A/N: We will be following the Michelle storyline and how the dynamics impact her relationship with Lauren, Camila, and Ariana. We are also getting closer to the vacation chapter(s) as well.
So, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.
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"Hello, My Darlings!" Camila called out as she nearly danced into the studio, dropping her bag on the floor as she knelt down. She could see the boy's heads bobbing over the half wall of Kim's office before they burst through the doorway and straight into her arms, nearly knocking her over in the process. Caught off guard by the force, she burst into laughter at her barely-there ability to maintain her balance. "Did you miss me? You must have missed me. But I've been away from you for all of four hours!"
"I missed you!" Gabe beamed and held tight to her neck. "I miss you every day. Why don't you work here?"
"Yeah." Julian agreed, standing in Camila's embrace but not as assertive as Gabriel, and waited for her to answer.
"Because I have my own job. You boys may not remember it though. It's been a while since I've been to work."
"How was your meeting?" Lauren asked as Camila stood up and kissed her in greeting. The boys ventured back to their area, stopping to give Michelle a high five as they passed her resting place on the sofa.
"Good. Scott laid out all of the options he thinks would be good for me and my career. I told him family life is really important and I have to find some way to balance it. So, the theater may be an issue. But he has given me several options to think about, which includes some shows. Don't worry. But there are some things I'd like to talk to you about."
Lauren nodded and guided the actress toward the office where everyone else was waiting. "So do I get to hear about these options now or were you still wanting to wait until the vacation?"
Camila hesitated. "How about at dinner tonight? I'd still like to figure out what I think of all of them."
"Sounds good." The pair shared another chaste kiss.
"Never fear!" Camila announced with her arms spread out as she entered into the office. "Lunch is on its way, Ladies"
Adrianne clapped her hands from the office chair she had wheeled in and called out for the actress with open arms. Camila obliged and gave her a hug. "You're my hero! I'm starving."
"It should be here soon. So, how is the day going for everyone?" Camila took Lauren's chair knowing the raven-haired was already retrieving another for herself from her office. It was a constant dance of musical chairs throughout the week. Everyone congregated around the person who was having to work the hardest at the time. Today, that was Kim.
"I think it's safe to say that it has been an easy day for everyone so far," Adrianne answered before reaching over and tapping her knuckles on Lauren's head. "Knock on wood."
Lauren swatted at her hand. "You are such a child sometimes. You know that?"
"This one doesn't seem to mind usually." Adrianne wrapped an arm around the assistant as she tried to pass and pulled her playfully on to her lap. Kim didn't fight it and just smiled. It was moments like this, little unprompted moments when she felt Adrianne's love for her the most.
"Can I help you with something?"
The older woman shrugged her shoulders and then shook her head. "Nah, I don't think so. You've already given me everything I could ask for." The two exchanged a gentle kiss and Lauren and Camila exchanged adoring looks. It looked like both couples had managed to work through their growing pains recently. "So... do you want to tell them or should I?"
Kim took a deep breath, looking into her wife's eyes but turned to the other couple as she exhaled. "We're going to try for a baby again. But a little differently this time under the advice from our doctor."
Both women smiled, knowing how much Kim wanted to carry a child. It was only a matter of time before the topic came up again. "Different how?"
"Well," She looked back at her wife. "We are going to use Adrianne's eggs, but I will still carry. Biology isn't what I was concerned about anyway. And!" She exclaimed clapping her hands together. "Since we will use the same donor, that means Aubrey and the new baby will be full siblings legally as well as biologically."
Camila beamed in happiness for her friends while Lauren kept her smile controlled. She was going off of Adrianne's body language. Camila may not know the oldest woman well enough to catch it but she could. It was a forced smile on the brunette's lips. Adrianne was still worried.
The actress walked over and pulled Kim into a hug. "I'm so glad you're trying again. When do you start?"
Kim faltered slightly and looked to Lauren. "Well, that is where some of those days off are going to come in."
"They are yours to take," Lauren assured her. "And any other days you need, really. Just let me know. In fact, if there's anything you need at all, not just time off, let me know."
The younger woman nodded curtly. She was still nervous as well but she had a good feeling about everything this time. They had a solid game plan and the odds were with them.
The room fell silent and content. Camila looked at the happy couple then to her wife before running her hands through her hair. This caused her head to turn and she saw Michelle just outside of the office on the couch still. Normally she would have joined the crowd by now but the teenager was texting nearly non-stop.
"She's still at it?" The other three women turned in unison. "Is she still texting Nikki?"
Adrianne smirked. "So this is a legit thing? Michelle is actually..."
"Bisexual." Kim confirmed."She seems really smitten with this girl."
"Or at least the fact that there is something potentially there," Adrianne added. "I doubt they know each other well enough to-"
"Oh, it's a crush, Adrianne." Kim cut her off with a slap on her arm and stood up to return to her desk. "Just let them be. You don't always have to think too much into it."
