9

"Can you please not fight me on this? What is the big freaking deal Piper?," the tall brunette questioned, pacing back and forth throughout the living room.

"It's just not necessary, when I can walk a few blocks and take the subway." Piper was resting on the couch with one leg bent underneath her.

"I'd just really you rather not. I have no problem leaving early to drop you off and pick you up or you can take the car yourself."

"Alex it's a 20 minute commute, you're being ridiculous."

"You're being ridiculous! Look, if you want to endanger yourself and walk through the subway at night by yourself, go, do, be ridiculous, but that's my cargo too and I'd feel better if you were in the car."

The fire in the brunette could drive her crazy but she also secretly loved how protective she was. She fought the urge to smile and bit her lip hard to look frustrated. She decided to continue the persiflage.

"Endanger myself? Alex I get out at 6pm every day."

"It's dark out."

"I'll bring a flashlight."

"And it's getting cold and icy."

"I'll wear a hat."

Alex threw her arms up and walked away. Piper scrunched her face, and laughed silently. She heard the opening and closing of drawers and Alex's heavy, frustrated steps down the hall.

It took two attempts to get off the couch, but she managed, and went to look for her. She found her drawing pencil marks on the walls, bent on one knee, taking measurements in the nursery that was still coming together.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about me so much is all."

"I'm not worried, why don't you go stick some firecrackers up your ass and light them?, see if I care."

The blonde rubbed her hands up and down Alex's arms, "c'mon babe, what happened to my bad ass, thrill seeking, spur of the moment, hot blooded Alex?"

The brunette whipped her head over her shoulder, "she got married and decided to have babies with you." She turned her head back over her shoulder and stuck her pencil behind her ear. "And fuck off, I'm still spontaneous."

"You are." She dragged her nails through the dark hair and styled it, then let it loose and repeated the motions. "I love that we still pop into the Angelika to catch indie flicks at the last minute when we have work the next day, or explore new cake shops to sample desserts when we just had intentions of going for a walk."

"My ideas of spontaneity are just more obscure now."

"Hey you don't have to try to justify yourself. My life is by no means boring. We can't just get up and go around the world like we used to, we grew up, we have different priorities." She leaned over Alex, her long blonde hair masking over the brunettes face and she teased her lip with her finger. "But believe me you still keep me on my toes."

She moved Pipers hand back to her hair, she loved to feel her caress, Piper relented and continued to play with the straight dark locks.

"I'll tell you what, let me still get myself to work in the morning and you can pick me up every day. Whenever the weather is bad you can drop me off and pick me up alright?"

"Yeah, whatever Ms. Independent."

"Head down! Nice work, did you feel it when the baby turned?"

"Yeah, I think it was sideways for a full day. I felt all the kicks on this side here, and there was a big bump here and I felt like I had all this space, like I could breathe again, but then when I woke up the bump was gone and now I'm pretty sure there is a foot under my rib."

She palpates the fetal back, and traces her hands up until she feels small parts, "Yep, definitely a foot right there. Your body and your baby know what they're doing. Once they're head down, they usually stay down since the head is the heaviest part."

Alex sits a few feet away and is eye level with the table.

She palpates more, "and this kiddo feels to be about 4, 4 and half pounds, which is great, and very active as usual."

Alex can see Mookie moving under Pipers skin, showing off. "All day and all night, I feel like she doesn't get a break", she laughs.

"It's a small price to pay, as long as this kid is in a good position, it can do whatever it wants."

She scans over her chart, "alright and your weight, blood pressure, urine everything looks great today." She hands them a flyer, "here's the information for childbirth education classes. It's a few hours split into 2 different classes, I recommend you both go because they'll cover techniques to work through labor and a lot of it are things partners can do to ease the pain. They cover true versus false labor, when's a good time to head to the hospital, pain medication options, common interventions that you might need, baby care, breastfeeding; most people find it very helpful."

Alex lowered her lip and nervously smiled out the side of her mouth, "oh man," she brushed her hands over her cheeks and wrapped them around the back of her neck.

The midwife patted her knee, "you'll be fine, I'll see you girls in two weeks, same precautions as always..." she went through her usual words of wisdom and they headed out.

