~ Expected Surprise ~
by Eveh




Disclaimer: This is an alternative story. This is a sequel to Blind Charade which is a sequel to Unknown Factor which is a sequel to Infrequent Liaisons which is a sequel to Your Weakness Is Me. It's necessary to read the others to understand this one.

Love/Sex Warning: Sure.

Language: Mild.

Thanks: To dreaming.

Write me at: xengab01@hotmail.com

Expected Surprise
by Eveh


It was Saturday night and Nathan had called a few friends to come over to the house. He also called Kevin, who promised to get Morgan over there at least at some point in the night. She'd been very busy at work lately since Tamera had taken her maternity leave and was forced to spend most of her time at the clinic treating Tamera's regular patients in addition to her own.

Nathan thought it was a good idea to get some friends together and have fun for a change. Lately, Tamera had been kind of depressed and worried about the baby, especially since she had almost miscarried. He had been out of town at the time, but Morgan was there to take care of his wife and he was very thankful for that. He wouldn't have wanted Tamera to be alone in the situation and it was even better that it was Morgan who was by her side. It was family and family was always the best to have around at times of crisis.

Nathan had also called Lacey over. He hadn't seen her in a long time and was aware that Tamera and Morgan had been having quite a few girl nights over at her place. He had offered to leave the house so that Tamera could have their special night at their place, but she always said Lacey's place was better. She never did give a reason but Nathan just assumed it was because she was the only single one of the bunch.

Lacey had told Nathan that she would be there and would be bringing Kelli along. He had only met the other woman once and it was in passing, but he knew that Tamera had become friends with this Kelli person a few months back. She had called him once and asked him to lunch, citing that she just wanted to get to know him better but later that day had called again and cancelled giving the excuse that she was suddenly busy with work, and then she had never called him again.

Nathan had invited another couple to join their group; people that Tamera had socialized with less frequently as her pregnancy progressed. Karen and Andy were the other happily married couple. They had been together as long as Nathan and Tamera and were the first people that Nathan and Tamera thought to call when they were going to have a couple's night out. Nathan had always pictured them as the next-door neighbors--for they actually were neighbors-- that would turn into their extended family. Their children would grow up together and they'd always be friends. They would experience parenthood, marriage woes and marriage highs, middle age, and old age together. Karen and Andy would always be their best friends and their children would end up being best friends, and if the world were a perfect place--like Nathan often wished it to be-- then maybe one day his and Tamera's daughter would fall in love with Andy and Karen's son. He could picture the wedding now. He would be walking his little girl down the aisle to her future with a wonderful well-educated young man who he had witnessed grow up. Maybe he would have even had a hand in raising the young man being his confidant when it just wasn't possible for the young kid to talk to his father.

Tamera was sitting on the couch ringing her hands together nervously. It had been well over a month since she had seen Morgan. The last time they had spoken was when she was in the hospital. Morgan had been by her side through it all and Tamera could have sworn that with Nathan away it was like Morgan was the other parent of her child. She wasn't playing the part of the worried aunt, but more the part of a worried mother.

That's when they both realized that they had gotten too close. The pregnancy was supposed to divide them and not bring them closer together. Tamera's perception of Morgan was supposed to softly fade and change into that of a sister-in-law instead of a lover, instead of a partner. Their relationship was not supposed to progress into one that was beyond the physical gratification or the hopeless love that had existed.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like Nathan was acting the happy uncle instead of the father. He had wanted to go to all Tamera's doctor appointments, but she had always told him that he shouldn't miss work and that Morgan was there with her. Morgan was always there with her. She was there when Tamera had begun buying baby clothes. She was there when she had begun to redecorate the room the baby was going to stay in. She was there for everything, and although Nathan was there for much of it as well he wasn't playing the part of the father. Tamera, even though biology suggested otherwise, couldn't see Nathan as the father. She didn't want the man to parent her child, and she felt guilty for that. She felt incredibly guilty for that, but she couldn't help how she felt. She couldn't help what she wanted and she knew without a doubt that Morgan wanted the same thing.

That is why they had not seen each other for over a month. Neither of them wanted to play into their little fantasy world any more then they already had. It was time they faced the reality of their situation. Morgan was not the other parent of Tamera's child. Morgan would not be able to be anything more to the child than the aunt. Tamera was married to Nathan and carrying his child. Nathan was Morgan's brother. They could not be together. They could not be together. They could not be together.

