~ Good Fences ~
by Shea K.

Disclaimer: Welcome to another original story by this lunatic. It is the sequel to Please Baby, which you will need to read to understand what's going on here. The story is mine and the characters are mine. Please do not use them without my permission.

General warning: This story involves a sexual relationship between two women. If you don't like it, don't read it. Simple as that.

Find yourself wanting to see more from this lunatic? Probably not, I know. But, if you are, then you can find more of my insanity here for fanfics: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/932292/ and for more original work here: http://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/

You can also find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SL-Kassidy/482097488469386

Contact the lunatic at: starving.lunatic@gmail.com and lemme know what you think of the story. Thanks and enjoy.

4: Poker face

"Hey, Gus, glad you made it!" Trevor declared with a wide grin as he opened the door to his home.

"It wasn't that hard. You're right next door, after all," Gus remarked with a friendly smile of her own. "I've brought beer too," she said, holding up her bounty, which was a box full of beer.

"Nice, a whole case," Trevor nodded his approval. "You didn't have to, but I'm glad you did. Let me take that from you. Come on in," he ushered her in while grabbing the container from his guest.

Gus nodded and stepped into the house. Trevor closed the door behind her and she followed him down to the basement, where there was table was set up for the poker game. There were three men sitting around the table, chatting and eating a bunch of different finger foods.

"Guys, this is our newest neighbor, Gus Tucker. She bought the house between me and the McAlister's place," Trevor announced. "Best of all, she brought beer," he added, holding up the gift. He then deposited the beer into a small fridge that was in the corner. The large basement was clearly the place for small gatherings with the card table and large couch facing a wall-mounted fifty-five inch television.

"She brought beer? She's a keeper!" one of the fellows declared with a winsome grin. An obviously loved hat, torn and worn on the brim, hid what seemed to be curly brown hair. The rugged makings of a beard covered his cute face and his brown eyes shined as he continued to smile.

"That's Ryan. His house is on the next block, right behind mine," Trevor explained to Gus.

"Pleased to meet you," Gus said, leaning forward to shake Ryan's hand. He had to shove a handful of pretzels in his mouth before he could shake her hand. Thankfully, she did not mind the remnants of salt and crumbs.

"Same here," he replied, standing a little to properly shake her hand. He seemed like the average-sized male and she noticed that he was wearing tan cargo shorts with flip-flops. She was willing to bet he was very similar to Trevor.

"You don't happen to work at home like our host, do you?" Gus inquired with an arched eyebrow.

"Nah, we're not all so lucky like this schmuck over here," Ryan remarked with a teasing smile, nodding toward their host.

"Don't be jealous," Trevor replied, a cocky smirk on his face.

"Trev, I thought this game was only for guys. What the deal inviting a chick to play?" another man inquired, throwing his hand out in the "chick's" direction.

Gus turned her attention to him and smiled, deciding to just bite back. "Oh, didn't Trev tell you that I'm the dude in a lesbian relationship?" she countered, trying her best to hold back a sneer. As much as she liked Trevor, she was not going to put up with any bullshit from his friends.

"Lesbian?" all three men echoed as if they did not know what the term meant. Gus could not believe that "lesbian" seemed like such a foreign concept, like she and Jayce were the first lesbians to ever exist.

Trevor sighed as if exhausted. "Yes, Gus moved in with her wife recently. They're lesbians," he explained. "If anybody has a problem with it, they can get out," he added because he was not interested in any problems beyond the obvious of having a woman at what was supposed to be an all guy poker game.

"I always thought the neighborhood could use some hot lesbians," Ryan remarked with an obviously teasing smile. That seemed to break the ice and keep any tension from rising. Trevor smiled at him for that. Gus chuckled a bit; she figured that she was going to like Ryan.

"So, Gus, the other two chaps are Luis," Trevor said, pointing to the man that questioned why a woman was joining them.

Luis was a fair-skinned Hispanic male. He was a little overweight with his belly popping up from his maroon polo shirt. His dark hair was brushed back and shining from hair gel. He had a goatee, which was so perfect that Gus assumed that a professional did it. His hard brown eyes looked her up and down as if he was disgusted with her. She could guess where he stood on the "lesbians in the neighborhood" issue.

"And that's Glenn," Trevor pointed to the silent gentleman. He was a clean cut blonde with glasses over his green eyes. His strong jaw was clear of any hair and his nose appeared somewhat crooked. He was wearing a short-sleeve button-down shirt, showing off large biceps that made it clear he was in shape.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm sure you and your family will be an improvement to the neighborhood, especially when compared to the family that lived in your house," Glenn said, reaching over to shake Gus' hand.

"You make me feel like there wasn't much competition in that area," Gus commented, giving his hand a strong shake.

"Trust me, if you do us all the kindness of just setting your garbage out the right day and not screaming at all hours of the night, we'll love you always forever and day," Glenn remarked with a smile.

"Now, let's get this game going, so you guys can grill Gus while I take your money," Trevor quipped with a grin.

Ryan and Glenn nodded in agreement with that while Luis seemed to dislike the idea, but did not voice his thoughts. Trevor pointed Gus to an empty chair, sat next to her, and quickly explained how they played to her. With the brief tutorial out of the way, the cards were dealt and the game was on.

"So, Gus, your marriage…" Luis said, eyes on his cards.

"What about it?" she inquired, arranging her own cards. She had a feeling he was about to say something stupid, but she would wait and see if he was the asshole that she assumed him to be.

"Is it legal or is it one of those things where you've been dating this woman for a long time and you pretend to be married?" he asked, glancing up over his cards, giving her a smug look.

Yup, definitely an asshole. "Is it legal?" she echoed with an arched eyebrow.

"Luis," Trevor hissed.

"What? I know that sometimes gay people say that they're married and it turns out that they've just been dating someone for a while," Luis argued.

"Personally, I feel like the term marriage covers a lot of ground, but I think you're using a narrow definition where if it's not legal, then it's not real. Legally, yes, I am married to Jayce. I would ask the same about you and your spouse, but I get the feeling you probably clubbed her over the head when she wasn't looking," Gus remarked, earning snickers from Ryan and Glenn.

"She's got you there," Ryan commented. "Gus, why don't you tell us about your family? Trevor mentioned that it's been going around that he's having an affair with your wife. I guess it's good, so I don't have to hear about how he's having an affair with my wife, Pammy," he said with a chuckle.

"Is that going around already?" Gus asked, glancing over at the host. These guys around here don't mess around with juicy gossip.

"I heard some whispers about it going to pick up snacks today. This is my fifth affair this year. I wonder if that's some sort of record," Trevor replied.

"I think you need to be sleeping with at least of them for it to count. Or, hell, at least emotionally attached beyond being a friend," Ryan remarked, laughing a little.

"Then I got nothing. You just took away all my pimp juice," Trevor remarked, earning laughs from everyone at the table. "But, anyway, while I've been busy having an affair with Jayce, my boy has been hijacked by their daughter. She's a feisty little thing."

"You have a daughter?" Glenn asked Gus.

"Daughter and a son," she answered.

"Both named after her. Can you believe it? She has two kids named after her," Trevor informed his friends.

"What's your secret? Hell, I wanted my wife to my son after me and told me 'you want him named after you, then you carry him for nine months, go through all sickness, weight gain, and hours of labor.' I think that shut me up for the rest of the pregnancy," Glenn commented with a nod. There was a small smile on his face that sort of showed his love for his wife.

"Both of your kids are named after you? So, the whole house is called Gus?" Ryan asked curiously.

"No, just me and the boy are Gus. Well, he's Gus-Gus. My daughter is Octavia," Gus explained, but knew that she had to go into further detail from the blank stares. "My name - Augusta - comes from the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Before he became emperor, his name was Octavius. Thus, my daughter is named after me."

"That's clever," Glenn said, nodding.

"It got a chuckle out of me," Trevor commented, laughing again at that moment.

"What do to two women know about raising up a boy?" Luis grumbled with a stern frown on his face. "Two women shouldn't be bringing up a boy."

"Oh, yes, that's fair to say. I suppose then you should take away the daughter of any man who is raising her on his own then?" Gus asked, rolling her eyes.

The question seemed to shut Luis up for a while. They played in silence for a just as long. Glenn broke the quiet, turning his attention back to Gus.

"What do you do for a living?" the blond male asked curiously.

"I make education software. Have you heard of Winter education?" Gus countered.

"What? Heard of it? I've bought my son tons of stuff from there. His favorite thing is the geography stuff. He walks around all day singing those crazy geography songs. You really make that stuff?" Glenn inquired with wide eyes and his mouth somehow hanging open.

"Yeah, go into the office everyday and get to play around with stuff like that," she answered with a nod.

"When you say you make the software, you work for the company?" Luis asked.

"I own the company. I started it while I was in school and it just sort of grew into what it is now. It's not very big or anything, but most of the people that have heard of us enjoy what we produce," Gus explained with a shrug.

"I think your company will continue to expand. I know I recommend it to anyone I know with kids and whoever tries it always seems happy with it," Glenn informed her.

"I hope it does keep growing. I love going into work everyday and everyone that works with me seems the same. My daughter loves testing out new products," Gus said with a shrug.

Ryan nodded. "That sounds like a cool job. Beats my gig, I'll bet."

"What do you do?" Gus asked curiously.

"Believe it or not, I work in an office. I have to put on a monkey suit everyday and I'm trusted with making sure our ad accounts are all in order. His wife gets to bite my head off about every week," Ryan answered, pointing at Trevor.

"Working with Helena has to be an adventure," Luis commented, snorting at the end of the statement.

Ryan waved it off. "To be honest, I think Helena gets the short end of the stick most of the time. We work with a lot of assholes who don't give her the credit she deserves and they seem to get a kick out how far they can push her. Then they grumble about how she's a bitch when she blows up on them."

"You say that because your wife is just like Helena," Luis scoffed.

"I wonder how often people at your job complain about what a bitch you are," Ryan countered, smirking at Luis from across the table.

"You know, Luis, you'd think you'd learn not to get mixed up with Ryan. He always gets you," Glenn pointed out.