They got in their car and started driving, "getting closerrrrrr," Piper teased Alex who was visibly still uneasy.

"I think I need that class more than you do," she laughed nervously. "You're not nervous at all?"

"Yeah I am! But what goes in, has to come out right? People have been doing this for billions of years. Some women work until the day they deliver, walking through fields, squat down, have their kid and continue working, I can do it."

"Okay, Laura Ingalls Wilder."

Piper shoved her shoulder, "thanks for the vote of confidence," she paused and looked out the window, "but like she said I just have to trust my body."

"I'm just giving you a hard time, you're gonna do great. I'm glad Mookie is in a good position, it's really cool that she can figure that out with her hands." Alex truly believed what she said about Piper doing well, but continued to doubt how she'd manage to keep herself together for her.

They parked their car on the street after circling for 20 minutes. They hit their produce stand and bought some ingredients to make eggplant parmigiana and after Alex's insistence, a batch of homemade marinara.

"My hero," the blonde retorted sarcastically when Alex started walking out of the market holding all of the grocery bags. She set the bags down before she exits, pulled out an eggplant and handed it to Piper, "here" and proceeded to re-lift all the bags and continued walking.

They got upstairs and got to work on cooking. "So what exactly do I do here?," Piper asked Alex waving her hands over the ingredients that were spread out over the counter.

"Just cut all the tomatoes in half, put them on the baking sheet and stick it in the oven."

Piper followed her instructions and 20 minutes later removed them, let them cool and she put them in a large bowl. "Now just squish them up."

She grabbed a long wooden spoon. "Not with that."

"With what then?"

"Your hands, like this...," she stood behind Piper and slipped her hands over the blonde and immersed them into the tomatoes, and squished them between their hands.

"This is kind of gross, and kind of relaxing."

She quit squeezing after the first ten tomatoes resembled salsa and sat at the kitchen bar, and watched Alex work her way around the kitchen.

"Why'd you want to make this for tomorrow?"

"Because I know you like it, and I wanted you to have it for the shower."

"It's your shower too babe, I want you to relax and have a good time, not worry about feeding people." Alex couldn't help but think of her mother; how many times had she told her mother to relax and let other people handle catering. "Polly and Nicky have it under control, I'm sure there'll be plenty of food."

"It's no trouble really," she holds a fork out towards Piper with all the ingredients, before she starts layering, "for my love," she winks and flashes her a cheesy smile and feeds Piper a forkful.

"Mmmm'sooo good, I had no idea how much work went into this every time you made it."

"Food is love my dear. It tastes the best when the entire dish is made from scratch. Let me finish up in here."

Piper went through their closet and picked out her clothes for the next day. She was excited but also nervous to have their family and friends from different walks of life in the same room, the same feeling she had when she planned their wedding reception.

Piper relaxed on the couch and flipped through some channels while Alex finished up. She groggily got down on the floor and rested her head near Piper's.

"Al, come up here don't sit on the floor."

"There's no room, you look so comfortable, it's fine."

"I'll make room, come." She pushed herself back, and Alex slipped a pillow behind her shoulder blades. The brunette squished into the space between the couch and Piper and laid on her side, she slid her bent knees underneath Piper's bent legs and rested her head on her chest. She dazedly caressed the brunette beneath her ear and along her neck, while she studied her wife's delicate eyelashes, the lines on her face, the softness of her cheeks, the perfection of her lips.

"How could you ever wonder if I know how much you love me?" she whispered.

"Hmmm?," Alex sleepily breathed out.

"Every day," she kissed the brunette on her temple and thought to herself, "you show me every day."

Piper woke up the next morning on the couch, the same couch she'd fallen asleep and woken up on during different phases of her life over the last 15 years, it was well broken in, everyone who hung out at their place always said they could fall asleep on that couch. She stretched out and let her legs come over to the side. She felt Alex's body beneath her feet. She laid back down, hung her head off the side of the couch, and rubbed the brunette on the tip of her nose.

"Good morning Starshine," she sang softly, "the earth says hello."

