[I'm so, so sorry! I imagined I'd have lots of time over Christmas to write but, somehow, when you have time off, you have even less spare time than usual! So my sincere apologies for keeping you waiting. I hope to get into a more regular writing schedule from now on. And a very happy 2014 to everyone!]

Casey's heart sank at the sight of her boyfriend Charlie at the airport. He had not shaved that morning – not for a few days, by the look of it. Casey didn't mind the facial hair so much, but more what it represented. Whenever Charlie decided to come off his meds, he stopped shaving a few days later and, more often than not, would start ranting about his refusal to conform to "random ideals imposed by society". She hoped beyond hope that, this time, he had just decided to grow a beard, but as she got close to him she saw the familiar look in his eyes, and she just knew.

She allowed him to hug her tight, though she pulled back when he tried to kiss her roughly. "Not in public, honey," she said, trying not to notice the angry look in his eyes.

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

"I'm sorry," Casey spoke as evenly as she could. "I missed you too, baby. I just … not at the airport. You know how I feel about making out in public. I don't want to share you with everyone else," she tried to appease him with a small smile.

"So," he pulled a bottle of vodka out of his bag, and poured himself a generous measure.

Casey tried not to react. She knew how volatile he could be when he drank. That was why they didn't keep any alcohol in the apartment.

"So," his voice turned nasty. "You've started working with that dyke, then?"

"She's a good person," Casey spoke quietly. She didn't want to argue with him, but she couldn't bear for him to talk about her colleague – and friend – in such a disrespectful manner. Ever since she had admitted to him that she herself had had one relationship with a woman in college, he had taken every opportunity to make unkind remarks about gay people, male or female.

"Does she have nice titties? She looks like she has nice titties," he was starting to slur. Clearly he had had a lot to drink on the flight.

"You've never met her," Casey was starting to panic.

"That's because you didn't want me to."

"That's not true. I asked you to come to her 'welcome back' dinner at the restaurant, so I could introduce you to her and her wife. You refused," Casey didn't add that he had also prevented her from going on her own.

"I saw her, though. Coming out of your office building. She's that blonde one, right? You went to lunch with her on the Thursday before Christmas."

"You were spying on me?" Casey felt sick. Charlie had still been on his meds before Christmas – she saw him taking them every day. But still he had followed her.

"I just wanted to see what was so attractive about her, that you have to talk about her all the time. So are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Are you sleeping with her?"

"Oh for Chrissakes, Charlie. Of course I'm not. We're colleagues, and friends. And she's married, she has two kids. I have never cheated on you Charlie. Never. You know that."

"All I know is that you won't sleep with me."

"I'm on my period," Casey said quietly. "You know that's true. I'm not trying to avoid you," she tried to persuade herself that the latter part of her statement was true, even though in her heart she knew it wasn't. She was relieved. She just hoped against hope that, in three days' time, he would have pulled himself together.

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

"It was dumb to imagine it was ever going to happen," Caryn said angrily, as the flung the pregnancy testing stick across the room. "Let's just forget it."

"Because you didn't get pregnant first time? It's not like you to give up so easily," Abbie tried to keep her voice even. She knew that Caryn hated to fail at anything. She also knew that, despite the odds, Caryn had, in her heart, expected to fall pregnant immediately.

"That's easy for you to say. You just had to fuck him a few times, and hey presto! You didn't even know you were pregnant," Caryn hated herself for her bitter words. She knew it wasn't fair of her to throw Abbie's brief relationship with the father of their child back in her face. She was the one who had rejected Abbie, because she had been so scared of commitment. She looked into Abbie's face, fearful of her reaction to her hateful behavior.

Abbie just gave a small smile. She took Caryn by the hand and led her to the couch. "Sit," she said. "No," she put a finger to Caryn's lips. "No talking. For once in your life, just listen. Just for a moment. You can get back to being an asshole in a moment," she tempered her words with a smile. She reached out and touched Caryn's soft cheek. "I know," she said softly. "I know how much you wanted this. And I know how you hate it when you don't get what you want right away. But it takes most people a while – even straight couples!"

"I really wanted to give you another child," Caryn's voice was small.

"And you still could. If you want to. We can try again. There's a real good chance it'll work. But," Abbie looked closely at her. "There's also a chance it won't. So, if you don't wanna do this, that's fine by me. I can always try to have our second child. And that might not work either. But we're gonna do what you want to do. I'm happy, CW. I didn't know I could be this happy. But I have you, and I have Daniel. Anything else is gravy. I don't want you to feel under any pressure. So you just tell me what you wanna do, and we'll do it."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Caryn sounded almost suspicious. "Why aren't you arguing? We always argue about stuff."

"We only argue for the great make-up sex," Abbie teased. "I'm serious, though, babe. This time, it's your decision. We can give up. We can try again. We can do whatever it is you want."

"I wanna baby," Caryn knew she sounded like a sulky child.

"So we go back to Washington in March?"

Caryn nodded. "I'm behaving like an asshole, aren't I?"

"Just a little bit," Abbie grinned. "Hey, does this mean I've been the mature, sensible one this time?"

"Screw you," Caryn replied tartly.

Abbie raised an eyebrow. "If that's what you want," she said, her already deep voice getting even deeper.

"Really? Now? That's what you want?"

