Please Baby by Shea K.

Chapter 1: Sick and tired

Jayce felt like she was going to put her fist through the heavy door as she pounded on it, knowing that she had to knock loudly if she wanted to be heard. Usually, there was all kinds of chaos and commotion going on in the apartment, enough for it to be heard outside quite easily. For once there was no loud music or shouting coming from the apartment, but she still knew she needed to knock as loud as possible. She hoped that none of the neighbors heard, though, as they were not above getting nosy, suspicious, and sometimes even calling the police. Her tailored suits and polished appearance did not make anyone think that she was above being at the house for the same reason most people came there for-drugs.

A chilled wind from the autumn air blew by her, causing her black hair with a dark red tint to whip around her face. She liked to think that cool breeze was what caused a shiver to run down her spine; it had nothing to do with the fact that no one was answering the door and the apartment seemed to be as silent as a grave. Once a throbbing developed in her tan-colored hand and impatience settled in her near-onyx eyes, she decided on a different course of action, figuring that five minutes without an answer was an excellent excuse to let herself in. There was a big chance something was wrong.

Pulling out her keys from her small brown handbag that was settled on her shoulder, she found the pair for the door. Working the two locks on the door quickly, she pushed the door open only to have a foul smell push back, causing her above-average frame to fall back just a little. Grimacing as the odor assaulted her worse than any street thug, she made her way into the apartment as her obsidian eyes watered. She held her breath for as long as she could, but eventually she did have to breathe, taking in the foul miasma and hoping that it did not melt her lungs. Her heart sped up several beats, even though she was accustomed to all sorts of terrible smells and the horrid state of the expensive apartment. She was sure the place would be cleaner if someone used it to house livestock.

"Q, you home?" she called out, dark eyes stinging from the aroma of urine, but searching for some sign of life and also on the lookout for anything wrong...which she would consider everything.

Flies buzzed around the garbage, which was knocked over by the dog-she figured anyway. She did not see any sign of the dog, other than the garbage and large amounts evidence that he had been eating. Well, she hoped those things were left by the dog, but she would not put it past someone that Quentin knew to have done their business in the wrong room. It'll be hell cleaning that up...not that Quentin cleans anything.

It was blatantly obvious that Quentin never cleaned his apartment from the mix of potent stenches, unidentifiable stains, and piles of garbage almost everywhere with all kinds of insect activity around the place. There were disregarded cigars and cigarettes littering the hardwood floor, which was scratched up and covered in sticky substances that she never wanted to guess what they were. Rolling papers and bits of weed covered the coffee table, kitchen counter, and what was left of the torn, shredded, burned sofa. Razor blades and needles were all about the place and Jayce was very careful about where she stepped whenever she came into the apartment.

Creeping about the hardwood floor, as if she was a ninja-and making as much noise as one, which was an amazing feat considering her slightly heeled shoes-she called for Quentin again. The howl of the wind through a broken window was the only answer that she got. Frowning, she moved deeper into the apartment, disregarding any broken furniture. The cracked walls looked just as bad as the floor, mysterious substances clinging to them, holes kicked or punched in them, and filth smeared as if it was an art form. Stained and torn clothing littered the hall.

"So help me God if he's passed out on the bathroom floor again," she muttered to herself, cutting in the hallway for the direct route to the bathroom. "Q! I brought the baby-" She halted that statement immediately, interrupted by a sound that made her blood boil and freeze at the same time. A high-pitch, helpless, exhausted cry that only lasted a second echoed through the frigid, noxious apartment.

A snarl tore savagely through Jayce's oval, caramel face as she stormed to the back of the apartment. The door to the single bedroom was open, mostly because it was broken and could not be closed, revealing a room that was a smaller version of the apartment as far as dirt and grim went. The smell almost made her vomit in her mouth. Deep, dark brown eyes frantically scanned around the horribly cluttered room while small, elfish ears tried to pick any delicate sound. Her head turned sharply to the left by the unkempt bed with stained sheets as she heard another cry.

"Damn it, Princess, please be okay, please be okay," Jayce prayed aloud as she cut over to the end of the bed.

She almost cried herself as she spotted what she really did not want to see. On the sticky floor, by an unfinished slice of pizza and a pile of porn magazines, was her young, tiny niece. The baby was wearing only a diaper, lying in her own filth, being used as a home for roaches and flies, and weeping like the world was going to come to an end. The bawling was not very loud, sounding more exhausted and hopeless than upset. Tears gathered in Jayce's eyes as she bent down and picked the poor child up.

"I'll kill that bastard! I'll kill him and I'll fucking salt the ground where he's buried! I'll kill him if there's anything wrong with you, Princess!" Jayce vowed aloud in a heated tone as she pressed the baby girl to her, offering what little comfort she could at the moment.

Princess cuddled up into the familiar warmth and her crying dwindled down to a distressed coo, knowing that she was in safe, capable hands. Jayce did not care that as she held the baby, the child's waste was oozing out of her diaper, soiling Jayce's suit jacket. All that ran through her mind was giving Princess some comfort and ridding the child of anything that might harm her. She dusted off any visible critters crawling on the baby, sniffling as she did so. She winced seeing little bumps and bites on the child's chilled, brown skin.

Princess whimpered into the soft material of Jayce's tan jacket, clutching onto a lapel with a tiny, chestnut-colored fist. Jayce felt the child's cold breath against her neck and noted the rapid rise and fall of Princess's chest. She could hear the congestion inside of the child and feel what a struggle it was for her to breath.

"It's okay, pretty baby. Auntie is here now and she's going to take care of you. Let's get you into something clean and warm first. Then Auntie is going to get you some food and take you to see good old Doctor Laramie to make sure you're all right," Jayce promised, speaking in soothing tone as she bounced her niece gently in her arms.

The ebony-haired adult rushed to where she knew her brother kept the baby's diapers, only to find the bag empty. Sucking her teeth and cursing in her head, she decided to just get out of the pigsty of an apartment as fast she could and settle things once she was outside. Wrapping Princess in her jacket for some form of protection, she rushed out into the crisp, autumn air, getting to her car in a flash; she was parked all the way at the other end of the street.

There was a car seat in the back of the small, clean, midnight blue coupe and Jayce quickly strapped Princess, having done the routine almost daily. She covered the baby in a blanket that was waiting and then jumped into the front seat. As she tugged on her seat belt, she glanced in the rear-view mirror to find that Princess was sound asleep. A small, smile curled onto Jayce's full lips.

"Sleep tight, Princess. You're safe with Auntie," Jayce vowed, speaking out loud for Princess to hear, as if the baby understood.

While Princess slept, Jayce pulled out her cell phone to start making calls. The first was to Doctor Laramie, demanding an appointment immediately because of an emergency. She had to speak with the doctor personally for it to be understood that she would be there in twenty minutes and they would see Princess, no arguments. With that out of the way, she felt just a little better, but she still had other calls to make.

Next on Jayce's hit list was her brother. She angrily punched the call button to get him on the line. She was not surprised when his voicemail picked up, but she was ready to leave a message so heated on his phone that she hoped he burst into flames when he heard it.

"Q, this is your sister, in case you're too fucking high to realize that. Now, listen carefully, you worthless, irresponsible, heartless bastard! I just found Princess on the floor in your filthy, fucking, rat-infested, covered-in-roaches apartment! You better hope to high heaven that shit isn't wrong with her or I'm beating your fucking ass the next time I see you, you miserable son of a bitch! What the hell type of man leaves a one-year-old alone in a fucking nasty, cold apartment?! You're a new type of asshole, you know that? You fucking deadbeat junkie! I swear to you that if anything's wrong with her it's your fucking head!"

Snorting in disgust, she ended the call with a violent press of the "end" button. For a few seconds, she drove in silence, her niece's ragged breathing assaulting her ears. Her gripped tightened on the steering wheel, whitening her caramel knuckles as she scowled so deeply the lines were probably permanently etched smooth features. She snatched up the phone again to make another call, avoiding crushing the wheel in her death-grip.

"Hello?" a female voice answered.

"Mom," Jayce said through gritted teeth.

"Who is this?" the voice asked quite seriously.

"I don't have time for this crap, Mom. Have you seen Quentin at all today?" Jayce inquired, wondering why the hell she had to be born into such a stupid fucking family. The only thing that made her fine with them was Princess and right now she was thinking the worst for the baby. So, at the moment, her bullshit tolerance was at a serious low.

"Why?" the voice was clipped and annoyed.

"Just answer the damn question!" Jayce roared, catching herself just enough to not wake the baby, but not enough to avoid having her mother hang up on her. "Shit," she hissed as she dialed the number again. "Mom, I'm sorry. This is serious, though. Have you seen Quentin?"

"Are you going to tell me why?" her mother replied, sounding smug, happy to be holding something against the young woman.

"Okay, look, I went by his place a while ago and the apartment was messed up. More so than usual. I think his dog ran away...if that was his dog. No one was there and the place was freezing. Anyway, Princess was just lying on the floor, covered in her own shit with bugs and shit on her. I just want to know how long she might have been there like that," Jayce explained, wiping away tears crawling down her cheeks. Stupid, fucking, idiot brother! How do you do that to helpless baby?!

"I'm sure he just stepped out for a while," her mother answered, as if the information that she just got was inconsequential.

"Mom, didn't you hear me?! The baby was covered in roaches and not the kind your idiot son smokes!" Jayce snarled. Her face was flushed from fury and a vein bulged out of her neck from the tension coursing through her.

That set her mother off. "Don't you talk about your brother like that! He has a disease and he is getting better!"

Jayce bit back a comment so hard that she could taste blood in her mouth. He's getting better?! She often wondered what fantasy world her mother lived in where Quentin was even trying to get better. As far as she was concerned he was a junkie and he was quite content with continuing to be a junkie. But, for the sake of her sanity, she kept that thought to herself.

"Mom, have you seen him at all today?" Jayce asked with a long sigh. The sooner she got off the phone with her mother, the better.

"I haven't, but I'm sure he'll be home soon. He probably just went out to get Princess something. He would never leave her alone for too long. He loves her so much, after all, Not like that good-for-nothing mother of hers."

"Her mother's dead, Mom," Jayce felt the need to point out, even though she knew that it would not matter to her mother.

"So what? That girl wasn't worth anything when she was alive. Always stealing Quentin's money and getting him hooked on those awful drugs."

Jayce rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she thought her mother was just plain crazy to spin the facts so far in favor of Quentin. Now, as Jayce recalled, the substance abuse was not the only thing that Quentin and Princess' mother had in common, but they were both worthless, sorry excuses for human beings. When they were not busy getting high together, they were both stealing from friends and family. Quentin did not have any money for Princess' mother to steal. But, that was neither here nor there since Princess' mother was gone and Quentin was missing in action.

"Mom, I've got to go," Jayce said as she pulled into the parking lot of the medical center. She disconnected before her mother said anything and glanced back at the sleeping baby. "Princess, your grandma is a bitch," she reported with a sneer.

The toddler did not stir, even as Jayce lifted her out of the car seat and took her into the cold once again. Princess borrowed deeper into her aunt's warmth while remaining asleep. Jayce hustled into the medical center, not wanting to expose the child to the elements for too long. She was taken to Doctor Laramie immediately.

The giant, blond pediatrician winced when he got a good look at Princess as Jayce settled the baby on the small examination table, which was designed to look like a fire truck. Questioning aqua eyes met a desperate near-onyx gaze. He ran his hand through his short, curly hair and shook his head.

"I'm going to need to make a call on this one, aren't I?" the good doctor asked, sorrow clouding his eyes. There was no way around it, not with him being able to tell the baby was in such poor condition from sight alone. Really, he had been dying to make the call months ago, but he was not sure how Jayce would react and the baby seemed to be doing all right. Right now, he could see in the aunt's eyes that she knew what needed to be done and she was ready to do it.

"I think so. I'm going to keep her with me. I don't know where her no-good, bastard of a father is and I don't know how long she was in his nasty apartment alone. I just know that when I found her bugs were on her and she was lying in her own shit," Jayce explained with disgust in her tone and a snarl on her lip. At the moment, she was pissed off just being related to her asshole brother.

"I'm glad you came here immediately. Is that her breathing?" he asked as short, raspy inhales and exhales reached his ears.

"Yup."

"Okay, let's get to the little lady first and then we'll talk."

Jayce nodded and then stepped out of the way. Doctor Laramie peeled Princess out of Jayce's suit jacket and then had to peel her out of the diaper that she was in. He shook his head through the examination, but Jayce could tell it was more from moral outrage than anything else. When he was done, he allowed Jayce to bathe Princess in the sink, get her into a fresh diaper, and he had some clothes for her to wear.

"This was a lousy day to forget my baby bag," Jayce muttered, eyes looking away in disappointment.

"How could you have foreseen this?" Doctor Laramie pointed out.

"Because I know my brother's a worthless bastard. Every day I go over there, I think about what kind of shit Princess is living in and I always have her baby bag, just in case. I took it out of the trunk last night to replace some things in it and just forgot to put it back in the car. So stupid," she berated herself with more disgust tugging at her top lip.

