Burned by Shea K.

5: Talk is cheap

Donnie walked into her house, almost expecting to see Audrey there, as she was a common fixture around the place now. But, the house was empty and for a moment, she reveled in that. Barely a second after that, her mind jumped to wondering where her wife was and panic took over her heart, flashing in her light brown eyes. Before she could act on that panic and make herself sick with worry, Donnie remembered that Rae had gone out with Audrey to the movies. She sighed in relief, thankful that she recalled where her spouse was and thankful that she did not have to go.

Rae had been hinting for a couple of weeks that she wanted to go see a particular movie. Donnie did not understand why her wife did not just come right out and say that she wanted to go to the flick, but that was neither here nor there. As long as Rae only hinted-no matter how strongly the hints were-that she wanted to see the movie, Donnie countered with hints of the exact opposite. She wanted nothing to do with the "chick-flick" and she had no plans on it if Rae was not going to come right out and ask her to go. She was saved from attending by Audrey.

Audrey heard Rae talking about the picture one day and had come right out to say that she wanted to see it. She invited Rae along with her and Rae accepted. Rae had requested that her spouse to come, but Donnie made up the excuse of having work to do. Deep chocolate eyes had appeared thoroughly disappointed and Rae had to practically pick her face up from the floor when Donnie declined. Audrey had almost looked relieved, even smiling a little with a twinkle in her sky-colored eyes. Donnie had noticed the expression, but she did not say anything about it because she was not looking to start anything with her wife's close friend.

The business-owner muddled about the house, trying to keep busy while waiting for her wife to return. Eventually, she gave up on trying to find something to do and went to take a shower. Changing into some comfortable house clothes of sweat pants and a tee-shirt, she went back to searching for something to do to keep busy. She settled in the living room and was about to see if something was on television, but something else caught her eye. There were baby magazines on coffee table, so she decided to flip through those. She noticed that Rae had already marked some things in many of them. She grabbed a pen of her own, making sure it was a different color from the one Rae used, and started making her own marks, many of them corresponding to items that Rae already showed an interest in.

"Rae's picked some good stuff. Maybe we can go shopping or something this weekend," Donnie said to herself.

She and Rae planned to shop for everything that their baby needed, so they were not going to have a baby-shower-much to Donnie's friends' dismay. Donnie was the first one to have a child out of her friends and they had all been looking forward spoiling "lil Donnie," so they were a bit upset that they were going to have to wait until the baby showed up. Donnie was first in line to spoil the baby and she made that very clear.

"Oh, this is a nice crib!" Donnie grinned when she saw the crib that Rae marked. They had not purchased a crib yet, even though they did pick out much of the furniture for the nursery. They were saving that bit for last to make sure that they got it right.

The chef's eyes lit up every time she saw something that Rae wanted to get for the baby and she had a feeling that they were going to be buying a bunch of things that they did not need. Hell, they were probably going to buy some things that they did not even use. She did not care, though. These were for their baby, after all.

Thinking about the baby caused Donnie's mind to drift to Rae. She glanced up from the magazine and looked around the silent house. She sighed, wishing that Rae was home now. She wanted to cuddle against Rae's small body and rub her belly, which was getting bigger by the day. She was showing now, but not by much, but enough for Donnie to stop and stare at her every-so-often, amazed that that was their baby in there.

"We have a baby…" Donnie smiled, her entire face showing so many delighted emotions. The very idea that their child was growing inside of Rae tickled her, even now when she had months to adjust to the fact.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. She smiled to herself and was tempted to dash to the door, but she retrained herself. She tried to focus on the magazines that she had while waiting for her spouse to come in. She figured that they could go through the magazines together and pick out things for the baby while cuddling on the sofa. Those thoughts were shattered for a moment as she heard Rae talking to someone, and she realized that Audrey had come back with Rae.

"That movie was better than I expected," Rae commented as she stepped into the house.

"It was great. The company made it better, though. You're fun to watch a movie with," Audrey replied as she came into the house too.

"I learned from the best. Donnie is a hoot to sit through a movie with," Rae said, shutting the door behind them and making sure it was locked. They started toward the living room.

Audrey nodded. "Shame she didn't come," she stated, shaking her head a little.

It was then that they noticed Donnie sitting on the couch in her pajamas. They noticed the magazines out too. Rae smiled softly when she saw all the stuff out and went to her lover immediately. She hugged Donnie and then made herself comfortable against the familiar weight.

"From what I heard, you liked the movie," Donnie pointed out with a teasing smile. This earned her a kiss on the mouth, which was more of a greeting than anything else.

"It was great! You should've came!" Rae declared, face shining with a bright smile.

Donnie snorted and rolled her eyes. "You know I don't like those kinds of movies."

"You could've come and made fun it, like you always do." Rae curled in closer to her mate, caressing the chef's bare forearm.

Donnie shrugged. "You're right. But, I had a good time sitting here and going through all these baby magazines. I see you've gone through most of them and know what you want to get for lil Donnie."

Rae nodded and smiled impishly. "Yup!" Donnie could not help thinking about how utterly adorable her wife was from just that one word response.

The brown-haired woman was about to go on about the baby, but then she realized that Audrey was still there. The redhead had sat down and everything, as if she planned to be there for a while. Donnie looked at her and then looked at Rae, who was busy scanning through one of the opened books to see what Donnie had picked out. Donnie poked Rae to get her attention to remind her that she had company. Rae looked up at Donnie, who casually nodded toward Audrey. This caused a laugh to escape the petite woman.

"Audrey, why don't you tell Donnie about the movie while I make us some dinner? Baby, did you eat?" Rae asked.

"I did, but you know I always have room for your cooking," Donnie answered with a grin.

Rae smiled and went off to cook dinner. Audrey and Donnie sat there in awkward silence, making sure not to look at each other. Although Audrey was at the house often, Donnie did not feel particularly close to her. She did not see the point of trying to get to know Audrey since Audrey was Rae's friend and not hers, but she would give it a shot since Rae gave all of her friends a shot.

"So, how was the movie?" Donnie inquired, forcing herself to look over at the redhead.

"It was good. You should've taken Rae. It seemed like a date movie kind of thing," Audrey answered, making a meaningless gesture with her hands.

The chef nodded, but shrugged right after. "Probably was. Rae loves those kinds of movies, but I can't stand them. I talk through all the time and make her miss the whole point of the movie," she explained. Sometimes, she felt like a little child and could not sit still, especially in the movies. She would run her mouth from start to end and she did not think that was fair to Rae, who really wanted to see those movies.

"Can't keep still, huh?" A smirk looked like it was tugging at Audrey's lip. There was a strange glint in her eyes, but Donnie did not see because she was not really looking at the shorter woman.

"Nope." The tan woman leaned her elbows on her knees and put her hands together.

Audrey could not help chuckling a little. "So, when was the last time you went to the movies?"

Donnie shrugged again. "No clue. Work keeps me pretty busy."

"Yet you're about to have a baby. Are you sure you've got time for a baby?" Audrey inquired, concern coloring her sky blue eyes.

The question caused Donnie to turn in face their guest. She stared directly at Audrey at that point and her voice was steady when she responded. "I'm sure I'm ready. I've got everything planned out."

An airy, but odd snicker escaped the redhead as she nodded. "That's good. Rae shouldn't have to raise the baby on her own."

Donnie arched an eyebrow to that statement, thinking that was a bizarre thing to say, but she did say anything about it. "That wasn't something that Rae ever had to worry about," she replied, brushing it off with a wave of her hand.

Audrey looked skeptical and Donnie wondered if that was a serious fear for her wife. She knew that she worked a lot, but she was doing that to avoid having to work so much in the future. She figured that it was something that she would discuss with Rae later on, for now she was going to continue to try getting along with Audrey.

"So, Audrey, what do you do in your spare time, aside for play Scrabble and junk with Rae?" Donnie asked, wanting to get the subject off of herself. Now that she thought about it, she was a little curious about her wife's friend. Audrey seemed to have a lot of spare time on her hands and most of it seemed to be spent with Rae.

"Hang out with friends," Audrey answered.

"Yeah? That's cool. What do you do with them?" the chef continued, nodding a little as she spoke.

"The usual stuff. Why? You want to hang out with them too?" A teasing lopsided grin accompanied the inquiry.

Donnie scoffed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes, not wanting to offend Rae's friend. "Nothing like that. It's just that Rae said it seemed like you didn't get out often one time."

"You think I'm spending too much time with your wife or something?" Audrey inquired in a suspicious tone. Her face hardened a little, looking ready to do battle.

A blithe snort and a blase wave sort of defused the situation. "I've got no problem with that. Rae likes hanging out with you and all of that. I have nothing against that. If you like hanging out with Rae that's cool and you don't have to put up a front with me that you have a bunch of friends. I figured if you had a bunch of friends, you wouldn't be over here so much."

"I do have friends. I just happen to like Rae's company more than my other friends. They're all idiots. I'm sure you've had a group of friends like that at one point in time. You look around and wonder why the hell you're hanging out with them. It's not like that with Rae," Audrey explained, sounding a little defensive. Her posture remained tense, even though Donnie was calm.

Donnie nodded and accepted that reasoning. She tried to find out more information of Audrey for a few minutes, but nothing really came from it. Audrey kept trying to turn the conversation back to Donnie, who in turn was trying to keep things about the redhead. Their chat went nowhere until Rae finally returned, reporting that dinner would be ready in about fifteen minutes. From there, Rae and Audrey talked about the movie that they had seen while Donnie made herself busy by holding Rae and caressing the "bump" in her stomach that was their baby. Audrey occasionally glanced at Donnie or her hands, but she did not say anything to the chef.

Donnie had hopes that she and her spouse would be able to look at some stuff for the baby, but Audrey stayed for a few hours and by the time she left it was time for bed as far as the couple was concerned. Rae had to take a shower while Donnie gathered up the baby magazines, taking them into the bedroom. She thought that they might make sometime in the morning to go through them now.

The businesswoman went to brush her teeth and then climbed into the large bed. Rae exited the shower and walked into the bedroom wearing nothing but her towel. She glanced over at Donnie, who was flipping through a magazine, but suddenly paused. Donnie turned to her wife and then went over to her.

Rae held her breath as Donnie peeled her out of the towel and let it fall to the ground. The ebony-haired woman smiled a little to herself and waited for Donnie to touch her. When the taller woman finally did, Rae was a bit surprised where Donnie's hands ended up. Donnie gently caressed the noticeably bulge in her wife's abdomen.

"I can't believe we created a life here," Donnie whispered. Her hazel eyes showed that she was drowned with delight and wonder.

"You can't seem to get enough of touching lil Donnie," Rae pointed out with a small, pleased smile. It seemed like the bulge was the first place Donnie's hands went now whenever she embraced Rae.

"I can't. I just can't believe we're pregnant and having a baby," Donnie replied, leaning down to rest her head in Rae's hair. She nuzzled her spouse's scalp and breathed in the sweet smell of her shampoo.

"You really want this baby, don't you?"

Donnie thought that was a weird question and she pulled away a little. She looked down at her wife, baffled by what she was hearing. Rae appeared innocent, like she did not think there was anything wrong with the question.

"Of course I want this baby. Don't you?" Donnie countered. What was the point of doing all of that planning if they were not ready for parenthood?

"Of course I do!" Rae insisted.

"You're not worried about anything with the baby, are you?" Donnie asked curiously. She remembered her conversation with Audrey and how the redhead hinted to Rae being scared that she would be raising their baby alone.

"Of course not. I know we're going to have a healthy, energetic baby that'll drive us up the wall if she's anything like you describe yourself to be as a child," Rae answered with a teasing grin.

"My granddad'll love that!" Donnie remarked, rolling her eyes.

"He'll say you had it coming to you. Have you spoken to him recently?"

"Of course. He wants to know how the restaurant is doing all the time and gives me advice how to get more customers and junk like that. Mostly now, he wants to talk about his great-grand on the way," Donnie answered and she shook Rae a little, getting a giggle from the dainty woman.

"What did he think about your idea to try to get more middle-class and working-class people to come to Donnie's?"

"Well…" Donnie paused. "Let's get you under the covers first before I go into that. I don't want you to catch cold or anything."

Rae nodded; that was a great idea since she was feeling a little chilly already. Donnie then had to show off how strong she was and she scooped up her wife in her arms. She carried Rae over to the bed and gently placed her down. She made sure to cover Rae with the blankets before she laid down herself. Rae cuddled into her.

"So, you were saying?" Rae prompted her spouse to finish talking about her restaurant plans. She purred a little as Donnie moved her hand to caress the small of Rae's back.

"Granddad likes the idea. He said it's always nice when everyone can enjoy something. So, one of the things I was thinking about doing was coming up with three different menus," Donnie replied.

"One with prices on it?"

"Well, two with prices actually. I figure we'd do a silver, gold, and platinum menu. They'd all look the same, so people don't have to worry about other people minding their business. The silver and gold menus would have prices on them."

A little wrinkle appeared in the middle of Rae's forehead. "Are you sure you need three menus? Wouldn't two be enough?"

"Hmm…Can't honestly say I've thought this whole thing out," Donnie replied with an amused grin. "I guess two would be good. One with prices and one without."

"Babe, why don't your menus have prices on them anyway?" the younger woman asked curiously.

"Hell if I know. They were like that when Granddad gave me the place. I never really thought about it."

"I always figured you were sending the message that if you needed to know the price, you couldn't afford to be in the place," Rae commented.

"Maybe that is it. I don't really know. I just kept the menus like that because they didn't seem to really affect business."

Rae nodded, knowing that when Donnie made any changes to the restaurant or the café, the changes were put in place to bring more business in. She could not see how changing the appearance of the menus would bring in more business. Donnie knew what she wanted to do anyway; it was just about making it happen.

"Baby, you know I'm doing all of this stuff for us, right? I want to get the restaurant set up to make sure we have enough money to raise a family and spoil the crap out of them," Donnie pointed out.

