So, Snapple and Scrabble are mentioned in the chapter. Neither of which I own.

4: Something about her

Rae woke up to the feel of kisses floating against her neck. She smiled and cooed while pushing closer to the familiar, adoring lips. After a few kisses, she turned her head and tilted it downward, leaning in to steal the next kiss meant for her neck. She moaned as soon as Donnie’s sweet lips touched her own.

“Ready for a nice quiet Saturday together?” Donnie asked in a whisper as she pulled away. She sat up a little, the shift being felt in the mattress.

“Sounds good, but how quiet are you going for?” Rae countered with a devilish smile. The twinkle in her chocolate eyes sat her spouse’s heart to flutter.

“I love it when you give me that look. I don’t think quiet was the term I was going for,” Donnie remarked, an impish sparkle in her eyes now.

“Oh?” Rae went in for a deep kiss, which was returned with great passion.

“Quiet definitely was not the term I was going for,” Donnie corrected herself as she pulled away for a breath. Her hand went to her wife’s hip and she began unconsciously caressing the curve. It felt so good that her other hand wanted to get in on the action.

“Then what were you going for?” Rae asked, biting back a soft moan as she felt hands wandering her body, which was nude already. Apparently, the towel that she went to bed in had come undone sometime during the night.

“Um…possibly busy, or loud, maybe both. You know how I am when I get confused.” The smile that went with that statement got a giggle out of Rae that quickly transformed into a moan as Donnie went in for more.

-----

Rae made her way downstairs to fix breakfast after an eventful morning that she spent shouting to the ceiling and taking the Lord’s name in vain. She was dressed for the first time in eight hours, wearing a white tank-top that was way too big for her and very skimpy mesh shorts. Before she made her way to the kitchen, the phone rang and interrupted her task. She quickly grabbed the phone.

“Hello?” Rae greeted the caller, sounding as friendly as always.

“Rae?” Audrey’s pained voice inquired.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry about last night…” Audrey whimpered, sounding quite pathetic and sincere.

Rae shifted and bounced on the balls of her feet for a second. “…It’s fine…” she lied. While she had had a good time last night, it was a little unnerving to be out with someone that was so drunk. Not to mention, someone that she had to carry home and that seemed to be making a play on her. She was a happily married woman, after all!

“No, it’s not. I didn’t mean to drink that much. I thought I would be fine, but I got carried away because I was having so much fun. I haven’t been out in a long time and I just let that get to me,” the redhead explained in a low voice, sounding like a child that was apologizing for causing mischief.

“Oh…” Rae could understand that, especially since she would have liked to have at least one drink last night. Who’s to say that one wouldn’t have turned into more, especially if I didn’t have someone like Donnie waiting for me at home?

“I hope…I hope this doesn’t change your opinion of me. I don’t want us to stop hanging out…” From the way she sounded Rae could picture the pout and sorrow on her face.

“No, something like this wouldn’t change that,” Rae assured the nervous redhead.

“That’s good.” The smile she was sporting and instant relief that she felt could be heard in her voice. “And, I’m very sorry about that. Thank you so much for helping me home.”

A small smile tugged at Rae’s thin lips. “Hey, what are friends for, right? We’re friends, so of course I’m going to help you.”

“So…we’ll hang out again sometime?” Audrey asked shyly. She sounded almost like she was blushing, but Rae could not be sure.

“Of course. I just hope you don’t drink as much.”

“I promise. I swear to you, I usually don’t drink that much!”

“It’s fine. Listen, I have to go and make breakfast. Talk to you later?”

“All right. Does Donnie ever cook at home?” Audrey asked, giggling a bit as the question left her mouth.

Rae laughed too. “Hardly ever. I’m sure she would if I asked, but I don’t want to burden her with that. Besides, I don’t mind.”

“You’re too kind, Rae. Way too kind.”

“I don’t know about that. Okay, I really have to go. Not feeding Donnie can be ugly.”

