Lauren felt so much relief in her entire body. Her cure worked, and it had only taken three weeks to finish administering the cure to the last patient. They were busy, and she definitely did overtime. Her nurses and technicians helped her, but Lauren wouldn't let them stay past 5pm, even when she kept seeing patients for several hours after closing time. Janelle had stayed a few times, but Lauren promised she was fine. Kenzi became her assistant after hours, already knowing what to do since Lauren had trained her how to take blood and administer shots. Lauren never realized how beneficial training the young girl really was until now; she had originally done it to keep Kenzi from complaining about being bored around the lab while Bo was off globe trotting without her.
Bo even acted as muscle when some fae were less than happy. If it were possible to have a favorite patient encounter, Lauren recalled when she told Vex she was going to shove the needle so far up his ass he would be mesmerizing his own bowel movements if he didn't stay still. For a powerful fae, he was a sissy with needles. The thought made Lauren smile.
Bo was being extra adorable lately, too. She seemed happier than Lauren that the blood fever was cured. Though, that could possibly be because Lauren had more free time now. It was back to a normal schedule at work, and she had even taken this entire weekend off. It was her first time off since developing the cure. She finally felt well rested and took time to just be with Bo. When Kenzi had gone out with Alexie this morning, they may have been a little extra louder in their coupling than usual. Bo was definitely vocal in her approval, and she did everything possible to make sure Lauren was, too.
Since Bo needed to run some errands in the shopping district despite the ridiculous snow outside, Lauren decided to ride with her and keep vigil in the coffee shop. Bo had surprisingly only stopped by to drop off bags once in her quest. While she waited for the next drop off, Lauren decided to look up places for them to take that coveted vacation. If they were going away, they would need an actual destination before approaching Lachlan with the request. The beach wasn't out of the question, even if she did love the snowy weather. Since she still wasn't showing yet despite her bloated feeling, Lauren wasn't ruling out the idea that this could possibly be the last time she would have her bikini body. Bo loved her body; that much was certain, which did concern her a little for when she did start to show a lot in her third trimester.
They really needed to start talking about Bo's feeding during the last trimester. Even though they would still be able to have sex, if desired, she needed to make sure Bo's hunger needs were covered when she couldn't fulfill them. This concerned her more, because Lauren knew that Bo would protest after all of these months of actual monogamy.
Lauren sipped her herbal tea and decided that someplace closer was more reasonable. She tried to remember some of the places she'd been before that were no less than a day's drive away. Since she had finally talked Bo into investing those briefcases of money under the bed into actual savings accounts and IRAs for tax breaks, Lauren did not want to go someplace that required a lot of money for travel. Since it was the dead of winter in Canada, maybe Bo's idea of staying in was not that bad. Honestly, Lauren had no problem dealing with the naked requirement.
She sipped her mug randomly, as she perused websites of possible places. She had been so focused on her research and thinking about Bo being naked that she almost missed the clicking sound of a camera and the woman sitting down across from her. When she looked up mid sip, Lauren placed her mug down and attempted not to choke from her shock.
"Nadia." Lauren would have recognized the woman anywhere. The long curly hair, the beautiful smile. She didn't look the ten years older that she was since Lauren last saw her; the woman was aging well, which didn't surprise her considering Nadia's mother.
"Planning a trip?" Nadia's voice was one of the things that Lauren did not remember. It was a confident, feminine timbre and smooth. "The lake? From what I remember, it was beautiful." Nadia was acting like ten years hadn't passed and she hadn't just appeared out of nowhere. Lauren was still in shock. "The food, the air, our room."
"The lake was magnificent." Lauren's eyes were wide from panic, feeling herself blink more than usual. She looked behind her, somehow feeling guilty at talking to her ex-girlfriend when her wife could be back any minute to drop off yet another bag. Where did she come from? Lauren hadn't heard anything about Nadia in years. It felt odd to be sitting across from her now.
"What we saw of it." Nadia chuckled lightly, and Lauren involuntarily smiled in response. The memories of her trip with Nadia to this place came back to her. She quickly exited out of the website and dismissed this as a possibility for her and Bo's vacation. She wanted to make new memories with her wife; no need to go someplace where ghosts of girlfriends past would linger.
"Nadia, what are you doing here?" Lauren gripped her mug with both hands, wishing the glass was warmer so the pain would distract her more and bring her out of her shock.