Rae was silent for a moment, which did not go unnoticed by her spouse. Donnie peered into Rae's cocoa eyes, trying to convey all of her thoughts and feelings in the still of the night. Rae's own gaze softened and placed a soft kiss to Donnie's mouth.

"I know. I also know you work so hard because you want to keep your family legacy going," Rae pointed out.

"Damn straight I do. I have to make sure the restaurant is still there to pass down to our lil Donnie. Granddad would whip my ass if I didn't!" Donnie joked, large grin on her face.

"I can see him now. 'Junior, if I wanted to run the restaurant in the ground, I woulda left it to your daddy,'" Rae quipped with a gruff voice.

Donnie broke out into a boisterous fit of laughter. "You do him so good! I'm glad you understand."

Rae smiled and snuggled even closer to Donnie. She placed her hand on Donnie's thigh and drew little circles on the cloth-covered muscle. Donnie wrapped her arms tighter around Rae, placing one hand on her abdomen and keeping the other on her back. The taller woman fell asleep almost instantly. Rae sighed and shook her head; she guessed she was going to have to try to get Donnie in the mood in the morning. She adjusted her body a little, wanting to rest more on her side, and she fell asleep too.

-----

Donnie yawned as she pulled herself up from her desk and stretched; between her busy morning and her mountain of work, she figured that she was going to need a nap sometime soon. Tegan poked her head into the office, as expected. The redhead smiled at her dear friend, who smiled back.

"You ready for your big interview tomorrow?" Tegan inquired with amusement dancing in her green eyes.

"Why did I decide to do this again?" Donnie asked with a dejected sigh.

"Because you're the big boss with all of the elegance I lack and you really want to get new people in here. Too bad this asshole you have to sit down with is the outlet to a lot of those people."

Donnie nodded. "I find it hard to believe that the people I want to come in here actually listen to this fucking asshole."

"People like to be entertained and he's entertaining…in the same way that a four car pile-up is entertaining to passersby. Good luck tomorrow. What time are you going to come in after the interview?"

"You know what…" Donnie threw her hands up. "…you handle tomorrow. I'll come in at night to run the dinner selection in the kitchen, okay?" the boss proposed.

"Oh, I need to put the sign out. 'Donnie's cooking tonight!' We'll get a bunch of walk-ins, begging for takeout orders," Tegan grinned, looking especially evil. She liked taunting walk-ins, trying insult them into making reservations next time and actually taking in the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Donnie shook her head. They did get a lot of takeout business whenever it was advertised that she or Tegan was cooking out of the blue. In fact, she was the one that started a takeout end of the restaurant when she noticed the flood they used to get when it was made known that she or Tegan was going to be in the kitchen. It tickled them because they never got such a rush of business when they used to work as chefs fulltime, back when Donnie's grandfather owned the restaurant.

"Well, get 'em, tiger!" Tegan said before waving her farewell.

Donnie chuckled a bit and decided to take her leave. She was not surprised to find Audrey in the house with Rae when she showed up at the house. She greeted her wife with a kiss on the cheek while offering Audrey a lazy wave. The duo went back to playing Scrabble while Donnie went to wash away the grim of the day. She returned to the living room with food on her mind, scratching her belly.

"Baby, you made dinner?" Donnie asked curiously, coming up behind her wife.

"We got take-out. We just came in ourselves," Rae answered, focusing on her letters rather than on her lover.

Donnie blinked in surprise. "Where'd you go?" She glanced at Audrey and wondered if she was imagining the ghost of a smirk that she saw on the redhead's face.

"To a movie. We didn't want to stay in all night and I knew you'd be out for a while thanks to work. There's food in there for you, though. You know I wouldn't forget you, baby," Rae replied, smiling at her wife and turning just enough to pat Donnie on the arm.

Donnie smiled back and went to go see what types of food there were waiting for her. She tried to ignore the gnawing her gut about Rae going out without telling her. She could not recall when something liked that happened and she tried to convince herself that that was what made her uneasy. It had nothing to do with the fact that Rae had gone out with Audrey and had not told her, Donnie silently assured herself.

While she was eating, she thought about the things that Tegan had been saying about Audrey, ever since finding out that Rae was friends with her. Tegan spoke to Trisha more often than Donnie did, so she seemed know more about Trisha's assistant…well, ex-assistant. According to Tegan, Trisha let Audrey go as soon as the pair was finished with the nursery in Donnie and Rae's house. That was the first that Donnie heard anything about it, but had not bothered to ask her wife about it. Rae did not say anything about Audrey's employment status while Tegan volunteered what she knew.

Tegan did not go into details around when Trisha fired Audrey, but Donnie did not doubt that their friend had let Audrey go since Trisha hired and fired assistants like people changed pants. Audrey had not said anything about being let go and did not seem bothered by it. Donnie considered one of the reasons that Rae did not say anything about Audrey being fired was because the redhead had not said anything, but she was not sure of that. Donnie shook those thoughts away as she spotted the food and began to dig in.

After eating pretty much everything that was in the food containers, Donnie went back to the living room, finding the friends just as she left them almost thirty minutes ago. She sat down next to Rae, wrapping her arms around the shorter woman. She rested her head on Rae's shoulder and cuddled into her lover's neck a little.

"Baby, why don't you just go to bed? We're going play a few more games before I do," Rae explained, gently rubbing the restaurant owner's forearm.

"A few? You're all right to stay up that late?" Donnie asked curiously. Usually, by midnight the smaller woman was done for the night.

"I got a lot of sleep this morning. I'm sort of wired right now."

Donnie nodded to show that she understood. She gave her spouse a short kiss on the lips before retiring for the night. She glanced at Audrey as she was going to the stairs and once again thought that she saw the ghost of a smirk playing in those sky-colored eyes. She ignored the look at went to bed.

A couple of hours later, Donnie was taken from her sleep as she felt Rae lie down. Her arms automatically went around her petite wife. Rae snuggled into the solid form against her.

"Sorry I woke you, babe. You've got that interview tomorrow, don't you?" Rae asked.

"I do," Donnie confirmed. She sounded like she was not looking forward to it and really she was not.

"Can I come?" Rae requested. She would like to spend sometime with her wife outside of the house. They had not been out together since their anniversary, which was a couple of months ago. She did not count the couple of little shopping trips that they went on for baby things since those were necessary, and as she recalled Donnie did not like shopping much anyway; the chef did hold up well for short periods of time when they were out looking for stuff for the baby. Other than that, they had not been out since Donnie never wanted to see any of the movies she and Audrey did or she did not have time to do other activities. It was like Donnie did not have time for her anymore, she thought.

"I would rather you didn't come with me," Donnie answered honestly.

Rae swallowed hard, trying to keep down the sudden hurt that was flooding her system. "Why not?" she asked in a whisper of a voice.

"This DJ is a real jerk. He's a wannabe shock-jock. I don't want you there when he starts calling me a rich bitch or a dyke or anything like that."

Rae gasped, mouth falling open as soon as the sound escaped it. "Would he?"

"More than likely."

"Oh, my god. Baby, why are you going on a show like that then?" she inquired, distress painting her deep brown eyes as she cuddled closer, as if that would help protect her mate.

Donnie appreciated the concern, but did not cause her wife any stress, so she started caressing Rae in a tender manner while answering in an equally considerate tone. "A lot of his listeners are the people I want to bring into the restaurant. Young, middle class folks. I want to let them know that it's a new era for Donnie's and they're part of the change."

"Do you think adding a new element to Donnie's is going to chase off the big money-makers that like eating there?"

Donnie shrugged. "We'll find out. Even if they don't make it to Donnie's, I would like them to know that the café has food that's just as good and not nearly as expensive. In fact, I'd probably eat at the café more than the restaurant if I had a choice."

Rae laughed. "And you'd eat in our kitchen more than both of those combined if you had the chance."

"And soon I will," Donnie vowed.

Silence reigned over the room, which caused Donnie to shift uneasily. For her, it seemed like disbelief hung in the air. She adjusted her body to look her wife in the eyes. They stared at each other for a long moment.

"You believe me, right?" Donnie inquired, but from the look in her eyes, it was that she was begging.

"You know I do," Rae replied, voice low and eyes locked on her lover.

The chef leaned down, going in for a kiss. Rae accepted the show of affection, wrapping her arms around Donnie and pulling the taller woman closer to her. Donnie could not pull away until Rae released her, which was long enough to almost have Donnie pass out from a lack of oxygen.

"I think I know where you're going with this," Donnie remarked, panting and trying to catch her breath.

"Donnie?"

"Yes."

"Shut up." Rae attacked before the chef could say another word.

-----

Rae glanced at the radio as she went into the kitchen to get some more tea. The radio was not on any more and had not been for a couple of hours. She was surprised that she had been able to even keep it on at that time, but she had wanted to hear Donnie go toe-to-toe with that shock-jock. She was willing to bet that he still did not know what hit him, hours after the fact. She had smiled when she heard the interview, but that smile was long gone and replaced with a tense frown.

"She should've been here by now," Rae said, speaking to herself as she poured two cups of tea. Her hand shook as the liquid flowed into the cups, which rattled when she picked them up. She walked out into the living room, where Audrey was lounging on the couch with the television remote in hand.

"You ready to finish watching the show?" Audrey asked as Rae sat down on the foot of the couch. She handed one cup of tea to the redhead, who nodded her thanks.

"I suppose. What time is it?" Rae inquired curiously.

Audrey glanced down at her watch. "A little after noon. Why?"

"She should've been here already. She said she was going to come home after the interview. Even if she went to the restaurant to blow off steam, she should've come in by now," Rae said in a distant voice. She stared out to the front door, which was blocked by a wall.

Audrey turned her gaze to Rae. "Well, maybe she went to some other haunt. That interview was pretty brutal. Does she have friends that she could go to?"

"They're all working right now…" Rae answered, biting her lip. The only place that Donnie would go was the restaurant or the café and she would have called if she went there. "Why didn't she call?" she asked the air with a sorrowful pout.

Audrey leaned over and put her arms around Rae. She pulled the petite woman to her and hugged her. Rae curled into her shoulder. The redhead rubbed Rae's back.

"It's probably nothing. You shouldn't get worried about it. It's not like she's cheating on you or anything." Audrey pointed out in a casual tone.

Rae flinched and tried her best to not to allow that seed to be planted. She tried to tell herself that Audrey was trying to cheer her up, so she should not allow innocent words to trouble her. Still, she found herself holding to Audrey and praying that it was not true.

-----

Donnie entered the house with a relieved sigh, sounding as if the world just got off of her shoulders. She was so happy to be home. She marched into the living room, planning to cuddle the heck out of her wife, only to find out she would have to wait in line for that. Rae was on the sofa, sleeping on Audrey with her hands thrown loosely around the redhead. The television was on, watching the snoozing friends.

"Since when does Rae just sleep on people? She usually hates to even be touched by people," Donnie muttered, voice hard from confusion and slight anger. Hell, Rae still flinches when French went to give her a hug most of the time and now she's just lying on people.

Donnie shook it off, reminding herself that Rae and Audrey spent a lot of time together, so it was only logical that Rae was comfortable around her friend. She was not sure if she should wake Rae up or not. After going to the kitchen and getting a banana, she decided to wake Rae up and tried to convince herself that it was because she did not want Rae to stay up late again; it had nothing at all to do with the fact that she disliked how close her partner was to Audrey. Audrey is just her friend, after all.

Donnie carefully shook Rae with one hand while eating her banana with the other. Rae mewed a complaint before her eyes fluttered open. The first thing that came into focus was Audrey and Rae did not know it, but a tiny smile came over her face. She then turned to see who was shaking her and saw her spouse, which turned her smile into a grin. Donnie grinned back.

"You're home," Rae said with a yawn. She rubbed her face with her hands to wake herself up completely.

"Yeah, sorry it took me forever," Donnie replied in a soft tone.

"What happened? Why'd it take you so long to get home?"

Donnie glanced over at their company. "I'll tell you about it later. Did you make any lunch? You made sure to eat, right?" she asked, hand going immediately to the bulge in her lover's belly.

"Of course she ate. I take real good care of her," Audrey commented as she opened her eyes.

Donnie bit back a snappy retort, deciding it would not be a good idea to insult her wife's best friend. Instead, she smiled tensely at the redhead. Audrey smiled back, having the nerve to look like chocolate would not melt in her mouth.

"We listened to the interview. I kept screaming at the radio," Rae reported with a laugh.

"I told you it would be better if you stayed here. Had you gone with me to the station, you'd have wrapped your hands around that jackass' neck and never let go," Donnie remarked. She could just picture her wife, standing up for her and trying to kill the radio host that she had just spent a horrible morning with.

"Didn't he make a few good points, though?" Audrey asked curiously.

"If you mean calling Donnie's a place for wealthy faggots to go, no, he didn't make a few good points," Donnie snapped, going so far as to growl.

"Of course I don't mean that, but isn't your restaurant just for rich people?" Audrey asked, tilting her head slightly to the side, doing her best to look sweet and innocent.

Donnie ground her teeth together for a moment. "If you bothered to go in there, you'd find out there's a little something for everybody there as long as you don't come in wearing street clothes and you can behave," she replied in a tight tone.

"Baby, don't get bent out of shape," Rae said, shocking her partner by defending Audrey. "She doesn't know what the place is like because she hasn't been there recently. She doesn't mean anything by it."

Donnie had to take a deep breath to keep from losing her temper. "I'm going to take a shower," she declared and marched off. She could not believe that she had to spend her morning defending her restaurant and lifestyle to an idiot radio host and had to come home to almost the same crap.

Making matters worse, when she got out of the shower, Audrey was still at the house. Donnie did not feel like seeing the redhead anymore for the day. She called Rae into the kitchen for a moment, pretending to want something to eat.

"Babe, can you ask Audrey to go home?" Donnie asked, going through the fridge because now she really did want something to eat.

