A/N: If there is anyone still reading this, my sincerest apologies for the ridiculously long delay between the last chapter and now. I have no excuse other than real life has knocked me off my intended path. I honestly hope to do better in the future.

Sweet wonderful you,
You make me happy with the things you do,
Oh, oh, oh can it be so,
This feeling follows me wherever I go.

I never did believe in miracles,
But I've a feeling it's time to try.
I never did believe in the ways of magic,
But I'm beginning to wonder why.

Fleetwood Mac - You Make Lovin' Fun

Chapter 21

August 2006

Paris, France

The sun flooded in through the bedroom window, giving Leo the cat a spot to curl up in its warm golden light, having silently padded in from the nursery where Miranda still slept. It was quiet in the early hours of a lazy summer Saturday morning, the inhabitants of the house reveling in the warm privacy of their rooms.

In the master suite, Maggie sat up in bed, adjusting the pillow behind her back. "Do you see what I mean?" she asked, watching as Bianca did the same, pulling the covers up over their legs. "I was trying to keep it a secret so I could surprise you."

"I get that, Maggie," Bianca replied. "But you could have done a better job of keeping the secret."

"Hey, you should be happy I can't lie to you. At least you'll always know when I'm hiding something."

Bianca rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure that quite makes up for it, Mags."

Maggie slid her arm around Bianca's shoulder and pulled her close. "I'm sorry about that Cecelia person, Boom Boom," she murmured. "I never thought she'd be such a crazy stalker-type chick. I just asked for help with some research and the next thing I know, she's getting my number out of the student directory and calling me. What kind of crazy person does that?"

"Well, you are kinda cute and hard to resist."

Maggie snorted. "Yeah, this wild Stone charisma, I have to beat them off with a stick."

"I wouldn't mind if you beat this Cecelia person with a stick," the brunette muttered.

"Bianca!"

"What? I'm just saying."

"Ooh, possessive… I like it."

"We're getting off topic here," Bianca admonished. "I want you to tell me about this fascinating research you were doing that cause this trollop to fixate on you."

Maggie gave Bianca a look. "Did you just say 'trollop'? What is this, the 1800's? Or have you been reading those romance novels your mother conveniently leaves lying around the place, hoping you'll get the hint and switch teams?" Suddenly, a thoughtful look slipped across Maggie's face. "That's a weird word, isn't it? Trollop." She cocked her head. "Sounds like 'dollop', doesn't it? But dollop is a weird word, too. A dollop. Trollop, dollop, wallop, there, see? Another word that's weird sounding plus it rhymes with trollop. But I think a dollop is one of those words that actually sounds like what it means. Does that make sense-?"

"Maggie!"

The blonde stopped babbling and had the good sense to look chastened. "Sorry. What did you ask?" Bianca just gave her a look, similar to that smiley emoticon Maggie liked to use when they emailed to each other about some of the outrageous happenings in Pine Valley… :bob is what the code was, Bianca thought. Maggie sighed. "Okay, okay." She took Bianca's hands. "Turn around and face me."

Bianca did as she was told, sitting Indian-style in front of Maggie, their knees touching. "Okay," she said, sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear before Maggie took hold of both her hands. "You're nervous, I can tell. Talk to me, Maggie."

Maggie sighed. "Well," she admitted with a little grin, "it's not every day I ask someone to join their life with mine forever."

"Maggie…"

"Come on, Binks, you had to know it was coming to this."

"No, actually, I didn't." The brunette grinned ruefully. "We haven't had the best track record, you and me, you know."

Maggie nodded and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Okay, I'll admit that we've never done things the easy way, but, really? You didn't think that once we got together that we'd end up married or the most legal equivalent?"

Bianca smiled and gave Maggie a look. "I'll admit to day-dreaming about it."

"Day-dreaming?" Maggie asked with a lop-sided grin.

"Okay, day-dreaming, night-dreaming, mid-morning, late afternoon. You got me, I dreamt about it a lot. But I honestly didn't think that it would ever happen."

Maggie took Bianca's hands in hers. "Why not? Did you think I'd freak out or something?"

