thegirl20 | Drabbles

So if I were to say Katherine/Robin DH what happens then?

All, some, take your pick, just figured I'd throw a bunch out there and see what took.

Brooke/Sam (Popular) - defending

Brittany/Santana - Life (the boardgame)

Dianna/Lea - cowgirl

Inara/Kaylee - learning

Jo/Blair - favor

Veronica/Meg - dance

I just love the way how you write Lea and Dianna. Keep them coming, awesome work ;)

BTW, has anyone every told you you are very talented? xD

You're having a bad day. How about I write you a drabble. Emma/Terri?

Emma/Terri. Emma's scared of thunderstorms

Emma/Terri. Emma has the flu :P

Um....

Ash/Scribbs- caught in a lift.

Erin

L/C/J ot3: Jill's bd

J/L: comfort

Sorry for being late to the party. Have fun! :)

"Terri?"

How she hears the tiny voice through the fog of sleep is beyond her, but she does. She opens her eyes and the light coming in from the hallway is enough for her to see a little figure standing by the bed, rubbing her eyes and sniffling.

"Hey honey, what's wrong?" Terri asks, keeping her voice low and soothing as she props herself up on an elbow and holds out her other arm.

Abby walks forward and buries her face in Terri's neck. Terri holds her tightly.

"I had a bad dream and Mommy isn't there," Abby mumbles.

"Mommy's gone to visit Aunt Rachel this weekend, remember?" Terri says, pulling away to look at Abby's face. "You wanna get in with us for a little bit, until you're feeling better?"

Abby sniffs, then nods. Terri lifts the edge of the cover and Abby clambers in and snuggles into Terri's body.

"Is Memma sleeping?" she asks.

"Yeah, sweetie, so we'll be really quiet, okay?"

Terri feels a hand on her back.

"No, Mmmawake."

The bed shifts and Emma rests her chin on Terri's shoulder, reaching over her to stroke Abby's cheek.

"Hey sweetie, you had a bad dream?" Emma asks, softly.

"Uh huh," Abby says, her lip starting to tremble again.

"You wanna tell us what it was about?" Terri asks, brushing Abby's hair off her brow.

"Barney was chasing me."

"Barney the dinosaur?" Terri clarifies.

"Uh huh."

"Barney's nice," Emma says.

"It was just Barney's bones," Abby explains.

Terri half turns and raises her eyebrows at Emma. Ever since Rachel and Quinn took Abby to the Museum of Natural History she's had a preoccupation with bones.

"Sweetie, we've talked about this, the bones you saw can't move, okay? And Barney is a friendly dinosaur." Emma says.

The memory of Abby's nightmare is obviously fading as she is busy twirling a strand of Terri's hair around her finger.

"Uh huh, okay," she agrees, easily. "Can I feel the baby move now?"

Emma smiles at the abrupt change of subject, having become used to it by now.

"I think she's asleep, sweetie, she's not really moving much right now," Emma says, turning onto her back anyway.

Terri reaches over and switches on the bedside lamp as Abby climbs over the top of her to get in the middle. Terri turns and takes the little girl's hand, placing it gently on the underside of Emma's prominent baby bump. After a few seconds, there's a distinct movement and Abby squeaks.

"She moved!"

Terri kisses the top of Abby's head, her eyes meeting Emma's. They share the same smile they always do. One of happiness and relief and gratitude that they've been blessed. It's been a long time coming. Emma's hand comes to rest over Terri's, squeezing softly.

"She did, honey," Emma confirms. "I think she kicked just for you. She's excited to meet you."

Abby looks up with serious eyes.

"Memma, I hopes she doesn't kick me when she meets me, cuz my mommy says that kicking people is bad, even if they're a booger-face who steals your apple."

Terri dips her head to hide her laughter while Emma struggles to maintain her composure.

"Well, your mommy is right, sweetie," she starts. "And I'm sure the baby won't kick you when she meets you. She's kicking right now because that's the only way she has of talking to you."

Abby nods, her face solemn. She leans closer to Emma's belly.

"Hello baby, I can't wait to meet you. But you gotsta stop kicking my Memma cuz that's not nice."

She leans in and kisses the bump and Emma and Terri both find themselves battling tears rather than giggles. Abby is oblivious as she yawns and crawls on top of Terri, snuggling in and closing her eyes.

"I'm just gonna stay in this bed tonight", she announces, her voice already fading.

Terri looks over at Emma.

