Jessie and Katie (in Friends and Lovers) - Episode 89 "48 Hours..."

Written by: TVM (mrtvm@mrtvm.com) & CJ Ames (cjames@mrtvm.com)

Archive: www.asstr.org/~TheVertManArchive/Stories/Celeb/JessieKatie/Index.html

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"It's getting late and I think we should make some kind of sleeping arrangements" Karen said as she yawned. "I assume everyone is staying over?"

"If you have room" Shady said as she looked to Katie, "That ok? We can go if you want."

"I've got no reason to be home, your dad knows where we at" Katie said.

"Ok, we have two bedrooms but I don't like the idea of..." Karen started before Sarah cut her off with a giggle as she pulled Jessie to her feet and hugged her as she said, "Yeh, yeh, we know. I claim Jan as my roommate."

"Good then, I'll take your girlfriend" Stephanie said as she laid back on the couch, her head now on Grace's thighs and giving Jessie and Sarah a determined look. "Now what do you say smart ass?"

"Don't bug me" Sarah said as she stuck out her tongue, Jessie rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I think that's ok" August said, "How about Eli and RaeAnn on the couches and Katie and Shady we've got some sleeping bags for you, is that ok?"

"Yeh that's fine" Katie said.

"And before you start, we'll keep an eye on each other" Eli said as Karen blushed and gave in as her and August headed off to bed.

"Hey, take a walk with me for a few minutes?" Shady asked as Katie nodded her head with a smile. "Hey just leave the bags in the floor, we won't be gone long."

"Hey, if you go very far, don't leave the shit color pavement" Eli said as Katie laughed and pulled Shady outside.

"I'm tired let's go Marsha" Jessie said with a giggle as she pulled Sarah towards the hallway.

"Fine don't say goodnight to either of us" Grace said as Sarah pulled Jessie back into the living room and said, "At least let me say goodnight."

"Night baby" Sarah said as she kissed Grace. "Don't go doing anything I wouldn't do."

"Night baby and same to you" Grace said as they both laughed.

"Night" Jessie said as Stephanie sat up and made a show out of licking Jessie's lips seductively. Jessie grinned as she kissed her softly, "Now don't you two straight girls talk to much about guys."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure I'll be thinking about guys with her laying beside me" Stephanie said as Jessie blushed and watched Grace shrug.

"If I hear..." Jessie said and realized where she was before deciding to rephrase, "Just don't do nothing I wouldn't do."

"Come on Jan, we'll have some fun of our own" Sarah said with a defiant look to Stephanie as she pulled a giggling Jessie into the bedroom and shut the door.

"Do you even know my name is Jessie?" Jessie asked as she kicked her shoes off.

"Of course I do" Sarah said with a worried look that this was gonna be another Zoe incident. "Your name is Jessie, I love your name, why I thought you liked it when I called you Jan."

"I do, I was just kidding, Sarah" Jessie said as she flipped Sarah's hair in her face. "I heard about Zoe being a cunt about your nickname with her."

"Yeh, I was thinking..."

"Well, this is different" Jessie said as she sat down on the bed. "I can just imagine if we ever got together, you'd say something like, I love you so much...Jan."

"I wouldn't say that" Sarah said as Jessie pushed her on the bed and pinned her down without much of a challenge as Sarah giggled. "I would say I love you Jessie..."

"Yeh...yeh I know that" Jessie said as she got lost in a moment with Sarah as their eyes met each other's. "I would say the same thing."

"Not like you'd ever look at me like that anyway" Jessie said as she rolled off on to her back and looked over at Sarah.

"And why not?" Sarah asked, "I mean, in the right situation, both of us single, I could."

"You're serious?" Jessie asked with a smile.

"Totally" Sarah said, "Why is that so surprising?"

"I just never really thought about, well, you and me" Jessie said softly. "Not that it's a gross idea."

"I just mean, we're best friends" Sarah said, "And that's a natural progression sometimes."

"Kinda romantic too" Jessie said, "Falling in love with your best friend, after you've known her forever."

"That would kill Katie" Sarah said without a trace of smile. "You know if it happened."