Audrey laughed again; the sound was light, but not airy. It was clearly happy, but something else was buried underneath it. “All right. See you later.”

Rae smiled as she disconnected the call. She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked into the kitchen to start breakfast. She felt better about last night now because Audrey did not purposely get so intoxicated. It made her feel better because she knew that when she told Donnie about the night, she did not have to include feeling just a little disgusted and disappointed in her new friend for her behavior. She did not have to include those things because Audrey did not mean for them to happen. Hey, it made sense to her.

“Something smells good,” Donnie commented as she entered the kitchen. She was dressed in a black tank-top with matching shorts. Her eyes fell right on her wife, moving around the stove and kitchen counter. “Something looks good too…” the taller woman said, coming up behind Rae and putting her hands directly on Rae’s ass. She groaned as she squeezed the perfectly rounded bottom.

Rae squealed in delight, but then quickly swatted at the distracting hands. “Baby, you’re going to make me burn the omelets at this rate!” she scolded her amorous spouse.

Donnie flashed her a charming grin. “You always know how to back me off. What’re we having besides your fabulous omelets?” the taller woman inquired, backing up all the way to the island. She pulled up a stool next to a cup of juice that was waiting just for her.

“I’m going to make some waffles too.”

“Yes!” Donnie cheered, much like a child, going so far as to throw her hands up in the air. Once her arms were down, she settled into her seat and focused her attention directly on her wife. Adoration shined in her light brown eyes. “So, how was your night out? You got in so late,” she commented, pouting a little.

“I know. I’m sorry about that. I didn’t want you to stay up and worry. It seems that Audrey gets out as much as I do and once we got there, she didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to leave her there by herself,” Rae explained. She tried not to think of what might have happened to Audrey if she had left the redhead at the club by herself.

Donnie nodded. “Good idea. If you go out with her again, maybe you guys can agree on a time to leave.”

“That’s a good idea. It would’ve saved us some trouble if we had done that this time out. I think I’d like to go out again. You don’t mind, do you?”

A shake of the head was the response. “It’s all right. You like dancing and I can’t do it. You shouldn’t have to stop just because I can’t. I don’t want you going out a lot, though. You have to remember you do have lil Donnie in there,” she remarked with a soft smile.

“I know.” Rae knew that once she started showing that was going to be the end of going out because Donnie was going to worry about every step that she took. She could only imagine the stress she would put her poor partner through if she did go out once she was seven or eight months pregnant. Donnie would probably end up in the hospital. “So, did you catch up on all your paperwork?” she asked, changing the subject to get off the train of thought that she was having.

“Most of it. Talked Ran into working a little more, so now I can start selling her pastries down at the café. She put up such a fight on it,” Donnie answered, shaking her head a little in amusement as she recalled her head pastry chef making a huge fuss over where she wanted to use her talents.

“I’m shocked she didn’t pull a gun on you to get out of that one,” Rae commented with a chuckle.

“Extra money amazingly enough goes a long way with her,” Donnie laughed.

“I never would have guessed!” Rae said sarcastically.

The couple joked around for a while as Rae finished up breakfast. They were never short on things to talk about, despite the fact that Rae rarely left the house. They picked each other’s brains, just finding out what the other was thinking. They ate and lazed around the house, cuddling on the couch until nighttime fell. At that point, Donnie had to go to work; she liked to keep an eye on the restaurant on weekend nights. One of the things that people liked about going to Donnie’s was that on any given day they could meet and converse with the owner. Donnie liked going to the restaurant because she could catch problems quickly and fix them before they got out of hand, and the weekend was never short on problems. She also did not mind having one-on-one conversations with patrons; she was much better with individuals than with crowds.

So, Rae was alone again that night. For some reason, the silence that she should be so used to seemed bothersome now. Echoes whispered to her that she did not have to be alone, that Donnie would not mind her doing something with her time, like Donnie did not mind when she went out last night. So, she called up Audrey, who was eager to come over. Rae did set one rule, which happened to be no drinking, even though she did not know that Audrey drank liquor anyway until their little outing last night. Audrey agreed to that and came over for movie night and Scrabble play.

