Alright, everyone, this officially takes us to the end of what I had written. I'm sure there will be more, but this is the end of the piece that I had. I hope everyone has enjoyed this digression back into our little world. This story has been a happy place for me for a long time, and I hope it's been that for you as well. I'll try to keep adding. With that said...enjoy!

They made their way to the living room. Lauren took it in again. Her eyes started with the walls, looking at the pictures that had been hung. She saw canvas prints, a mixture of her and Bo's styles. She saw a reproduction of Jackson Pollock, the chaotic streaks of paint, the frantic energy of the piece. She knew Bo loved these works. Nearby, another abstract, but this one by Rothko – this being Lauren's style, bold colors in large segments, more controlled, inviting the eye to sink in. The colors of the painting were complimentary and seeing them in tandem gave Lauren a happiness she couldn't exactly explain.

She turned her eyes to the bookshelf. In the lower left she saw a small stuffed frog, a few wooden children's toys, and several neatly lined up children's books. Lauren kneeled, reading the spines of the books. A collection of Aesop's Fables was the tallest book, beside A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh collection. Goodnight, Moon was next in line, and beside it, copies of Paddington and Peter Pan.

"What's this?" Lauren asked.

"I thought those might be nice if Michael's family came over," Bo answered, quietly. "I know Michael and Jenn aren't nearby, but still – a space for things for Oliver. We can add to it as he gets older and gets interested in different things. Or if Kenzi and Nate have kids – I just wanted to start a little area for them."

A tear unexpectedly sprang to Lauren's eye. "This is for Oliver?" She felt her chest catch. "You did all this…and you even thought to put in a little space for Oliver?"

"He's our nephew," Bo responded.

Our nephew. Lauren wiped away the tear. She stood back up, her eyes trailing over the framed photos, seeing one of Michael, Jenn, and brand-new baby Oliver, taken just three days after he was born – mother looking exhausted and in love with her little boy, father looking like he was bursting with pride and adoration, and baby looking grumpy and irritated that he was part of a photoshoot.

Her gaze traveled further, seeing other photos – their friends, the two of them together. Lauren's eyes caught on one further down, a picture of her parents, looking as stilted and wooden as they always did, but despite this, Lauren was still touched that she had found one to frame.

She felt Bo approach her, felt Bo's hand ghost lightly over her lower back, her eyes looking at the photo with Lauren. "I went through some of your photos and tried to pick a few…" her voice trailed off.

"You…this took so much time," Lauren breathed, awed anew at the scope.

"The pictures might have taken the longest," Bo conceded. "But mostly because I kept getting caught on pictures of you when you were a kid. You were so fucking adorable."

"Thank you for not framing those," Lauren remarked, her voice teasing.

"I made an album."

Lauren rolled her eyes at the joke, but then stopped when Bo reached out a pulled down a leather-bound book with the word Memories stamped on the front. "Please tell me you didn't…"

Bo flipped open the cover and Lauren groaned at being greeted with the sight of her with bangs, with ill fitting tee shirts, with awkward elbows and knobby knees. "Not fair," Lauren protested. I don't have these kinds of pictures of you she mentally added, but didn't vocalize, knowing the reason she didn't was because Bo's parents had never bothered to take them.

"Did Dyson help you hang the TV?" Lauren joked.

Bo laughed. "No, he didn't. Did you know they put instructions in the box? That made it so much easier."

Lauren laughed in response. "We need to go shopping for some furniture," she noted.

Bo nodded. "Yeah, we do. I was thinking maybe a sectional? Something nice to curl up on. Maybe a nice ottoman."

Lauren turned and gathered Bo in her arms, kissing her, her head angling to the side as she sighed into Bo. She pulled back slightly, her arms still looped around Bo, and rested her forehead on Bo's. "It's all so perfect."

"It had to be. It's for you."

"How did you decide what to hang in which room?" Lauren asked. "You put certain pictures in my office, and certain ones in here. How'd you decide?"

Bo thought for a moment. "I didn't want to put many big things on the walls in your office, because I knew you'd probably want to pick things. I know there's a cork board in your office at the hospital, so I figured you'd need one of those. The postcards…the Magritte…" she paused, and Lauren thought about the picture of the man with the apple in front of his face. "I've been having these dreams…"

Lauren was thrown for a moment, waiting to see where this was going.

