The flower shop bell chimed, a sound that hadn't changed in a decade.

"Mum! MUM!" A dark-haired girl of five burst through the door, her schoolbag bouncing wildly. "Guess what I learnt today!"

Lauren looked up from her arrangement, smiling at her daughter's enthusiasm. "What did you learn, Charlie?"

"Sea dragons can change COLOUR!" Charlie's eyes were wide with excitement. "Just like Auntie Kenzi said!"

"Is that so?" Lauren shared an amused look with Bo, who had followed their adopted daughter inside at a more reasonable pace.

"Like mother, like daughter," Bo grinned, crossing to kiss her wife hello. "She's been talking about it non-stop since nursery."

Seventeen-year-old Kenzi appeared in the doorway, her school uniform pristine despite having just finished sixth form for the day. "Lauren! I've got another brilliant question for you!" She paused, noticing her niece. "Oh! Did someone mention sea dragons?"

"Auntie Kenzi!" Charlie tugged on her sleeve, just as Kenzi used to do with Lauren years ago. "Did you know they change colour?"

"Of course, darling! Lauren taught me that ages ago," Kenzi beamed at the florist who had become like a second mother to her. "But did you know that the male sea dragons are the ones who carry the babies?"

"Really?" Charlie's eyes went round.

"Lauren," Kenzi turned to the blonde, "could you explain the biological process? I tried telling Charlie earlier but I don't think I got all the scientific bits quite right."

Bo laughed. "Perhaps after supper? We have reservations at that new Italian place."

"Oh! Reservations for four?" Kenzi asked sweetly. "I promise I won't ask too many questions this time." She smoothed her skirt. "Well, perhaps just one or two."

"When have you ever asked just one or two questions?" Bo teased gently.

"I've grown tremendously mature, I'll have you know," Kenzi declared, then immediately turned to Lauren. "Oh! Before I forget - what happens when two black holes collide? I was reading about it in the library during lunch and got confused about the physics."

Lauren caught Bo's eye, both of them hiding smiles. Some things never changed.

Later that evening, they were seated at their table when Bo suddenly stiffened. Across the restaurant sat Dyson with a lovely woman Bo recognized as Alicia, a former client from his firm.

"Is that Dyson?" Kenzi whispered, her eyes bright. "Oh, his hair's gone a bit grey, hasn't it? But he's still quite handsome."

"Should we say hello?" Lauren asked softly.

Charlie, who had been colouring quietly, looked up. "Who's that?"

"An old friend," Bo explained, standing. "Would you like to meet him?"

The introductions were warm, if slightly awkward at first. But then Charlie, in her infinite five-year-old wisdom, asked Alicia if she knew about sea dragons, and suddenly everyone was laughing.

"She's beautiful," Dyson said softly to Bo, watching Charlie enthusiastically explain marine biology to an amused Alicia. "Just like her mums."

"Thank you," Bo smiled. "You look happy."

"I am," he glanced at Alicia with soft eyes. "We both found our way in the end, didn't we?"

"We did," Bo agreed, catching Lauren's eye across the table.

"Oh! Dyson," Kenzi piped up, unable to contain herself any longer, "did you know that sea dragons are related to seahorses? Lauren explained it all to me last week. It's absolutely fascinating!"

Dyson's eyes crinkled with familiar warmth. "Still asking all the important questions, I see."

"Always," Kenzi beamed. "Someone has to, don't they?"

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Later that night, after Charlie was tucked in with her toy sea dragons, and Kenzi had finally exhausted her supply of questions ("But Lauren, just one more about black holes, please?"), Bo found Lauren in their bedroom.

"That went better than expected," Lauren said, pulling Bo close.

"It did," Bo agreed. "Though I think Charlie's made Alicia promise to take her to the aquarium."

"Like mother, like daughter - making friends wherever she goes."

They settled into bed, wrapped in familiar comfort. Downstairs, they could hear Kenzi quietly reading a science book to Charlie through the baby monitor - a nightly ritual she'd started when Charlie first came home.

"Ten years," Bo mused, playing with Lauren's fingers. "Did you ever think we'd end up here?"

"Here specifically? No," Lauren smiled. "But happy? Together? That I never doubted."

"No regrets?"

"Not a single one."

From downstairs, they heard Charlie's sleepy voice: "Auntie Kenzi, what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

Lauren laughed softly. "Some things really don't change."

"Thank goodness for that," Bo whispered, pulling her wife closer.

And as they drifted off to sleep, their daughter's gentle breathing mixing with Kenzi's patient scientific explanations floating up from the monitor, both women knew that every choice, every moment had led them exactly where they were meant to be.

Home.

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-The End-

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#Do let me know what you think.