Bianca shrugged. "To be perfectly honest? Yeah, I think so." At Maggie's silent insistence, the brunette continued. "Think about it, Maggie. You kind of just came out of the closet a year ago. Every other relationship you've ever had has been with men, you were engaged to Jonathan-."

"Don't remind me," Maggie muttered under her breath.

"I'm the only woman you've ever been with-."

Maggie cocked an eyebrow at Bianca. "Are we going to list all my faults? Because that could take some time."

Bianca chuckled along with the blonde. "Okay, okay." She sighed. "I guess I'm just- I don't know… I don't want you to jump into something this big just because you think it's something I want. I don't want you feeling obligated or anything."

"Why on earth would you think I feel obligated to marry you?"

There was a moment of silence. "Can I be frank with you?"

"You can be whoever the hell you want to be, Binks. Just talk to me."

Bianca sighed again and, using both hands, tucked her hair back behind her ears. Then she dropped her hands into her lap, wondering when they suddenly had become so ineffectual. "Maggie," she began softly, "up until a year ago, you were heterosexual. You were living with Jonathan and had only slept with him, Henry and Jamie. You insisted to me on several occasions that you weren't gay, that you didn't love me that way, and you went about proving it with Jonathan and Henry and Jamie-."

"Okay, I get your point on that, can we stop saying their names? Especially that first one?"

"Okay, okay," Bianca conceded. "I guess… I guess I'm just having a hard time reconciling you as wanting to commit to a woman, let alone think about marriage. Does that make any sense? It's not that I doubt your feelings or anything like that, it's just- you don't strike me as the down on one knee proposing marriage kind of person, okay?" She dropped her face into her hands. "Man, that just came out so wrong…"

Maggie's brow furrowed as she looked at her girlfriend. "It's okay, Bianca, I understand."

"No," Bianca replied, shaking her head with her face still buried in her palms. "No, you can't understand because even I don't understand what I just said."

"Then why do you think I would feel obligated to marry you?"

Bianca smiled a little, but the confusion in her face was still visible. "Maybe I'm being silly," she said with a shake of her head. "I don't even know why I brought this up." She put her hand over her eyes. "Forget I said anything-."

"No, wait a minute," Maggie replied, pulling Bianca's hand away from her face and twining their fingers. "We're not going to brush it aside when this is clearly something that has been on your mind." She gave Bianca a lopsided smile. "So… you think I'm not the marrying kind?"

"I don't know," Bianca sighed. "I don't know how to explain it." She stopped and marshaled her thoughts before taking a breath. "A little over a year ago, Maggie, you were straight. Any marriage you were thinking about was to-." She stopped at the warning look in Maggie's eyes. "A man," she continued with a cough. "I just- it's hard for me to imagine, I guess. I just- do you actually see yourself in the future referring to me as your wife?"

Maggie was silent for a long time, mulling Bianca's words over in her head, trying to gather her words to explain so that this wouldn't end up in disaster. "Well," she agreed with that trademark Stone grin, "I'm not a white picket fence type. I think I'm more a Paris apartment mansion type." When Bianca barely smiled, Maggie got serious. "I'm not asking you to marry me, Binks. Not yet, anyway. France doesn't allow same-sex marriages. I want us to register our partnership because I do want to commit to a life with you, to bind our lives together and make a family with Miranda. This is the only way France will legally let us do it. And then maybe, someday, we'll actually get married. Tie the knot. Hook up the old ball and chain-."

"Okay, okay."

"You know, in a way, you're right. I'm not big on marriage. But not because of you. The way I saw marriage was my dad running out on my mom and Frankie and me. Then watching JR and Babe manipulate Jamie and each other. And then thinking marrying Jonathan was the right thing to do and that it would have been traditional in any way. Marrying him would have been a huge mistake. But… I don't think that when I look at you. Or when I think about us a couple years from now or 5 or 10 or 25 years from now."

