*Happy New Year fellow Minx fans I hope you all had a good holiday – thanks for all my Christmas greetings. I'm back as promised – but only by the skin of my teeth.*

SPOILERS – this week – the fund raiser gets off to a great start, JR confesses to Dixie, Erica discovers David has a secret.

…

Bianca gave Marissa a nervous grin as they enter the Art Gallery where the Miranda Centre Exhibition was being held. She had been confined to bed the last few weeks and had no idea what to expect. What she saw outdid all her expectations; it was magical and inspiring, just as she had hoped.

Bianca swung between her crutches trying to concentrate on her feet; she didn't trust her left leg to hold her up, and didn't want to stumble in front of the press or cause herself any more injury. Frankie would never forgive her.

In her head Bianca had pictured herself walking in, arm in arm with Marissa, smiling confidently at friends and family, putting on a good show for the press, everything going back to the way it had been. It wasn't quite the date she had planned but the fact that the woman she loved was here with her and there was no longer any doubt that her love was returned, Bianca's heart just felt as light as a feather.

Kendall disappeared as soon as they arrived; she had arranged to meet up with Griffin and Cara inside the gallery. But before she left she gave Bianca an encouraging hug.

"You deserve this." Kendall whispered into her ear as they embraced. Bianca knew she was talking about Marissa but she could almost hear the unconscious warning in her sister's tone, "Just don't blow it."

It wasn't a warning she needed, Bianca had no intention of losing Marissa ever again.

…

"This is amazing." gasped Marissa, as she took in the gallery, bustling with people. "And this is all inspired by you?"

"I just thought that all the kindness that everyone showed, sending me their pictures, it really did make me feel better and it was a feeling that needed to be shared."

"But to think of this!" sighed Marissa, spreading an expansive hand gesture to take in the whole building. "It's incredible! You're incredible!"

Bianca grinned back.

Bianca's idea had been to gather artists together, show them the get-better pictures that had been sent to her and ask them to come up with their own work based on the drawings. She hoped they would come up with something inspiring and heart-warming. The response was extraordinary and both local and international artists had got involved.

The white wall opposite the entrance door was currently acting as a projector screen, showing an animation on a loop of Miranda's self portrait of herself riding her pony Dexter, her and Emma's pictures of princesses on unicorns, and Cara's rabbit on a unicorn all galloping along in a horse race. Bianca watched it run through a few times, delighted that her daughter's own work had such a large part in the exhibit, It took her a while to notice that with every loop a different horse won the race.

"Very clever." she said as she shook hands with the local artist who was standing proudly beside the piece. They chatted for a few moments about his work. He was just out of Art College and this was his first proper exhibition.

"Well I'm sure this won't be your last." said Bianca with some certainty. She recognised the lady who was now attempting to draw his attention away as the gallery owner.

As Bianca and Marissa entered the exhibit room itself, Bianca found herself met by a wall of people. So while balancing awkwardly on her crutches, Bianca warmly spoke with guests all wanting to come up and shake her hand, or offer compliments. The only frustrating part was the fact that she couldn't get close to any of the art work. It was wonderful that so many people had come to support the Miranda Centre, but she was also finding it was a little tiring. In the end Bianca had to find a chair in a quiet corner. She was beginning to wonder if this was all a little too much too soon. She turned to Marissa to apologise for flaking out on her, but was stopped by the wonderful smile on her girlfriend's face.

"This whole place is amazing!" gasped Marissa.

The red head turned to look back up at the ceiling. Following her gaze Bianca gasped as well, having no idea how she had missed it. Fixed upside-down above her head, as if the ceiling were the ocean waves, was a full sized motorboat and leaping out beside it was a model of a great white shark.

"That was from one of Spike's pictures." said Bianca chuckling. "He is going to be so proud."

…

As the evening continued Bianca found herself getting back into the swing of things. It was like stepping back in time, to the moment before that horrible gun shot and all the troubles that had followed them since; back in the role of Erica Kane's daughter, hostess, philanthropist and celebrity. Currently she was trapped in conversation with a slightly over enthusiastic ceramic's artist from Canada who was exhibiting five incredible three-dimensional sculptures based on some of the more abstract artwork by the very young children including Gabby's green cat and Ian's possible dinosaur on a fire engine. Before that Bianca had spent ten minutes chatting to the Italian artist who had created a vase of beautiful flowers made solely from recycled plastic carrier bags and after a short rest, another twenty minutes had been spent in the company of a pair of eccentric British artists who had created an intricate model, filled with almost everything from every picture she had been sent, a fantasy landscape of racing cars, duck ponds, hot air balloons and unicorns.

As time wore on Bianca was beginning to feel guilty as well as tired. This was supposed to be a date, and she was worried that Marissa was feeling neglected. She kept looking back to make sure that her girlfriend was still alright. Every time she did she found Marissa watching her with a warm, wonderful smile.

When they could finally get away from the very chatty sculptor, Bianca led Marissa into a quieter corner. There was a picture she particularly wanted her to see.

On the wall was what looked like a framed sampler, proclaiming the motto 'Home Sweet Home'. "This is Jean-Claude's piece. He was the French artist I was speaking to in the yacht club. He chose AJ's pictures for his inspiration." explained Bianca. "Although you have to get right in close to really appreciate it."

Marissa leaned closer to the picture. Bianca knew what Marissa would be seeing - that the picture was in fact made up of a collage of hundreds of tiny photographs.

"It's amazing." said Marissa. "And these are all AJ's pictures?"

"I think on final count AJ had drawn over twenty pictures of our home and all the rooms."

Marissa turned back to Bianca a look of surprise on her face.

"Our home? This is a real house? I always thought it was just a fantasy... but of course. This is where he ran away to!"

Bianca nodded.

"Yes. And it is our house in theory, although we never got a chance to move in. I guess a lot has changed." said Bianca carefully, not sure how to think of the house now they were starting right from the beginning once more. "We bought the house for our family but this is all before the shooting changed everything."

Marissa cocked her head slightly to one side, an adorable smile tugging at her lips.

"Well then it is still our house." She said. "Look I've been watching you all night. You are incredible… I keep using that word to describe you but you are. You are incredible. The way you are with everyone; the thought you put into this exhibit; just you being you; it's incredible." Marissa leaned closer. "I know this is very new for me and I know there is probably a long way to go until we are back to where we used to be. But I want to get there."

Marissa leaned closer still. Bianca gazed into her eyes and saw the love shining within them.

"And I am more than willing to put in the work." Marissa added, with a cheeky little smile, before closing in for a kiss.

…