"It's because he's always so damn negative. Not to mention, Trevor's nice enough to host us every week and you just say some damn rude things about the man's wife. He doesn't come into your house snapping on Joanna every chance he gets, does he?" Ryan pointed out.

Luis frowned. "Just play the cards," he grumbled.

There was silence for a few moments before Ryan had more questions for the newcomer. "So, Gus, how old are your kids?"

"Octie is four and Gus-Gus is six months," she answered.

"Gus-Gus. That is too cute. Your daughter came up with that, didn't she?" Glenn asked.

"Yeah, she did. How'd you guess?" Gus inquired.

"I have nieces and they love watching Cinderella. I'm willing to bet my left leg, your little girl does too," the blond replied.

"She does. She is a Disney princess. Funny enough, she didn't start calling him 'Gus-Gus' because his name is similar to mine, but because he reminded her of the mouse from Cinderella. And by that, she meant he was tiny and fat," Gus remarked, drawing chuckles from everyone except for Luis.

"Are you going to let her find out that's pretty much how all babies are by having another one?" Glenn asked curiously.

Gus shook her head. "I think Jayce and I are done with babies. Our princess has so much energy, she has to equal like four kids on her own," she remarked.

Trevor nodded. "Their little girl is like a bubble of energy. Pink energy," he added. "She's running my poor boy into the ground. I can't imagine him living very long if he has to keep up with her for the next thirteen years."

"Well, you wanted him to hang around kids his own age," Ryan pointed out with a chuckle.

"I think he might've met his future wife, only he won't know it until one day he's at an alter. I picture him now with the 'how the hell did this happen' face as the March of the Bride starts," Trevor joked.

"Isn't that how you got married?" Glenn quipped, speaking to Ryan.

"I think Pam drugged me. I still have no recollection of this so-called ceremony. Don't I look high in the pictures?" Ryan laughed and grinned.

"Don't confuse high with drunk and if she did drug you, you got the better end of the deal," Trevor replied.

"Well, then hopefully Travis will have the better end of the deal when he wonders how the hell he ended up married to the neighbor girl," Ryan commented and earned a few laughs.

"What about you guys? Do you have any kids?" Gus asked.

"I've just got the one son. He's going to be eleven this year. His mother named the poor kid Elliot. We still haven't figured out a cool way to shorten that, beyond calling him 'El' and that gets a certain smartass going about why his nickname is 'the'," Glenn replied, cutting a glance at Luis.

"Not my fault your son has such a corny nickname," Luis pointed out with a chuckle. "Not my kids fault either."

"Ryan, what about you? Do you have kids?" Gus inquired.

"At the moment, no. My wife is all career, career, career right now. I'm sure eventually she'll want to be a mom, though. She's got plenty of time. She's only twenty-six," he answered.

"Twenty-six?" Gus echoed.

A chuckle escaped Ryan. "Yeah, I bagged me a young one. I'm seven years older than she is. She teases me about it all the time."

"Where did you meet a girl seven years younger than you?" Gus inquired with interest. Of course, she was older than Jayce, not seven years.

"Believe it or not, in a bowling alley. She can't bowl for beans and accidentally threw her ball down my lane. She apologized and we started talking. Next thing you know, we're dating and getting married. I'll be sure to introduce you to her, so she can tell you the slanted version of the tale where she swears she chucked the ball down my lane on purpose to meet me," he replied with another laugh. "How'd you meet your wife?"

Gus shook her head. "That's not a story for new friends."

The response got a few interested looks. Trevor laughed a bit. "Do I smell a scandal?" he teased.

"Did you turn her gay or something and steal her from her husband?" Glenn joked.

"Jayce was gay long before she met me. Trust me on that one. But, like I said, it's not a story for new friends. It involves me doing a lot of shitty things to her, including getting her fired," the businesswoman stated.

"You got the woman fired and she still married you and had kids with you and named them after you? What the hell? Are you some kind of magician?" Ryan remarked with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"If you think that's magic, just wait until you get to know me enough to know the whole story. You'd swear I'm some kind of demon to have pulled this off, especially if you see what Jayce looks like," Gus quipped. "Topping it off, I can't cook and she's like a happy little housewife for me."

"Burn her!" Ryan joked, pointing at the only woman at the table. "Witch! She's a witch!"

"Well, Gus, you've already made me realize what I want to be in my next life. I wonder what kind of karma I'd need to come back as a lesbian," Glenn mused and rubbed his chin. Everyone except Luis laughed.

"You and me both because I want to come back just the way I am," Gus remarked with a bright smile. I do love my life. If I could do it all over again, I damn sure would.

"Is Jayce really a housewife? We have a lot of those around here, including Trevor of course. When she gets fed up with him, though, she can hang out with my wife," Glenn offered.

"For the moment, Jayce works at home. She's actually an accountant and until she got pregnant with Gus-Gus, she worked with my company. She works at home now on a few clients. I'm not too sure if she plans to go back to a firm once the kids are in school or something, but she's happy to be at home with them for now," Gus explained.

"Witch," Ryan repeated. "You have to be a witch."

"I've been called worse, so I'll take it," Gus joked.

"I'm with Ryan. As soon as we leave here, I'm calling a priest. Maybe even the Spanish Inquisition. You'll never expect it!" Trevor joked, earning more laughs.

"I'll convert them. My powers are great," the businesswoman remarked.

There were more chuckles before their attention turned back to their cards. A few hands went by with silence continuing to reign over the room. When conversations started up again, they talked about everyday things like sports and current events, which led them into politics. Gus was not surprised by any of the views that came up about politics from the men. She was starting to wonder if she would make it through the night without punching Luis, though.

"Could you be anymore conservative?" Gus inquired, speaking to Luis. She was just sick of hearing Luis going on about the leeching poor people of society and how they were driving his taxes up. "How about we just take all of the orphans and wounded war vets out into the woods and shoot 'em?" she suggested sarcastically.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't steal my campaign promises for when I run for president," Ryan joked.

"Remind me if you win to move to England. I need an ocean between me and the country that voted you anything beyond village idiot," Trevor taunted his friend.

"Look who's talking. You're like Ryan's alter ego," Glenn commented.

"You were gonna be my running mate, but hell, I'll take Gus now," Ryan quipped. "She can use her witchy lesbian powers to seduce the crowds."

"If that's the case, I'd run myself," Gus pointed out with a smile. "I could be like a female Dionysus and just have hoards of women following me around."

"Okay, well, when you get that cult going, call us," Ryan said, motioning to the other males at the table.

"Like your wife would let you do anything beyond work for a woman if a cult of women did come along," Glenn teased.

"She does have your balls in a jar," Trevor added in.

"We shouldn't even get to where Helena has your reproductive organs. It's her purse, right?" Ryan replied with a teasing grin. The sound of faint footsteps distracted them.

"Speak of the devil," Luis muttered, earning glares from the other men at the table.

The basement door open and Gus learned what Luis was referring to. Helena came down just enough for them to see her. She seemed to spot her spouse by instinct; a power that Gus noticed her wife also possessed.

"Okay, gentleman, I would like to inform you that my son is now getting ready for bed, so please keep down any noise. Thank you," Helena requested, although her voice made it clear that was an order. But, it was a respectful order. She was about to head back upstairs when her sharp eyes noticed Gus and narrowed at the sight of the businesswoman.

The model of self-control, Gus did not hint that she was offended by the look, even though she could see hate in Helena's eyes. The lady of the house turned her attention back to Trevor and it was clear from the look that she gave him that he was in trouble. He laughed awkwardly, but did not acknowledge the look beyond that. With one more lingering, wicked gaze at Gus, Helena vanished back upstairs.

"So, where's she take Travis today anyway?" Glenn asked curiously, showing no hints that he noticed the quick exchange between Helena and Trevor or Helena and gus.

"Some kiddie movie he wanted to see," Trevor replied, waving the question off. The game continued.


Jayce was rocking Gus-Gus to sleep while Octavia was watching a movie in the living room. It was almost bedtime for the little girl, but Jayce promised that she could finish her movie first. Things were quiet for the most part, except for Octavia singing along with her show and dancing every now and then. The phone ringing cut through an extremely upbeat song and Jayce almost missed it.

Reaching over, she grabbed the phone while glancing at the clock. It was not too late, so she did not think much of the call. She did not bother to check the caller ID, though. There were only a few people with the new number anyway.

"Hello?" Jayce answered the call, glancing down at the baby to see that he was sound asleep finally.

"Oh, I'm surprised I didn't get your answering service," a voice that sent a chill down Jayce's spine commented in a prickly tone.

For a moment, Jayce was certain her heart stopped and her lungs ceased to function. Her mind came up with a million different reasons why the person she thought was on the phone could not be on the phone. No, she was just hallucinating. Or, she was dreaming. Yes, she had fallen asleep on the sofa and was having a nightmare. That had to be it!

"How… how… how did you get this number?" Jayce inquired, her voice in shambles as she fought against the urge to not weep.

"Come now, girl, you should know me better than that. You can't hide from me, you freak, and you can't keep my granddaughter from me. I'm going to get her back and return her to her father while keeping her away from you and that depraved bitch you do sick things with!"

"What Gus and I do are not sick, Mom. Leave my family alone," Jayce implored, her voice cracking a bit in between. She then had to swallow a lump in her throat and suppressing the desire to vomit.

"You are sick and depraved and you're harming Princess! I'm sure of it! I don't care what some social worker says, I know you're both molesting Princess and probably that little boy too! You twisted little bitch!"

"Mom…" Jayce whimpered, tears falling from her eyes.

"I'm getting Princess back! You know I'll do it and I'll make sure to ruin that fucking bitch that's helping you, you sick slut! And, just remember, it'll be all your fault when she's bankrupt and in jail! It'll be your fault when that little boy ends up in foster care!"

Jayce could not take it anymore and quickly ended the call, unable to take her mother's threats anymore. Trembling, she stared at the phone while tears slid down her cheeks. Mindful of her son, she turned and eased him into his infant swing because she was not sure if she would be able to hold him up in her shaking arms.