"It's all right, Jayce. You're the best thing going in Princess' life right now. I'm sure if you weren't around, she'd be dead by now," he told her, dead serious in every way possible.

Jayce nodded a little, the fact staring her right in the face at the moment. "I don't like to think about that. I'm here now and I'm going to do my best with her."

"I know you are. I'm going to make that call as soon as you get out of here. I don't want you to give Princess back to your brother."

"I wasn't planning on it," Jayce replied. She would not let that good-for-nothing prick anywhere near this child ever again, not after this incident.

"Good. Keep her with you while I make some calls, beyond reporting this. Jayce, I think it would be best if you were Princess' fulltime guardian."

"I agree."

Doctor Laramie did not think it was odd for her to agree so quickly. He had come to know Jayce very well over the past year; that was how long Princess had been alive and Jayce had come to him to be her pediatrician. Jayce brought the child in regularly thanks to Princess' half-ass, absentee dad. He was sure Jayce was the reason Princess was still alive and relatively healthy.

"Jayce, do you understand what I'm saying? When I start making calls and pulling strings, I'm going to let everyone know that I think it would be in Princess' best interest to stay with you permanently," the blond stated clearly.

"I totally get what you're saying and I agree."

"Good. Don't let Princess out of your sight until this is all straightened out. I don't want there to be a chance for someone to send her back to your brother or for her to get lost in the system when she has a loving family member to look out for her."

Jayce nodded. "We might meet a roadblock in this, doc. My mother isn't going to like this idea one little bit."

"Why? Does your mother hate Princess or something?" Doctor Laramie asked, even though he could not fathom such a thing. Despite her circumstances, Princess was a cheerful little child, who would smile and laugh at the drop of a hat and loved nothing more than to cuddle with people.

"My mother hates me. And I do mean hate. This woman has called me a cunt-licker to my face and slapped me in front of coworkers and friends," Jayce informed him.

A noise and nod came before anything else. "One of those, huh? Jayce, you're just going to have to be strong and fight against your mom if it comes to that. Unless, of course, you just want your mother to end up with Princess because I won't stand for her going back to your brother."

"If my mother got Princess, she'd give her right back to her fuck-up of a favorite child. She doesn't think there's anything seriously wrong with Quentin."

Doctor Laramie grimaced. "Is she blind as well as homophobic?" The question was serious because he had never met Quentin and knew the man was "fucked up." In fact, he was sure that description did not even scratch the surface when it came to Quentin.

"No, that's just her precious first son. The brilliant stock broker."

"The deadbeat dad," Doctor Laramie added with bite in his tone.

"Can't call you a liar on that. So, how does this work? Am I going to get a call from someone or anything?" she asked curiously. She wanted to be totally prepared for anything to make sure nothing went wrong with this procedure.

"More than likely you'll get it today. Go home and relax. I'll make sure you get a little time. Besides, the woman I'm going to call is more than likely going to want to see the mess you pulled Princess out of before calling you. And I'll make sure she knows you have to go get medicine for this little cutie," Doctor Laramie replied, gently caressing Princess' tender head, injured from insect bites and poor hygiene. A sorrowful sigh escaped his throat when he saw the baby wince from a soft touch.

"Thanks, doc."

"Thank you, Jayce. I'm glad you got to Princess in time. Stuck on her back with all of that phlegm building could've been bad, really bad. If it was as cold as you said it was, that would have only made things worse. She probably would not have been able to stand that exposure for much longer."

Jayce nodded, understanding the unsaid words there. Dark eyes glanced down at Princess as Jayce held the child close to her, feeling Princess' congested chest against her own. She could not believe what happened in between the few days since she last saw the baby. Her brother was seriously a jerk, she thought. She kissed the baby's cheek, silently vowing to take the best care of Princess. There was no way in hell she was going to let her brother destroy the only good thing he had ever done in life.

Jayce and Doctor Laramie bid each other farewell and Jayce went to go get Princess' medicine to clear her chest. After a quick trip to the pharmacy that was right across the street, Jayce moved to get some food into Princess' stomach. She got some pudding and a couple of bananas for the girl. Princess devoured her bananas on her own, holding onto the food for dear life and getting it to her mouth efficiently through out the car ride. The pudding waited until they got home to Jayce's two-story condo.

"Come on, pretty baby, we're gonna feed you some pudding and then watch some funny cartoons before all pretty babies have to go beddy-bye," Jayce cooed as she unstrapped Princess from her car seat.

Princess smiled and cooed back, as if she understood. The child cheered once she was in her aunt's arms and cheered even more when they entered the two-floor condo. The usual smell of vanilla greeted them, causing Jayce to wrinkle her nose a little; she was not a fan of the scent. Leaning down, Jayce put Princess down on the lilac-colored carpet while she remained on the purple tile to remove her shoes.

With her feet free of the dreaded heels, which were barely two inches high, Jayce picked the baby up again. She went to change out of her work clothes, which was a tan-colored skirt and black shirt. After putting on pajama pants and a tee-shirt, they returned downstairs. Princess was fed and Jayce put on cartoons as promised in the living room. They were bouncing around on the cream-colored sofa singing along with a show; well, Jayce was singing while Princess was making noise. The sound of front door opening caught Jayce's attention. Jayce glanced up after a few seconds and smiled as her girlfriend entered the house.

"Hey, Jannie, we've got a guest!" Jayce announced, holding out the smiling baby.

"Hey, there Princess. You staying the night?" the newcomer asked, kissing the child's cheek before giving Jayce a kiss on the lips. The child giggled from the affection.

"She is," Jayce confirmed with a smile.

"Hmm, I guess that's going to make it hard for you to take me out to dinner tonight, but there's always tomorrow," Jannie commented with a bright smile. Her hazel eyes shined, thinking about the night that they would spend together. Sure, she would have preferred it tonight, but waiting would enhance it, she believed. Besides, Jayce would probably make up for making her wait, which would be even better.

Dark eyes glanced away and Jannie did not miss the move. She stood back up to her proper height, which was an inch shorter than Jayce's own height, while Jayce put Princess on the floor. The taller woman was about to say something, but Jannie shook her head, her thin, long braids moving with her head. That movement alone warned Jayce not to say anything if she did not want a huge blow up right now. Jannie strolled away, going to upstairs to change out of her street clothes, which were chic and stylish, like she was.

Jayce did not think anything of it, even though deep down she was aware a storm was brewing; that was clear from the heated look in Jannie's light brown eyes. She turned her attention back to the baby and picked Princess up. Bouncing and singing resumed, joined with some loud giggling by a very happy Princess.

Jannie came back dressed in sweats and a tight tank-top, as if showing Jayce just what she was not having that night. There was an intense look on Jannie's deep cocoa face, tension pulling down the youthful visage into a twisted scowl. There was suspicion and indignation in her hazel eyes, which got a small gulp out of Jayce.

"Why didn't you tell me you were getting Princess?" Jannie inquired, her voice tight, letting Jayce know she was in big trouble already. Leave it to Jayce to do something that involved the two of them, but not let her know about it, she mentally huffed. It's inconsiderate bullshit like this that keeps Jayce in trouble.

"I didn't know I was. I just went to check on her, but my dickhead brother wasn't home. Bugs were eating her and she's sick. God only knows the last time she ate before I got her. I had to bring her home," Jayce answered honestly, trying her best to ignore the slight glare that she was getting. Her tone was strong, despite being in trouble, because she knew that she did the right thing.

Jannie nodded. "Okay, so, when she going home?" she asked bluntly.

"She's going to stay here from now on, Jannie. I can't send her back to Q! He'll leave her to die!" Jayce hissed, wanting to keep her voice down to not bother the baby. She had a feeling this might be a long discussion, so she put Princess down on the couch. Princess sat up and merrily watched her cartoons.

"Then send her to your mother," Jannie ordered with a scoff, waving off the taller woman's words with a flick of her wrist. Goddamn it, Jayce, stop being such a drama queen!

"Who will send her right back to Q, which is what I don't fucking want because he's obviously not taking care of her and doesn't seem to care if she lives or dies," Jayce pointed out, moving her hands back and forth with each word. What the hell don't you get about this Jannie? We need to help Princess.

An angry snarl tugged at Jannie's full lips. "So we just have to keep her? I don't mind her being here a day, but I'm not keeping a baby that's not mine indefinitely," she declared, pointing to her chest with her index and middle finger.

Jayce snorted. "Oh, so I'm supposed to just leave my one-year-old niece to fucking die? To hell with that!"

"Stop being so goddamn dramatic. You can give her to your mother. I know your mother would take her."

Jayce growled like a mad dog. "And give her back to Q. What the fuck part of that don't you get?" she demanded, hands chopping heavily through the air to emphasis every word that she spoke.

"How can you make that goddamn decision without even asking me?" Jannie snapped. Her eyes were on fire with rage burning bright and a bite in her tone as she motioned sharply to Jayce with two fingers.

"Because someone has to be the responsible one!"

"Then you be the goddamn responsible one sleeping in the playpen with Princess tonight!" Jannie declared as she stormed off, going back upstairs. Jayce winced when she heard the door slam.

"Princess, that didn't go as well as I thought it would," Jayce sighed. "I thought Auntie Jannie would be happy to have you over and stay with us, but I guess not."

Jayce was fine with things, even though she knew that she was going to be in the doghouse with Jannie for days to come, and that was if she was lucky. Sometimes, Jannie could be upset with her for weeks. In fact, she was pretty sure that it was going to take some fine jewelry, expensive wine, and maybe even a little vacation to get her out of trouble. She was supposed to be taking Jannie out to dinner and a show that night, but had instead brought her niece over unannounced to stay forever and pushed pretty much all of Jannie's buttons. The date was blown since Jannie would never go out with a baby, considering it low-class and distasteful behavior. Jayce had no idea where Jannie got such a notion.

"I guess it would be in pretty bad taste to take you to a play that late at night, but you'd probably sleep through it all anyway, wouldn't you, pretty baby?" Jayce cooed, earning a giggle from the toddler.

Jayce took Princess down the hall on the ground floor to the guestroom. The walls were a soothing, powder blue and light hardwood floors. It had the basics-a full bed with clean linens, a dresser, and television. Some of her clothing was already in there, as this was her bedroom whenever she was in hot water and banished from Jannie's bedroom. There were a few of Princess' things in there too since this was her room when she spent the night.

She settled in for her night in the room, which would be spent with Princess. She tucked the child into her makeshift bed; it was a playpen located opposite the bed. She had never been able to talk Jannie into buying a proper crib and was really never in the mood to hear the argument that would happen if she bought one without Jannie's permission. She imagined the volume alone during that argument would break her.

Princess rested her head on the tiny pillow in the playpen and curled up with a fluffy bunny that was almost the same size as she was. The baby put her thumb in her mouth and was out for the night seconds later. The caring aunt made sure to cover the baby with a blanket and stared at her for a moment. The sound of short, ragged breaths hurt Jayce's heart and after a few seconds, she could not listen anymore. Jayce was ready to drop off herself, but the phone rang.

Knowing it was bad omen to get a phone call a little before her usual bad time did not stop Jayce from grabbing the phone. She checked the caller ID to see that it was her mother, which she knew could not be good. Yet, she answered anyway. After all, it was better to know if her mother was planning something now rather than have it sprung on her in the future.

"Yes, Mom?" Jayce asked, barely hiding her annoyance with forced politeness.

"Who the hell do you think you are, taking Princess? Don't think you're keeping her!" her mother screamed. Jayce imagined that her mother's face was bright red from her fury, which was pretty much right.

"Mom...how do you know I have Princess?" Jayce inquired, even though she had a sinking suspicion as to who ratted her out. Fuck, Jannie, how could you do this to me?! I know you're upset, but to tell my mother? Damn it!

"That whore you eat out called me! She told me you're trying to steal Princess from Quentin! Like hell I'll let a degenerate bitch like you take my baby's daughter!" her mother hollered like a madwoman. A thud echoed through the phone, making Jayce think that her mother hit either a table or the wall.

"I'm a bitch? That fuck-head you call a son abandoned your granddaughter! Left her to fucking die! You goddamn right I'm keeping her!"

"You bring Princess here right now! I'll hold her until Quentin comes around for her," her mother stated, as if that was the most logical and righteous thing to do.

Jayce scoffed. "To hell with that plan. Princess is staying with me. I might even change her name while I've got her." She hated the fact that her niece was named "Princess."

The child was actually lucky that she was not named "baby" since it would have been the easiest for her parents to remember in their drugged-up realities. Thankfully, the hospital staff argued a little on naming a child "baby," but her parents still wanted something that would be hard for them to forget and eventually went with "Princess." God, they had named her like they were naming a puppy; actually, that was the name of the couple's dog. It had disgusted Jayce to no end and she did not take it as a good omen that the dog died a little while after Princess was born. Of course, her mother had taken the naming issue another way and thought it was absolutely adorable for Quentin to name his daughter "Princess" to show that she was like royalty. Quentin never bothered to correct his mother on her assumption because he really did not care.

Her mother snarled. "I'll ruin you before I let that happen," she proclaimed in a deadly serious tone.