"Getting coffee. What about you?" She seemed so relaxed about the situation, as though she knew this would happen or she had planned it. The idea unnerved Lauren, especially after the last few months of hyper stress she had been under at work. This was the opposite of what she needed to relax her right now.
"I meant here in the city. Last I heard, you were travelling the world." Lauren swallowed harder than she intended. She was having a more difficult time than usual pulling in her emotions. She looked behind the woman to the door, either willing Bo to walk through and save her or not walk through and not get mad at her.
"Been there, done that. I was offered a job as editor for a local magazine. Pay's good, and I still get to travel some, but I finally get to settle down somewhere." Nadia seemed relaxed, as her eyes seemed to scan Lauren's body.
"I know how hard settling down is for you." Lauren did not mean to sound bitter. It was ten years ago, and she had well moved on. Still, being faced with past hurts was never pleasant. Lauren had never had to face an old girlfriend like this before; she didn't know what she was supposed to say or how she was supposed to act. She relaxed when Nadia noticed the ring on her finger. "Sorry. That was uncalled for."
"I see you've had no trouble settling." Nadia's lack of the word "down" reminded Lauren of her conversations about Bo when she talked to Dyson. Did people think she didn't notice missing words? "I'm assuming it's with a woman, since you never showed any interest in men. Has that changed about you?"
"No, no. I'm still…all woman." Lauren cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed for some reason. Nadia used to make fun of her for being a gold star lesbian, but Lauren hadn't even known what the term meant at the time. "One woman, actually. Bo. Her name is Bo."
"Bo? Yeah, Kat mentioned you were dating a Bo." Nadia had seen Kat? When?
"When did you talk to Kat?" Lauren remembered how close Kat and Nadia were. If she were really the jealous type, she would have been concerned there was something going on since they spent all their free time together. When Lauren and Nadia had moved in together, Kat was there all the time with Roger. Lauren didn't think she saw her brother more than she did those few months before he got married and before Nadia left her.
"I ran into her not long after I got into town. We ended up having lunch and catching up. I asked about you, and she gave me your number." Nadia was still so pretty and laid back. Lauren remembered why she liked her in the first place, even though Roger and Kat had been the one to introduce them.
"Unknown caller." Lauren recalled the few times over the past few months she had the blank phone calls.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Guess I couldn't get the balls to say anything, especially when you called somebody else 'babe.' It brought back memories." Nadia didn't apologize easily; it had always been one of the problems in their relationship. Even though she was apologizing for something mild, it was good to at least learn the woman had changed that particular aspect. "I almost didn't come over when I saw you, but you're…. God, Lauren, you're so beautiful." Nadia moved her hands forward to touch her, but Lauren moved back further in her seat. She was glad when Nadia moved her hands back on the table in front of her. "I'm just trying to make this chance meeting a little more interesting. It has to be fate that we both ended up here."
"I'm married, Nadia." Lauren wasn't honestly surprised that Nadia was propositioning her. Some things never did change. She was obviously still the forward, confident woman she met in college. "I love Bo. Nothing's going to change that." No matter how hard people tried to change it or tear them apart, they somehow managed to stay together despite the odds not being in their favor. Nadia was a mild threat compared to two possible death battles, being imprisoned in a dungeon for a week, or fae politics. "Fate may be saying that we just both needed closure."
"Is that what you really think?" Nadia arched her eyebrows, obviously questioning the truth behind Lauren's statement. "Do you need closure?"
"It's been ten years. I've more than moved on." Lauren did not mean for it to sound cruel, but she worried that it did.
"So you say." Nadia's ability to get Lauren out of her shell was one of her more endearing qualities when they were dating. Those same techniques she used back then were actually quite annoying now.
"I'm married. I shouldn't have to repeat that. Plus, we're expecting our first child. I'm not just saying I've moved on. I actually have." Suddenly, Lauren didn't feel as bad about sounding cruel.
"Congrats." Nadia still didn't seem affected by her words, cruel or not. "Boy or girl?"
"Still too early to decide." Lauren swallowed, placing a hand on her abdomen.
"You're carrying the baby?" Nadia seemed honestly surprised. "I never would have guessed that. I always suspected you'd make a great mother. I remember your grandmother, but…I never expected you to carry the kids."
"Well, things change." Lauren could tell that Nadia finally admitted her discomfort about this meeting.
"I didn't call or stop by to cause trouble, Lauren. Honestly." She finally leaned back from the table, and Lauren felt herself breathe a little easier.