Rae appeared lost and confused by the request. "What? Why?" she begged to know.

The chef turned to look at her spouse. "Because I've had a tough day and I'd like to be alone with my wife for a little while."

Rae frowned a bit, which Donnie did not expect. Rae was about to snap, but she swallowed down the harsh words. She glared at Donnie, though; her eyes were so clear that Donnie could practically read her mind.

"Baby…" Donnie said, daring to take a step toward her lover, even though she could tell that she was one wrong word away from losing her head.

"I just can't have anything, can I?!" Rae screamed at the top of her lungs before storming out of the kitchen.

Donnie sighed and scratched her head, puzzled as to what just happened. She marched out of the kitchen and was going to go apologize, even though she did not think she did anything wrong. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Rae was crying on Audrey's shoulder. She was very tempted to go rip her wife away from the redhead, but she knew that would be a bad idea. It would more than likely set Rae off even more, which she could not and would not do.

"I'm going for a walk," Donnie announced loudly, so Rae knew that she was leaving.

The chef stormed out of the house, slamming the door loudly on her way out, and drove off. She went to go get some work done at the restaurant and when she came back, she frowned because Audrey's car was still there. She sat in her car for a long while, just staring at the house and she tried to ignore a gnawing sensation in her stomach.

-----

6: Shot down

As night set in, the darkness mirrored the sensation growing in Donnie's stomach. The air in her car felt hot and heavy around her, crushing her, scorching her. Gripping the steering wheel, she wrung her hands on the firm material, taking deep breaths. They were not helping and she knew that she could not stay in the car forever, but she did not want to go into the house in her current state of mind.

Donnie finally got out of her car and marched toward her house. Her stride was so tense that it seemed like a person could break a board on her back. She entered through the front door and walked to the living room as always. She was far from surprised that Rae and Audrey were sitting there, playing their usual game. They looked up at her, but no one said anything. Donnie opened her mouth, a breath away from telling Audrey to get the hell out, but she knew that would not solve anything. If anything, that would only cause more problems.

Instead of starting any trouble, Donnie marched upstairs, figuring that she might as well go to bed. It was the only way to make sure that she would not blow up on the duo at an inappropriate time. Before going to the bedroom, she made up a stop at the nursery.

A smile worked its way into her face as she took in the nursery, which was still under-construction as far as she was concerned. There were a few books on the shelves now, but not many. Most of the books that were there had to do with parenting, but they still needed to go out and buy baby books to read to lil Donnie when the baby showed up.

There was a dresser for the baby's clothes, which did have a few items of clothing in it from their last shopping spree. She walked to the dresser and opened the top draw, which had clothes in it. She lifted a one-piece outfit and felt a warmth overcome her.

"A few more months, lil Don, just a few more months. I can't wait to meet you," Donnie whispered into the cloth, taking in the new, soft smell. She could not wait until the clothing held the aroma of their daughter.

She snuggled into the cloth for a moment before putting it back. She placed a hand on top of the dresser, enjoying the cool, smooth surface under her fingertips while imagining pictures of her, Rae, and the baby up there. The image brought a smile to her face.

"We'll be fine and ready for you, Don. I promise," the chef vowed to the air.

She never did make it to the bedroom. She sat in the rocking chair, waiting to hear Audrey's car leave. She was not sure how long she sat there, but it felt like an eternity to her. That meant her wife had been upset with her forever, which made her body tense and frustrated tears flowed down her cheeks.

The lights went out one by one and darkness slowly blanketed much of the house. Light footsteps sounded into the room, going across the hall. Donnie could hear Rae calling her, but she could not will herself out of that chair.

"Donnie? Baby?" Rae said, poking her head into the nursery. She noticed the door was wide open, so she figured that her spouse was hiding in there since she was not in the bedroom. Her slow approach was halted when she noticed the rigid form of Donnie at the end of the room, still in the rocking chair. "Baby…it's late," the petite woman pointed out in a shaky tone. She had never seen Donnie like this and did not know what to make of it.

"Eh," Donnie muttered. She brought her hand up to wipe her face, finally realizing that she was crying. Her tears stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing.

"Baby, are you just going to sit in here all night?" Rae asked in a low, quiver of a voice. She pressed her palms together and rubbed her hands against each other as she took a brave, quiet step deeper into the room.

Donnie did not answer immediately, causing Rae to gulp. The insides of the petite woman shook and it had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She took another step into the room, feeling as if the atmosphere was getting heavier with each step. For a moment, she worried that the pressure might crush her before she reached her beloved.

"Sweetheart, we need to talk," Donnie said, surprisingly climbing to her feet. Rae yelped and jumped back, not expecting her spouse to move.

"For a second, I thought you weren't talking to me," the smaller woman commented in a low, scared voice.

"Never that," Donnie replied, walking over to her wife and gently putting an arm around her. She escorted her lover out of the room across the hall to their bedroom.

"What were you doing in the nursery?" Rae asked curiously, allowing Donnie to direct her to one of the armchairs in the room. She sat down and Donnie sat down across from her.

"Waiting," the chef answered as if that was the most logical response ever.

"Waiting? For me?" Rae asked, eyes glistening, tears ready to fall at the first negative word to come from Donnie. This let the businesswoman know that she had to tread lightly around Rae's feelings. The last thing she wanted was another hormonal outburst, especially since she was still smarting from the first one.

"For you, for lil Donnie, for my family. I think it's been a long day and I just needed to cool down," Donnie explained as best she could, making sure to speak in a calm, tender tone. She was still a little annoyed by the fact that she had to leave her home in order to cool down. As far as she was concerned, she felt that she should be allowed to mellow out in her own home with her own wife without anyone else around if necessary.

Rae nodded and looked down for a moment, taking this time to wipe her eyes. When she looked back up, she stared Donnie in the eye as she responded. "I could've been a little more supportive when you showed up. I mean, I listened to that damned radio show and how the guy kept trying to bait you, talking about your sexuality, your money, hell, even me! I wanted to talk to you about it, but you just blew me off."

Donnie scowled, but bit back any snappish comment. "I didn't blow you off," she said through gritted teeth, keeping her tone even at the least. "I was trying to talk to you, but Audrey butted in."

"She was just teasing, Donnie. Usually, you can take a joke," Rae argued.

"Baby, it was a tough day," Donnie insisted, even though she did not think that Audrey was making a joke to her earlier.

Rae pulled herself out of the chair and went to Donnie. She sat down on the taller woman's lap, making herself comfortable. She took one of Donnie's hands and put it on the bulge in her stomach. This action got a small, content smile out of the chef. Making her even happier, Rae placed a tender kiss to her forehead.

"That DJ pissed me off so much, but I couldn't show it," Donnie sighed, shaking her head a little.

Rae leaned in and kissed her wife gently. Donnie relaxed into the sweet show of affection. Rae smiled this time as she pulled away, caressing her spouse's head and shoulders.

"You did very well against him," Rae declared proudly. "I think that people will at least go to the restaurant or café out of sheer curiosity. They'll try to get a glimpse of this crazy woman that takes radio DJs apart with elegant speech and a sharp wit."

An amused smile tugged at one side of the taller woman's face. "I hope so. I still want to get new business in the restaurant or down to the café. I just feel like if we don't grow, we'll die. Donnie's has been the same for about a hundred years. Could you imagine something being the same for a hundred years? My granddad was practically doing CPR on the thing when he inherited it."

"Well, he breathed new life into it and you're doing a good job keeping up his good work. We're not hurting for money or anything, are we?"

Hazel eyes rolled and a scoff escaped Donnie. "Like I would screw up so bad to mess things up when we're about to have another mouth to feed. Donnie's is as popular now as it was the day Granddad handed me the reigns. In fact, it's probably a lot more popular now considering how everyone loves that damned garden and the take-out area."

Rae laughed and playfully swatted at her spouse. "Hey, I like that damned garden!"

"I've got to take you for more walks through there. You can help me redesign it. I don't want it to get too stale," Donnie said, taking the assaulting hand into her free hand. Gently, she stroked the back of Rae's hand.

"You're such a perfectionist. What're you going to do if this interview idea and whatever else you have planned for advertising to middle-class people doesn't work?"

Donnie smiled in a way that made her eyes sparkle, looking almost like an embarrassed child; this was an adorably sheepish and unique expression that people rarely got to see from her. "I actually don't know what I'll do if this doesn't work. I'll think of something else, though. This was just phase one of my plan anyway."

"I figured as much." There was a silence between them and it seemed like everything was all right between them. Rae was the one that interrupted the silence. "Where'd you go after the interview? I thought you'd be here well before noon."

"I went for a walk…a very long walk." The chef took a moment to rub her forehead, keeping her frustrations at bay. "I was so wound up after that damned interview that I didn't want to come back here like that. I thought that after answering all of his questions and having to smile in his face while he called me a dyke had me so tight that I would've blown up if you'd just ask me how I was doing or something just as crazy. It took a long time for my guts to get themselves out of a knot, but I guess not enough."

"I should've been a little more supportive. Sorry I wasn't," Rae said. The apology was followed by a soft kiss to Donnie's forehead.

"It's okay. Let's go to bed, huh?"

Rae nodded, liking that idea. Donnie stood up, making sure to hold into her wife tightly. She then carried Rae to the bed and gently laid her down. She also put Rae under the covers before crawling into bed herself. Rae leaned over and kissed Donnie, but resisted a little when Donnie wanted more than a kiss.

"Sorry, baby, but I'm really tired right now," Rae explained with a yawn.

"I'm a little drained myself," Donnie replied with a tired smile. "I guess I'll give it a try again in the morning."

Rae chuckled a little. "That's something I can sign up with."

The couple fell asleep easily, but they both sensed just a little tension between them. They figured that they could correct that in the morning. Everything should be all right, they both thought.

-----

Donnie decided that whenever Audrey was over the house, she would work late. The arrangement worked out well for her since Audrey had the bad habit of showing up at the house early some days, which made Donnie leave and gave her time to check on the café. She found out that café did need checking too since it turned out her manager had been blowing smoke up her ass as she long suspected.

"Tegan, you're going to have to hang out down at the café more. I'll handle things around here," Donnie informed her friend while they sat in her office, going over paperwork.

"I told you that kid was a fuck-head to begin with. You don't mind me bum-rushing the kitchen while I'm down there. I hate not being able to cook for a few days," Tegan answered.

Donnie shrugged. "That's fine. Hell, you might drum up some more business if you put up a sign that you're cooking. People might come in wondering if you're the same Tegan from down here."

"Is the café really doing that bad?"

Donnie thought on it for a moment. "I wouldn't say it's doing bad. It's not like we're going to have to close it or anything. But, I know it could do better if I had someone who's not afraid of me down there running things. Also, someone that's not scared to give employees a kick in the ass if they need it," Donnie explained.

"Sounds like you should hire Spain then."

"Please, I'd have to use the jaws-of-life to get her out of the hospital. It's a good thing that French is a nurse or she'd have forgotten what the hell Spain looks like," Donnie remarked with a laugh.

"French should just take your approach and make Spain quit her job when they get married."

Donnie's brow wrinkled. "I didn't make Rae quit her job."

"No? Did you notice it was a pattern with you, though? Whenever your women moved in with you they were suddenly unemployed?"

Hazel eyes rolled. "Those bitches were gold-diggers. Rae's nothing like that. I promised to take care of her and obviously she trusted me. She hated that stupid job at that dive she worked at."

"I remember that place. I felt like I need five tetanus shots just from looking at the place. You know, I hear they went out of business not too long ago."

Donnie paused and looked like she got hit in the head with a hammer. Tegan smirked, knowing what that look meant. It always amused her when Donnie got an idea; in school, their teachers used to think that Donnie was about to be sick.

"That's a good location," Donnie said and her best friend read her mind for the rest.

"It would be good for this thing of getting more people in here. Instead of them thinking they have to come here and put up with snubs, they can go there. It could be like a regular family-type restaurant…but, with Donnie's flare!" Tegan grinned.

"That could work. Or do you think I'm just taking the name down by doing this?" Donnie asked with a curious look on her face.

"Hell, no! I think it would be a blast!" Tegan declared, throwing her arms out to the side for a moment. "I'd like to see younger people and families and stuff in the place every now and then."

Donnie smiled. "I'm glad you're behind this. When I first got this idea, I thought you'd be against it. I thought you liked being surrounded by all of those stiff-shirts."

Tegan rolled her eyes. "Hey, I like rich guys as much as the next girl, but also I like variety. You get the best of things when you have a lot of choices. To me, you get to meet the best people when you have a lot of choices and I don't even mean that as far as dating goes. I like meeting people." A rare, purely innocent smile graced her creamy face.

"I know you do, Tegan. Thank God one of us does."

"Please, no one would suspect how much you hate crowds of people if they saw you floating around here. People get the impression that you like them and they come back for more," the redhead pointed out with a smile. "You don't know it, but you've brought in a lot of business with your weird habit of going to sit down and dine with people. Don't even get me started on your habit of keeping people company when their date has run out on them."

Donnie waved that off. "That's nothing." Even though it had never happened to her, she could just tell how horrible it had to feel to have a date bolt from the look on people's faces. She could not stand to see those expressions; no one should have to feel like that, especially on a night that was supposed to be special.

"I think that's one of the things that draw people here. But, anyway, I came in here before to tell you it was getting late and now that we've sat here and talked business for about an hour, it's even later. You ready to blow this popsicle stand?" Tegan asked curiously, jabbing her thumb toward the door.

"I'll leave in a bit. I've got all this paperwork to go through and I need to order stuff…" Donnie dismissed the suggestion with a flick of the wrist and turned her attention back to the work on her desk.