Jayce snorted and disconnected the call, dropping the phone on the floor. She went to take a shower and do her nightly routine before going to sleep. Before crawling into bed herself, she put Princess in the bed too. She thought it would be nice for Princess to sleep on a mattress for once; even at Quentin's home, Princess slept in a hard-bottom playpen. It eased her mind to have the baby close too.

"Princess, I've got you now. I'm not going to let anybody hurt you anymore, no matter what," Jayce pledged aloud. A small yawn and tiny lips smacking was the response, but that was more than enough for the happy aunt.

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2: Do tell

The morning after Princess' arrival in the house was tense. Jayce and Jannie took turns glaring at each other while Jayce made breakfast. That only paused when Jayce went to the bedroom to get ready for work. Princess got ready as well; well, her aunt got her ready, but she ended up dressed. When the aunt and baby were prepared to leave, Jayce sighed and went to sit down next to Jannie on the sofa. Jannie was sitting comfortably, still dressed in her pajamas. She flipped through the paper while sipping her morning coffee, which rested on the cluttered coffee table.

"Baby, can we please talk about this?" Jayce begged, expression pleading with her lover to just open up and listen for a moment.

She hated to leave the house when they were upset with each other. One never knew how the day could go, after all. She always thought that this was something Jannie would understand, but it was not. Jannie had no problem holding into her anger for a long time, whether she saw Jayce or not. Jannie hated when people disagreed with her because she just knew that she was right and that was why she could hold a grudge the way that she did.

"You know how I feel about this. Your mom is perfectly fine with taking the baby, so you should give Princess to her," Jannie replied in a clipped tone, not even taking her eyes off of her paper.

Jayce's face tensed to the point where she could not speak for a moment. "So she can give Princess back to Quentin? God, the man didn't even want to name her and you want me to just let him have her back?!" she huffed incredulously. What the hell is wrong with you, Jannie?!

"She's his responsibility, not yours," Jannie stated soundly, making it seem like that was the most logical answer. For her, it was. She did not see why they needed to look after someone that was not their responsibility. Princess was not their child. She belonged to Quentin and he should have to bear that responsibility.

Jayce snarled in frustration, hitting herself in her chest with her palm. "She's my responsibility now. She needs me. She needs us," her voice softened her, as did her eyes, imploring her lover to understand.

"She can have your mother," Jannie countered calmly before taking another sip of her coffee.

Jayce frowned deeply and ran her hand over her mouth, as if trying to smooth out the tightness in her jaw. Her near-black eyes went to the ceiling and the floor as she tries to calm herself down. A few deep breaths followed, not really helping at first, but after a few seconds, she felt a little better.

"Baby, my mother will give her back to my brother. What about that don't you understand?" the taller woman begged to know. She could not figure out what was so hard about this. Giving Princess to her mother would be like giving Princess back to her brother, who did not care about the child in the first place.

"Why do you think it's your responsibility to take care of a child that isn't yours? Princess is your brother's and he's been taking care of her-" Jannie was cut off with a menacing glare from ebony pools.

"The hell he has!" Jayce snarled, feeling deeply insulted that her own girlfriend would say such a thing. "I've been with her since day one and I'm the one that's taking care of her now!" the older woman shouted with conviction, pointing to herself.

Jannie growled and tore herself off of the couch, wanting to stand toe-to-toe with her lover now. "Well, what about me?! I don't want a baby and I'm in this too! You didn't ask me. You just showed up with Princess and expected me to take to her like you, but to hell with that! I don't want a baby, especially one that neither of us gave birth to!" She punctuated that by poking Jayce hard in the center of her chest.

"This isn't just any baby. This is my niece we're talking about and I just can't do what you're suggesting. It's not possible. My mother hates for me to see Princess as it is. If I give her to my mom, not only will she give Princess back to Quentin, but she might convince him to never let me near the baby again, saying I tried to steal her or something. Can't you understand that?" Jayce inquired, eyes imploring her lover to just let up on this one thing. Jannie was not backing down, though.

"Can't you understand that I like our lives the way they are? I like being able to go out every night and stay out past midnight. I like being able to make love all night long, screaming like you're killing me. I like being able to watch something that's not animated or doesn't have puppets. I like how things are and I don't think things will be as bad as you think. You're just being paranoid," Jannie proclaimed as if it was completely obvious.

Jayce almost bite her tongue off to keep her from saying something awful. She swallowed down hateful words and decided that this was something they would have to discuss when she got back home. So, she leaned over and lightly kissed Jannie's cheek, trying her best not to leave while being upset with her girlfriend.

"That's not going to make me change my mind," Jannie commented dryly, obviously not helping.

"I know. We'll talk more when me and Princess get back. You know I hate for us to leave each other angry," Jayce replied.

Jannie nodded, taking in the words, but that did not cure her face of the scowl that she was sporting. Tilting her head, she presented Jayce her cheek again, but nothing more. Jayce took what she was getting, kissing her lover's cheek a second time. No, still doesn't make me feel any better.

"Princess, kiss Auntie Jannie goodbye," Jayce said, leaning down to put the child up. She then leaned Princess over to Jannie's cheek.

Princess wasted no time kissing the rich mocha cheek, making a smacking sound with her lips as she did so. The noise earned a chuckle from her aunt, but Jannie did not look moved. Jayce left the house after that, making sure to tell Jannie that she loved her on the way out. It did not go by Jayce that the words were not said back to her.

"Auntie Jannie was just a little upset, Princess. There's no way she'd really send you back to your idiot Daddy," Jayce said...well, she hoped so anyway. If Jannie tried anything really funny, they were going to have problems and for once Jannie would be on the bad end of things. She tried to put that out of her mind for now, though.

Jayce strapped the baby into the car and was off. She went to work, knowing that she was going to get an ear-full there too, showing up with a baby and everything. She did not care about that because she was not going to let Princess out of her sight. She was not going to give her mother the chance to grab the child when she was not looking. Her mother was the type that would scheme and plot, taking Princess the moment Jayce let her guard down.

Entering the small accounting firm, eyes did turn to see Jayce, immediately going to the bundle in her arms. There were whispers too as soon as they noticed the baby, who was marveling over her new environment. Odd looks came from most people, who watched Jayce march through the floor like nothing was out of the ordinary. A few people actually poked their heads out of their office to see what was going on. They all watched her until she was at her office door, wondering just what she was up to.

"Okay, Princess, this is where we're going to be spending the next few hours," Jayce informed the baby in a happy tone, stepping across the threshold into her office.

Putting down the baby bag, Jayce then gently placed her niece on the floor. Princess glanced around the modest-sized office with awe in her big, dark eyes while her aunt set up a play area for her off to the side of the room. She could figured it would be the best place for her to see the baby from her extremely orderly desk and Princess was out of the way if anyone came in. Jayce put Princess on a large blanket with a few toys, dolls, and her favorite tiny pillow; it had butterfly designs on all over it.

"Now, you be good, Princess, while Auntie crushes numbers for the next eight hours, okay?" Jayce said. Princess cheered in response before turning her attention to a couple of teddy bears.

While the baby played with her toys, Jayce got to work, turning on her computer and pulling out the files that she needed. She barely had time to exhale, let alone do any real work because the door to her office burst open as if the police were raiding her. Rolling her eyes, she glanced up in time to see her boss storm in like he was a one-man SWAT team. Frosty blue eyes glared at her as he pointed a manicured finger at Princess as if she was an object that was beneath him.

"Newton, what the hell is a baby doing in this office? This is an accounting firm, not a daycare!" he hollered, making sure the whole office knew that he was reprimanding her. His voice was shrill and often made her flinch when she heard it. Princess joined her in that.

Jayce frowned and her near-onyx eyes darkened to look like something beyond black as she glared up at her boss. She looked at the man as if he was short, which he was, but for her it was that he was short of character more than physical height. It was to the point that his tailor-made suit seemed to twist to accommodate deformed soul.

"Mister Huntington, I know this is an accounting firm, which explains why I'm trying to work on my accounts. Princess isn't bothering anyone, just sitting in my office with the door shut, so I don't see why it would be a problem for her to be in my office away from everyone," she explained with cold patience.

He stormed over to her desk, leaning his already hunched over, lanky body down to glare at her as if he was going to melt her with his stare. She had to bite back a comment about his grey hairpiece sliding a little as she waited for him to tear into her. The day was never complete without him personally chewing her out, after all.

"The point is..." He paused for dramatic effect, his nostrils flaring as he did so. This drew attention to his long, hooked nose. "...this is a place of business. Babies aren't allowed!"

Jayce arched an eyebrow and then scratched it with her long pinky nail. This was a habit that she picked up from Jannie, who did it way more often than necessary. The ebony-haired woman leaned forward a little, the light shining showed off her rust-colored highlights. She then answered him quite calmly, knowing it was the best way to deal with this little man with a big ego.

"Nowhere in the employee conduct code does it say that I cannot bring a baby to work with me. Now, as I was saying, she's not bothering anyone and I am working, so I don't see what the problem is," she stated coolly with an even look in her eyes. He glanced away for a moment and she felt a small victory as she watched him bristle slightly.

"The problem is that she doesn't belong here. Having a baby around takes away from the professional environment that we should show all of our clients at all time. Now, why don't you just take the kid to a daycare or babysitter or just drop her off at your mother's house?" he suggested, attempting to sound cordial. She was not buying it.

Jayce's frown cut deeper into her face and her glare was harder than diamond. "I've got her." Her tone left no room for argument.

Mister Huntington tried to match her glare, but found it impossible. "Just make sure she doesn't interfere with your work."

"She won't. Thank you." The clipped tone was so dismissive that Mister Huntington had no choice but to leave.

He leveled a heavy, heated stare at the baby before marching out of the office. Jayce sighed and turned her attention to her niece. Princess was happily gnawing on the arm of a teddy bear, oblivious to the action that just happened. Jayce chuckled a bit, seeing that the child was quite fine.

"Hey, Princess, I think that your grandma called her attack dog on us. Mister Huntington, or Ethan to your mean grandma, was probably on the phone with grandma this whole morning, trying to figure out how to get you out of my evil clutches. Ethan will do anything for Miss Marion Newton, you know? Even try to steal a baby from me, so she can give you back to your crack-head father," Jayce snorted, rolling her eyes in disgust.

She decided to stop talking, knowing that she would just end up bad-mouthing her mother and brother to Princess, which she knew was not good. There was a chance that all of that might stick with the baby, she considered, and she did not want Princess latching onto her dislike of her mother and brother. Princess should be able to grow up and make her own judgments on them.

The adult woman turned her attention back to her computer and got to work, making sure not to give her boss another excuse to come into her office. Of course, he never needed an excuse. She was spared another visit for a few hours, though. Princess did not make much noise and even though she did check on the baby every minute or so, Jayce was able to get through an average amount of work by lunchtime.

"Come on, Princess, let's go out and get something to eat," Jayce announced when she noticed that it was noon. She leaned down and picked up her niece. "You are such a good little baby, you know? You sat here for four hours and didn't make a fuss at all. Sure, you got cookie crumbs the blanket, but that's okay because I can wash that."

Princess giggled and cuddled into her aunt's warm shoulder. The baby rubbed her cheek into the soft material of Jayce's beige suit jacket, causing Jayce to laugh from the cute sight. As she left, Jayce noticed Mister Huntington's blue eyes clocking her. She bet that he was going to make a call to her mother as soon as she was out of sight, but she did not care. She was not going to give her mother the chance to take Princess from her.

Jayce went to the same caf� every day for lunch and got the same seat every day. It was a ten-minute drive from her job, but she loved the place. It had wonderful food, excellent service, and was always in top condition. It was not a large place, but had a very friendly atmosphere. She set Princess up on the table by the wall, keeping her in her car seat for the moment. A youthful waitress bounced over to the table moments later.

"Hey, Jayce, you brought Princess with you!" the waitress grinned broadly, tickling the baby underneath her chin. Princess giggled like mad, more from the attention than from the actual tickling.

"Yes, she was telling me about how she really wanted to see Zoe and wanted some apple sauce from Marco's," Jayce replied with a smile. Despite the happy expression, there were lines under her eyes and her forehead was slightly wrinkled from pent up tension.

"Well, Zoe is here!" the waitress announced, tickling Princess more. The baby wiggled now, trying to escape, but she was still strapped into the seat. "Should I bring out a high-chair?" she asked, even though she knew the answer to that.

"I'm sure Princess would appreciate it, Zoe. She's not very good at eating in the car seat," Jayce answered with a small smile.

"No problem. You don't even bother to order. I know what you need today. Once I bring it to you, you tell me why you look so down, okay?" she requested with concern shining in her deep, brown eyes.

Jayce forced out a chuckle. "All right, Zoe."

Zoe smiled brightly, lighting up her creamy rounded face before prancing away. She quickly returned with a high chair for Princess, happily transferring the child from the car seat to the high chair while Jayce looked on. After tickling Princess some more, Zoe darted off to get their food. Jayce made a couple of faces at Princess until her phone rang and interrupted their play.

"Mom, what do you want?" Jayce answered the phone. Usually, she would have just let it ring, but she was curious as to what would make her mother actually talk to her. She would hate to find out her mother had found someway to get Princess and now wanted to taunt her about it, but she feared that was the case. If so, she would rather know now than have someone show up and surprisingly rip Princess out of her arms.