"I swear her mother's got her trained to do this," she whispers, frowning.

Emma just reaches over and takes Terri's hand, bringing it back to her stomach.

"We need to get used to this, one goes to sleep just as the other one wakes up," she says, pressing Terri's hand against the tiny tremors running through her abdomen.

Terri smiles.

"I can't wait."

Rachel pushes open Quinn’s bedroom door quietly, in case either she or Abby are asleep. But she’s met with the sight of Quinn feeding the little one. Quinn looks up and smiles.

“Hey,” she whispers. “Come in.”

“I...I can come back, if you’d prefer,” Rachel says, keeping her eyes very firmly focussed on Quinn’s face.

Quinn rolls her eyes.

“It’s not like you’ve never seen them before, Rachel,” she says. “Anyway, we’re almost done. Then you can hold her.”

Rachel moves fully into the room and closes the door, approaching the bed, unable to help the soft smile that appears on her face at the sight of the tiny baby.

“Yes, I’ve seen them before. But they’ve never been quite so...full,” she says, somewhat tactfully, for Rachel. “And usually there isn’t someone attached to one of them.”

She sits down on the bed, kicking her shoes off and edging over to sit by Quinn, slipping an arm behind her back to allow her to get close enough to see Abby’s little face.

“Hey there little alien,” Rachel whispers. “How’re you doing today?”

Quinn scowls .

“You need to find a better nickname than that for her,” she warns. “Or else I might accidentally punch you in one of my more hormonally charged moments.”

Rachel tilts her head, appraising Abby.

“She is certainly less alien-like since she came out,” she decides.

“Try not alien-like at all,” Quinn corrects her, as Abby decides she’s had enough to eat and starts fussing. “Here, you want to burp her?”

Rachel’s eyes light up.

“Yes! I’ve been reading up on several techniques and I’ve been dying to try them out,” she enthuses, gently taking Abby from Quinn’s arms.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t make my daughter sound like a science project,” she murmurs, but she’s smiling at the Rachelness of it all.

Rachel has Abby on her knee, gently holding her face and rubbing her back in tiny circles. She starts to sing, softly. Quinn rests her head on Rachel’s shoulder, content. Then Abby spits up on Rachel’s hand. Rachel turns to Quinn.

“Everyone’s a critic.”

ahahaha this totally needs to happen.

Aww Faberry family moments are awesome.

“How about ‘Jafar’?”

Terri suppresses the urge to sigh. Abby is taking her role as co-name chooser very seriously and has brought her Disney Encyclopaedia over as source material. Quinn took great pleasure in informing Terri of this as she was dropping her off. Abby is currently sprawled on the carpet with the book while Emma and Terri occupy the couch.

“I don’t think we want to name the baby after an evil wizard, honey,” Emma explains, gently. “And she’s a girl.”

Abby nods, deep in thought. Terri rests her head on Emma’s shoulder, her hand cradling Emma’s baby bump protectively. They’ve been through a number of villains, fairies and woodland creatures, finding gentle excuses to say no to each of them.

Abby sighs.

“Maybe we should call my Uncle Finn, he’s a great namer,” she muses as she flips through the pages of the book.

Terri and Emma exchange a look. Finn helped Abby name her goldfish. The goldfish is called Fisherella.

“Yeah, maybe…if we can’t come up with a name by ourselves we’ll call Uncle Finn,” Emma agrees, leaning her head against Terri’s and bringing her hand up to cover the one on her belly.

Abby looks up at them sharply.

“You two haven’t had any ideas yet, I’ve had lots of ideas and all you’re doing is cuddling,” she huffs, clearly annoyed at having to do all the work.

“You’re right, sweetie,” Terri says, turning to Emma with raised eyebrows. “So, any ideas?”

Emma sighs. They’ve discussed this on a few occasions and it usually leads to a disagreement and one of them deciding that they should talk about it later. But time is moving on, as evidenced by her very prominent bump, and they can’t put it off forever. She shrugs.

“I still like Alexandra,” she says, waiting for the inevitable rebuttal.

“Nope,” Terri says, jovially. “Casey?”

“Absolutely not,” Emma retorts, equally happily.

Those are the first two they always disagree on.

“Rose?”

“New rule, no naming the baby after people from stupid movies,” Terri says.

“Fine,” Emma agrees. “Then don’t even bother suggesting ‘Gracie’ again.”

Terri rolls her eyes.

“I guess that’s fair,” she says.