Tegan arched an eyebrow and then scratched it a bit with one finger. "Shouldn't you try getting home earlier to your pregnant wife than later? I mean, that's how you were before. You were sickeningly insistent about it. Hell, there were times when your behavior made me picture you as one of those anxious expecting fathers. You know the ones that are in the supermarket at two in the morning in their pajamas with pickles, peanut butter, and rocky road ice cream while wandering around wondering why watermelon isn't in season yet?"

Donnie laughed, sounding very close to amused, but her eyes showed sorrow and pain. She had always planned for that to be her. If Rae craved watermelon at two in the morning, then damn it, she would have flown some place where they were in season to get some for Rae. But, right now, she just did not want to be home because she did not want to see Audrey. She did not want to chance another fight, which she knew would happen because she was tired of Audrey always being at the house.

"Go home, Don. Drive your wife crazy about the kid," Tegan said, shooing her boss away.

The taller woman smiled and stood up. She followed Tegan out of the office and out of the restaurant. Donnie went home and that car was in the drive. Instantly, an acidic sensation flared in her stomach and a taut frown appeared on her face. She pushed that feeling down and walked in, pausing before she went to the living room.

The pair of friends were sitting on the couch, laughing it up while watching a television show. Donnie did not even bother to glance at what they were watching. She went over to Rae, leaning down for a kiss. Rae gave her a quick peck on the lips before moving to see if anything funny happened on TV.

"There's dinner in the fridge," Rae informed her lover.

Donnie frowned and glanced at Audrey, who was very focused on the television. "I'm not really hungry."

"That's a first," Audrey remarked, showing that she was not as focused on the show as she seemed to be. Another show had her attention.

"You know what would be a first too? You being at your house at this time," Donnie countered in a tight tone.

"Baby," Rae scolded her spouse.

Donnie growled, deep in her throat. "I'm going to take a shower…" she trailed off and bit back the desire to tell her wife that Audrey better be gone by the time she got out. She did not want Rae to blow up on her again, especially not in front of Audrey. So, she trotted off before any other words escaped her mouth.

"I don't know what's gotten into her," Rae muttered, shaking her head.

"She's upset because she doesn't have control over you anymore," Audrey pointed out with a smug look on her face.

Rae's mouth curled up. "Donnie's not like that…"

"Yes, she is. She's just like all of those rich brats you said you dated before her," Audrey gently insisted.

The ebony-haired woman paused and thought back to her other relationships before Donnie. She had told Audrey about them over the past month or so. For some reason that was beyond her, she always attracted wealthy women to her, which would have been fine if only they were not also spoiled brats that wanted a pet more than a girlfriend. They wanted someone that followed and obeyed. Someone that could answer at their beck and call whenever. For a while, she was always that someone.

"No, Donnie's not like that," Rae argued again.

"Oh, no? Then why did she make you quit your job? Why doesn't she like you having friends? She wants you here all time for her. You're like a puppy, Rae. She's walking all over you," Audrey stated soundly, but keeping her tone even, so not to start a fight.

Rae shook her head. "You don't know Donnie. You don't see her as often as I do."

Audrey scoffed. "I see her just about as much as you do."

"She's busy. She wants to make sure everything is perfect for when the baby arrives," Rae said, putting both hands on her stomach.

"That's what she says."

"Audrey, why are you being like this?" Rae asked with a tearful expression.

"I'm sorry. It's just the way Donnie came in that sort of bugs me. I mean, she barely acknowledged you. You deserve better than that," Audrey huffed, folding her arms across her chest and scowling, apparently offended for her friend.

"Donnie's really good. She's just trying to do a lot right now. You'll see, so you don't have to worry. Hey, how about we go out? We should take advantage while I'm not waddling around yet," Rae remarked with a smile, putting her hands around her stomach again. She was showing now, but she still had months ahead of her before she would give birth to the baby. She was not as mobile as she used to be, but she could still move at a good pace.

Audrey smiled. "All right. Where should we go? Not too many places are open that would be good to take a pregnant woman."

"Let's go bowling! I haven't done that in a long time and I'd like to do it before it feels like I'm carrying a bowling ball," Rae explained, a sparkle lighting in her eyes.

Audrey agreed and the duo left the house without another word. When Rae returned to the house, she was not surprised to find the lights on. She was also not surprised that Donnie was sitting up in bed waiting for her. Donnie said nothing, reading a book, until Rae was ready to crawl into bed.

"Where'd you go?" Donnie asked curiously, eyes still focused on her book, but not seeing any words. She managed to keep a quiver out of her voice, but she still sounded worried and somewhat miserable.

"Bowling. That all right with you?" Rae countered, snapping a little, thinking about Audrey's earlier words.

The chef sighed and rubbed her face with one hand for a few seconds. "Fine by me. I wish you would've told me, so I at least knew where you were."

Rae snorted and then sneered. "Why? I'm a grown woman."

Donnie sighed and turned to her wife. The small smile that graced her tan face made Rae's heart thump in her chest. And when Donnie took her hand, her body warmed instantly.

"I just like to know where you are because I love you. I thought that was a given," Donnie stated, her smile fading a bit. She looked a little confused. Why is Rae acting like she doesn't know I worry when I don't know where she is? Why is she acting like she doesn't know I worry when she doesn't answer my calls? Why is she acting like she doesn't know I worry because I love her?

Automatically, Rae's body relaxed and any tension that she was feeling drained out of her. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry. I'm being such an idiot. I guess I'm on edge because it was like you came in angry and I don't want you to direct that anger at me."

A dark brown eyebrow arched. "Have I ever directed my anger at you when I've come in the house?" Concern poured from her tone, practically cascading from her mouth. Hazel eyes begged to know when she had ever done such a thing and they promised that she would change immediately if she did do that.

A slender hand curled in the hand holding onto it. "No. I was just being silly, I guess. Like I said, I was on edge when you came in her because of how upset you seemed. I'm sorry I worried you over where I was."

"It's fine," Donnie lied. "In the past, you would've asked me if I was angry…"

"But, you always say no, even when you are…"

Donnie shook her head and embraced her wife, pulling the petite woman as close to her as possible. She rested her head in sweet-smelling raven locks. Rae sighed and felt content as she felt Donnie's heart beating against her cheek.

"I'm never angry with you. I might come in tense or frustrated, but holding you is always enough to make that go away. You make everything better," Donnie promised in a low tone.

Rae smiled. "Hey, Donnie, what do you say we go out and do some shopping for the baby tomorrow? I think lil Donnie would be upset to find out we haven't gotten bottles yet."

Donnie laughed. "I'd love to!" And with that, all of the frustration that she had been feeling through out the day was gone. Her body felt light and her soul felt easy, but her gut wanted to know how long that would last.

-----

Donnie smiled to herself as she pulled into the driveway of her house. She was ready to click her heels together. Today, she and Tegan had gone to look at a building for sale where they might open up another restaurant. The thing that made her really giddy about it was not that she was looking forward to make another restaurant, but this would be the first time that she would be able to go into business with her best friend. As annoying as Tegan could be, Donnie knew that Tegan loved Donnie's as much as she did and they both believed they would enjoy being equals in a business for the first time.

She glided into the house, grinning like the cat that got the cream. "Sweetheart…" she called out in a sing-song voice. Smelling food cooking, she headed straight for the kitchen where her spouse was chopping vegetables for what Donnie hoped meant they were having stew.

"Babe, you're home earlier," Rae commented with a smile as Donnie came up behind her for a hug.

"I've got exciting news and I just have to share it with you!" Donnie declared, sounding like a happy child.

"What happened?"

"Tegan and I went to look at this property near your old job and we're thinking about buying it together to open another restaurant!" Donnie reported, still sounding like a kid that got all A's on her report card.

Rae bristled and stiffened in her lover's arms. Her hands immediately halted from chopping vegetables. Donnie instinctively knew to back away and did so just in time to avoid being cut open. Rae spun around, apparently forgetting that she was holding a knife…well, Donnie hoped that she forgot and that was not an assassination attempt.

"How the hell can you even think of doing something like that right now?! You barely have time for me with the restaurant and the café, but we're about to have a baby in less than four months and you have the nerve to be talking about starting another fucking business?!" Rae demanded to know in a shrieking voice.

"Babe-" Donnie started, but her wife was on a roll.

"How the hell can you be this insensitive?! Do you really think you could do that?! Or did you just think I'd raise this fucking baby by myself since I'm in the fucking house all day anyway?!"

"Babe-" Donnie tried once again, but made just as much progress.

"You're such an asshole!" Rae dropped the knife and rushed out of the kitchen.

Donnie sighed and rubbed her head while bending down to pick up the knife. Part of her wondered if her spouse had a point or if those were her hormones talking. Her gut told her that whatever the hell that was, hormones had nothing to do with it. She decided to go after Rae, figuring she ran up the second floor. She was more than surprised to find her wife crying in the living room; the where was not shocking, but who she was with was.

Rae was wrapped in Audrey's arms, crying on her shoulder. Donnie felt the urge to throw up, but swallowed it down as a flare lit in her stomach from seeing her wife in the arms of a woman that she was almost certain was a bitch for the second time in as many months. Once was more than enough, twice was unbearable and unforgivable.

"Audrey, how about you give us a minute," Donnie ordered in a tense tone. The stony glare in her eyes was bordering on violence.

"Why, so you can hurt her some more?" Audrey huffed, scowling at the taller woman. She held her head up high, as if silently daring Donnie to hit her.

A tan hand made a tight fist. "You don't have any business here."

"Rae, do you want me to stay?" Audrey inquired.

Donnie never felt such anger rip through her when she noticed her wife nodding in another woman's shoulder. She felt strangled by the fury tearing at her insides and she did the only thing that she could do to avoid doing something that she regretted-she left. She once again found herself having to leave her own home at a time she needed a sanctuary.

"This is such bullshit!" Donnie hollered in frustration. She sat down on the porch because she did not feel safe driving while in such a funk. It would not do anyone any good if she wrapped her car around a tree because she and Rae had a fight. Instead, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed her best friend.

"What's up, Don?" Tegan's voice greeted her.

"Rae just shut me down on starting a restaurant with you. She pointed out that I'm barely home now, so I might never be there with another restaurant under my belt," Donnie explained.

"What! You're the juggling master! You'd figure out how to do it!"

"I haven't been doing it well lately, so I think she has a point. It would've been nice to do a family restaurant, though, wouldn't it?" Donnie forced out a laugh, not really hiding her sorrow, but covering it up just enough.

"That does suck! But, ah well. I guess that's just the way things go sometime. We'll just have to try harder to get people into Donnie's. There has been a little trickle of new people in since your radio interview. I think we just need to do a few more gimmicks. The café business has really got a kick in the ass, though!"

Donnie chuckled a little, sounding much happier that time. "I noticed. I also noticed you like hanging out down there."

"I never took the time out to appreciate the café. It's really nice there. Different types of people and not this air of snobbery that you run into at the restaurant most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I like the shit out of the restaurant too, but I'll stay down at the café for as long as you need me."

"I figured," Donnie answered and they continued talking business.

-----

"I can't believe she'd even think about doing something so stupid!" Rae screamed into Audrey's shoulder.

"It'll be fine," Audrey whispered, holding Rae close to her.

Suddenly Rae ripped herself away from Audrey and started pacing the living room. "Does she think I'm just a mat that she can walk all over?!"

"She just doesn't appreciate you or even the baby it seems. She's probably just trying to play house," Audrey said.

Rae was about to bark an agreement to that, but was suddenly hit with a wave of memories, all involving witnessed interactions between Donnie and her grandfather. She knew then that Donnie would never "play house." Family was way too important to Donnie because of the situation that she experienced while growing up. She would never bring a child into the world to "play house."

"She's not like that," Rae declared, pausing in her steps.

"Rae, she's just a spoiled rich brat. You've seen-" Audrey tried to argue, but she was cut off by the fiery little woman.

"No! Donnie isn't like that! She's not!"

"Yet she goes out to buy another business, knowing she already doesn't have time for you as it is. You said it yourself, that was inconsiderate of her. Inconsiderate and thoughtless. She doesn't think of you at all from what I can tell and she damn sure isn't thinking about that baby," Audrey pointed out, motioning to the pregnant woman.

"She does…" Rae sniffled and wiped her eyes, even though new tears replaced the ones that she dried. "You don't know what she's like! She's usually sweet and thoughtful, always thinking of me…"

"And that's why she's about to start a business without asking you? Is that why she made you quit your job? Is that why she doesn't want you to have any friends? She's a spoiled brat, Rae. You need to accept that."

Rae was about to say something else, but she heard the door open. Donnie marched back into the living room, barely noticing the tense silence between the friends. Donnie did not even bother to look Audrey, knowing she would not have the good manners to leave and allow the couple a private moment. She also knew that there was no way she could tell Audrey to leave without having to endure more of her wife's wrath. Hazel eyes locked on Rae's small, swollen form.

"I would like to apologize, but I think I'll do it later," Donnie commented before retreating upstairs. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked defeated for the first time that her wife had ever seen.

Rae watched her spouse go upstairs and wondered what was wrong with Donnie. She turned her attention to Audrey, who was watching Donnie too, glaring at the chef. Rae cleared her throat to get Audrey's attention.

"Let me take you back home, Audrey," Rae said. She had picked her friend up earlier in the day because she had to go out grocery shopping.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Audrey asked, concern painting her sky blue eyes.

"I will. I just think me and Donnie have to have a long talk to get back on the same page because right now it doesn't seem like we're in the same damn book," the petite woman commented with a sigh.

-----

"Donnie, baby?" Rae called as she ascended the steps in their home. "Please don't make me look for you."

"I'm in the bed," Donnie answered.

Rae went into the bedroom and saw her spouse laid out on the bed, reading a book. "You look comfortable." The simple comment was said with so much disdain that Donnie almost flinched. A deep breath kept her calm, though.

"Looks can be deceiving. Would you like that apology now?" Donnie asked in a low voice. She knew that if she allowed just a little more volume in her tone, they would end up fighting again.

