3
"Jesus...fuck, you say 'breeding' like it's some kind of vulgarity."
"Holy fuckin' shit Vause!" she yelled so loudly, Alex swore the neighbors were about to pound on the walls, "you guys are going to have a baby? You can't even remember your lunch bag half the week!"
Alex tongued her cheek and continued to stare down the woman who had accidentally become her confidante while serving time in Litchfield.
Nicky jumped and put her in a headlock before giving her a genuine hug. It felt amazing that someone else knew. Alex walked to the corner of their kitchen where they had a wine cabinet, pulling out a bottle and made some hand gestures, "will this do?"
Nicky nodded "you used to say 'breeders' too, you fucking hypocrite!" Alex kept her back to her friend and poured them each a glass of wine.
"So did you guys already breed or just rid the place of anything potentially harmful as like this pre-baby making cleanse?"
Alex smirked at her and handed her friend her glass while straddling an ottoman, Nicky dramatically adjusted her skirt and crossed her legs, implying she was offended by Alex's body language. She tapped her glass to Alex's, raised her pinky in the air and sipped her wine.
"Good wine," Nicky shared her approval and reclined into their sofa.
Alex tilted her head far back and stroked her neck, "Piper can't drink anything right now, she honestly could probably care less if I bought beer and brought home sushi," she sipped her wine, and placed her glass on the table,"but she's already putting her body through enough, she's tired and nauseated and throwing up, I don't want to cause her any emotional stress. I... need to support her, I shouldn't throw all the things that I don't have to sacrifice in her face you know?"
"Well aren't you just so compassionate, why don't we just beckon Florence Nightingale and have her pin a vintage nursing cap on your head herself?"
Alex mouthed "fuck-you" in slow motion.
"You guys can still come out though, she's not disabled."
"I know that, and she's her own person. She's told me to go and that I didn't have stay back just because she's just not been up to it. This is the first day she hasn't come straight home since," she swallowed and didn't finish her sentence. She continued,"I'll try to be a better friend," Nicky put her hands up as if to say it's fine I'm not judging you, "I wasn't trying to blow you off, I'm not feeling the bar scene, and I'd want to go somewhere that she'd enjoy right now too. Our midwife said her energy level and the nausea should go away in the next two or three weeks," Nicky nodded in agreement, watching her friend morph before her eyes.
"Until then I need to just be here with her... no, I want to be here with her, she's...," Alex's eyes widened, her head fell into her hands and she breathed deeply, "my pregnant wife." She massaged her fingertips into her scalp, "Shit that sounds so terrifying. That's the first time I said that out loud." She felt her heart palpitating and moving into her throat.
Nicky scooted closer toward the edge of the couch and patted the brunette hard on the back, "congratulations Vause... but all this domestication is seriously going to make me ralph and now I have to pee." She pushed herself off the couch and went to relieve herself. She found Alex laying with her torso onto the couch, hip still over the ottoman.
"Whatsamatter?" She rested a hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex pulled herself upright, her face devoid of any confidence, "what if I suck?"
Nicky pulled her onto the couch and wrapped an arm around her head and exhaled. "Nicky, I have no idea what I'm doing. I have almost no experience with kids, the only kid I really know is Polly's son Finn, and he's an easy one. "
"You just gotta be straight with 'em. They're like dogs, they can smell fear. If they think you're genuine they'll play nice and won't bite."
Alex rubbed her eyes. "Listen Vause, if you love this kid half as fiercely as you do College, and really after all these years it's still enough to make me want to drive the porcelain bus, consider that kid one of the luckiest in the world."
Alex tilted her head and looked sideways at Nicky, and laughed through her nose, "thanks."
"You'll be great, really, I mean it, all you need is love right?" she looked at Alex innocently, then pantomimed gagging herself. "So how'd you pick the donor?"
They spent the better part of the evening eating take out and Alex caught her up on the whole process.
Piper's keys unlocked the door and Alex got up to meet her, Polly followed behind her holding a few bags. Alex kissed Piper hello and told her Nicky was in the living room. Piper walked down the hall and Polly handed Alex Piper's leftovers, "she didn't really eat that much." Polly set the bags down in the hall, and followed behind Alex. Alex set the leftovers in the fridge and stood up, she felt Polly's arms wrap around her from behind. Alex's body stiffened, her eyes came down to the arms around her waist, "I'm so excited for you guys, Piper's really happy."
"Piper!," Alex called out from the kitchen, "thanks Polly, I am too, I'm nervous but I'm happy." "Yeeeeeesss?" Piper came in a few moments later.
"You told Polly," she stated with her hand on her hip. She met Polly's eyes, they were beaming. Her best friend wrapped her arms around her wife again, this time from the side, she tried not to laugh at the height difference.
"Yeah well Nicky just told me she wasn't babysitting so you're just as incompetent at keeping your mouth closed."
She tilted her head down slightly, her eyes peered over the top of her glasses, "you've never complained about my mouth before."
Piper blushed slightly, changing her gaze from her wife to her best friend and waited for Polly's disgusted commentary.