Abby is watching them and shaking her head.

“You guys don’t have very good ideas,” she decides, going back to her book.

Terri sighs and pouts at Emma.

“We’re just gonna have to call her ‘The baby’,” she says, quietly. “Because we’re never gonna agree on anything.”

Emma bites her lip.

“There’s always the list of suggestions Rachel sent over,” she reminds Terri. “We never did finish reading it.”

Naw bb!!!!!! I love it! I also love that you threw in Alex and Casey ;)
Awww bb!!!! Ilytme!!!!

Terri wedges her cellphone between her shoulder and her ear as she fumbles in her wallet for money. After a few rings, the phone is answered.

“Where are you? You finished work thirty minutes ago,” Emma snaps, without greeting or preamble.

Terri bites her tongue and counts to ten, reminding herself that Emma is very pregnant and probably very bored. She started her maternity leave the week before and hasn’t been coping well with being at home and resting. Terri had to hide all of the cleaning materials on the first day to ensure that Emma didn’t exert herself.

“I’m at the diner, sweetie,” she says, patiently. “I stopped off to get some apple pie for tonight’s dessert and I wondered if there was anything else you wanted me to pick up?”

There is silence on the other end of the line.

“Emma?” Terri prompts. “You still there?”

“Mmmhmm,” Emma responds in a small voice. “There is something you could pick up…if any of the waitresses are cute you should pick one of them up. Because I’m fat and ugly and ungrateful and you deserve someone way better. Someone who doesn’t bitch at you for being amazingly thoughtful and sweet.”

Terri closes her eyes and shakes her head affectionately. They’ve been through this a few times since Emma got pregnant.

“Honey, you’re not any of those things. You’re pregnant,” she says, slowly. “And you’re beautiful and I love you.”

She hears Emma sniffle.

“Don’t cry,” she says, feeling a lump form in her own throat at the sound. “I’ll be home soon, okay?”

“Okay,” Emma says. “I love you too.”

“I know, baby,” Terri says, picking up the pie and heading out to the car. “I’ll see you soon.”

*

“Honey, I’m home!”

Terri closes the door and heads straight into the kitchen where she deposits her purse and the pie. She moves through to the living room to find Emma struggling to get off the couch. She immediately goes to her, manoeuvring them both so that Terri is seated with Emma in her lap, Emma’s legs stretched out along the couch. One of Terri’s arms is securely around Emma’s back, the other hand resting lovingly on her baby bump. Emma buries her face in Terri’s hair.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Terri intercedes.

“You’re too nice to me,” Emma says, leaning her head against Terri’s.

“I know,” Terri agrees. “But I make up for it by being awful to everyone else.”

That earns a chortle from Emma and Terri squeezes her gently.

“So, you picked up pie, huh?” Emma says, sitting up a little and playing with the ends of Terri’s hair.

“Mmmhmm, but no waitresses.” Terri says with a wink. “I mean, I looked, but none of them were even half as cute as you.”

Emma rolls her eyes affectionately.

“You’re lucky I love you,” she says, leaning in for a kiss.

“Yes I am,” Terri agrees, just before their lips meet.

Terri looks up from her book as Emma walks into the living room, eating a bowl of ice-cream. Terri's eyes stray to Emma's now prominent baby bump. Emma catches her eye and smiles, walking over to where Terri is lying on the couch.

“Want some?” she asks, holding up a spoonful.

Terri raises an eyebrow

“Really? The last time I stole a fry from your plate you almost broke my wrist," she says, eyeing the spoon warily.

Emma rolls her eyes and holds the spoon up to Terri's lips.

"I was a little cranky that day," she says, her lower lip sticking out slightly.

Terri takes hold of Emma's wrist and accepts the offered mouthful. She tugs gently on Emma's arm and she leans down for a brief kiss.

"Your lips are cold!" Terri says. "And you're allowed to be cranky, you're pregnant."

Emma smiles and turns to sit down next to Terri but Terri stops her.

"Wait!"

Emma looks over at her, confused. Terri stands up and gets behind Emma and starts running her hands over her belly. Both sides, on top, underneath; Emma almost feels like she's being measured for something.

"Sweetie...what are you doing?" she asks, leaning back into Terri anyway and continuing to eat her ice cream.

"Nothing," Terri says, quickly. "So...would you say your bump is more to the front, or sitting low?"

Emma smiles and shakes her head.

"Terri, we don't need to resort to old wives tales," she says, turning to place a cold kiss on Terri's cheek. "I know what the baby is."