"Is it going to be sincere?" Rae riposted with a sneer. While driving Audrey home, the redhead kept telling her that Donnie was probably apologizing to appease her and Donnie was trying to keep her under her thumb.

"When the hell have I ever been insincere with you?" Donnie demanded to know, body rigid and her face tense from that insult.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe when you said you're ready to settle down and have a family and then you're talking about opening another restaurant with Tegan!" Rae snapped.

Those words practically slapped Donnie across the face and she looked away in shame. "You're right. You're so right about that. It was stupid of me, but me and Tegan got wrapped up in the idea and hyped each other up. I'm sorry I got carried away. I'm glad you said something too before this went any further than us looking at a location. It was so stupid of me."

Rae was dumbfounded from the words, but there was more. Hazel eyes suddenly looked up and locked with her own. The eyes were as Rae remembered, endless, boundless, and seemed to look deep into her, touching parts of her that she did not know existed before meeting Donnie.

"Donnie…I shouldn't have screamed like that…" Rae's apologize was low and her own voice sounded small and shameful to her own ears.

"It's fine. I'm glad you did." Donnie smiled.

Rae blinked a few times, thoroughly puzzled by that statement. "Glad I screamed at you?"

"You shared your opinion and the way you shared it made me hear it immediately. I can't be mad at you for that and that's why I apologized," Donnie explained.

Rae laughed. "I can't believe you're happy I screamed at you. You're a nut, you know that?"

"Come here and I'll show you just how much of a nut I am," Donnie suggested with a smile.

Rae wasted no time climbing into her partner's lap. "Now, what are you going to show me?"

Donnie cuddled her face Rae's neck and kissed the area. "You reminded me of where my priorities are. You and our family is what's important. Right?"

"Of course," Rae confirmed.

"So, like I said, this was all my fault and you were totally right."

Rae giggled. "I like being right."

"I figured as much. So, I'm guessing you took Audrey home since I didn't see her car here when I drove up and that's what took you so long to come up here?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah, we were palling around in the same car today. She came with me food shopping. I was glad not to have to go by myself. It kinda reminded me when we used to go together."

Donnie smiled, even though was a bit tight. She wanted so badly to ask Rae to stop hanging out with Audrey so much, but she would feel like such a jerk. Rae obviously wanted and needed a friend. Donnie used to be that friend until she started working more often. She supposed that she was just going to have to live with Audrey being around until she had a chance to be home more often and become that friend again.

-----

7: The flames of Hell

"Donnie don't forget we have Lamaze class tonight," Rae told her spouse as she turned off the kitchen sink. She sat down next to Donnie, who was eating breakfast. She sighed loudly, happy to be off of her feet now that she was twenty pounds heavier than usual. A smile came automatically after the long sigh of relief.

"I know. Did I forget before?" Donnie asked curiously, mouth turned up a little with genuine concern.

Rae could not help laughing. "You are too cute, Donnie. You've never forgotten, but I like reminding you. How are things going at the café and the restaurant?" she asked to make conversation and to find out what was going in her lover's life. She rested a hand on Donnie's leg, getting a smile out of the professional chef.

Donnie took a moment to bask in the warm contact before replying in a content tone. "Tegan smacked the café into shape quickly. The business there is doing good and Tegan really likes it over there, but she whines every few days to come back to the restaurant. So, we've started to trade off on who's going to go where. Donnie's is doing great, as usual. We still haven't gotten that many new people in there like I hoped, but I've come up with another idea to get new people in."

"Oh?" Rae's eyes shined with curiosity. "What idea?"

"I'm going to give away free tickets to a ball at the restaurant. I figure about a hundred and fifty tickets. What do you think?" Donnie asked, eyes begging for her wife's honest opinion.

Rae's head bobbed from side to side, like she was bouncing the idea around in her mind. "Sounds nice, formal, but nice."

Donnie frowned a little, not liking the bland tone her wife used. "Would you go for it?"

A small, sincere smile graced the shorter woman's face. "Five years ago, I would've been trying to kill people for one of those tickets. So, yes, I would go for it and I think it's a good idea. I don't know if you should call it a 'ball.' That sounds so upper-class and pretentious, which you're trying to get out of the reputation of being."

Donnie nodded. "Do you think calling it a banquet would be better?"

"Still has the same feel, but it does sound more like there will be food, so I would go with that over ball," Rae answered.

"Thanks, babe. You're plenty helpful, you know?" Donnie grinned, putting her arm around her beloved and pulling Rae into her side.

Rae smiled, happy that she could be of some use. She ate her own breakfast, exchanging a few words with Donnie, but she was mostly thinking about Lamaze class. She was looking forward to that, which she always did. Donnie never missed a class and it was great to have Donnie by her side.

"So, what do you have planned for today, babe?" Rae asked curiously once she was able to get her mind off of their appointment in the evening.

"I'm going to scare employees around the café for the afternoon and pop into the restaurant just to make sure Tegan and Ran aren't going at each other with knives again and then back here for Lamaze. Sound good?" Donnie answered with a bright smile. That was usually her plan on days that they had to go to class.

Rae's eyes sparkled and an impish, tiny smile worked its way on her face. "It would sound perfect if you could sneak in picking up a carton of strawberry sherbet."

Donnie leaned over, unable to resist that expression, and kissed her wife's cheek. "Okay, this one time, consider it done! I'll get some orange and lemon just in case too."

"You are too good to me!" Rae grinned, clapping wildly. She loved sherbet these days, along with a lot of sweet things. Much of the time, her spouse would not give into her on her sweets request, reminding her that she needed to eat healthy for the baby. Her taste buds and stomach did not seem to get the memo, always craving bad things that she was not allowed to have.

"So, what're you going to do while I'm gone?" Donnie asked, even though she could guess.

"I don't really know. Would it bother you if I go get some clothes for lil Donnie? I know we decided not to know the sex of the baby and everything, but I still want to go out and buy pants or something. I figure a boy or a girl could use some pants every once and a while."

Donnie smiled. "I was a little girl and wore pants my whole childhood!"

"According to your granddad, putting you in a dress never turned out well, although I'm sure he laughed every time you mooned someone," the petite woman remarked with a giggle.

"That he did."

Another giggle escaped Rae. "You can't do anything wrong in that man's eyes, Junior."

Donnie chuckled, loving the way her wife sounded when calling her "Junior." "I've been yelled at a time or two by him and spanked a few more times than that. He knows for sure I was never an angel. So, what else are you going to go shopping for? You should get more than pants while you're out."

"I don't know. I don't want to stay out too long since my feet'll undoubtedly end up hurting. Audrey hates hearing me whine about my feet," Rae commented.

"Oh, so you're taking Audrey," Donnie said in a deadpan tone with an expression to match. I should've known!

"Yeah." Rae put her arms around her lover and cuddled against her, wanting to take away the look of disdain in those beautiful hazel eyes. "Babe, I know you and Audrey don't get along well, but I wish you would give her a chance. She's been a very good friend to me and I appreciate her company."

Donnie sighed, sounding as guilty as she felt for behaving as she was. "I know, I know. I'll try harder," she vowed with a sheepish grin.

"That's all I ask," Rae replied with a smile. "If I can get along with Tegan, you should be able to get along with Audrey."

Donnie nodded to that one. The fact that Rae had not taken a pipe to Tegan's head through out the time they had known each other was a testament to Rae's patience. Tegan never really warmed up to her best friend's wife, mostly because of the way Rae treated Donnie in the beginning when Donnie was trying to court her. Rae tolerated Tegan while Tegan did her best to ignore Rae whenever possible. They did not fight or anything; hell, they could even manage a few civil sentences toward each other.

"Okay, okay, okay. My little peacemaker, I will try my best," Donnie promised. She supposed that she was just going to have to take a page out of Tegan's book and learn to ignore the hell out of Audrey. I wonder if Tegan gives lesson.

-----

"Lemme go! I'm going to strangle that little Japanese wench!" Tegan declared, struggling to break away from Donnie, who was calmly dragging the redhead out of the kitchen…by the ankle. The restaurant owner did not look amused as the fiery redhead twisted and turned, trying her best to break free, so she could go back into the kitchen and teach Ran a lesson in humility.

"I'm not dealing with a double-homicide scene in my kitchen. Now, stop acting like a complete idiot. I have to get home to get Rae for Lamaze tonight, so I need you and Ran to act like responsible adults for once," Donnie commanded in a firm tone, shooting a glare at her best friend.

"Oh, yeah, that shrimp's been an adult for all of fifteen minutes, right?! You just let me go and I'll show her how an adult acts!" Tegan proclaimed, shaking her fist violently in the direction of the kitchen.

"Tegan, you can kill Ran later on when I have time to sort out of the mess and her father isn't in town anymore. Unless of course you've figured out how to kill a former Army Ranger," the taller woman commented in a dry tone.

Tegan calmed down a bit. "Hmm…you might be right. Fine, she gets a stay of execution for now."

Donnie sighed and let go of Tegan's ankle. The redhead quickly climbed to her feet. She dusted herself off and turned her attention to her boss. They chuckled a bit, finding the situation all too familiar.

"We're getting too old for this, Tegan. I can't keep dragging you places to make sure you don't get into trouble," Donnie said, shaking her head a little.

"I know, but Ran just pisses me off so much. She had the nerve to threaten to quit today!" Tegan reported, punching her fist into her palm.

"Yeah, I heard it was after you threatened to hang her out of the second floor window and dump her in the fountain underneath it. Ran's a kid, Tegan. Leave her be," Donnie advised, shrugging a little. She really did not understand why Tegan continued to fool around with Ran, knowing that the Japanese chef loved to be confrontational and get into heated arguments.

"Fine, but the next smart thing that comes out of her mouth, I'm putting my foot down her throat," Tegan replied with conviction, nodding to seal the promise.

Donnie rolled her eyes and decided to leave things to Tegan, figuring that everything would be fine for now. She had to get home to make sure she was on time to pick up Rae and get to Lamaze on time. When she pulled into the driveway, she sighed and smiled when she saw that Rae's car was the only one there. It seemed like the first time in forever that she and Rae would be in the house alone in the evening.

"Baby, you ready to go?" Donnie called out as she entered the house.

"I don't want to stand up anymore!" Rae whined from the living room. She was reclining on couch with her feet propped up at one end.

"Sorry, baby, but I don't think I can pick you up anymore to carry you around," Donnie apologized with a pout as she came onto the scene.

"Should me feet be swollen already? I mean, geez, how big is this kid?!" the small woman continued, flailing her arms and fighting back tears. Donnie made sure not to laugh, even though she thought her wife looked so adorable.

"Come on, sweetheart. You're just cranky. How did shopping go today? You had a good time?" Donnie asked tenderly, sitting down at the end of the couch. She propped Rae's feet into her lap and began gently massaging them. A shamelessly loud moan escaped the pregnant woman seconds after the businesswoman started caressing her throbbing feet.

"It was so much fun!" Rae purred and her eyes drifted shut, enjoying her spouse's practically sinful touch. "You're good at this. Better than Audrey…" she muttered, yawning a little in the end.

Donnie growled. "Audrey gave you a foot massage?" There was something about a foot massage that seemed very intimate to her, especially since she knew that her wife did not like to be touched by just anybody, so the fact that Audrey gave Rae was enough to make Donnie want to break something. Instead, she continued on like her insides were not churning and boiling, not even changing the pressure of her rubbing on Rae's tender tootsies.

"Earlier today. My feet were really hurting. She volunteered to give me a foot message. I think I fell asleep after that. I think I might fall asleep now…" She yawned and her eyes drifted half-way closed.

"Oh, no. No falling asleep, young lady. We have Lamaze class to get to and we're going," Donnie declared, lightly tugging on her lover's big toe. This did not get those deep brown eyes to open.

The chef was tempted to try picking her spouse up, but the twenty extra pounds added on by the baby made that too risky. She managed to coax Rae up with the promise of tasty treats and got her into the car. They were off to Lamaze class.

-----

Rae was happy to hit the bed after they got home from Lamaze class. Donnie made sure to fluff the pillows for her and covered her with just the right amount of blankets; Rae had a habit of getting cold in the middle of the night now. As soon as Rae was tucked in just right, she was asleep. Donnie watched her for a while, happily smiling at the sight of her wife.

"My baby," Donnie sighed, tugging her arm underneath Rae's large belly. She kissed behind her wife's ear and fell asleep, dreaming about her family.

Donnie was looking forward to the next Lamaze class since it seemed like the one place she could be alone with her wife. Unfortunately, even that domain would not remain hers for long. The next time she had her usual schedule set up for Lamaze class when she got to the restaurant, things went sour and for once it had nothing to do with Tegan and Ran. There was too much smoke for it to be one of them, and the smoke was not coming from the kitchen.

"Shit, there's a fire in the garden! Call the fire department!" Donnie ordered, rushing into the lush, green area to make sure all of the patrons got out as quickly as possible and there were no injuries to any of the customer.

Tegan could not believe her eyes and forgot how to speak for a critical second. "Don, don't run into the fire, you fucking idiot!" she screamed when her voice returned, but her best friend was already gone. "Rae's going to kill you if you die!" Eyes going wide, she yelped. "And then she'll kill me for letting you run to your death! Come back, it's Lamaze night!"

The redhead sighed when her last ditch effort of getting Donnie to turn around did not work. She guessed that she was just going to have to wait for her impulsive best friend to return on her own because she damn sure was not running into a fire…not yet anyway. If Donnie took too long in there, then she would have to run into the fire to save her best friend or to die with her. Thankfully, the fire department showed minutes later and dosed the fire in no time at all. No one was seriously injured since Donnie was able to rapidly clear the garden. The problem after that was they had to figure out what happened and they had a lot of questions for Donnie since she was in charge.

"I guess I need to call Rae. Maybe she'll go to Lamaze without me or it'll be okay for us to miss a class," Donnie muttered to herself, shaking her head a little bit. She sighed as she grabbed her cell phone. She called Rae's cell phone first, but it went straight to voicemail. She growled and called the house phone.

