INSTALLMENT THRITEEN

INSTALLMENT FOURTEEN

The five women raided the refrigerator and threw together some snacks. With beer flowing and wine chilling, they took full advantage of the game room.

"So you're saying the people who owned this place before had all these games set up for their kids?" Adrian lined up her shot and aimed for the corner pocket.

"Yeah. Ooh almost. Just a little to the left next time." Tori went around the table and looked for an opening. "Six ball, center pocket." With precision and finesse, Tori pulled the stick back and sliced through the cue ball hitting the six, spinning it obediently into the center pocket.

Brett, Lauren, and Alexi were playing Bart Simpson's arcade game chasing clowns with vacuum cleaners and a skateboard, laughing while the big bad clown cornered Alexi and was beating the stuffing out of her.

"Come on!! Fight!!" Lauren screamed.

"You think it's so easy. This guy 's creaming my ass." Alexi frantically pushed every button to no avail.

"Oh no!!" Brett threw her hand over her mouth as Marge Simpson lost her life to the big bad clown.

"Enough…. I'm gonna play a pinball machine. Ooh…. Arnold and the Terminator, 'I'll be back'." Alexi went to the pinball machine and put in a token that Tori had given them. The tokens were just like in the arcade. Only engraved on them was T&B's Amusements. When asked what T&B stood for, Tori got all embarrassed.

"Hey what does T&B stand for?" Adrian asked.

"Well…" Tori scratched her head. She didn't know how Brett would react.

"I had them made and the guy asked if I wanted them inscribed so I told him to put T&B's Amusements. It's no big deal." Tori supplied.

"Yeah, but that doesn't answer the question." Alexi answered back.

"It stands for Tori and Brett." The usually stoic executive answered rather quickly.

"What was that? I didn't quite get that." Lauren came over and questioned again.

Brett put her arms around Tori and was overwhelmed again. Tori was slowly but surely offering up all her dreams to her in little gestures everyday.

Tori held Brett and looked her in the eye. "It stands for Tori and Brett. I hope you don't mind baby. It just seemed like the natural thing to do." Brett threw her arms around Tori's neck and they kissed very passionately.

"Oh that is so sweet. Do you want me to engrave our names on an arcade token baby?" Adrian turned to Alexi jokingly. Though they were making light of the gesture, they each knew how significant it really was. Tori meant to share her life with Brett and they couldn't be happier.

Lauren watched as her little sister glowed with unbridled happiness. She said a little prayer and thanked whoever was listening for bringing her sister back. She hadn't seen Brett this happy in years and if Tori's face was anything to go by, the female Hull hadn't been this happy either.

"Alright, who's up for ping pong? I'll play the both of you." Adrian pointed at Lauren and Alexi. She had played on the team in Michigan and could hold her own against the two.

"Okay, but not too rough. You always get all carried away. I hate it when you spike the ball at my head." Alexi warned.

"Spike the ball at your head? Are we playing Ping Pong or Volleyball?" Lauren was confused. She was definitely not the athletic type.

"Volleyball, ping pong, they're all the same to her. She goes after her opponents the same way: viciously." Alexi pointed a finger at Adrian, again telling her to control herself.

"Yes baby, I'll be good. Now are we going to play or talk?" Adrian got into position and an evil grin came to her face.

"Oh no, we're in trouble." Alexi buckled down and waited for the assault and Lauren stood there in fear for her life.

Tori and Brett laughed at their antics and went over to the couch to watch the show.

"That was very sweet of you." Although there was a whole couch for Brett to sit on, she chose Tori's lap.

Tori shrugged her shoulders and tried to hide her nervousness.

"It's nothing really. You know honey? This is a pretty large sofa. You don't have to sit on my lap." Tori offered jokingly. She was nervous that she might be pressuring Brett. She wanted so desperately to share every aspect of her life with Brett but didn't want to rush her. She hoped that a little humor could keep her from revealing her feelings too soon.

"Well I'm just doing my job." Brett smirked with an adorable twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh really? I see this is part of making sure I don't get sick at night." Tori ran her fingers through Brett's bangs and kissed her sweetly on the lips.

"No, this is to make sure you don't get hit by a stray ping pong ball. Many emergencies have been documented about ping-pong ball accidents. Why just the other day…" Brett was unable to finish her thought. Tori unable to control her passion for Brett captured her lips and kissed her senselessly. There was just something about Brett that touched Tori straight to the core. She loved her like nothing else in the world. When the kiss finally ended, the two were breathless and overheated.

"Whew, I guess you're happy with my job performance?" Brett fanned herself trying to calm her beating heart.

"Very. I give you the highest recommendation." Tori nipped down the length of Brett's neck and ran her tongue along her collarbone. There was no denying the passion that was churning between them.

"You'd think they'd notice if we escaped upstairs?" Brett's center was throbbing and Tori's mouth was doing wonderful things to her.

"Yeah, I think so." Tori stopped her nipping and looked around. She picked up the remote to the stereo that was beside her and turned on the system. She found a smooth jazz station and put the remote down. Luther Vandross' version of "If Only for One Night" was playing.

"Dance with me?" Tori whispered into Brett's ear.

Brett got up and held her hand out for Tori to take. With just the lights from above the tables, the glow of the games, and the firelight, the two impassionados danced in front of the fireplace at the far end of the room. The two were lost in each other as the music carried them away. Tori hummed in Brett's ear with her low dulcet tones and the younger Montgomery buried her face in the brunette's chest.

"I love you Brett." Tori kissed the top of Brett's hair feeling the soft silkiness tickle her nose. "I haven't felt this at peace or this contented in years."

"I know baby. Neither have I. Not since we were kids have I felt this safe and this loved. I feel like I've finally come home." Brett wrapped her arms tightly around Tori's waist.

"You have baby." Tori lifted Brett's face to meet her. "While I was in L.A., I made some decisions. Please understand I don't want to rush you. I know that we've only been seeing each other for a little over a month. But I hate not having you here with me. We tend to spend all our free time together as it is and, well… either you or I have to wake up really early if we're at each other's place. I just think if we lived together it would make things a lot easier." Tori wanted this so badly she had thought of nothing else while she was away.

"Yes…" Brett quickly answered.

"You don't have to give me an answer right away. You can think about it. You know talk it over with the girls." Tori's mind was reeling. What else could she say to convince Brett that this was the right thing to do?

"Honey, I agree. I'd be happy to move in with you." Brett watched as Tori worked herself in a tizzy, lost in her thoughts.

"If this place doesn't suit you…We can… did you say yes?" The light finally came on and relief washed over Tori like an ocean wave. Tori picked Brett up and swung her around. "You said yes… Oh honey you'll see…..you're going to love this place. We can make the library into an office if the office doesn't meet your approval. If you don't like the master bedroom, we can redecorate. If you want to keep your bed, that's cool with me. There's a whole…" Brett placed her hand over Tori's mouth.

"Shh… baby… take a breath, love. You're going to work yourself up. I love this place just the way it is. I can work my stuff in slowly. We don't have to decide tonight. I just want to savor the fact that you and I are together. Can we do that?" Brett ran the palm of her hand over Tori's chest hoping to calm her pounding heart.

"Okay baby. Ooh yeah…my girl's going to live with me." Tori tilted her head down and captured Brett's mouth again.