"Then what did you expect?" Lauren no longer felt caged in her seat, even if she was still a bit trapped.
"I don't know many people here yet. When Kat said you were in the city, I was happy." The honesty and lack of flirtation from Nadia made her more welcome now and Lauren finally allowed herself to relax slightly. "We were close once, and I need friends."
"You never had trouble making friends before." Looking back, Lauren really should have been the jealous type. Nadia's natural charisma made girls and guys flock to her so easily.
"I'm looking more for quality than quantity these days." Nadia smiled that beautiful smile; the one that made Lauren agree to date her at all. "Maybe we can hang out some? Do lunch or coffee every once in a while during the week? Catch up? Be friends again? Or is your wife the jealous type?"
"I work outside the city." Lauren didn't want to tell her exactly where she worked, especially since Nadia knew where it was and had been to Gram's farm before. Lauren didn't want to risk any random visits, since this one was already so overwhelming.
Lauren felt a little relief when she saw Bo enter the coffee shop. Her wife obviously picked up on her tension and stopped what she was doing to come see why. Bo approached cautiously, and Lauren felt her panic return at Bo actually meeting Nadia. Several scenarios played out in her head at this meeting; most of them ended in Bo resulting to violence. It seemed to be Bo's go to reaction lately, which concerned her. Lauren was trapped in her corner chair, or she would have stood to greet her wife or move away from Nadia long ago.
"Hey." Bo was holding a large paper bag with handles from one of the stores a few blocks down. She had obviously been busy on her shopping spree. Nadia turned around to observe the intrusion. Lauren was not surprised at the woman across from her checking out her wife. This happened whenever they went out in public, though it wasn't purely in a sexual manner this time. "Everything okay?"
"Fine. Everything's fine." Lauren tried to hide her panic, but she knew Bo could sense the strong emotional cocktail she was mixing right now. "Bo, this is Nadia."
"Nadia?" Bo narrowed her eyes and lingered on Lauren for a moment, probably trying to read her even though she wasn't exactly hiding anything at the moment. Then, she moved her gaze to the other woman at the table. "So, you're Nadia."
"So, you're Bo." Nadia didn't move from her chair, even when Bo held out her hand to politely greet her. Lauren did note that her wife squeezed a little tighter than was necessary. If Lauren weren't so into Bo's aggressiveness, she would probably voice her concerns that they learn to curb the intense jealousy. "I was coming in to get some coffee, saw Lauren here by herself, and couldn't resist coming to say hello."
"I'll bet." Bo smirked, arching an eyebrow. She was obviously reading something in Nadia that Lauren couldn't. "You about ready to go, dear? The storm is starting to get bad; you should consider going home, too, Nadia."
"Let me just close down my computer, and we can leave." Lauren made quick movements to do just that. If she weren't so OCD, she would have just shut her laptop and packed it away without waiting for it to shut off. "We still need to go to the grocery store before we go home."
"How domestic." Nadia seemed amused, but she still didn't move from her chair, even when Lauren stood in hers and started packing up her briefcase. "Lauren, I'll call you about lunch."
"Okay." Lauren did admit she wanted to catch up with the woman in a time and place where she was actually prepared to see her. Nadia was right; they had been close once. Plus, it would be good to get full closure. She wasn't entirely convinced this was what Bo meant when she said Lauren needed to find more friends, though. Lunch was safe. Getting Bo to not act jealous or territorial was a little less so.
"Good." Nadia finally stood from her chair and moved back to let Lauren escape from her corner. Lauren did so a little uncomfortably, but she instantly relaxed when Bo placed a warm hand on her back, reminding her to put on her coat and winter accoutrement before they went outside.
"Call me, and we'll set up a day." Lauren purposely avoided using the word "date," as she didn't want to confuse the woman. She had obviously been expecting something when she sat down. Lauren finished pulling on her gloves before pulling her wool beanie from her coat pocket and placing it over her hair. "And don't hang up this time."
"No problem." Nadia winked before walking to the counter to actually order something while here. Maybe she did just come in here for some coffee. Lauren hadn't really planned on coming here, either, until Bo mentioned going out shopping since everyone would be cooped up indoors, making for easier movement in the stores. Honestly, Lauren suspected Bo was a little hungry from the diminished feeding lately because of Lauren's workload, and the succubus wanted to get out of the house without much distraction. The feed she did earlier from the intense, screaming sex they had was obviously not enough. Lauren had a feeling they would be sexing it up again when they got home.
