Chapter One

"The wheels on the bus go..."

"Don't even go there, Polly." Piper interrupts as Polly launches into the umpteenth nursery rhyme of the morning.

"I'm just doing you a favour. If you guys are as serious about trying for a baby as you say you are, then that's all you'll be listening to."

"I'd be more than happy to listen to you sing nursery rhymes to me all day, Pols, if you could actually sing," Piper teases.

"Piper Chapman, do you want me to pull over and kick you to the curb?" She pretends to be wounded.

She's only joking and Piper knows it. Instead of offering some form of rebuttal, Piper plugs her iPod into the car audio system and turns up the volume. 'Skinny Love' by Bon Iver begins to play and they both sing along quietly.

It's a Thursday and Polly is driving them to a huge superstore on the outskirts of town for some much needed retail therapy, regardless of the huge order that they have waiting for them back at the warehouse.

Polly has never been a creative sort of person so when she suddenly announced that she was going to start making soaps and lotions, Piper had been dubious; however, after she caught a whiff of the first batch, she immediately saw potential. Piper suggested that they go into business together. It took a little while longer than expected to get their business all up and running but now, two years down the line, sales and profit are booming, which is why Polly suggested that they take today off work to go shopping. Although they haven't spent a lot of time together outside of work in the past six months, Piper still finds making conversation with her friend relatively easy. She puts it down to the fact that they have known each other since infancy and nothing could break that. Not even Polly's dislike for Piper's other half.

"You know, Bon Iver is pretty good but his music is not really 'baby' material."

Piper rolls her eyes, "I am not putting on your CD."

"Why don't I sing for you instead?" She laughs loudly, "The wheels on the bus go-"

"Please don't ever quit making soap, Pols," Piper moans.

"You love it."

And Polly is right. Piper does love it.

Rolling green hills whiz by as Polly drives them back towards the city. It's late in the day and the sun is beginning to set. Piper's head lolls against the side of the car door as she fights sleep, absolutely exhausted after their busy day of hitting the sales. Polly drums her thumbs and forefingers against the steering wheel as she sings along to 'Gives You Hell' by All American Rejects.

She looks at Piper and then back towards the road, "Good day?"

"Mhm, fantastic day," Piper answers in a groggy voice. She doesn't elaborate.

Polly doesn't need to look to know that Piper has fallen to sleep. She blindly reaches for the audio system and pokes at a few buttons until the track jumps forward by two. She returns her hand to the steering wheel just as Piper's head jolts upright again.

"Oh shit. I forgot to go to the chemist."

"Chemist?" Polly repeats.

"I need to buy a pregnancy test."

It's late by the time Polly pulls up outside of Piper's New York City apartment. Piper climbs out of the car, walks around to the boot and quickly starts to rummage around and sort through all of their purchases. Meanwhile, Polly winds down her window and waits until Piper is safely on the pavement before she speaks again.

"Do you need a hand carrying your bags or are you going to be okay?" She glances towards the front door of the apartment, half expecting to see the door already open. It isn't and she's grateful.

Piper puts the bags down on the pavement beside her feet and shakes her head, "No, don't worry about me. Just text me when you get home so I know that you're safe?"

"Sure thing, mother," she replies, "Catch you later."

Piper barely has a chance to reply before the car pulls away from the curb and speeds off down the road. She leans forward and, with great difficulty, picks up all of the bags. She then turns towards the apartment and grimaces. The journey between the pavement and the front door isn't a substantial one but she does have a lot of stuff. She immediately regrets not taking Polly up on her offer of help.

Once she reaches the top of the concrete staircase leading up to the apartment, Piper gently knocks the bottom of the door with her foot. Seconds later, a light inside the house turns on and Piper smiles. She is only seconds away from seeing the love of her life. The door creaks noisily as it opens wide to reveal a tall, dark-haired, smiling woman.

"Hey Al," Piper greets cheerily as she trudges over the threshold, arms heavy.

"Oh shit. Are we now bankrupt?" Alex asks.

She carefully takes some of the load from Piper's tired arms and puts them on the floor beside the front door. Piper does the same before she closes the gap between them and wraps her arms around Alex's torso. Alex returns the hug and presses her lips against the corner of the blonds' mouth.

"I missed you," Piper murmurs, "Does that sound stupid?"

Alex chuckles, "You saw me this morning, Pipes."

"So it is stupid?"

"Did I say that?" Alex watches as Piper juts out her lower lip. She lowers her head and kisses it tenderly. "I missed you too."

