Disclaimer- Not the Beatles

Well, I’ve written a couple of chapters without an outline and I fear they have suffered in quality for it. I promise to get back on track with the next chapter and attempt to return to a better quality product…

And I apologize if my lack of regular updates has caused anyone to lose interest in this story. It is my intention for this particular incarnation of Bianca and Maggie to continue for a while longer, while I finish outlining the two new stories I have planned. Even though I’m not very structured with this story, I love it too much to let it go…

A little fun here, a lot of Kenlee… enjoy…

Every little thing she does is magic

Everything she do just turns me on

Even though my life before was tragic

Now I know my love for her goes on

The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Chapter 14

Venice, Italy

April, 2006

“Oh, no!” Bianca shouted later as they stood at a gondola jetty, waving a finger back and forth at Maggie. “You are not getting me back in one of those things! Not after the last time!”

Maggie took Bianca’s hands. “It’ll be okay this time, I promise.”

Bianca tried to back away, tugging her hands from Maggie’s grasp. “No, Maggie. Come on…”

“Binks, look at me. I promise that nothing will happen. There is not a fish in the world that can entice me in for a closer look and knock me overboard.” Bianca gave her a look, her eyebrows knotting together in doubt. Maggie put her hand to her chest. “I promise.”

“Okay,” Bianca sighed. “But don’t come running to me if you fall into a canal.”

Maggie gave Bianca a look. “Um, okay.”

“Oh, you know what I mean!”

“Come on, Boom Boom. Let’s take a ride.”

Bianca lowered her head then glanced at Maggie coyly through her eyelashes. She eyed the gondola for a moment before turning to Maggie once again. Suddenly, the idea of taking a romantic ride on a gondola with Maggie was extremely appealing. The evening temperature had dipped into the 50’s, the sun was sinking into the Adriatic Sea and stars were starting to twinkle in the sky. Cuddling up under a blanket, holding Maggie in her arms… yeah, Bianca could do that.

“Oh, alright,” she acquiesced.

That beloved lopsided Stone grin lit up Maggie’s face. “Alright,” she replied, taking Bianca’s hand and leading her to the boat.

Tossing a wink at the gondolier as she helped Bianca in, Maggie got them settled onto the red leather seat, throwing a soft blanket over their legs.

After pushing off from the pilings, the gondolier steered away from the Grand Canal into a smaller one, guiding them deep into the heart of Venice. Maggie took Bianca’s arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, nestling close to Bianca’s side. She kissed Bianca’s hand and laced their fingers together as Bianca pulled her arm tight around Maggie’s body.

The sky turned to a gentle gold with hints of rose as the sun sank deeper into the sea behind them. Bianca looked up between the buildings and saw a lone star in the darkening velvet of the sky.

“Star light, star bright,” she murmured softly. “I wish I may, I wish I might…”

Maggie nuzzled closer. “Have the wish I wish tonight,” she finished.

There was silence for a moment then Bianca brushed a kiss on Maggie’s forehead. “Well? Did you make a wish?”

“Nah,” Maggie replied with a giggle. “Mine have all come true already.”

Smiling, Bianca pressed her lips again to Maggie’s forehead. “Mine, too.”

The gondolier pushed the boat up a calm canal, Palazzo del Priuli lying just to their right, serene in the fading light of evening. Then the gondolier began to sing, his clear tenor sparkling in the air.

Quando sono solo
sogno all’orizzonte
e mancan le parole,
Si lo so che non c’è luce
in una stanza quando manca il sole,
se non ci sei tu con me, con me.
Su le finestre
mostra a tutti il mio cuore
che hai acceso ,chiudi dentro mela luce che
hai incontrato per strada.

“I love this song,” Maggie murmured. “Do you know it’s not Time to Say Good Bye?”

Bianca glanced down at her. “What do you mean?”

“That’s not what the song means. It’s actually I’ll Go With You.” She looked up into Bianca’s eyes. “It means going wherever you go and seeing the world with you.”

“I’d go anywhere with you, Maggie.”

“I know. I’d go with you, too.”

Con te partirò.
Paesi che non ho mai
veduto e vissuto con te,
adesso si li vivrò,
Con te partirò
su navi per mari
che, io lo so,
no, no, non esistono più,
con te io li vivrò.

Quando sei lontana
sogno all’orizzonte
e mancan le parole,
e io sì lo so
che sei con me,
tu mia luna tu sei qui con me,
mio sole tu sei qui con me,
con me, con me, con me.

They cuddled closer together as the gondolier sang, pushing the gondola effortlessly down the smooth-as-glass canal. His voice became stronger as they floated along, giving Maggie goose bumps as she nestled closer in Bianca’s arms.

Bianca wrapped both arms around Maggie and held her close, relishing the feel of warm skin against her cheek where Maggie’s forehead rested. Maggie let her hand fall to Bianca’s knee as she titled her head to press a kiss against the smooth neck she was nestled into.

With a gentle touch, Bianca slipped a finger beneath Maggie’s chin, tilting the young blonde’s eyes up towards hers.

“Happy birthday, Maggie.”

Maggie grinned. “Oh, yeah, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”

Bianca matched her grin. “That’s one reason.”

“Thanks for the great birthday present, Bianca. It’s incredible to be here with you and Miranda.” They fell silent, just gazing lovingly into each others eyes. “Hey, Binks?”

“Yeah?”

“You gonna kiss me or you just gonna sit there?”

