They awoke to the sound of Rita's alarm. A soft bleeping sound that rose in volume until it roused them, and with her eyes still closed Rita threw an arm out from beneath the duvet, across Connie's chest to where she could silence the noise with a practised touch of her finger.

She groaned and opened her eyes as Connie stretched beside her, their bodies warm and soft from sleep.

"Morning Sweetheart."

Connie's lips pressed against Rita's, and the blonde smiled against her, sighing and cuddling closer.

"It's so nice, waking up with you..."

Rita wrapped herself about Connie, head against her chest, one leg tossed over hers.

"Ugh. I don't want to go to work."

She sighed again, her breath warm against Connie's skin.

Connie squeezed her close and ran her fingers through her hair. She placed a kiss on her forehead, taking a moment to breathe her in, the smell of Rita in the morning always made her heart flutter.

"I'm sure you will have a much less stressful day than I will"

She stroked the soft short hairs at the base of Rita's neck and ran her lips back and forth against her hairline. She was thinking of Grace. She had planned a 'mother and daughter' day. A day of shopping, and lunch out to a place of Grace's choice...now she was almost certain that her daughter would refuse such an idea.

She drew in a breath and Rita pushed herself up slightly so that she could look down at her, her cheeks were flushed and on one side of her face was the faint indentation of the pillow on which she had slept.

"Do you want me to stay? I'm sure I could find somebody to swap a shift with-"

"I'm not having you use me as an excuse to have the day off!"

Connie exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.

"No, I didn't mean-"

"I know."

Connie smiled and ran her fingers lightly up the pale flesh of Rita's chest to where her collarbone jutted out, casting a small grey shadow at her throat.

"I just don't want you to have to deal with this on your own."

Rita murmured, kissing Connie's fingertips as they traced the veins that led from her neck to her chin, to her lips.

Connie smiled again, admiring the pink rise of Rita's lips, how they parted slightly when she touched them, revealing just the very edges of her straight, white teeth.

"I know."

She said again. She didn't want to say that she had been dealing with Grace on her own for years...surely she should have had enough practise to know what to do now...

Rita kissed her fingers again before leaning down to kiss her on the lips. She knew what Connie was thinking, she knew what she felt wasn't as simple as just worry, it was guilt, anxiety, and fear all muddled up.

"I'll be back later. I'll cook you dinner?"

She offered quietly.

Connie flexed her legs, stretching them out whilst with her hand she cupped Rita's face.

"You're perfect."

She whispered, and she looked up at her, meeting her gaze. She could never quite get over just how very dark Rita's eyes were.

"Far from it, but I'm glad you think so."

She murmured, reaching down to kiss Connie quickly before rolling off of her, expelling a huff of a breath as her body hit the mattress.

From the floor below they heard the opening of a bedroom door, a pause, and then the creak of the stairs. Grace was up. Connie yawned, letting out a soft groan and she ran her hands across her face. She wished she had had time to go downstairs and have a coffee before facing Grace.

"Come on, you..."

Rita nudged her gently.

"Let's get this over and done with."

She added, and with a deep slow sigh, she pushed the duvet back.

-.-

Downstairs the kitchen was cold. Colder than it had been the last few mornings. They could smell the frost in the air. Through the windows, the outside world was in milky darkness, the night just creeping back, slow and lazy, the grass in the garden glittered, already brittle with frost, shining like stars, and just by the kitchen window the leaves of the old rose bush had turned scarlet and gold, though in the dark everything was a shadow of itself, grey with a purple edge.

Rita was in the sitting room starting a fire, Connie could hear the shuffle of wood and rustle of paper as she built it up. She hadn't looked at her phone yet, except to silence the alarm. Connie smiled to herself and flicked the switch of the kettle, and the coffee machine on simultaneously before moving to the fridge to locate the milk.

Once the fire was lit and the flames had begun to hiss, extending long yellow tongues to lick at the dry wood, she leant back on her knees, enjoying the feel of gradual warmth and the flicker of light across her face. She shifted, she had her phone in her pocket and it was digging into her hip. She removed it and, holding it in one hand flicked it on.

1 New Message - Connie

She glanced to the time, it was only just 7:00AM. She clicked on the message and smiled as it opened, her own sleeping face showing back at her, though it was Connie's bare chest that held her attention, and when she scrolled down to read the message she bit her lip. A bubble of love caught in her throat and she set the phone down on the coffee table before making her way into the kitchen.

Connie was stirring a cup of tea with one hand, her other hand raised, working out a tangle in a curl of her hair.

Rita stopped just behind her.

"Thank you..."

She wrapped her arms about Connie's waist and kissed the back of her neck. Connie turned every so slightly, a smile at her lips.

"You got the message, then."

She murmured, glancing to her left as she heard Grace's footsteps approach the sitting room.

"Shame you cut your own head off."

Rita grinned, resting her head on Connie's shoulder, peering down at the two mugs before her. She'd left her own coffee black and strong.

"It was dark! Just be glad I got anything in it at all."

Connie smiled again and set the teaspoon she was using down beside the mugs.

"Oh, there's two things I can think of that I'm glad you managed to get into it."

She murmured, but as she spoke Grace's footsteps came nearer and she let her arms fall from about Connie, taking a step back from her as the little girl entered the room with a smile of satisfaction on her pale face.

-.-

Another update! Hope there are still some people out there reading this? I'll try to update again this evening xxx