“You got here pretty fast,” Rae noted as she opened the door to let Audrey in.

“Oh, it was no traffic coming this way. Everything’s going downtown,” Audrey pointed out, making a meaningless hand gesture.

Rae nodded. “Oh, right. Come on in. I made dinner.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Audrey said with a bright smile.

“Well, I like to send Donnie off to work with food in her belly. If I don’t, she’ll be grumpy for the night or stay in the kitchen half the night eating everything in sight,” Rae commented with a warm smile of her own.

A light laugh escaped the redhead. “You make it sound like you should have to roll Donnie down the street with how much she eats.”

“She does eat a lot. But, she’s pretty active and she works out whenever she gets a chance. She more than likely stays in shape from running around at work, though. She’s never still once she gets in the restaurant,” Rae explained.

Audrey nodded and they went to the living room. Rae already had the Scrabble game out and waiting for them. While Audrey made herself comfortable, Rae went to go make her a plate of food. When Rae came back into the living room, she handed the plate to Audrey, whose eyes almost fell out of her head when she saw how much food was on the plate.

“Oh my. I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat all of this,” Audrey commented, shaking her head a little.

“Oh, sorry,” Rae apologized, sheepish smile on her face and a slight blush on her cheeks. “I’m so used to making Donnie’s plate that I forgot most people don’t eat like they’ve been starving for four weeks. Well, eat what you can. Those were the leftovers anyway.”

Audrey nodded, smiling a little from the adorably rueful look in the deep brown eyes across from her. They got their night started after dinner, deciding to play their favorite game and watch some DVDs at the same time. Rae found a movie for them to watch and was surprised when Audrey said it was one of her favorite movies. Rae smiled.

“Really? It’s one of mine too. Donnie hates it, though,” Rae said.

“Does Donnie like anything aside for food?” Audrey asked with a laugh. Silently, she noted that Donnie did not seem to like anything that Rae liked and she could only wonder how they became a couple. Not only that, but how did they manage to stay together?

Rae giggled. “I make it seem like she doesn’t like much, huh? She’s more than a glutton, really.”

“It doesn’t seem like you two have much in common. How’d you two get hooked up and everything?” Audrey asked curiously. This might give her some insight on the couple and what kept them together, or at least explain why Rae put up with Donnie.

Rae was silent for a moment. She guessed that it would be all right to tell Audrey how she met Donnie. It was not like it was a big secret or anything. Actually, most people involved in their lives knew how they met.

“Well, we met almost six years ago, in Donnie’s restaurant of all things…” Rae started.

-----(Flashback: five years ago)

Rae blew out a breath and tried her best to keep her jaw from dropping as she entered the city’s most famous restaurant, Donnie’s. She did not want to come across as immature or unsophisticated, but it was a sight to behold and she felt very fortunate to be there. It was as amazing as she thought it would be with perfect marble statues and fountains, looking as if they were plucked out of Rome itself. She glanced out into the garden, hoping that they would have time to go for a walk through the small, but praised area.

“April, I can’t believe you brought me here,” Rae said in a hushed voice, speaking to the woman that she was accompanying into the restaurant.

The woman, April, smiled. April was a statuesque blonde with an air of sophistication around her that was unmistakable. She held her head high all the time, usually with a tilt in her chin, often making her literally look down on people. She was dressed in a black pants’ suit with a grey shirt underneath and heeled boots that made her dwarf her petite girlfriend, Rae.

They were seated immediately at a quaint table by the wall. Rae took a moment to scan the pieces of art that decorated the place and wondered how expensive the frescoes were. They added to the classical feel of the restaurant and she was surprised to find that there was also a comforting feel about the place too. Something about the pastel colors and warm scenes soothed and scrapped away the daunting, pretentious atmosphere she expected.