"Hello?" a suspiciously familiar voice greeted her.

"Audrey, what the hell are you doing answering the phone in my goddamn home?" Donnie demanded to know with a snarl. I'm going to hurt this bitch! I just know it!

"Rae asked me to answer the phone. What do you want? Oh, lemme guess, you're not going to be able to make it here on time," Audrey commented, sounding way too happy and much too smug.

"Put Rae on the fucking phone," the chef ordered in a hard voice. Her eyes flashed with intense, blazing anger, hating how comfortable that woman was in her house.

"Oh, quite the little foul mouth on you. I can see you'll be an excellent mother," the sarcasm almost dripped through the phone. "Rae's taking a shower right now, wanting to be ready when you come in, but you're not coming in, are you?" Audrey accused the restaurant owner. Her tone was still so smug that Donnie could hear the smirk on her face.

"What're you doing there anyway?" Donnie inquired. She did not feel comfortable getting off of the phone with Audrey, knowing that her wife was somewhere in the house possibly naked. It felt like the only thing she could do to protect her spouse for the moment.

"I'm hanging out with my friend, like always."

"Cut the bullshit."

"It's no bullshit. I like hanging out with Rae and we're very good friends. Better friends than you are with her from what I can tell. You don't even have anything in common with her. I don't know how the hell a spoiled brat like you landed such a nice girl-" the rest of the barb was cut off by the outraged businesswoman.

"Audrey, I promise you, the next time my wife isn't looking, I'm leaving my boot print on your ass," Donnie snarled.

Audrey laughed, so confident and sure. "Does Rae know how violent you are?" she asked in a near whimsical fashion.

"Who's that?" Rae's voice called in the distance.

"Your spouse is threatening to put her boot in my ass for answering your phone," Audrey answered.

"Donnie!" The reprimand was from a distance, but still made Donnie wince. It did not get any better when Rae was on the phone. "Donnie, why are you saying mean things to Audrey? Didn't you make a promise to me?" she demanded.

Donnie yelped. "Uh…I…she…I mean…Uh, anyway!" She let loose a nervous laugh, knowing this conversation was not going to get any better, not with the raging-walking-hormone that was her wife. "I'm not going to be able to make it to Lamaze class tonight…" she admitted and then braced herself for the screech that she was sure to come.

"What! Why?!" Rae screamed. The chef flinched hard from the sound and moved the phone from her ear for a moment.

"Because-" Donnie did not make it passed that one word.

"God, you're such a fucking asshole, Donnie! I bet you're fucking working right now! Why don't you just marry your fucking restaurant! You can have a bunch of fucking little café babies!" Rae shrieked and ended the conversation by hanging up the phone.

Donnie stared at her cell phone and the image her wife crying on Audrey's shoulder burned across her memory. A scowl tore through her face, hardening her eyes. She was tempted to run out to her car and blaze off to her house, but just then one of the investigators pulled her aside to start questioning her. She was stuck.

-----

"Thanks for coming with me, Audrey," Rae sighed as she and her good friend drove back home after Lamaze class. She tried her best to look fine, but on the inside, her heart was cracked. Why doesn't Donnie care about me anymore?

"No problem. Glad I could help," Audrey answered with a smile, not taking in Rae's solemn demeanor. Since they were in her car, she was driving. She also did not want Rae driving since she thought it might be uncomfortable for the heavily pregnant woman to drive.

"I can't believe Donnie. Damn it, she never misses Lamaze and now all of a sudden something's wrong with the restaurant. It's always something with that fucking restaurant!" Rae huffed, hitting the dashboard with her palm.

Audrey glanced over and she would not have been surprised to see furious crimson waves radiating from her companion. "She's pretty unreliable…" the redhead commented.

Rae sighed, sounding fed up and tired. "She wasn't always like this. She's been so wrapped up in the restaurant. I mean, the restaurant was always a top priority, but lately it's been her only priority. I don't matter to her anymore."

Rae's eyes dropped and misted over. Audrey reached over and took one of Rae's hands in her own. She held it tightly, but did not look over at Rae. Rae did dare to look at Audrey and then held her head up to look in front of them too. Their hands remained link for the entire ride.

When they arrived at the house, Donnie's car was parked out front. Audrey went in anyway, standing by Rae's side. Donnie was sitting in the dark in the living room, staring off into nothingness from what they could tell when they turned on the lights. They jumped a little when they noticed Donnie on the sofa, but the surprise was quickly hidden under biting words.

"Oh, wow, she does remember where you live," Audrey remarked in a bitter tone directed at Donnie.

"Probably wants dinner," Rae jibbed with a cruel sneer.

Donnie nodded slowly and threw her hands up in defeat. "Nope, just wanted to see where I stand. Goodnight."

Rae was tempted to call out for her lover, but then she remembered that she just spent Lamaze class with Audrey while Donnie undoubtedly ran around at the restaurant. So, she swallowed her words and offered a loud scoff to show her indifference to the hasty exit as her spouse disappeared upstairs. She flopped down on the couch, not caring about the fact that her wife was throwing a temper tantrum.

"Want to play some Scrabble? We haven't done that in a while and its something to keep you off of your feet," Audrey suggested, voice warm and soothing.

"That sounds nice," the shorter woman replied with a smile.

And so, they played Scrabble. Rae did not think it was odd that there was complete silence upstairs, figuring that Donnie had gone to bed. She was surprised to find the bedroom empty though when she retired for the night. The bed was how she left it earlier, neat, made, and completely undisturbed.

"Donnie?" Rae called, checking the bathroom that was adjacent to their bedroom. That was also empty. "Donnie?" her voice quivered a little this time.

The next place to check was the nursery. She thought that Donnie might be in there again, but she when she went across the hall, she found that room to be empty as well. Her heartbeat felt heavy, pounding in her ears and making the silence surrounding her deafening. Her stomach dropped as she turned, retreating back downstairs as fast as she could without risking an injury. She looked out the window and saw that Donnie's car was still there.

"Donnie, this isn't funny!" she called through out the empty, dark house as she went back upstairs.

She checked the bedroom and the nursery again. They were empty just as before, which made her feel overwhelmed and strangled by the darkness. She called out for her spouse again as she marched through the halls, searching, scanning, needing to find some sign of life from her lover. She noticed the door at the end of the hall was slightly ajar; it was guest bedroom. Usually, they kept all the doors to the guestrooms shut because they never really had reason to go in those areas.

"Donnie?" Rae gently pushed the door open. She could make out a distinct lump in the bed. "Donnie?" she whispered, voice trembling, bottom lip quivering, eyes glistening. "Baby…?"

Something inside of her told her that Donnie was not sleeping, but ignoring her. The very idea made her sick immediately and she put one hand over her mouth and one on her swollen stomach. She dropped to her knees, the noise turning hazel eyes to her instantly.

"Sweetheart," Donnie gasped, launching herself out of bed and falling to Rae's side. She resisted the urge to put her arms around her wife, just in case the small woman was hurt. "Are you all right?" she begged to know, holding her hands in front of her, wanting to do something as soon as she could.

"Why are you doing this?" Rae asked with a sob, hand still over her mouth.

A frown cut across Donnie's smooth face. "I could ask you the same thing. Do you really want to sleep next to a fucking asshole? I thought it would be better this way," she answered in a hard tone.

"I just wanted to go to Lamaze class with you! Is that so wrong?" Rae inquired, tears pouring down her face while a fire burned in her eyes.

"No, it's not and you know I was looking forward to that with you-"

"Then why the fuck did you stay at your fucking restaurant?!" Rae screamed. Her voice cracked because of her volume.

"Whoa, babe, I think you need to calm down first and foremost. You're not supposed to get worked up. You know that," Donnie said, wrapping her arms around her wife now that she knew it was safe to do so. The embrace immediately calmed the fiery female.

Rae curled into Donnie. "Why?" she whimpered, sniffling like a lost child.

"Babe, there was a fire in the garden. I had to stay to answer questions and make sure everyone was safe…" Donnie explained in a low, gentle voice. She slowly caressed Rae's head and kissed her cheek.

Rae gasped and clutched onto the front of her spouse's tee-shirt. Sorrowful and apologetic chocolate eyes locked with hazel orbs. "God, baby, I'm so sorry. I should've let you explain. It's just that I look forward to this time with you and when you called…I just lost it! To me, it wasn't you just missing the class, it like you were missing everything…" she explained, voice getting lower and lower through out the speech.

Donnie placed another soft kiss to her wife's soft cheek. "It's okay. Your hormones are whacky and sometimes it makes you irrational. That's fine. It's fine," she promised.

"How is it fine? God, you could've been hurt!" The speed with Rae was excitable and sorrowful was incredible, but she did not seem to notice.

Donnie bit back the words of truth, not wanting to say that she had been hurt. She had been so very hurt by this sweet, loving creature in her arms. And she had a feeling that she would be hurt again by this same person, but she could not bring herself to say that. It would hurt the one she loved.

"I'm all right. You know my skin is thick. Nobody got hurt in the fire. The inspectors think some idiot decided to have a smoke in one of the bushes. It wouldn't be the first time we've had idiots smoking back there, but it would be the first time that the idiot proved itself to be an idiot. I think I have to find out more for what we're using to keep the bugs to a minimum because I think that might have helped start the fire from the cigarette."

"I'm glad you're not hurt. Um…will you come to bed?" Rae requested in a shy voice.

"Of course," Donnie answered and despite a gnawing sensation in her gut, she stood up to go to their bedroom. She even helped Rae to her feet. She kept any thoughts about who took Rae to their class to herself and walked down the dark hall, feeling as though it was the longest walk that she ever taken in her life.

Despite the tears, the next day, Donnie felt like things went back to business as usual. She literally almost ran into Audrey on her way out of the house. She was tempted to say something, but Rae practically cheered when she saw the redhead. Donnie's body tensed so much that she was not sure how she was even going to drive to work, but she managed because she had to get away from the house.

-----

"So, what happened between you and Donnie?" Audrey asked curiously as she sat down at the island in the kitchen, eating a plate of waffles that Rae had made for breakfast. The friends often spent their first hour together in the kitchen, talking while Audrey ate breakfast.

"Turns out, she had a decent reason for missing the class. The garden caught fire at the restaurant and she had to stay over," Rae reported as she sat down with a glass of orange juice. Her breakfast had been taken with her spouse about thirty minutes ago, but she always had juice with Audrey while the redhead ate.

Audrey arched an eyebrow, sneering a little. "Really? I didn't hear anything about it on the news. Weird, I figured they would report if a famous place like Donnie's almost burnt down," she commented with a bit of a shrug.

Rae paused for half-a-tick. "It probably wasn't a big fire. Donnie really didn't go into detail."

Audrey's mouth practically hit the floor as she leaned forward and stared hard at her good friend. "You mean she acted like this sort of thing was normal? What sort of days does she have at work if this is normal? What has to happen for you to get details, a fucking dragon attack?" she asked incredulously, throwing her hands out to the side.

Rae was silent again for a few seconds. Her eyes fell to the floor, as if searching the area for the truth. "You think she lied, don't you?" Cocoa orbs locked onto sky-blue ones.

Audrey sighed and reached over, putting her hand on top of Rae's hand. "I think she just wanted you to stop being mad at her and she went for something like that to make it happen. You stopped being mad at her, didn't you?" the redhead asked, tenderly caressing Rae's hand with her thumb moving in slow circles.

Rae sighed deeply, glancing down again for a moment. "Well…yeah. After that I was just really concerned for her."

"See?" Audrey mildly pressed.

"I guess…" Rae muttered, sorrow clouding her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled a bit as she wondered if it was true that Donnie just lied to her to get her to stop being angry. If that was the case, then she wondered why Donnie missed their class night? Why does Donnie keep running out on me?

"Hey," Audrey said in a semi-upbeat tone, like she was trying to lift her friend's waning spirit. "How about we go catch a movie or something to take your mind off of things?" she suggested, patting the top of Rae's had to help soothe her.

"Okay," Rae answered and forced out a smile. That got a grin out of Audrey.

-----

Donnie massaged her temples while sitting at her desk, which was buried somewhere under stacks of paper. Tegan was sitting across from her, trying to find a place that she thought was safe to place her cold drink. It seemed like no matter where she put it, she was probably going to have to move it because they would need the paper. Instead, she just put it on the floor next to her chair.

"Okay, so all of the contest tickets are out. I hear people were trying to kill each other for one, so the promotion was good and everything. Now, we just need to plan a knockout party in two weeks to make all of those attempted murders worthwhile, but we've done that in two days before," Tegan pointed out with an easygoing smile.

"Yeah, and then we had to take a week vacation or let Spain commit us to the mental ward. I'd rather not go through that again," Donnie countered drolly.

The redhead let loose a snort and a playfully brusque wave. "Okay, fine, so we'll waste two weeks on it. It'll give me time to drum up a respectable date," she declared with an impish grin.

Hazel eyes rolled right on cue. "You have a one-track mind."

"Hey, we can't all be married and know who the hell our date is every freaking time something comes up. I can't wait to see how big lil Donnie's made Rae. She probably looks like a ball now because she's so short!" Tegan giggled, struck by the mental image of Rae being totally round and her bouncing the pregnant woman like a basketball.

Donnie sighed, wondering if it was safe to unleash her hormonal spouse on an unsuspecting public. Even if Rae did not devour the souls of her guests, there was no guarantee that Rae would leave her untouched. She was still raw from their last major bout. But, ah well, that was the risk. She did not like the idea of not going anywhere without Rae.

"We're going to have to buy her a new dress. God, I hate shopping for stuff like that," Donnie said, shaking her head in despair. Clothes shopping was often the bane of her existence.