Terri sighs.

"I know you know," she says, the pout clear in her voice.

"You could know too," Emma says gently. "You said you didn't want to."

"I know I did. And I don't. I want to be surprised," Terri says, leaning her chin on Emma's shoulder, swaying her back and forth slightly.

"You hate surprises," Emma says, reasonably.

"Well, I don't like big surprises. Like, I'd hate it if you had a baby without telling me we were expecting one," Terri says. "But I think I can handle this."

Emma refrains from mentioning how Terri searches the house every year before her birthday and Christmas because she can't bear the suspense. Emma sighs, putting her bowl on the coffee table and turning in Terri's arms. She smiles at her wife, loving the feel of Terri's arms around her with her bump between the two of them.

"Okay, I wasn't sure whether to tell you this or not," she begins, but Terri cuts her off.

"No! I don't wanna know!" she practically yells.

"No, I'm not going to tell you," Emma protests. "I just want to let you know that I've written down what the baby is on a piece of paper which is in an envelope in my underwear drawer. If you want to look, that's completely up to you. You don't have to tell me you've looked and I won't ask you. Fair?"

Terri frowns.

"Well, that's really going to test my willpower," she says, rubbing Emma's back.

"Which is better than you testing my patience with your constant attempts to guess," Emma says, drawing Terri in for a kiss.

*

Later, Emma comes out of the bathroom and climbs into bed, snuggling into Terri who's already there. She stretches her neck up for a kiss.

"'Night honey," Emma says.

"Yeah, 'night," Terri replies, reaching over to switch off the lamp next to the bed.

They lie in silence for a few moments, Emma's just about to drift off.

"So...I was thinking," Terri says, into the darkness. "We should go out tomorrow and buy some pink paint for the nursery."

Emma smirks.

"When did you look?" she asks.

“When you were in the bathroom,” Terri admits.

“You lasted longer than I expected,” Emma says, turning to press a kiss to Terri’s chest.

Terri scoots down the bed and rubs Emma’s baby bump, dropping a kiss on it. Emma’s hand comes up to run through her hair.

“Hey there little girl, I’m your Mama.”

She's had the worst day ever. Everything that possibly could go wrong, did go wrong. She had staff call in sick, inventory didn't get done, a kid fell into a display of snowglobes, the faucet sprung a leak and she needed to call a plumber, and to top it all off, the cash register was out by a hundred bucks at the end of the day. All she wants to do is go home, have a bath and go to bed, putting the damn day behind her.

She’s locking up when she hears a little voice from behind her.

“Mama!”

The smile’s already on her face as she turns around to find Emma walking towards her with Isabelle on her hip. The toddler is reaching out to her with a huge smile.

“Hey baby!” she cries, taking Isabelle from Emma and spinning her high in the air before bringing her down and kissing her head.

She turns to Emma.

“And hello to you too,” she says, accepting the kiss Emma offers.

“Hello,” Emma says, smiling warmly. “I thought we’d come down here and surprise you. We’re gonna take you for dinner and then we’re gonna take a walk.”

Emma wraps both arms around Terri’s bicep as they start to walk.

“I mean…unless you’re tired,” she says, looking at Terri and rubbing at the faint worry lines between her eyebrows. “You look tired…how was work?”

Terri looks from the baby in her arms to the woman by her side and smiles.

“Work was great. Let’s go eat.”

Terri’s lying on the carpet, playing with Olivia’s toes. Emma’s sitting on the couch watching them, her bare feet resting on Terri’s lower back.

“And this little piggy had roast beef...that one’s me,” Terri’s saying, wiggling Olivia’s toes and making her giggle. “And this little piggy had none...that’s your mommy because she’s weird and doesn’t eat meat.”

Emma digs her heel into Terri’s back, causing Terri to glare over her shoulder at her. She turns back to the wide eyed two year old, squeezing her pinkie toe gently.

“And this little piggy was a teeny, weeny piggy...I think her name was Olivia...and she cried all the way home,” she finishes, tickling Olivia’s sides, making her scream in delight as Terri pulls her into a hug and kisses her blonde curls.

When she releases her the little girl bounces up and down.

“Again Mama, again, again!” she chants, clapping her hands.

Terri rolls her eyes.

“Livvy, this’ll be the fifteenth time we’ve done it,” she says, although Olivia has no concept of number and laughed just as hard on the fifteenth time as she did on the first.

