II

Once we were standing still in time
Chasing the fantasies that filled our mind
You knew how I loved you
But my spirit was free
Laughing at the questions that you once asked of me..

August, 1995, New York City

"Jo, I'm not ready for us to start a family yet. We're still so young."

"And having kids is for younger adults, I'm tellin' you that, Princess. I don't want us to wait until we're in our late thirties or hittin' forty and being preggers."

"But what about our jobs, our professions", Blair protested, but not unkindly. "You're going to be a Detective in the NYPD soon, which is a big deal, and I am gonna be a partner at Bryant, Singer, and Mannix. We're gonna be busier than ever."

"I can delay becoming a Detective, Blair", Jo said earnestly. "I'm one of the younger ones that is bein' considered, so it's not like I can't try again in a few years. It certainly ain't about money with us, even with your parents cuttin' you out of future inheritance. We're set for life, babe."

Jo's arguments are convincing, Blair admitted to herself. The one thing about she and Jo is that they no longer argued like they used to, especially the first two or three years they knew each other. Those were verbal knock-down, drag-out affairs, Jo even hitting Blair once in an argument over God. They still had some lively disagreements, but their love affair, which began late in their Sophomore year at Langley College, and that became public the next year, had smoothed out many of the rough edges that both women had up til that time. They were deeply in love, and while Blair wasn't against having children, well...

"Look, Joey", Blair said, moving closer to her partner on the couch, grabbing both her hands, "we're only twenty five right now. We've got time, and no, I don't want to wait another ten or fifteen years either before we pop out kids. But right now, our jobs take up so much of our time, and I don't want a nanny to raise our children like I was raised, and how Bailey has been raised."

"I get it, Blair", Jo said, knowing that, at least for this moment, she had lost the argument. "I'm just afraid we'll let our jobs take us over and consume us, then before you know it, we're forty, and our window of having kids will start to close. Do you understand that?"

"I do, Jo", Blair said, leaning her head into Jo's shoulder, Jo wrapping her in a loving embrace. "I really do. Let's...let's just give it a few more years, okay? You're not mad at me, are you?" She raised herself up to look at Jo, some fear in her eyes.

"Princess, even if I was mad at ya about this, and I'm not, I could never stay mad at you, you know that? I've almost had coronaries over the years being mad atcha, but I'm still here, ain't I?"

Blair laughed loudly, hugging Jo back. "Yeah, I've made you turn every shade of red over the years getting angry at me, haven't I?"

Jo laughed with her. "Yeah, and a few shads that haven't been invented yet." They both laughed some more. "But even that first day I met you, and it seemed we'd never get along, I couldn't stay mad at you even then. Not when I thought you were the most incredible and interesting girl I had ever met, and knew I was gonna make you mine."

"Even when we were sitting in jail that first night?" Blair batted her eyebrows, Jo snorting a very unlady-like laugh.

"Especially then, blondie." Jo leaned in and gave her Princess a sensuous kiss, just to remind Blair how much Jo couldn't stay mad at her. "In fact", Jo said, looking at Blair, her eyes turning darker with desire, "why don't I take you to bed and show you how so not mad I am at you."

"Is 'how so not mad' even proper English?" Blair began peppering kisses on Jo's jaw and neck.

"Right now...oh, God Blair...do you really care?" Jo felt one of Blair's hand sneak under her shirt and grab one of her bra-covered breasts.

"Does that answer your question, grease monkey?"

Jo laughed again. "I'm in somuch trouble tonight, ain't I?"

Blair stood up, holding her hand out to Jo to do the same. "Why don't we get in the bedroom, get naked, and you'll find out just how much trouble?"

Jo stood up, looked like she would grab Blair's hand, then ran into the bedroom, Blair laughing hysterically, following slowly in Jo's wake, taking off her blouse as she entered the bedroom.