They hug and kiss for a couple of minutes before Piper pulls away to retrieve one of the bags. Curious, Alex crosses her arms over her chest and lifts an eyebrow. Piper reaches inside and pulls out a small, pale blue box. She thrusts it towards Alex, who looks down and takes it. It's a pregnancy test.

"It's way too early to tell, kid!" She says immediately.

Piper wraps her hands around Alex's and the box, "I paid extra to get this one. It's the one from that advert, you know? The one that somehow knows."

Alex rolls the box over in her hands to read the information on the back. Piper's right. This one should be able to give them both an accurate result regardless of how little time has passed since the potential conception date. She looks up again and meets Piper's eyes. They're bright and hopeful, and very excited. Alex shifts from one foot to the other, and then finally turns away. She's uncomfortable.

"I don't know, Pipes. Maybe we should wait for a bit longer? I don't want it to be negative and for you to get your heart broken all over again."

Piper frowns, "If it's negative, I will find out sooner rather than later, right? Might as well just find out sooner."

She does have a point.

Before she can respond, Piper plucks the box out from Alex's hand and hurriedly opens one end. She tips it at an angle and the apparatus slides out into her waiting palm. She studies it for a moment before holding it towards Alex, who stares at it with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Pee like a trooper," Piper says with a closed lip smile on her face.

Having a kid was never in Alex's "plans"; however, Alex never did have a plan, as such. When she was a little girl, Alex came up with the seemingly brilliant idea that she would just free fall through life. Live each day as it comes. Carpe diem and all that shit. She was a smart kid yet she that still didn't prevent her from dropping out of high-school. She was more interested in socialising, seeing the world and having fun. Perhaps too much fun.

But yeah, kids had never been her thing. In her eyes, they were just life-sucking monsters that drooled, crapped their pants and cried over nothing. But then she met Piper and Piper wants kids, and due to a bunch of unforeseen circumstances, here they are.

Alex sits down on the toilet and grasps the pregnancy test inside her palms. She can feel her stomach somersaulting with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Ever since they started down this path, they've experienced far too many negative results and Alex doesn't want another one to further crush Pipers' dreams.

It was a shock when their consultant broke the news that Piper would most likely never be able to carry children of her own. In that moment, Alex could have sworn that she heard Pipers' heart shatter. They tried several rounds of IVF along with a bunch of other treatment that the doctors said could potentially increase her chances of conceiving but nothing worked. They talked about adoption but then Alex finally, albeit reluctantly, suggested that she could give the whole pregnancy thing a whirl.

She was scared about getting pregnant but she was more scared about how Piper may react to that. Sure, she wants kids, but would she resent Alex for being the one that carries them?

Alex closes her eyes and sucks in a deep breath in an attempt to calm down her nerves. There is a sharp knock at the door and Piper pokes her head inside. Alex looks up and smiles tentatively.

"Have you done it?" She asks, a giddy tone to her voice.

Alex shakes her head, "Just about to."

"Oh!" Piper disappears again, "Give me a shout when you're done."

Alex places the pregnancy test on the counter to her right before she pushes her glasses onto the top of her head. She deftly unbuckles her trousers, pushes them down to her ankles and then returns to her position on the toilet. For the first time ever, Alex actually struggles to pee. She squirms uncomfortably on the toilet and concentrates a little too hard, and even when it does come, she is almost frightened that she missed the stick entirely.

When she is finished, Alex drops it back onto the counter, pulls up her trousers and quickly washes her hands. She is about to call for Piper again but then freezes. She wants to know first. She wants to know if she'll have to spend the next week comforting her beloved wife. She doesn't want another negative.

Seconds feel like hours and after a while, Alex starts to think that the damned thing is broken. She picks it up and glares at it impatiently but the glare is quickly replaced by a wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare as two blue lines appear across the little screen, followed by a capitalised "PREGNANT".

As if on cue, the bathroom door bursts open and Piper tumbles in. She stops in her tracks when she sees Alex holding the pregnancy test with shaking hands. And when she notices the other woman's tears, Piper's heart constricts painfully. She clamps a hand over her mouth and stifles a sob.

"Another negative?" She finally gasps, her voice stricken.

Alex lowers the pregnancy test and slowly turns her head to look at her. Her eyes are swollen and red, and smudged with make-up, and her cheeks are ashen. Piper closes the distance between them and immediately rests her cheek on Alex' shoulder.

"Pipes..." Alex starts.

Piper interrupts, "It's ok, Alex. Don't say anything, please."

"No, Pipes," This time her voice is more urgent, more forceful. Piper pulls her head back and looks at her, a crease forming in her brow. "Pipes, kid, we're going to be parents."

What do you all think? Should I continue?