"You know, I haven't had a drink in over a year," Hunnigan told Olivia when she handed her a bottle of beer.
"Well, then you must be very thirsty," Olivia chuckled and took a seat next to her on the couch.

"You know what I mean," Hunnigan smirked. "Oh, yeah, that's the good stuff," she nodded after taking a long drink of the beer.
"So, how did the meeting with the social worker go?" Olivia inquired.

Helena had spent hours meticulously baby proofing the house, and honestly, it made the house look kinda crappy and Hunnigan hated it, and it really was overkill because the babies were literally indeed babies who wouldn't even be crawling anywhere for months yet.

"It takes me ten minutes to open a cabinet so I can get to the coffee grounds," Hunnigan sighed, and Olivia laughed softly.

The social worker had nitpicked a little, which Hunnigan thought was ridiculous; she was convinced the social worker never would've mentioned half of the things if she and Helena had been a straight couple. Actually, no, they wouldn't have even needed to go through with any of this if they were a straight couple because if she were a man, Helena wouldn't have needed to adopt children she had technically fathered.

The most irresponsible and terrible people you could ever hope to meet were allowed to go on having children and no one thought twice as long as they were of the opposite sex and no one reported their horrible behavior to the child protective services, but god forbid same-sex couples wanted to offer proper care and a loving family to a child, that was still somehow an abomination. It made no sense whatsoever, but when did these things ever make sense?

"Overall, this should all be done and settled in a few weeks once they're done with the paperwork," Hunnigan said.
"That's wonderful," Olivia smiled. "So, what's bothering you?"

"Who says anything's bothering me?" Hunnigan frowned and Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Experience. What's wrong? Are you and Helena having problems in the sack? No time, no energy...ooh, or is it a matter of Helena no longer having the hots for you because you being pregnant was her kink and now the magic is one?" Olivia listed, and Hunnigan arched an eyebrow.

It was amazing to consider that not so long ago, she would've found Olivia's prying questions too much, and now, she couldn't imagine her life without them. Especially since a lot of those questions did actually come with a lot of insight (at least occasionally), despite appearing to be only superficial and lewd at first.

It was even more amazing to consider that Hunnigan actually intended to respond to the questions as frankly as they'd been asked, which wouldn't have been the case not so long ago. Olivia had certainly grown on her.

"Well, now that you mention it, Helena does act like she's afraid she'll break something every time I ask her to use the strap, like my womb's gonna fall out or something if she puts some force into it."
"I mean, that could happen," Olivia shrugged and Hunnigan spluttered a little as she almost inhaled her beer.

"What!"
"Okay, 'fall out' is perhaps a bit dramatic, and it can happen to anyone, but it's more likely to happen if you've given birth."

"Christ on a cupcake, why didn't anyone tell me? I feel like that is the kind of a thing a woman should be told before she gets pregnant!"
"Just do your Kegel exercises, you'll be fine."

"Thank you, doctor," Hunnigan smirked.
"You're welcome," Olivia said.

"Anyway..." Hunnigan sighed, desperate to shift the conversation away from her potentially wandering womb, "the magic is far from gone, but sex has not been anywhere near the top of the priority list, and the times we've intended to have sex, we've just kinda fallen asleep in the middle of everything," she laughed.

"Why are you laughing, that's terrible," Olivia feigned horror, and Hunnigan rolled her eyes.

"Helena and I are fine," she said.
"Then what's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"I've been waiting for some kind of a maternal instinct to kick in and take the wheel, but it hasn't happened, and I don't know what I'm doing. I'm starting to think I don't have that in me at all. Helena makes it look so easy, she's so confident and natural with the babies, and it bothers me that I don't know how to do that."

"Meh, she's Catholic, she's been groomed into being a mom ever since she was a baby herself," Olivia said, waving her hand dismissively, and Hunnigan snorted; that was probably true.

"It takes a while, and that's perfectly normal. And just because you're not constantly doting over the babies doesn't mean you're not devoted to them; it just looks different from you. You put food in their bellies, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads, and you would destroy anyone who tried to harm them. Oh, my god."

"What?" Hunnigan frowned.
"You really are the husband," Olivia laughed.