Chuckling, Bianca dipped her head and captured Maggie’s lips with her own. It didn’t take Maggie long to return the kiss, her hand sneaking up to gently cradle Bianca’s cheek.

Con te partirò.
Paesi che non ho mai
veduto e vissuto con te,
adesso si li rivivrò.
Con te partirò
su navi per mari
che, io lo so,
no, no, non esistono più,

con te io li rivivrò.
Con te partirò

su navi per mari
che, io lo so,
no, no, non esistono più,
con te io li rivivrò.
Con te partirò.
Io con te.

They glided silently under a classical Venetian bridge as the last notes of the gondolier’s voice danced away in the evening air, their lips still pressed sweetly together.

The rest of the ride was a blur to them both. They somehow made their way back to the suite, collapsing together onto the king sized bed and spending the rest of the night showing each other the extent of their love and affection.

xxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, back in Paris…

“Stop it.”

“You stop it.”

“You stop it first.”

“No, you stop it first.”

“Both of you stop it!” Zach roared, his last nerve finally shredded beyond repair.

Kendall and Greenlee jerked still, spines straight as arrows, eyes as large as saucers. Greenlee made a face at Kendall, motioning with her head toward Zach. Kendall shrugged imperceptibly, shocked by the explosive non-Zach-like behavior.

Leo padded up to Zach’s side and leapt into his lap, curling up and eying the women on the other side of the room. They were much louder with his Master gone. If he could, he would bite them both on the butt to shut them up.

Sadly, they were never close enough for him to accomplish his desire. He narrowed his little cat eyes and just contented himself with glaring at them.

He couldn’t wait for his Master to come home, he really missed her.

xxxxxxx

Back in Venice...

Bianca woke early the next morning, unsure what had roused her from such a contented sleep, but awake just the same. She slipped quietly out of the tousled king sized bed and went to the nursery to check on Miranda. The little girl was still sleeping soundly so, after a gentle kiss on the forehead, Bianca returned to the master suite.

The scene that awaited her took her breath away. Sun streamed in the bedroom window, glinting off the lagoon just outside the hotel and drenching the room in its warm golden glow. It spilled across the bed where Maggie slept, her tan limbs and blonde hair in contrast to the snow white sheets. Bare skin peeked out here and there, a silken leg thrown over the sheet, a burnished shoulder beneath love-tossed hair, the gently curving back with a swath of linen tossed carelessly across the perfect behind it gracefully melded into.

Tossing aside her robe, Bianca slipped back into bed, sliding up behind Maggie and slipping her arms around the sleeping blonde, smiling at the feel of warm, smooth skin against her own. Maggie mumbled sleepily as she snuggled back into Bianca’s embrace, purring sensually when Bianca pressed a kiss to her sun-warmed shoulder.

“Morning,” Maggie whispered.

“Shh,” Bianca replied. “Go back to sleep.”

“M’kay.” Slipping her hand into Bianca’s and lacing their fingers, Maggie sighed. “We have to go back soon, don’t we?”

“Yeah. But not today.”

“Good…”

“Sleep, Maggie.”

“Love you, Boom-Boom.”

“I love you, too, Tiger.” Pressing her lips to Maggie’s neck, Bianca smiled against the warm flesh. “I love you, too.”

After spending another day in Venice, then stopping over in Milan to shop, Bianca, Maggie and Miranda flew home to Paris. Maggie was not looking forward to returning to classes, but the time away seemed to have done her and Bianca a world of good. Maggie couldn’t remember a better birthday present in her life. But then she remembered, thinking back on all they had done and seen, all the best birthdays she had ever spent had been with Bianca by her side.

xxxxxxx

Paris, France

April, 2006

“Kendall!” Greenlee exclaimed, shoving open the kitchen door. “What are you doing!”

Kendall, with her back to the door, jumped at the sound of Greenlee’s voice, the bag of cake mix in her fingers ripping open at her start. Chocolate cake powder filled the air as if someone had kicked a giant puffball.

“Greenlee! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” Kendall spun around, a fine dusting of brown covering her face and hands. “Look at what you made me do!”

Greenlee tried mightily to control her laughter but couldn’t. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes,” Greenlee replied, a hand to her mouth. “I am, seriously.” Then, she snorted.

“Oh, bite me!” Kendall exclaimed, hitting the smaller woman square in the face with a handful of cake mix.

Greenlee huffed, brown powder pluming out from her lips. “Oh, no, you didn’t!” she shouted.

Kendall reared back with the rapidly emptying bag. “Oh, yes, I did. You want another round?”

Glancing around the kitchen, Greenlee suddenly grabbed an egg, pulling her hand back in imitation of Kendall’s pose. “You really want to go there?”

“Don’t you throw that egg at me!”

“Why not?” Greenlee asked. “Then I could just add a little milk and stick your head in an oven for an hour.”

“An hour?!” Kendall exclaimed. She lowered the bag and straightened. “You’d over-bake me?” she pouted, her voice full of childish hurt.

“Well, I don’t know!” Greenlee snapped, lowering her egg. “How long does it take to bake a cake?”

“Well, the box says 35 to 45 minutes…”

Suddenly, Greenlee shook her head, dislodging more cake mix. “Wait a minute, why are you baking a cake anyway? You’re not exactly Julia Childs.”

“It’s Julia Child, you idiot.”

“How the hell would I know, I’m not Julia Child, either!”