The little blonde looked at Bianca and knew she was still hesitant. And she understood what Bianca was saying, even if she didn't think she'd articulated it very well. Maggie shoved her hair back over her shoulders and took Bianca's hands in hers once more. "I love you, Bianca. I love you and Miranda more than anything in this world and I want us to be a family in every sense of the word. You're it for me and I know that in my heart and in my head." She gave Bianca a reassuring little smile. "I can picture us together for the rest of our lives, waking up next to you every morning, seeing your face first thing every day, kissing you good night every night, smiling when I see you again when one of us walks through the door. Making love to you every night."

Bianca laughed. "Oh, really? Every night."

"Okay, maybe not every night, but pretty damn close!" She smiled. "And after everything, neither one of us would ever get tired of it. I want us to be a family, Bianca, because I know we can be. I want what I didn't have as a kid and I know that I can have that with you because I love you. More than anything." She shook her head. "Anyway, I started doing some research but I didn't want to tell you until I had all the facts. The whole 'getting your hopes up for no reason'-thing, you know?"

Bianca nodded. "Yeah, I get it."

"So, anyway, that's what all the secrecy was about." She sat for a moment, pleased with herself for the simple explanation before she realized that Bianca was just looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"Ask me." Maggie looked back at her blankly. "Ask me."

"What, now? This isn't exactly romantic, B."

"Oh, I disagree. What could be more romantic than in our bed in our own bedroom on a beautiful Saturday morning?"

"Really?" At Maggie's question, Bianca nodded, her hair dancing around her head at the action. "Uh, okay." Suddenly getting in the spirit of what she was about to do, Maggie wiggled closer on the bed, moving onto her knees before taking Bianca's hands in hers once more. "Bianca Christine Montgomery," she said, trying to be serious but unable to keep the laughter out of her voice. "I love you and I love your daughter-."

"Our daughter."

Maggie grinned. "Our daughter, very much. And I want us to be a family. I want us to make it as legal as possible with a civil union. Will you go down to City Hall with me and make it legal?" She took a deep breath and attempted to be serious. "Will you sign a contract with me?"

Bianca burst out laughing. "Maggie..." she laughed, flopping over on the bed.

"Hey! This is not the response I expected!"

"I'm sorry, but you're right."

"About what?"

"It's not as romantic as I thought it would be."

Suddenly, Maggie got serious. "Will you, Bianca? Will you make a commitment to us with a civil union?"

"Oh, Maggie," the brunette replied, catching her breath and calming back down, "Yes. You know I've been in love with you since the moment I fainted at your feet. This is what I've wanted for so long, how on earth could I say no?"

"I've never truly known love until I met you, Bianca. I think I was waiting for you." She took Bianca's hands in hers and played with their fingers, her eyes fixed on her fidgeting. "I think that's why... why I fought for so long. I didn't know what it was or how to react to it. And it wasn't what I expected at all. But I know now, that I love you like I could never love anyone else in my life. And I always want to be with you."

Bianca gently disentangled a hand and reached for Maggie, turning the blonde's face up to hers. "I have loved you all my life, it feels," she said softly. "And I know I'll never love anyone else the way that I love you. I want more than anything to spend my life with you, Maggie Stone. Forever."

Maggie gave her a lopsided grin. "Even if our kid wants to play hockey?"

"Yeah," Bianca replied with a smile. "Even if she wants to play hockey."

"Okay, but I want you to remember that."

Bianca leaned over and kissed Maggie gently on the lips. "I will, I promise."

Maggie paused for a moment then threw herself at Bianca, knocking the brunette onto her back and collapsing gently atop her. Their lips collided in a hard kiss that quickly turned gentle yet heated. Maggie raised herself up on her hands a bit and leaned over Bianca, kissing her with more passion as Bianca's arms slid around Maggie's waist.

"Whoa," Bianca mumbled, trying to catch her balance. "Aggressive much, Mags?"

Maggie grinned down into Bianca's eyes. "Are you saying there's not going to be any celebration sex?"

"Well, no."

"Yeah, I didn't think so." She kissed Bianca again. "Why do you still have clothes on?"

Bianca grabbed the hem of Maggie's tank top and tugged. "I could ask you the same," she replied, pulling the shirt upward.