"You really have no fashion sense at all when it comes to dresses, but that doesn't surprise me considering what you used to do whenever your mom tried to stick you in a dress. Remember you rode your bike through that thorn bush with your church dress on?" Tegan asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, Mom beat my ass so badly I couldn't sit on that fucking bike for weeks." Donnie lowered her head for a second and her voice dropped. "That was the last time you ever dared me to do something…"

Tegan's eyes fell to the floor and quiet reigned over the office for a long moment. "Honestly…I thought she was going to kill you when I saw the look in her eyes. I didn't want to ever see her look at you like that again. But, you were nuts and went after her with that crazy boldness of yours a lot of the time." Looking back up, a smile graced her face. "You're just nuts!" she giggled.

Donnie scratched her head. "Common sense, I don't have. Okay, back to business…"

Tegan grinned and nodded. They went back to figuring out how they wanted the large, anticipated banquet to go in order to get new blood into the business. They wanted everything to be perfect. They wanted to leave everyone talking about this event for months. And they were extremely determined to make it exactly that way.

By the time they finished planning everything-with only a few days to spare-Donnie was giddy, practically glowing. She almost danced into the house, not even caring that Audrey's car was in the driveway. She glided into the living room, grinning from ear to ear.

"Baby," Donnie hummed, going to the sofa and hugging Rae close to her. She planted several feather soft kisses to her lover's cheeks.

"You're in a good mood," Rae stated the obvious, laughing a little from the delightful attention. She would not have been surprised if a halo of sunshine surrounded her spouse.

"The banquet's in a few days. When you see what Tegan and I have done with everything, you're going to love it! Now, we need to go out and get you a dress. I know it's short notice, but it should be fine-" Donnie's spirited rant was suddenly cut off.

Rae raised a hand to her spouse, silencing her with the move. "Whoa, wait, we need to get me a dress?" inquired the petite woman with an almost scathing look.

"Yeah. You're not going to be able to get your other dresses around lil Donnie," the chef pointed out, motioning to her wife's massive stomach. So high was her mood, she actually missed the pointed gaze in cocoa eyes.

"You're not even going to bother asking her if she wants to go, are you?" Audrey asked in an accusing tone with her own burning expression. "You're just going to push her into going to this thing because you want her to!"

Donnie blinked hard and then glared at Audrey. "Hey, she's my wife and she loves these sorts of things! Of course she's going to come with me!" the restaurant owner declared with the utmost confidence. She went so far as to puff out her chest a little, just knowing that she was right for the first time in a long time about Rae.

"As your arm candy, right?" Audrey said, pulling on a teasing grin.

"You fucking bitch!" Donnie snarled, flexing her hand into a fist for a moment. A well-cared for finger pointed at the pregnant woman. "She's my wife!"

"You treat her like your property!"

"Both of you stop it!" Rae shouted before Donnie could get another insult in.

Both women closed their mouths. The air was tight and tense, waiting for Rae to break it. The ebony-haired woman knew it was up to her, so she weighed her opinions. She did like going out to parties with Donnie, but she did not want it to seem like she was going because Donnie ordered her to. She was her own person, not a puppet for Donnie to pull the strings on. Besides, if she went, she would have to be on her feet all night and her feet were not looking forward to that torture.

Worse than the fact that her feet would hurt or Audrey would think that Donnie controlled her, there was the fact that she was like Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde lately. She did not want to go to this important event with Donnie and do something crazy to embarrass her spouse. Or maybe even ruin the evening. That would hurt a thousand times more than being on her feet all night.

Rae turned and the look in her eye said more than she would get to say. "Baby-"

"It's all right," Donnie said quickly with a forced, quivering smile. She figured her voice would cover up the sound of her heart shattering and her guts being ripped out. Her voice would cover up the noise made by her fleeing good mood…right? Her voice would cover up the sound of her soul screaming as it died-at least she hoped her voice had these powers. "…I have to take a shower…"

"Baby," Rae repeated, reaching out for Donnie as she pulled away. The taller woman dodged the contact, certain that Rae's touch would scorch her peeling flesh. Rae flinched, not sure how to react to such a blatant brush-off. Donnie disappeared upstairs like a shadow in the night without another word.

"Good job standing up for yourself," Audrey congratulated her friend, patting the shorter woman on her shoulder.

Rae smiled, even though on the inside it did not feel like she did a good job of anything except hurting her wife's feelings. But, it was necessary. She knew that she would not be any fun at the banquet. Now, Donnie was free to have fun and she would not ruin the night for anyone…right?

-----

8: Hot grits

"Somebody's looking fancy," Audrey commented as Donnie walked into the living room from upstairs. Audrey and Rae were camped out in the living room, doing their usual. Donnie ignored the redhead.

"Audrey, hush," Rae softly reprimanded her friend before turning her attention to her spouse. "You look nice, baby," she said, smiling sweetly at her spouse.

Donnie's expression was impassive. She did not hear any words and she did not care to. Her eyes did not see anything; the world around her did not exist. She lucked out on what she was wearing, grabbing the first thing that her hand touched in the closet; it just so happened to be her best cream-colored suit. She then repeated that process for her shirt, managing to snag a pale orange blouse. The suit complimented her figure well, not that it mattered to her, fitting as if it was made especially for her, even though she never had it altered and it was not tailor made. The pants hugged her hips, causing chocolate eyes to linger there. Donnie did not notice.

Audrey curled her lip in disgust and shook her head at the chef. "I can't believe you're actually going to go to this thing without your wife. Did you manage to catch a date or something?" she inquired with a sneer.

"Audrey," Rae hissed.

"I'll be back late. If something happens, call my cell," Donnie stated in a dead voice before continuing on her way. She exited the house before she broke down into tears. She cried hard in the car and had to force herself to pull out of the driveway. Why? Why is this happening to me? Why can't I have just one moment of peace?

Donnie slowly sucked all of sorrow up, knowing that she had to be on her best game tonight. She wanted to get more customers for the restaurant. So, she was going to put on a nice show, smiling warmly and being personable with everyone that she came across that night, and hopefully she would not have to do it again for a long while.

She put on a good act when she arrived at the restaurant, meeting people almost immediately, but she barely took in the atmosphere. Her eyes did not even take in the way that she and Tegan had the restaurant set up; it looked like a blockbuster movie premier mixed with formal gala. She made sure to avoid her friends, all of whom were there and looking for her. She knew they would want to know where her other half was and she was certain that if she so much as heard Rae's name at the moment, she would break.

-----

"Donnie didn't look too happy about going to her big event," Rae muttered, staring at her Scrabble tiles, but not really seeing them. She could not form a word with any of them and it was not because they were not good letters. Her mind was on other things.

"She was just pouting because you didn't do what she wanted you to do. She'll be fine," Audrey replied nonchalantly, showing that she heard what her friend said.

"I guess. She'll be lonely, going by herself," Rae commented with a hint of sadness, glancing at the door.

"She gave up on you pretty easily," Audrey suddenly shared. "I mean, it was great that you stood up for yourself, but she didn't even argue when you turned her down. How weird is that?" she asked, looking up to stare her friend in the eye.

Rae nodded; it was pretty weird. Donnie did not make a fuss about it. In fact, Donnie had not brought it up again after that night. Usually, Donnie would have bugged her until she caved, but apparently, not this time. It was like Donnie actually did not want her to go, she thought.

"Do you think…she got a date?" Rae asked in a low, shaky voice.

Audrey shrugged. "It's possible. She didn't put up a lot of fight for you to go and then she says she'll be late. She probably moped out of here just to try to throw you off."

"…You think so?" the smaller woman inquired. Her voice was trembling because it seemed like that made sense to her. Donnie kept running out on her and this was a plausible explanation for it.

"Well, really, I think she shows the signs of a cheater. She stays out late a lot of the time while always wanting to know where you are, but never saying where she is. She blows off important things with flimsy excuses. She's almost never here, but you never know where the hell she really is, even though she might say she's at the restaurant. Sounds like cheating behavior to me," Audrey answered honestly.

Rae was silent and tried to absorb that information. It sounded so logical and damn near credible, but there were things against that. For the five years that she had known Donnie, the restaurant owner always worked hard and came in at odd hours; she just did it more often now. Donnie also never came in smelling like another woman. She never came in with strange hairs on her either. She never stepped out of the room to answer her cell phone and no one ever called the house at weird hours…except Tegan when she was drunk anyway.

"I think you're wrong. Even if Donnie went to this party with someone, she's not the type to cheat. She knows the damage that can do to a person and she's too nice to hurt someone that badly," Rae explained with a confident smile, nodding to drive the point home.

"She doesn't seem to mind hurting you. Didn't she do it countless times already?" Audrey pointed out.

Rae was quiet again for a moment. Cocoa eyes glanced down, looking at her letter tiles. "She doesn't mean to do it."

Audrey snorted and blue eyes rolled. "You're such a doormat, Rae! She's got you brainwashed. You just let her get away with anything and that's what she's doing, getting away with it."

Silence once again followed the redhead's words. Rae wondered if Audrey had a point. She was always a doormat and she always let her girlfriends get away with everything, but Donnie was supposed to be different. Donnie was different…right?

"You don't know anything about Donnie," Rae argued.

"I've known her for almost six months now, just as long as I've known you. I've got to see her and how she treats you, how she treats the baby that you're carrying. She doesn't act like a woman that cares about her wife and child. She's left you here alone countless times, she's skipped Lamaze class, she doesn't even call to check on you," Audrey countered.

Rae scoffed. "She checks on me consistently. You just don't see it. I understand that you're concerned about me, Audrey, but you don't know my wife. If you don't like what she's doing, I'd rather you keep it to yourself," she stated soundly.

"You're the one that asked me, so you're obviously wondering if something's up. Now you're just trying to cover it up, so you don't have to think about it. But, whatever, you want the matter dropped, your wish is my command," the redhead retorted.

Rae was pleased that Audrey really did not say another word on the matter. They continued on with their game; Rae was trying to stay up to wait for Donnie. But, by the time Donnie came in, Rae was sound asleep, using Audrey's shoulder as a pillow. The only saving grace about the scene for Donnie was that they were on the couch. One day, she feared that she was going to come home and they would be somewhere else in the house, somewhere not on the ground floor.

"Enjoying yourself?" Donnie asked Audrey, who was awake. She had been having a good time stroking Rae's hair before Donnie came in too.

"With your property?" Audrey countered.

"I don't know how your sick mind works, but that's not how mines does. Now, why don't you get the fuck out?" Donnie suggested, nodding toward the door.

Audrey grinned like the cat that got the cream. "Oh, do you think Rae would like to hear you talk to me in such a vulgar manner?"

Hazel eyes narrowed, glaring at the redhead. "What makes you think that you're capable of taking care of Rae?" Donnie demanded to know.

"You're kidding, right? What do you think I've been doing all this time? While you're out playing businesswoman and dancing at your fancy little parties, I'm the one that makes sure Rae eats right and takes naps to keep her energy up. I rub her sore feet and back. I listen to her wants, desires, dreams, and nightmares. I'm the one that cares about her and her wellbeing. What the fuck do you do for her beside keep her in this gilded cage? Your pretty bird. Your trapped princess. Your trophy wife not allowed to see the world," the redhead retaliated with a growl.

Donnie snarled. "She can leave whenever she wants and go anywhere she likes." And I would've done all of those things for her if she didn't insist on keeping your grimy ass around!

Blue eyes rolled while a snort escaped Audrey's lips. "You know that's not true and she knows it's not true."

Before Donnie could retort, Rae made a mew sound and turned in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw the face that she woke up to…Audrey's face. Donnie noticed, as did Audrey, so the redhead smiled; well, more like she smirked. Donnie's face fell to a deadpan expression.

"What time is it?" Rae asked in a sleepy tone.

"Almost four in the morning," Audrey answered in a gentle tone.

"Where's Donnie?" Rae groaned, sounding disappointed and worried.

"I'm home, sweetheart," Donnie replied and her partner turned to the sound of her voice. Rae threw a cute, sleepy smile her way, which got a small smile out of Donnie.

"Did you have a good time?" Rae asked, sitting up and yawning.

"Yeah," Donnie lied as she approached her wife and helped her to her feet. "It would've been better if you were with me, though. You would've loved it," she replied, leaning down to place a soft kiss to her wife's cheek.

Rae shook her head. "I wouldn't have been any fun. My feet and back have been killing me all day and I feel like I'm about to go crazy if someone as much as looks like they want to touch my stomach."

Donnie forced out a chuckle. "Cranky, huh? I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning. Come on, let's go to bed."

Rae nodded. "Night, Audrey."

The master chef took Rae upstairs while Audrey showed herself out. Rae sighed when she hit the mattress and was sleeping as soon as her head hit the pillow. She woke up for a moment when she felt Donnie settle in, but she was back out after she felt Donnie's body against her.

Donnie woke up first that morning and stared at the face of her wife. Hazel eyes glistened with unshed tears. She always thought that Rae was her soul-mate, the woman made just especially for her, and that they would together forever. A scoffed escaped her tense throat. I'm some kind of idiot, huh?

The restaurant owner climbed out of bed and went to do something she had not done in ages-cook breakfast for herself. She was not sure what possessed her to do it, but there was no stopping her now that she was there in the kitchen. Donnie always thought of herself a chef more than anything else. She loved cooking and had been doing it since she was started kindergarten. She knew how to make meals before she knew how to spell most of the common things that she used for them.

But, when Rae moved in, the kitchen was suddenly her domain, without much of an explanation either. Donnie conceded with some fight, but it was always nice to have Rae cook for her. As she moved around, pulling out items to prepare, she realized it felt just as nice to cook in her kitchen as it did eat in it.

Rae woke up because she smelled food cooking. For a moment, she thought that she left the oven on and the house was going to burn to the ground, but then her mind caught up with everything and she realized the smell was nothing like a fire. She was curious as to what was going on because she knew that someone did not break in just to cook breakfast, even though their kitchen was state-of-the-art.