Kendall sighed and tossed the remaining mix into the sink, raising up another brown puff of dust. “I thought I’d make a cake for Maggie’s birthday since they’re coming home today,” she explained. “You know, for fun.”

Greenlee snorted. “Huh, Kendall, you and a kitchen do not equal fun. Fireball explosions maybe, but not fun.”

“Then help me.”

“What?!” Greenlee recoiled in horror. “Are you kidding?! Do I look like that Emeril guy?”

Kendall turned back towards the counter. “Only when you forget to shave.”

“I heard that!”

“You were supposed to!” Kendall suddenly spun around and advanced on the smaller woman. “You know something? You need sex in the worst possible way!”

“Ha! Worst way, best way, any way!” Then Greenlee’s spine straightened. “And what the hell does that have to do with baking a cake?!”

“Maybe if you were getting a little action, you wouldn’t be so snarky!”

“Oh, yeah?! I was getting action when I was married to Ryan and I was still snarky!” She stopped. “Wait…”

“Sounds like that might have been Ryan’s problem, not yours…” Kendall gave Greenlee a little smile. “That would explain a lot.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, I was getting action with Ryan at one time, too. And I was pretty snarky, if I recall…”

“Well, then I guess it’s good that he's out of the picture now. Oh, wait, maybe not so good, I’m still not getting any action” Suddenly uncomfortable, Greenlee picked up the cake mix box, pretending to read the instructions. “So, how do you pre-heat an oven?”

Kendall sighed. “It doesn’t matter now, the cake mix is all over me… and you… and the kitchen.”

Greenlee scoffed at her friend. “Come on, Kendy, you know Maggie has a cookbook around here somewhere. I’ll bet there are a dozen cake recipes in it.”

Kendall thought about it for a moment. “Okay!” she finally agreed with enthusiasm.

They studiously went about their mission, hoping to surprise Maggie, Bianca and Miranda, by the time they arrived home later that day. Digging through one of the drawers, Greenlee found two aprons and quickly donned one, then tied the other around Kendall’s waist. Items were retrieved from cabinets, utensils from drawers and the oven, after much debate, was finally set to pre-heat.

“Is that the sifter?” Greenlee asked.

Kendall held up the odd-looking contraption with a screen on its bottom and a crank handle on the side like her old jack-in-the-box. “I don’t know, I think so.”

“What do you do with it?”

You sift the flour, you doof.”

“How?”

Conjuring up a memory, any memory, of watching her adopted mother, Alice Hart, baking in the kitchen, Kendall dumped half a bag of flour into the sifter and held it up. “There.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, yeah, I think so.”

Greenlee shook her head. “Well, I don’t. Give me that.” She reached for the sifter. “Give it.”

Kendall yanked the utensil out of reach, spewing flour across the floor. “No!”

“Come on, you twig!” Greenlee snapped, lunging for Kendall’s arm. “It’s not right!”

“I’ve got it, you little shrimp!”

“Give it here, Kendall!”

As they fought, flour was being tossed around the room like a delicate fall of snow, dusting everything it touched. The bickering got louder as they fought over the item like two children squabbling over the last Oreo cookie.

“Greenlee! Let go!”

“You’re not doing it right!”

“How do you know?”

“Well, why does it have that handle thingy on the side?”

“For easy clean-up!”

Greenlee rolled her eyes. “Oh, please!” She snatched the sifter from Kendall’s hand. “Ha!”

“Now what, genius?”

“Turn the handle, you stick.” As she did so, sifted flour fell out of the bottom. “Ha ha! See! I was right!”

Zach opened the kitchen door, hoping to snag one of Maggie’s Fischer LaBelle’s from the fridge before settling down to watch a soccer game on TV, and almost fell on the floured tile floor. Catching himself, he looked at the mess of a kitchen then saw his wife and Greenlee playing with a flour sifter, amazed at the feat the little contraption was capable of performing. An inscrutable expression on his face, he turned and walked out.

xxx

“I think you did that wrong.”

“You think I did everything wrong.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Do you even know what ‘fold in two eggs’ means?”

“No. Do you?”

“That is not the point.”

“Actually, I think it was my point.”

“You’re over-mixing it.”

“I’m what?”

“You’re over-mixing it. You know, there is such a thing as mixing the batter too much.”

“Oh, you’re just making that up because I wouldn’t let you lick the spoon.”

“Okay, fine. But when that cake comes out looking like it has an ant-farm of tunnels in it, don’t blame it on me.”

“Fine. I’ll stop now. Happy?”

“Yes. Give me the spoon.”

“Okay, just pour the batter into the cake pan.”

“Get your arm out of my way.”

“My arm? I’m not in your way, you loon.” Glop. “What the hell was that for?”

“Your arm was in the way! I told you to move it!”

“I’m holding the pan still!”

“It’s a cake pan! Where’s it going to go?”

“Just finish what you’re doing… and get this batter off my arm!”

“There, done.”

“Okay, now we just put it in the oven and bake at 450 for 45 minutes. Set the timer.”

“The what?”

“The timer- oh, forget it.”

“Are you sure it should be set at 450 degrees?”

“Why?”

“Are you trying to bake it or cure it?”

“What do the instructions say in the stupid cookbook?”

“You goof, it says 35 minutes at 350 degrees!”

“Hmm… well, okay, it’s already a 100 degrees hotter than it should be, so if we bake it for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees, that should be the same as 35 minutes at 350 degrees, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

“Good. Set the timer.”

