3: Going with the flow

Rae was not sure how it happened, but over the next couple of weeks, she had become friends with Audrey. She could trace how it gradually occurred, but it still seemed a little weird to her. Maybe it was just because she had someone around the house who was not Donnie. She did wonder how Donnie was going to react when the master chef found out that she had befriended the redheaded woman. She was sure that Donnie was going to find it a little weird to come home one day and find someone other than Rae in the house.

“I can’t believe you’re a Scrabble nut too!” Audrey declared with a chuckle as Rae brought out her Scrabble board one day. She was not sure how they got on the topic of games, but eventually they started talking about how they both liked Scrabble and then the housewife went to fetch her game.

“I actually like everything with words. I like crosswords, jumbles, word search, things like that. I’m usually here by myself, so I don’t get to play Scrabble too often,” Rae explained, setting the deluxe board down on the glass coffee table.

“You’re usually here by yourself? Donnie does live here too,” Audrey commented innocently. Of course, having spent enough days there, she noticed that Donnie was not around very often during the day.

“Indeed she does, but there are a few reasons I don’t play Scrabble often. One—Donnie’s not very good at it. She’ll force herself to play with me, but she doesn’t really like it. Two—it gets boring to play the same person over and over again when she doesn’t want to play in the first place. I don’t want to torture the poor thing. Three—she actually doesn’t play well, probably because she doesn’t want to play, so I beat her a lot. She pouts when she loses.” She smiled a bit as she thought about her wife pouting like a sad child because she lost at something. She did think that Donnie was adorable when she pouted.

Audrey nodded. “Donnie sounds like a big baby sometimes,” she quipped, smiling and laughing a bit.

“Sometimes, she is. She’s under a lot of stress with her restaurant and her baby, Don and Rae’s Café, so when she comes home, all she wants to do is whine and laze around. She needs to be pampered sometimes,” Rae defended her spouse, even though she did not think that Audrey’s words were a malicious attack. It seemed like a good-natured tease, which did not bother Rae.

The redhead tilted her head curiously. “Oh, does she own that café?”

“Yup, that was her baby before this one came along.” Rae patted her stomach. “She wanted to open some place that all people would feel comfortable in and not think about how much their meal cost.”

Audrey nodded. “Yeah, I hear that restaurant of hers is freaking expensive.”

“It’s not that bad anymore. She’s been trying to add things to the menu that don’t cost an arm and a leg, but it is a world-class restaurant and has two of the best chefs in the world working there much of the time. And even when she and Tegan aren’t in the kitchen, they have some of the best people on staff working for them.” Rae continued to set them up to play Scrabble as they conversed.

“Still, it always seemed a little pretentious to me. Maybe because everything was so damned expensive last time I checked.” Her comments were said as if they were mere observations, so they did not bother the housewife.

Rae nodded in understanding. “I used to feel the same way. Before I met Donnie, though, I always wanted to go there.”

“And now?”

The ebony-haired woman shrugged. “I never really want to go there. It’s not romantic for Donnie. It’s always business for her, even walking in the garden. She always sees things, things that she wants to change or improve or she finds out that there’s stuff she needs to yell at people for because something’s not quite right. It’s just stressful for her to be there because it’s always work.”

A rust-colored eyebrow arched in bewilderment. “So, what do you two do for a romantic night out? What if you want to go out, does Donnie have a problem with visiting the competition?”

Rae chuckled. “Donnie doesn’t mind going out and she’ll eat just about anywhere. She knows how to make food to her liking with simple things. Plus, she eats just about anything too. Surprisingly enough, she’s not very picky. As far as romantic nights go, Donnie would much rather curl up with me on the couch with popcorn and nachos than go out for a night on the town. She doesn’t like dealing with people when she doesn’t have to.”

“And what about you? Do you like nights out on the town?” Audrey inquired, leaning forward a little. There was a slight twinkle in her eyes, but it went by Rae.

Rae’s face lit up just for having a chance to talk about her face for the first time in a while. “I’ve been known to get a little wild when I want to. It’s hard to get out much because Donnie doesn’t like clubs or dancing. She swears she’s the only Black person on the planet without rhythm,” the petite woman remarked with a giggle. She silently admitted that she agreed with Donnie. Watching the poor girl even try to dance was painful sometimes, but most of the time she found it sweet (though embarrassing) that her beloved would try just for her.