Emma smiles as Terri starts the rhyme all over again. Her vision is drawn to the hallway, where a small figure, followed by a taller one are tiptoeing past the door. It’s not the first time, they’ve been back and forth a few times over the course of the evening.

“Girls,” she calls out. “What are you doing?”

After a few beats, two heads appear around the door, one blonde, one redhead.

“We’re just playing, Mommy,” Isabelle says, her big brown eyes the very picture of innocence.

Abby smirks and looks down at her feet. Emma quirks an eyebrow.

“Abby, is there something funny?” she asks.

Olivia, distracted from her game with Terri gets up and wanders over to the older girls, holding her arms up to Abby, who picks her up and looks at Emma.

“No, Memma, we’re just playing salons,” she manages, before a wicked grin that is the image of her mother’s spreads across her face. “Cuz ‘Belle wants to look pretty for her booooooyfrieeeeeend.”

Isabelle elbows Abby in the side.

“Shut up! I do not have a boyfriend,” she whines.

“You do too!” Abby protests. “It’s little Jimmy Jackson. I saw the two of you holding hands!”

There are tears welling in Isabelle’s eyes and she blinks them away, folding her arms across her chest and turning away from the others. Terri’s pushed herself into a sitting position and she can see that Abby’s about to take the subject further so she interjects.

“Okay Abby, that’s enough,” she says, the warning clear in her voice. “Can you please take Livvy into the kitchen and get her some grapes?”

Abby looks from Terri to Emma and decides it’s probably better for her to make a quick getaway.

“C’mon Livvy, Auntie Abby’s gonna get you some grapes,” she says, putting the toddler down and taking her hand, leading her out of the room.

...cont'd

They’re up in the attic, trying to find something to make Halloween costumes out of. Emma is watching Livvy pretend to be a ghost using an old sheet. She giggles when the boisterous five year old trips and falls into her lap. She pulls her onto her knee for a hug. Just then, a worried voice pipes up from behind them.

“Mommy...what’s this?”

Emma turns to see her eldest sitting by an old box, with a photograph album in her lap. She strains to see what it is, but can’t.

“I don’t know, honey, just a sec,” she says, urging Livvy to stand up and lifting the sheet off her to prevent any more falls.

She stands and makes her way over to Belle. A few steps away, she stops, having seen what it is Belle is looking at. It’s Terri and Will’s wedding album. She closes her eyes. She did not plan for this to be how the kids found out. She plasters on a smile and takes a seat on the floor beside Belle. Livvy comes over to see what the fuss is about, planting herself down on the other side of Emma.

Belle looks at her with large, watery eyes.

“It’s Mama and Uncle Will. And they’re getting married,” she says, her voice quivering.

“Lemme see, lemme see!” Livvy says, leaning over Emma to pull the album closer. “Ewwww! They’re kissing!”

Emma’s not terribly fond of the album herself, having leafed through it once before while she was alone in the house. But she knows that it must have come as quite a shock to Belle to find it there, having had no prior knowledge of Terri and Will’s relationship.

“Well, honey...you see, before Mama and I were married, Mama was married to Uncle Will,” she explains, gently. “So these are the pictures of their wedding.”

Belle’s lower lip is trembling now and Emma wraps an arm around her. Livvy appears to be nonplussed by the discovery and is continuing to look through the album.

“This dress isn’t as nice as the one she has on in your book, Mommy,” Livvy decides and Emma smiles, ruffling her hair.

“But...why did she get married to Uncle Will?” Belle asks. “Why didn’t you stop her?”

Emma laughs a little at that. She has wondered what life would’ve been like if she’d gone to school with Will and Terri. The hopeless romantic in her likes to think that she and Terri were fated to be together and that if they’d met at school, they would’ve been the high-school sweethearts who beat the odds to stay together and get married and have kids. But in reality, she knows that Terri was a cheerleader and that she was the weird girl with the germ phobia and that their paths would probably not have crossed.

“Honey, I didn’t know your Mama back then,” she says, rubbing her hand up and down Belle’s arm. “I met her while she was married to Uncle Will.”

She refrains from mentioning the fact that she was pursuing Will at the time. She feels that it will only complicate matters. Belle still looks upset and Emma isn’t sure how to make it better. It’s a lot to take in, that one of your parents had a whole other life that you were not a part of.

“Do you think she liked being married to him?” Belle asks, obviously trying to wrap her head around the concept.