"Whoa, whoa," Maggie warned as she felt Bianca leveraging their balance in her haste to rid the blonde of her apparel. "Easy, there, Binks."

"You were attacking me a minute ago!"

"I know, but we're dangerousl- ACK!"

The bed shifted and the slow slide off the edge of the mattress began.

"Mag-!"

With a little shriek, Bianca grabbed Maggie tightly by the shirt while Maggie's arms tightened around Bianca's waist as the world tilted around them. Suddenly, in a flurry of comforter and sheets, they tumbled unceremoniously off the bed and landed with a *thud* on the floor, legs tangled in bed-linens. Someone's head bonked against the wall while an elbow jabbed someone in the side. Leo the cat yowled, leapt to his paws and raced out of the room, his tail the size of a bottle brush.

"Ow…" Maggie muttered. "You bruised my ribs with a well-placed elbow."

"I think I have a concussion," Bianca mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

"I stabbed my brain."

"Yeah, well, I think I started my period."

Maggie stopped rubbing the knot on her head and gave Bianca a look. "Thank you, Audrey Griswold. No more National Lampoon movies for you."

"You started it."

They were stubbornly silent for a moment then Maggie looked at Bianca with a twinkle in her eye. "So you wanna do it right here?"

Bianca looked around. "Is there enough room?"

"Hey," Maggie shrugged, "we won't know until we try."

They leaned in and kissed, hands slowly beginning to seek warm flesh as bodies strained towards each other. Bianca pulled the comforter up over their heads as they burrowed deeply into their own little cocoon.

Suddenly, Maggie shot upright, fighting her way out of a flurry of snow white sheets and pillows like someone had lit her rear on fire. "Cramp!" she shouted, dancing around the room on her tiptoes as her calf sent shooting pains up her leg. "Cramp! Cramp, cramp, cramp!" She hobbled across to the dresser and back. "Ow, ow, ow…"

"Are you okay?" Bianca asked, pushing hair out of her eyes.

"I gotta cramp," the little blonde explained needlessly. "In my leg." She bent down and began rubbing vigorously at her calf. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…."

"Mommie!" a child's cry came from the nursery. "Mommiemommiemommiemommie!"

Bianca dropped her head onto a pillow. "Well, so much for celebration sex."

"Ow, ow, ow," Maggie repeated, hopping across the bedroom as Bianca got to her feet and headed for the nursery.

"This is our luck. Always interrupted," the brunette said, glancing back at her lover before opening the nursery door and finding their daughter using her new big girl bed like a tampoline. "Unreal…"

"Mommie!" Miranda shouted again.

"Yes, sweetie," Bianca replied with a grin. "You keep jumping up and down on that Rangers logo. I'll get you some Maple Leafs sheets next."

"The hell you- ow, ow, ow- will!" Maggie called out, still bounding across the room.

"Hell!" Miranda bellowed, still jumping on her mattress. "Hellhellhellhellhell!"

"Maggie!" Bianca shouted.

The cramp in Maggie's calf suddenly dissipated, as if it knew that it stood no chance against Bianca after hearing Miranda gleefully shouting one of Maggie's favorite curse words, and Maggie stopped in the middle of the room, her head falling forward.

"Crap."

"Cwap!" Miranda parroted. "Cwapcwapcwapcwap!" Each word was punctuated with a bounce off the mattress, her light brown hair flying around her head.

"How did she hear that?"

"She's got ears like a bat, Maggie. You need to watch your mouth."

"Sorry."

"Yeah, yeah."

xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Two days later, Bianca strolled confidently into the library at UPMC, knowing with certainty that Maggie was ensconced in a class that included words Bianca couldn't even pronounce and her task would not be interrupted. With her jeans and blouse, not to mention her youthful beauty, she could have easily passed for a student, if her ridiculously expensive Louis Vuitton bag and the Christian Louboutin heels she wore with her Seven for All Mankind jeans hadn't given her away.

Her heels clicking on the marble floor, she strode to the circulation desk, her eyes scanning everyone with a place behind the huge carved stone counter.

"Pardon," she called out softly, catching one young man's attention. "Pouvez-vous me dire si Cecelia est ici?"*

"Oui," he replied, looking over to the information desk across the library. "Là-bas."