“The what?”

xxx

It was almost time for Bianca, Maggie and Miranda to arrive home from the airport and Kendall was anxious to get the cake out of the oven so it could be frosted. She rushed across the kitchen with Greenlee on her heels, ready to pull the cake pan out of the appliance before them.

Her self-satisfied grin slowly crumbled as she pulled what looked to be a chocolate rock out of the oven.

“What did you do?” Greenlee accused.

“Me?! What did you do?”

“Kendall, it’s as hard as a rock! I think you’ve hit on a new way to make bricks!”

Kendall was reading over the directions in the cookbook. “Flour.”

“Check,” Greenlee replied, wiping at a streak of white powder on her cheek.

“Eggs.”

Cracked egg shells in the sink. “Check.”

“Vegetable oil, butter…”

“Check, check.”

“Baking powder.”

“Che- what?”

Kendall turned and gave Greenlee a look. “Baking. Powder.”

“Um, isn’t that the same thing as flour?”

“No, Greenlee, it is not the same thing as flour. Baking powder is what makes a cake rise!”

“Well, how the hell should I know?! The closest I’ve ever been to baking is when I buy fresh baguettes down at Le Bon Bouchet!”

Suddenly, they heard the front door open, melodious laughter filling the apartment.

“Crap!” Kendall exclaimed. “They’re home! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!!”

“Kendall! That cake isn’t even frosted!”

“Thanks for the newsflash, Greenlee!”

Greenlee snatched the cake pan out of Kendall’s hands. “Ow, shit!” She threw the pan on the counter then smacked Kendall on the arm. “Thanks for telling me it was still hot!”

“You saw me take it out of the oven!”

“Okay, genius, now what?”

“Shut up, I’m thinking!”

Greenlee rolled her eyes. “I don’t think you have that much time, Kendall.”

xxxx

Bianca pushed the stroller into the entry hall as Maggie dumped the suitcases onto the marble floor. Miranda cooed when Leo came racing around the corner, having heard the front door open and hurrying to see if his master had possibly come back to him.

“You’d think the driver had never seen us before,” Maggie grumbled.

Bianca smiled her enigmatic little smile. “Oh, no, he’s seen us before,” she murmured. “I just don’t think he’s seen us with your face buried in my neck.”

“I was thanking you for my birthday present.”

“You were giving me a hickey-.” Bianca stopped suddenly, an odd smell in the apartment finally tickling her senses. “What’s that?” she asked.

Maggie gave her a look. “What’s what- what’s that smell?”

They both sniffed at the air. “It’s like charcoal ash…”

“With hints of Scharffenberger chocolate…”

“It’s coming from the kitchen.”

“Oh, God, they’re cooking!” Maggie exclaimed, hurrying across the living room to the closed kitchen door.

“Maggie!” Bianca called, quickly grabbing Miranda out of her stroller and chasing after her girlfriend. “Wait!”

Maggie shoved open the kitchen door and skidded on the flour-coated floor, reaching out a hand to the countertop to stop herself from falling. “Holy crap!” she blurted.

“Hoe-wee cwap!” Miranda chortled.

Kendall and Greenlee both jumped, startled by the commotion behind them. They spun around, looking incredibly guilty.

“Oh, my God…” Bianca murmured in shock, getting a look at the war zone the kitchen had become.

“What on earth is going on here?” Maggie demanded, looking down at the unknown substance coating her hands.

“Um, well,” Greenlee stammered then grabbed the cake pan and shoved the hard as a rock monstrosity toward the blonde. “Happy birthday, Maggie?”

“What the hell is that?” Maggie asked, pulling her hands back as if in surrender and eying the brown lump warily.

“Greenlee made you a brick for your birthday,” Kendall cracked.

“Hell!” Miranda chirped suddenly.

“Maggie!” Bianca exclaimed.

“What?!” Maggie replied. “This is my fault?!”

“Stop cussing in front of Miranda!”

“Bianca! Lookit what they did to my kitchen!”

“And they’ll clean it up,” she assured the blonde. Then she gave the duo a particularly hairy looking evil eye. “Won’t you?”

“Um, yeah!” Kendall gulped.

“See?” Greenlee added, grabbing a towel and rubbing at the counter. “Cleaning up!”

Maggie sighed. “Son of a bi-.”

“Maggie!” Bianca admonished, quickly taking Miranda out of the room.

“So,” Greenlee drawled. “How was Venice?”

“Shut it, Du Pres,” Maggie snapped.

“Yeah, shut it, Greenlee,” Kendall muttered through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry, but since when did either of you think you could be the next Betty Crocker?” Maggie asked. “Let me guess, you two were deprived of an Easy-Bake Oven as children.”

“Heh, maybe Greenlee was,” Kendall cracked.

“Hey!” Pregnant pause. “What’s an Easy-Bake Oven?”

“Clean up this kitchen!” Maggie shouted. Spinning around, she slipped on more flour and once again nearly upended herself. Quickly regaining her balance, she managed a rather dignified exit.

“So…” Greenlee mused. “You think she liked the cake?”

xxxxx

“Unbelievable,” Maggie muttered, glancing back behind her. “I’m leaving a flour trail on the carpet.” She sighed and looked up at Bianca. “Did you see that mess?”

“Hey, at least they stayed out of trouble while we were gone.”

“What?! What the hell do you call that?”