Emma searches for the right response to that, one which doesn’t do Terri and Will’s relationship a disservice.

“It looks like she liked kissing him,” Livvy chips in, holding up a picture of Terri and Will kissing under a tree.

Emma flinches when her eyes land on the picture, but she covers it up and turns back to Belle, who is staring at the photo, distraught.

“Yes, honey, I think she liked being married to him,” she says, gently holding Belle’s chin and guiding her around to look into her eyes.

“But...but...aren’t you sad that she liked being married to someone else?” Belle asks.

Emma thinks about that for a second.

“I...was, for a little while,” she says, slowly.

Terri stretches up to grab the big bowl they use for popcorn from a high shelf. She gets her fingers to the edge of it just as two hands encircle her waist, under her sweater, on her bare skin. She yelps in surprise, retracting her arm and turning her head to be met with Emma’s twinkling brown eyes.

“Sorry sweetie,” Emma mumbles, her chin on Terri’s shoulder. “I just wondered if you needed some help reaching it.”

Terri scowls good-naturedly.

“I can reach it just fine, thank you,” she retorts, stretching up again and snagging the bowl, offering Emma a smirk over her shoulder as she brings it down onto the counter.

It’s Saturday night which, in the Del Monaco-Pillsbury household, means movie night. The popcorn is popping away, milk for hot chocolate is bubbling on the stove…and the kids are fighting over which movie to watch. Just a normal Saturday night.

Terri sags back against Emma as she hears a particularly indignant squawk from the direction of the living room.

“Who do you think will be through here first?” she asks, as the microwave beeps.

Terri opens it and pulls apart the bag, pouring the popcorn into the bowl. Emma drops a quick kiss on her neck and lets her go, moving to the stove to finish off the hot chocolates.

“Well, it’s Belle’s turn to choose the movie, which probably means Livvy is gonna be through here in approximately 20 seconds complaining that whatever she’s chosen is too girlie,” Emma says.

Terri nods, chewing on a piece of popcorn. Right on cue, a little voice pipes up.

“Mommy! Mama! You guys gotsta tell Belle that we’re not watching stupid Beauty and the Beast, again,” Olivia appears in the kitchen doorway, wearing a hugely disgusted expression. “Just cuz that girl in the yellow dress has the same name as her. It’s booooring.”

Before Emma or Terri has a chance to respond, Belle appears behind the four-year old, holding the DVD case aloft.

“Tell her it’s my turn to choose,” she demands, looking between her parents with plaintive brown eyes. “She got to watch Transformers last week and I don’t even like that a little bit.”

They both place their hands on their hips and stick out their lower lips in a perfect imitation of Terri’s pout. Emma raises her eyebrows at Terri.

“Honey, you wanna take this one?” she asks.

Terri sighs. She looks at both girls and bites her lip. On the one hand, it is Belle’s turn to choose the movie. On the other, Livvy’s right, they have watched Beauty and the Beast an inordinate amount of times.

“Okay, girls, now when your mommy and me decide to watch a movie together, do you ever see us fighting over what to watch?” she asks.

“Yes,” both girls answer, in perfect unison, their little faces serious.

Terri hears Emma disguise a laugh as a cough and silently curses her.

“Well, no…we talk about the different options and then we decide together which movie we both want to see,” Terri explains. “Sometimes it’s one that Mommy likes more than I like, and sometimes it’s one that I like more than Mommy likes. But mostly we try to find one that we both like. And that’s called a compromise.”

Isabelle and Olivia look at each other sceptically. Isabelle turns back to Terri.

“So, we should look for something with stuff that we both like?” she asks, slowly, testing out the idea.

“Yes!” Terri agrees with a smile. “Try to find something with dancing, and also explosions.”

Olivia nods, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” she says. “ A promrocise is good.”

“Com-pro-mise, honey,” Emma sounds out, still stirring the hot chocolate.

“Com-ro-cise,” Livvy says, grinning up at Emma.

“Close enough,” Terri says. “Now go and find something, the popcorn and hot chocolate are nearly ready and we have nothing to watch!”

Emma’s already looking at her watch and they’ve only been at her brother’s for an hour. He’s having his Easter barbeque, which is really just an excuse to show off his big house and fancy car and hi-tech outdoor cooking facility. She’s used to his ways. He’s brash and dismissive and insulting, but he’s always been that way. Especially with her. She just takes it. Terri’s not quite as adept at dealing with it yet.