"Do you remember the day we were joking about the 'apple a day keeps the doctor away' thing? Anyway, ever since then, I guess I sort of associate you with apples…and I started realizing on nights where I have good, happy dreams, there are always apples in them. Well, actually, I didn't realize that, on my own, but…it's…come up a couple times. In therapy." Bo shrugged. "So, I don't know…that was that one."

"What about the house?" Lauren asked. "The deed, and the blueprint?"

Bo considered this. "That's… your engagement ring, I guess." Lauren stayed quiet. Bo hesitated, thinking. "You said before that you didn't think you'd get married. And I guess…I mean, I never wanted a relationship, so marriage was so far off my radar that I never really thought about it. But then we started talking about moving in together, and I found this house…" She paused again, and smiled faintly. "And, without consulting you at all, just…jumped. That might be selfishness, too."

Lauren was about to protest, but Bo stilled her with a hand. "That was sort of a joke." Lauren calmed. Bo shrugged, pressing on. "I don't know. When we decided to move in together, and I found the house…I pictured this whole life for us here. It was so clear to me, I could see every part of it. And I know this might sound kind of weird but…I think…I think that might be when I married you. Like, mentally…this house was where you'd be my wife. And once that was in my mind, it just…stayed there."

Lauren was silent for a moment as Bo spoke, and then, shocking them both, started to laugh.

"Um…" Bo said, uncertainly.

"You…when you bought this, that's when…" she laughed again. "I'm sorry, I'm just…this was when you switched over to marriage for us?"

Bo looked uncomfortable. "Um…"

Lauren grabbed Bo and kissed her. "Okay. You've shared a lot tonight. Now I have a story for you."

Bo looked wary. "Okay…"

Lauren ran a soothing finger over Bo's cheek. "I bought that ring. And I carried it, and I stared at it, and it…it ate me alive, honestly. You wrote that letter to my mother, and I just…walked into a jewelry store. And then I told myself I was crazy, that I shouldn't do it…anyway. I actually did work up the nerve. I planned to propose to you."

Bo looked confused. "What? When?"

"The day you showed me the house. I told you I had something to talk to you about…well, I had the ring in my purse. And then you brought me here, and…I talked myself back out of it."

Bo thought for a moment. "I remember you saying it was my house…not our house."

Lauren nodded. "Yeah…I don't know, I was just in my head about it, I guess. And I started telling myself that if you were still making decisions as a single person – buying a house, moving forward with your life on your own – that you clearly didn't want to get married. And, honestly, if that had been true, and if we had never gotten married…I mean, as long as we belong to each other, I could have made that be enough. It's just…the irony, you know? That you saw this house and made you marry me in your mind, and when you brought me here I went the other way."

"You had to know I wouldn't say no, though," Bo commented.

Lauren smiled and cocked her head slightly to the side. "Yeah, see, that's when Vex said. I think I was more afraid you would say yes."

Bo was awash in confusion waiting. When Lauren didn't continue, she prompted her on. "Why in the world would you be afraid of that?"

Lauren looked up towards the ceiling, absently noting that it also bore a fresh coat of paint, while she thought over her words. When she was ready, she brought her eyes back to Bo. "Your parents aren't the only ones who have cast a sort of shadow over us," she began. She started thinking about what to say next. After a few moments had passed, Bo stepped forward and crooked a finger under her chin. "I set up our bedroom, at least a little bit. Want to go sit in there?"

Lauren looked into Bo's eyes, feeling the peace that came from being with her wife. She nodded, and Bo took her hand, leading her down the hall.

When they got to the bedroom, then climbed onto the bed. Bo scooted back towards the headboard and wordlessly gathered Lauren to her, positioning her to recline against Bo's chest. Settled in her warmth, Lauren took a moment to appreciate the quality of the mattress, the softness of the blankets, the fact that the nightstands were already assembled and standing on either side of the bed with a coaster already on Lauren's waiting to protect the wood from her morning coffee.

"Sorry, the furniture situation is still a little limited," Bo commented.

Lauren turned to look up at Bo, reaching her hand up to pull Bo's lips down to hers. She gave Bo a languid kiss, enraptured by the softness against her own. "Please don't say 'sorry' any more tonight."