"I don't think it would, she's seriously in love with Shady" Jessie said. "I don't think she's looking back anymore."

"You're not either are you?" Sarah asked.

"Nope, I am so into Steph it's insane" Jessie said. "She kills me."

"You gonna tap that?" Sarah asked with a giggle as Jessie blushed.

"Already did" Jessie said with a proud/smug smile as Sarah jumped up and folded her legs under her and said, "You liar you did not."

"Yeh I did" Jessie said, "She wanted to, and yeh, like I'm gonna turn that down."

"Isn't it a little soon?" Sarah asked.

"No, I don't think so" Jessie said, "I'm completely in love with her. Besides, she was a virgin and she wanted too, it was her idea."

"I believe that" Sarah said softly, "I'm not judging you Jess. Just because me and Grace waited, don't mean that was right for you guys. Was she good?"

"Oh god" Jessie said as she covered her face and Sarah laughed. "Damn, good. She makes..."

"What?" Sarah asked, "Go on I wanna know, it's just us and I won't tell Grace."

"Ok" Jessie said as she sat up and went on, "It's never felt like that. So slow and easy and all that build up just pays off."

"Sounds like to me she likes what she was doing" Sarah said, "Huh?"

"Yeh I think so" Jessie said, "Said it was the most fun she's ever had."

"Grace and I waited so long because..." Sarah said, "...well, I let Grace make sure she wanted to before we did."

"Just between us..." Jessie said, "...she's really good at it too."

"You ever think about how weird it is that we both ended up with girls who claimed to be straight at one point?" Sarah asked as Jessie laughed.  

"I know, what is that?" Jessie asked. "Suddenly the straight goes away and they love...well you know."

"Grace sure seems to love what I do" Sarah said as both giggled. "She's never complained."

"Is this is all we got to do is talk about sex?" Jessie asked with a smirk.

"Well, we can't exactly do anything beyond talk about it" Sarah said as she stuck her tongue out. Watching Jessie laugh. "I don't think Stephanie and Grace would like that."

"I dunno, Grace I bet would love it..." Jessie said, "...if she could join in."

"Oh god, I could kill you" Sarah said as she put her hands over her face as Jessie fell onto her back laughing. Then rolling next to Sarah and asking in a whisper into Sarah's ear, "Did you like watching?"

"Shut up" Sarah said as Jessie squealed in laughter as Sarah blushed. "This is why I don't talk about sex."

"Ok, I'm stopping" Jessie said as she touched Sarah's stomach. "No more playing."

"Thank you" Sarah said, "You just don't know how seriously hot that was..."

"Seriously?" Jessie asked as she rolled back over and laid her head on Sarah's stomach. "Tell me about it?"

"No, you just proved how immature you are" Sarah said.

"I said, no more giggling and jokes" Jessie said, "Come on, you know you want too."

"God, why did you have to find out?"

"We are best friends Sarah" Jessie said, "Look at me, I'm laying my head on your stomach and you're playing with my hair and no one is worried about us coming on to each other. Cause we know the boundaries. And if you ask me to not tell I would."

"I know that" Sarah said as she flipped Jessie's hair into her face. "I always wanted a best friend I could talk to like that."

"Well, when you actually pay attention to me, I am" Jessie said as Sarah laughed.

"I know, I'm sorry" Sarah said, "But in my defense, you sorta have been caught up in Stephanie lately."

"Well, maybe this will change things" Jessie said, "You and Grace are welcome down here anytime."

"We're thinking about...moving to Florida" Sarah said.

"No, you're not" Jessie said. "I just get my best friend back and now she's leavin the state? No."

"Jessie, my dad lives down there" Sarah said.

"Noooo" Jessie said, "Let Grace go, you stay."

"Yeh, that makes sense" Sarah said with a laugh.

"You are not leaving me" Jessie said firmly. "I am serious, Sarah, I am not kidding."

"Oh yeah and what are you gonna do to stop me?" Sarah asked as she sat up and confronted Jessie. "Huh Jan?"

