her heart. "Marissa! AJ! Mommy says that you're a couple now and we're all going to be a family!"
"I know mommy just told me!" Bianca heard AJ reply as she rounded the doorframe into the TV room, AJ's blonde head sticking out of a small hole in the side of the fort as Miranda literally launched herself onto Marissa's lap on the other side of the room. Marissa caught her easily and the two fell back against the cushion with their arms wrapped firmly around one another and as Bianca watched this unfold she missed AJ reemerging from the fort as he sprinted toward her, once again being knocked breathless as the boy slammed into her stomach, the force of the blow knocking them both over and AJ toppled down on top of her as she enveloped him in her arms.
"This is gonna be so awesome!" AJ cried as he got swiftly to his feet, Miranda leaving Marissa's lap and meeting him in the middle of the room where they exchanged a quick hug and a loud high five. "We're gonna get to spend so much more time together now! It's gonna be like a never-ending sleepover!"
"I know it rocks!" Miranda agreed, the two of them turning in unison as they reentered the fort, nearly tearing the doorway down in their excitement.
Bianca rushed immediately over to Marissa who was rising from the chair, her hair tousled slightly from being pressed against the cushion. They collided with the same force as Bianca had been hit from AJ, the two staggering slightly as they clung to each other so tightly that they could hardly breathe.
"You told him?" Bianca managed to ask through simultaneous tears and explosive laughter, and Marissa nodded vigorously against her cheek.
"He's thrilled – obviously," she replied, her hands reaching up to pull Bianca's face to hers, their kiss filled with so much joy and relief that they could hardly comprehend it. When Marissa finally pulled away she asked "And Miranda? You obviously filled her in as well?"
"Miranda actually suggested you and I coupling up about two minutes after we got to the kitchen," Bianca told her, to which Marissa burst out in another fit of elated laughter.
"You're kidding?"
Bianca shook her head. "Not at all – she's one hell of a bright little girl."
"I'll say…" Marissa agreed, but her attention was caught by the adjoining door to the playroom creaking slowly inward as Gabby appeared rubbing her eyes.
"Mommy?" she asked softly, blinking into the bright light of the room and Bianca walked over and scooped her into her arms. "What's goin' on?"
Bianca looked a question at Marissa without really needing to, the redhead immediately answering with a piercing smile and swift nod. "Well baby, we're celebrating," she told her gently as the girl rested her head tiredly on her shoulder.
"What awe we celebwating?"
"We're celebrating because Marissa and I are going to be together now, and AJ and Mimo just found out and are really excited," Bianca replied, instinctively clutching the tiny child as close as she could.
Gabby blinked rapidly for a few seconds before lifting her head, tilting it slightly to the side as she peered intently at Marissa only about a foot away. "Mawissa?" she asked, and the redhead's heart exploded at the sound of her name coming from the beautiful little girl.
"Yes baby – Marissa and I are together," Bianca went on. "It really just means that we love each other and she's going to be around a lot more now, okay?"
"Okay," Gabby smiled as she leaned out of her mother's arms toward Marissa, who willingly reached forward and allowed the little girl to wrap herself around her body as her head fell drowsily against her shoulder. "I love Mawissa so I wanna celebwate too."
"Let's all go celebrate," Bianca managed to say through another swell of tears at the sight of her youngest daughter in her love's arms, the look on both of their faces melting her heart completely. Gabby wiggled free and Marissa set her gently on the ground where she toddled over to the entrance to the fort, AJ holding it open for her and soon all three kids disappeared inside again.
Bianca walked over and wrapped her arms around Marissa's waist from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder as the two watched their kids' shadows dance around inside the fort, their loud laughter drifting out to them and both women sighed contentedly.
"This is incredible," Marissa whispered as Bianca kissed her cheek tenderly, feeling her happy tears combine with her own as they tumbled down her face.
"This is perfect actually," Bianca said into her ear, and Marissa closed her eyes and leaned back into her girlfriend, trying her best to soak up every single thing about the moment; their children's elated giggles and conversation, the warmth in her chest at the boundless love that circled around the room, Bianca's firm hands on her stomach, squeezing her tightly against her as her lips kissed her cheek again and again; Marissa could have stayed in that moment forever and never thought twice about it, all the family she'd ever dreamed of suddenly right there in that room with her.
Finally.