“Hell!” Miranda chirped.

“Maggie!”

Maggie appeared properly chastened. “Sorry.”

“Hey, at least they didn’t blow up the city while we were gone.”

“Oh, hooray…”

They found Zach in the den, feet propped up on the table, a snifter of Napoleon brandy resting on his flat belly. He appeared to be deep in quiet introspection.

“Zach?” Bianca asked cautiously.

“Your sister is going to drive me to drink,” he muttered, taking a healthy swallow of the expensive Louis XIII de Rémy Martin cognac.

“Huh, welcome to my world,” Maggie snorted.

“How was Venice.” It wasn’t really phrased as a question, but more as a request from a very tired man aching for some adult conversation.

“We had a wonderful time,” Bianca informed him. “I highly recommend the trip.”

Zach turned his gaze on Bianca. “Would you keep Kendall and Greenlee while I go?”

Maggie burst out laughing.

“LEO!” Miranda shrieked, seeing her cat at Bianca’s feet, looking up hopefully at its master. The little girl tried to throw herself out of her mother's arms. “Leo-kitty!”

“Wait a minute, Munchie,” Bianca said, retaining her grip on the struggling child. She set her down on the floor. “There you go. You be careful, okay?”

“Otay, Momma.” She immediately picked the cat up in her arms and they practically hugged one another. “Come, Leo, wet’s pway.” She toddled out of the den, the animal on her heels. “I saw fishie, Leo!”

Bianca sighed. “Yeah, she tried to catch it for him, too…”

xxxx

After the kitchen had been thoroughly decontaminated, they all went out to dinner, then returned to the apartment. Zach excused Kendall and himself, pulling her towards the stairs and disappearing in the upper hallway. The look on his face was dangerous, hooded and very nearly wild. Bianca had an indelible vision of the cover of one of Erica’s old romance novels, a real bodice-ripper, featuring a handsome Scottish Lord and his woman.

The fact that the vision was indelible made her shudder.

Maggie took Miranda up to her room while Greenlee disappeared into the kitchen and Bianca went to the den to check on any Cambias business that had been awaiting her return. There were a few calls to be returned, so she settled down at the desk to take care of matters before turning in for the night.

Not wanting to go to her room just yet, afraid of what she might hear through the wall, Greenlee wandered the apartment. After finding Bianca on the phone, bent over a folder with a seriously intent look on her face, she made her way to the stairs, thinking maybe Maggie would show her more pictures from the trip. Or maybe give her another present purchased in Italy…

She found the blonde in the nursery, sitting on the floor with Miranda and the kitten, the little girl playing with her Elmo plushie.

“’Aggie go skoo?” Miranda asked, walking Elmo across the blanket.

“Not tomorrow, sweetie,” Maggie replied. “I’ve still got a couple of days before I have to go back.”

“Otay.”

Maggie watched the child play with the Elmo toy. “You like Elmo, don’t you, Munchie.”

“Ehmo!” Miranda squealed, holding the doll up.

“Can I see Elmo?” Maggie asked, holding out her hand.

Oh, this should be good, Greenlee thought, remembering her own encounter with the child and that stupid doll. “She won’t give it to you,” she said smugly, knowing how Miranda guarded Elmo.

“Yes, she will,” Maggie replied, never taking her eyes off Miranda. “Won’t you, Sweetie? Can I see Elmo?”

“She won’t let go of that toy.”

“Yes, she will.”

“No, she won’t.”

“Yes. She will.”

“No. She won’t”

“Yes, Greenlee, watch.” She held out her hand. “Can I see Elmo?”

“She won’t give it up,” Greenlee sing-songed.

“You don’t know this child like I do, Greenlee.”

Greenlee snorted. “Oh, trust me, Maggie. You don’t know that child like I do.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the door jamb. “She won’t let go of Elmo.”

“Ehmo,” Miranda said, putting the doll into Maggie’s hands.

Maggie grinned at Greenlee victoriously. “See?”

“You little traitor,” Greenlee grumbled at the little girl. “What about all that bonding we did at Disneyland? Who took you on all the rides when Auntie Kendall wanted to suck face with Uncle Zach?”

Miranda looked up at Greenlee with child-like innocence. She held out another stuffed toy. “Tibber,” she said to Greenlee. “You, Tibber. ‘Aggie, Ehmo.”

Taken aback, Greenlee entered the room and took the Tigger doll from Miranda. “Thanks, Sweetie,” she said softly.

“Hmm, apparently I’m Elmo and you’re Tigger,” Maggie pondered softly. “What does that tell you?”

“You’re an odd-looking furry red thing and I’m a bouncy tiger?”

Maggie was silent for a moment. “Well, actually, I was thinking that, as Elmo, I mold her on a daily basis, teaching her about life and her own personality… and you are a figment of someone’s vivid imagination with a spring up you’re a-.”

“Watch it, Stone.” Greenlee settled onto the blanket beside Maggie and held Tigger out to Miranda. She watched the little girl take the Tigger and the Elmo Maggie held out, a soft smile lighting her eyes. “Can I ask you a question, Maggie?”

“Sure.”

“How did you do it?”

“Do what? I just asked her for the doll and she gave it to me.”

Greenlee rolled her eyes. “Not that, you doofus. How did you recover from Jonathan?”