"I will beat you" Jessie said as Sarah laughed and saw Jessie give her a dirty look. Jessie, in the moment, watched Sarah laughing at her and felt she wanted to do something to wipe that smirk off her face as they both now sat facing each other with their knees folded under them. Not even thinking, she grabbed Sarah's shirt and pulled her forward and pressed her lips to Sarah's in a defiant show. Her mind reeling in shock, as was Sarah's, as she moved her lips against Sarah's for a moment. Feeling Sarah's soft lips on hers as she froze and hesitated and felt Sarah's hand touch her stomach and offer no initial resistance. Pulling away she saw the shock on Sarah's face as both covered their mouths and laughed nervously. "Oh my god, Sarah, I'm sooo sorry, I...dunno why I did that."

"That was interesting" Sarah said with a giggle. "Damn, Jess, you're a good kisser."

"Shut up" Jessie said as Sarah laughed harder. "God I am so screwed."

"Jessie, calm down" Sarah said, "It was a weird moment, don't freak out."

"I swear I wasn't coming onto you" Jessie said.

"Good, cause then we might have a problem" Sarah said as Jessie smiled and asked, "Don't lie to me, are you serious?"

"Oops" Sarah said.

"I wanna know, and no more smart ass remarks" Jessie said. "I wanna know what you meant by that."

"It means if you were seriously interested..." Sarah said as she took a deep breath and went on, "...I'd be in some serious trouble."

"But you are totally into Grace" Jessie said.

"Yeh I know and that's not gonna change" Sarah said as she looked away, "You just don't get how much I adore you, and care what you think and feel. Grace knows, I think, I get why Katie fell in love with you and why Stephanie is crazy about you."

"I guess I can see you that way too" Jessie said, "I mean, seriously, I just didn't realize how close we had gotten for a while."

"Yeh, well now you know" Sarah said as she took another deep breath.

"Now I get it..." Jessie said as she tackled Sarah down onto the bed as both laughed.

"You got what, Jan?" Sarah asked in a giggle as Jessie laid her head beside Sarah's.

"Why you hate my mom so much" Jessie said, "You really do love me."

"Yeh" Sarah said, "I do."

"It still hurts you too?" Jessie asked softly in a voice Sarah knew was only meant for her.

"Yeh it does" Sarah said, "I'll never forgive her for that."

"Sarah she is trying"

"I don't care" Sarah snapped, "No one hits you and gets away with it, I don't care what her reasoning was."

"It was a horrible moment" Jessie said, "But she did apologize, you made yourself pretty clear about what you thought."

"Look it maybe over..." Sarah said as she watched Jessie roll over and smile. "...but it still hurts me."

"I love you too" Jessie said as she kissed Sarah's cheek and laid down beside her. "And I am seriously asking you not to move."

"No kidding?" Sarah asked.

"No kidding" Jessie said with a honest smile. "Please don't move."

"Ok" Sarah said simply as Jessie groaned and thought Sarah was kidding. "I'm serious. I'll talk to Grace and tell her I changed my mind."

"I will seriously walk out that door if you are kidding me"

"No, Jessie, look, I'm being completely honest" Sarah said as Jessie squealed in excitement and hugged her. "Wait, wait, hold on...how about you go with us when we go to look at a summer house down there?"

"Summer house?" Jessie asked in confusion.

"Yeh, see I'm selling the old building...for a shit load of cash" Sarah said as Jessie's mouth dropped open, "And we're gonna buy a house down there."

"You're gonna be like a millionaire or something?"

"Yep, I guess, a friend says he can get me like 20 million for the land and building" Sarah said as Jessie pretended a faint and crashed back on the bed. "And you can have anything you've ever wanted."

"Buy me a new car?" Jessie asked in a 'sure she will' voice.

"Brand new" Sarah said.

"Don't tease me" Jessie said as she rolled back over and looked at Sarah.

"I'm not, you and Grace are the most important things in my life" Sarah said, "And you want a car now that you can drive it and you're gonna get it."

"Any car I want?" Jessie asked as she bounced around excitedly.

"Soon as the deal closes, me and you will go car shopping" Sarah said as Jessie hugged her again as both laughed.

"I want one of those VW bugs" Jessie said, "Green, no red, no purple."