"Too early for show tunes Piper," she grumbled.

"Gliddy glub gloopy, nibby nabby noopy, la la la lo lo."

"You'd fit right into that cast of flower children," she said she stretched her long limbs like a feline.

"C'mon baby get up."

Alex grumpily wrinkled her eyebrows and tilted her head far back, taking note of the cerulean blue sky. "What time is it?"

"A little after 8, c'mon it's not that..." she felt Piper stroke her breasts rolling her nipple back and forth, "hard."

"Mmm, you're such a dragoon."

"It's shoooooower day."

"Shit," she shot up, and put her glasses on her face, "you gotta get up, c'mon," she scurried up and out of the room, leaving Piper frozen in place.

"C'mon Pipes, Polly is going to be here any minute," she yelled from another room.

"What? Why is Polly coming here?"

"Because she's going with you to a spa. I booked sessions for you, they'll take care of you all morning."

"Al seriously? I'm not even dressed!"

"You don't have to, just bring your clothes. They'll do your hair, a body scrub, massage, your nails, you just have to sit there, you don't have to do anything."

Piper looked at her with puppy eyes, "why are you so good to me?"

"Because you're my Pipes." She leant over her on the couch and kissed her lovingly. "Really, up." She helped Piper pack a small bag with her shoes and makeup for later. Piper stood in front of their bureau, and finger brushed her hair before tying it up.

"Maybe they can take off a few inches."

"Don't cut your hair."

"What? Why not? The ends are all dead."

"You cant cut it, it's bad luck," she said seriously.

"Alex, no it's not. It's dangerous to dye it in the early part of pregnancy, but you can cut it, I'm sure of it."

She shook her head from side to side, "I remember hearing it in Istanbul, if you cut it, you could shorten the life of your baby."

"Oh, that's only slightly morbid! But I'm sure it's just an old wives tale, Alex."

She looked back at the blonde with pleading eyes. Polly called and said she was downstairs.

Piper shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I'll see you later. Wait, are you meeting me at Polly's or what?"

"Yeah i'll meet you there, have a good time."

Alex called Nicky who confirmed she was already running around with Polly's list picking up decorations, cupcakes, and various other things they needed. She hung up and called a friend from work.

Piper called out, "hellooo," as she walked into Polly's feeling refreshed. "Pippy! Look what Ayix gave me!," he ran over holding a little cupcake.

"Oh did she, you better hurry up and eat that before your mom walks in, go!," he scampered off behind the swinging door of the kitchen.

Alex came out wearing a light purple fitted cocktail length chiffon dress, she tucked her hair behind her ear. Piper still had her coat on, and her scarf wrapped around her neck. Alex hurriedly walked over to her, and reached up for her scarf. Piper put both of her hands around her wrists, "um, hello you look beautiful, are you kidding me with this dress?"

Alex kissed her hello, and Piper felt her hands move behind her head, but then felt her quickly unwrap the scarf. Piper dropped her arms to her side, submissively as Alex pulled the collar of her coat away from her neck to look at the blonde tresses trapped underneath.

"Are you done?," Piper asked as she undid her coat and removed it from her shoulders releasing her naturally beachy curls that were the exact same length.

Alex tugged gently at the base of her hair, "I thought you said it was just a superstition?" Alex looked her up and down, admiring her in her flowy full length teal colored dress.

"It is, but I'm not going to be the person who challenges it. What?"

"You just look really pretty."

Alex held the ends of hair that fell down Piper's chest and moved her hands like a double dutch rope.

"Stop, you're going to embarrass me," she brushed the brunettes hands away from her hair. "Come, Polly's gonna blow a vein if she knows Finn had a cupcake before lunch." She pulled her along the imaginary trail that Finn left behind, "let's go make sure the evidence is off his face before he blows your cover."

They stepped into the kitchen and Piper was taken aback by the overwhelming amount of food and aromas. Pete was wiping off Finn's hands and face, when the boy excitedly claimed Pipers hand and dragged her out towards the living room and den to show her the set up.

Multicolored balloons, fresh flowers and decorations were strewn throughout the room. There was a table set up for food, desserts and plates, another for presents which already had two, what looked like a craft table, a table with a decorative tree, and another with essentials needed for what looked like some interesting games.

