Marissa unlocked the front door and dropped her purse on the entrance hall table just as a child-size blur raced passed her. A second figure, with the head of a wolf, came snarling through the hall after the first but stopped when it saw her.
"Hi Mom!" said the wolf, the voice muffed by the muzzle. "The costumes came!"
"So I see."
AJ lifted up the mask and gave her a wide grin.
"Do you like it?" he asked showing off the ripped shirt and hairy gloves.
"I love it." said Marissa giving the wolf mask's nose a tweak. "It's terrifying!"
AJ looked very happy with her assessment.
"Is Bianca in the kitchen?" she added; she had something she needed to talk to her girlfriend about.
"Yeah, when Miranda is back from dancing its 'chicken-in-a-pot' tonight." said AJ, wiping his brow with a furry paw. It was obviously hot under the mask.
There was giggling behind her and Marissa turned to see Gabby peering around the doorway.
"Sorry mom." said AJ, in a serious tone, replacing his wolf's head. "But I have to get Gabby."
He growled and raced after his baby sister; making her run, screaming with excitement, back into the parlour.
"Don't break anything?" Marissa called after them; laughing at their silliness.
…
Marissa found Bianca just putting the casserole in the oven.
"Hey you." said Marissa with a grin.
"Hey, yourself." said Bianca straightening up. She closed the gap and gave Marissa a quick welcome home kiss.
There was suddenly a pair of howls coming from the next room.
"The Halloween costumes came." Bianca added with a light laugh.
"So I saw." said Marissa.
"Yeah, Kendall has sent an e-mail about the party…" Bianca continued in a conversational tone. "… It won't be the traditional scary Halloween party; it will be more a traditional Mexican Day of the Dead celebration. I guess that's Griff's and Cara's influence. She sent list through of what we need to bring…"
Bianca stopped when she noticed a new tightness around Marissa's eyes.
"… but I guess the more important question is; how did your presentation go?" Bianca asked seamlessly changing subjects. She guessed this was the cause of the tension.
Marissa's smile returned.
"Adam said yes to the deal."
"That's wonderful!" cried Bianca, engulfing her girlfriend in a hug. "I told you, you had nothing to worry about!"
Marissa hugged her back, but she let about a big unhappy sigh at the same time.
"Yeah," she said as she pulled back from the embrace. "In fact I did such a great job with the presentation Adam has asked that I take charge of the whole deal."
"That's a lot of work." said Bianca, now a recognising the reason for Marissa's less than delighted mood.
"It gets worse." said Marissa. "We have a very tight window for finalise the purchase of Joosson's tools shop…"
"I thought it was Joossen's gertsnap winkel…"
"It's 'gereedschap winkel' , which is Dutch for tools shop."
"Oh… but there is a problem?"
"Yeah, Mr Joossen is only in the country for the rest of this week but he has agreed to a meeting on Saturday."
"Saturday…" echoed Bianca, her own smile dropping a little. Saturday was the day of the Halloween party.
"…in New York." finished Marissa unhappily. "I don't want to go."
"Hey, don't be like that." said Bianca, taking Marissa in her arms again. "We knew when you took this new job that there would be a cost."
Marissa shook her head.
"But it's been barely a fortnight and I'm already breaking my promise to the kids about our Family Fun Days."
"We said weekends originally." insisted Bianca, "You'll be back by Sunday, right?"
"…After I missed the party…"
"Then we shall have a party of our own when you get back! The kids will understand."
Marissa sighed and looked at the comforting smile on Bianca's face.
"But I don't want to disappoint you."
"You never could!"
"But I know how work came between you and Reese."
"We are not me and Reese. Reese and I never could repair what was already broken. You… you worry about being five minutes late from the office… Reese once called me on the way to the airport to tell me that she would be away for a whole week… Not the same at all!"
Marissa sighed and settled into Bianca's arms, resting her head in her lover's shoulder.
"But I don't want to go." she moaned childishly. "I don't want to leave you. I want to stay right here, just like this, for ever and ever."
Bianca pulled her closer for a moment and kissed her brow.
"I'd love that too." she sighed, "…But right now I'm afraid I need to pee…"
…
As Bianca disappeared there was a knock on the back door.
Marissa answered it to find Camilla there with Randi and Erica beside her.
"Is something wrong?" Marissa asked confused to see the three of them together.
"I need to speak to my daughter." said Erica huffily.
"She won't be long." said Marissa, gesturing for them to come in.
"We thought you should know about Madison." explained Randi.
"Has something happened?" Marissa asked, even more concerned now.
"She's been diagnosed with post-natal depression." said Erica sharply looking for a reaction.
Marissa looked horrified.
"I don't know her all that well," added Camilla. "But we are trying to get people together to, you know, drop in and offer her support."
"Of course anything she needs!" said Marissa. "And how is Scott dealing..?"
"He was pretty devastated." said Randi.
Bianca chose that moment to return to the Kitchen and was surprised by the unwelcome sight of her mother.
"What's going on?" she demanded.
Marissa walked up and slipped an arm around her waist.
"Madison has post-natal depression…" she explained.
"We're getting her friends together to organise support." added Camilla.
"Of course." said Bianca softening instantly.
"I guess that means Scott won't be coming to New York then." said Marissa. "It'll probably be me and Brooke then. Although as I don't want to go as well…"
Bianca nudged her.
"If Adam chose you especially for this…"
"…And Caleb's counting on me…" said Marissa, adding to the thought.
"…then you can't disappoint them."
"You and Scott were going to New York together?" asked Erica, her eyebrows raised. This was news to her.
"Not after this." said Marissa, trying to stay relaxed even though she felt Bianca tense up beside her at Erica's unspoken accusation. "He'll want to stay here with Madison and Holly. He lives for those two."
"Marissa has successfully negotiated the buy-out of Chandler to Courtland." explained Bianca proudly, happy to show off to her mother just how incredible her girlfriend was.
"Just one loose end to wrap up in New York." said Marissa with a nod.
"You got Adam to say yes?" asked Erica, impressed despite her feelings towards her daughter's girlfriend.
"I got the whole board to say yes. Apparently it was unanimous." said Marissa, but she looked to Bianca with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "I just wish it didn't make me have to break my promises."
"Shhh." hushed Bianca. "You haven't broken anything."
She then kissed her softly, not even caring that her mother was there with her disapproving frown.
They stared into each other's eyes for a moment with small smiles on their lips before turning back to their guests.
"So what can we do for Scott and Madison?" asked Bianca, getting back onto the reason for the visit.
…
As Camilla left with Randi and Erica, she wore a goofy grin on her face.
"God, those two are so soppy, aren't they. I think for a moment there they forgot we were even in the room. Almost makes you sick how happy they are!"
Both Randi and Erica nodded slowly. They were both struggling with the thought of Marissa's affair with Scott.
"You don't think so?" asked Camilla, confused by pair's reaction.
"It certain looks like love." said Randi with a frown.
Erica didn't reply; she was confused herself. When she saw Marissa and Bianca kiss she had the same reaction as Camilla, they looked so in love… She hadn't been prepared for that. She thought the cracks might be beginning to show in their relationship but there were none. The trouble was Madison had said she saw Marissa kissing Scott. Either Marissa was a much better actor than she had ever given her credit for or there was something else going on… something Erica didn't want to admit.
…