"How about green with purple polka dots?" Sarah asked as both began laughing out loud.      


** ** ** Meanwhile, near @ Casa De August


"Why did you wanna go for a walk?" Katie asked as Shady stopped and looked back to make sure they were alone.

"Because I need some advice" Shady said, and trying to hide a smile as Katie gave a her a totally serious and concerned look.

"About what?"

"I think I'm in love with Sarah" Shady said and fought a smile and watched Katie's face show the shock she was in till she figured out Shady was kidding.

"You are so..." Katie said as she slapped Shady's arm and walked off as Shady followed after her and asked, "Do you think I should tell her?"

"You are not funny" Katie said as Shady fell against a tree in laughter as Katie glared at her. "I am seriously considering breaking up with you."

"Ok, I'm sorry, playing ok?" Shady asked. "You're my girl."

"I better be" Katie said as she excepted Shady's arms around her. "Totally not funny."

"I thought it was" Shady said in a giggle and held Katie as she tried to walk off. "Oh come on, Katie, it was a joke."

"That your only game?" Katie asked.

"Yes" Shady said as she kissed Katie's cheek. "You know I was playing, you seriously mean everything to me."

"Go on" Katie said as a bit of a smile crossed her face.

"You do and you know that" Shady said. "And I do need advice."

"Here we go again" Katie said.

"What should I do about this loonatic Jake?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want him to hurt Grace and Sarah, or even worse, what if he goes after Zoe?" Shady said. "I can make sure he goes away."

"You would do that?"

"No, I mean leaves them alone" Shady said, "I'm scared he's gonna do something crazy next."

"Maybe...run him out of town for a while" Katie said. "I'm sure Grace and Sarah have had enough of him."

"Yeh, good idea" Shady said as she leaned forward and hesistated before kissing Katie. "Not mad at me?"

"No" Katie said as she hugged her around the neck.

"God, you have no idea how much I need you" Shady said as Katie smiled. "I can trust you."

"Yeh you can" Katie said, "So what are you gonna do about...you know."

"Let Batman deal with psycho" Shady said as she picked up the phone and dialed three numbers and said, "Joey, what's up handsome?..."


** ** ** Meanwhile @ the West Lafayette Police Station, the next morning


Jake came out of the police station, happy to be sober and free after his stunt the previous day. Lucky their had been no charges filed to match the ones he was already facing back in Chicago. Looking the parking lot over, he spotted his truck and was glad to see only one person was in the vicinity at the moment as he made his way over and slipped the key into the lock. Suddenly feeling a gloved hand on his neck and a sinister voice in his ear he froze, "Jake Manning?"

"Yeh who wants to know?" Jake asked as he found himself spun around and pushed against the truck by a guy dressed in all black, with long black hair to match. Shoes, Jeans, T-shirt, leather jacket and even sunglasses and not to mention the black gloves.

"Me asshole" The Man said. "You can call me Joey."

"What do you want?" Jake asked as his heart raced and he thought for a moment about screaming for the police.

"You, out of town, until your daughter makes it clear she wants to see you again" Joey said in low demanding voice. "And I'm not talking about this shithole town, I mean Chicago."

"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?" Jake asked as Joey slammed him back against his truck and said, "I'm your worst nightmare in this world, a psycho without a conscious. You're daughters are Grace and Zoe Manning?"

"Yeh, yeh...ohmigod...what have you done to them?" Jake asked as he started to panic.

"Nothing, but something will happen to their drunk pathetic old man if he goes near them again" Joey said, "You're being warned one time only."

"Those are my daughters I have a right to see them" Jake said as Joey gripped his shoulder in a suddenly painful clutch and replied in a sinister tone, "I say you don't, cause you pissed away your rights when you laid a hand on those little angels. And let's not forget the object of your scorn, shit for brains, Sarah Grasser?"

"She's a little..." Jake started to say before he was cut off by a hand to his throat cutting off his air.

"Call her a whore and you'll die right now" Joey said as he released Jake's throat. "Go on, call her that pretty name."

"Who the fuck are you?" Jake asked.