"Yeah, but there's a reason behind my concern. I mean, think back to the first time any of us were with a girl. There's all that newness that just negates any sense or logic. Everything is okay and seen as more than what it is because of all the hormones. Things go from zero to one hundred in a split second and that can cause issues. Tell me I'm wrong."
Lauren and the two other women just stared at her. "Firstly, it's a fucking crush. Let it go. Secondly, look who you're talking to. There have been two marriages to came out of the first girlfriend scenario in this room alone."
The other photographer opened her mouth to object but quickly closed in and deadpanned in her defeat. "Fine."
"Hey," Lauren called out and tapped on the window behind her. Michelle turned to face her questioningly. "I think we could all use a new coffee. What do you think, ladies?"
Kim shifted her coffee to hide behind her computer while Adrianne crossed her arms to hide hers as well. Both women nodded in agreement while Camila just laughed. "Yeah. Fresh coffee would be great."
The teenager pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes in a failing attempt not to smile. "I hate you guys."
"Oh, now." Lauren waved her off. "You love us and we all know it. Now... go flirt and bring back coffee."
"I flirted this morning." All four women perked up in interest and stared at the youngest of them, waiting for the details. "I mean, I would tell you all about it but I have to leave to get more coffee it seems. So, sorry. Can't help you there."
"No, no, no." All the women called out but Michelle just kept walking, smiling the whole way. "Michelle, come back! We need details." She didn't stop though. She smiled the entire way to the coffee shop. She was on a high and truly felt like one of the group.
"My, my. Do my eyes deceive me?" Nikki was smirking from her place in front of the counter. The male coworker on the other side smiled but backed away, beginning to clean the work station. "What did I do to deserve a mid-day visit from the local heart breaker."
Michelle rolled her eyes but didn't slow her pace until she was standing next to the brunette. Trying to be as smooth as possible, she leaned against the table, hoping it didn't slide with her weight. "A second coffee run apparently. And we need to come up with a new nickname for me."
Nikki kept her smile and looked Michelle over for a moment before taking a seat at the table she was leaning on. "I like the nickname. It stays."
"It's not accurate though." She argued before moving to take a seat across from her.
"What, you aren't going to sit next to me today?"
Michelle arched an eyebrow and smirked before shaking her head, causing the barista to scoff playfully and kick her under the table. "Oh, playing footsie with me now, are you? You're escalating things quickly."
It was obvious Nikki was blushing as she looked around, seeing if her coworker was close by but he had just disappeared behind the kitchen doors.
"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." Michelle apologized, feeling that the glance was an attempt at damage control.
The brunette hesitated a moment before meeting Michelle's eyes, even then it was only briefly. The playfulness had faded slightly. Nikki looked down at the table and fiddled with her fingers. "I'm not embarrassed." She assured her with a slight smile but still not looking at her as she took one more look around. "I'm just not out."
Michelle's heart flew into her throat. She was gay. Or at least not straight. Holy shit. This had been flirting. A girl was flirting with her and she was flirting back. "Oh. Sorry."
Nikki waved her off lightheartedly and pursed her lips, trying to lighten the mood again. "You didn't know."
Michelle dropped her head a little to try and catch Nikki's eyes, waiting there until they met. "But now I do, and your secret is safe with me."
The brunette nodded. "So, are you out?"
Michelle sat up and smiled. "Yes. Well, sort of. Most everyone knows, just not my mom."
Nikki stood up and grabbed a cookie out of the nearby glass display case and came right back to the table setting it on a napkin between them to share. Knowing the owners were turning out to be an unexpected perk. "Why not your mom? She wouldn't be okay with it?"
"I'm sure she will be questioning of it as it is a recent realization for me, but I think she will be fine," Michelle explained taking a small piece of the cookie. "But it's something I would rather talk to her about in person and I haven't seen her in a while."
Nikki furrowed her brow and pointed in the general direction of the studio. "But... you work with her."
"What?" Michelle looked at her for a moment in confusion before it hit her. "Oh! No. Lauren." She laughed and placed a hand to her face. "Lauren is my birth mother but I was adopted. My mom, or adoptive mother if you would like, lives in Miami. I haven't seen her for a few months."
"Ooooooh." Michelle could see her processing. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"You don't need to apologize. It's not exactly common knowledge for anyone outside of the studio."
The brunette nodded and narrowed her eyes outside the window. "What's it like working with your birth mother? Does that make for a weird work environment? I know working with my family can be a strain. Mom and Dad are always micromanaging and double checking everything I do. It's like I'm still 13 and can't remember anything unless they remind me."
Michelle popped another piece of cookie in her mouth and bobbed her head between her shoulders. "It's not that bad for me actually. We get along really well. The whole studio even. We are this weird little tribe of family."
