Bo sighed and raised her hands. "I am so in love with him because I am so in love with you." She cooed as she brushed Lauren's hair down her back. The women danced in slow motion as soft music surrounded them. The succubus closed her eyes and inhaled everything about the moment. The woman in her arms. The faint smell of baby formula on her clothes. The growing warmth of their bodies against each other. She swallowed hard as she thought about how far they had come and how far they still have yet to go.
"Bo?." Lauren said. "Not yet". Bo replied as she pulled the woman even closer to her. Taking some deep breaths, she rubbed the woman's back. "This is our time."
"I know. I am just thinking that we need to put something on since the last song stopped." Lauren laughed.
"We'll make our own tune." Bo spoke softly against the doctor's chin.
"This is...was really a good idea." Lauren grabbed Bo's hands in hers and squeezed them.
"Date night? Yes, it certainly is and will be. You need to unwind. I need to unwind and our son needs to get to know his grandmother." Bo smiled as she spun the blonde around in her arms.
"I love you, Bo. This really wasn't necessary. I know you think a lot about me and how much I work." Lauren pulled the woman to her and kissed the side of her head. Tears warmed her eyes but she blinked them away.
"This is about us, babe. To be a couple and to grow as a better one. We've had so much shit go down between us that I want this time to be special. I love you too, and I do worry about your workload but I know you. You will grow from every experience that you encounter on the job. That my dear, will help our family along the way." Bo squeezed the woman and stopped moving. There they stood. Bo and Lauren.
The Dal Riata
"Now, don't think your little ass will try and thrall, Nana." Aife laughed as she held Ethan. "Don't ever say ass either, or I will bust yours."
Ethan laughed as Mason and Lou Ann looked at the duo. "He's getting so big." Lou Ann smiled.
"He is!." Mason fist bumped Ethan and the baby laughed.
"You two don't have to hang around here. I can certainly babysit, alone." Aife glanced at them and back at Ethan.
"He needs to learn about us too. We are his protectors, too." Mason and Lou Ann said in unison.
"Thank you. I appreciate that. I know Bo and Lauren will and would when we tell them that." Aife smiled.
"Do you want to hold him, Lou Ann?." Aife asked.
"Me? You're asking me?." Lou Ann's eyes went big.
"I am and you don't have to if you don't want to. I know what it's like to want to hold a baby. Long for that touch. Yours were taken away from you. You deserve to know what a baby feels like again." Aife held Ethan up in the air and blew at his belly. He laughed as his little fingers clung to her hands.
"Okay. For a little bit." Lou Ann washed her hands and walked over to the succubus. "Don't thrall her, Ethan. Be a good boy." Aife smiled as she handed him to Lou Ann.
"You love this, don't you, Aife?." Mason smiled.
"Being a grandmother? Hell yes!." The succubus clapped with glee.
The shifter laughed as the succubus took her seat and poured herself a drink. "And the others?." She asked.
"Owen said they are behaving as much as they can behave. Kenzi's still a pain but nothing he can't handle." Mason turned serious.
"My daughter is happily in love. I will never know that feeling because I wasn't raised by humans but I know I love her, Lauren and my grandson. You two are family too. This is not just a succubus giving orders to her gang. We're in this life because we look out for each other. Speaking of which, how is Sam?." Aife asked.
"Meeting new humans every day. Fishing a lot. I think he's trying his hand at golf too." Lou Ann smiled as she set Ethan down in his playpen.
"Good. I will go and see him tomorrow but for right now, fire up the grill ole boy and let's party!." Aife smiled as she stood to dance. Ethan laughed in his crib as she made eyes at him. "Nana's boy!." She blew a kiss in his direction.
"His hair is getting dark like Bo's. I thought for sure he would be a blonde." Mason smiled as he walked past Ethan.
"He's going to be gorgeous!". Aife danced around the room.
Lou Ann took her seat. She soaked it all in. Aife is a grandmother in Trick's bar. A mother. Something she had been robbed of. She is happy for the succubus given her nasty relationship with the Blood King. Some good did come out of that. Bo. Bo has the family they all craved. Someone to love and have a family with. She thought about Lauren before she met Bo. In and out of the Ash compound. Working her human hands to the bone trying to cure Nadia, not knowing he caused the curse she couldn't find the answer to. Now, she's free and the Fae bow to her. They come to her because they are forced to. Same face. Same doctor but better. "What do you need me to do?."
"Tonight? Nothing ole girl. Eat, drink or dance. Whatever floats your boat." Aife laughed.
Lou Ann laughed. This is the side of the succubus that Trick could have seen had he been a better man. A better father. She's like Bo, darker but still hints of fun run through her veins. Probably because of Isabeau. She was never a stick in the mud. She could cut a rug too, when and wherever she wanted to do so.
After the last song stopped, the succubus took a fresh glass of liquor and downed it. "How are we doing?." She cooed at Ethan. He walked from circle to circle and didn't look up.