"You apparently took one too many shots to the head from Shady" Joey said with a laugh. "How pathetic do you have to be to get beat up by a 17 year old girl?"

"I was drunk" Jake said.

"Good excuse" Joey said, "And to answer you're question, I'm with a very powerful force, we own Chicago. People like you, who hurt innocent people for no reason, get on my shit list fast. And that's my job, to be the GR pooper scooper. Today, I'm making it clear, either you are gone from the city in 48 hours or they'll find you with a brand new pair of concrete bedroom slippers at the bottom of Lake Michigan. In a few years."

"Ok, ok" Jake said as he swallowed hard and felt Joey release his shoulder.

"48 hours, and not a second longer" Joey said as he walked off, Jake turned for a second and fumbled with his door, looking back he saw no one.

"What the hell?" Jake asked as he looked over the parking lot and down the street both ways and saw nothing. "How the hell can he just disappear?"


** ** ** Meanwhile @ Sammler-Manning Manor, a few hours later

"I already did Mom, I promise, my homework is done and can you stop nagging, please?" Zoe asked Lily and being glad when her mother finally disappeared back inside the house as Zoe took a seat on the front porch. Looking up from a magazine, a few minutes later, just as Mandy pulled up in the driveway. Smiling as she always did when she saw her and walked slowly over to meet her. Noticing Mandy was still sitting in the car, yawning and looking to be in pain. Mandy tried her best to smile as she saw Zoe and opened the door and got out looking like a zombie.  

"Hey" Zoe said as she hugged her and felt Mandy's back and shoulders in knots just from a gentle touch. "You ok?"

"Better now" Mandy said as she hugged Zoe, "I just wanted to see you."

"I always wanna see you, but you're in pain, right?" Zoe asked as she pulled away and had Mandy turn and without an invitation, slipped the girls jacket off and quickly sunk her fingers into Mandy's shoulders and started to need the knotted muscles.

"Oh wow, Zoe I'll beg I swear just keep going" Mandy said as she leaned against the car and sighed as Zoe smiled.

"No need to beg" Zoe said as she worked Mandy's shoulders for a another minute or so until the muscles began to finally give in and relax. "You look tired..."

"I didn't sleep at all last night" Mandy said as Zoe stopped for a moment and watched Mandy turn before she could restart.

"And you couldn't have come over and asked me to rub your back?" Zoe asked pointedly.

"I don't wanna bug you all the time about it" Mandy said and trying to stretch her lower back out now.

"This bugs me"

"Sorry, it's not exactly like you asked before you started..."

"No" Zoe said as she took Mandy's hand and pulled her towards the house as she said, "Not me rubbing your shoulders, you being in pain and won't let me help."

"If I ask you to rub my back everytime it gets stiff you'd be doing it every other day" Mandy said as Zoe stopped at the door and asked pointedly, "So?"

"Then it becomes annoying for you" Mandy said as Zoe put her hand on Mandy's cheek gently as she said, "You listen to me Amanda, next time this happens and you won't at least ask for my help, I'm gonna get mad."

"Ok, I understand" Mandy said as she kissed Zoe softly and hugged her. "I've just never had someone I could count on before."

"Hello? In your arms, totally in love with you" Zoe said as she waved her hand and Mandy grinned. "Count on me."

"I thank god every day he sent me you" Mandy said as Zoe smiled. "Will you rub my back for me?"

"See wasn't that so hard" Zoe said teasingly as she took Mandy's hand and led her inside. Seeing Lily just walking into Cori's room with a load of clothes and what looked like old magazines. Seeing their escape she hung Mandy's jacket on the hook by the door and pulled her along up the steps and down the hall to her bedroom. "Lay down and don't argue with me."

"I love you" Mandy said with an adoring smile as she gladly excepted the invite and laid down on the bed as Zoe grabbed some lotion from her desk and closed her door. Climbing onto the bed and crossing her legs over the back of Mandy's thigh's, she pulled Mandy's t-shirt up and to Mandy's surprise slipped it over her head and laid it aside. "Got something else in mind?"

"Your bra is still on so hush" Zoe said as Mandy giggled and just had to say, "A little yahoo googling?"