"Jayce, I'm giving you one last chance to bring me Princess, so she can go back to Quentin or I'm going to take you to court. You know no judge in the world would let a degenerate bitch like you have a child! You'd probably just molest her!" her mother proclaimed in a dead serious, thoroughly heated tone.

The ebony-haired woman rolled her eyes and snorted. "Mom, I'm a lesbian, not a pedophile. There's a big difference. I'm not giving you Princess, so I guess I'll just see you in court."

"I'm going to get my granddaughter! Don't think you'll win this!" her mother shrieked as loud as she could.

Jayce sighed and slammed her phone shut, even though she was sure that her mother was not done ranting yet. She put the phone away and turned her attention back to her niece. After a few more funny faces, Zoe returned with just what Jayce needed-one of the caf�'s famous tuna-melt sandwiches with fries on the side. Jayce bit into her sandwich while Zoe sat down to feed the baby her applesauce.

"So, tell me what's going on to make you look like you've got one foot in the grave already?" Zoe asked, sliding into the empty seat across from the accountant.

Against her better judgment, Jayce went into the story of finding Princess abandoned in Quentin's apartment and deciding to take custody of the girl only for her girlfriend to hated the idea and betray her to her mother in less than an hour of finding out that she planned to keep Princess. Making matters worse, her mother wanted the baby to take her back to Quentin and had Mister Huntington playing spy for her while threatening to take Jayce to court. Zoe did not look surprised through out the story, which did not go by the older woman.

"Okay, Zoe, I know there's a reason you look like you expected to hear all of that, so what is it?" Jayce inquired. She also knew that the entire caf� staff was going to know what happened to her about a minute after she left the restaurant.

"I didn't expect it, but it all makes sense to me. I'm sorry you had to find Princess like that, but this might be a blessing in disguise. I mean, you love Princess and I know you want to do the best you can for her. I'm glad you're trying to get custody of her. You're the best thing for her more than likely. I mean, I know I only met your brother once, but he beg you for money and then he did try to rob us right after, so I figure it's safe to assume he's a jackass. Jannie's a bitch from what I can tell from the way she's always yelling at you on the phone," the waitress explained calmly.

"Hey!" Jayce shouted in outrage.

Zoe held up her hands in surrender. "Look, I know you love her and everything, but she's always whining to you about something or another on the phone. Sometimes you just look miserable while talking to her. You even do a pathetic 'yes, dear' kind of voice when you talk to her most of the time. I'm glad I never met her." Never saying it out loud, Zoe always knew it was a bad thing when she never saw Jayce's girlfriends because it meant that Jayce did not want to share one of her favorite places with someone sharing her life. Jayce had only brought a couple of very special women to the bistro that was a few years ago.

"Jannie isn't that bad. I wouldn't have stayed with her for a year if she was," Jayce pointed out, hoping that would get the waitress to drop the topic. Of course, no such luck there.

Zoe nodded. "I guess you're right about that. I've seen you go through real bitches in a couple of weeks, so I guess Jannie can't be that bad. Still, it doesn't look good on her to just call Marion on you like that, knowing how fucked up your relationship is with your mother."

Jayce sighed, but stopped herself from agreeing. "She's just used to getting her way. She didn't know what to do when I didn't give into her. I thought she'd love the idea of helping Princess, knowing about Princess' situation and everything, but now that I think about it, she's never really been much of a fan of Princess."

"No?" Zoe looked at the baby. "Who couldn't be a fan of such a cutie?!" she asked incredulously. She then had to tickle the child's chin and made cooing noises at her. Princess, as expected, erupted into joyous giggles. Zoe silently decided that only someone made of stone could not like that smiling face.

"I think Jannie gets jealous of Princess whenever I have her. If I have Princess, I never pay Jannie as much attention as I usually do."

"Oh, right, she's an attention whore."

"Zoe!" Jayce snapped, glaring at the shorter woman.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. I sometimes forget this is the love of your life. She just doesn't seem very loving when she's yelling at you so loudly, I can hear her over by the cash register. That just doesn't make any sense. So, do you think Marion has a shot at getting Princess? I hope she doesn't. I want Princess to live and have a happy childhood."

Jayce nodded in agreement. "I do too, but my mom does have more connections than I do. If we get a homophobic judge, I'm screwed. If we get a judge that knew my father and thus knows my mother, I'm really screwed. I guess I need to start looking up lawyers. At least Doctor Laramie is with me on this. Having her doctor on my side should look good."

Zoe nodded again before turning back to Princess to feed her more applesauce. Jayce dug into her sandwich and fries. Thankfully, the conversation dropped as Zoe kept her attention trained on the baby. By the time Jayce was done with her meal, Princess was eating cookies and enjoying some juice.

"Okay, Princess, say bye to Zoe and tell her we'll see her tomorrow, but we really need to get back to work," Jayce announced with a smile as she lifted the baby out of the high chair.

The waitress laughed and turned her attention to the baby. "You working hard, Princess? Crunching those numbers while your aunt plays around," she joked. Then she turned her brown eyes to Jayce. "Good luck with everything, Jayce. Keep me updated," Zoe said.

"You'll just bug me about it every day if I don't," Jayce pointed out, pulling out money for the bill and for Zoe's tip. It was the high gratuity that started their friendship and Jayce did not see why that should change after they had become friends. Zoe always provided her with excellent service, so she always provided an excellent tip.

"You're damn right about that!" the waitress replied with a grin as Jayce handed her the money, which she did not even bother to count.

They laughed and hugged before Jayce and Princess took their leave. The afternoon at work was the same as the morning. Jayce was not really looking forward to going home, knowing that an argument with Jannie awaited her, but she had to go home sometime. She figured it was best to get the argument out of the way and then start looking for a lawyer to keep her mother at bay.

---------------

"Jayce, are you sure you can handle meetings today with Princess in your office?" a coworker asked Jayce as she came into the office with her now-usual cargo. After a week, everyone expected to see the child.

"It shouldn't be a problem. You know Princess is well behaved. It'll be like she's not even there," Jayce answered. Princess always seemed to be fine with being left alone on her blanket with her toys, hardly ever making a noise unless she was hungry or wet.

"Okay, but you know Huntington's going to be on your ass for this."

"Isn't he always? Everything should be all right," Jayce assured her coworker.

"You know, I could hold her in my office for you."

"You don't have to. I've got her," Jayce answered. She had not let Princess out of her sight for a week and she was not going to start now. If Jannie yelling at her did not get her to yield, then nothing from Ethan Huntington was going to get her leave Princess anywhere.

Jayce went to her office and set Princess up in her play area like she had done everyday that week. Then, she got her files together for the series of meeting that she had to conduct that day. Everything was in order by the time her first client came in. Almost immediately, he noticed the baby on the floor and he made a strange face because of it. Jayce proceeded on like everything was normal, so he got over the fact that Princess was in the office.

Things progressed like that for the day. The shock of having the baby there did make the meetings go a little longer than she planned on. Things got even worse when one client tried to play with Princess. Something about the guy must have rubbed her the wrong way because she started crying. He hurried out of the room while Jayce tried to soothe the child by gently rocking her in her arms.

"Shh, pretty baby. I bet you're hungry, aren't you? I know we're running late, but I promise after this last client, we'll go to Marco's and you can see Zoe and have your favorite applesauce," Jayce vowed in a gentle tone.

She got the crying down to a light whimper when her office door opened for her last appointment. Dark eyes glanced over to the door to see a posed, tall woman step through, surveying the area with a light hazel gaze. The visitor's presence seemed to take up the whole room before she was even all the way in. The aura that she brought in with her was not a positive one. Her lip curled up as if she was scandalized when she caught sight of Jayce comforting the baby.

"Miss Tucker?" Jayce asked the sharply dressed newcomer. She was answered with a curt nod. "I'll be with you in a second. Please, have a seat," she said in a polite, professional manner.

"I don't have time for you to play babysitter. I'm a busy woman," Miss Tucker replied in a clipped tone, barely moving her mouth as she spoke. Stony hazel eyes locked onto Jayce, insulting her without saying anything. The tension in the rounded chocolate face seemed to come from being offended by Jayce's niece.

A frown almost cut onto Jayce's tanned face, but she caught herself. "Of course," she said, forcing out a small smile.

Miss Tucker took a seat, folding her left leg across her right, showing the tight crease in her black slacks. Jayce kissed Princess' face with the hope that it would be enough. She put the baby down and then went back to her desk. She faced Miss Tucker, thinking that the woman looked a bit familiar. She looks a little like Jannie, just taller and...scarier. There was a thought considering the fact that Jayce always thought that a furious Jannie was the most frightening sight ever.

"Now, Miss Tucker, I've been going through your files-" Jayce started, but she was quickly cut off by her client.

"Then you can tell me what the fuck happened to my goddamn money you stole," Miss Tucker stated evenly and bluntly, folding her arms across her chest, wrinkling her black suit jacket just a little.

Jayce blinked hard, caught very much off-guard by that accusation. "Excuse me? Stealing from you? You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

"I call it how I see it. You're in charge of keeping track of the money from my businesses, so when money starts to disappear and you don't do anything about it, I have to assume you're the one stealing it," Miss Tucker commented coolly, as if it all made perfect sense.

"You've got some nerve!" Jayce shouted and she was about to really cut into her client, but Princess started wailing. Jayce was at her niece's side in an instant and trying to quiet her down. "Shh, pretty baby. It's okay. Nothing's wrong..." she cooed to the distressed child, rocking Princess gently in her arms and stroking her hair.

"The hell it isn't! How the hell are we supposed to have a meeting and talk when you've got a damned crying baby in your office? Is the whole firm full of shit or is it just you?" Miss Tucker hollered, shooting out of her chair. She stood almost six inches taller than Jayce, but something about her made her seem like a hundred feet high. It did not make Jayce back down, though.

"Gee, I dunno. Is your business full of bastards or is it just you?" Jayce countered, sneering at the amazon before her.

Miss Tucker glared daggers at Jayce in a manner that she was very familiar with. She stuck her index finger in Jayce's face, like she was about to verbally tear Jayce a new asshole, but decided against it. Turning on her heel, amazingly enough not snapping her high-heel while she was at it. She stormed out of the office, yanking the door so hard on her way out that it looked like she was about to pull it out of the wall. The knob slammed into the wall and sounded like a thunderclap when it impacted the wall, taking some paint off with it. A grimace shot through Jayce from the noise and also what she suspected she had just done.

"Princess, Auntie might just have lost her job," Jayce muttered as her client fled the scene. She shook her head a little, disappointed in herself.

Princess did not seem to care about that, still fussing from the noise and hunger. Jayce figured she might as well go have lunch and she could find out what happened when she got back. Packing up the baby's things, the pair left for Marco's bistro for their lunch. When they came back, Jayce was not surprised that she was summoned to Mister Huntington's office.

"Yeah, Princess, Auntie is definitely out of a job," Jayce whispered to the child as she marched down the hall, feeling like she was taking the long walk to her own execution. She halted at the double-doors and turned her attention to the secretary's desk to her left. "So, Mister Huntington wanted to see me," she said.

"Oh, yes, Miss Newton, go right in. He's waiting for you," the young woman answered. "Um...would you like me to hold the baby for you?"

Jayce shook her head. "No, that's quite all right," she answered politely.

The tan female stepped into the office, spotting her boss at his desk on the opposite end. The office was almost triple the size of her own, decorated with much darker colors. She did not see how he even conducted business in there because the atmosphere seemed almost gloomy, not helped by the giant, full body portrait of Ethan Huntington hanging on his right wall. The painting made it seem like he was glaring down on whoever was in the office, employees and clients alike.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Jayce inquired.

"Come here, Newton. Why the hell do you still have this baby with you?" he huffed, growling at her a little. All week he had been bugging her and questioning her about Princess, but never getting a straight answer from her.

"I'm not letting her out of my sight-ever. Simple as that. Now, you wanted to see me?" she asked again, standing in front of his desk now. She cuddled Princess close to her to make sure the baby did not start crying; little did she know, but Princess was napping at the moment.

"I had a client in here earlier, screaming bloody murder on you. And not the first one. First she said that money was missing from her accounts ant you never said anything about it. Did you actually embezzle money from a client, Newton? Are you really that much of a fucking idiot?" he inquired, looking like he wanted to laugh at her.

"I didn't embezzle anything, sir," she replied in a tight tone. "I hadn't seen the figures for that account yet."

"In other words, you didn't do your job. You're not competent enough to do this job or something, Newton? That's what it looks like from here."

She growled. "I am a good accountant," she stated in a firm tone.

"Clients from today would definitely disagree. Plenty of people wanted to know what the hell was wrong with you, conducting meetings with a crying baby in your office, paying more attention to the baby than their money and businesses, and all of this other bullshit," Mister Huntington stated, knocking his hand on his desk with each point that he made. His blue eyes showed a demonic delight in being able to dress her down for once without her having some smart remark.

"That's not what happened, sir. Princess was perfectly fine through all of those meetings and no one complained to me about her," she argued.