“Well, I’ve been known to dance a little myself. Maybe we could go out club-hopping one night,” the redhead proposed in a warm tone with a friendly smile.

“Sure, but I don’t know how much fun I’ll be. I haven’t been out in a while and we’re probably going to have to go before I start showing with the baby,” Rae replied, rubbing her stomach again.

“Whenever you’re free, I’m ready to go.”

Rae nodded and their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. “Hey, sweetheart!” Donnie merrily called as she stepped into the house.

“Baby, what have I told you about yelling through the house?” Rae countered in a semi-stern tone. It was not lost on her that she was doing the same thing that she was scolding Donnie for.

“I just want you to know it’s me and not some robber breaking in through the front door,” Donnie answered as she made her way into the living room. She stopped short and blinked in surprise when she saw that Rae was not alone. “Oh, didn’t know we had company,” the chef said.

“Baby, I’m sure you remember Audrey,” Rae said, motioning to the redhead sitting across from her.

“Uh…sure…” It was clear on her face that Donnie did not remember Audrey at all. She had only seen the woman once and that was a few weeks ago.

“She and Trisha are doing a wonderful job on the nursery. You should go up there and see the room. It’s almost done,” Rae said, basically filling in her lover as to who the redhead was.

Donnie nodded and hazel eyes locked on Audrey for a moment before turning back to her wife. “I’ll go look when I head up to change and everything. You made something for dinner?” she asked curiously, patting her stomach. She was lucky to lead an active life, which kept her stomach flat, because Donnie loved to eat.

“I didn’t get a chance. I spent most of the day just talking to Audrey,” Rae answered honestly.

Donnie nodded again and her eyes shifted to the redhead, who was watching her intently. Hazel eyes then went back to Rae. “So, babe, you want me to order something?” Donnie asked curiously, scratching the back of her head.

“That would be good. I’ll take whatever you’re going to have. Audrey, do you want something?” Rae inquired, glancing over at her guest.

“Where’re you ordering from?” Audrey asked.

Donnie shrugged. “I don’t know yet. You think you’ll be around for another hour or so?”

“Depends on how many games of Scrabble we’re going to play,” the redhead answered. She leaned forward, almost as if she was anticipating something from the businesswoman.

Donnie shrugged again, as if she did not have a care in the world. “I hope you’re ready for weeks then. Rae can play that damn game nonstop with no sleep or anything for days,” she remarked with a fond smile.

“I love this game,” Rae declared with a cheerful grin.

“I know you do, sweetie.” With that Donnie disappeared upstairs.

The first thing that the tall woman did was go in the nursery and see what Trisha had done with the room in the couple of weeks that she had been working on it. First, it had been painted and Trisha thought that a soothing yellow would be good, especially since they did not know the sex of the baby. Donnie did not think it would turn out well, but Rae gave her okay and now looking at, Donnie was glad that she got out-voted for once.

The yellow was warm and calming; Donnie looked forward to spending hours in it, holding lil Donnie. The furniture in the room was a smooth and off-white. They had rocking chair and several empty bookshelves, waiting to be filled. They had not made the time to go out and buy any baby books that they wanted to read just yet, but Donnie was sure they would do that soon, as well as any other purchases that they needed to make. They had not brought a crib yet, wanting to wait and see what Trisha was going to do with the nursery. Also, it was purchase that the couple wanted to take time on and go out a few times together to see what was out there.

A smile graced Donnie’s tan face before she moved on, going into the master bedroom’s bathroom. She felt light as she went to go take her shower and wash away the stress of the day. Her head filled with thoughts of cuddling with her wife and talking about their baby filled her head, causing her smile to turn into an absent grin. Hurrying through her shower, she rushed into the bedroom, wanting to get to cuddling with Rae as soon as possible. Her scurrying was halted as she recalled that they had a guest downstairs. She then threw on some plain clothes as her smile dropped a bit, but she tried to shake the disappointment off since the guest seemed to be Rae’s friend and Audrey was just over for one night. After putting on a white tee-shirt along with some gray sweatpants, she returned to the living room with the intense Scrabble play going on. She grabbed the phone on the stand by the couch and then took a seat next to Rae on the couch.