"Oh, fuck me," Hunnigan sighed.
"I wouldn't dare, something might fall out."

"I hate you."
"You adore me," Olivia smiled sweetly.

"I do," Hunnigan admitted, "which is actually the reason I came to see you."
"Oh?" Olivia raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

"As you know, we're gonna have the babies baptized, full ritual and everything that goes with it."
"How will you survive?" Olivia grinned, and Hunnigan chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"Exactly. I'm gonna be doing a lot of lying, and to a priest of all people, so I will need someone to be there with a fire extinguisher, ready to put me out when I inevitably burst into flames, and I wouldn't trust anyone other than you with that job. And, also, if you're interested, we'd love to have you as the girls' godmother," Hunnigan said.

"What? Really?"

"Of course! You're my friend, and you're one of the few people I would entrust my children with, even if I know that the role of a godmother isn't really what people think it is as far as actual guardianship of children goes, but still; I would be honored to have you raise my girls if I weren't able to, and I'd be—well, Helena and I both would be honored if you'd be their godmother."

"No one's ever offered their children to me before," Olivia pursed her lips, and Hunnigan chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"So, is that a yes?"

"Well, I'm not what you'd call a practicing Catholic, but let's hope they won't notice."
"If I can bullshit my way through the ceremony, I'm sure you can pull it off, too."

"You have a point, I do some of my best work when I'm bullshitting."

Hunnigan got home and found Helena in the kitchen, finishing up making dinner. She walked up to Helena and wrapped her arms around her from behind. She hugged her tightly and pressed a series of small kisses onto the side of her neck.

"Hello. Great timing, dinner's just done," Helena chuckled, leaning into the embrace.
"Hey there. Where are the girls?"

"Your mom came by to kidnap them," Helena let her know as she plated a generous amount of mashed potatoes and lifted breaded and fried pieces of fish from the skillet to complete the meal, placing the pieces onto the plate as well.

"She does that fairly frequently. I'm grateful we have an enthusiastic babysitter on call, but I'm starting to miss my babies, feels like I never see them with how often mom steals them away," Hunnigan chuckled and loosened her grip on Helena slowly, allowing her to turn and head over to the dining table. She took her plate and followed her.

"Well, today she came by because she'd received a call from a one Doctor Olivia Brooks who had expressed her concern about the fact that we're apparently too exhausted to have sex anymore and that it's going to ruin our marriage, so Alix came by to take the kids for the weekend so that we can have sex," Helena summarized the events, and Hunnigan groaned, burying her face into her hand after sitting down.

"She told my mom?"
"You told her?" Helena asked, mimicking Hunnigan's tone.

"It slipped. Just be grateful I didn't tell her about the sex tape."

"You'd better not tell her, ever," Helena said seriously, as if Hunnigan genuinely had any interest in revealing to Olivia that there indeed existed a DVD containing some very sexually explicit material of the two of them. Since Hunnigan had no intention of getting pregnant again, she'd decided to document as much as possible of it all and gift it all to Helena (who totally didn't have a kink).

"Oh, my God, Olivia's head would literally explode if she ever found out about your pregnancy porn," Hunnigan chuckled.
"Must you make it sound so tawdry?" Helena pouted, and Hunnigan arched an eyebrow.

"It is tawdry."
"It was your idea!"

"Didn't say it wasn't," Hunnigan laughed. "Also, great sear on the fish, this is excellent," she then complimented.

"Why, thank you kindly," Helena drawled with a smile.
"Oh, speaking of Olivia, she said yes."

"Perfect!"
"Though, we're convinced we're both going to hell."

"Funny, I didn't think you'd be worried about such things, seeing as you claim you don't believe in these things," Helena raised an eyebrow.

"I don't, but you can't just erase a lifetime of being taught that religious figures especially are the types you shouldn't be lying to. Aren't you worried about burning in hell for being complicit in this act of betrayal?" Hunnigan then smirked, and Helena let out an amused scoff.

"I'm not your keeper."

They continued eating, discussing the upcoming ceremony. The date had been set, most of the arrangements done, now all that was left was checking and double-checking that they were both certain about the names they'd chosen for the children.