After the kiss, she relaxed against Bo again, the silence gently coasting over them once more. She felt Bo's hand drift up, her thumb gentle rubbing the back of Lauren's neck. Lauren's eyes dropped closed for a moment, the tender slide of skin on skin lulling her into peace as her muscles sank further against her favorite person in the world. She took a deep inhale and murmured "God, I'm so in love with you," without thinking. She heard Bo's heart beat a touch faster and smiled.

"I didn't know it was possible to love someone the way I love you," Bo replied, her voice low. "So…why were you afraid I'd want to marry you?"

Lauren slid her hand up to Bo's breast, her fingers loose and languid against the swell of it. She let her hand rest there. "I wasn't afraid you'd want to marry me," she clarified. "I was…afraid you would marry me, without actually wanting to."

Bo didn't speak, just waiting while Lauren gathered her thoughts once more.

"I don't know if my parents love each other," she continued on. "They stay together, they'll probably always be together. But I don't know if they love each other. I suspect that they don't. I don't really even know why they got married in the first place, other than just as a business arrangement." She felt Bo's thumb continuing its gentle pressure on her neck, continuing to stroke softly. Her fingers flexed slightly, her fingertips pressing very slightly into Bo's flesh. "They had to love one another at some point, right? I mean, they decided to get married. They have two children. There had to be something that led them to that. But…they don't talk to each other, you know? I can't say that I've seen my dad light up when my mom comes in the room. They don't laugh with each other. I just…I don't know. That was what marriage was, you know? That's what I always saw."

"You were afraid we'd love each other less if we got married?" Bo asked.

"I wouldn't love you less," Lauren replied. "But…I don't know. I knew if I asked, you'd say yes, because it seems like I can get you to say yes to a lot of things." Lauren's fingers unconsciously tightened on Bo's breast, and Lauren felt Bo smile above her. "But I was terrified of that…wooden energy my parents have, you know? Or that…I don't know. You said that if I opened you up I wouldn't like what was inside. Well, I feel like that, too – if you looked inside of me…I mean, you're a force of nature. And I'm just…I don't know, me. What if I'm not enough?"

"How could you ever not be enough?"

A sad smile ghosted across Lauren's face as she lifted her head to meet Bo's gaze. "I wasn't enough. Very recently, I wasn't."

Bo was statute still. "Lauren…"

Lauren shook her head. "I wasn't."

The quiet descended again.

Lauren laid back down, her hand relaxing back into its position on Bo's breast. "It scared me. The reality that you needed things I couldn't do for you…it was terrifying. Because, I just…I wanted to fix it, you know? I was afraid of being like my parents and just existing near you without us really…having each other. And then I was scared that the weight of everything you were going through was going to just…" She gathered herself again, swiping her thumb lightly over Bo's nipple, absently registering how it tightened under her thumb.

"You're like the sun," she continued on. "You're warm, and fiery, and a force. And if you're the sun, then I'm…the moon. And without the sun, the moon is just…dark. Cold. Blank."

"The moon is gravity," Bo responded. "You're my gravity."

Lauren felt an unexpected tear come to her eye as she moved up, removing her hand from Bo's breast to rest it against her cheek, angling her face to Lauren's to kiss her. And you're my warmth was the thought in Lauren's head, but she didn't bother to vocalize it as she felt Bo's mouth open, as she felt their tongues rolls together in a way that was so comfortingly familiar and made her feel lightheaded at the same time.

She scooted up slightly, reveling in the press of Bo's body under hers, her arms winding around Bo's neck. She felt Bo's arms loop around her waist, tugging her body in closer. She felt more than heard a whimpering sigh from Bo, and she felt her heart pound in response, her brain fogging over at the sensations Bo caused.

She felt Bo's hand drift and cup her ass, tugging Lauren to straddle Bo's leg. Lauren turned slightly to comply. Her hand found its way back to Bo's breast, stroking softly. The kiss continued on, and Lauren's opposite hand became lost in Bo's hair, feeling the dark, silky strands winding between her fingers. She felt Bo's fingers tighten on her ass, urging her hips to move slightly. Lauren pulled back, putting only a breath of space between them. At the breaking of the kiss, Bo's eyes came open slowly to find Lauren's. "If you keep kissing me like that I'm going to use you for sex," Lauren teased, her voice low and hoarse.

Bo couldn't stop the laugh that came from her, and Lauren felt the sunlight of the noise, vibrant and alive, wash over her.

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