"Ready to go?" Bo zipped up her jacket, being adorably overprotective. Lauren rolled her eyes in amusement and smiled at her wife.
"Yes, dear." She couldn't help but chuckle at Bo's attempt at nonchalance in her territorialism earlier. Lauren didn't care that Nadia was still in the coffee shop and was probably still watching them. She didn't care that they were in public. Lauren cupped Bo's face in her gloved hands and placed an intense, promising kiss on her warm lips. If there was ever any doubt about who she belonged to, nobody in this room doubted now. Bo had a goofy expression on her face when they parted after the few second kiss.
The grocery store pitstop didn't take long, even though they needed more food and canned goods to help them get through the coming storm. It seemed everyone else had beaten them to it, and the grocery store clerks were not on stocking duty. Not an uncommon occurrence in the winter storms and probably why Lauren told Bo to go a few days ago before the storm finally did start.
They were silent in the store, mostly because Bo was trying to process what Nadia's appearance meant. At least the Unknown caller mystery was solved, so she didn't have to worry about that potential problem anymore. Now, she had a tangible problem. She wasn't prepared for that disturbance in the force. Even worse, she wasn't prepared for how pretty Nadia was. Beautiful, confident, and aggressive. She was definitely Lauren's type. Granted, Bo only had herself and Evony to go by, and Evony didn't really count since it was more forced than actual free will, but Nadia definitely fit a pattern.
The woman was the only real love and girlfriend Lauren had before Bo. Nadia had left her before she went to med school, and Lauren mentioned how difficult a time she had dating after that. She didn't have trouble getting the dates, which was not hard to imagine since Lauren really had no idea how amazing and gorgeous she was, but she definitely had trouble connecting, or rather allowing herself to connect. Nadia had emotionally damaged Lauren once upon a time. The primal part of Bo that wanted to protect its mate did not like this, so she saw a potential threat with the woman's sudden appearance.
They still remained silent as they unpacked the groceries. Kenzi's bedroom door was open, which meant she was home and obviously waiting for them to return.
"So…that was fun." Lauren folded the reusable bag she had just emptied into the cupboard. "Sorry, sometimes my words and my thoughts don't…"
"Yeah." Bo smiled, knowing exactly how much trouble her wife had sometimes expressing herself or holding back what she was actually thinking. "It's nice. You get to see an old lover after spending so much time with possibly several of mine."
"Yeah, what's that about?" Lauren chuckled, trying to hide her nervousness at the situation. "Anyways, I know it bothers you, Bo. You don't have to pretend. I won't tell you it didn't bother me."
"The old, 'your mouth says one thing, your lips say another,' or kiss another as the case may be." Bo tried to reason that nothing would happen. She knew Lauren wouldn't do anything, but that didn't mean Nadia wouldn't try.
"Sorry." Lauren picked up another bag to put away. Bo ignored Kenzi walking in the room, wanting to finish this conversation before she lost her nerve.
"No, it's okay." Bo shook her head and finished putting away her own bag. "It's just…it was weird…you kissing me in front of Nadia."
"Who's Nadia?" Kenzi's definition of helping to put away groceries was to take out a box of Honey Berry Crunch from one of the bags and start eating out of it.
"Lauren's old girlfriend." Bo kept her eyes trained on her wife, watching for any reaction. Ever since the coffee house, Lauren's open emotions had shut back down. It was strange that the woman had managed to invoke such strong, imbalanced, and uncontrolled emotions from the doctor. If Bo hadn't read Lauren's aura, she would have expected it was a sexual reaction, but her wife had barely pinged a 2 on the scale, which was not uncommon when around an ex-lover. Nadia had been an easy 9, which had caused Bo to walk a little faster when she noticed the woman sitting across from her wife.
"Woah, you mean somebody else had the chance to enjoy the doc's lady bits? Well, besides the Morrigan and that Emily chick…" Kenzi's eyes widened when she realized the tension in the room. "…who we are still not talking about. Okay…so, I'm going out on a limb to say this Nadia chick is bad news."
"She's not bad news. She's just old news." Lauren rolled her eyes in amusement, which Bo noticed was more for her than Kenzi. Her wife was trying to reassure her there was nothing going to happen. Again, Bo knew that Lauren would never do anything. It was Nadia and that 9 that worried her. "She was my college girlfriend; that was ten years ago."
