"I'm really sorry," Emily murmured, crawling into bed with Alex the next night. "I feel really awful about what I said and I can't stand having you mad at me..."
Alex set aside her book to look at Emily over the rims of her glasses. "So, my concerns over Lindy's health aren't pissing you off?" she asked pointedly. Her stare may have kowtowed weaker people, but Emily was long since used to her wife's bitter anger on the rare occasion when she was the unfortunate victim of it.
Emily sighed softly. She knew Alex wasn't wrong to be upset, but that didn't mean she was glad to experience said upset. "I said that in the heat of the moment and I truly regret that I did – it was more out of misplaced anxiety than any actual anger at you."
She nodded as if she'd expected as much. "Well, I forgive you," she said primly, setting the book in her lap and resting her hands on it. "But you can't just belittle my feelings like that – it's not easy dealing with all these hormones and emotional changes and..." She trailed off, shaking her head.
Emily moved to straddle Alex's lap, cupping her cheeks and forcing her to meet her gaze. "Alex, I need you to know that I am so amazed by how strong you are. I know it's been rough on you lately and I'm sorry I haven't been more supportive. I'll do better because I absolutely cannot stand it when you're angry with me."
For a few moments, Alex stared into her eyes with unreadable emotion behind her gaze. But only briefly before they flickered to life with levity. She leaned in to kiss her, softly at first, then with hunger.
With a soft little whimper, Emily wrapped an arm around Alex's neck, fingers tangling in her hair. Between kisses, she managed to utter, "Someone's feeling frisky..."
Alex hummed in agreement, pulled back to fix Emily with a raised brow. "Is that a problem?" she asked playfully, a little smirk playing about her lips.
"Of course not," she was quick to insist, letting her lips wander along her throat to nip at her collarbone. "It's just...been awhile since we've done this..." she added, lips brushing the skin of Alex's clavicle.
"Well, I want to do it now," she husked, tilting her head to give her better access.
Emily seemed about to question further, but Alex didn't give her the chance, flipping them over so she could hover over her, her hand slipping past the hem of Emily's nightgown in search of her clit.
Before they could get very far along, though, the baby monitor crackled to life with Lindy's cry. Emily groaned audibly, her body going slack as her arousal quickly ebbed. "Fuck..." she said under her breath, then sighed. "I'll get her," she said louder.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked, rolling off her, "Because I could..."
She stood, pulling on her robe. "I'll be fine. You stay here and stay horny..." she said with a wink.
When she returned, Alex was eager to know why Lindy had woken. "Is she okay?" she asked, rather anxiously.
"Fine," Emily assured her, "She was just a little hungry." She knelt on the bed, once again capturing Alex's lips, eager to pick up where they'd left off. "We're out of bottles, by the way," she added between kisses.
"Then what did you feed her?"
Emily pulled back to give her a look that seemed to wonder why they were still talking about it instead of having sex. "Formula."
In the next moment, Alex had pushed Emily away with an exclamation of, "You didn't!" She was scrambling out of bed and grabbing her robe before Emily could protest. "Emily!"
"What?" Emily wanted to know, genuinely mystified as to what it was that she'd done wrong. "I know we agreed to primarily breastfeed, but we said occasionally formula was..." She was forced to get out of bed to follow Alex as she headed to the nursery where she found her feeling for a pulse on Lindy's arm, checking her breathing. "Alex, what is going on?"
Without words, Alex proceeded to move through the house to the pantry, inspecting the cans of formula. "I threw these out!" she said, turning to Emily with an accusatory glare. She brandished the can at her like it were incriminating evidence of some heinous crime she'd committed.
"Alex, formula is like a dollar an ounce! We can't just throw it away," she protested. "We won't use it all the time and whatever we don't use, we can donate. It's fine."
"It's not fine!" Alex snapped, slamming the canister in her hand down on the counter. "This poison is going to kill our daughter!"
What followed was several long moments of bowstring taut silence.
Emily's mouth opened, closed, uselessly several times. "Are... Are you...suggesting I'm poisoning our daughter?"
"No! But someone is."
"Alex, I love you, but do you hear yourself? How would someone even do that?" Emily asked, trying to keep her voice level and calm.
She shook her head urgently. "You do not get to call me crazy. You and I both know formula poisoning has happened before..." She let out a shuddering breath, clearly struggling to hold back tears.
"Al, I know," she murmured, reaching for her hands and squeezing them tight. "But those cases were all for a specific motive – what would be the point in poisoning just Lindy?"
"I don't know!" Alex said on a sob. "I have no idea, okay? But someone is!" Her breath came in shudders and gasps, tears spilling down her face. "I need you to believe me right now! As my wife, I need you to be on my side!"
Emily cupped her cheek, breathing slowly so Alex would mimic her, calming her down. "Okay, Al. I believe you." She smiled softly, waiting for her wife to mirror the expression and hoping like hell it looked so much more comforting than it felt.