"Mommy?" Octavia's small, innocent voice reached her ears.

Dark eyes went to the little girl, who was suddenly standing in front of Jayce. Before addressing the toddler, Jayce glanced at the television. She thought that the movie had ended, but it was still going.

"Yes, baby?" the mother asked, quickly wiping her eyes with the hope that Octavia would not see that she was crying.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, baby. Totally fine. Come on, let's watch the rest of your movie and then I have to get you to bed. Okay?"

Octavia seemed to know that something was up, so she just nodded. Instead of going back to singing and dancing, she curled up on the couch with her mother. Cuddling into Jayce's side, Octavia wrapped her mother up in a loving embrace and quietly watched the rest of her show.

"Okay, bedtime, precious," Jayce said when the movie credits were rolling.

Again, Octavia nodded. Gathering the baby in her arms, Jayce stood as did Octavia. They ascended the stairs and went to the master bedroom first. Jayce put Gus-Gus down in his crib and then lifted Octavia up to see her brother.

"'Night, Gus-Gus," Octavia whispered and leaned into the crib to kiss the baby's forehead.

"Now, it's time for the princess to go to bed," Jayce commented with a smile.

Octavia turned into her mother's arms and nodded. Jayce carried the child to her room and laid her down in the bed. Tucking Octavia in, she then reached for a storybook.

"What shall we read tonight?" Jayce wondered aloud, opening the book and scanning the table of contents.

"Mommy?" Octavia said.

"Yes, little princess?"

"Um …" Octavia did not seem to know what she wanted to ask, her mouth open, but no words coming out. Glancing around for a few seconds, something finally came to mind. "Can you just tell me a story?" she requested.

Jayce nodded, closed the storybook, and began telling a story off of the top of her head. Telling the story kept her mind occupied for the most part. But, by the end and after she gave Octavia a kiss goodnight, her brain was stuck on the fact that her mother had called. Her mother knew where she was. Her mother was still trying to take her daughter away. Her mother was actively trying to ruin her family.

Jayce was not sure when she got into the bathroom, but she was glad that she did. She kneeled at the toilet and vomited whatever was in her stomach. Her mother was never going to leave her alone! She's going to hurt us all!


Trevor walked his guests to the door. Gus stuck around for a couple of seconds after the guys walked off. She turned her attention to Trevor.

"I hope I didn't get you into any trouble with Helena," Gus said apologetically.

He shook his head and waved it off. "Don't worry about Helena. She just needs to adjust. She's not as open to new experiences as I am. It comes from her job where she hates surprises. She's all about order and everything in its proper place. She's not too sure what to do with something new," he tried to explain.

Gus nodded, even though she was not totally sure what to make of that information. "I hope she gets used to it. I plan to be here for a long time and I had fun tonight, so I plan to be your friend for a long time too. I'm sure Jayce is the same."

"I agree with all of that. Give her some time, Gus. She's not a prejudice person or anything, so it's not that she had something against your lifestyle or anything. She just needs to adjust to something new is all."

Gus shrugged. "As long as you're not getting into any trouble."

"I'm not. I had a lot of fun with you tonight, Gus. You're as cool as Jayce makes you sound. We do this every week, so consider yourself a regular now."

She smiled. "Thanks for that. I'm not too sure Luis is gonna like that, though."

"Luis doesn't like much, but Ryan and Glenn love you already. You're one of us now, bud. So, I hope you like football, basketball, and boxing because we watch those all together and you have to now since you're in the crew."

A chuckle escaped her. "I like sports enough to think I can sit through that."

"We are also to always be invited to any barbeques you might have and you're always invited to ours."

"There's a lot of stuff that goes along with being in this crew."

He laughed and nodded. "The crew is deep and the responsibilities great, but you might as well give it a shot since you're going to be around here for another few decades."

"Sounds about right. Well, let me get home to the family."

The friends shook hands and Gus was off. She was not surprised that the house was quiet, figuring that the kids were in bed. She poked her head into the living room, in case Jayce was there. The living room was empty, though.

Climbing the stairs, a small smile worked its way onto Gus' face as she approached her daughter's room. The room was bathed in the gentle glow of a nightlight to keep the monsters at bay. The nightlight also gave Octavia a gentle glow, which made her look like a little angel.

"You are so adorable, my little princess," Gus whispered, leaning down and kissing the child's forehead.

Octavia made a tiny noise. "Papa?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I'm home, baby."

"Good. Missed you."

"I missed you too. Did you keep your mommy and brother good company while I was gone?" Gus asked in a low voice.

There was a sleepy nod. "I tried. Mommy got sad, though."

Gus blinked several times while processing that information. "Mommy got sad? Why'd Mommy get sad?"

Little shoulders shrugged. "Dunno. The phone rang and then Mommy got sad."

Gus nodded. "Okay. It's okay, little princess. Your papa will fix it and make sure Mommy feels better," she vowed.

"Thanks, Papa. You're a good papa."

The smile that spread across Gus' face was priceless; it looked like she had just been given a fortune in gold. "And you're a terrific daughter. Now, go back to sleep. In the morning, everything will be better."

Octavia nodded and was sleeping again before Gus was out of the room. The businesswoman wondered what happened to leave Jayce "sad" and figured that she would find out once she got to the bedroom. She discovered her wife, sitting at the foot of the bed in her pajamas and staring at her feet.

"Hello, my little Jay bird," Gus said, smiling at the new nickname that she just thought of it.

"Oh, Gus!" Jayce wasted no time throwing herself on her spouse. Gus held her tight, embracing her around the waist.

"What happened, baby? What's wrong?" the taller woman inquired in a gentle tone.

"Just hold me. Hold me close."

Gus had no problem doing that. For a moment, she hugged Jayce as tight as she could. When it was clear that the smaller woman was still troubled, she lifted Jayce up and carried her to the bed. Putting Jayce down on the bed, she snuggled up to the ebony-haired woman and just waited for the explanation that she knew would come eventually.

"My mother called …" the caramel-skinned woman whispered.

"She did? How'd she get this number?" Gus inquired, not that she expected Jayce to know. There was also a chance that bitch Marion boasted about tracking them down. They had only moved in a week and a half ago! Jayce can't even have a month of peace? Unacceptable!

"Don't know…"

"It's okay, baby. Tell me what happened, Jay. Tell me what she said." Although, Gus could guess what that prejudiced, hateful bitch uttered to Jayce.

"She's still going after Octavia. She said … she said …" Sniffling suggested that tears were on the way.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Take your time," Gus said, rubbing her wife's back in a way that she knew would help relax her upset spouse. "Just remember, she can't touch Octavia. Octie is our daughter, legally as well as emotionally. We love her and she is ours. No one else can have her. There's no way Marion can take her."

"It's not just that. Baby, she threatened you. She threatened …" Jayce could not even say it, only able to look toward the crib where their precious son was sleeping. Gus understood the unsaid statement and her embrace was somehow even more protective and intimate than before.

"I would never let that happen!" Gus proclaimed in a strong, but low tone. She did not even know what the threat was, but she would kill Marion Newton before she allowed that crazy bitch to touch either of their children!

"She promised to ruin you …"

"I'd never give her the chance. You know that, sweetheart. I would never give her the chance to touch me. I don't care how many fucking connections that bitch has. I would beat them all and just keep coming back for more. She doesn't fucking scare me and I won't let her scare you."

"Gus …" Jayce was not sure what to say and just turned around, so that she could bury her face in Gus' neck. "She's never going to stop, is she? She's just going to keep coming. She's just going to keep coming until she gets Octie and gives her back to Q, who doesn't even want her. Why doesn't she see that? Why does she insist on giving Octie back to him? I don't understand!"

"My dearest, sweetest, lovely Jay," Gus cooed in a very soothing tone. "You know I'm not going to let that happen. I'm not going to let this woman do anything to our family. You know that. Stop worrying, my love."

"The baby …"

"She won't touch either of our babies. Jay, you know I won't let anything happen to our family. Jay, look at me," Gus ordered. There were a few sniffles before dark eyes looked up at her. Their eyes locked for a long moment.

"Gus …" The name was whispered like a prayer.

"You know I'm not going to let that woman touch our family. You know that. I haven't let it happen and I never will let it happen. You know that," Gus said in a stern, strong voice while clutching onto her wife.

Jayce nodded. "I'm so scared …" she admitted in a small voice.

Placing a tender kiss to her trembling wife's forehead, Gus tried to comfort Jayce through light caresses. "Sweetheart, remember when we first went hunting for your brother to get him to terminate his parental rights, even though he had already abandoned Octie months ago?"

"I do."

"You remember when I went to your mother's house?"

"Uh-huh."

"And what happened?"

"She … she threatened to have you arrested for child molestation if you insisted on helping me."

"Did she try?" Gus asked.

"She did."

"Did it work?"

"No."

"Everything she's ever tried against me has failed. Hell, everything she's tried against you has failed. She's just a bitter old bitch, a harridan. Listen to me, Jay, she's not going to do anything to me. She's not going to get our family. I've got this covered. Who's the Papa around here, after all?" Gus remarked with a smile.

Jayce actually smiled. "You're the Papa."

"As the Papa, do I handle things like this?" Gus inquired.

Jayce sighed, but the smile remained on her face. "You can handle the Papa things."

"Thank you. I know I can, but do I?"

"Yes, you do. You do the Papa things very well. I just got so shook up. My mother …" Jayce shook her head.

"I know how you are with your mother, baby. Just think about it like this, I handle these sort of things and you know that I can handle them. So, just let me handle these sorts of things and please don't get scared. I will take care of us, sweetheart. You know I will," Gus promised. "I will."

Taking a deep breath, the younger woman nodded. "I'm sorry that I freaked out …"

"It's okay, honey. This woman has plagued you for your whole life. She's done nothing but torment you every second that she could, but you're not alone in this anymore. I'm here for you and I'm not going to let anything happen to this family. You're not going to let anything happen to this family. I know you. You'd beat her ass if she ever came close to one of the kids, which is why she bothers you over the phone, like the coward she is. Now, if she calls again, just hang up. I'll go see about getting her number blocked, so she can't call here anymore. And just remember that she can't do anything with our kids. First of all, we've got so much junk on her that even if she did start with her, I'd bury her, baby."