“Baby, I was thinking,” Rae said, focusing more on her letter tiles than her lover.

“Hmm?” Donnie replied, the simple sound coming out rich and smooth. A little shiver went down her wife’s spine thanks to the little noise.

It took a Rae a moment to remember what she was going to say. “Do you think you could just order a pizza? I want to get in some junk food before you start going nuts about our diet and everything,” the petite woman commented.

“Okay, no problem. Your friend want anything special on her pizza?” Donnie asked, going through the phone to get the number of their favorite pizza parlor.

Rae hit her spouse lightly on the leg. “Baby, you can ask herself. She is right here.”

“I could,” Donnie replied with a wide, teasing grin. This just earned her another hit from her wife.

“Audrey, is there anything you want on the pizza? Usually, we get half vegetarian and the other half meat lovers,” Rae explained. They generally did that not because one of them liked one and the other liked the other, but they both liked to have at least a slice of vegetarian pizza to feel like they were eating healthy.

“That’s fine,” Audrey answered with a wave of her hand. She glanced up for a moment, taking in the couple’s position before turning her attention back to her letters. She saw Rae was leaning back against Donnie, who had her arm wrapped around Rae’s waist. One of Rae’s hand caressed the limb around her while her other hand moved around letter tiles for the game.

Donnie ordered the pizza and had no problem retrieving it when it was delivered, even though she made a whimpering sound when she felt Rae lift off of her, so she could get up to get the pizza. While Rae and Audrey continued their seemingly endless game of Scrabble, Donnie occupied herself with food and playing around on her laptop, first doing work and then taking a few minutes to play some games. This prevented her from cuddling into Rae since that was really what she wanted to do, but figured it would not be appropriate with Rae’s company right there. She remained like that until Rae decided that it was bedtime and Audrey went home.

Donnie yawned and sighed when they entered their bedroom before merrily stripping out the tee-shirt and sweatpants she had put on because of the company. She dived to the bed while Rae took time to go shower and brush her teeth. By the time Rae crawled into bed, she thought that Donnie was sleeping. She learned otherwise when powerful arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

“How was your day, sweetie?” Donnie asked, pulling her wife to her. She pressed herself into the petite woman’s back and then rested her head on top of Rae’s soft, ebony mane. She inhaled the fresh smell of lilac from her wife’s shampoo and soap. Several soft kisses had to follow because of how the aroma delighted Donnie’s nose.

“It was good. Um…how did you feel about coming in with Audrey being in here? You didn’t mind, did you?” Rae countered, voice quivering just a bit and Donnie had a feeling that had nothing to do with her kisses and caresses, but it did not stop her from continuing the display of affection.

“No, I didn’t mind. I don’t mind. She’s keeping you company, that’s good. Heavens knows I can’t play Scrabble worth a damn enough to keep you entertained. I hope she plays all of those other games you like too,” the chef commented honestly. Her mouth then went right back to placing small kisses on her wife’s neck.

Rae smiled a bit and tilted her head, giving her lover better access to her neck. “She said she does like word games too and Scrabble is her favorite, like me. So, it’s all right for her to stay over more?”

“Of course, babe. You two go ahead and play those word game things to your heart’s content.”

Rae smiled even more, purring slightly before continuing their conversation. “So, what would you think if she and I went clubbing sometime?” she asked, hoping that the positive feedback that she was getting would continue.

“Clubbing?” Donnie echoed like she did not know what that was and that paused her other activities. She leaned over and glanced down at her love, who looked up at her. They stared at each other for a few seconds. “You mean like on a date?” she asked in a puzzled tone with an expression to match.

Rae laughed out loud. “Of course not, baby! She’s my friend, silly.”

“Oh, well, if two friends are going to go clubbing, that’s fine. I mean, not like I could take you out and dance with you or nothing. I hate clubs anyway. All of those damn people and crap. It’s like chaos in those places. You shouldn’t suffer because I can’t dance and don’t like being around people if I don’t have to.”

