"I was thinking." JR said as soon as Bianca picked up her phone.
"Did you break something?" She asked not missing a beat as she moved through the crowded office building.
"Ha ha, Montgomery. Has anyone ever told you that you aren't funny?" she could hear the pout in his voice. She chuckled,
"I've been told several times that I'm actually pretty damn amusing so...nope." she said, letting the 'p' pop. He grunted his disapproval,
"Do you wanna hear my thoughts or not?" he asked impatiently.
"Is that rhetorical or do you want me to vocalize the obvious answer?" she asked seriously.
"Oh you're just on a roll." he said dryly.
"Thank you, I'll be here all week." she commented, a smile pulling at her face.
"Moving on to more important things," he said cutting her off, "I was thinking, AJ and I miss you guys. We wanna come visit." he said finally. She opened her mouth, ready to object but couldn't find an acceptable reason,
"Next weekend?" she offered. She could hear AJ exclaim an excited 'yeah' in the background and she chuckled, "You were gonna sic him on me if I said no, weren't you?" she asked, feeling the answer was a yes.
"Oh you know it. Chandler men never back down, right AJ?" he questioned his son.
"Right!" AJ chirped happily. Bianca chuckled,
"Well, as much as I'd love to lecture you two about the negative affects of using bribery or whatever you two were going to use," she pauses to let her words sink in, "I've got a meeting with contractors." she finished.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye." JR disconnected the call before she could say goodbye. She looked at her phone, shrugging.
"Well, what'd she say?" Marissa asked biting her bottom lip.
"She said that AJ and I could come." JR said tossing his phone onto the table with a grin. He knelt, picking AJ up into the air with a happy smile, "And you're coming with us." he told Marissa.
"JR, you can't just invite people into other people's homes!" she chastised him. He rolled his eyes,
"When you're family, no one really looks at all the specifics." he said putting his son down with a tired breath, "Whew, am I getting old?" he muttered.
"Mom?" AJ inquired, grabbing Marissa's hand.
"Yes?"
"Why not just tell Ms. Bianca you wanna kiss her?" he asked innocently. Marissa spluttered, glaring at JR,
"You told him?"
"He asked why you were so sad! I told him it's cos you missed Bianca!" JR defended. AJ rolled his eyes,
"It's so obvious. You always look at her like Grandpa Tad looks at Cara." AJ shrugged, "So why not just tell her?" he asked. Marissa bit her lip,
"Well, it's not that simple." she said evasively. He shrugged,
"Well, whatever." he shrugged walking off. He didn't see what the problem could be but whatever, if they wanted to complicate it with all of their grown up issues, who was he to stop them?
"How hard is it to get the da-"
"Ms. Montgomery?" Bianca's head whipped up, eyes startled as they searched for the name of the man in front of her.
"Uh," she paused, wracking her brain, "Steven!" she smiled finally. He grinned, waving a little,
"Hey. What are you doing around here?" he asked curiously. Bianca smiled, relaxing her stance; she still got a little twitchy when people caught her off guard.
"Well, I was just in a meeting but now I'm on my way home after three hours of nothing." she admitted openly. He chuckled, nodding his understanding,
"Well hey, I'm about to hop the train. Since we're goin' in the same direction, it'd be nice to have company." he threw out. She smiled a little brighter,
"Thanks. I'm still not used to riding alone." she said following him in the direction of the station she'd taken to get there.
"So you work in the downtown area?" Bianca asked as they began their trek to their neighborhood. Steven nodded, ducking his head a little,
"I'm a substitute teacher." he said. Bianca grinned,
"I'm so sorry." she said remembering what it was like for her to be a high school student. He laughed, knowing her angle,
"Well, it's worth it. Even though sometimes it seems like they're worse than I was when I was in high school." he said sheepishly. "But, today I only had a half day so, I lived to tell the tale." he joked. Bianca shook her head in amusement,
"Yeah, well I'm glad to hear it." she said. They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Bianca smiled, "Thanks for the company. See you around, Steven." she said with a friendly wave. Steven watched after her, making sure she made it inside safely and continued his walk home; thinking about the dark haired woman.
"Really? That's gre-"
"Mom!" Bianca jumped when she heard Miranda's voice through the house.
"Hang on, Molly." Miranda said to her other sister on the phone, "In the living room!" she called. Miranda and Gabby rounded the corner, a proud smile on Miranda's face,
"Look! Gabby got an A on her spelling quiz!" she said boasting about her little sister. Bianca grinned, proud as well.
"Great job my special little munchkin!" she exclaimed hugging her girls closely, "And great job to you for being a great big sister and helping her." she said. It had surprised her, when she'd found out that Gabby was gifted but then again, it hadn't. "Hey, Aunt Molly's on the phone, who want's to say hello?" she asked as the girls lunged for the phone. She chuckled, listening to the girls tell their other, mostly unseen aunt, all about school. She really needed to visit her little sister soon.
–
"Since you did such a good job and since you helped her, I'm gonna have to do something special for you two this weekend, okay?" Bianca said as she tucked the girls in later that night.
"Kay," Came Gabby's sleepy voice. Miranda nodded, already snuggling up to her plush Snoopy that Maggie had bought for her a while a go. She kissed Miranda's head then moved to kiss Gabby's as well as she closed their door. Soon they'd need their own rooms but for now, they seemed content to share.
"I think Gabby's gonna be smarter than me by the time she's twelve." she said into the phone as she flopped onto her bed. The voice on the other end chuckled,
"Doubtful. She get's her brains from you, so if anything she'll match you." Marissa reassured her. "How are my little genius and her devilish sister anyway?" she asked. Bianca chuckled,
"Well, I'm pretty sure Miranda has kidnapped some more of my comic books and is currently holding them hostage until further notice. Gabby seems to be adjusting well. I know she's a lot more easy going than I was when I was five." Bianca admitted, crossing her legs at the ankle.
"Ah," Marissa said, "I'm just glad they're doing well." she added finally. Bianca nodded,
"How are you holding up? No more weird dreams?" she asked worriedly. Marissa snorted, weird was one way to define them.
"Bianca, I live in Pine Valley; I'm not sure normal dreams exist here." she said dryly. Bianca chuckled, "But nothing worrying. Not like that dream I had of being chased down by a squash." Bianca could practically hear the shudder in Marissa's voice.
"I still don't know what's up with your unnatural hatred of squash." Bianca said hiding her laugh, "But I'm glad the squash is no longer out to get you." she said sympathetically. "So, I spoke with JR earlier," she started changing gears.
"Should I worry?" Marissa asked dryly. Bianca snorted,
"No not really," she began, she bit her lip, unsure of how to invite Marissa without seeming overly anxious. "Well, he and AJ will be down here next weekend and well..I was wondering...if yunno...you would like to come with them?" she finally managed to get out. On her end, Marissa was grinning that special 'Marissa Tasker' grin,
"You're asking me if I want to come and spend time with my best girls? Of course!" she said, not bothering to hide her elation. Before Bianca could say anything, Miranda was screaming from her room. "Ah, I hear the sounds of another nightmare. Give her a hug from me?" Marissa asked, knowing Bianca was about to go. Bianca sighed, sad for her little girl,
"I will. Bye." she said hanging up. It was time for 'mom' duty.