Bianca glanced in the direction he had pointed. "Merci," she said, turning and marching toward the redhead seated behind the desk.

The woman looked up as Bianca approached. "Bon jour, est-ce que je peux vous aider?"*

"Oui," Bianca replied as sweetly as she could punctuating it with a dazzling smile. "Parlez vous anglais?"

"Yes, I do," the woman said, switching easily to English with a strong Australian accent and responding with a smile of her own. "Can I help you?"

Bianca leaned close. "Are you Cecelia?" she whispered conspiratorially, with a hint of come-hither in her eyes.

"Yes, I am. How-."

"My name is Bianca Montgomery," the brunette replied, her entire demeanor transforming instantly to a 'butter wouldn't melt in her mouth' smile and flashing eyes. "I think you know my girlfriend, Maggie Stone?"

Cecelia's eyes widened in recognition... and touch of trepidation. "Yes, I-."

Bianca's hand came up quickly, choking off the words coming out of Cecelia's mouth. Her countenance changed instantly again, this time to cold and commanding, brooking no argument. "No. You don't get to talk, understand?" Cecelia just nodded dumbly. "I'm going to tell you this once and I want you to follow along, okay? Just nod your head if you understand what I'm saying." The girl's head bobbed up and down vigorously, her eyes still wide with apprehension. "You've been calling and harassing my girlfriend for a couple of weeks now and she would like for you to stop. I would like for you to stop. She came in here seeking assistance for some very personal research and since that time you have called her incessantly on her private cell phone under the guise of assisting her," and Bianca used air quotes here to make her point, "when that hasn't been your intention at all, has it?"

Cecelia opened her mouth to respond and Bianca leaned closer. "I said you don't get to talk," she stated in a calm yet menacing voice. "Let me make this quick and to the point. You don't call Maggie, you don't talk to Maggie, you don't look at Maggie, you don't even think about Maggie. If you see Maggie, in the library or anywhere else on the continent, you will find someplace else you need to be. Do you understand?" There was silence. "You can talk now."

"Y-yes," the redhead stuttered.

"Good. If I ever hear your name again, I will personally see to it that you are removed from this university and lose your student Visa. If you think I can't do it... just try me."

"You- you can't-."

"Oh, yes, I can. My mother is Erica Kane, she taught me exactly how to do it." Once more, Bianca leaned closer to the young woman, getting in her face without appearing at all threatening to the uninterested observer. "Don't make me angry, Cecelia. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

With that, Bianca tossed her ebony locks over her shoulders, straightened and walked away with all the dignity she could muster while one thought pinged around inside her head. Oh, Lord, I just quoted David Banner from The Incredible Hulk, she thought as she hurried while trying to appear not to hurry to the enormous wooden door only 15 feet in front of her, her heels clicking loudly on the marble floor in her haste to escape. Maggie's got me watching way too much TVLand…

She stepped out into the sunshine, her heart about to explode from the sensation of holding her breath, wondering if she would make a clean getaway before Cecelia recognized the quote and called her out for what was truly a false bravado. The moment she tasted fresh air, she burst into giggles.

"Binks?" an incredibly familiar voice called out, stopping the brunette in her tracks. "What are you doing here?"

"Maggie!" Bianca replied with an overly bright smile. "What a coincidence. I was looking all over for you."

Maggie's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Oh, really. I just got out of class. And you know that because you asked me what my schedule was like just this morning."

Bianca's laughter was bright and full of joy. "I did, didn't I?"

The hair on Maggie's neck suddenly stood on end, knowing full well that Bianca had been up to something. "What did you do!" she exclaimed. When Bianca stood there just grinning at her, she grabbed the brunette's hand and pulled her down the steps. "Bianca! What did you do!"

"What?" Bianca replied, her face the absolute picture of innocence.

Maggie knew better. "Bianca."

"Nothing!" Bianca replied, her voice absolutely sparkling with laughter. "I didn't do anything! I was… just… making a point!" Her index finger went skyward. "Yes! I was making a point!"