“Order whatever you want,” April told Rae when their menus were brought to them. Her voice had a smokey quality to it that made her younger girlfriend want to melt much of the time whenever she heard it.

Rae nodded, but then winced when she saw that there were no prices next to the items on the menu. She was pretty sure that was not a good thing. It seemed like one of those if-you-have-to-ask-then-you-can’t-afford-it deals.

“Are you sure about this, April?” Rae asked, even though she was used to April letting her order whatever she wanted when they went out. The aristocratic blonde had the money for it; it was something that she never let Rae forget.

“It’s perfectly fine. Get whatever you want,” April insisted, steely blue eyes pinning Rae to get her point across.

Rae nodded again, looking almost like a puppy, and turned her attention to the menu. While her attention was on the menu, there was attention on her. She was aware that April was looking at her, but there was also another pair of eyes on her.

“Don, what’s up?” Tegan asked when she noticed the boss staring across the floor.

“I don’t know. I guess I just thought that girl was cute,” Donnie answered, discreetly pointing across the room.

“You think a lot of girls are cute. You don’t usually stop and stare like that.”

Donnie shrugged. She did not have much of an explanation for her behavior. She and Tegan continued on their way after a few seconds, but the short, ebony-haired woman stayed on Donnie’s mind for a moment longer.

Rae had no idea that she was being watched from afar and was only focused on April, who was being surprisingly quiet. April usually talked a mile-a-minute about her business conquests or how great her staff had been that day or even what the traffic was like. She just enjoyed talking, so it was unsettling for her to be so silent. Rae tried coaxing her lover into conversation several times, but nothing seemed to be working. After a few minutes, their food was thankfully delivered and Rae had a reason to stop trying.

“You having a good time, honey?” April inquired out of the blue. Her eyes pinned Rae again; there was something odd about her gaze tonight, the younger woman noted.

Rae nodded. “Yes.”

“Your food good?”

Rae nodded again. “Yes.” Actually, the pasta that she was having tasted bland and she knew it was not the chef’s fault. It had something to do with her company and the strange vibe coming from April.

“Is the wine good?”

Rae nodded again. “Yes.”

April snorted. “Well, then could you take the time to look happy about things then? What the hell is the point in taking you some place nice if you’re going to look like you’re at an execution?”

A frown cut across Rae’s soft face. Where the hell did that come from? “Sorry…it’s just you’re acting strange.”

“I’m acting strange?” April looked like she was on the verge of being outraged. Her features hardened like stone and her face twisted for a moment, making her look like a cartoon version of herself. She then took a breath and calmed herself down. “You know what, I’m not even going to get into that. I’ll tell it to you straight, Rae. This isn’t working out.”

“What’s not working out?” Rae asked with a quiver in her voice. Her eyes were wide with shock, showing that she had a clear understanding of just what was not working out.

“You know what’s not working out. We’re just not compatible. I’ve already moved your things out of the apartment. I put them in storage for you,” April said in a calm tone that Rae was very used to hearing. It was a tone that made her feel childlike and childish in the face of the worldly April.

“But…why…?” Rae managed to squeak out. She thought that things were going well for the most part. Sure, they had a few fights, but that was with any relationship. Things had always been consistant, though, so this was really coming out of left field to her. Unfortunately, it was a field that she was used to playing in.

April shook her head and waved a finger at the short woman. “That’s neither here nor there. The point is this is over.”

“But…but…but…” Rae was at a loss for words. She did not understand what was going on, why April was just giving up on the relationship.

April did not stick around to explain either. She put down a few bills, sure they would cover the meal, and left Rae sitting there with an audience watching her. Her lips, moist thanks to her light pink lip-gloss, trembled as tears slid down her face. She buried her face in her hands, muffling the sounds of her crying. She leaned against the table and bawled into her palms.

“Hey,” a warm voice said and she heard something put down on the table.