"Baby, what're you doing?" Rae asked curiously as she waddled into the kitchen. She was so happy that lil Donnie was only going to be taking up residency in her body for another month or so because she really wanted her body back now.

"I'm cooking!" Donnie replied with a happy grin and she slid a plate onto the island counter. She then rushed over to Rae and helped her sit down in front of the plate.

Rae blinked as her butt hit the seat. She looked down at the food in front of her. Sunny-side up eggs with bits of vegetables in them, sausage slices, wheat toast, grits with cheese. Everything looked perfect, sprinkled with some spice that Rae doubted she would be able to identify. Her hand trembled as she went to pick up the fork.

"Something wrong? I probably used too much spice," Donnie commented sheepishly, blushing and looking like a total idiot. "I didn't think it would upset your stomach. I'm sorry! Want some oatmeal or something else instead?" she inquired, thinking about what her wife usually ate in the mornings now. For the past month typically, her partner had bland cereal for breakfast.

"It's fine…" Rae said in a small voice. "What made you get up and make breakfast?" she asked, her voice still low.

"I dunno. Just had the urge. You're not mad at me for invading your domain, right?" Donnie asked with a smile that she hoped would get her off of the hook in case her spouse was upset with her.

Rae forced out a smile; well, what she hoped looked like a smile. "I like cooking for you, Donnie, but I'm happy that you surprised me too."

"You don't look happy."

In truth, Rae's eyes were downtrodden and her shoulders were slumped. It was not the position of someone angry, so Donnie guessed that was a good thing. But, she did not understand why her wife looked so sad.

"If you don't want to eat it, it's okay. You're not used to my cooking, so you might not like it," Donnie said.

"I haven't even tried it yet, baby. Stop being so worried," Rae replied. She knew the food would be great; her lover was not the most sought after chef in the country for no reason. She took a fork full of eggs and felt a burst of flavor in her mouth. She knew that her eggs never tasted this good and it showed on her face. How can Donnie always eat my food and swear it's the best when hers taste like this?!

"I'm glad you like it. I should cook for you every now and then. What do you think?" Donnie asked with a smile.

"You don't want me to cook anymore?" Rae asked, sadness nipping into her voice. What's with the change all of a sudden?

"That's not it. I just wanted to do something for you, but if it's too weird, I won't cook anymore. I just thought it would be nice. Anyway, want to go out shopping today? I feel like getting some stuff for lil Don and we still haven't gotten a crib yet. We should start looking," Donnie suggested, rubbing her hands together in an eager fashion. She was bursting with energy today and she did not know why. Part of her thought that it was some crazy form of denial or a weird method for trying to get back what she knew was lost to her.

Rae nodded absently, not really paying attention to her spouse's words. She was more concerned with Donnie's bizarre behavior. There had to be some reason that Donnie was acting like a hyper jack rabbit and there had to be a reason that she cooked breakfast. Rae just could not think of what the reason might be.

"Donnie…last night…with the party…did you go with someone?" the petite woman asked curiously. She thought that might be what was bothering her, even though she was sure just the oddness of Donnie cooking was what was throwing her off.

"Why would I go with someone?" Donnie countered just as curiously.

"To have company."

"If that's the case, I went with Tegan, Spain, and French, like always. They asked about you constantly," Donnie informed her wife. They also wanted to know what she had done to make Rae stay home and they kept frowns on their faces when they asked. Nice to know my friends are on my side, her mind commented sarcastically.

"They probably would've been begging you to take me home if I went. I was a crab all night," Rae replied, shaking her head ruefully.

The chef smiled a little and let out an amused snort. "They wouldn't have minded. So, you never said if you want to go shopping or not," she pointed out.

"Okay. Lemme finish eating."

The couple was off when breakfast was done. They went out shopping for the baby, but could not stay out too long because of Rae's feet and back. They did look at a few cribs and some storybooks, but they did not get a chance to buy anything. They did see a couple of cribs that they liked, but they did not really settle on which one because the baby started moving, which only made things worse for Rae.

"Sorry. I guess I messed this trip up," Rae apologized as Donnie helped her into the car so that they could return home.

"I would say that lil Donnie messed this trip up. What a bad kid! I'm grounding you the second you come out, causing your mommy all this stress!" Donnie said, pointing at Rae's stomach. That earned a chuckle from the ailing woman.

"We'll go out again soon, okay?" Rae said.

Donnie nodded in agreement with that. "Sounds good. I really liked that light wood crib we looked at. What about you?"

"That one was nice."

"Which one did you like best?" Donnie asked curiously.

"I'm not too sure. I wasn't paying much attention because lil Donnie was having a good time kicking my kidneys," Rae answered with a smile.

"You hear that lil Donnie, you are a bad kid," Donnie scolded the unborn child again.

Rae giggled once more. They went back to the house and Donnie propped Rae up in bed. She gave her hurting wife a foot rub and ordered some takeout instead of trying her hand at cooking again, not wanting to upset Rae anymore. Their time home was quiet and they stayed in bed the whole time.

-----

"Were you okay yesterday? You didn't call me," Audrey commented as she sat down on the sofa in Rae's living room. "I was worried," she added, throwing in a concerned pout.

"That's so sweet of you." A small smile settled onto Rae's face before she continued. "I spent the day with Donnie. Well, more like I spent the day ruining things for Donnie. First, she made me this really nice breakfast and I sulked all the way through it. Don't even know if I told her how good it was. Next, we went shopping for the baby and I just kept complaining about my feet. Then the baby kept moving around and I just kept whining about it," she sighed, shaking her head, just a little disgusted with her behavior yesterday. The worst of it was that she actually asked Donnie if she had gone to the banquet with someone; she felt horrible that she would even put that out there. Donnie would never cheat on her!…Right?

"I bet Donnie told you that you ruined the day too," the redhead huffed, folding her arms tightly across her stomach.

"No, she was really nice about it," Rae said with another sigh. She had not been very nice at all yesterday, but Donnie had been perfect, like she used to be. She could not understand how Donnie managed to even put up with her yesterday now that she thought about it.

Audrey shrugged, knowing not to debate the matter or they would end up in an argument. "So, what do you want to do today? You're feeling better, right?" she asked in a gentle tone, reaching over to rub the smaller woman's forearm. The skin-on-skin contact was tender and Audrey had to fight down pleased mewl.

"Much better. I'd like to go outside while I do."

"How about a walk in the park down the street?" the redhead suggested with a happy smile. An enthusiastic nod was the response.

So, they went for a walk in the park. Rae lasted longer than they expected, but eventually had to sit down for a little while. The weather was not warm enough for them to stay out for too long and so they went back to the house, but did not stay for long. Rae was still itching to be outside. They ended up going out for lunch.

"You know, we're near the baby shop that Donnie and I went to look at cribs," Rae realized.

"You don't have a crib yet? You need to get one soon. You're about to burst," Audrey pointed out, motioning to Rae's stomach…in case the expecting mother missed her condition.

"I know. I know."

"Let's go there next since we're so close."

Rae nodded. "Okay. I didn't really pay much attention to them yesterday because the baby kept moving around. We can look around now that's settled and I can really focus on finding a nice crib."

"Okay, it'll be fun to pick out stuff for the baby," Audrey declared with a smile, which got a smile out of Rae.

-----

Donnie came into an empty house. There was a note on the coffee table that explained why. In Rae's bubbly handwriting, the note informed her: I've been feeling really good today, so Audrey and I are going out for dinner. There's dinner in the fridge and a surprise upstairs.

As Donnie's head turned upstairs, her stomach headed south for the winter. The darkness of the second floor seeped into her, sending a chill down her spine. The silence ripped into her automatic gunfire. She peered into the bedroom, finding nothing out of the ordinary, but the ominous feelings remained. She scratched her head, wondering where the "surprise" might be.

She did an about-face and gulped as she noticed the door to the nursery was wide open, almost as if beckoning her in. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she took slow, shaky steps toward the nursery. She silently scolded herself for her reaction, but she could not shake the feeling that she was walking into Hell. She stepped into the quiet inferno and clicked on the light.

Donnie's whole body locked up. She fell to her knees, eyes wide with horror and disbelief. Tears were falling from her eyes before she realized it. A guttural moan escaped her, like a wounded beast. Rae had purchased a crib…without her…with Audrey…Kill me now! Rae should have gutted her while she was at it, Donnie thought; it would have saved her so much suffering.

She had known for a while now that she was in trouble, but she did not know what to do about it. She could not say anything to Rae, not wanting to upset her, not wanting her to yell…or worse-to cry. She did not want to trouble Rae while she was carrying the baby, but now that she sat in silence for months, her worse fears were quite clear to her thanks to this late bit of disregard of her feelings.

Lately, she could do no right and there was no use tormenting herself over it. She had learned to accept things like this, she reminded herself. It happened with her father. It happened with her mother. So, it was only natural that it would happen with Rae.

"No use in living in a façade anymore. That only gets people hurt," Donnie told herself. That was also something that she knew about first hand.

So, she picked herself up and decided to give her wife what she thought Rae really needed and what Rae seemed to want. She grabbed her cell phone, started making calls, and left the house. She figured that by the time she got back, her spouse should be in and they would have to talk.

-----

"I can't believe you're beating me this badly!" Audrey groaned, burying her face in her hand for a second to hide in shame. She and Rae were back and playing their customary game of Scrabble.

"I've picked some good letters this game," Rae declared with a proud grin.

The sound of the front door opening and shutting hit their ears. Rae smiled as Donnie walked in. Donnie paused, looking between her wife and Audrey.

"Donnie, did you see the crib?" Rae asked with a wide smile.

"Cute little thing that we picked out, right?" Audrey added in with her own smile.

Donnie lurched forward, as if she was about vomit. Her stomach felt like it was in rebellion, but she hit herself in the gut to settle things. She took a long exhale, calming everything inside of her. But, not for long.

"Baby, are you all right?" Rae asked, tilting her head as she took in her lover's green features.

"Not really. I need to take use the bathroom," Donnie replied. She took off for the ground floor bathroom. She was going to throw up, no question about that one.

"I guess she's caught a bug or something," Rae sighed. "Well, Audrey, I think you better go, so I can struggle with Donnie. She's a monster when she's sick."

"You really shouldn't be around her when she's sick. You've got the baby and everything," Audrey pointed out, motioning to her friend's large belly.

Rae smiled and shook her head. "The vows said in sickness and health. Right now, we're in a sickness and I have to take care of her. I'll call you later."

Rae ushered Audrey out of the house and by the time she got the redhead out of the door, Donnie was back in the living room. The chef was sitting on the couch with her head down. Rae went to her side and felt her head.

"Want me to make you some soup, honey? It'll make you feel better," Rae said in a gentle tone.

"I'm not sick," Donnie replied, not in any scientific way anyway.

"No? But, you looked so green and you threw up."

"I know, but I'm not sick."

"Did you eat something bad?" Rae asked. It was not unheard of since Donnie would try anything once as long as at least one person labeled it "food."

"No…" Donnie answered in a weak voice. Her throat quivered and she had to press her hands together to keep them from shaking. She then took a deep breath and turned her gaze directing to that her wife. "Rae, I love you so much…"

Rae's face lit up. "I love you too."

Donnie chuckled, a hollow, humorless sound. "I realized today that you don't. You don't love me. You love Audrey."

"What! How can you say that?!" Rae demanded to now, wanting to stand up and scream, but her weight kept her seated on the couch.

"I can see it in your eyes when you look at her. You're open with her in ways that you've never been with me. Not when we were dating and especially not now. You want her in ways that you used to want me. You need her and you cling to her. You might not see it right now, but when I'm not in the way, you'll see it quite clearly…" the restaurant owner explained in a dead tone. She felt dead. She wished that she was dead.

Rae's bottom lip trembled as she realized what her spouse was saying. "You're leaving me…?" she asked with wide eyes.

Tears threatened to fall from light brown eyes, but Donnie kept them at bay. "I have to. If you love something, let it go…" I always let go.

Rae's eyes lit up with a fury that could have engulfed the sun, but a sorrow that could have drowned the ocean. "How can you leave me now?! We're going to have a baby in a month! How can you tell me who I love? Audrey is my friend! Yes, I spend a lot of time with her and depend on her, but you're my wife!"

"You can't tell me that you don't prefer her company to mine," Donnie stated and Rae hesitated. Donnie laughed again, managing to sound even more hollow than the first time. "See?"

Rae then let loose a surprising snarl. "You son of a bitch! You're just doing this because you've found someone else! And now you're being an asshole by trying to put all the blame on me! Who the hell are you seeing?! Why is she better than me?!"

And there went that damned laugh again. Donnie climbed to her feet and kissed her wife's forehead. "No one's ever going to better than you, sweetheart…" Tears slid down tan cheeks. "But, how can you love me if you would think for a minute I would do something like that to you? I love you and that's why I have to let you go."

A lump in her throat caught Rae's words and for a long second she watched Donnie walk to the door, only realizing when she got there that Donnie was leaving. "What about the baby…?" Rae asked in a whisper.

"I'm sorry, but when lil Donnie is born…I want the baby with me. I won't keep you from seeing Donnie, but I can't stand the thought of Audrey seeing my child more than me," Donnie explained.

"But, Donnie is my baby too!"

"I know," Donnie replied in a whisper and tried not to make anything out of her wife's words beyond what they were. There's no double-meaning there because she doesn't love you anymore.

Rae screamed for Donnie to come back while breaking down into soul-shattering sobs. She found herself reaching for the phone and dialed for a rescue without thinking. Not too long ago this number would have been Donnie's cell phone number; her fingers would have dialed automatically, even if they had been cut off. But, this time, Audrey's voice greeted her and her heart dropped.

"She left me…" Rae sobbed.

"I'll be right over!" Audrey assured her.

For some reasons, those words made Rae feel better and worse at the same time. Was Donnie right? Am I in love with Audrey?

-----

Next time: Donnie tries to move on while Rae tries to cope with what just happened.