“You mean that, baby?” Rae inquired, shifting her body some and turning around. She was now halfway lying on top of Donnie and looking into deep hazel eyes.

“Yeah, of course. I want you to have fun and everything. I know it can’t be fun staying inside all day, everyday. I’ll miss you while you’re out, though,” the tan chef replied, poking her bottom lip out in order to look pathetic. It worked.

Rae sat up to kiss her spouse lightly on the lips. “Thank you, baby.”

“I don’t know why you act like I don’t want you to have fun. Go out and have a blast. I’m happy you found someone that can dance and everything, just don’t dance too close and be careful.”

“Baby, I’m not going to dance close with Audrey. I’m a married woman, after all!” the smaller female declared with a grin.

“Happily married woman,” Donnie corrected her wife, moving her hands to caress Rae’s back. A shiver raced through her as she moved Rae’s tank top out of the way to feel her soft skin.

Another smile lit up Rae’s face. “Yes, happily. I will be careful too and I’ll try to get it out of my system before we start noticing lil Donnie. Okay?”

“Sounds very good. Remember, no drinking when you’re out.”

Rae chuckled a little at her lover’s overprotective nature. “I know, I know. I know what I can and cannot do now that I have lil Donnie taking up residence in my body, okay?”

Donnie looked away and had the decency to appear embarrassed for making such a big fuss. “I just get worried sometimes…” she mumbled, sulking just enough to get a kiss for her troubles. Of course, the kiss straightened out her features.

“I know, baby. You don’t have to worry about me, though. You have so many other things in your life to worry about. I’m not one of them,” Rae assured her spouse.

Donnie nodded to show that she understood. She held Rae closer to her and tried to get a little more cuddling in, knowing that she would not be able to stay away for anything more than some heavy petting. Donnie was able to go to sleep peacefully after a couple of minutes of light kissing. Rae gave her sleeping spouse another kiss before settling in for sleep herself. She looked forward to being able to go out with Audrey and do some dancing. She missed dancing, she realized as she drifted off to sleep.

-----

“Hey, Don, what’re you still doing here?” Tegan asked as she poked her head into Donnie’s office at the restaurant. The redhead was dressed as fashionably as always, but she had to change out of those clothes since she had been on duty as a chief chef that night. The smile on her face was so broad it was amazing that her cheeks did not split open; working in the kicthen would always be her first love.

“I’m catching up on some paper work,” Donnie answered, glancing up at her friend for only a moment before letting her eyes fall back to her paperwork on her meticulously clean desk.

“Shouldn’t you be getting home to the little woman?” Tegan inquired curiously. It was not like Donnie to stay so late anymore because she tended to worry herself sick, thinking about Rae being alone at their house. In fact, she often got on Tegan’s nerves with it, which was why the redhead wanted to know why her best friend was still there.

“Rae went out with a friend tonight, so I’ve got nothing to get home to for now. She said she’d call me when she was headed back, so I figured that’s when I’d head out,” Donnie explained as if it was nothing.

Tegan blinked hard from the surprise. “Rae went out? Is this friend another woman?” she asked, sounding suspicious. Green eyes narrowed as the wheels in her head began to turn. Donnie did not bother to glance up to see her best friend’s expression.

“Yeah, apparently she’s Trisha’s assistant. I guess they hit it off while Trisha was doing the nursery.”

Tegan nodded. “Trisha was telling me about her. She’s not too sure if Audrey’s working out. Something about Audrey seems a little off to her.”

Donnie snorted. “Something always seems off to people with Trisha. She’s paranoid.”

Tegan shrugged. “You’re right about that. Hell, she still watches French as if she’s expecting her to strangle Spain or something. Still, you should watch Audrey around Rae. You don’t want to come in one day and find her with her hands places—”

Donnie snarled, the noise cutting her feet off mid-sentence. “Rae is not like that! Don’t you dare even suggest it!”

Tegan threw her hands up, in a gesture of giving up. “Okay, okay, okay.”

“Audrey’s harmless. They’re just friends.”

“Okay.” Tegan decided that she needed to get going before she said something that really upset Donnie. The last time she upset Donnie, she ended up with a black eye…Sure, they had been ten at the time, but that still stuck with her. “I’m heading out, boss. You’re going to be all right?”