"They don't need to complain to you. If they are dissatisfied with your performance, they go to the boss to explain whatever issues they have with you. Now, all you had to do was put the brat in daycare, but you want to be difficult."

"I'm not letting her out of my sight," Jayce said for what felt like the millionth time that week.

"Then you're going to lose your job."

"Oh, so the choice here is leave Princess at a daycare or become unemployed?" she asked. It seemed like a strange choice and she knew it was because he was trying to help her mother. He had her between a rock and a hard place because her job was important to her, but he miscalculated.

"That's the choice. I'll even talk to one client who says you've been stealing from her." A smirk pulled at his lips that made him look like the devil to her.

"I didn't steal anything, but I will clean out my office right now. You know where to send my last paycheck. Thank you for the opportunity to work here," Jayce said in a surprisingly civil tone. She had been sure that when she was finally fired, she would finally call him a "dick-head" or something, but she did not even feel like it. She just wanted to get out of there.

Mister Huntington's face dropped in disbelief as Jayce took her leave. He did not think that she would actually leave. It would have been so much easier for them both if she just put Princess in daycare, he thought. She was sure that he was going to be on the phone with her mother as soon as she was gone, but she did not care about that. She went to clean out her office and left as soon as possible, not daring to go home yet because Jannie would be there. She did not feel up to dealing with how Jannie would handle her being fired.

"Marco's it is then," Jayce decided, leaving the firm for the last time.

---------------

3: Breakfast at Marco's

Zoe sighed as she leaned against the front counter, almond-shaped eyes focused on what was quickly becoming a normal occurrence. Concern laced her deep brown eyes, which did not go unnoticed by her coworker. The cashier, who Zoe was standing near, turned to see what Zoe was looking at.

"Geez, Jayce is here again," the cashier commented, green eyes watching Jayce now too. He shook his head, somewhat disappointed at the sight. Like all the other employees at the caf�, he loved having Jayce there, but having her there as she was now just screamed that something was wrong. It was written all over her demeanor, obvious in her eyes, even though she tried to hide it behind a cheerful smile.

"Every day at nine exactly. She got fired," Zoe replied, sounding quite dejected. From the sound of her voice, it seemed like she was the one who was fired.

The cashier, a short teenage boy with a cream-colored baby face, blond ponytail that went to the middle of his back, and two piercings in his eyebrow, looked skeptical that such a thing could happen. He knew that Jayce was a hard worker and he knew that she was beyond competent. After all, she had given most of the employees and the restaurant owner money advice at some point. Very good money advice that had saved an ass or two...or more. It did not make any sense for her to get fired.

"How do you know that?" he asked curiously, turning his mouth up a little.

"She told me, jackass. I talk to her everyday since I'm not stuck behind the counter and there are lulls in my section every now and then. She basically comes here because she knows she'll get the peace and quiet to look for a new job and get advice on what to do about her mother, who's trying to take Princess from her and giving her all kinds of hell every minute about it too," Zoe reported with a sigh. It was as if she hurt for Jayce, which she really did. It pained her that someone as sweet as Jayce was going through such horrible things.

His mouth dropped open, ready to hit the ground, but he started talking first. "Get the hell out! Why would she take Princess? Jayce loves that kid like she gave birth to her! From what I've seen with her father, I'm shocked he didn't try to give her to Jayce days after she was born anyway," he proclaimed, moving his hands wildly as he spoke, like that would somehow make sense of everything that he was hearing.

"You're preaching to the converted, Sam. Hell, I'm the one that told you all of this," she pointed out, making a hand motion between the two of them.

He nodded. "Do you think her mother will do it?" he inquired, some fear shaking his voice as he glanced over to Jayce and the baby again. He hated to think what would happen to Jayce if someone took Princess from her. It was so clear that Jayce loved Princess with all of her heart and he thought only a monster would want to break that bond. Only a monster would take Princess away from such a caring, loving, kind individual too, he silently concluded.

The waitress shrugged. "From what I can tell just from looking in her eyes when she talks about it, she's really scared that her mother will succeed. She's not getting much help, even though she's looking really hard. Her mother's got a lot of clout apparently and doesn't mind trying to move Heaven and Earth to show she's got power. I think it comes from her father. He used to be a banker or something and had a lot of powerful clients. Sad thing is, as great as her father was and as big as he was around here, when she graduated school, she couldn't get an accounting job anywhere. It was like she was blacklisted before she even started. I hope that changes now," Zoe said with another sigh. Although it did not seem to be changing because, from what she could see, Jayce was no closer to being employed than ever before.

"Not if her mother is the bitch you make her sound like. Her life sucks," Sam stated the obvious, sucking his teeth as he did so. A frown settled on his smooth, youthful face, hating that Jayce's own mother could be such an asshole toward her. "Why doesn't she just do this at home, though?" he asked. He figured that it would be better for Princess at the least if Jayce stayed home to do whatever it was that she did while she was at the bistro all day.

Zoe scoffed dramatically and made a show of rolling her eyes. "Extra-bitchy girlfriend," she answered in a biting tone.

Sam shook his head and snorted. "Damn. Her life really does suck."

"That's putting it mildly," the waitress muttered, folding her arms tightly across her chest, slightly wrinkling her pristine lilac-colored uniform shirt.

"You wanna treat her to a muffin?" Sam proposed out of the blue. It was the only thing that he could think of to show his support and try to get their regular to feel better. He figured it would at least remind Jayce that there were people that cared about her. Sure, most of them were just high-schoolers or college students, but they were people, who all agreed that she was several kinds of pure awesome.

"She's unemployed in a custody battle with her bitchy mother and getting no support from her girlfriend and you want to buy a muffin for her?" Zoe inquired in disbelief with an arched eyebrow. She cut her eyes to him, almost as if she was calling him an idiot in her mind.

"Blueberry muffin?" he added, almost as if to correct his mistake of daring to suggest just a regular muffin.

"Better make sure it's warm."

Sam nodded and went to work on that. Zoe delivered the muffin, which earned her a tired smile and small thanks from Jayce. Zoe stayed a while to give Princess some attention and get her out of the high chair. The baby clapped and cheered, beyond happy to be freed from the confines of the chair. This got another smile from Jayce.

The happy expression did not disguise the exhaust carved into Jayce's face. There were dark circles around her eyes. Jagged, worry lines marred her tanned face, cutting the corners of her mouth and just underneath her eyes. Her hair was fuzzy, as if her weariness had caused a static build up on the top of her head. Even her clothing seemed to be fitting her funny thanks to all of the stress in her life.

"If I have spend another week here, Princess'll probably run to my mother to never have to see another high chair again," Jayce commented, forcing out a laugh. Her eyes belied her true fear, though, which was that her mother was going to get Princess no matter what she did. She swallowed down some nervousness and it settled in her stomach, causing a burning sensation there.

"Princess knows you're doing your best for her, so she'll be here for you, like you are for her, even if it takes a year of you sitting in here," Zoe remarked while swinging Princess, earning lively giggles from the baby.

"I hope it doesn't take that long. My butt wouldn't be able to take it," Jayce joked, chuckling for the first time in two weeks. It was a forced chuckle, but it was better than nothing. At least she had tried to crack a joke, which Zoe took as a sign that there was still some fight in Jayce.

"Me and Sam won't be able to afford muffins for that long either," the waitress chimed in with a grin. She hoped that it lifted Jayce's spirits a little more, but it seemed to have the opposite effect as the unemployed woman's shoulders slumped.

Jayce's head dropped and her dark eyes fell to the floor. "I'm sorry if I'm in your way. I could just go home..." she murmured, sounding as defeated as she felt. Could I be any more of a loser?!

Zoe scoffed. "Jayce, don't be an idiot! We love having you here and you're not in the way. This is your damned table and everything. We just wished you weren't hanging around because you can't go home without Jannie screaming her head off at you about getting fired. Not like it was your fault anyway."

"Well, Jannie's not going to believe that. I think the bitch that got me fired was her sister," Jayce sighed, shaking her head. The attitude certainly had a strong family resemblance as well as the appearance. There sure was a hatred of babies that they had in common too, or at least a hatred for Princess.

"Her sister?" Zoe gasped, eyes going wide from surprise. A family of assholes apparently. Poor Jayce, having the displeasure and poor luck of meeting both of them.

"She looked an awful lot like Jannie and they had the same last name. I remember a while ago, Jannie said she was going to try to help get me more clients and she'd start with her sister, who owns a couple of businesses. She never told me if worked out or not. I couldn't figure it out since I didn't know her sister's first name or what businesses she ran. Whenever Jannie talks about her, she always just says 'my big sister' and goes on from there. I just assumed nothing came of it, especially since Jannie never said anything. But, now that I think about it, I guess something did come of it. The only reason I don't think it was Jannie's sister is because Jannie hasn't been acting differently this week." Since Jannie had not thrown the greatest tantrum of all time and called her every name in the book, Jayce assumed her girlfriend was unaware of the fact that she lost her job. This was one thing that kept Jayce from believing that was Jannie's sister that got her fired because surely Jannie's sister would have said something to Jannie.

"Maybe it was just coincidence. Tucker isn't a crazy surname or anything like that. I'm sure plenty of people have that as a last name," the waitress said in a hopeful tone. It would be nice for something to work out for the former accountant, she thought. No matter how small.

Jayce nodded. "You're probably right. I mean, if that was Jannie's sister, I'm sure she would've said something to Jannie about having a fucked up accountant that was stealing money from her."

"I still can't believe she accused you of stealing from her. What an asshole!" Zoe huffed, a tight frown cutting across her face. Jayce was about the most honest and nicest person that she ever met and it really pissed her off for someone to even imply otherwise. Obviously that woman did not know Jayce at all.

"Watch the language in front of the Princess," Jayce requested, nodding toward the baby, who was now watching the adults intensely. This was mostly because Zoe stopped swinging her more than anything else.

Zoe laughed a little. "You should take your own advice. I think you swear more with her around than without. Do you mind if Princess helps me with my rounds? I'm not going to take her anywhere that you can't see." She knew that Jayce never let Princess out of her sight and even though she was sure that she could talk Jayce into letting her take Princess out of view, she did not want to cause Jayce that type of stress.

Jayce nodded and waved the waitress off. "It's fine, Zoe. It'll give me a chance to make a few phone calls and try to get a new job quickly."

Zoe nodded and took the baby to give Jayce a few minutes alone. Everyday since she had been fired a week ago, she came to the caf� and tried to find a new job. Thankfully, her favorite hangout spot had free wireless, so she could get a lot of work done. She had her laptop with her, working on her resume and sending out emails. She also contacted lawyers, trying to find someone to help her fight off her mother to keep Princess in her custody. So, far for both legal help and employment, she was just getting the run around.

She had anticipated that was going to happen, but that did not make the blow hurt any less. Her mother's talons reached far out and Marion Newton seemed to love nothing more than to use those talons to claw at her daughter. And of course if she could tear Jayce down while "helping out" her beloved son, it was all the better for Marion Newton.

The former accountant was not going to give up, though. Princess' life hung in the balance as far as she was concerned and she would be damned if she was going to let something happen to an innocent baby. So, she searched on, day in and day out. The progress was the same everyday-none. She tried her best not to let it discourage her, to put on a strong front, and to convince herself that she would make it through this crisis for Princess' sake.

The caf� was like Jayce's unofficial office. She easily admitted that she liked it much better than her old office. The people were much friendlier and more likeable at the caf� and she never had to bother worrying about Mister Huntington breathing down her neck anymore. The one problem was that she was not being paid to sit at that corner table by the window everyday. In fact, she was losing money by sitting there because she ordered food every hour out of guilt for taking up space.

The little bell on the door rang as a customer walked in. Jayce had learned to ignore the noise quickly, so she did not even bother to look up from her computer. Princess, who was sitting in a high chair next to her aunt, turned her attention away from her oatmeal cookies and cheered, but that did not get her aunt's attention either. Every now and then, Princess made some sort of sound when a patron entered the establishment. Jayce thought it was just a part of Princess' upbeat, happy personality; the baby just liked to see people. Other regulars, who knew the baby's habit, would wave and cheer back, which just drove Princess mad with delight.

"Uh...excuse me..." A familiar voice said, causing Jayce to turn her attention away from her laptop screen to her unwanted visitor.

At first, Jayce expected to see someone that might ask her if someone was sitting across from her. It was not unknown for the caf� to get very crowded at certain times and for strangers to sit together, but now should not be one of those times. In fact, she was certain that it was not one of those times when she saw who was addressing her. It was the unforgettable Miss Tucker.

"Hi, I'm Gus Tucker. I'm not too sure if you remember me-" Miss Tucker started, sounding very cordial and mellow. Her hazel eyes shined with a gentleness that was lacking when they first met. Somehow, she gave off an aura that still seemed to take up the whole room, but it was not the same as before; it was not menacing or malicious.

"Oh, believe me, a couple of weeks doesn't make me forget a woman who accused me of stealing," Jayce snapped, her eyes hardening like chipped obsidian. No, she definitely would not forget a woman that soiled her good name, did not seem to like Princess, and helped her lose her job.