"I don't even care," Polly muttered still hugging Alex.
Alex lifted her arm and let it rest on Polly's back, "wow, was this all I had to do to get a free pass?"
"Mmmm hmmm," Polly replied giddily, nodding her head into Alex's side.
Alex chuckled, "a chubby tiny human could've saved us from years of banter, but what would've been the fun in that?"
They moved into the living room to join Nichols, Polly still attached to Alex.
"This is all your fault you know?," Nicky stood up pointing to Polly. "If your kid wasn't so fucking cute Alex would've been able to fight the urge."
"He's going to be so excited," was Polly's only reply.
"Pol please don't tell him yet, not until I do all my tests... please."
"You'll tell him, when you're ready, you need to stop worrying though, really, it's not healthy, you're going to make yourself sick."
Piper sighed, "I know and I'm starting to feel nauseous now, right on time, almost every night."
"You didn't really eat much though, lemme go warm up some of your leftovers." Alex started to get up when Piper nodded.
Nicky caught Alex's shoulder and pushed her back down onto the couch. "You need to relax too," Nicky walked off to their kitchen to make Piper a plate.
Alex turned towards Piper with a surprised face, curling her lips, touched by Nicky's empathy, "well someone's lack of baby enthusiasm faded fast. We can send the kid to Camp Nicky when it's older." Piper smiled and rested her head on Alex's shoulder.
Alex and Nicky's relationship was comprised primarily of sarcastic craic, but if she ever needed her to tuck away the witty insults, Nicky was there pulling an instantaneous 180, always lending a loyal ear and Alex loved her for it. Piper was the one person Nicky had ever seen Alex lose her shit over, multiple times. She would do anything for that woman, anything to make her smile, protect her, and even if she'd poke fun at her, if anyone ever took it too far, the scorn in Alex's eyes would cause anyone to immediately regret their words, internally retreat into a corner and cower. It took Alex a long time before she confided in Nicky without inhibition; Nicky had probed her timelessly for information about their past. She spoke of how she accidentally fell in love with Piper not realizing how deep it was until her life fell apart when the young blonde left her in Paris. She told her of the years she'd spent coping with her loss and trying to move forward, relying on casual sex and her brief stint with heroin. She described the vulnerability that she felt putting herself completely on the table at Pipers mercy while at Litchfield; that she was willing to completely expose herself for the miniscule chance that Piper would be able to rediscover what her and Alex once had years ago and choose the life of surprise versus predictability. Though she was ashamed immediately after she allowed Nicky to sexually release all of her tension, she never forgot the loyalty that came from the person who knowingly allowed herself to be used in order to help a friend.
Polly said her goodbyes and let herself out while Nicky hung around until Piper finished and started to fade. Piper curled up on the couch, resting her head in Alex's lap, Alex stroked her hair. Nicky went to clear her plate when Alex asked her to get a pill from the b6 bottle on the microwave. Nicky returned, Piper took her pill and started nodding off. Alex and Nicky whispered for a while, she asked Alex more details about the tests Piper referred to earlier, she didn't know the first thing either and listened with genuine fascination. She admired her friends' bravery at this experience and while she knew her vision of Alex had now changed forever, she found a new kind of respect for the woman and the choices she'd made over the years.
Alex supported Piper and walked Nicky out, Pipers eyes were barely open as she waved goodbye to Nicky as she walked out the door. "No wrench in ya twat for you tonight Vause," she nudged her head towards a standing up-while-sleeping-Piper, "goodnight."
Piper had her blood drawn for her first trimester screening test, and proceeded down the hall for an official sonogram and a measurement was taken of the back of their baby's neck to rule out suspicious abnormalities. She was told a few days later on the phone that everything came back negative and she felt like the entire weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders. She called Alex and relayed the news. She cooked a big dinner and Alex watched as she happily ate more in that meal than she had eaten over the last two days combined. Her beautiful blonde was finally at peace. She was always able to read Piper like an open book. She could do and say whatever she wanted but Alex always knew what she was feeling inside. "I used to eat when I was stressed, now I can only eat if I'm relaxed," she said around a mouthful of food, stating the obvious.
They retreated to their couch, each leaning their backs against opposite arms, sliding down slightly, feet propped into each other's laps. Alex set an alarm on her phone, they had fallen asleep countless times in this ritual, only waking up the next morning, sometimes an hour after they were supposed to have been at work. Alex pulled one of the Popi lotions from the bowl on their table and massaged Pipers feet. She looked completely at ease, and Alex admired her beauty as she sank completely into the couch, authentically resting for the first time in weeks. She raised her arms over her head, curling one hand over her bun, she traced a finger around her ear and closed her eyes.
Alex just stared at her for a while, she rubbed her feet along Piper's legs, "want anything?"
"I want for nothing," she replied with a soft smile.
Alex smiled back at her and closed her eyes. She felt Piper drag her foot from her ankle, against her inner thigh, until it met her center, she wiggled her toes. Alex raised her eyebrows and muffled a laugh, "now? you're about to fall asleep."
"Yeah well, like you once told me, 'I'm never that tired.'"