Still dragging Bianca behind her, Maggie headed for L'inevitable, a small sidewalk café that sat on the grounds of the university, and found a table. Bianca stared at her like a confused kid. "Sit," the blonde ordered.

Bianca sat.

Maggie took the chair next to her and put her elbows on the table, her fingers laced together as she gave Bianca her best "you better spill it" look. Bianca looked back, doing her best to appear unaffected, until she had to look away and began to straighten the utensils on the table in front of her. Repeatedly.

"Oh, alright!" Bianca exclaimed, her eyes shut tight to avoid the penetrating stare of her girlfriend. "I went to the library to have a chat with Cecelia."

"You what?" Maggie replied, absolutely stunned by Bianca's admission.

"I went to the library," Bianca reiterated. "I went to the library tell Cecelia to back off my girlfriend and to stop calling you all the time."

"You did?"

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Don't act so surprised, Maggie. So I got a little jealous. It happens. Sue me."

Maggie was gob-smacked. "Really?"

"Yes, Maggie, really," Bianca snapped, reading Maggie's reaction completely wrong.

Without warning, Maggie reached over and put her hand behind Bianca's head, pulling her in fast and planting a hard, yet enthusiastic, kiss on her lips before releasing her so fast the brunette almost fell off her chair. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

Bianca just looked at Maggie, her expression as gob-smacked as Maggie's had been only moments before. "No," she finally replied, "at least not in the last few hours."

"Well, I love you, Bianca Christine Montgomery," Maggie said, adding a lump of sugar to her café au lait. "For some reason, I love you with all my heart."

Bianca smirked. "Never-ending sex might have something to do with it," she growled under her breath.

"It's not nearly never-ending enough," Maggie growled right back, her eyes on the swirling mocha-colored liquid in her cup. "Getting you naked right now would be a good thing…"

Bianca's coffee cup slipped from her fingers and clattered back into the saucer. "You wanna… go home?"

Maggie looked up and met Bianca's gaze, finding the heavy-lidded chocolate eyes caressing her face so intently she could almost feel it.

The table tipped precariously on one leg before righting itself as its two occupants made their hasty exit, cups and saucers rattling on its surface as it settled back onto the sidewalk. The waitress stopped suddenly, wondering where the two young women had disappeared to after barely having been served. She looked down.

A 20€ Euro bill was tucked under a coffee cup, more than covering the 7€ Euro tab.**

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Greenlee slammed the front door shut behind her. "I'm just saying," she said impatiently as she trailed after Kendall, "is that song is horribly misogynistic."

Kendall kept walking into the den, tossing bags from various designer boutiques on the sofa. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"That Piña Colada song," Greenlee replied with a roll of her eyes. "You know, where the guy reads a personals ad in the paper and replies to it? And it turns out it's from his girlfriend or wife or lover or whatever?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So? So?" Greenlee shook her head. "Are you not listening?" she railed at the taller woman. "She's lying in bed right there next to him and he's reading the personals because, and I quote, I was tired of my lady."

"Okay," Kendall said, knowing there was no shutting Greenlee up until she'd made her point. "Go on."

"I mean, apparently he wasn't too tired of her, since they were in bed together, but he obviously sucked in the sack because he was awake and she was sleeping-."

"Greenlee!"

The smaller woman had the good sense to look sheepish. "Sorry. Anyway… what was I saying?"

"Personals ad, sleeping next to him, sucked in bed."

"Oh, yeah. Okay… so, she's laying right there and he's complaining that the relationship is in a rut and while she's laying right there, he's checking out the personal ads, finds one and replies to it! Who wrote this song? A chauvinist pig?"

Kendall appeared thoughtful. "So it would seem."

Greenlee kept going as if she hadn't heard her BFF speak. "I mean, the first freaking line of the song is I was tired of my lady, how sexist is that? Well, you know what? Maybe she was tired of you, too, Skippy, or you would have at least been able to keep her awake during sex."

"He was tired of his lady?" Kendall asked incredulously. "Seriously? Who talks like that?"

"Male chauvinist pig songwriters back in the 70's."

"Oh, well… that makes sense."