Rae put her hands down just enough to see what was going on. There was a distinguished looking woman sitting across from her, Donnie Bonaventure. Between them was a large ice cream sundae with the works.

“Ice cream always cheers me up,” Donnie explained with a small smile when she noticed watery brown eyes focused on the dessert.

“Thank you…” Rae muttered and sniffled.

“Here, try it. It’s made from the best stuff on Earth,” Donnie remarked, passing a spoon over to the crying woman.

“I thought that was Snapple,” Rae mumbled.

A wide grin was her answer. “How can you claim you’re made from the best stuff on Earth if you don’t have ice cream or chocolate in you?” She then laughed a little and got a small chuckle out of her sorrowful company.

“I don’t think I could eat all of this…” Rae said.

“You don’t have to eat all of it. Just try some of it. I’m telling you, you’ll love it.”

Rae sniffled again and she dropped her hands. Her makeup was simmered thanks to her tears, but Donnie did not mention anything on it. She smiled when Rae picked up the spoon and eased her hand toward the mountain of ice cream in front of her that was covered in hot fudge, nuts, strawberries, a banana, and cookie bits. Rae took a small bite, but that was enough for Donnie, who then started up a conversation with the stranger across from her. It was so easy to do that it secretly stunned both of them.

Donnie made sure to keep the topic away from the scene that just happened minutes ago. She did not even talk about the restaurant. She brought up other things, hoping to get the young woman to forget about the disrespect shown toward her, talking about sports and the zoo of all things.

“I love the seals,” Rae said, as they continued talking about the zoo and she continued to eat her sundae.

“I used to try to go swimming with them when I was little. My grandfather hated taking me to the zoo. I was always running everywhere and trying to climb over the guardrails and everything,” Donnie replied, earning another laugh from Rae.

“You sound like a hoot. I was nothing like that. My brother was, but me and my sisters were good girls. When we went to the zoo, we always made sure to hold each other’s hand and never get separated. My parents never lost us, but they almost always lost my brother.”

“That was me and my granddad. I was always into something and I always lost track of him when I started up. You’d think it be easy to spot a guy that’s six foot five and everything, but when you’re five all those knees and ankles look the same!” Donnie quipped with a happy smile.

“Sounds like you and your grandfather are pretty close.”

Donnie nodded. “Yeah, me and him were definitely a duo. No matter how much I got on his nerves, he always had time for me and he always made sure everything was okay with me. He’s still like that actually.”

“Did he raise you?” Rae asked curiously, intrigued by this stranger who came to her rescue with delicious snacks.

“It’s complicated,” Donnie answered and usually she did not say more than that, but her mouth kept going for some reason. “My dad and my grandfather never really got along, so when I was born it was sort of a second chance for my granddad I guess. My dad didn’t really care too much about me one way or the other. I really don’t know why. Sometimes, I figure it was just because my grandfather liked me. I don’t know.” She shrugged.

“That’s sad. I can’t picture my dad not liking me.”

Donnie waved it off. “Your dad’s probably not an asshole.”

“Not to my knowledge, no,” Rae admitted.

“That explains why you can’t picture it then. How’s the ice cream?”

“It’s really good. Thanks for bringing it to me.” Rae then suddenly paused, looking as if she had a realization. “I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”

“No, nothing important. I’m having a good time here with you.”

A light nod and a light blush accompanied a low, shy response, “Me too.”

They continued on conversing until Tegan came over and interrupted. “Uh…sorry to butt in, but I need to borrow this one,” the redhead said while pointing her thumb at Donnie.

“What’s wrong?” Donnie asked, glancing up at her second-in-command.

“I’m going to wrap my hands around Ran’s neck and not stop until I see her eyes roll up in the back of her head,” Tegan explained.

Donnie sighed and turned her attention to Rae. “Excuse me for just a couple of minutes. Is there anything you want while I’m gone?”