"If my mom wasn't home, I'd go searching through your amazon for a little yahoo" Zoe said with a teasing smirk and watching Mandy smile as she looked back.

"You won't find any amazon down there Zoe" Mandy said as she looked down and Zoe knew what she was referring to as she blushed but loved the moment as Mandy went on, "I guess you could say the internet is really...really, smooth?"

"Seriously?" Zoe asked.

"Yeh, since we're on the topic, it is" Mandy said, "Ever thought about doing it?"

"I guess" Zoe said.

"Want me to do it for you?" Mandy asked with a teasing smile that made Zoe nearly faint. Mandy laughed as she watched Zoe cover her face and blush a deep crimson. Feeling satisfied she'd won that battle of sexual banter she laid her head back down and smiled victoriously. Zoe opened the lotion and looking at Mandy's smug smile, squirted a large string of lotion directly onto her back as Mandy jumped. "Holy shit!"

"Cold?" Zoe asked as Mandy gave her a devilish look and said, "That was a good one, but you are sooo gonna pay for that."

"Who's got the magic hands?" Zoe asked.

"Ok, ok, you win" Mandy said as Zoe grinned and started to rub the lotion into Mandy's back and shoulders.

"So perfect" Mandy said after 10 minutes or so as her back finally relaxed under Zoe's fingers. "Trust me, I feel so relaxed right now."

"I did good?" Zoe asked as she laid forward over Mandy's bare back and saw Mandy smile dreamily over her shoulder as she laid her head down.

"Thank you, I do love you..." Mandy said as Zoe watched her close her eyes for a moment and looking to be so content.

"You can take a nap if want you too" Zoe said as Mandy waved her hand for a moment and seemed to already be slipping off. Zoe smiled as she slipped off Mandy's thighs and laid down beside her on the bed. Laying her head down on Mandy's back and listening to her breathing getting increasingly heavy as the seconds turned to minutes and Zoe herself closed her eyes for a moment and just enjoyed the moment. Mandy shifted a little as a light knocking came at the door and Zoe's eyes popped open and she saw that she too had fallen asleep and had apparently been out for a couple of hours. Checking to see if Mandy was ok, and seeing she had gone back to sleep. Zoe quickly moved to the door and saw her mom with an armload of clothes. Lily's eyes opened in surprise as she saw Mandy laying on the bed with her shirt off. "Don't start mom."

"Well, I think I have a right too" Lily said as Zoe sat the clothes aside and slipped into the hall and closed her door and walked down the hall a few feet. "I knew Mandy was here..."

"Chill, her back was hurting, it does that a lot and it helps if I rub it" Zoe said, "And before you go hormonal on me, please listen?"

"I am not gonna go hormonal" Lily said.

"She was up all night and her back was in knots, I know how that feels and when I got her muscles to relax she just laid their and fell asleep" Zoe said.

"Is it necessary to have her shirt off?" Lily asked.

"To put lotion on, yes, which helps" Zoe said, "Look, first, I'm not ready to do what you're suggesting and neither is Amanda, and two, she had her bra on the whole time, and three, and this is something you'll never admit, I'm 14 and and have a girlfriend that you approve of, so trust me not to do something that disrespectful in your house, huh?"

"Disrespectful?" Lily asked.

"Mom, I love you and Rick, I know it'd kill you if I did that with Amanda here and I am not willing to see you look at me like that" Zoe said, "I do respect you, I wish you could trust me to be alone with Amanda in my own bedroom, until I give you a reason not to."

"Zoe, I have never seen anyone have such a positive effect on you" Lily said as she hugged her daughter. "From now on, until you give me a reason not to, I'm gonna make an effort to trust you. Trust is a two way street too you know?"

"I don't understand?" Zoe said as she hugged her Mom back.

"If you were thinking about doing that I would hope you would come and discuss it with me first" Lily said as Zoe started to laugh.

"Mom, do you know how stupid sounds?" Zoe asked, "What purpose would that serve? Giving you a chance to ground me first?"

"Ok, ok, miss more mature than me" Lily said as Zoe laughed.