"Umm." Lou Ann stepped forward.
"He's just teaching himself how to walk. Lauren's kid." Aife laughed.
"Hey, there's a lot of you in there too. He knows how to thrall already and he didn't need to be told how or when to do it." Lou Ann walked over and stood side by side with the succubus.
"I know but there's still a lot of Lauren in him too. I owe that woman. For my daughter and my grandson. Bo didn't know what she was and could have died or killed all of us had that doctor not helped her. The Ash would have only used her for his purposes. Not to be loved like she is right now. She has a brain, human and Fae qualities. She's a bad bitch and I love that!." Aife rubbed her hands together.
The women watched as Ethan continued circling the playpen. His hands flashed orange here and there. "Learn, baby, learn". Aife smiled.
"And we're getting all of this for Lauren". Lou Ann checked the cameras that they set up.
"Isabeau will appreciate it, too." Aife nodded.
"They need this night out. Bo couldn't hand him to you fast enough." Lou Ann laughed.
"Oh, sweetie, it has nothing to do with Ethan and more about getting the doctor all to herself." Aife laughed.
Kenzi and Tamsin.
"This is bullshit, Tams. I want to see Bo's son." Kenzi shook her head.
"Forget it, Kenzi. We aren't going anywhere near them." Tamsin walked around the room.
"We need your Valkyrie. You could use your powers on ole Owen boy." Kenzi looked outside. The big man was standing on the porch looking out.
"He's Ethan's thrall. You aren't erasing that anytime soon. If it can even be done." Tamsin took her seat and grabbed the remote.
"The brain of Lauren and the grandson of the Blood King and Hades. Shit." Kenzi slapped her leg.
"Yep, we better enjoy whatever time we have here for as long as we have to eat, sleep and shit here." Tamsin shrugged.
Kenzi rolled her eyes. Settling for living somewhere not even as glamorous as the crab shack isn't something she's up for. Bo is definitely sleeping somewhere better. Kenzi should be too. "Get your shoes back on! You are going to look for a job again." Owen pulled the woman out of her self appointed sulk.
"Right." Tamsin rolled her eyes upward and stood. Probably washing dishes or making fake and disgusting hamburgers somewhere.
"We'll eventually be free, Tamsin." Kenzi rubbed the woman's back.
"Face it, we will never be free of this shit. Not unless you can melt Ethan's heart and he undoes this. He's not even talking yet, there's no way he's going to do that anytime soon." Tamsin looked out at the truck.
"Then we try his mother. Lauren knows what it's like to be caged to someone or something. She knows what it's like to want to be free." Kenzi whispered as they followed Owen.
"Lauren only had the Ash to fear. We have Bo and her crazy ass mother to contend with. Let's just bide our time until we can come up with a better plan." Tamsin climbed into the massive sized truck and buckled her seat belt.
Kenzi frowned when the others weren't looking. There has to be a way. A way to get back to Bo and have some sort of relationship with her. They were best friends once. They can be again. She misses that familial feeling. This is far from that.
Lauren and Bo.
"This is really good. Just the right amount of carbohydrates and calories." Lauren smiled into her drink.
"Uh, can you not do that? No work tonight, remember?." Bo laughed.
"Right. I don't need to worry about that anyways because I won't gain weight unless I carry our next child." Lauren set the glass down and took a bite.
"Oh, yeah. Let's talk about that." Bo winked.
"You want me to carry the next one?". Lauren smiled.
"You don't have to, babe. I can carry all of them." Bo took a drink.
"All of them? How many are you expecting?." Lauren smiled.
"As many as you want to have. This isn't all about me." Bo replied.
"The Brady bunch would be too many. Two to five. I guess. I don't know but knowing us we'll probably have one right after the other. I know Ethan will already be a wonderful big brother." Lauren wiped her mouth with her napkin.
"He is already a wonderful son." Bo smiled with pride.
"He really is. I will carry the next one Bo. When we make the next one." Lauren smiled and laughed as blue eyes stared from across the table. "Not here."
"Sorry about that." Bo shook her head until her eyes were dark again.
"I know we thought about a big family but it doesn't need to be so big that we keep needing to upsize the house." Lauren leaned back in her seat.
"Lauren, I will make you a mother over and over again for as long as you want me to." Bo winked.
"Unless, I make you a mother again." Lauren laughed.
"That sounds like a bet. No, no. More like a challenge." Bo put both hands on the table and eyed the doctor."
"Not here, Bo. Besides, it's still early. I am not ready to go home yet." Lauren looked around.
"Okay. We can find other things to do. Take a walk. Take a drive. Shoot pool. Anything will be fine with me." Bo finished her food and leaned back when the waitress came to collect it.
"I'm finished too." Lauren smiled at the woman and she nodded.
"Get lost." Bo looked at the woman.