Gus winced a little from the bite in Jayce's tone. She scratched her eyebrow with her pinky for a moment, which got Jayce's attention. It could be a coincidence that she does that just like Jannie does, Jayce thought.

"Look, sorry about that. I had just had the day from Hell. Actually, it was more like the week from Hell. Maybe even month. Anyway, finding out all of that money was missing and my accountant hadn't caught it was pretty much the final straw, so I figured I'd take it out on her. Well, you know that since I took it out on you. I really shouldn't have done that. I should've looked into things much more carefully than just assuming you were stealing from me. So, please, forgive me," Miss Tucker implored the smaller woman. Her light brown eyes begged for forgiveness.

Jayce could not help rolling her eyes and turned her attention back to her laptop. "Fine, whatever. Goodbye," she said, waving the businesswoman away. I don't have time for this shit.

A scowl cut through Gus' cocoa face and all of the earlier tenderness was wiped out of her gaze because she felt like she was being dismissed. "That's all you have to say? I'm trying to apologize here," she growled. The air around her seemed to crackle as her mood turned to anger.

"Accepted. Goodbye." The politeness that dripped out of her mouth upset Gus even more.

"Look, listen to me-" Gus pointed at the former accountant, who did not even bother to glance at her.

"I have. Goodbye," Jayce repeated, her voice final. The conversation was over.

Gus opened her mouth to say something, but Princess beat her to it. The baby shouted something that sounded suspiciously like "go!" but could have easily just been "ga." Either way, the noise cut into the conversation and ended it all.

Gus did an about-face, the scowl not leaving her tense, chocolate features as she headed for the front counter. Inside, she seethed, not used to being dismissed and deciding that she did not like it very much. Not to mention, she still felt like an ass from before and Jayce did not really seem to accept her apology. Now, she pretty much felt like pure shit and she blamed the unemployed accountant for that.

"Bitch," she said in a perfectly clear voice before turning her attention to the person working the register, who happened to be Zoe. "Hi, let me get-"

Zoe cut her off. "No," she stated in a hard voice while leveling a heated glare at the wannabe-but-not-gonna-be customer.

Gus blinked in surprise and some bemusement. "No? What do you mean 'no'?" It seemed to be a day of firsts. First she was dismissed and now she was being refused service. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before.

"I'm not going to serve you and when the regular cashier gets back from his phone call, I'm going to tell him not to serve you too. In fact, if our second cashier miraculously makes it here for the first time in days after getting knocked on her ass by the flu, I'll tell her not to serve you too," Zoe informed the older woman as if it was the most logical thing in the world. A smug look overtook her face, but venomous fury settled in her almond-shaped eyes.

"Who the hell are you to refuse to serve me? I'm a customer here just like anyone else," Gus huffed, rage hardening her eyes. Her jaw tensed as soon as she finished talking. God, I feel like I'm going to have to hit someone today or something! Hadn't I filled my quota for bullshit this month?!

"I have the right to refuse any customer I want and I refuse to serve you. I'm also going to make Sam refuse when he comes back, so you might as well just go somewhere else," Zoe said, calmly and decisively. It sounded simple enough to her, so she could not figure out why the tall woman before her was still standing there.

"I'm not going anywhere else. I'm here now and I want to order from here," Gus stated with the force of a woman not used to being told "no."

"Hell, no," Zoe replied and dismissed the woman with a flick of her wrist. Before Gus could retort, Sam returned to his post and immediately noticed that he stepped into a cold-war zone.

"Uh...what's going on?" the young man inquired curiously, silently hoping that the pressure from the thick tension did not kill him. He also hoped that he did not get drawn into the problem just from asking a simple question.

"This lady was just leaving," Zoe answered in a clipped tone, looking at Gus as if she was short and as if she loathed the taller woman.

"Excuse me..." Gus paused to look at the cashier's nametag. "Sam, do you think you could get your manager for me?" she requested in a collected, polite manner.

"Uh..." Sam glanced at Zoe.

"Go ahead and get him," Zoe told her coworker. She then cut her eyes at Gus. "Not gonna help you get service around here," she promised in a haughty tone.

Sam was happy to have an excuse to leave, even if it was only for a moment. He decided to hang back when he returned with the manager. The manager, a lanky man in his late twenties with a crooked tie, folded his arms across his chest as he turned his attention to the two women.

"All right, what's going on over here?" the manager inquired with patience in his tone despite the defensive nature of his stance.

"This...woman...refused to serve me," Gus replied, sneering in Zoe's direction as if the young woman disgusted her.

"Zoe, why are you making trouble so early in the morning? Why don't you go play with Princess and leave the adults to work?" the manager teased the Asian woman. He was hoping to defuse the situation and save face for both ladies. The way neither female moved, though, told him that things were not going to be that easy.

The young waitress rolled her eyes. "I'm not making any damn trouble. It's this..." Pausing, she turned to look Gus in the eye and said the next word with deep hatred, "...bitch that's make trouble. She called Jayce a bitch for no reason after bothering the shit out of Jayce for no reason. You know Jayce doesn't need this shit, trying to find work and get her mother off of her back. Things have been hard for her since she got fired after that bastard boss of her accused her of stealing from a client."

"Fired...?" Gus muttered, glancing over at her former accountant, who was buried in her laptop. Jayce looked up for a second, but her attention was on her niece, not that scene at the counter.

The manager put his hands up. "Whoa, calm down, Zoe. Okay, I can see why you're all bent out of shape, but you don't have to serve her," he pointed out. He was sure that easy solution had not escaped her, so he could only wonder what why she was still standing at the register.

Zoe frowned. "I don't think we should serve her at all. She's an asshole."

"Zoe, look, I like Jayce as much as the next person. I'm glad she's always in here, but we're not going to turn away business just because you're outraged and someone hasn't taken to Jayce like we have. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Maybe there's a reason this woman doesn't like Jayce," the manager reasoned in a calm tone.

"How can you not like Jayce unless you're some sort of asshole?" Zoe countered quite seriously. From all the time that Jayce had been coming into the caf�, they all knew that it was a rare day indeed for someone to dislike her. The only person that seemed to constantly and consistently detest Jayce was her mother. Often ex-girlfriends even turned into friends for Jayce. Hell, people that tried to pick Jayce up and got turned down often walk away from her with a smile. So, Zoe could not figure out how a person could not like Jayce unless there was something seriously wrong with that person.

Gus did not even hear being called an asshole again. Her attention remained on Jayce and the guilt that she felt from before seemed to intensify with every passing second. She suddenly walked away from the counter, away from the discussion, leaving a confused manager and a triumphant Zoe in her wake. Gus wandered back toward Jayce, eyes locked on Jayce and shoulders heavy with the consequences of her actions. She loomed over the accountant, who did not turn away from her computer.

"Hey, can I talk to you for just a moment?" Gus requested in a soft, remorseful voice.

"Why don't you just leave her the hell alone?" Zoe huffed, speaking loud enough for Gus to hear her. She was ready to charge over to the hazel-eyed woman and yank Gus away from her good friend. Sam and the manager held her back, telling her that she needed to mind her business.

Gus glanced over her shoulder to look at Zoe, but then dismissed the Asian woman by turning back to Jayce. "Okay, look, I deserve the cold shoulder. I didn't realize my bad day and my actions would actually go so far as to get you fired," she explained, voice still humble and apologetic. But, as she spoke, she realized how idiotic she must have sounded.

Jayce scoffed, near-onyx eyes turning to Gus laced with disbelief. "You complained to my boss about me stealing from you and you didn't think it would get me fired?" she inquired incredulously.

"I never said specifically that you stole from me. I just told your boss that money was missing and you didn't catch it," Gus replied. So stupid! Of course my complaints got her fired! Underneath it all, I knew that too. I just didn't care at the time. Okay, maybe I was an asshole then, but I'm not being one now.

Jayce rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter anyway. It wasn't your fault," she replied with a deep sigh, waving the whole matter off with a flick of her wrist.

Gus arched a thick, dark brown eyebrow. It was her turn to sound incredulous. "What the hell? How the hell wasn't it my fault? I, the client, went to complain to your boss about your actions and on that same day you lost your job. So, how the hell is not my fault you got fired?"

The ebony-haired woman sighed, sounding annoyed and frustrated. She finally turned to look at Gus. "Look, my boss was a jerk-off. He's got the hots for my mother and gave me the job in the hopes that it would get him closer to her. Little did he know, my mother hates me and was not pleased with him for helping me, not that she ever plainly said that. But, eventually he figured that much out and he's been itching for an excuse to fire me ever since. If you didn't provide him with the excuse, someone else would have, especially considering the fact that I had Princess in all of those meetings that day. That would have been more than enough for him."

"Still, it wasn't my intention to get you fired. I suppose looking back on my complaints, I can see how it would progress to that, but I didn't mean to do it. It was such a pissy day, though," Gus huffed, shaking her head a little. Such a pissy life really! Damn it, Amanda, you've still got me acting like an asshole.

"We all have them." I've been having one for the past two weeks.

Gus nodded in agreement. "Still, most don't involve getting someone fired. I've had my head up my ass since I got here and this is just what I needed to get it out. Look, I know I probably can't get you that job back, but if there's anything I can do to help, I would like to," she offered with a pleading look in her eyes. She was begging to help.

Jayce smiled a bit, a sincere expression that made it to her eyes. Very lovely eyes, Gus silently noted. Jayce waved the offer off. "Thanks, but I'm fine on my own."

A skeptical look took over Gus' face. "Fine on your own? Is that why you were taking a baby into work with you before?" she asked, not meaning to sound as condescending as she did.

"I don't think that's any of your business," Jayce said in a clipped tone.

"I've gone and put my foot in it again, haven't I?" Gus asked, even though she knew the answer to that. She scratched her eyebrow with her pinky again, trying to figure out a way to stop being a jerk to the shorter woman.

"Indeed. How about you leave while you're ahead? I've got a lot of work to do and I'm sure you'd like to figure out who did steal that money from you," Jayce replied, sounding calm and polite again.

"Oh, that's already been found out. This is why I was a little shocked that you were fired. I went to your boss the day after I accused you to explain that I did find out what happened to the money. The manager at my spa was skimming from me," Gus explained. "Are you sure I couldn't talk to your boss and straighten everything out?" she sincerely offered.

"Trust me, nothing you can say or do will get me that job back. Now, if you don't mind, I need to finish this up," Jayce said, motioning to her computer.

"Don't you think it would be easier to work if you left the baby with a babysitter? Or even worked at home?" Gus asked curiously.

"I don't believe I asked for your opinion on the matter."

Gus yelped slightly, realizing that she had once again put her foot in her mouth. Deciding to go before she gnawed off her whole leg and made a complete jackass out of herself, Gus retreated from the caf�, not even bothering with breakfast as she had planned on. When she got into her car, she sat silently in there for a few minutes.

"Shit, she doesn't seem that bad and I've gotten her fired. Jannie didn't say anything about it, but then again, I've only talked to her once since I got here. Hell, I didn't even tell her I moved here yet. I'll get to her in a second and I guess we'll have a lot to talk about it," Gus muttered to herself. She then finally started her car and drove off.

---------------

4: Catching up

Gus flopped down on her cushy, burnt orange sofa, leaning all the way back and throwing her smooth brown arm over her eyes. Inhaling deeply, she took in the soothing lavender scent that coated her house. A soft, contented sigh escaped her lips as she listened to the comforting sound of old time jazz music floating from her sound system. Kicking her high heels off, her feet ended up on the wooden coffee table. Her toes wiggled, happy to be free from the prisons that were her black pumps.

"I've got to stop wearing those things," she muttered to the empty house. She only wore the shoes because they made her taller. Standing at 5'9" she really did not need to be much taller, especially since she carried an intimidating aura with her like an aluminum bat. But, she found that standing at six feet really made people move and added just that much more bite to her bark. There was something about literally looking down on someone while she was chewing the person out or just speaking in general that made people listen harder and follow through that much faster.

Mustering some strength, she moved her arm from her face and glanced around her new home. Everything was decorated in the oranges and creams that she loved, but there were not little knick-knacks out yet, so the house had a barren feel to it. Boxes of her things were piled high in the garage and the dining room. She knew that she was going to have unpack some time, but with the way everything was going, she doubted that she would get to it anytime soon. She did not mind the empty look anyway, but she did want to make the place seem like the home it was. She was certain that once she did that, she would feel much better at where her life was at the moment.

"Before anything I need to call up Jannie and tell her I'm moving out here. I'll never hear the end of it if she finds out from a friend or something," Gus grumbled, blindly reaching at her side for her cell phone. Figuring that the phone was somehow moving after she failed to grab it on three attempts, she tilted her head a little to see where the phone was on her hip before she finally caught it. After hitting a button, she placed the device to her ear and waited.

"Gus, what's up?" Jannie answered in a delighted tone. The smile that she was wearing could be heard clearly in her voice.

"Nothing. It's just that I'm in town and I was wondering if you wanted to have an early, light dinner with me. Since it's such short notice, I don't want to mess up anything that might be going on between you and your girlfriend," Gus replied.