“I’m fine. I needed to catch up on this stuff anyway. Not like I can count on you to do this junk.” The business-owner motioned to the paperwork in front of her.

Tegan stuck her tongue out at Donnie. “Later, Don. Don’t stay too long and don’t let all this paper junk bug you.”

Donnie nodded and waved her dear friend off. Tegan was gone on that note, sighing once she was out of the office. The restaurant owner was able to catch on her paperwork before her cell phone started ringing. She dug around her pockets for it, but did not find it until she noticed it was sitting on her desk, where she left it in case she got a call.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Donnie answered when she saw it was Rae that was calling her. She smiled widely and her eyes twinkled when her wife’s voice came through.

“Hey, baby! I’m just calling to let you know I’m all right!” Rae informed her spouse, shouting over the music to make sure she was being heard.

“I’m glad you did. I was just about to start worrying,” Donnie said. She could not recall recently when Rae had been out past midnight and she was not with her wife. It did cause little butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

“I figured you would. Don’t worry. I should be home in a couple of hours. Okay?”

Donnie sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’m going to try to eat something and then get back to this paperwork.”

“Don’t stress yourself out, baby. Make sure you eat,” Rae ordered. She was stunned that she had to give that command since it was not like Donnie to miss a meal. “Did you eat dinner yet?”

“Um…” Donnie searched her memory. “No, I don’t think I did. Guess I should, huh?” she asked with a slight blush. She sounded as embarrassed as she looked. She could not believe that she had forgotten to eat, but all she kept thinking about that day was how Rae was going to be going out and she was not going to be by her side. Her mind kept asking what if something happens to Rae and I’m not there to do something?

“Please do. I’ll call again in a little while. Do me a favor and be home the next time I call you. I don’t want you to wear yourself out and worry yourself sick.”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The call was disconnected. Donnie turned her attention back to her work for a moment, but a grumbling from her stomach reminded her that she was supposed to eat first. She got up and went in search for something to munch on.

-----

Rae swayed to the music while keeping an eye on Audrey, who had drifted away from her as the music continued to pump through the dimly lit, highly packed club. She checked her watch after a while and saw that it was getting on in hours; it was almost three in the morning. She made her way over to Audrey.

“Hey, Audrey!” Rae shouted over the music, speaking into Audrey’s ear.

“Yeah?” Audrey answered, smiling. Her face was obscured by the shadows of the club, but Rae suspected her face was flush because she could smell the alcohol on her friend’s breath.

“I need to get going!”

Audrey pouted. “Sure, you can’t hang out a little longer? You don’t have anything to do tomorrow.”

“I know I don’t,” Rae replied, but tomorrow was Saturday, which meant that she could spend some time with her wife. “But, Donnie’ll worry if I don’t get home soon!” Although, Donnie is probably worrying herself sick right now anyway.

A snort escaped the swaying redhead. “Live a little, Rae! Donnie’ll live if you stay out for a little longer!”

“But…” The housewife glanced away and frowned a little.

“C’mon! Have some fun before you have to go back to staying in the house by yourself all week!”

Rae opened her mouth to argue, but quickly closed it. She was going to be stuck in the house by herself for the rest of the week. This might be the last time she went out like this in a long time. Hell, this was the first time that she went out like this in a long time. I should live it up, she told herself.

So, Rae continued to dance until another hour passed. By then, she noticed that Audrey was having some trouble moving to the beat; hell, the redhead was really having trouble staying straight up. Rae decided that it was time to get her friend out of there before something horrible happened. Leading Audrey out of the club, Rae could smell the alcohol coming from her companion through her sweat from dancing all night.

“Audrey, I need you to tell me where you live,” the short female said as she eased the intoxicated woman into her car.

“Ohhh! Rae’s going to come home with me!” Audrey cooed, a goofy smile conquering her face.

“I’m going to take you home,” Rae corrected. She could see now by the car light that Audrey’s face was very flushed. Her cheeks were stained with a deep red hue, so she clearly had way too much to drink.

“That’s so nice…” Audrey hummed, smiling like a content kitten.

“So, where do you live?”