"You sure?" Jayce asked, even though she knew that everything her wife spoke was the stone cold truth. She just needed some comforting reassurance at the moment.

"Hey, who's the Papa?" Gus countered with a grin.

Instead of verbally replying, Jayce pushed herself up to kiss her wife on the lips. Gus smiled while accepting the kiss and returning it with enough passion to kick things up a notch. When hands started reaching for Jayce's shorts, she halted things.

"Honey, we agreed, not with Gus-Gus in the room," Jayce reminded her spouse.

Gus groaned. "We have got to put him in the nursery soon or I'm not gonna make it!" she joked.

"Next week everything will be set up in his room and since you're the Papa as you keep saying, you can move his crib in there and then we'll be all set for bedroom fun," Jayce replied.

Gus sighed. "Fine, no bedroom fun until next week. Was this my brilliant idea?"

"Yes, you wanted your little clone close to us for just a little bit longer. I thought it was so cute," Jayce remarked, giving Gus another kiss.

The businesswoman smiled again as she accepted the kiss. That time, things did not get out of hand. Gus made a mental note to go check on the nursery and see what needed to be done. She would not be able to wait until next week to be with her beloved again.

"Gus, baby, sometimes, I think you're too good for me," Jayce commented in a low voice.

"Never, love. We're perfect for each other," Gus stated with a grin. Jayce smiled and sealed that with another kiss.


5: Weekend warriors

Jayce smiled to herself as she listened to the sound of laughter from the living room. While she was making breakfast, Gus was entertaining the children. She imagined and hoped that weekends would always like this in their new home. The sound filled her with so much joy that it distracted her from her task as she went to check in on the trio several times.

Gus was parked on the sofa with their children, blowing raspberries into Gus-Gus's tiny belly and growling at him. The baby giggled like mad every time his mother blew into his skin. His toothless grin light up the room while his brown eyes shined with delight, obviously getting a kick out of the attention.

Octavia was sitting next to her papa, singing along with the television show that was playing. Gus was also singing when she was not blowing raspberries and bouncing around with her daughter to make sure the little girl did not feel neglected or left out. Suddenly, she turned her playfulness on unsuspecting daughter.

"It's Octie's turn now!" Gus shouted and snatched the child up off of her feet.

The onyx-eyed child squealed as her papa tickled her, fingers wiggling around her little stomach. Octavia wasted no time trying to escape her terrible papa, but Gus continued to yank her back and continued on the sweet torture. Gus-Gus shouted and grinned as his sister received the same treatment that he had just been subjected to.

The "terror" was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Gus arched an eyebrow, not expecting any company. At first, she considered that it might be a mistake until the bell was rung again.

"Baby, you expecting anybody?" Gus called.

"No, I thought it might be for you. I've made sure to tell our friends, they won't be getting tours of the place for at least a month," Jayce answered.

"Well, my friends are your friends, so I don't see why it would be for me," Gus commented, but stood up to answer anyway. She put Octavia down and smiled at the child. "Be a good girl and watch your brother while I go to the door, okay?" she requested.

"Yes, Papa!" Octavia grinned, loving whenever she got some form of responsibility. She quickly turned a sharp eye onto Augustus to make sure nothing happened to him.

Gus could not help smiling as she stepped out of the living room. With the way the foyer was set up, she could easily see into the room, but she knew how Octavia enjoyed helping. Checking through the peephole, an eyebrow went up again as a brown eye spied two well dressed, middle-aged women at her door; one was holding a small gift basket. She had no clue who they were, but opened the door anyway.

"Hello, can I help you?" Gus inquired curiously.

For a moment, the women did not say anything. The pair, a blond and a brunette, stared at Gus as if they had never seen a woman in pajamas before. Granted, her pajamas had plenty of holes and tears in the t-shirt and ratty grey sweatpants. But, they were lived in and oh, so comfortable!

"Hi, we're with the Community Association," the blond spoke up, smiling brightly. Her lips glistened in the morning sun thanks to the pink lip-gloss and the shine caught Gus' eye for just a moment.

"Community Association?" the businesswoman echoed, making sure to keep her cool. She did not like the sound of that, though. She scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie. One of the reasons that she and Jayce picked this particular neighborhood to live in was the fact that it did not have a Homeowner's Association or anyone that would be telling them what to do with their property. Mentally sighing, she prepared herself for what new crap they had just stepped into.

"Yes, the Community Association. We tend to things around the community, like welcoming new families into the area," the blond explained.

"Wow, a little early for welcome wagons," Gus commented. So far the Community Association did not sound so bad, but she was going to try to get more information and see if she should be worried.

"This is true, but at least you're awake," she chirped. She continued smiling.

"Lady, I have two children under the age of five. I've been up since like three this morning," Gus remarked with a happy smile. Really, she had woken up at three to feed her "little clone," as Jayce liked to call him, but then she went back to sleep. Of course, until Octavia dive-bombed her three hours later.

Both women smiled. "Forgive me. I'm Angela Corrigan and this is my colleague Susan Nathans." The blond motioned to the brunette beside her. "We are actually your neighbors, but over on the next block."

"These are for you and your family, Miss…" Susan said with a smile of her own as she handed over the basket to the head of the house.

"I'm Gus Tucker and thank you very much." Gus eyed what was in the basket. "My kids are going to have a field day with this." Between the plush toys and what appeared to be candy, she was sure the basket would provide amusement for the rest of the morning.

"There should be things in there for your whole family. I hope they all enjoy it. The aftershave gel in there I've been told is great. Almost all of the men we've given it out to have switched to the exact brand," Angela explained.

Gus chuckled. "Well, I don't think Jayce or I will be using it, so I doubt we'll be switching anything."

Eyebrows went up a little bit. Blue and brown eyes opened a bit wider too. Gus could tell they were trying to figure out exactly what she meant, which tickled her a bit. She would let them play with it for a while.

"So, besides for welcoming new families in, what does the Community Association do, anyway?" Gus inquired, glancing back in the house to make sure the children were all right. Octavia was standing by Gus-Gus and watching him like a hawk. The sight made Gus smile.

Clearing her throat, Susan spoke up. "Um … Well, we organizing activities, like block parties and street fairs and things like that. We put together smaller affairs in the community center and some of the larger parks in the area. Sometimes we do contests and games. We try just to make sure neighborhood isn't boring."

"Oh, glad to know the neighborhood isn't boring. My daughter has a lot of energy, so it'll be good to keep her entertained," Gus said. Internally, she breathed a sigh of relief now that she knew the Community Association was not some bossy committee that would tell her what kind of grass she needed to put in the front yard. It was also very nice to know they would have things to take the kids to that were close by.

"Well, we do try to put things together for small children as well as married couples. Perhaps you and your …" Angela could not even get it out, which only made Gus smile.

"I'm sure Jayce would love to get out and meet other couples. She's pretty outgoing," Gus said, holding in laughter as the ladies looked like they were going to faint. She could not believe that she and Jayce were the first lesbians in the neighborhood.

"Um … Well … We should let you get back to your family," Susan managed to get out all in one breath.

"Okay, thank you again for the gift basket. Hopefully, I will see you ladies later for all of these community events you put together," Gus said.

The pair mumbled something that Gus did not quite catch and then they hustled off of her front step. Gus chuckled a little and shook her head as she turned her attention back into the house while closing the door. Returning to the living room, she saw that Octavia was still watching her baby brother.

"Oh, you are such a good sister! Watching your brother like that!" Gus made sure to give Octavia an extra-tight hug.

"I did a good job, right, Papa?" Octavia grinned proudly.

"You know you did, sweetie!" Gus then added a kiss on the cheek, knowing that Octavia saw affection and praise as the greatest rewards she could ever get. Octavia was known to take kisses over candy.

"Who was that at the door, Gus?" Jayce inquired, stepping into the living room.

"The Community Association welcome wagon. They gave us a gift basket," Gus announced, holding up their bounty.

"Community Association?" Jayce echoed with an arched eyebrow.

"Gift?" Octavia asked, eyes going straight to the basket.

"Yes to both. Here's the gift." Gus waved the basket at her daughter. Octavia reached for it, but Gus yanked it back. "There might be dangerous, non-kiddie stuff in here, Octie," the businesswoman said.

"Gus, don't tease the princess," Jayce scolded her spouse.

Gus pouted while Octavia grinned in triumph. Not one to let that go, Gus reached out and tickled the child, who quickly ran to hide behind her mother. Octavia was very aware that Jayce's legs acted like an unbreakable fence between her and her papa.

"So, what's this Community Association about?" Jayce asked, reaching down and rubbing the top of their daughter's head. The attention caused Octavia to smile up at her.

"Just an organization that sets up events in the neighborhood from what I understand. Nothing serious," Gus assured her partner.

"Papa, open the gift now, please," Octavia requested, still behind her mother's legs. She did not trust her papa to keep her hands to herself yet.

Gus glanced at her wife, who nodded, giving her permission to open the basket. Pulling the tie, which was holding transparent green paper over the basket, the paper fell away and the goodies were revealed. Jayce and Octavia quickly dived in, wanting to see what they were given. Octavia pulled out a little stuffed animal while Jayce pulled out a mustache comb.

"So, Papa, I guess this is yours," Jayce said, waving the small comb at her wife.

"Ha, ha, ha," Gus deadpanned.

"Mommy, Papa, can I have this?" Octavia requested, holding up a little floppy-eared pink puppy plushy.

"May I," Gus corrected the child.

"May I have this?" Octavia asked.

"Knock yourself out, princess. Is there something in there for little Caesar over there?" Gus asked, checking in the basket.

"Oh, car!" Octavia immediately spotted a "boy" toy. She pulled it out, but did not get a chance to give it to her brother.

"I think I'll hold that one, princess. Gus-Gus might not be able to handle it yet," Jayce said, taking the toy from her daughter.

