Nicky and Lorna were adjusting to married life very well. They were practically married beforehand anyway so not much really changed. They had already been living together, they had already spent every holiday together, and they already had a pet together. The only difference was that now everything felt more official. It felt really nice to know that they were officially going to spend their lives together.

Even their routine remained the same. They would both work during the day and spend time together at night. Neither one of them could really cook that well, so they ordered take out practically every night and would eat dinner together on the couch while binge watching TV shows or watching crappy old movies on TV. Friday nights were date nights- an idea that Lorna had come up with. Nicky thought the idea was stupid. They should just go out whenever they wante to, but Lorna wanted to have a set date night so badly and insisted that it would make her really happy if they did it, so of course, Nicky gave in. For the last 5 years, the couple had gone out on dates every single Friday night. Saturday routines remained the same since Nicky got out of Litchfield as well. In the morning, Nicky and Alex would go to NA meetings together and then they would meet up with Lorna and Piper for lunch.

Nicky never really talked to Lorna much about the NA meetings. She didn't really want to harp on the past. She still felt so ashamed of it. She couldn't stand the thought of Lorna knowing the full extent of her awful drug addition. Nicky couldn't have someone who she deemed absolutely perfect, like Lorna, to know the details of such a horrible thing about her. And Lorna never brought it up to Nicky simply because she didn't want to push her. She figured Nicky must never talk about it for a reason and whatever Nicky was doing was clearly working for her because she had remained clean the entire time she had been out of prison. Lorna did not want to mess that up.

So when Alex brought up NA at their weekly lunch, neither one of them were prepared.

"So this morning at our meeting I learned that it's a big day for Nichols tomorrow."

"Vause shut the fuck up"

Lorna didn't know whether she should question Alex for details or not, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to know about anything that was considered "big" for her wife.

"What do you mean? Whats happening with Nicky tomorrow?"

"As of tomorrow she will 10 years clean"

"Wow Nicky that's incredible! Baby, I'm so proud of you!"

"Vause! I told you not to say anything!"

"Yeah, well Lorna should know. It's a big fucking deal whether you're willing to acknowledge that or not. We're all proud of you, Nichols, can't you just be proud with us?"

"Vause, stop being such a softy and eat your sandwich."

As they walked home, Lorna couldn't help but ask the question she had been wondering about throughout the entire lunch.

"Nick, why wouldn't you want me to know about tomorrow? That's such amazing news."

"It's not though. It's like yeah great I'm 10 years clean, but that doesn't change the fact that I used to be an addicted mess. I don't want to celebrate being 10 years passed being such a mess of a person, I'd rather have just not been an addict in the first place. I want to just concentrate on my normal, healthy life and forget that anything ever happened."

"Nicky, the fact that you made it through that addiction is reason enough to celebrate. Do you know how rare that is? How hard it is for people to really remain clean? Of course you do- you went through it! So start being proud of yourself for being so strong because not many people are actually strong enough to make it. It is a huge deal and I'm so proud of you."

It broke Lorna's heart that this huge milestone was coming up for Nicky and she wasn't even happy about it. She hated it that someone she loved so much and was so proud of was so ashamed of herself. She realized she had to do something.

"Come on, Nick, I really want Italian food!"

"Okay so then we can order it. I'm not in the mood to go out for dinner."

"Aw but, Nick, I really wanna go. Come on it would make me so happy! I thought you loved seeing me happy."

"Ugh fine. But you can't use the happiness thing to get your way again for like an entire month."

"Deal"

When they got to the restaurant, Lorna went up to the counter and said "Hi, we made a reservation under the name Nicky"

"You made a reservation? So you just knew ahead of time that I'd give in?"

Lorna laughed and gave Nicky a kiss on the cheek. "I know you can't resist making me happy"

"Okay the rest of your party is already here. Follow me."

"The rest of our party? Who else did you invite? Did you make couples dinner plans with Chapman without even asking me if I wanted to do that? I'm not in the mood, kid, you should have asked me first and-

Nicky paused as she saw their table. Red, Alex, and Piper were sitting there with party hats and balloons that had the number 10 printed all over them. There was a huge card sitting on the table that said "Congrats on 10 years Nicky!"

"Baby did you do this?" Nicky asked in amazement.

"Nicky, this is a big deal and we are forcing you to celebrate. I'm really proud of you and I'm not in the least bit ashamed of anything from your past and I need you to start understanding that.

"I can't believe you did this" Nicky said smiling, completely moved by this gesture. She had wanted this day to pass by quietly, but this made her feel so good. She was glad Lorna made this day into something she'd remember.

Lorna gave Nicky a big kiss. "Come on let's have dinner."

All throughout dinner everyone talked about how amazing Nicky was and how she was such an inspiration. Even when there was heroin being sold in Litchfield, Nicky remained sober. It wasn't easy and there were some big consequences for her clear struggle, but still she was sober. Nicky felt such overwhelming pride throughout the dinner. She was finally realizing how big of a deal this was. Wow I haven't touched that shit in 10 years! I really did it! And that means that I can make it to 20 years and then 30. I can really stay clean! She thought.

A waiter came and brought out a little cake with 10 candles on it. After she blew out the candles she immediately kissed Lorna even before cutting the cake.

"Thank you so much" she whispered.

As Lorna started to give Nicky another kiss, Alex immediately stopped them.

"Come on, guys, you live together! You can make out all you want when you get home! I want cake!"

"Aw, don't be jealous just cause were adorable newlyweds and you're an old boring married couple by now, Alex. You had your turn." Lorna teased. Nicky totally loved seeing Lorna be the one to make quick remarks to Alex. Nicky was definitely rubbing off on her wife and she loved it.

She put her arm around her wife and gave her another big kiss. Nicky was so incredibly happy. She had never imagined her life could ever be this good.