Emma’s standing with Tom’s wife, Jane. She’s always liked her. She’s quiet and unassuming and the absolute opposite of the type of person she’d have guessed her brother would go for. A shout catches her attention and she sees Terri throw a small child over her shoulder and take off at a run while a number of other small children chase after her. She smiles to herself. Well, they do say opposites attract.

People are milling around and Tom is standing by the barbeque, bragging to a group of men about the bonus he earned this year. She tunes him out until she hears her name being called.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asks, ready for an insult.

“I was just saying to the guys,” Tom yells. “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. Am I right?”

She rolls her eyes. Like he’s never said that to her before.

“Sure, Tom,” she agrees. “Whatever.”

“And those who can’t teach, become guidance counsellors,” he finishes, slapping the guy next to him in the chest as they all laugh.

Emma tries to smile, but feels her face flush with embarrassment. Jane gives her a sympathetic glance but doesn’t say anything. She turns away and blinks at the burning sensation in her eyes which she tells herself is from the smoke from the barbeque. Just then, Terri’s voice floats out from behind her.

“Hey, Tom. I think you’re doing that wrong, here...let me help you wi-...oh, wow, I have no idea how that happened.”

Emma spins around in time to see Tom cradling his face, blood spewing from under his hands. The group of men seems to have dispersed quickly and Terri has her arm around Tom’s shoulders, leading him into the house. She glances back over her shoulder at Emma.

“I’ll take him in and get him cleaned up.”

Emma doesn’t have time to respond and she turns to Jane.

“What...what just happened?” she asks, utterly confused.

“I think your girlfriend just punched my husband in the nose for making that crack about your job,” Jane answers, a small smile appearing on her lips. “She’s pretty awesome. You should keep hold of her.”

Edited 2010-06-09 18:23 (UTC)

Terri sits down heavily on a stool by the counter. She surveys the room, everything looks halfway done, nothing looks finished, even though she’s been working on it for weeks. Sometimes she thinks it’ll never be finished. Sometimes she thinks she should never have started.

It was a dream she’d always had; to be her own boss, doing something she loved. At Emma’s urging, she started to view it less as a dream, and more like a real possibility. She’d taken some college classes at night in small business management. And, again with Emma’s support and encouragement, she’d decided to go for it. She’d bought a small unit with a view to turning it into an arts & crafts supply store, with space for her to run little taster sessions and classes.

It had seemed so possible then. Now, it doesn’t. She’s still working full time, and trying to get the store to a point where it’s workable. Everything costs money, everything takes time...

She sighs and stands back up, rubbing the back of her neck. Her phone starts ringing and she digs it out of her pocket, glancing at her watch and cringing.

“Hey sweetie,” she says, surprised at the weariness evident in her voice. “I’m sorry, I’ll be home soon.”

“Mmmhmmm,” Emma says. “Open the door.”

Terri’s brow creases in confusion in her tired state.

“Huh?” she says, moving to do as she’s told anyhow.

She opens the door to reveal Emma standing with her phone pressed to her ear and a bag dangling from her hand.

“Surprise,” Emma says into the phone, smiling softly.

Terri’s heart melts. She hangs up and slips the phone back into her pocket, watching Emma do the same. Terri steps aside to let Emma into the store and closes the door afterward, locking it. She turns and leans back against the door, watching as Emma places the bag on the counter and takes off her jacket, looking around the space as she does so, a smile growing on her face.

“Wow! The place is really coming together,” she enthuses.

Terri snorts.

“Yeah, sure it is,” she says, her eyes finding every imperfection possible as she glances around. “At this rate, it’ll never be ready.”

“Hey,” Emma scolds, approaching Terri where she’s still leaning against the door. “Of course it will. Honestly. I mean, I was only here a couple of days ago and I can see all the progress you’ve made.”

Terri shrugs, her eyes on the floor. Emma stops directly in front of her and gently tips her chin up.

“You can do this,” Emma says, looking directly into Terri’s eyes. “You know you can do this.”

Terri looks at her for a long moment.

“No, I don’t, not right now,” she says. “But it means the world to me that you know I can.”

Emma shakes her head and leans in to kiss Terri, her hands going to her hips.

“Don’t,” Terri protests, turning her head away. “I’m all dirty and gross.”

Emma smiles against Terri’s cheek, slipping her arms around her waist and squeezing.

“Yeah, you are,” she agrees, wrinkling her nose. “But I don’t care.”