"May I have it? I like cars, too!" Octavia grinned.

"You can't have all of the toys. You have to share with your little brother," Jayce pointed out. The little girl nodded in understanding.

"How about we eat breakfast while you two scavenge through the basket?" Gus inquired.

"Yes, breakfast is ready," Jayce answered with a smile.

"Pancakes!" Octavia cheered, rushing to the dining room.

"Why does she always assume pancakes? I'm hoping waffles," Gus said. While pancakes were on the top of her favorite breakfast foods, she did not seem to want them every single day like their daughter did.

"It is waffles, but since Octie thinks those are just square pancakes, it's all pancakes to her."

Gus nodded while Jayce picked up Gus-Gus. She passed the baby to Gus, so that the businesswoman could carry him to the dining room. Jayce went to serve while Gus smiled at Octavia, who was sitting in her chair at the table and trying to pull herself up to the table.

"Papa, help, please!" the toddler requested.

Gus wasted no time pushing the little girl up to the table. The family had a nice breakfast together while going through the gift basket and making claims on the items within. They then retreated to the living room and curled onto the sofa together. They watched a cartoon movie for Octavia and were not surprised that by the end of it, she was sleeping against Gus.

"I hope things are always like this," Gus commented, running her fingers through their daughter's hair.

"Well, I think things are going to change a little bit. I don't think she's going to stay that size forever," Jayce remarked with a smile. The baby was sleeping against her and she glanced down at him. "I wish they did, though."

"Me too," Gus concurred. "But, I do want to see them get older. I hope Octie's personality doesn't change much, though. I want her to always feel comfortable enough to cuddle against me on the couch or just call me 'papa' in front of other people …" she admitted, swallowing hard at the end.

"Gus, baby, are you worried about how Octavia's going to view you as she gets older? You know you're her hero," Jayce pointed out and she caressed her wife's forearm to comfort her.

"Well … we are the only lesbians in the neighborhood. When she starts school, adults and kids alike will be talking about her having two moms. I just wonder … I wonder how our little princess will take it …" Gus explained, stroking the daughter's hair again. How long would it be before their little princess was screaming things like, "You're not my mom!" at her.

"I think that you've taught Octavia to be strong and I think that she'll stand up for us and for herself. Trust me," Jayce said with a smile. "She loves you so much, Gus. Just like you love her. She's never going to feel bad that you're her papa. Although, I think as she gets older, she might realize that you're more her mama than a papa."

There was a chuckle from the taller woman. "I don't mind being the papa, but I wouldn't mind being a mama either. I just want her to always see me as her parent. I don't … I'm so scared that one day … She's going to look at me …" Gus took a deep breath, unable to voice her thoughts.

Jayce touched her partner again and smiled at her. "She's not going to change that much, sweetheart. You'll always be her parent."

"You say that now, but you forget, I've already raised a teenager. They sometimes don't do what you think they will do."

"Not our little princess. She'll always be the perfect child," Jayce quipped.

Gus laughed and could not seem to counter that, did not want to counter that. Glancing down at Octavia, she nodded in agreement. "She definitely always will be the perfect child."

Jayce smiled and leaned over to kiss Gus' cheek. The couple then decided to watch a movie more their speed before their perfect child woke up. Jayce moved, so that she could snuggle into Gus while making sure to avoid leaning on Octavia.

"Quiet weekends are my favorite," the businesswoman whispered.

"Being with you is my favorite," Jayce remarked.

"Oh, you are good."

Jayce did not say anything and they remained cuddled together until Octavia was up and running again. Gus eventually exited the living room to go tend to matters upstairs; she did not explain what she was going to do. After a while, she returned and decided to give Jayce a break and take the children outside.

"Take a breath for an hour or two, okay?" Gus said to her wife as they stood by the door. Octavia bolted by them right into the front yard.

"I'll try. Maybe I'll get some work done," Jayce figured.

"Whatever you want to do. Don't worry about us."

Jayce nodded and Gus stepped outside with Gus-Gus in her arms. Jayce watched Gus set up a play area for the baby, putting down a blanket in the grass and setting his favorite toys on it. Octavia was happy to just run around the yard, but Gus wheeled out the girl's tricycle for her in case she wanted to ride.

"This is a good life," Jayce said to herself, as she often said since meeting Gus. She then walked off to her office, wanting to get some work done while she had the time to do so.


Gus waved as some neighbors walked by the front yard. The pair, possibly a couple, stopped for a moment and waved back at her. Gus, knowing the neighborhood was full of friendly and equally nosy people, figured that she might as well introduce herself.

"Hey, there, neighbors," Gus greeted them, pushing herself off of the front steps and going to the duo.

"Hi, we heard that someone just bought this place. You already have it looking better than the last couple that lived here," the man said. He was tall guy with lean muscles that were somewhat on display thanks to his t-shirt and shorts. She suspected that they had been jogging since the shirt was somewhat drenched.

"We own the house down on the end of the street," the woman added in. "I'm Jane and this is my husband Mark," she introduced them.

"I'm Gus and those are my kids," Gus replied, pointing to Octavia, who was having a grand time spinning in a circle, while Gus-Gus was eating the corner end of his blanket.

"They're adorable. If only they were a little older, they could play with our kids," Jane said.

"I'm sure your neighbor is happy for some younger kids, though. Trevor always worried about Travis playing around with our boy," Mark said. "I understand how he feels. I mean, our boy is nine. He's much bigger and rougher than Travis is. I wouldn't want Chris playing with someone four years older than he is."

"Speaking of Trevor, you should watch yourself around him. He likes making plays to new women," Jane commented and it seemed like she was joking, but it was hard for Gus to tell. The sparkle in Jane's blue eyes could be from teasing or it could be from gossip.

"I've met Trevor already and he's an upstanding guy," Gus defended her friend. She would have said more, but Octavia falling caught her eyes. "Princess, you okay?"

"Dizzy, Papa. My tummy …" the child groaned, apparently having made herself sick from spinning to much. "Papa …" she whined, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

"Oh, sweetie, stay there. I'll run you inside and make Mommy can kiss it all better," Gus told the girl, knowing that as far as Octavia was concerned a kiss from Jayce cured everything.

"Want Mommy, Papa…" Octavia moaned.

"Okay, I'll take you to Mommy," Gus said and then she turned her attention back to the neighbors. "Sorry, I've got to handle this. It was nice meeting you."

Gus rushed off to grab both of her children and get them in the house. She heard her neighbors as they walked off discussing the fact that Octavia had called her "papa" while referring to someone else as "mommy." The last word she heard from them was "lesbians" and she guessed that she and Jayce would be news for a while, just as promised.

After saving Octavia from her "dizzy sickness" with several kisses from Jayce, the trio returned outside. Octavia decided to ride her tricycle while Gus-Gus was back on the blanket. Travis seemed to appear out of nowhere and shot across his front yard to play with Octavia. Trevor showed up seconds later.

"Howdy, buddy," Trevor greeted Gus as he walked over to her.

"Hey," she replied, moving over some to make room on the front steps for him. He took the silent invitation and sat down.

"So, you pull weekend duty while Jayce relaxes or something?" he asked curiously.

"Not really. She's getting some work done while I have a good time watching the kids. I don't spend nearly enough time with them by my count since I work."

There was a nod. "That's how Helena feels with Travis sometimes. The night when I have poker games with you and the guys, Helena always takes Travis some place for the evening to spend time with her. It's the one time she refuses to let work or anything bother her."

"She sounds like a good mother."

"She is. She gets scared that she isn't, but she loves Travis and she takes care of him. She's a good mom. She's a good person, Gus. Again, she just needs to adjust."

"What's she doing, anyway? Working even on the weekend?" Gus inquired.

"Yeah, some idiot completely blew a proposal, so she has to fix it and hope they can keep a client that already has one foot out the door. She's dedicated to keeping a roof over our heads," he remarked with a grin.

There was a nod and the two parents were content with watching their children play. Gus had to get up a few times as Gus-Gus crawled off of his blanket; he seemed fond of trying to eat the lawn. Gus let him go each time she got him; she just wanted to make sure he did not put anything bad in his mouth. She figured once he found out how awful grass tasted, he would stop trying to eat it on his own.

"You know, Octavia is a nice kid," Trevor commented, watching as Octavia practically insisted Travis have a ride on her tricycle.

"She likes sharing. She's been a happy kid since I've known her and she likes making other people happy. I guess that's just her personality," Gus replied with a shrug.

"I hope she stays like that, but she doesn't end up a pushover."

"I don't think we have to worry about that. You've gotten a chance to see her nice side because she wants to do everything with Travis, but let's say a big kid came around and started picking on Travis."

"Which could happen."

"Octie would defend him to her last breath and she's not below hitting either. She hates it when people are mean to her friends and Travis is most definitely her friend."

He nodded. "I still expect a huge dowry," he remarked.

Gus laughed and they sat there for a while longer until a car pulled into Trevor's driveway. Gus did not bother too look over, but she had a feeling that Helena was glaring at her as she got out of the car. Trevor stood up, making it clear that he was about to leave.

"It was nice hanging out with you, Gus. I'll see you later," Trevor said.

"No problem. Take care," Gus replied.

"Mom!" Travis called, charging over to the woman as she got out of the car. He leaped into her arms and Gus smiled at the action. She was pretty sure that someone who could get such a happy reaction out of a child could not be all bad. Of course, I could be wrong, she thought as Helena shot her a death glare.

Helena hustled her family into the house while Gus went back to watching her children. A little while later, Jayce came out and settled into the spot next to her wife. Gus' arm seemed to automatically go around her shoulders.

"How's it going out here?" Jayce asked.

"Octie is having a ball and Gus-Gus keeps trying to eat the grass. Is he part cow by any chance?" Gus joked.

"He gets that from you," Jayce countered, nudging her wife with her shoulder.

Gus smiled, but did not say anything. They quietly watched their children and also noted around them that their neighbors seemed pretty interested in them. The interest only caused them to cuddle closer.

"I like weekends like this, Gus. It's almost like being in a sitcom … without a bunch of corny punch lines," Jayce said.