Already they had lasted a month without seeing each other and they both were doing just fine. It didn't matter that Morgan was overworking herself and that Tamera had fallen into a slight depression, they were both fine. Not seeing each other had been the best plan either of them could have come up with.

Finally, they had actually kept to the, 'this is the last time' concept. No longer were they going to fall prey to their most basic need to be near the other. Whatever love they had was gone now. Whatever relationship they had developed was over.

The doorbell rang and the guests soon began arriving. First came Andy and Karen, a couple that Tamera didn't much care for these days. They were the perfect couple that everyone wanted to model their relationship after and Tamera couldn't much stand the sight of them. They had only become friends, because Andy and Karen had thought Nathan and Tamera were the only other couple worthy of their friendship because there's was the only other relationship that was perfect.

Tamera, of course, knew differently so she often wondered if it was either Andy or Karen that were cheating on the other. Maybe neither of them were cheating, it was possible to have a marriage where those involved were faithful. So, they probably had something else wrong. Andy always did seem to drink quite a bit every time they had gone out together. Karen did have a weekly appointment somewhere that she never bothered to inform Tamera about. Tamera could only guess that it was to a psychiatrist.

She might have been being a tad bit cynical, but Tamera knew that there was no such thing as a perfect marriage or relationship for that matter. Everyone had problems. Everyone. Tamera was even convinced that love couldn't conquer all obstacles. If love could, then she'd be sitting in her home that she owned with Morgan and they'd be lying on the couch curled up together coming up with baby names. Wasn't it said that, 'with love anything was possible'? Well, that wasn't true. Because of their love they had been hurting Nathan time and time again and if anyone in the family had found out about their love then they'd be ostracized.

Morgan's parents would surely never talk to her again and she'd be forced to lose all contact with all the other relatives who took her father's word as law. She had betrayed her brother. She had betrayed the family and she had no defense against her actions. They wouldn't care that there was love. The family certainly wouldn't believe that with love everything would be healed. It was this love that would actually tear everything apart. Everything. The nice little cocoon that was their life-- a life that was safe and secure-- would be torn apart in hardly any time at all. Nathan would probably sue for custody of the baby and he would undoubtedly win. He had more connections in the courts than any one person should be given.

So what would their love do for them? Let them stop living a lie possibly, but was that such a good thing. Was being happy and being selfish worth Tamera losing her baby? Was this love worth Morgan losing her family and the trust of her baby brother? Honesty would get them nowhere except hand them even more pain.

"It's so good to see you again Tamera," Karen's voice tore Tamera away from her morbid thoughts. The woman's voice was way too cheery for Tamera's taste.

"It's good to see you too," Tamera stood up to greet her guest. "I'm so happy that you could come tonight. It's been too long."

If Tamera played like she was happy then she and Morgan would be the only one's to suffer. If Morgan and her confessed to what they had done then more than two would suffer. It was all very logical really: sacrifice the two to save the many. It all made perfect sense.

Karen wrapped her arms around Tamera as best she could with the blonde's huge belly in the way to give her friend a hug. "I know. We've both been so busy, though. This is my first night away from Kenneth since he's been born."

"Oh, I bet you're so nervous then. I just know that would be so difficult for me."

"It is, but Andy assures me that he'll be fine."

"That's because he will," Andy's voice called from his spot next to Nathan. "I swear the woman is worrying more than she should. I even called my mother over to baby-sit."

"Let the mother worry," Tamera told Andy sternly but smiled to ease the severity of her words.

The two couples chatted amongst themselves until the doorbell rang again and Lacey and Kelli joined the party. Tamara had known that Nathan had invited Lacey, but she was surprised to see that Lacey was so bold as to bring Kelli along with her. Long ago she had figured out the type of relationship the two women shared and, although she was quite surprised, didn't think that much of it. She didn't have much room to judge anyway.

"Hello Lacey," Nathan greeted the other woman with a gentle hug. "I'm glad that you could make it."

"Well thank you for inviting me," Lacey gingerly returned the hug then turned to Kelli and grabbed her hand so that she could pull the brunette woman closer to her. "I know you've met her before, but this is my girlfriend Kelli."

The room was shocked into silence. Suddenly their little party that was supposed to be completely of the normal variety--normal being that of heterosexual couples and at income that at least had the minimum of six figures and the common belief that anything that could be construed as being less than mainstream was wrong-- was forced to play nice but disapprove with manners still fully intact.