"That's be great!" she practically cheered. "Me and Jayce don't have any plans anyway," the addition was said with a bitter, biting sneer.

"No? From the stories you used to tell me, I thought you guys did things almost every night." She was always happy to know that Jannie was in such good hands from the way the younger woman went on and on about how great Jayce was and how Jayce would pretty much bend over backwards to please Jannie. It meant that she did not have to worry about Jannie and could spend her time worrying about other things.

"We used to..." Jannie paused, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Things are a little different suddenly. I'll tell you about it later on. When do you want to have dinner? Where are you staying?" her voice picked up as she changed the subject, happiness returning.

"Hmm..." Gus thought about how she wanted to spring her new living arrangements on the younger woman. "I'll give you the address. I guess you can come around seven, okay?"

"Sounds perfect."

The phone call disconnected and Gus found the motivation that she needed to get off of her ass. First things first, she went to take a shower and get into something a little more comfortable than the business suit that she was wearing. After a long, hot shower, she put on some buggy, beige sweatpants and a black sleeveless tee-shirt, showing off well-developed biceps.

"Now to figure out what to order for dinner. It's been a while since I've had Jamaican food..." she mused aloud, rubbing her hands together as she spoke.

There was a restaurant not too far that would deliver and had food that made her mouth water just thinking about it. She used to practically live off of the restaurant a few years back because everything was so delicious. It took her a few minutes to find the number and after she placed her order, she went about getting the task of getting the house to look somewhat decent-a difficult feat considering all of the boxes that she had lying around. Still, she managed to get the place into some order before the food arrived.

As she was taking the food out of the containers that they were in, she heard Jannie's car pull into the driveway. She finished fixing one plate before going to the door to let the younger woman in. As the door opened, Gus was engulfed in a full hug and being squeezed in a way that she was sure was akin to how pythons killed their prey. The only difference was this was done out of love...or so was the claim.

"Jannie..." Gus groaned in pain, trying to pull away.

"What? My big sister can't take a little tough love?" Jannie asked with a teasing grin, squeezing just a little harder. She could give bears lessons on how to bear hug.

"I can't take that you're a goof when no one's around!" Gus chuckled, but her voice did sound strained. Turning red in the face from the pressure, she tried once again to escape the death grip that she was in.

"Why Augusta Paulette did you just call me a goof?" Jannie inquired with mock outrage, furrowing her brow, but smiling at the same time.

Gus turned her nose up in disgust. "Did you really just call me Augusta Paulette?" she demanded through gritted teeth.

The smile grew wider. "That's your name isn't?"

"Sure, just like yours is-" Gus' words were cut off as a warm, petite hand covered her mouth. Jannie shook a disapproving, well-manicured finger at the taller woman-it was a bit hard to tell that Gus was taller because Jannie was wearing boots.

"Don't you dare say that whole name if you want to stay my big sister!" Jannie commanded with false indignation dancing in her eyes.

A lopsided grin broke out on Gus' face, lighting up her vibrant hazel eyes. "You'd never disown me, Jannie. How would you make it through school? Or is that girlfriend of yours paying for everything now?" Gus held in a wince, hoping that was not the case because it would cause a little screw-up to expand exponentially.

"She pays for enough," Jannie answered with a cocky smirk and a wink.

"She still worshipping the ground you walk on?" Gus asked curiously as Jannie stepped away from her. Jannie always made it seem like her girlfriend thought the sun and moon rose with her, which Gus was happy for because Jannie always seemed so euphoric about it.

"But of course!" came the confident response as Jannie started looking around the house. She noticed the boxes and the colors decorating the place. An eyebrow gracefully arched. "Gus, whose place is this?" she asked, walking from the small foyer into the large, sunken living room. She already had an idea of whose place it might be, but she did not want to get her hopes up.

"Nice isn't it?" A half-smirk and twinkle in her eyes told the story that Gus' words did not, but her little sister was not looking at her to see the tale.

"Hell, yeah. I like the neighborhood too. This place always seemed like something out of a TV show. Remember we always wanted to live here as kids?" Jannie's voice was distant, showing that she had gone beyond the living room and was walking toward the bedrooms.

"I do remember that, which might explain why I made the dream a reality!" Gus called to the retreating form.

"What? I couldn't hear that!"

Gus repeated her. "I said I made the dream a reality!"

Silence was her answer that time. She was making her way back to the dining room when Jannie stormed back to her, looking bewildered and elated at the same time. Her grin was awkward with her top lip sort tucked underneath her teeth. Honey-colored eyes shimmered with joyous tears.

"Did you just say you live here?" Jannie demanded to know, spinning Gus around, so that they were face to face. Similar eyes stared into each other. The younger woman's body shook a little, trembling with glee.

"This is my house, Jannie," Gus answered with a smile on her face.

"OH MY GOD!" The squeal and crushing hug were expected, but Gus winced anyway when they arrived. "When did you decide this? Why didn't you tell me?!" Jannie jumped up and down, taking her sister along for the ride.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise for one," Gus answered with another small smile, pulling out of the tight embrace. Thankfully, Jannie let her go without much of a problem.

The younger woman jumped up and down for a moment. "Well, damn right it's a surprise! A very pleasant surprise!" she declared, clapping her hands together. She was not sure what to do with herself because she was so happy.

"It was supposed to be," the older woman boasted, nodding to emphasis her point.

"But, what made you move back here? I thought you liked your posh little suburban life with your white picket fence and wife that can't stand you," Jannie teased, wagging her index finger at her older sister.

"Oh, if we're going to talk about that, we might as well sit down and start eating. There are stories to tell in that and I'd rather had some food in my stomach when I tell them!" Gus declared, throwing in a scoff to show that they were not going to be happy stories.

Jannie only grinned and rushed to the dining room, having to go through the kitchen to get there. The dining room was set high and looked over into the living room. There were stairs to get there from the living room, but the younger woman wanted a peek at the kitchen-not that she would ever use the area. She knew her sister never would either, but she liked seeing her sister's decorating sills. The kitchen was done with chestnut cabinets and a cream countertop. The refrigerator was an off-white and in the corner opposite the plain, beige-colored stove. The walls were done in a light pumpkin sort of color, giving the room a livelier feel to it than a regular dull orange could have provided.

When she got into the dining room, Jannie could not help walking to the railing that was there in place of a wall. She peered down into the living room, feeling like she was taking in a real view as she admired in the plush leather furniture and impressive entertainment center. The house was a dream, but it did not seem big enough for two people in the way that she knew her sister liked space and she knew that her sister had plans on having a family one day, so the home really did not seem like the type of place that Gus would purchase on her own.

"I'm guessing business is good with you," Jannie commented with a light laugh.

"It's been better, but I'll get to that as I tell you the story about the wife-or should I say ex-wife," Gus replied as she eased into a chair at her small, rectangular table. She still had to put her food on the plate, but she was more interested in drinking some of her soda.

"Ex-wife? What the hell? You left Amanda? How could you leave Amanda?! You were together forever!" Jannie pointed out, rushing over to the table to speak with her sister face to face.

"Four years is hardly forever," Gus remarked drolly, rolling her eyes a little.

"Yes, it is. She's the person I think of when I think of you with someone because she's been there so long. Hell, I've been together with Jayce for a year and that's the longest I've been with someone! I'm practically married to her! And let me tell you, it makes my friends so freaking jealous!" Jannie proclaimed with a proud grin.

"I'm so sure. You're not mature at all, little sister," Gus chuckled, dramatically rolling her eyes. She knew that Jannie was boasting, but she was not doing it to be mean-spirited, so it did not bother the elder sister.

Jannie grinned again and pointed to herself with her thumb. "I'm way mature. You just don't know it because you've been missing in action for so long. Now, what happened between you and Amanda? You never even said you guys were having problems, so what happened?" she asked curiously, concern floating her eyes and her voice.

Gus scoffed and massaged her forehead with two fingers on her left hand. She knew that she was going to have to tell her sister, but really, she did not want to think about it. She was not interested in her little sister knowing about her martial problems or what a fool she was, especially since she knew that Jannie thought her relationship was perfect. She did not want to disillusion Jannie in thinking that no relationship ever worked out. She wanted to be a model for her little sister in everything to give Jannie hope and to give Jannie something to strive for.

The taller woman took a deep breath before she started to explain. "What didn't happen? One, she does nothing but talk about me behind my back to anyone who'll listen. Two, she spends my money worse than you ever did. Three, she was only affectionate with me when she wanted something or she thought that she did something that pissed me off. Four, she was never supportive in anything I wanted to do or even comforting if I ever needed it. Five, I'm pretty sure she was actually some kind of snake that managed to take the form of a human female. Lastly, she was having numerous affairs, including one with my spa manager. So, when I found out about two of her affairs with quite a bit of proof to back it up, this sorry bitch lies to me first, which is something she's really good at doing, and then starts begging with me to forgive her after I prove that she had been sleeping around. I told her I'll consider it, but she still has to get out of the house. She then starts all of this shit, not just at home, but with our friends and starting rumors about me and just all kinds of crazy crap to defame my good name and make me look like a goddamn asshole. I couldn't deal with it anymore. I put in for a divorce so fast the document had scorch marks on it."

Jannie gave her sister an understanding nod and a sympathetic expression. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I always thought Amanda was an asshole. She hated when I was around you."

Gus waved that off. "You don't have to worry about that anymore because she's not going to be around much longer. Once the divorce is final, I'm never seeing her again. She's going to be upset when she finds out that she's getting out of this with only what she brought into too. I wonder how many women she'll score when she doesn't have my money to flash in their faces," she sneered in the end.

Jannie wrinkled her nose a little. "I'm glad I don't have to put up with any of that with Jayce. She begs for forgiveness if I even catch her looking at another woman. I've never even had a thought that Jayce might be messing around."

"Lucky you. It's a horrible feeling. For a while, I wondered if maybe something was wrong with me," the elder sister admitted, shaking her head a little in despair.

Jannie's mouth dropped open and her eyes opened wide with shock. "Of course there's nothing wrong with you! Amanda's just an idiot! You're the best! She just doesn't know how to appreciate a good woman. Don't worry yourself over her. There's a great woman out there for you," the younger sibling declared and then she looked down at her food. She smiled at the sight. "There has to be a great woman out there for you considering how fantastic you are! I mean, how many big sisters would even think to put ketchup on my stew beef, even though they think it's gross? The only other person that does or ever did that for me is Jayce!"

Gus smiled softly, but there was some sorrow hidden in her eyes. "Sounds like she takes great care of you." This fact only made her feel guiltier about what she did.

"She's really great most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Gus echoed, leaning forward, not wanting to miss a word if her baby sister was being mistreated in any manner. There would be hell to pay if that was the case.

"Well, when she gets her niece around, sometimes she forgets I'm alive and shit. But, let's not talk about that right now. Other than that, Jayce is great. Now, aside for Amanda being a bitch, what made you move out here?" Jannie inquired, making sure to dig into her food. A few delighted moans escaped her lips as she savored her delicious meal.

"Goes back to Amanda. Most roads in my life right now led back to her. One of the affairs that she was having happened to be with my spa manager."

Jannie gasped. "Get the hell out! That's just awful. God, I didn't know she was such a jerk. I didn't think she was so bad when I met her. I mean, yeah, she didn't seem to like me much and I didn't like her much either, but she totally seemed into you. Why did she do it? Do you know? I thought she loved you."

"I thought she loved me too, but I'm guessing she loved the money a lot more and that was enough for her to stay with me, even though it's pretty clear now that she didn't give a damn about me. As far as why she did it, she claimed I couldn't please her in bed if I had an instruction manual on how to do it. She said I didn't pay attention to her anymore. I was more concerned with my software than anything else, she told me. She said I was the world's worst lover," Gus forced out a laugh.

Jannie snickered a bit. "Well, I don't want any insight on that if she means that in the way I think she means."

"Well, I'm sure the way it was meant went beyond sex, but sex was a big part of it. I don't recall her complaining at the time." That thought still stung. Maybe she could not please her woman in bed, she considered, especially since her ex-wife seemed so sure of it. Hell, a person with Amanda's experience would know a good lover when she had one, she thought.

"Ah!" Jannie put her hands over her ears. "I don't want to know! As far as I'm concerned Gus doesn't have sex!"

The taller woman laughed. "You keep telling yourself that. If anything, I should be the one convincing myself that my sister doesn't have sex."

Jannie snorted and rolled her eyes. "Let's be serious. Okay, back to Amanda being a bitch deluxe."

"How about we hold that until after dinner? It's making me lose my appetite. Tell me about your life," Gus requested, picking up her fork to dig into her meal. First, she finished putting it on a plate before starting to eat. She and her sister always ate delivery or fast food on plates because it gave them the illusion that they were having home-cooked meals.

"Life is going okay. I'm doing good in school, which I'm sure you know anyway since you have access to my school account. I hate that all my professors remember you. A few of them actually call me 'Gus' little sister' instead of remembering my name," Jannie pretended to huff. She then sneered at her sister, earning a laugh. Really, she did not care at all when being referred to as "Gus' little sister." Hell, some of her friends called her that and she just smiled and answered.