And it’s the truth. Emma’s still not great with messes. But Terri could be covered from head to foot in grime and Emma wouldn’t care. She presses her face into Terri’s neck and inhales the scent of a genuine hard day’s work mixed in with the comforting smell that’s simply Terri. She lifts her head and seeks out Terri’s lips again, and this time Terri acquiesces. The kiss is slow, languid; a kiss between two people who aren’t in a hurry, who know they have all the time in the world to enjoy each other.

Terri’s stomach growls, interrupting the tender moment. Terri pulls away from the kiss and scowls in the general direction of the noise, while Emma unsuccessfully stifles a giggle behind her hand. Terri shifts her scowl to Emma and she relents, bringing her hand down to rub Terri’s belly gently.

“My poor, hungry baby,” she murmurs. “You’ve been working so hard.”

“I have,” Terri agrees, her lower lip starting to protrude.

“You really have,” Emma says, rubbing her nose against Terri’s. “And I miss you. We haven’t eaten dinner together all week.”

“I know, sweetie,” Terri says, her thumbs stroking Emma’s hips through her jeans. “And I know I said I’d be home earlier tonight…I just…”

Emma stirs. She throws an arm out to locate Terri, wanting to snuggle with her. She opens her eyes when her arm touches nothing but cool sheets. Terri’s side of the bed is empty, again. Emma sighs. This is happening more and more often. She pushes herself up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed, shuffling around until she finds her slippers. She stands and pads to the door where she takes down her robe and slips into it.

She steps out of the room and heads to where light is shining under a doorway down the hall. She pushes the door open and, sure enough, Terri is sitting at the desk, plans and sketches strewn all around her. Her arm is on the desk, with her head resting on top of it. A pencil is loosely gripped in her right hand. Emma can tell from her breathing pattern that she’s asleep. She smiles softly.

Making as little noise as possible, Emma moves to stand behind Terri. She gently removes the pencil from her hand and then kneels down on the floor next to the chair. She puts a hand on Terri’s thigh and shakes it a little.

“Terri?” she says, her voice low. “Honey, come on, wake up and come back to bed with me.”

Terri mumbles something unintelligible before sitting up ramrod straight in the seat. Her eyes are wide and they dart around the room for a second before settling on Emma. She rubs a hand over her face.

“M’sorry,” she says. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“I figured,” Emma says, her hand sliding from Terri’s thigh to wrap around her hip, her thumb rubbing in a soothing motion. “You seem to be tired enough now. Come back to bed.”

She tugs on Terri’s pyjama pants, her fingers sliding underneath the waistband to scratch lightly at the skin of her lower back. Terri looks at the scattered papers and sighs.

“I should just fin-“

“No!” Emma cuts in, firmly. “You’re tired, you’re not going to be productive, you’re coming to bed.”

Terri looks up in surprise, her brow creasing.

“Hey, you wanted me to do this,” she protests. “You wanted me to ‘follow my dreams’ and all that crap.”

Emma tightens her hold on Terri’s waist, looking up into her eyes.

“I do want you to do this, Terri,” she says, softly. “I want you to do something that makes you happy. And you’re nearly there, you’ve put together the business case and you got the financing. What I don’t want is for you to make yourself sick now. You work hard enough on it through the day, you don’t need to be working through the night too.”

Terri’s face softens. She brings a hand up to Emma’s cheek.

“I know,” she says, rubbing her thumb over the soft skin under Emma’s eye. “I just…there’s so much stuff going on in my head that I sometimes need to get it out.”

“I know sweetheart,” Emma says, turning her head to place a kiss on the palm of Terri’s hand. “I remember what you were like when we bought this place.”

“Hey,” Terri protests, a smile pulling at her lips. “I was just excited that we were gonna have a place that was ours.”

I'm reading my way through the Glee ones. HI.

I think there should be Will/April, plz.

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Emma/Terri + Abby, Nightmare

Rachel/Quinn + Abby ~ Family moment

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Glee (Glitterverse), Emma/Terri + Abby, baby names - 1

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Cranky-emo-pregnant-chick!Emma

Terri doesn't wanna know the sex of the baby

Terri's had a bad day at work.

Isabelle's first boyfriend - aged 5 (part 1)

Glee (Glitterverse), Emma/Terri, Belle finds Terri and Will's wedding album

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Glee (Glitterverse), Emma/Terri, Terri's starting her own business

Glee (Glitterverse), Emma/Terri, Terri's making plans to start her own business

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