"Wait, it gets better. You know while she's lying there asleep and he's contemplating screwing around on her? He writes his own personals ad. Then he says- sings- whatever; So I wrote to the paper, Took out a personal ad, And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half bad. He thought it wasn't half-bad? Enormous ego, much, buddy?"

"Obviously overcompensation for a specific short-coming," Kendall snorted, suddenly getting into the spirit of things.

"The joke was really on him, though, since SHE'S the one who placed the ad that he answered. Apparently, she was looking for someone else, too, and she was looking before he was."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The front door burst open and Bianca rushed in, Maggie hot on her heels. There was barely enough time to slam the door shut and throw the locks before Bianca was heading up the stairs with Maggie right behind her, giving her a not-so-gentle push from behind.

Bending simultaneously to remove the last of their undergarments, they were unaware of their proximity and their heads bonked together.

"Ow…" Maggie muttered, rubbing the rapidly enlarging lump on her forehead. "I don't think I'm in the mood anymore…"

Bianca pressed a palm to her own ever-expanding goose-egg, her other hand propped on her hip. "I think I can honestly say 'not tonight, honey, I have a headache'."

"Seriously, that's a buzz kill." The shorter woman reached for her discarded blouse. "Now what?"

"I need Advil," Bianca replied as she re-buttoned her own blouse before heading to the bedroom door.

"I need wine," Maggie muttered, following the brunette out of the room and down the hall. Before she could follow Bianca into the kitchen, there was a knock at the front door. "I'll get that if you get me some wine."

"And Advil," Bianca agreed. "Deal."

"What do you want for dinner?" Maggie called back over her shoulder as she went to see who was at their doorstep.

"I don't know," Bianca replied, exiting the kitchen as the blonde reached for the door knob. "I was thinking about-."

Maggie pulled the door open.

"Aiden!"

TBC-

P.S. As far as Civil Unions go in France, sadly at least one member of the couple must be a French citizen. I'm assuming it's to keep all the foreigners from racing to Paris to apply for a PACS which wouldn't be a legal union in any other country, but I don't know. For the purposes of this fic; however, just being a resident of France is more than enough.

I was tired of my lady
We'd been together too long

Like a worn-out recording
Of a favorite song
So while she lay there sleeping
I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns
There was this letter I read
"If you like Pina Coladas
And getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga

If you have half a brain
If you'd like making love at midnight
In the dunes on the Cape
Then I'm the love that you've looked for
Write to me and escape."

I didn't think about my lady
I know that sounds kind of mean
But me and my old lady
Have fallen into the same old dull routine
So I wrote to the paper
Took out a personal ad
And though I'm nobody's poet
I thought it wasn't half bad

"Yes I like Pina Coladas
And getting caught in the rain
I'm not much into health food
I am into champagne
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon
And cut through all this red-tape
At a bar called O'Malley's
Where we'll plan our escape."

So I waited with high hopes
And she walked in the place
I knew her smile in an instant

I knew the curve of her face
It was my own lovely lady
And she said, "Oh it's you."
Then we laughed for a moment
And I said, "I never knew."
That you like Pina Coladas
Getting caught in the rain
And the feel of the ocean
And the taste of champagne
If you'd like making love at midnight
In the dunes of the Cape
You're the lady I've looked for
Come with me and escape

*Literal translation:

Can you say to me if Cecilia is here?

Can I help you?

**FYI - Generally, there is no tipping for services in Europe. The reason why is, most places charge a service charge just to sit down in a restaurant or patisserie. The usual custom is to pay your tab (the service charge is usually added in here), then leave whatever coins are returned after paying the bill (unlike the US, there are no 1€ bills in Europe, just 1€ and 2€ coins). This is also true for café's, which usually don't charge a service charge. This service charge takes the place of tips for the wait staff. Places like Harry's Bar in Venice; however, don't ascribe to this custom and you must tip as usual… they do this because Harry's Bar is ridiculously expensive and a service charge wouldn't match the 15-20% of a tip... I know this for a fact… stupid $225 lunch that I offered to pay for because I wanted to eat at Harry's Bar… :bob