"Good to know I made such an impression at that place. So, you think you'll be ready to take over the spa or the software company sometime soon?" Gus inquired. She knew which one her baby sister wanted and she was going to be happy to pass it along.

Jannie stuck out her tongue. "You know I'm going to take the spa. Good thing the position is open and everything," she joked.

"Well, you knew that was waiting for you anyway. All you have to do is graduate and it's yours," Gus promised for about the hundredth time. A year ago, after she started her second business, she promised her little sister that she could manage one of them once she graduated business school. It was no surprise to her that Jannie wanted the spa, especially since it was her idea to open one in the first place.

"Really, everything is normal for me. Kind of anyway..." Jannie glanced away and sighed dramatically.

"Kind of? What's wrong? You're not in any trouble, are you?" Gus demanded, body tensing, ready to move if her sister confirmed that she was in trouble.

"No, nothing like that. It's just...Jayce..." Sorrow swept across Jannie's youthful, smooth face. From the look on her face, a person could get the idea that the world was coming to an end and she had to deliver the message.

Gus growled and her eyes flashed with a deep fury. "Did she hurt you?"

"What? No! Jayce would never do something like that! Geez, are you kidding me? All my friends are jealous that I caught Jayce in the first place and you think she'd hurt me or something? Jayce isn't like that!" Jannie huffed, offended that her sister would even think such a thing.

Gus' forehead wrinkled and she scratched her eyebrow with her pinky. "If not that, then what's wrong? You make it sound like Jayce is so great and then you say that there's something wrong with her. Now, I know she's not perfect because no one is and the look on your face a moment ago was pretty bad, so what's the problem?" the elder sister inquired, speaking in a gentle but firm tone.

"Jayce is great most of the time, but she just does some inconsiderate shit every now and then. It'll work out, though, so don't worry about it," Jannie replied as she dismissed the issue with a wave of her hand.

Gus decided not to press the topic, thinking that she might have a clue as to what was going on with Jannie and Jayce. She figured that they would probably work through things too since Jannie seemed to think that Jayce was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And from stories that Gus heard, Jayce seemed like the type to make sure she would make sure that she could provide for her girlfriend. Gus smiled a little out of the blue.

"What're you smiling at?" Jannie asked curiously.

"Huh?" Gus blinked and shook her head a little, clearing her thoughts.

"You were just smiling. What were you smiling about?" the younger sister asked again.

"Oh! I was just thinking that it's great you found someone you obviously care a lot about. Jayce must take really good care of you."

Jannie nodded. "Much better, especially compared to what Amanda did with you."

A half-smile formed on Gus' small mouth and her head nodded once. "The crazy thing about it all with Amanda was that she was screwing my spa manager and staying with me for the money. So, the spa manger gets the brilliant idea of trying to impress a woman that she knows is a fucking whore by getting more money."

"Don't tell me this silly bitch asked for a raise or something?"

"No, she did something far stupider than that!" Gus proclaimed.

Jannie scratched her right eyebrow with two fingers from her right hand. "What's stupider than that?"

"The goddamn spa manager starts skimming profits from the spa."

"The bitch was stealing from you!" Jannie shouted incredulously, hopping up from her seat while she was at it. It was a good thing she finished her food or it would have fallen out of her mouth.

"Hell yeah, she was," the elder sister confirmed.

"Shit, that's crazy, but that way stupid too. I bet my baby caught that the second she looked at the figures!" Jannie declared with a proud smile.

Gus almost winced, but she caught that. Still, there was a flicker in her hazel eyes that caught her sister's attention. Beyond that, guilt ate away at Gus' mind again as she realized that Jannie did not seem to know what happened between her and Jayce a couple of weeks ago. Gus was not sure how she felt about that, but she ran through a few emotions that she could easily identify.

First off, the businesswoman was relieved that her baby sister did not know that she made an ass out of herself with Jayce. That had to be the worst "first impression" ever on both sides, she thought. Then she was pissed off that Jayce would keep such a big secret from Jannie. They were supposed to be a couple and share big news with each other, whether it was good or bad news. Then she was upset because it seemed like Jayce lied by omission and was hiding the fact that she got fired. But, that brought her back to being happy that Jannie did not know that she was the reason her lover was let go in the first place. Crawling through all of those emotions was her big-sister-overprotective-ness.

"She caught it, didn't she? Jayce is way smart!" Jannie proclaimed with clear pride and unshakable faith in her partner.

"Uh..." Gus glanced away. She did not want to lie to Jannie, but she did not want to steal that beautiful confidence from her little sister either.

Jannie tilted her head slightly. "You're serious? Jayce missed that? How could she miss that? I've heard stories about her catching the tiniest mistakes in figures. She's like a machine!"

"She missed that one..." Gus muttered.

A flush spread through out the younger sister's face, as if she was embarrassed for her lover's obvious mistake. "Uh...Well, she might have been a little preoccupied. She's been taking care of her niece...not that she needs to. She's just stubborn," she muttered, trying to defend her girlfriend's seeming incompetence.

"I suppose that's one way to put it. I'm shocked she didn't tell you about this considering the way I was when I met her a little while ago," Gus said.

"What do you mean? You never said you had a meeting with Jayce," Jannie commented.

"I know I never said anything. I didn't want to upset you. I'm surprised Jayce never said anything to you since I'm sure she didn't enjoy the encounter," Gus remarked with a light scoff.

"What the hell happened?" Jannie demanded to know, a frown setting in on her flawless face.

"Uh..." Hazel eyes glanced away and the first two fingers on Gus' left hand scratched at her eyebrow. "...Maybe you should have Jayce tell you..."

The younger woman growled a little. "No, I want you to tell me since you were there. You started it."

Gus snorted. "Boy did I start it. Really, the whole thing was my fault. I went into her office with a chip on my shoulder already thanks to that goddamn Amanda, but I didn't know about what the spa manager was doing yet...aside for Amanda anyway."

Jannie's face was scrunched up, but she nodded anyway. "What does this have to do with Jayce?"

"Well, I was sorta...a little bit of a bitch when I went to see her. I blamed her for missing money-" Gus' confession was cut off right there.

"You didn't!" Jannie gasped.

"I did. I was pissed and her baby crying wasn't helping-"

"Goddamn! Princess is not Jayce's baby! I told her not to take her to work, but Jayce can be such a stubborn jackass sometimes!" Jannie roared, pushing herself up from the table. A snarl escaped her throat as she paced the dining room, thinking of ways to punish her apparently idiotic, lying lover.

"She should've listened to you! I mean, what the hell was she doing bringing a baby to place of business? That would've gotten her fired without me going to her boss and saying anything to him!" Gus added in, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Jannie stopped mid-pace. "Did you just say fired? Are you telling me that Jayce was fired?" she demanded, eyes blazing with endless rage.

"Uh..." The older woman tried to think of someway out of the mess that she had just created.

"Gus, when did you meet with Jayce? How long has she been unemployed?" Jannie inquired, marching over to her sister, glaring down on the businesswoman.

"Jannie, this is really something you should discuss with her. I don't want to come between you two," Gus replied, holding her hands up as if to keep her sister back.

"Goddamn it!" Jannie hollered and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, searching for answers. She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "How did you even know she got fired?" she asked curiously. Her anger evaporated...or so it seemed for the moment anyway. She just figured that her sister had a point and she would rather talk to Jayce about things than to hear them from Gus.

"I ran into her at that caf� she's at all the time. Marco's."

"Marco's?" Jannie echoed as if she never heard of the little bistro. She shook her head because the name was not ringing any bells.

"Yeah. I was under the impression that she spent a lot of time there. Everyone knew her by name and such. When I ran into her there, she was there in the morning." She figured that Jayce spent a lot of time there from the way the staff got so upset with her after she insulted the former accountant.

Jannie nodded, starting to piece together a few things of her own. "Okay. I guess I'll have to talk to her about that. Thanks for telling me."

"No problem. Everything still all right with you and Jayce?" Gus asked, not really hiding her hope. She did not want to be the one that broke her sister's longest relationship to date. Not to mention, Jayce did not seem to be that bad, despite the lie by omission.

"We'll have to see. This is a pretty big thing to keep from me, you know?"

Gus nodded. "It was. From the way you talk about her, I figured that she would always be honest with you. I'm sorry that you had to hear it from me."

"It's all right, Gus. It's not like it's your fault that she got fired and then lied to me about it," Jannie replied, going back to her seat to regroup. She let loose a long sigh once she was sitting.

"Well, it was kinda my fault. I'm the one that complained about her," Gus admitted.

Jannie waved the statement off. "If not you, someone else would've. She brought a baby into a professional accounting firm, after all, and apparently had the baby there while she was supposed to be in meetings with clients. I'm sure you're not the only one that complained. Jayce is a good accountant, but she's making stupid decisions because she doesn't listen. She didn't need to take that baby to work. She doesn't need to have the baby around all the time. This is her fault and now she's too cowardly to even tell me she was fired." An angry snort escaped Jannie's throat and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that is a pretty big thing. Don't take it too hard on her." She could understand why Jayce would keep it a secret. She knew that if her business started to go under, she would try to move Heaven and Earth to keep things together before telling her partner. It was that pride of being the primary earner of a couple and enjoying the fact that she could take care of her family. She figured that Jayce might have a similar pride.

"Gus, I love you and respect you more than any other person on the planet, but don't tell me how to go about my relationship with Jayce," Jannie replied in a tight tone.

"I'm not telling you how to go about it. I'm just saying that you shouldn't be too hard on her. You don't know what it's like to be the breadwinner in a relationship-" Gus tried to argue, but her baby sister was not hearing any of it.

"Oh, so I don't know how she feels because I don't have a job is what you're saying?" Jannie snapped.

"I didn't say that, Jannie, and you know it. I won't have you putting words in my mouth. You're right, though. It is your relationship. You go about it as you see fit. You've been with Jayce for a year, so you know how to deal with her best and you seem very happy with her, so I doubt you're going to just throw the relationship away," the elder female replied.

Jannie nodded. "I know I'm right and thank you for treating me like an adult."

Gus waved her sister off, not wanting to say that she really was just giving up because she knew that Jannie could throw quite a tantrum. She was not in the mood to put up with that, just wanting to enjoy her baby sister's company right now. Silently, she conceded that was her fault Jannie threw fits, but that was neither here nor there. Her sister was grown and had to live her life on her own, even if Gus did want to stand up a little for Jayce because she did feel partially responsible for what was happening between the couple.

Once the sisters put that subject behind them, they had a very good visit. Gus gave Jannie a brief tour of her home, awing the younger woman with ranch-style house. Even though there were only two bedrooms, they were huge. There was a ground-level pool in the backyard and a large space that Gus planned to turn into a garden if she ever got the time. The garage held two cars that Jannie was not surprised to see.

"You know, if you were a guy, I would think you're trying to compensate for something here," Jannie remarked with a laugh as she ran her hand along the small, sleek, two-seat sports' car. "You don't even drive this during business hours, do you?"

"I don't use it to pick up chicks," Gus insisted, knowing that was where her sister was going with all of the teasing.

"No? The slick little SUV does that, doesn't it?" Jannie teased, turning her attention to the other vehicle in the garage. It was a stylish, cream-colored CUV.

"Unlike you, I get my women using my irresistible personality and charm. I don't need bait," Gus shot back, a half-smirk gracing her face.

"Yeah, your personality got you stuck with Amanda," Jannie reminded her sister.

The frown that cut across Gus' face could have sliced a diamond in half. "That goddamn bitch..." she growled.

"Hey, sis, you're better off without her. You deserve way better than a nasty ass girl like that. You need someone that'll treat you right and will appreciate everything that you do for her," Jannie assured her elder sister, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"I know I do. It just feels like so much of my life was wasted with her. Hell, I'm ready to settle down and now I have to start all over. I planned my life around Amanda and she goes and does this twisted shit," Gus huffed, shaking her head in defeat.

"I'm glad you have to start over. Imagine having done what you wanted to do with goddamn Amanda the huge bitch! Hell, there's no guarantee that she would've given into what you want anyway!" Jannie pointed out.

Gus nodded in agreement with that. A selfish bitch like Amanda probably wouldn't want kids; be it through adoption or one of us having a baby. I wouldn't want kids through us getting a divorce or anything either, which would've been inevitable since she spreads her fucking legs for anything that'll put its tongue there.

"You'll meet the right girl, sis. You're too good a person not to," Jannie insisted. "Speaking of girls, I need to get home to mine. We need to talk, after all."

"That's right. Well, it was great having you over, Jannie. Come over anytime," Gus said sincerely.

"You know I will! I'm so happy you live back here again!" Jannie jumped into Gus' arms for one last hug.

Gus chuckled as Jannie rocked her in the embrace. With that, Jannie went to her car-a cherry red coupe-and drove off. Gus sighed and shook her head, knowing she just put a big wrinkle in Jannie's relationship with Jayce.

"Still, Jayce should've been a big enough person to tell Jannie what happened," Gus informed the air before turning to go into her house. She might even work up the strength to unpack a box or two. It would at least distract her from the guilt gnawing at her gut and the pain stabbing at her heart.

---------------

Next time: Jannie and Jayce have "the talk."