"I hope there's not too much drama to go along with all of this serenity. I like this too, but I don't like being watched as if things are so interesting because we're two women raising two wonderful children," Gus replied. She could not believe how many people were peeking out of their windows or wandering by every few minutes, staring at them as if they did not know what to make of the family.

Jayce smiled a bit. "I'm sure we'll get boring after a while. Or maybe some gay men will move in."

Gus burst out laughing at that and a smile remained on her face. As the sun began to set, they both gathered the children and made sure their things were in the yard before going back into the house. Gus went to bathe the kids while Jayce got started on dinner. This is a good life, they both thought.


Yawning, Gus flopped into bed and grinned to herself, waiting for Jayce to enter. Her wife was making sure the house was locked up, even though Gus had already done that. Not that they even needed to do that in their new neighborhood; of course, they both felt better about it.

"Gus, did you put your clone to bed?" Jayce inquired, speaking from the hallway.

"Yup," Gus answered with a grin, moving up the bed to rest on the pillows. She stretched up just in time for Jayce to see her as she entered the room.

"What are you doing?" Jayce inquired with a wrinkled brow. "You look silly."

"Silly?" Gus turned her mouth up, looking a little offended. "You sure you don't mean sexy?"

"Hard for you to be sexy when your shirt has a hole in the armpit," Jayce pointed out.

Gus balked and checked her t-shirt to see that she did have a huge hole in the armpit. Recovering quickly, she continued to smile. "Oh, no problem. I'll just take it off," she said.

Jayce was about to call her spouse's bluff, but the t-shirt came up before she could open her mouth. It was on the floor within a second and dark eyes were open wide in the same time. Gus smiled as she arched her back, showing off her light blue lace bra.

"Gus, what're you doing? The baby!" Jayce managed and she turned her head in the direction of the crib, only to see that it was not there. Her head snapped back to her lounging wife. "Where's the baby?" she inquired.

"In the nursery. I moved the crib earlier," Gus boasted with a proud look.

"What? When?"

"Doesn't matter. Now, how about you come join me and get a sample of my finest new set of undies."

"New?" Jayce swallowed hard, blinking as if she did not understand what was going on.

"You know, baby, I could get a complex with the way you're just standing there instead of jumping into bed with me and checking out my new underwear," Gus teased and wiggled a bit.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Jayce hurried over to the bed, climbing on the edge and then moving like a stalking cat. She crawled up and over Gus, leaving a hair's width of space between their bodies.

"Being this close and not touching me isn't making things any better," Gus remarked.

"Oh, but this will make up for all of that," Jayce promised before leaning in for a soul-scorching kiss.

Gus moaned as her spouse's tongue invaded her mouth and plundered her for all she was worth. By the time Jayce pulled away, Gus was panting for breath. Jayce could not help smiling proudly.

"That was … amazing," Gus sighed contently.

"Oh, so all of my other kisses aren't amazing?" Jayce taunted her wife, figuring it would be good pay back.

"No, all of your kisses are amazing. Can I have another?"

Jayce quickly obliged. With her mouth occupying Gus', her hands wandered her wife's body with reckless abandon. She swallowed all of Gus' moans and groans. By the time she pulled away, Gus was arching into her body, begging for more.

"I think I should take a closer look at these undies you were bragging about," Jayce suggested.

Gus could only manage a nod and Jayce slid down her body, taking Gus' bra with her. Light kisses and caresses seemed to float all across Gus' skin and all she could do was beg for more. The pleading got a devilish smile out Jayce and Gus smiled in return when she noticed the expression.

"I'm going to take really good care of you, baby. I promise," Jayce whispered before making good on her vow.


"Sweetheart, you weren't lying when you said you'd take really good care of me. I can't even feel my legs anymore," Gus remarked with a worn out smile as Jayce snuggled up close to her. Her smile grew as she felt Jayce's flesh pressed up against her own nude form.

"It's been a while since we've let loose like that," Jayce commented, settling against her wife's shoulder.

"Well, we did make a lot of noise."

"I'm glad we didn't wake up the kids. But, we are going to have to get up and get dressed before we do fall asleep. We don't want the princess to wander in here and ask why we're sleeping naked," Jayce pointed out.

"Knowing her, she'd want to do it too."

"Making it worse, she'd want to do it while sharing our bed, which would be way too creepy for me," Jayce stated.

Gus shuddered. "Gross, baby! Don't say things like that while I'm trying to bask in the afterglow!"

A low chuckle escaped Jayce and then she proceeded to make things up to Gus by gently fondling her. The taller woman whimpered and moaned. Jayce moved her head and kissed her wife's neck, which got a mew out of Gus.

"I like making you purr," Jayce whispered.

"I like it too," Gus groaned.

"But, no more of that. We have to go to bed," Jayce said, abruptly pulling away.

"Wha-what?" Gus gasped, unable to switch off as Jayce's body left her own. "What are you doing?"

"Going to sleep. You should do the same. Your clone will be up shortly wanting food and in a few hours, Octie will be jumping on us to get up," Jayce explained, as if that all made perfect sense.

"What? You think I care about that after you've gotten me started? This is the first time we've had our room to ourselves since we moved in and I'm going to make the most of it!" Gus declared as she rolled over, ending up on top of Jayce.

Jayce was going to argue and tease Gus further, but she was not given the chance. Before she could get a word out, Gus's lips were on hers and Gus' hands were everywhere as far as she could tell. The best she could manage in the way of sounds were pleased moans and begging cries.


"Papa!" Octavia shouted as she charged into the bedroom. Crawling up on the bed in a manner that made her parents believe that she had to be part monkey, Octavia wasted no time leaping onto her papa.

Gus groaned and shut her eyes tight, hoping that would be a good signal to get her four-year-old to go away. Of course, that was not the case and Octavia began shaking her, calling for her to wake up. Across from her, she could hear Jayce laughing; it was something that she had done a couple of hours ago when Jayce got up to feed Augustus.

"Octie, have mercy on your papa," Gus groaned.

"C'mon, papa! Get up!" Octavia implored, grabbing her papa by the shoulder and shaking Gus as best she could.

"Jay, get your daughter …" Gus muttered, reaching for her wife.

"She's your daughter before breakfast just like Gus-Gus was my son before the sun comes up," Jayce replied, repeating a phrase that Gus had told her a couple of hours ago.

"I was joking when I said that!"

"Papa, get up! Get up, get up, get up, get up!" Octavia chanted.

Gus groaned and rolled over, causing the hyper toddler to fall to the side. Gus made sure to catch the child before she fell off of the bed. Yawning, she sat up.

"Time to start the day again," Gus said with a smile. She hoped that it was just like the day she had yesterday.


The Power Rangers and McDonalds are mentioned in this chapter. I don't own those, but I'm sure you knew that.

6: Surprise visit

Leaving for the work in the morning tickled Gus now that she and her family were somewhat known in their neighborhood. They had not been there a month yet, but it seemed like everyone on their block knew the Tucker family. They all seemed to be curious about the Tuckers and watched them intently whenever they could. So, now, when Gus left the house for work, she could feel all of the neighbors' eyes directly on her and her little farewell routine with her family. It was like something out of a TV show, where Gus had to hug both children and kiss Jayce at the door before she could possibly consider having a good day.

Gus enjoyed scanning the neighbors' houses as she went to the car, wanting to see how many people were looking at her. It was usually a few people, as if Gus and her family were truly entertaining. It allowed Gus to drive off with an amused smile on her face.

Jayce was not as amused and made it a point not to see if the neighbors were watching. It would only worry her if she knew the exact number of people that thought the Tuckers were an anomaly of some kind. So, she turned her attention to her children.

"Well, my little princess, what should we do this morning?" Jayce inquired with a smile.

"See Travie?" Octavia proposed with a grin.

"Okay, we can do that. But, in order to do that, what do we have to do?"

"Get dressed!" Octavia was off up the stairs before Jayce had a chance to confirm that was the correct answer.

The mother smiled as she followed Octavia upstairs. She was not surprised that by the time she entered the child's room, Octavia already had several outfits pulled out and littering the floor. It was a habit she picked up from Gus, who scattered outfits when she needed something formal to wear.

"Mommy, I wanna wear these!" Octavia decided, holding up some jeans and duck-covered light blue shirt.

Jayce nodded, even though she was thinking about how she was going to wring Gus' neck for providing their daughter with small steps that allowed her to reach into her closet. She put Augustus down on the bed and then helped Octavia get into her chosen outfit.

Once the little girl was dressed, Jayce had to call Trevor to see if he and Travis were up and ready for a visit. "Hey, Trevor, it's Jayce. Sorry if I seem to be calling so early."

"Not at all. The little dude gets up early to watch some crazy TV show that looks like the Power Rangers, but isn't, and he likes to spend a little time with his mom before she leaves. So, I've been up for a while now," Trevor explained.

"Oh, that's good. Octie was wondering if she could see her friend."

"I don't know if he'll want to leave the TV for a while since his show comes on like five times in a row for whatever reason. You could bring her over here and then after the show is over, he can drag her around to see his room and his photo albums and things," Trevor remarked with a laugh.

Jayce laughed too. "Sounds fine."

"Then come on over."

Jayce agreed and went to put some clothes on Gus-Gus while Octavia decided on what shoes she wanted to wear. Octavia was much like her papa when it came to picking clothes and shoes; the shoes needed to be just right for the outfit. How a four-year-old decided what was just right was beyond Jayce, but Heaven help the house if Octavia could not find the perfect footwear.

Augustus was placed into a tan onesy with a dancing hamster on it and then put into some "baby jeans," as Jayce liked to call them. His feet were enclosed in padded socks and then she had to get dressed, which she did quickly. By the time she was done, Octavia was standing in her doorway, waiting.

"C'mon, Mommy! Play outside with Travie!" Octavia declared, waving her mother out of the room.

"Okay, Octavia. Just be patient and let me get your brother," Jayce replied, retrieving the little boy from a play mat on the bedroom floor. She also made sure to grab her baby bag, even though she was only going next door.