“Wow…” Maggie whispered, feeling like she’d just gotten the wind knocked out of her. “I wasn’t expecting that…”

“I want to know, Maggie. You were messed up with a Lavery just like I was and look at you now. You’ve got this incredible love thing going on with Bianca, you’re raising a child together, you’re going to be a doctor…”

“And you want to know that it could happen for you, too.”

Greenlee sighed. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Maggie said, weighing her words carefully. “Here’s the hard part, Greenlee. You have to let yourself love again.”

“Was it hard?”

Maggie laughed. “Are you kidding? I had to move to another continent!” Greenlee chuckled with her. “I had to heal first, before I could accept that Bianca loved me. After Jonathan… he destroyed my self-confidence, my belief in myself… my judgment for what I knew was right. Bianca knew that I needed to recover all of that before I could move on and give my heart to her, let alone anyone else.”

“How long does the healing take?”

Maggie took Greenlee’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s going to be different for you than it was for me, Greenlee. And I know it’s scary to give your heart away again after… after what we’ve been through. But one day, I looked at Bianca and I knew that it wasn’t my heart to give anymore. It was hers. It had always been hers and I was just holding onto it until I found the person it really belonged to.” Suddenly, Maggie laughed. “Man, that was cheesy, wasn’t it?”

“No,” Greenlee murmured. “I know exactly what you mean. I felt that way with Leo.”

“I guess what I’m saying is, don’t let Ryan win. And it won’t happen overnight, but you will get over him and what he did to you.” Then Maggie shrugged, as if the answer was just that simple. “I did.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, Greenlee, I promise.”

“Good, because I need to get laid…”

Maggie burst out laughing. “You know, you don’t need to wait until you get over Ryan to get laid- you know what? Never mind.” She held out her hands as if to ward off the topic. Greenlee laughed at her sudden unease. Maggie decided it was time to change the subject. “Thank you, by the way,” she murmured.

Greenlee looked up at Maggie. “For what?”

“For everything you did. You knew Jonathan was bad news and I know you kept an eye on him. I know you were watching out for me.” Maggie smiled sadly. “I wish I’d listened to you.”

“Well, you weren’t alone, Maggie. No one listened to me when I was sure Jonathan had poisoned me. And no one could have known he was the one who shot Ryan…”

“I know, it just feels like I should have known better.”

“Well, you can’t dwell on it anymore, Maggie. We can’t go back and change the past. You didn’t know that Jonathan was what he was. And I certainly never realized Ryan’s God-complex. I knew he had superhero tendencies, but I could never have imagined that whole pretending-to-be-dead-because-he-thought-he-was-saving-me fiasco… what a moron. I don’t recall asking him to save me.”

Maggie leaned close. “Take your own advice, Greenlee. You can’t go back and change the past, so don’t dwell on it. Someday you’re going to meet someone. He’ll treat you the way you were meant to be treated and then one day, you’ll realize he has ownership of your heart. And, more importantly, you have ownership of his.”

Suddenly, Greenlee waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t get all mushy on me, Stone,” she said, not comfortable dealing with her emotions, never at ease allowing others to see her vulnerability. “You’re Leo’s cousin. Gotta watch out for family, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Maggie said with a knowing smile, the shoe now on the other foot. “I guess.”

Miranda had fallen asleep on her blanket, the cat curled up at her side, while Maggie and Greenlee had talked. Slowly, Greenlee got to her feet and smiled down at the little girl.

“She’s a little angel,” she whispered.

“Yeah, she is.”

“She’s just like Bianca.”

Maggie smiled, her eyes never leaving Miranda’s slumbering form. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, look at her. She’s beautiful, serene, perfect…”

Maggie glanced up at her cousin’s widow. “Greenlee? Why did you hate Bianca so much when you first came to town?”

Greenlee smiled sadly. “Because I was a bitch when I first came to town,” she answered with a sigh. “I was a spoiled rotten little snob who was so miserable with her own life she felt she had to make others just as miserable. And Bianca had Leo. And I hated her for that.”

“But you tried to blackmail her when you found out she was gay. Didn’t knowing she was gay kinda give you a clear path to Leo?”

“I told you I was not a very nice person, Maggie. And the blackmail thing was to keep her quiet when I tried to drown Laura English. I couldn’t care less about Bianca’s sexual orientation.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense.”

“Bianca had what I wanted, Maggie. She had a mother who loved her, friends who would die – or in your case, kill – for her, perfect skin and a killer body. What wasn’t there to be envious of?” Greenlee fell silent for a moment then sighed. “When I realized that I couldn’t live my life on hate anymore, I decided to let go of all that anger and jealousy. It may have taken me a while, but I stopped hating everyone who tried to like me, or even care for me. Letting Bianca off the hook for my attitude… well, she never deserved it.”

Maggie slowly got up and picked up Miranda, putting her down in her crib for the night. “Greenlee, I understand about crappy childhoods. And I understand about letting go of all the… baggage that goes along with it. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, Mags.”

“But if you ever hurt Bianca ever again… I’ll cut you into little pieces and mail you to the four corners of the globe.”

Greenlee’s eyes popped open at Maggie’s words, which were said casually and with a beatific smile. “Okay…” She stumbled backwards a few steps. “Um… okay… good talk, really, Mags… So, um… heh… uh, good night.” With that, she bolted out the door, heading for her room and safe haven. “Good night, Bianca!” she blurted, racing down the stairs.

A moment later, Bianca entered the nursery. “What was that all about?” she asked, tossing a thumb over her shoulder as she, moved to Maggie’s side to look down at her sleeping baby girl.