"You're all related?"
She shook her head. "But not all family is blood."
"True."
The two sat in comfortable silence, looking up at each other occasionally. More so when both of their hands hovered over the shrinking cookie, inching closer and closer together until they brushed. The fraction of a second of contact had both girls smiling bashfully and looking away but it also ignited something within Michelle. There was a flutter in her chest and a jolt of electricity through her core.
"So," Nikki broke the silence, covering her mouth as she swallowed her last bite of food. "A few of my friends and I are going to meet up tomorrow night. There's this little place that has an open mic that we like to go to sometimes. Would you be up for coming?"
"Tomorrow?" Michelle was caught off guard and her mind raced. Was this a date? No. Can't be. She's not out and her friends will be there. "Um, yeah. Sure."
"You don't need to check with your mom... biological or otherwise or anything?"
Michelle scoffed. "No. I just give her a heads up about when and where and she should be cool."
Nikki huffed a laugh and shifted the sugar container on the table. "I wish my parents had been that cool when I was 17. Hell, they still aren't that cool."
"Well," Michelle sat back in, "Lauren and I have a unique relationship. She's there for me as a mom emotionally and in support but gives me the space to be myself. She trusts me and it's a goal of mine to never screw that up."
"Good to know."
Michelle sat back up, leaning on to the table. "So, when and where and WHAT should I wear?"
Nikki tweaked a smile. "You're cute. Well, I get off work at six. I could come over to your place and help you decide after that."
There was that lump on Michelle's throat again. "Sure. That sounds great."
"Awesome," Nikki clapped her hands and stood up smiling. "This should be fun."
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"I feel like we're lying to them," Kim admitted as they walked into their apartment, pulling off her shoes as she went. Adrianne could tell she was uneasy about it as she left the shoes laying around haphazardly.
The taller woman set Aubrey down and the girl ran to her toys in her bedroom. "Lying is a bit extreme of a description. It's more... we are intentionally misleading them by the omission of facts which we will provide to them when the time is appropriate."
Kim set her bag down roughly on the hallway table and glared at her wife. "How is that not lying?"
"We talked about it and decided this was the best way for us to handle it all. We didn't want people to know when we started the process." Adrianne reminded her, wrapping the smaller woman in her arms from behind, and kissed her neck. "And you didn't lie. Those days off are for appointments."
"But not for the procedure."
"But still for baby related things." Hopefully. The two stood there and Adrianne gently swayed, trying to sooth her wife's guilt. "We decided not to tell everyone when we started to keep some of the stress off of you. So, please, don't stress over it."
There was a pause before Kim closed her eyes and took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly through her mouth. She was trying but it was not her natural state. "One week down. One week to go. Then we will know."
Adrianne nuzzled into her neck again and placed a long kiss. A smile began to creep on to Kim's lips as she felt Adrianne's grip around her lessen and the taller woman's hands began to wonder.
"What do you think you are doing, exactly?"
The photographer broke away from her and quietly ran to look into Aubrey's bedroom. She was perfectly happy and preoccupied with her toys. Adrianne returned to her wife, placing one hand on her hip and the other behind her jaw, pulling her into a passionate kiss. When she felt the tension in the smaller woman's posture lessen, she began to discard her own jacket.
"Adrianne." Kim objected but busied her hands with the buttons on her wife's blouse.
Adrianne began backing them up towards the bedroom, mumbling between heated kisses. "She's fine. She's playing."
"But-" Kim was cut off as Adrianne pulled the assistant's shirt and bra over her head and the instantly returned her mouth to hers, running her hands over the toned woman's back and torso. The back of Kim's knees hit the mattress and she fell backward. Adrianne moved to hover over her, both women shuffling for a place higher on the mattress.
"But nothing. New studies show sex in the weeks after IVF can actually benefit the process."
Moving her attention to Kim's neck allowed the assistant to begin the process of undoing her own belt and discarding her pants before she moved on to Adrianne's. The photographer sucked on her pulse spot and then soothed the skin with her tongue. Kim gave up on undressing her and just slid her hand under the waistband of her underwear, and Adrianne moaned as her nimble fingers found her wetness and began a familiar dance.
Adrianne broke away and rested her forehead in the pillow. "For someone who was objecting, you seem very eager." Her own hand ran down Kim's torso before turning and cupping her mound. She slides down and ran her long middle finger through her wetness and Kim bit her bottom lip, preventing her from calling out as she felt Adrianne slide inside of her. Adrianne pulsed in and out, gliding her thumb back and forth over her clit as she did.
"Fuck." It was just a panting whisper as she moaned. Kim used her free hand and locked her fingers behind Adrianne's neck, pulling her into another hungry kiss.
When they broke Adrianne's screwed her eyes shut and grunted as an attempt to not call out while Kim picked up the pace of the tight circles her fingers were dancing around her clit. The groans only pushed Kim closer as she began moving in time with the older woman's thrusts.