"I thought she was just your friend?" Nathan questioned with a smile firmly planted on his face.

"Nathan, when you met her she was had her arm wrapped around me and gave me a kiss. How often do your friends do that to you?" Lacey questioned reasonably.

For this Nathan had no answer. He had seen it but filed it away as being a 'women thing'. He tended to do that a lot. "I'm sorry, of course I should have realized." Nathan immediately apologized. "I didn't mean to seem rude," He turned to face Kelli. "It's very nice to see you again Kelli. I'm glad you could join us tonight."

This surprised Tamera. She had never talked to Nathan about how he felt about such alternative relationship, but she thought that at least he was going to be very uncomfortable with the notion. It was surprising to discover that he wasn't or at least if he was he was hiding it very well.

"Thank you." Kelli gave Nathan a genuine smile then turned and met eyes with Tamera. She didn't say anything but Tamera could have sworn that Kelli had winked at her.

"Let me introduce you to our friends, Andy and Karen McClellan." Nathan motioned toward the two still speechless couple.

"It's nice to meet you both," Lacey walked over to them and offered her hand. Purely by their ingrained manners they took it. "It's nice to meet you as well. Aren't you Morgan's good friend?"

"Yes. Actually I grew up with her and Nathan." Suddenly a question had formed in Nathan's mind. Had Morgan and Lacey ever been together in the intimate sense? Surely Morgan had known all this time that Lacey was...well that she wasn't straight.

"Oh did you?" Karen pleasantly fell into the conversation. "That must be so nice that you have been able to maintain a friendship so long. I've lost touch with most of my childhood friends."

"It is."

The doorbell rang yet again signaling the arrival of the final guests. Tamera braced herself for the image that would appear before her as soon as Nathan opened the door. This was the first test they would go through to see how well they could interact in public now that they were no longer together. Before it had been so easy. They were comfortable with each other and with the lie so they could act as normal. Now, however, they were awkward with each other and could hardly look the other in the eye. Surely someone would be bound to notice that they no longer seemed to be the great friends that they had appeared to be in the past.

Nathan opened the door and greeted his sister with a hug then offered his hand to Kevin. A strikingly handsome man that complimented Morgan nicely. They were quite the attractive couple. Morgan stepped into the house and greeted Lacey and Kelli, and then she reacquainted herself with the McClellans. Only when she could put it off no longer did she greet Tamera. She gave the short blonde an awkward hug that Tamera awkwardly returned.

"Now that everyone's here I say that we eat. Let me just go grab those platters that I picked up from that place you recommended, Karen." Nathan said as he walked in the general direction of the kitchen.

"Oh, you did decide to go with them," Karen called out to his back and followed him to the kitchen.

"What place was that?" Andy asked his wife's as she had turned to leave and followed her to get his answer.

"Let's go on to the dining room," Lacey whispered to Kelli then grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the scene of Tamera and Morgan staring at each other. "Morgan why don't you grab Kevin and join us. You too Tamera. We certainly don't want to be left in there alone."

"Yeah we wouldn't want to do anything too scandalous. Like me taking Lacey on the dining room table." Kelli joked.

The statement grabbed Morgan's full attention, exactly what Kelli had intended on doing. "What?"

"Well we're using this little soirée as our coming out party. I really hope you don't mind Tamera?" Kelli explained. "In case you're worried I'm really not going to be taking Lacey on your dining room table."

Tamera didn't mind at all. She was thankful. Lacey and Kelli were helpfully diverting attention away from Morgan and her. They were the focus of everyone's attention and would be the entire night. No one would bother to pay attention to the lesser situation of Morgan being a little awkward with her.

"Of course I don't mind," Tamera waved the notion away. "I'm happy for you both."

All that being said, the five made their way to the dining room where Nathan, Andy and Karen had already set everything up. They all sat down and began to talk about unimportant things while they ate. Some genuine laughs were had by all even though all was not well with all those seated at the table.

Eventually Tamera had to excuse herself from the group to go lay down. She had been doing more and more of that since her pregnancy had progressed. Worried about the other woman Morgan offered to go with her and Tamera was too tired to refuse. They left the table and made their way to the master bedroom upstairs.

"How are you doing?" Morgan asked with genuine concern as Tamera lay down on the bed.