With the baby in hand, the small group set out for their visit. Trevor and Travis welcomed them into their home with open arms. Travis grabbed Octavia by the hand, eager to show her his "the bestest TV show ever!" Jayce could not help laughing.

"Well, I don't have the bestest TV show ever to show you, but if you want, I think I can find something to entertain us for the million years they'll be sitting in front of the TV," Trevor quipped.

"It's fine," Jayce replied. Of course, she felt differently after an hour of the very strange show where all of the characters seemed to do nothing but yell, run, and jump into everything. "How much longer until this show is over?" she inquired, begging Trevor for some good news.

"There's still like three or four more episodes. I know, it's like someone took every random thought they ever had and put them into cartoon form, right?" Trevor said.

"It is. I don't even know who the main character is in this. How can you let Travis watch this?"

"Despite the randomness of it, he learns things from it. One episode taught him how to tie his shoe and I think another episode might have taught him how to build a nuclear sub. I'm not too sure."

"Oh, was that what that sharing piece was about? That was the learning bit?"

"I'm sure it was. I think we might have missed it. I think this cartoon might actually be designed to screw with adults' minds while somehow getting through to a child's brain. I don't know how they do it, though."

Jayce nodded and agreed. "Any adult conversation that we can talk about to make it through this insanity?"

Trevor shrugged. "Hmmm … We can talk about married life."

"Oh, god, don't make it seem like that's the only thing we have in common. Come now, surely there's something we can discuss."

There was a nod. "Oh, I was curious about something, but it's personal."

"Well, you can put it out there and find out if I'll share."

Smiling, he decided to go for it. "At poker night, Gus revealed some of the things that she did upon first meeting you."

"And you want to know if any of it was true?" Jayce arched an eyebrow as a teasing smirk settled onto her face.

"Did she really get you fired?" he asked quickly.

Jayce laughed. "Is that the only thing she told you guys?"

"Yes."

"I suppose that was just about the least offensive thing she did when we met. But, yes, she did get me fired. She did plenty of other things, but I don't think I know you well enough to share that yet. But, I can tell you, in retrospect, I'm glad for everything that she did when we first encountered each other. Every couple has a rough patch. We had ours before relationship even started," Jayce remarked.

"I suppose you make a point there," he concurred with a smile. "I can't wait to hear the rest of that story. So, got any hobbies I should know about or have you gotten like me where all hobbies revolve around the kids?"

"A little both. I don't have any real hobbies, but I like doing just about anything with my family, Gus or the kids. I like hanging out with my friends. I prefer doing that with Gus. I'm also like tinkering with things, but it's not really a hobby."

"Tinkering?"

"You know, if there's something broken in the house, I'll try to fix it."

"Oh, so you're the one I ask if I need tools and not the 'papa'?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"No, the papa can do it too, but I do it more. Even though we play around that Gus is the 'papa,' you do realize our relationship doesn't break down like that, right?" she countered.

"I'm starting to get the idea. You two don't have the 'she's the guy and you're the girl' thing. See? I'm learning." He grinned proudly.

She chuckled and was surprised that they survived three more episodes of the crazy show thanks to a long conversation about nothing at all really. After that, the children wanted to go outside and play. Augustus started fussing and crying as they all stepped out of the house.

"I have to go and feed him," Jayce told Trevor.

"Take your time. I can watch them play in the front yard on my own … unless they tie me up and blindfold me somehow," he replied with a smile.

"I wouldn't put it pass the little princess."

He laughed, but waved her off. "No, but seriously, I got them. Take your time."

Jayce nodded. "Would it bother you to watch them for about an hour? I'd like to get a little work done while Octavia is distracted."

He waved her off again and smiled. "No problem, but if she ties me up, it'll cost extra."

There was a laugh. "You can have two ice creams from the freezer."

"That is a huge bonus." He grinned. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of your little girl. Get some work done. We can trade on this. Tomorrow, you could watch them for a while and I can get some work done?"

She nodded. "That sounds good. I think this is going to work out."

"Hey, us working house … folks need to stick together."

"House-folks? You don't want to be a housewife?" she asked with a teasing smile.

He laughed. "I think at this point it's almost accurate for me."

Smiling, she walked off into the house, feeling like she had made the right decision. Trevor seemed to be a great guy and they had spent a lot of time together since meeting that first day over three weeks ago.


"Mister Trevor, where Mommy go?" Octavia asked, trotting over to the only adult outside now. She seemed to notice her mother was gone almost immediately. Jayce had barely made it into the house, after all.

"Your mom just went inside to feed your brother. I'm sure the door is open if you want to go inside with her," Trevor answered honestly.

Octavia glanced at the house and then back to her friend, who was standing a foot behind her. It did not seem to take a whole lot of thought as she turned back to Travis and ran over to him. Trevor smiled and shrugged.

Watching the children was not too difficult. It was almost boring. Yes, they were blazing balls of energy, but all they really did was chase each other. At one point, Travis did try to get Octavia to dig for worms, but Octavia seemed rather offended by that; she would get her shirt dirty!

"Dirt doesn't hurt," Travis pointed out, holding a clump of rich, dark soil.

"Mommy and Papa don't like it," Octavia replied.

Trevor thought that they might have a little argument, but they just turned around and continued running. Trevor yawned and watched the kids dip into the backyard and then back into the front yard. As time past, Trevor yawned again in boredom, but found things getting interesting as an unknown, fancy car pulled in front of Jayce's house.

"What's going on here?" Trevor murmured to himself as he watched an attractive young woman climb out of the car. She flicked long brown hair over her shoulder while donning sunglasses and smoothing out her short skirt. Without sparing a glance around the neighborhood, she marched up Jayce's door. She was given entry quickly and Jayce did not bother to wave to him or explain what was going on.

Trevor shook his head and tried to dismiss what he just saw. It was probably nothing, he quietly assured himself. Of course, it was hard to push that when time went by and Jayce did not return and that woman did not leave the house. Things got a little more interesting as noon approached and Gus pulled up to the house, more than likely seeking lunch with her family. He waved to her as she exited her car.

"Howdy, neighbor," Gus remarked, waving at him.

"Hey, I got your kid over here, running my boy ragged," Trevor commented.

"That's what she does," Gus smiled as she marched over. "Where's Jay?" Hazel eyes scanned the yard for her spouse.

"Oh, she went inside to do some work …" Trevor said, hoping that he could keep Gus there for a while. He was not sure why, but he wanted to protect his new friend … both of his new friends.

Gus nodded and glanced back at the house. There was no way that she could have missed the car parked in front because of the way that she turned. He sighed and laughed awkwardly.

"She was probably going to work on my accounts, even though I wish she didn't. She usually does that when she thinks I'll be gone the whole day. I can't stop her if that's what she wants to do." Gus shrugged.

"You have a personal accountant that you don't want handling your finances? Weirdo," he teased.

"I don't want to stress her out, but that's just me being overprotective, which is one of my problems. How long was she working before my sister showed up?" Gus inquired.

"Sister?" he echoed.

"The owner of that car." Gus pointed to the vehicle in front of her house. "That's my sister."

"Oh!" He guffawed. "Good to know. I didn't know what to make of that or how to approach the subject that Jayce was inside with a strange woman."

"Yeah, it's just my sister. Good to know you would try to tell me if something was up, though. Was she alone or was there a snobby-looking woman on her arm?"

"Alone. Why?"

Gus snorted. "I don't like my sister's girlfriend and life is always better when she doesn't show up with that annoying woman. But, yeah, how long has she been here?"

"Wait, your sister is a lesbian too?" he asked with his lip curled up as if going "huh?"

"Yes, she's also a lesbian. But, you're missing the point. How long has she been here? Jay doesn't enjoy dealing with her for a long time on her own," Gus said.

"Why is that?"

Gus shook her head. "It's very complicated. I don't want to go into that just yet. Let's just say that they have a history. Jannie, my sister, and Jay both try to get along, but sometimes things can get a little strained. I should probably get in there."

"Yeah, because it's been like an hour. Jayce didn't even come back out to check on Octie," he informed her.

"Shit. They're probably arguing then," Gus sighed. "Hey, Octie, little princess, wanna go see Aunt Jannie?" she called to the child.

The question stopped Octavia right in her tracks and she turned at the sound of her papa's voice. "Aunt Jannie?"

"Yes, Aunt Jannie is visiting Mommy right now. Wanna go with me to see her?" Gus proposed.

"Uh …" Dark eyes glanced over at Travis before turning back to her parent. "I can come back?"

"Of course you can come back. It's actually lunchtime right now, though. So, we can go have lunch and let Travis and his daddy have lunch. You can meet back here in a couple of hours," Gus said, that last part was more to Trevor.

"Couple of hours?" he echoed.

"She's going to need a nap. As soon as she settles down for a second, it all hits her and she knocks out for about an hour," Gus explained.

He nodded. "Sounds good. Come on, Travis, we'll go eat some lunch and come back out later," he said, walking over to the boy.

The children waved their farewells and Gus picked Octavia up. They went into the house and Gus could see her wife and sister in the living room. She could see the stony expression on Jayce's face and she knew what that meant. She decided that a happy distraction was needed and put Octavia down.

"Go greet your aunt," Gus ordered in a low voice.

"Auntie!" Octavia grinned as she bolted into the living room and latched onto her aunt's legs.

"Hey, biscuit!" Jannie grinned, showing off perfect teeth, as she scooped up the toddler. She hugged the child tightly for a moment before releasing her.

"Bring me candy?" Octavia asked. Whenever Jannie showed up, sweet treats for Octavia always followed.

"You know I did!" Jannie replied, going into her purse and pulling out a chocolate bar. Before the candy made into Octavia's waiting hands, Gus intercepted it.

"After lunch," Gus told the little girl.

"Papa!" Octavia pouted.

"Is it lunchtime?" Jayce asked. "I should get something prepared. How long are you staying, Gus?" The accountant rose to her feet and made her way to the kitchen.

"I figured I'd stay a couple of hours. I have to go back to the office for a meeting. But, for the next two hours, I'm all about my family!" Gus declared, eyes locked on her sister.