The room filled with their gasps and guttural moans, each one louder than the last. Kim mashed her lips between her teeth and placed her free hand over Adrianne's mouth as they both climaxed together, their bodies jerking against each other. As their senses came back they removed their hands and Adrianne collapsed next to her wife. "Fucking hell."
Kim laughed and panted. "As soon as she's in bed, we're going again."
"You will never get a complaint from me on that."
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Lauren spread her arms out from her place laying on the sofa as Camila walked into the room. The brunette didn't hesitate and laid down, snuggling on top of her wife, resting her head on her chest and listening to her heartbeat. It had been a long day between her meeting, lunch at the studio and then coming home with the kids and cooking. "So where are we going on our vacation?" Lauren asked with a knowing smile.
"We haven't decided yet."
"No, but you've picked what one you think is best and I trust your judgment."
Camila lifted her head to look at her wife but Lauren just tightened her hold on the actress, making sure she didn't leave her place just yet. "That's not how this works."
"Actually," Lauren giggled, "That is exactly how this works. Every time. This is what you do and I like it."
Camila growled and dropped her forward to Lauren's chest again. "This is going to be just like planning for the wedding, isn't it?"
"Only if you fight it." Lauren was smirking now as she watched the TV. The boys were into a Disney kick again. "So, where are we going?"
Camila conceded and the tension fell from her shoulders as she nuzzled into Lauren again. "We're going on a cruise. It would be a perfect getaway. Don't have to worry about travel or entertainment. Don't have to worry about the kids in a car or on a plane. They can just get up and do things. It's all on board. There will be stops and things to do off of the ship as well. Also, there is childcare and we will NOT be using any phones or computers which will force you to relax and let it all go. It literally takes the option away from you."
"And this is why I trust you to make these decisions." Lauren ran her left hand up and down Camila's back, relaxing both of them further into the moment. "Where exactly is this cruise going?"
"That we need to decide together. I'm putting my foot down on that one. And before you argue with me, remember that I did win the wedding planning argument. You sat there and picked out flowers with me in the end."
Lauren chuckled. "Fair enough. Do you have options for me to choose from?"
Camila couldn't stop the smile from slowly spreading on her lips and she traced light circles on the skin of Lauren's upper arm. "Did you know... they have a Disney Cruise line?"
"...so what were these options Scott had for you?"
"Lauren Jauregui!" Camila pouted, lifting the upper part of her body up so she could scowl where Lauren could see her.
"It's an option. That's all I'm saying at this point. It's not off the table but it can't be the only thing you put on the table either."
After another few seconds to make sure the pout set in full, Camila resumed her cuddling position. "I can live with that."
"Good. Then we can discuss it further where we have options on the table." Lauren kissed the top of her head. "But seriously, what were some of the things you and Scott talked about today?"
This time Camila had to sit all the way up. It was too serious of a conversation to have without being able to make eye contact. Lauren had picked up on this quirk of hers fairly early on in their relationship and followed Camila's lead, sitting up and placing a hand on the brunette's thigh. She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to touch her wife. "Well, there is always, of course, going back to the stage. Then there are TV shows, maybe movies if things were to fall in place just so. But one thing he mentioned that caught me off guard was a book deal."
"A book?" Lauren's tone was much more questioning than either of them expected. "Like, you would write a book? What kind?"
"An autobiography of course. You do remember that before I became a housewife and stay-at-home-Mom, I did actually accomplish some things in my life and acquired a certain level of success that people may want to have insight on."
Lauren rolled her eyes. "I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?"
Camila playfully glared and pointed her index finger in warning. "Keep it up and see what happens."
Lauren only smiled adoringly at the actress. "Okay, well... out of all of those options, do any reach out and grab you?"
She could tell by Camila's sudden coyness that there was one. "The book actually. Like, I've always had that idea in my head of writing a book after I because successful and famous but that also included delivering autographed copies to you and everyone else who had ever bullied me in high school." Lauren winced at the thought. "But that doesn't seem appropriate anymore."
"The book or just the autographs?"
"The autographs. Or at least the pettiness behind sending them."
Lauren watched Camila closely as the actress played with her fingers, entwining them together only to pull them apart. At one point Camila smiled as she measured their hands, palms together. Hers were so much smaller than the photographers. "I think you should do it."
Camila kept her smile and glanced at her briefly. "Really?" Lauren nodded. "I don't know what all it would entail or time frame or anything like that though."
Lauren just shrugged. "So get up with Scott and let him handle those things. It's his job, isn't it? You said you were ready to get back to work since the boys are going to start school soon. So... get to it. Write a damn book!"
"Bad word! Quarter!"
Both boys shot up from their place in front of the TV and ran to Lauren with their hands stretched out.