Tamera knew her ex-lover wasn't speaking about her health. "I'm doing fine. Don't I seem fine to you. Never have been happier, really."

"Nathan called me saying that you seemed a little depressed," Morgan confessed. "That's why he did this thing tonight. He wanted to surround you with your friends."

"I'm a lucky woman," Tamera sighed.

"Yes you are," Morgan responded with conviction. "Nathan loves you very much."

"I know. And I love him too, really. I just love you more."

"Don't." Morgan snapped. "Don't say those things."

"Why can't I say something that's true?" Tamera asked frustrated. "I can't help the way I feel."

Morgan turned away from Tamera and bowed her head. "I know. I can't help the way I feel either, but we can help what we do about it."

"I'm not asking you to do anything," Tamera reached her hand out to Morgan which the taller woman immediately took. "I don't want anything from you, Morgan. I never have. It wouldn't be fair of me to want anything, including your love."

Morgan took a seat on the edge of the bed, her hand still lightly clasped in Tamera's smaller one. "I love you Tam," she bowed her head to where she was hovering over the blonde. "You will always have that whether you ask for it or not."

With Morgan's lips being so close to hers, Tamera couldn't help herself. She leaned up and kissed Morgan with all the pent-up hunger that had been growing ever since they had parted more than a month ago. Morgan knew that she needed to pull away. They were in the room Tamera and Nathan shared for goodness sake. They couldn't be making out on her brother's bed. They would surely get caught, but Tamera's lips just tasted and felt too good. They felt perfect against her own.

Morgan reached out and ran her hand through Tamera's blonde hair. She had missed the feel of it. Her other hand trailed a path down Tamera's body, having missed the curves and strength. She needed to pull away. She was beginning to get too involved and too drawn in by the allure of the other woman. They were going to get caught.

Tamera moaned into the kiss. She loved the way Morgan kissed. She loved the way Morgan did most everything. She didn't want to end it now. She wanted more of Morgan. She wanted to feel the other woman's skin. With her right hand she lifted up the blouse Morgan was wearing and cupped the taller woman's breast. Morgan moaned at the touch and pushed herself harder against Tamera's touch.

And that's when they got caught. Lacey knew the two women shouldn't be left alone for very long. She excused herself saying she needed to use the restroom, but immediately went and sought out the two women. Nathan had wanted to check on Tamera, but Lacey had talked him out of it and Kelli had diverted his attention by asking him a question about the law; something he was always willing to talk about.

Neither woman had noticed the door open or that they now had company. Lacey didn't know whether to scream at them or applaud them for their boldness.

" Well this is a expected surprise. If you want my advice," her deep voice filled the room and wrenched the two women apart, "you should really just go downstairs and confess now. If Nathan hadn't invited me over here tonight he would have been the one walking in on you two anyway."

"It's not what it looked like," Morgan defended herself weakly. "We were just talking..."

"Of course you were," Lacey interrupted. "I often talk that way. Makes people understand what I'm saying so much better."

"You just don't understand," Morgan yelled. "You don't understand what it's like to..."

"I understand more than you know," Lacey interrupted again. "You just need to grow a damn spine and end this thing."

"We've tried," Tamera spoke tiredly. "We tried, but it's too hard. We've tried at least a thousand times and it's always too hard."

"Not end this," Lacey motioned to the bed, "end this," She indicated the entire room. "End your marriage to Nathan," she pointed to Tamera then pointed to Morgan "and end your relationship with Kevin, which is hardly existent anyway. Try ending the right things for a change."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Morgan snapped.

"Let me tell you what I know," Lacey lowered her voice, "I know that if you don't end this in the next week then I will. I'm not going to play your game anymore, Morgan. I catered to you enough already. I should have listened to Kelli from the beginning, but I didn't because I let our friendship blind me and I shouldn't have, because if I really was your friend I would have said this to you a long time ago. Grow a damn spine and fess up to what you've done." Knowing that if she said anything else she might draw Morgan into a screaming match she turned and quietly walked out of the room shutting the door softly behind her. Hopefully she had scared Morgan and Tamera enough that they wouldn't continue to do anything behind closed doors.

The End. Almost. I think.

Authors note: I'm not sure how I'm going to end this so I'm going to ask how everyone reading this how they want this to end. Should Tamera and Morgan end up together? The next part will most likely depend on the responses I get. Thanks for reading.

Continued In Black and Blue



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