Rae shook her head and with that Donnie ripped herself away from the table, walking off with Tegan. She was not gone for long and returned to see that Rae was starting to leave. Donnie rushed over to the table.

“Wait, are you leaving already?” Donnie asked, sounding close to panicking. Her light brown eyes appeared alarmed and distressed by the idea of the petite woman leaving.

“I didn’t want to take up anymore of your time,” Rae explained.

“You’re not! I was having a really good time talking to you,” Donnie replied with a pout.

“I don’t want to keep you from whatever it was you’re doing,” Rae said, suspecting that Donnie worked at the restaurant in some manner. “I don’t want to get you in any trouble with your boss…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not in any trouble of doing that,” Donnie tried to assure her, throwing in a charming smile too. “Come on, let’s sit back down. I can get us some more ice cream,” she offered.

“That’s all right. I need to start looking for a place to stay tonight anyway. Sitting around here and having a nice conversation isn’t going to solve that problem,” Rae pointed out, her expression falling into one of despair.

Donnie’s face dropped like a thermometer in the arctic. “Oh…do you think I could get your number and call you sometime? Just to check on you and make sure you’re eating ice cream?” she remarked, a sparkle of hope in her hazel eyes.

“Well, I don’t know how long my phone’ll be on. April handled that…” Rae admitted, eyes watering and face falling even more than before. Donnie decided she disliked that very much and quickly went to correct the look.

“It’s okay! I’ll give you my number and you can call me about anything. We can talk about the zoo again,” Donnie offered. Rae hesitated, which Donnie noticed. “Seriously, just talk and be friends. Nothing beyond that.”

“Oh, okay,” Rae nodded and smiled.

“Cool. Can I call you a cab or anything too?”

“Well, first I have to find out where I’m going. Give me a moment.”

Donnie nodded. Rae pulled out her cell phone and called a friend. Donnie busied herself by pulling her wallet out of her pants’ pocket. She pulled out one of her cards and then took out a small pen held in the spine of her wallet. She wrote her home number on the back.

“All right, my friend is going to let me stay with her for the night and pick me up. I’m glad she doesn’t live too far. I can’t wait to get out of these shoes,” Rae said with a little huff, obviously directed at the footwear.

Donnie glanced down at the shoes. While she was willing to bet they were uncomfortable, they were sexy as hell and drew a lot of attention to Rae’s legs…which Donnie thought were beyond sexy and the rest of Rae was even hotter. She could not believe that idiot blonde walked out on Rae.

“April liked me to where these damn things,” Rae grumbled. “I guess that’s the one good thing about her being gone. I never have to wear these damn things again.”

“That is a bright spot.”

Rae chuckled a bit and they went on talking while strolling outside to wait for Rae’s friend. When the friend finally arrived, the new associates were about to bid each other farewell when Donnie realized that she was still holding her card in her hand. She quickly handed it to Rae.

“Please, don’t hesitate to call me,” Donnie said, eyes begging for Rae to understand.

“As soon as things settle down,” Rae replied. “Oh, I’m Rae by the way. Rae Harrison,” she introduced herself. She almost laughed aloud as she thought about how she had been talking to a stranger for most of the night and neither of them thought to introduce themselves.

“Donnie Bonaventure,” the restaurant owner replied and they shook hands.

“It was a pleasure to meet and spend time with you, Donnie.”

“The pleasure was all mine.”

Rae then climbed into her friend’s car and was gone. Donnie stood there and watched the car disappear down the street, a goofy smile on her face.

-----(end of flashback)

“And then you lived happily ever after, right?” Audrey asked as they continued their Scrabble game. They had started the game while Rae was telling her story. Their dinner plates were cast aside at the end of the coffee table; Rae planned to get to them as soon as the game was over.

Rae laughed, a hearty sound that lit up her eyes. “No, no, no. After April broke my heart I swore off spoiled, rich girls and Donnie’s card pretty much made me think that was what she was. I wasn’t about to call her after I found out that she owned Donnie’s. The woman is persistent, though. I don’t know how she managed to find me, but she did and she sent flowers and little gifts. I treated her like shit for months, but she never gave up.”