“Nothing. I just told Greenlee I would appreciate it if she never treated you harshly ever again.”

“Oh, that sounds like a threat.”

Maggie shrugged. “Maybe a little one.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I just remember how hateful she was to you when I first came to town and I wanted to make sure she understood to never do it again.”

Bianca sighed and clasped her hands, holding them up to her cheek. “My hero,” she murmured with another, more exaggerated, sigh as she batted her eyelashes.

“Oh, shut up…” Maggie blushed and turned toward the master suite.

“You’re going to have to be careful, Mags. I don’t know how to explain away my girlfriend’s violent tendencies… you’ve threatened Kendall and Greenlee.”

“They deserve it,” Maggie mumbled, quickly changing into sleep pants and a white tank top.

Bianca stopped what she was doing and looked at Maggie, who was climbing into bed. “Are you always going to be my protector, Maggie?”

“Yes.”

With a shake of her head, Bianca slid under the covers beside Maggie and curled up against her side. Maggie wrapped her arms around Bianca’s shoulders and pulled her close.

“Thank you, Tiger,” Bianca whispered against Maggie’s shoulder. “For always protecting me.”

“Don’t let it go to your already big head, Montgomery,” Maggie muttered. “It’s what I’m supposed to do for my girlfriend.”

“And am I your girlfriend?”

Maggie rolled her eyes, something Bianca couldn’t see, but could certainly sense, in the dark. “Yes, you’re my girlfriend.”

“Do you love me?” Bianca asked in a sing-song tone.

“Oh, come one, Binks…”

“Come on, Maggie. Do you love me?”

Maggie sighed resignedly. “You know I do.”

“Do you wanna kiss me?”

“Oh, good Lord,” Maggie groaned, releasing Bianca and rolling onto her side away from the brunette.

“Oh, you love me! You want to date me, you think I’m gorgeous- eep!”

Suddenly, Bianca’s words were cut off in a squeak as Maggie pounced, knocking the brunette onto her back and pinning her hands to the mattress. “Okay, Boom-Boom, first off, no more Miss Congeniality for you, you’ve got an unhealthy obsession with Sandra Bullock.”

“Okay…” Bianca squeaked again.

“And second…”

“Yeah…?”

Anticipation hung in the air for a moment then Maggie dipped her head, capturing Bianca’s warm lips with her own. It took only a moment for Bianca to respond to Maggie’s mouth on hers and the kiss deepened. Bianca easily surrendered to the heady familiar taste, sinking luxuriously into the kiss, her arms skating easily up Maggie’s back to tangle in her hair.

After a few minutes, or hours or days, Maggie gently pulled back, scattering kisses down Bianca’s cheek to her neck.

“You’re doing this to shut me up,” Bianca murmured, her breath catching when Maggie nipped at her throat. “Aren’t you?”

Maggie stopped her assault and dropped her head into the pillow beneath Bianca’s head. “And I can see it’s not working,” she muttered.

“You know what I think?”

Maggie sighed. “If I say yes, are you going to tell me anyway?”

Bianca smacked Maggie on the butt. “Watch it.”

“Okay,” Maggie sighed in resignation. “What do you think?”

“I think you get embarrassed.”

“Yeah, well, I think you’re wrong.”

“No, no, you get embarrassed when I tell you how much I love you protecting me.”

Maggie sighed, her head on Bianca’s shoulder. She looked up suddenly. “Okay, you’re right, I get embarrassed. There. Happy? Can we move on now?”

“Now you’re just humoring me.”

“And they said you weren’t all that smart.”

“Hey!”

With a grin, Maggie kissed Bianca again, a long, slow, deliberate kiss. Bianca closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the kiss, drinking in the taste and texture of Maggie’s mouth as if she were drowning and only the woman in her arms could save her.

And save her she did…

xxxxx

Paris, France

Early May 2006

“Where are we going?” Maggie asked again, pushing Miranda’s stroller down the Place de la Madelaine.

Bianca turned from her position about 6 feet ahead of her girlfriend. “I want to go to Fauchon,” she replied. “We don’t get the chance to shop there very often.”

Maggie blew out a breath. “It’s a grocery store, Bianca. Do you have to go at warp speed to get there?”

“Yeah, Binks,” Kendall replied, trudging along with Greenlee a few paces behind Maggie and Miranda. “We’ve been running all day. My feet hurt.”

“You’re wearing Jimmy Choo’s to go shopping,” Greenlee informed her. “It serves you right if your feet hurt.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up.”

“No, you shut up.”

“No, you shut-.”

“Ladies,” Zach grumbled threateningly. They both shut up.

They reached the store, the incredible window displays drawing them closer, and Bianca rushed inside. Maggie turned to say something to the others and stopped dead. Not watching where they were going, Kendall and Greenlee, playing slap-hand or something, plowed right into Maggie, nearly knocking her over.

“Hey, short stuff,” Greenlee exclaimed. “Watch where you’re going.”

“It can’t be,” Maggie muttered, her eyes locked on something over Zach’s shoulder. “There’s no way!”

“What?”

“I can’t believe that ba-!”

Kendall followed Maggie’s eyes. “Oh, no she didn’t!” she exclaimed.

Bianca came back out of the store. “Hey, what’s the hold... up...” She followed Maggie’s gaze and stopped. “Babe?”

