Tina-

Alice…Alice! could you tear yourself away from Dana for one second please? I shout, causing strangers to snap their heads towards Alice and Dana as they make out beside the fountain. Alice presses one last lingering kiss on Danas lips before turning to me with a wink.
Just because youre pregnant Tee doesnt mean youre everybodys mum She sticks her tongue out at me, and I shake my head at Bette.
Come on people Ive written a schedule I tell them pulling the laminated schedules out of my back pack. Were already five minutes behind schedule courtesy of Alice… Alice curtsies. …Ive highlighted all the things we need to get in red
So whats the pink for? Jenny asks, staring at the schedule with wide eyes.
Those are the things that I want but Bette says I cant have
So tell me Mrs Porter why does the little lady get to be absent but we have to be tortured with schedules and bossy Tina? Alice asks dryly.
And how come Shane and Kit and Marina dont have to help out either? Dana quietly grumbles.
Because… I begin taking a deep breath. …my dutiful wife is preparing herself for a gallery opening in San Francisco, shes kindly packing my suitcase. Shane is awol, Marina needs to run The Planet, Kit is moving in with Ivan, and Dana you need to keep up with current events Dana pouts much to Alices adoration. Now children can we get on with it? I ask rubbing my hands together.
Yes drill sergeant Alice mocks, but Im far to inspired to worry about Alice. Theres so many pretty things to buy, so many tiny clothes to look at. I guess I run more than I walk from shop to shop. I can hear Jenny gasping for breath behind me but theres no heroes on this mission. If I want to cover the entire mall before it closes then I need to get a move on.
I look around the baby section, scanning every crib like Im a robot. Im looking for pine I tell Jenny who nods at my side. Real pine. I want it to look like a bassinet She runs off in search of a sales assistant and I look around for Alice and Dana. I knew I should never have brought them. Jenny and me would have covered much more space without them.
I walk towards the changing rooms straining my ears.
Al if Tina finds us were dead I hear Dana warn.
Come on baby do you want to look for prams or do you wanna make with the love? Alice growls.
Al Dana giggles. I pull the curtain open and Alice is straddling Danas lap, the buttons to Danas shirt undone to her navel. Dana looks up a deer caught in headlights. We were trying clothes on Dana splutters. I raise an eyebrow.
Outside, two minutes
I walk away the faint sound of Alice sniggering. That was your fault Dana grumbles.
I shake my head checking my watch. Ten minutes behind schedule. I sigh walking around the shop in search of Jenny. I take a second look at the cribs. Everythings too big or not big enough, or the wrong colour, or the wrong type of wood, or not even wood. I sigh passing what looks like miniature jail cells, and then I stop in my tracks. In a lighted centre piece sits a perfect soft pine crib, a moses basket made out of solid wood. White material decorated beautifully with leaves that are so difficult to make out that it takes running my hands across them to recognise what they are. I can just imagine our beautiful baby sleeping like an angel while I rock them to sleep.

Shane-

Im waiting for her to wake up, wondering how much I had to drink last night but knowing every single word I said. Under these silk sheets Im fully clothed, and so is she. Her lip stick is smudged and I can see smudges of eyeliner on the shoulder of her shirt, tears that I cried into her. Her face looks child like, subdued in sleep, hair tousled like we did something even though I know that we didnt. She looks vulnerable, like something I want to wrap in my arms and protect.
I wasnt kidding, I dont care what anybody is going to say. I swear that I care about this girl. I feel things for her that Im not ready to think about, but arent going to ignore anymore. I cant fool myself into believing that being alone is freedom.
When I woke up this morning I felt like I belonged somewhere, felt like for once somebody actually wanted me to be here. I could wake up next to Nancy every morning, I could get used to that.
Her eyes open, exposed brown that betrays every single thing this chick feels. Suddenly Im that girl after her first kiss. Embarrassment, fear of rejection. I struggle a smile or a grin, anything to try and force this frown into something more positive. I want her to know that I dont regret anything I said.
Morning She whispers, stretching and yawning. I watch the way her body strains and moves. My mind is programmed to think that a roll in the sack will solve anything.
I breath a sigh of relief. Last night… I begin looking at her through long lashes. …I meant it. What I said, what I remember anyway
I know She whispers her hand resting on my t-shirt clad stomach. She draws invisible patterns through cotton and its like shes touching skin. Even if you denied it this morning, I still would have known She slips a hand under my t-shirt and I take in another mouthful of air. You dont owe me anything Shane. Im not expecting anything from you. I like you alot, maybe too much for my own good, but Im not expecting marriage proposals. No pressure She insists. Her smile makes me feel warm. I try to push my arousal down, try to tune out how amazing her hand feels, how amazing it would feel if she let it slip just a little lower.
Maybe there could be a little pressure? I ask, my voice ashamedly sultry. Her hand leaves my stomach and comes to my face, her thumb lightly caressing the skin of my cheeks.
You got it She whispers, her lips coming to mine. Ive never been kissed so softly. Nobody has ever treated me as anything but a good lay, but as Nancys tongue slides against mine I can tell that shes different.
We lie on the bed, making out like teenagers. Passion rising between us as our lips, and tongues, and bodies join and then part. She clutches my t-shirt, while I stroke long patterns against the small of her back. She pulls away smiling, her lips swollen with kisses. Dont tease me baby I groan pulling her closer again.
She grins accepting my hold. Im not trying to, but I should have been in work an hour ago
I kiss her exposed neck, loving the shivers that run down her spine.
You don’t need to worry, Im in cahoots with your boss I remind her nipping at her collar bone.
Shane I have deadlines to meet, and you have the salon to open
I cup her ***** with my hands even though I can feel my resolve melting. I sigh. I know
Meet me for lunch? She asks groaning as I kiss that softer than soft spot in the base of her neck.
You know it