"Bo. Stop." Lauren laughed.
"I didn't like how she was looking at you, Lauren." Bo looked at the woman until she was long gone.
"For goodness sakes, Bo. We were just talking about more kids and you think I want another woman?." Lauren laughed.
"She wants you, love. I never said you want her." Bo tapped the table with her finger.
"Ahh, yeah. We need to get out of here." Lauren nodded and threw some money on the table before standing to leave. The doctor laughed as Bo stared the woman down all the way out of the club. "Bo, if you walk into something, I won't heal you, afterwards."
"I can heal from you anytime that I want." Bo winked as she turned around.
"She was just doing her job." Lauren pulled her car keys out and turned the alarm off. She walked around to the driver's side and they both climbed in. She turned to the succubus and pulled her into a hot and wet kiss. "You are mine and I am yours."
"Lauren." Bo held onto blonde hair.
"I know." Lauren smiled as she pulled back.
The doctor started the car and they were off. Down the long road she drove into the darkness. The car was nice and warm. Bo reached over and grabbed her free hand. "I should be the only one that looks at you like that. I wasn't implying that I don't trust you. But women will learn to control their eyes. Even in a professional capacity."
"I know, Bo. That was adorable of you, though." Lauren squeezed Bo's hand as the succubus held onto hers.
"She's lucky I tipped her after that." Bo laughed and gently let the woman's hand go.
"They can look all that they want. I will only go home with you." Lauren readied for her next turn.
"Where are we going?." Bo asked.
"I have no idea. I just felt like driving. We still have some time before we have to pick up Ethan." The doctor eyed the clock.
"I am sure mom won't care how long she has him." Bo laughed. The old succubus practically jumped out of her skin when they showed up without calling to ask her first.
"I know but we agreed on a time, and we need to try and keep that schedule." Lauren nodded.
"Yeah. He can't even think for a second that we have left him." Bo turned serious.
"She didn't mean it, Bo. None of it. She loves you. She always has. I never told you this. But I tapped all the way back to you in that crib when I still had your memories. I didn't stay there long. I just wanted to see how far I could go. Trick was a horrible father to her. She didn't know what it is like to be a parent then. She's trying to make up for that, now." Lauren grabbed Bo's hand and held it.
"I know. I know. It's just something that still gets my goat. He was a bastard father. My only saving grace is that he's dead. The darkness lived in me so long that I thought I couldn't ever be more than I was." Bo squeezed Lauren's hand and released it.
"This is supposed to be a happy time, right? We can't pick up Ethan like this. He will pick up on everything about us." Lauren stopped the car and looked at Bo. "Good idea." Bo nodded and climbed out of the car. The doctor watched her bend over, stand up and scream. "Feel better now?." She asked when Bo climbed back in.
"Let's sit on the hood for a little while." Bo gestured as she pulled the blanket from the back seat. She climbed on first and pulled Lauren into her arms. There they sat staring at the stars. "We're better now." Bo whispered and kissed the top of Lauren's head. She licked her lips and closed her eyes. There isn't a medicine that can heal or compare to the woman in her arms. There's still a hint of darkness in Lauren but there's enough light to pull Bo from her own dark thoughts. They have a son who they both adore. They have a life that keeps getting better and better. "We need to go sweetie." Lauren spoke softly.
"Let's go get him!." Bo smiled and Lauren pulled away and helped Bo down. "Don't dent my hood." She winked at the succubus.
Bo laughed. "Yeah, right. Laren Lewis is worried about material possessions." The women climbed into the car. "Our next date will be much better, babe. Sorry about that back there."
"There is nothing for you to be sorry about Bo. Everything doesn't have to be perfect. Not even the hood of my car." Lauren waited for time to turn.
"No. But, you are perfect for me. For this life that I wasn't sure about before I met you. There were a lot of dark thoughts, Lauren. I just need to take my own advice and let it go. Be happy. Be a mother. Be a lover." Bo shook until the moment had left her body.
Lauren reached over and squeezed Bo's leg. "We will both love you through it all, Bo. Our son and I will love you through it all."
"I am sure when I see him, I will be better. Much better. He's the best of both of us. Strong, smart and brave." Bo smiled and clapped her hands.
"And there he is." Lauren laughed as she noticed the lights inside in the Dal were unusually bright.
"Shit, I hope they are still alive." Bo frowned as they climbed out and raced inside. "No freaking way!." She laughed.
"Go son, go!." Lauren laughed as they all clapped as Ethan was dressed in disco gear and dancing around the room.
"If he starts breakdancing, I will lose my shit." Bo nudged Lauren.
"He already did that." Lou Ann laughed as she pointed towards the cameras.
"This is a keeper!." Bo laughed as the music stopped but he didn't. "Lauren has rhythm like that."
"Bo!." Lauren laughed.
"Facts is facts, doctor". Bo smiled and turned to the baby again.
TBC