Babe and J.R. Chandler were strolling up the sidewalk, right toward Maggie, Bianca and the others. Babe looked up just in time to see a startled Bianca and furious Maggie.

“Bianca? Maggie?” Babe blurted, recognizing the two women before her almost immediately, a grin slowly spreading across her face. She saw the stroller Maggie was pushing. “Hi, Miranda!”

Maggie’s hand drew back, seemingly of its own accord. The rest happened in slow motion.

Bianca saw what was about to happen. “Maggie!” she shouted. “No!”

Kendall and Greenlee looked on with smug grins on their faces, both almost wishing they were in Maggie’s place at that moment in time.

Zach crossed his arms over his chest, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

In a split second, Maggie managed to alter her aim. Fist met square jaw with a satisfying crack, the contact sending a shuddering jolt up her arm. The blonde on the receiving end of the right cross hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

“Glass jaw,” Greenlee tsked. “Should’ve known.”

“Maggie!” Bianca admonished.

Maggie stood over the prone figure on the ground. “That’s for pushing my girlfriend off a balcony,” she growled.

J.R. put his hand to his tender mouth, saw blood on his fingers. “You crazy bit-.”

“Watch it!” Kendall and Greenlee snapped simultaneously.

“Ow! Shit!” Maggie exclaimed suddenly, waving her hand in pain. She began to dance in a circle, alternately shaking and cradling her suddenly sore hand. “Damn, that really hurts!”

Bianca took hold of Maggie’s hand, more concerned with her girlfriend than with the Pine Valley-ite still sitting on the Paris sidewalk. “Maggie, are you okay?”

“Hey!” JR shouted. “I’m bleeding here!” He started to rise. “Crazy bit-.”

Zach grinned outright. “Stay down, Little Chandler,” he advised, moving to stand over the bleeding young man.

JR sat back down on the ground.

“Good boy,” Zach grinned. He glanced over at Maggie, still shaking her quickly swelling hand. “Nice right cross you got there, little watch dog.”

“Thanks. It’s come in handy over the years.”

JR glowered. “Punch a lot of innocent people, do you?” he snapped.

Everyone took one giant step backwards, and even Zach looked up to the sky.

“I understand getting struck by lightening packs an even bigger punch,” he drawled, quirking an eyebrow at the Chandler trust-fund baby. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Shut up, Slater.”

“Of all the countries on the European continent,” Maggie growled, still waving her hand, “you pick France? And then you come to Paris? Jeez, you are as dumb as you look!”

“It’s a big city, Stone,” JR snapped, apparently, the only way he had of expressing himself. “This is completely by accident.”

“Are you kidding me?! We’re from Pine Valley, Junior! We’re supposed to run into each other by accident in a foreign city with over two million residents!” Maggie shook her hand once more then flexed the fingers several times. “I hope you didn’t ruin my medical career…”

Bianca, still not having really acknowledged JR or Babe, took Maggie’s hand once more. “You need ice on those knuckles. Kendall? Could you get us some ice, please?”

“Sure, Binks.” The curly headed beauty grabbed Greenlee’s hand. “We’ll be right back.”

“I could use some ice, too!” JR shouted.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Greenlee called back.

It was quite a scene. Babe knelt by JR on the sidewalk, wiping his bloody lip with a Kleenex. Zach stood over the pair, watching them closely. Kendall and Greenlee returned with a bag of ice they managed to acquire from a street vendor on the corner and Bianca gently settled the frozen cubes onto Maggie’s knuckles. Maggie hissed at the sensation then whimpered.

“Sorry, sorry…” Bianca whispered. She placed a gentle kiss on the torn, bruised skin of Maggie’s knuckles. “Maybe now you’ll think twice before you punch somebody,” she admonished softly. She looked up and met Maggie’s eyes.

Maggie just gave her a lopsided grin.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “No, I guess not…”

TBC-

Con te Partiró or I’ll Go With You English translation is below. It was renamed Time to Say Goodbye in the US when Andrea Bocelli recorded it several years ago, but as you can see by the lyrics, it is not about leaving anyone but about going along wherever your loved one goes. If you want to hear this incredibly lovely song, you can watch the video on by searching for Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman or Time to Say Goodbye in any combination in Videos and you should get a match. Somewhere along the line, they tossed in the phrase ‘Time to Say Goodbye’. shrugs

Con te Partiró or I’ll Go With You

(Best known in the US as Time to Say Goodbye, which is a misnomer)

When I’m alone
I dream on the horizon
And words fail;
Yes, I know there is no light
In a room
Where the sun is not there
If you are not with me.
At the windows
Show everyone my heart
Which you set alight;
Enclose within me
The light you

Encountered on the street.

I’ll go with you,

To countries I never

Saw and shared with you,
Now, yes, I shall experience them,

I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer;

With you I shall experience them.
When you are far away
I dream on the horizon
And words fail,

And yes, I know
That you are with me;

You, my moon, are here with me,

My sun, you are here with me.
With me, with me, with me,

I’ll go with you,
To countries I neverSaw and shared with you,

Now, yes, I shall experience them,
I’ll go with youOn ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer;
With you I shall experience them.

I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer;

With you I shall experience them.
I’ll go with you,
I with you.

The Tigger Song:

The most wonderful thing about Tiggers,
is Tiggers are wonderful things.
Their tops are made out of rubber,
their bottoms are made out of springs.
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy,
Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is,
I'm the only one.