"I know you wonder and me and Amanda talked about this" Zoe said as she took a deep breath and decided to try letting her Mom in on her life this once. "We both wanna wait, and I'm serious about that and so is she."

"I'm just glad you are so level headed and Mandy sure seems to be a lot like you" Lily said.

"Yeh, her dad's a sweetheart, her mom's pretty screwed up though" Zoe said, "Think you can make an effort to make her feel at home here? She loves you to death."

"She does?" Lily asked.

"Yeh, loves having coffee with you every morning" Zoe said, "And when you stop being 'paranoid Lily' I like hanging out with you too."

"Right, like you had so much fun at the movies" Lily said.

"I told you I did, you're welcome to come with us again" Zoe said, "We still laugh about that night and you're screaming. Did it scare Mommy to death?"

"Zoe Manning you are not to old to be grounded" Lily said as Zoe giggled. "And who bought Passion that big Panda bear? Was it Mandy?"

"Yeh, she just wanted to make her feel special" Zoe said as Lily marveled at the way she could ask her daughter a question and not have to pry the answer loose. "It's cute huh?"

"Well, Passion adores it, she keeps it sitting beside of the one Kile brought for Cori that day" Lily said and realizing she needed to get back as she said, "Help you're old mother finish cleaning up the basement?"

"Why?" Zoe asked.

"Well when we get the last of the trash out, it's gonna be Cori and Passion's new bedroom" Lily said as Zoe smiled.

"Really make her feel at home" Zoe said. "And oh yeah, since I am soooo mature now, you think I could get DSL?"

"What is DSL?" Lily asked as Zoe laughed.

"Internet and I know it cost more so forget it" Zoe said as Lily put her arm around Zoe and asked, "How much more and why is it better?"

"Too much" Zoe said as Lily stopped and said, "Ok, Zoe, now you got one last chance to convince me."

"Well it's faster, you know I could like download music and movies or so" Zoe said, "Just to watch on my laptop. And yes, it's like 20 dollars, but I think I can get it for a few months cheaper."

"Let's talk to Rick and see what he thinks" Lily said as Zoe frowned.

"That means no" Zoe said.

"No, it means that Rick might have some thoughts on it, he is the man of the house" Lily said, "And if you help us with the basement I might be willing to nudge him in your direction."

"That's blackmail mom" Zoe said as Lily laughed and said, "Nooo, it's called a bargaining chip. You help me, I help you. It's me giving you a way to get what you want. And you are not to stay up all night on that computer."

"I know that" Zoe said as she suddenly realized that pretty much meant she could get it. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Now how about that basement?" Lily asked as Zoe smiled and said, "A deal is a deal. Besides Amanda's still sleeping."

Three hours later...

"Where did you go?" Mandy asked as she came out of Zoe's room just as Zoe came up the steps. "I guess I nodded off for a few."

"Helping Mom with the basement" Zoe said as she stopped in front of Mandy and smiled before she kissed her softly.

"Nice way to wake up after a nap" Mandy said as she wrapped Zoe in her arms and pulled their bodies together. "Hope you didn't mind?"

"No, I really like kissing you" Zoe said with a giggle, "Your lips feel good on mine."

"Yeh they do" Mandy said as she trailed a finger down Zoe's cheek and smiled at her as she kissed her gently. "But I meant my nap."

"Nope, we got caught though" Zoe said as Mandy gave her a worried look.

"Oh?" Mandy asked.

"Yeh and I explained it, and ask Mom to trust me until we do something to lose her trust" Zoe said as she ran her fingers through Mandy's hair.

"She agreed?"

"She's starting to love you" Zoe said as Mandy looked to be about to cry. "She trusts you with me."

"Yeh, I get that and I cherish that trust" Mandy said.

"And I trust you to ask me when you need help" Zoe said. "Ok?"

"Put me on the schedule then" Mandy said as she giggled. "And I better be the only one."

"Schedule for what?" Zoe asked as she tried to contain a giggle and leaned in to whisper in Mandy's ear, "Googling my yahoo?"

"MMMMMMM search engine" Mandy said as they broke up in laughter.