"And if the kids don't like their names, they can always change them," Helena shrugged.
"I'll drink to that," Hunnigan agreed and clinked her glass against Helena's before taking a sip. "How about we just go straight to bed after clearing the table?" she then asked.

"And sleep?"
"Yes," Hunnigan confirmed.

"Oh, good, because right now, I can't imagine any physical sensation I would enjoy more than sleep."

"I'm glad you decided to keep the name in the family," Lance smiled after the ceremony was over and all the guests had moved over to Helena and Hunnigan's house for coffee and cake after.

"Well, I know you're weird about names, and I guess I've grown attached to it too," Hunnigan shrugged one shoulder with a grin. Frankly, it had originally been Helena's suggestion, for Hunnigan hadn't even considered it originally, and thus one of the daughters had been named Nova James Kathleen while the other was given the name Stella Harper Maxine.

Now all Hunnigan had to do was to learn how to tell the two apart, because despite what everyone kept saying about how "parents just know", she sure as hell didn't. She figured it would change in time when the girls' individual personalities would begin to manifest more obviously, but for now, they were just two identical little humans who looked so much like Helena that it was downright absurd.

"Yes, give me all the babies!" Alix said happily as she sat on the couch with the girls in her lap, soon joined by Seeley as Claire handed her son over so that she could go grab a coffee.

"Hey," Lucy said in a flat voice. She'd been avoiding both of them, but especially Helena. Hunnigan was surprised she'd even agreed to attend the ceremony, and she was certain Lance and Alix had pressured her about it until she'd caved in. Hunnigan admitted she could understand why Lucy wouldn't want to be here, the house was packed with people she had a complicated history with, but then again...this was Lucy, she had a complicated history with most people she met because she had no filter and she rarely cared about other people's opinions or feelings. But this was pushing her limits, being in the same room with Olivia, and Helena, and also the big sister she'd hero-worshiped once upon a time and who was now probably upset with her over the less than nice things she'd said about her wife.

Hunnigan hadn't really had time to have a conversation with Lucy about everything that had happened, and she knew it wasn't her job to keep an eye on the volatile young woman, but she couldn't help but feel responsible for her. She didn't even know why she felt that way exactly. A part of her was also admittedly a little bit jealous because she'd been replaced by Jill Valentine who had taken Lucy under her wing.

On one hand, she was glad for it because it seemed that being Jill's protégé was doing Lucy a world of good. On the other, she couldn't help but feel a little obsolete all of a sudden, and found herself missing the time before any of the recent events had happened. Then again...erasing all that would mean erasing all the wonderful things that had happened too, and she wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

"Hey, you. How are you doing?" Hunnigan asked and put her arm around Lucy's shoulders, pulling her into a half-hug.

"I'm okay. Found a place of my own, so I'm moving out. Lance wasn't thrilled about it, but he hasn't been thrilled about a lot of things I've done recently," Lucy shrugged, and Hunnigan nodded a little, not missing the detail of Lucy was referring to her father-figure by his first name rather than calling him dad like she'd used to. Hunnigan felt bad for him because she knew how much he loved being a dad, and he was great at it too, and she knew just how much Lucy's obvious rejection hurt him. First she'd abandoned his name for the name Wesker, and now he'd been demoted from dad to some guy named Lance.

"Well...you can't live your life according to what someone else expects from you, you have to go your own way or you'll never be happy," Hunnigan said, and Lucy's eyebrow twitched in surprise; clearly she hadn't expected acceptance.

"Thank you for understanding," she said.

"Of course, but Lucy...I know you've felt...like you're not a part of the family, but no matter how grown up you get or what you change your name to, you will always be a sister to me."

"I've just been...very angry recently. Yeah, I've had cause, but I've also not handled it well, and I acknowledge that. I'm not gonna make excuses, and I'm not even gonna apologize because you know what, I'm not sorry. But I want you to know it's...something I'm working on, and maybe eventually I'll do better. I just need to get better and feel better first," Lucy said.

"All right. And you and Liv are...?"
"We're fine and it's done, nothing more to say about it," Lucy dismissed.

"Okay," Hunnigan nodded. "And you and Jill?"
"We're good," Lucy shrugged, and apparently that was all she was going to say about any of that. "And, uh, congrats on the babies, I guess, I don't think I ever told you that," she added.