"Well, you were the one trying to engineer an argument," Abbie said, as she placed one hand on Caryn's jean-clad thigh. "I'm just saving us time by suggesting we head straight to the make-up sex," her other hand sought out the button on Caryn's jeans and popped it open expertly.

Caryn grinned. "Well, I do like your efficient use of time, Counselor," she teased. "Are you sure you'll be able to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion?" she squeaked as she felt Abbie's invading hand.

"I have every confidence that we will both be pleased with the outcome of these proceedings," Abbie's eyes were dark with lust.

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

Lily was unusually quiet in the car. As Olivia helped her out of the back seat outside the kindergarten, Lily looked up at her, her eyes wide, and unaccustomed nervousness in her expression. "Will I like it here, Mama?"

Olivia knelt at her level, and touched her cheek softly. "You're going to have a great time here, Lily. It's quite natural to be a little nervous when you go in for the first time, but you are going to make so many friends here. You'll be real happy, I promise you. And we're gonna come in with you," she smiled at Alex who was just locking up the car. "To start with."

Alex knelt down too. "We won't leave until you're happy for us to go, I swear," she said firmly. "And we'll be back later too, to pick you up when you've done for the day. And," she smiled, "someone special is going to be here too. You wanna guess who that is?"

"Grandma Wheels!" Lily squealed with excitement. Their elderly friend had been very busy in the past couple of weeks, setting up her new apartment.

"That's right, baby girl," Alex said. She straightened up, and held out her hand. "So, we ready to go?" she asked Lily.

Lily nodded firmly, and grasped her mother's hand. She held out her other hand to Olivia. "I'm going to school," she sounded a little awestruck.

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

Jay picked up the phone, smiling as she saw Sarah's name on the screen. "Hey, Hot Stuff," she teased. "Are you having fun with your test tubes?"

Sarah laughed. "I just wondered if you had heard from Alex and Olivia? I wanted to know how Lily got on this morning."

Jay laughed gently. "They've just left. Apparently Lily was fine, and she settled right in. Alex, on the other hand, is a mess. You'd think nobody's kid had ever started school before."

"You'll be like that," Sarah predicted. "When we drop off our child on their first day."

"Yeah," Jay agreed, dreamily. "I think you're right about that. So, Mrs Kazinsky, what time do you think you'll be home tonight?"

"Why?" Sarah teased. "You wanna make sure you have time to hide your secret lover before your wife gets back?"

"Exactly that," Jay deadpanned. "Plus, I want to take my wife out. I thought maybe we could get some dinner, and then go to the club? We haven't been dancing together for so long, and I was hoping, if I bought you an expensive dinner, I could maybe persuade you to wear that green dress?"

"I'll leave at 5pm," Sarah promised. "I can't think of anything nicer than an evening out with my lady."

"Not even a night in together, after our evening out?" Jay's tone was sultry.

Sarah's mouth went dry. "You're on, Officer," she said, her nipples tightening just at the thought.

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

"You were right, Liv," Alex spoke softly as she held the sleepy puppy. "He is just so cute. Lily's going to love him," she toyed with the dog's silky ears. He was completely grey, and he had the most enormous eyes and ears. "I can barely wait until it's her birthday and we can take him home. Keeping him a secret's going to be so hard!"

Olivia smiled. "Well Maisie's not going to say anything, are you baby girl?" she held out their youngest daughter to meet the puppy, smiling as Maisie reached out a clumsy hand and giggled as the affectionate creature licked it. "We're going to keep this a secret, aren't we?"

Maisie was delighted with the puppy. She looked up at Olivia with a wide grin on her face.

"You hold him Liv," Alex passed the puppy over with one hand, as she claimed Maisie with the other, hauling the child onto her knee.

Maisie smiled at her mother. "Muh!" she cried as she grabbed Alex's shirt in her chubby fist. "Muh-muh."

Alex looked at Olivia, and saw that she was equally thrilled to hear Maisie's attempt at her first word. "That's right, baby girl," she said to Maisie. "I'm your Mommy. And that, over there," she pointed at Olivia, "is your Mama."

Maisie smiled. "Muh-muh," she said again, with some pride at her mothers' evident delight. "Muh-muh."

Olivia looked at Alex, smiling at the tears running down her face. "Sap," she said quietly.

Alex nodded. "It's a day of firsts. If I wanna cry, I'm gonna cry."

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

Wheels stood at the door of the kindergarten, looking through the glass, watching the children as they all ran around, collecting their coats, making sure they had everything. Her throat constricted. She had thought she would never get over the loss of her beloved May – and there were still moments when the pain just seemed too much. But now, at least, she knew that there were some things that made life worth living – her friends, and now her 'grandchildren'. Lily and Maisie meant the world to her and, while life was nothing like it had once been, now it was bearable. And there were moments of pure joy, that she wouldn't swap for anything. Just then, Lily looked up at her, and her face broke into a wide smile. Moments like that, Wheels realized, were worth everything. She smiled back, and lifted her hand in a small wave.

a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&a&

Jay rolled off her sweat-slicked wife, a broad smile on her face.

Sarah was still gasping as she turned to Jay. "You," she panted. "You are … somethin' else. Sometimes I wish we weren't married, just so's I could ask you to marry me again. That," her breathing was starting to even out, "was incredible."

Jay gathered her gently into her arms. She kissed her very softly. "It was, wasn't it?" she said.