Audrey never did answer. Rae had to dig around Audrey’s purse for her wallet. She had to put up with driving with a lot of pointless giggling and other nonsense things coming from Audrey. Halfway there, the redhead thankfully passed out and Rae was able to drive in silence. She was also thankful that she knew the area and could find the apartment building with no problem.

“Audrey, I need you to wake up,” Rae said, shaking the passed out woman.

“Hmm…” the blue-eyed woman groaned.

“Come on. You’re home, but there’s no way I can support you to get you to your apartment,” Rae explained. It’s at times like this that being short sucks!

Audrey made a noise that probably chased off any creatures of the night that were around them, but she did seem to understand what was being asked of her. She pulled herself out of the car and stood up on her own. Rae tucked herself underneath the taller woman to help keep her up and they entered the building. A light touch brushed her hips, but Rae ignored it, figuring it was just Audrey trying to keep herself from falling over. The ebony-haired woman got enough out of Audrey to find out what apartment to go to and she was able to find the keys in Audrey’s purse. It took her a few tries to find the right key.

Inside of the apartment, Rae patted against the walls, hoping to hit a light switch while Audrey took in where she was and pushed away from Rae. The redhead made it the short distance to her leather sofa and flopped down. Rae paused for a moment, thinking that maybe she should just go, but she did want to put the purse and keys down some place that Audrey would be able to find in the morning.

“Rae, come here,” Audrey purred, trying to beckon the smaller woman with a come-hither stare, but she could barely open her eyes. She just appeared to be in a drunken daze.

“No, Audrey, I can’t stay,” Rae replied as she finally got discovered the light switch. She flicked the switch and the apartment was bathed in gentle light. She took a moment to glance around the apartment, taking in the warm blue and eggshell white colors that decorated the place. Tasteful art hung on the walls and eye-catching furniture was set up around the apartment. It was clear that Audrey had taste, which Rae never doubted since she worked for Trisha.

“Please,” Audrey whined.

Rae shook her head and put down the purse and keys on the nearby coffee table. Audrey reached for Rae, who gently pushed the redhead back. Audrey did not put up a struggle and eased back on the couch completely. Her head fell to the side and suddenly she was sleeping again.

Rae breathed a sigh of relief; she was not having much fun dealing with a drunken Audrey. She went in search of the linen closet and found it next to the bathroom in the short hallway. She grabbed a blanket and covered Audrey with it. That deed done, she left the apartment, pausing only to find out if Audrey’s door locked when it was shut. She was satisfied with that and then took her drive home.

She yawned as soon as she stepped in the door. Rubbing her eyes, she made her way upstairs. She was worn out and was very tempted to skip taking a shower until the morning, but she knew that she would not be able to sleep with such a grimy feel on her body. After all, she was sweaty and suspected that she smelled like liquor thanks to being so close to her drunken friend. She sighed in relief when the hot water of the large, three-headed shower poured over her body. Yes, showering was definitely a good idea.

After the shower and brushing her teeth, Rae wandered into the bedroom wrapped in nothing but a towel. She decided to crawl into bed like that, not wanting to bother with the trouble of putting clothes on after such an active night. She was not surprised when two strong arms embraced her as soon as she hit the mattress.

“Good night out?” Donnie inquired in a low voice as she positioned herself against Rae’s back.

“S’okay. I’ll tell you about it in the morning. Right now, I just want to go to sleep,” Rae answered with a yawn.

“Wore yourself out, huh?” Donnie asked with the hint of a laugh buried in her voice. Rae nodded, which Donnie more felt than saw due to the darkness of the room and the closeness of their bodies.

“You stayed up waiting, didn’t you?” It was more a statement than anything else and Donnie nodded to confirm it. Rae sighed and laughed a bit. “You turned the bedroom light out as soon as you heard my car pull up?”

“I did. I was worried.”

“Sorry I worried you. Sleep now, talk later?”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

With those words said, the couple drifted off to a peaceful sleep. Rae had time to forget about her mini-adventure and Donnie able to put off worrying herself sick. They did know that they were going to have to talk in the morning, but for now they were thankful for a peaceful slumber.

-----

Next time: Find out how Donnie and Rae met. Also find out if Rae and Audrey will continue to hang out after Audrey's drunken night.