“Sounds kind of like a stalker to me,” Audrey commented, glancing up from her letter tiles to gauge Rae’s reaction to her words.

Rae shrugged. “I guess it does a little. Maybe there’s a thin line between stalker and persistent. Besides, it wasn’t like she was hiding in my bushes or anything. I always knew when something was from her. She never ‘surprisingly’ popped up anywhere I was or something like that. She never called my house and hung up or send weird text messages or anything like that. So, it wasn’t really creepy.”

“You didn’t think it was creepy for her to just sit down with you after your girlfriend broke up with you?” Audrey asked incredulously.

“I did think it was a little weird back then, which is another reason why I never called her. But, it turns out that she does that a lot. Surprisingly enough, a good amount of people do break up with people at fancy restaurants. It sort of acts as a way of minimizing the chance of a scene and helps the jerk breaking up with someone feel less guilty about it. Also, sometimes proposals go wrong and people bolt. Donnie doesn’t like to let people just sit there being heartbroken and embarrassed, so she tries to distract them with conversation and desserts.”

“Do you think that she might…you know…pick people up like she did you?” the redhead inquired, leaning forward a little and speaking in a low tone as if she was suggesting something scandalous.

Rae’s forehead wrinkled in thought and then unconsciously a smile works its way onto her face. “I don’t think so. She says that I just caught her eye differently from any other woman on the planet. It started out with her being her usual friendly self and then turns out that she really liked me.”

“Well…that’s sweet,” Audrey said with a somewhat forced smile.

Rae did not seem to notice the expression, focusing more on her letter tiles. She smiled again before making a word on the board. Audrey raised an eyebrow to the look in those brown eyes not the word.

“So, I guess you’re happy with Donnie, huh?” Audrey asked, which did earn her a look from Rae. Chocolate eyes gazed intensely at the guest for a long moment.

The answer was short and to the point. “Very.”

The redhead nodded and smiled a little. “You’re lucky.”

Rae nodded and internally breathed a sigh of relief. She guessed that she took Audrey’s question the wrong way. She offered up a smile as an apology. The game continued on.

-----

Donnie entered the house a little after midnight. She went to the living room to find Rae leaning against the couch sound asleep while Audrey was up, looking at the entertainment system. Donnie cleared her throat, which caught Audrey’s attention.

“Hey, she just drifted off to sleep after a few rousing games of Scrabble. I was trying to figure out how to turn your DVD player off,” Audrey explained, glancing back at the entertainment center and then eyeing Donnie again.

The tawny-skinned chef was silent for a second. She looked at Audrey and then back at her wife before focusing on Audrey yet again. She then waved Audrey’s words off.

“You can’t keep her up past midnight twice in a row. Her body refuses,” Donnie commented with a chuckle. “I’ll get this stuff. See you around.”

Audrey knew that she was being dismissed and she decided to take off without further ado. Donnie turned her attention back to her wife and easily picked the pregnant woman up. A slight frown over took Donnie’s face, but she shook that away as she started for the stairs. She put Rae down in the bed before going back downstairs to turn off the DVD player, which was accomplished with the simple push of a button. She noticed the case of the DVD she suspected the friends were watching.

“Ew. Glad she got somebody to watch this movie with her again. You couldn’t pay me to watch this thing twice,” Donnie remarked to the air.

She went to go set the house alarm system before returning upstairs. She took a quick shower while trying to ignore a strange feeling that was wiggling at the back of her mind. She did not know what it was and was able to shake it away once she crawled into bed and wrapped her arms around Rae.

“Perfection,” Donnie thought to herself as she rested her head in Rae’s ebony mane and placed one of her hands on Rae’s slightly swollen abdomen.

-----

Next time: perfection starts to look just a little flawed.