Piper turned towards Alex, "this looks awesome." "It's all Nicky and Polly, I just got here."

Nicky came up from the basement carrying a round galvanized bin, "hey Chapman you blinked, Vause wins." Alex chuckled at her friend.

"Can you help me with this? I have to fill it with water."

"Water?"

"Hey, the hell do I know? I just follow orders."

Alex went to help Nicky with the bucket while Piper helped Polly with some last minute touches as guests started arriving.

Some friends from college and two of Alex's cousins were the first to arrive followed by Piper's parents and Cal.

"Cal you came?," she kissed him hello. "Yeah I wouldn't miss a shower for Alex's baby." She smiled widely.

"Hey Cal," Alex came over and hugged him around his gift. "This is the official gift," he said handing Alex a big box, "and this is to open while our parents aren't standing 2 feet away from us," he handed Piper a small squishy gift.

"Okay, should I go put this in the back?" Piper asked warily. "It's just a gag gift, it's funny, yeah go put it in the back."

More and more people streamed in, mutual friends, Alex's colleagues from work, some friends from Litchfield; it was an eclectic group.

"Hey you clean up nice!," one of Alex's colleagues said to her as they stood around mingling and introducing their friends and family to one another.

Polly took the reins and dove right into the games; she handed everyone a little clothespin and told them to attach it to their clothes, if someone heard you say "baby," they got to take it away from you and whoever had the most at the end would win.

They played baby food sampling games, broke into pairs and raced to see who could feed their blind folded partner a whole jar, timed Alex and Piper to see who could pack a diaper bag properly in 30 seconds and others.

Nicky opened a bunch of rubber nipples and started plunking them in the water bin, and Polly called the guys up to see who could bob for the most nipples. After a less then thrilling attempt, Nicky called over the girls and said, "let's show the guys how it's done."

Alex looked over at Piper's parents who just looked slightly embarrassed but laughed along, it could've been worse, it was Nicky after all.

People scattered around the room to have more food and chatted while Polly encouraged people to grab a plain white onesie and asked them to decorate near the craft table they'd set up. People got really into decorating and Nicky had fun holding each one up for display as she read her favorites out loud, "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner, Poop-There it is, on Wednesday's we Wear Pink, I love my Mommies." Everyone awed at the last one and they gathered around to open presents. Polly passed around little cards for people to write well wishes, parenting advice or childhood memories that they were fond of that they'd want to pass on to the moms to be. She hung their wishes and words of advice onto the tree displayed in the corner.

By the end of the shower they were exhausted but thanked everyone profusely for coming to celebrate in their excitement. Piper went to the back to get Cal's gift as their parents went outside to warm up the car, as he waited with his coat on, she brought it out and sat near Alex to open it. She pealed back the paper and held up a bright orange onesie that said, "I just did 9 months on the inside."

"Love you guys!," he shouted and he hurried toward the door as Alex rolled on the couch cackling. The girls loaded up their car with as much as they could, promising to come back the next day for the rest of their gifts, everyone had been so generous. They made their way home and up to their apartment after unloading everything from the elevator, they closed the door behind them and looked at the cluttered entryway filled with baby stuff.

"Would you look at all this? It's overwhelming but I feel so blessed Al."

She took her hand, "come, there's one more thing." She pulled her down their hallway and opened the door to the nursery and turned on the light.

Piper brought her hands to her mouth, she was so surprised, she felt her body heat start to rise and lost control of the muscles in her face and cried tears of happiness.

"This is beautiful, when did you do this?"

In the corner of their baby's room was a new wooden tree built into the wall, with a small library of children's books nestled on the branches. A gliding rocking chair rested below the tree with a canopy of warm colored fabric.

"It's a book nook, I built it at work. The guys helped me put it in this morning when you were out with Polly."

Piper stepped closer to eye the reading material, "there's so many great books here."

"I looked up the 100 best children's books, they're all there. There's so many that I haven't read myself."

"I love it, it's perfect, think of all the 'Once upon a time's!'"