"You are big into family. Or, I would think anyway, but you haven't invited me out to your house yet and you've lived here for almost a month!" Jannie complained.

Gus scratched her eyebrow with her pinkie and shrugged. "We just wanted to enjoy the house for a while as our own little family unit. I explained that to you before we moved," she said, flopping down on the couch. Octavia took that as a sign to climb into her lap and the child began playing with her papa's hand to busy herself.

"You know I feel left out …" Jannie pouted.

"You feel left out or are you just lonely? Where's Toni?"

"Toni's at work. It's the middle of the day, Gus. Not everyone can just leave work whenever they feel like it as we can."

"We? I was unaware that you were your own boss," Gus commented, teasing mostly.

"I'm in really good with my boss, though. Well, I like to think I am, but my boss hasn't invited me to her house yet, as if I don't miss her and my niece and my nephew," Jannie retorted with a smile, reaching to tickle Octavia a little.

The child giggled while Gus rolled her eyes. Her sister was much better with Octavia now than years ago when Jayce was in a relationship with Jannie and dared suggest that they be responsible for the girl since her father was more interested in drugs than her life. Jannie had seemed almost offended by the thought of taking care of the then baby. So, really, she had nowhere to go but up as far as it went with her attitude toward Octavia. She was much more comfortable with her role of being an aunt than with the idea of being a possible primary caregiver.

"Oh, please, you could've come and picked up your niece and nephew whenever you wanted to," Gus replied, rolling her eyes.

"Don't try to win me over with facts. You never invited me over," Jannie huffed, going so far as to puff out her cheeks.

"Well, you're here now. So, is this a completely social visit or is there a method to your madness?" Gus teased.

"A little of both. I wanted to see the house and I wanted to tell you that your friends are all plotting to swarm the place on Friday. They'll be showing up with gifts and drinks, so you might want to break out the grill."

Gus groaned. "I told those fatheads to mind their own business for at least a month."

"Yeah, but they listen about as well as I do, so get ready for it."

"Thanks for the warning." Gus sighed and shook her head. "Jay is not going to be happy about this."

"Why not? Doesn't she like entertaining anymore?"

"She's fine with it, but she wanted a month or more with us having the place to ourselves. This is going to break the peace."

Jannie nodded, but suddenly waved it off. "Yeah, but once you get it out of the way, they won't be over that often and you guys can go back to your lives of domestic bliss."

"I suppose. Or I could call them all and threaten them."

"Should you be thinking aloud with my biscuit in your lap?"

Gus glanced down at her daughter, seeing that Octavia was much more interested in going through her keys more than anything else. But, she decided to stop thinking aloud with the little girl there. Lovingly petting her daughter's head, she figured it was done and her sister had a point.

"I guess what's done is done. Jay still isn't going to be happy, though."

Jannie nodded. "I suppose. Oh, sorry, I came over so early. I don't know why I thought you'd be home."

"It's fine. You and Jay didn't blow the house up or anything."

"Lunch," Jayce called, ending the conversation for the moment.

The family gathered in the kitchen to have lunch. There was roasted chicken, rice, and macaroni and cheese. They pulled up to the island in the kitchen in order to eat.

"You guys have a robust lunch," Jannie joked.

"It's leftovers from last night," Gus explained.

"Still, you guys are obviously eating well. Toni and I eat out most of the time," Jannie informed them.

"McDonalds?" Octavia asked with big, dreamy eyes.

Jannie laughed because of the expression. "You guys still don't let the poor kid eat McDonalds?"

"She gets it as a treat every once and a while, but it's never going to be a habit," Jayce replied, putting an arm around her daughter.

"Poor kid," Jannie teased.

"Well, she's our poor kid," Jayce said with a little more snap than she meant to. Being with Jannie always brought that out of her. She did not understand why. She was way over Jannie and she accepted that Jannie was always going to be in her life, so she could not figure out why the younger woman continued to rub her the wrong way by merely existing.

That seemed to stop conversation for a while and when it started up again, it was about the usual things. "How's the spa going?" Gus asked her sister. The younger Tucker managed a spa that Gus owned.

"It's going good. I think I'm going to start some special promotions for the summer. I'll run them by you as soon as I settle on what I want to do," Jannie answered.

"Okay. Sounds good. I think I'm going to stop by sometime next week. I need a facial. Jay, you want to come?" Gus asked. "We'll get one of the staff members to watch the kids so you don't feel rushed to leave."

"I would love to. Are you sure your staff won't mind watching the kids?"

"The spa staff adores the kids. They'll be fine."

The rest of the visit was pretty benign. Octavia was put down for a nap minutes after she finished lunch. Augustus fell asleep in his chair while trying to figure out why he could not fit his whole fist in his mouth. Jannie left as soon as the kids were down and the married couple ended up on the sofa.

"I'm sorry Jannie just popped up on you," Gus apologized, holding onto her wife and cuddling into her.

"It's fine. I don't know why she still gets to me the way that she does. I mean, her breaking up with me was the best thing to happen to me, next to me deciding to trust you and go home with you. We have a beautiful house, loving family, wonderful children, and a very fulfilling relationship, so why the hell does seeing Jannie for extended periods of time still get to me?" Jayce wondered aloud.

"I don't know. Maybe she just reminds you of the bad times. She's getting better, though. She's very good with Octie now and loves Gus-Gus to death."

Jayce nodded. "I'm guessing they're easier to love when you're not expected to take care of them. She is a good aunt. She wouldn't have been a good mother, at least not then. Your sister has been getting better."

"Yeah, which is why I don't understand why she's with Toni. Could there be a bigger, selfish bitch in this world … aside from my ex anyway?"

"Oh, please, don't start with Amanda, baby. I don't even want to think about how messed up she is and how she left you a wreck."

Gus waved it off. "It's fine because thanks to that I was available to you when you needed me. Hell, she's sort of the reason we met."

"But, we would've met anyway since I was dating your sister."

"I think without things going the way that they did, we wouldn't be where we are. So, everything worked out fine."

"I agree, so why am I still so ill-at-ease with Jannie?"

"Again, I don't know. I still says she reminds you of bad times. You had hit a low point and then she sort of stuck the dagger in you and twisted it around several times. Don't think about. What you do need to think about is the nature of Jannie's visit. Did she tell you why she came over?" Gus asked.

"No, she mostly just talked about how she wanted to see you and how Toni is getting on her nerves," Jayce reported with a smile, knowing Gus would like to hear that news.

"Tell me you talked her into breaking up with Toni," Gus begged, putting her hands together as if she was praying.

Chuckling, Jayce shook her head. "I would never do that, but I did listen as she complained about every single immature thing Toni has done the past few months. Jannie is growing a lot, but she's still somewhat the same person I dated. She and Toni mostly argue about where they're going to go out, what they're going to do, and how often they're going to do it. She says it seems like Toni is purposely picking fights with her, hoping that one day she'll just stop arguing."

Hazel eyes rolled and Gus snorted. "I think Toni will find that the impossible task. Well, she told me that our friends plan to ambush us this Friday with gifts and to see the house."

"No!" Jayce whined. "I don't want to share our paradise yet." She put on an exaggerated pout. "Can't you fix this, Gus? Is this a papa problem?"

Gus laughed. "I think we need to just get it out of the way. Once they see what the place looks like, that it's just a house, they'll be satisfied and we can all move on."

Jayce sighed. "I suppose. So, what do we have to do?"

"Fire up the grill and make sure we keep the rooms locked. You know how nosy they can be."

There was a chuckle from the shorter woman. "This is what happens when you know a bunch of women and gay men," she joked.

"That would be the curse. So, do you want me to do anything or what?"

"I want you to come shopping with me tomorrow, so we can get ready for this. Do we even have a grill?"

"I'll go buy one. We'll need one anyway. You have to tell me what kind since you'll be doing the grilling."

"Hey, that is definitely a papa job!"

Gus smiled. "But, we know what happens when food, fire, and me are involved."

Jayce nodded. "You make a point. I'll go with you to buy the grill too then. Should we let our friends know that we live in a somewhat conservative neighborhood and I doubt anyone has seen this many gay people in one place?"

The businesswoman could not help laughing loudly. "They'll chase us all out of here by the end of the night. But, at least they'll have something to talk about."

"At least Rico and Daquan will make sure we'll look fabulous as the neighbors drive us out of here with torches and pitch folks," Jayce chuckled.

"Oh, please, there'll be too many dykes there to make that getaway anything more than a brawl."

Jayce laughed again, but she agreed. They were going to have to plan quickly, but they were both going to be happy to see their friends. It was all right that they were going to be invaded on the weekend.


"Hey, buddy," Gus said to Trevor as she unleashed Octavia into the front yard to run wild with Travis.

"What's up?" Trevor inquired.

"Since you adopted me into your circle of friends, I feel I should let you know we're having a barbeque Friday, very much against our will, but it would be cool if you and the guys could come. You might want to leave Luis behind, though. While all of our friends aren't gay, a hell of a whole lot of them are and they will be there with significant others," she informed her neighbor.

"Oh, sounds exciting. A lesbian barbeque," he remarked with a teasing smile, earning a chuckle.

"We just call 'em barbeques. And, sorry, but there will be more than lesbians there. We know some gay men and a few straight people. You'll have fun, though. Bring the wife and kid too. She can network and he can bug out with Octie and her horrible little gang."

"You drive a hard bargain. I mean, networking for the wife, kids for the kid, and barbeque for me. Are you going to have a beer fountain there too? Every type of buffalo wing? Wall to wall coverage of every game playing on Friday?"

There was more laughter. "You're now asking way too much of me. Just show up on Friday and make sure you tell your wife that she can network. This way, she can make sure the evil lesbians don't try to molest you."

He put his hand to his chin in thought. "I wonder if that is her problem. It's a lot better than the idea that she might be homophobic."

Gus chuckled and began walking off. "Jay'll be out in a second, so you won't be alone. She just needs to finish feeding lil Caesar," she explained with a wave. She needed to get back to work. There was so much to do.


Next time: the family has a barbeque.

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