"Thank you. And hey, you're an aunt now, how do you feel about that?" Hunnigan smiled.

"Nothing bad is ever going to happen to those kids because I won't let it," Lucy said and with that, she turned and walked away. Hunnigan realized her abrupt departure had less to do with the fact that she didn't want to talk anymore than it did with the fact that Helena was approaching the two of them. Apparently she didn't want to face her after everything that had been said in Raccoon City.

Hunnigan didn't blame her, she would've felt equally awkward had she been in Lucy's shoes. She also knew Helena had decided to let it go because what would've been the point of holding onto a grudge. Lucy was blunt and rude and generally didn't care, being upset with her over it would only bother Helena in the long run while Lucy would move on to not really care much.

The fact that she hadn't already actually surprised Hunnigan because she knew Lucy generally was unapologetic and shameless and usually didn't care if what she'd said or done had made others feel uncomfortable, and she certainly didn't get uncomfortable herself; the fact that she was suddenly feeling awkward enough to actively avoid Helena spoke volumes. Of what, Hunnigan didn't know, but she assumed Lucy developing a sense of common courtesy could only be a good thing.

"Leon's complaining that there's no open bar," Helena sighed as she refilled her coffee cup.
"Did he genuinely expect one?" Hunnigan snorted.

"Knowing him, he probably did, yes."

"Oh, wow, you weren't joking about the martini and the slippers," Hunnigan commented when she arrived home after her first day at work, and was greeted by Helena who directed her to the dining room where she'd set the table.

"Well, don't get used to it, but I figured since it was your first day," Helena smirked, as she brought the food from the kitchen.
"How was your first day alone with the girls?"

"There was a lot of whining and crying without you here, but at least the babies slept through most of the day," Helena said, and Hunnigan laughed. "How was your first day?" she then inquired, joining Hunnigan for dinner, suspecting she wouldn't have long before the girls would wake up from their nap, and decided to make the most of it by actually sitting down to eat for once.

"It was fine, just getting to know the place a bit, the work itself doesn't differ too much from what I was already doing, just involves less babysitting Leon," Hunnigan smirked. "But, speaking of him, my protective agent is basically the female equivalent of Leon."

"As in her name is Leona?" Helena arched an eyebrow.
"Now, that would be funny, but no, her name is Imogen, and she's very capable, but I swear, talking to her feels like talking to Leon, if Leon had a Southern accent."

"Considering she's also your driver, I hope she's not like him in that regard too," Helena muttered, still not sure how exactly had Leon managed to flip that car back in Tall Oaks, they hadn't even hit anything. That said, she admitted, she would probably have a hard time keeping a car on the road if it had zombies crawling all over it. But even so, the road had been empty and straight, and somehow Leon had managed to crash the car. It would've been impressive had it not been so dangerous.

"And if she starts flirting with you á la Leon, I want you to tell her that you are married to me, and that I will cut her."
"I don't think I'm her type, so I'm pretty sure it won't have to come to that," Hunnigan chuckled.

Helena was about to ask what it was about the protective agent that made her like Leon if it wasn't being terrible at flirting and driving, but before she could, one of the girls began to fuss and wake up, her sister joining in mere seconds later.

"I'll go," Hunnigan said, and got up.
"Thank you," Helena said, tilting her head back to receive a quick kiss onto her lips from Hunnigan as she walked past her on her way to the bedroom.

"Hello, ladies. What seems to be the problem? Hungry? Need a change? Gassy? It's gas, isn't it?" Hunnigan's voice came through on the baby monitor and Helena chuckled as she finished eating her dinner.

Hunnigan had a tendency to talk to the children like they were adults, the fact that she was the only person who did that, her tone of voice was usually enough to confuse them into stunned silence, at least momentarily.

"Yeah, I know, it's very uncomfortable, but it'll pass, trust me. That actually applies to a lot of things," she continued and Helena leaned her chin into her hand as she stopped to also listen, a smile on her lips as she thought how much she loved that woman.

"Hard times will pass, and you're always exactly where you're meant to be. It might not always seem like it, but just remember that even the challenges you'll face are there to help you grow and learn, you never get your butt kicked for no reason at all. And that is a tip from me to you."