"Yeah, well, she still wants your lady bits, so be careful." Bo finished putting her second bag away before moving to open a bottle of water, standing at the island counter next to Kenzi, who had propped herself up there and kept eating the cereal from the box instead of actually helping. "That's all I'm going to say about it."
"That's all you're going to say? Really?" Lauren smirked at her, as she came to take the bottle from Bo's hands to take a quick drink before returning it. "I'm not even sure I'll say yes to lunch with her."
"Woah, wait, woman wants to have lunch with you?" Kenzi turned her fake shock back to Bo. "Oh, no, Bo. You'd better stop this madwoman before she goes too far."
"She wanted her, Kenz. Like, big time wanted her. I'm not saying I'm worried, because I trust Lauren." Bo turned her attention back to Lauren, so she would understand her completely. "I trust you completely. I just don't know if I trust her. Not if she just ran into you and was reading that high."
"How high we talking? Kenzi's sexy dream about the doc, or Kenzi's sexy dream about Johnny Depp?" Kenzi kicked her leg idly against the counter wall, more amused than anything.
"Try Kenzi's sexy dream about Hale." Bo arched an eyebrow at her, hoping that her best friend would get the severity of the situation.
"Is nothing told in confidence around here?" Kenzi stopped kicking her shoe and moved from the counter to stand beside Lauren on the other side.
"You have a lot of sexy dreams." Lauren smirked at her. Why was nobody getting how much of a problem this could become? "And here I thought I was special."
"Like you haven't had sexy dreams." Kenzi and Lauren were about to start another playful argument. Bo missed this easy and pleasant atmosphere. The tension from the past few months made it diminish significantly, so it was good to see things going back to normal.
"Guys, I'm being serious." Bo knew she was pouting a little. "I don't want Nadia to become a problem."
"She won't, Bo." Lauren came around the counter to stand next to her and run her hands down Bo's arms. "If it bothers you this much, I won't go to lunch with her."
"I'm not saying that." Bo didn't want Lauren to feel like she was being controlled. She had the freedom to have lunch with whomever she wanted.
"Uh, dude, it sounds like you are totally saying that." Kenzi was not helping.
"I'm just saying be careful if you do. We're in happy, idle mode waiting for the next big bad to hit us. If we want it to last longer this time, we need to be a little more careful about introducing new characters." Bo wrapped one arm around Lauren's back. This time, it wasn't completely possessive. It was just because she could and wanted to. "I would at least like to take my wife on that promised vacation before the next one hits."
"I'll bet you do. Bow chicka wow wow." Kenzi moved her hips a little for emphasis. Lauren chuckled slightly. "Hate to break it to ya, kid, but you already got her pregnant. There's not much else you can do to her that you haven't already."
"I'm quite creative. I'm sure we can think of something." Bo felt Lauren's quietly intense energy start to surface again. She was glad that her wife went way over a 2 with her. Even if she didn't want to admit it, and even though it was obvious Lauren knew it anyways, Bo was still hungry even after their intense sex and feeding earlier. It was severely storming outside, so she couldn't kick Kenzi out again. It wasn't anything they didn't do usually when they had sex anyways. Lauren wasn't vocal usually beyond quiet and purposed moans, so Bo was very happy that she could manage to get her wife to that point earlier. The sounds of Lauren screaming her name in pleasure like that had not helped dissipate her hunger; it made it worse. "So, groceries are up, house is settled for the storm. Alexie down for a nap?"
"Yep, but he's not feeling too well, I don't think, so I'm not sure how long it'll last." Kenzi looked to the doctor with an appreciative look. "Thanks for the teething tablets. I think they really help."
"I think we're going to head for a nap, too. Lauren is super tired." Bo knew that she was being obvious. Stealth was not her strong suit.
"I am?" Lauren was not helping. Why was nobody helping her out today? Bo sent her best knowing and lustful glance. Lauren's energy spiked even higher, which meant the look worked. "Oh, I mean…yes, so tired. I think I might actually need help getting up the stairs."
"I'm sure." Kenzi smiled. Even if Bo wasn't being obvious, Kenzi would have picked up the vibes. "Go take care of your girl, BoBo. Just try not to wake those who are actually napping under this roof."
"Sure thing, Kenzi." Bo pushed Lauren out of the kitchen and up the stairs, waving at her best friend as they parted. Now that the groceries were put away, it was time to possibly take care of her real hunger.
