Business Empress.

I’ve had this in the works for a few days now as a little present for converse-wearing-writer (aka thebostonbruiser) seeing as it’s her birthday :D Hope you like it Rachel!

(It’s probably also worth mentioning that it’s not exactly the most innocent thing I’ve ever wrote. There’s no explicit sex but there are a lot of sexual themes heavily implied and there is nudity. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

Finally opening her eyes, Nikki was greeted by the two pink lines of a positive pregnancy test, a feeling she knew all too well, only this time it would be someone else feeling the same panic and fear that she did, unless Lorraine wanted this, that is.

A sense of regret ran through Nikki’s blood, she shouldn’t have snapped at Lorraine like she did. Lorraine was trying to help her, not trying to push her away at all. 

Nikki gripped the pregnancy test tighter and stood up, walking towards the bathroom door.

knockknock.

The knock was only out of politeness, if this were any other time Nikki would have just burst straight in, sometimes in a bid to make Lorraine laugh and others, well, because she needed to, she needed to just put things right. The knock appeared redundant though, as all Nikki could hear was the tired heaves of her wife. Nikki opened the door to see Lorraine draped over the toilet, clearly exhausted. Calmly, Nikki joined Lorraine and held her hair back, trying to be as useful as she could but also trying to show she wasn’t angry.

Once Lorraine had emptied the contents of her stomach, or what little was left; the pair sat down either side of the toilet… Nikki with her hands on her knees and Lorraine cautiously resting on the toilet, you know, just in case.

"Are you empty now? Well, obviously not empty it seems…" Nikki softly spoke, waving the test at Lorraine. That was always Nikki’s defense mechanism; jokes. She could never be serious, even when she was in the wrong. A joke just seemed to make everything easier, make it all disappear for a second.

Even as Nikki came in, calmer than Lorraine expected her to be, and helped hold her hair back and she continued to be sick, she couldn't stop her feelings of guilt. Nikki didn't need to find out like that, and now Lorraine was worried that she'd think she had an affair.

"-I'm not as empty as I'd like to be." Lorraine wished that this had never happened, and who could blame her? She didn't want this, and especially not so suddenly either. 

But it hurt her more to hear that slight choke in Nikki's voice. Did she really think Lorraine cheated on her? That tore her heart to think that she did. She was fed up of being cursed, but even more fed up of the consequences of those curses.

"There isn't a who, or a why - as for when? Earlier this afternoon. I only found out I was pregnant a couple of minutes before you came in...they got me again Nikki, because putting me on the brink of death last time with those visions clearly wasn't enough to satisfy the bastards." She shuffled over to Nikki and leaned against her, not wanting to fully embrace her yet just in case she was sick again.

All Nikki ever wanted to do was to help her wife and be there for her no matter what. Nothing would ever get in the way of the couple, they both knew that so why couldn’t Lorraine just tell the truth? 

Lorraine’s rough snap made Nikki’s ears ring, never has Lorraine ever snapped at Nikki, not before they were married and certainly not during. Every couple fights, right? You would think so but Nikki and Lorraine have never fought, they were always on the same page about everything.

"You know what, Lorraine? We can drop it. Don’t worry, I won’t be concerned again. You can stand up for yourself, I get it!" barked Nikki, letting go of her wife and stepping a few steps back. 

Lorraine may have explained what she meant but it doesn’t mean that Nikki was any less upset or angry. Nikki understood that everything would sort itself out eventually but right now she just couldn’t understand what was going on or why Lorraine was being like she is. 

"Look, I can’t be doing this right now… This is really trivial and I don’t understand any of it. If you want me, I’ll be downstairs but I just don’t get you right now, Lorraine. This isn’t like you."

She was hoping that her sudden interruption had stopped Nikki from straying too far - she wasn't finished with her yet, as clear from the fact that her eyes had suddenly darkened and she became a lot angrier in tone.

Nikki didn't understand - Lorraine was hiding the pregnancy for her sake. Not to protect herself or anyone else. And that was why she was so angry - who wouldn't be, if the person you were trying to protect suddenly snapped at you for doing do?

"-Do you have any idea what I'm trying to do here Nikki? It's not bloody "trivial" - to use your own wording - that's for damn sure! And you know what? I wasn't lying when I said I was being sick either - Sonya saw me rushing off to the toilets earlier, why don't you just go and ask her for confirmation!" Perhaps it was a little harsh, but now Lorraine had lost all sense of guilt, being too angry to care anymore. 

Her outburst had allowed her to calm down a little, but she was still pretty angry, and come to think of it, wasn't she trying to avoid telling Nikki because she was scared of a reaction like this?

That pretty much rendered her reasons for keeping quiet useless now. Lorraine pulled out the pregnancy test from her pocket again and in a fit of rage slammed it down in front of Nikki. 

She'd regret doing that later, but not yet, not whilst she was still reeling.

As Lorraine placed her head on Nikki’s chest, Nikki simply wrapped one arm around Lorraine’s back and and hand on her head, gently stroking her blonde waves. For a second all the worry seemed to disappear, until Nikki had remembered a conversation she had earlier. Everything was perfect; Nikki had her wife and her daughter, finally a family, so why couldn’t Lorraine drop the act and just tell Nikki what was wrong. Of course it was all an act and Nikki could see right through that but she didn’t want to push Lorraine too far, push her away.

Pulling Lorraine in tighter, Nikki rested her head against Lorraine’s.

"Of course it won’t stand in our way, I promise you that! Nothing will get in our way, we’re too tough for that" said Nikki, letting out a small giggle under her breath.

"I’m just going to come out with it; I don’t believe this ‘stomach bug’ crap but if that’s what you’re going with then okay. Just remember I’m always here, okay? You can tell me anything, it doesn’t matter what it is, I am here for you. So, are you going to tell me or not?"

Normally Lorraine wouldn't mind - it was nice to have someone to share all her worries and troubles with whenever they became too much for her. But as Nikki continued to try and get an answer out of her all that ran through Lorraine's mind was 'she must not find out'. 

It was bad enough hearing how badly Nikki reacted to her own pregnancy - Lorraine didn't want a repeat of that. 

And that's why she found her voice turning sharp in tone without even intending to do so, suddenly falling back into the old persona she once had - the Lorraine that kept shut off from everyone else.

"-Look, can't we just drop it? I said I'm fine. Don't you trust me to tell the truth, Nikki?"

Upon realizing just how harsh she sounded she let her voice and her expression soften, trying hard to keep as normal as possible.

Not that it'd make a difference anymore - Nikki was far too set in her suspicions, and Lorraine was just too stubborn to tell her the truth by now anyway.

Once Lorraine opened the door, Nikki could see she was okay and that’s all she wanted, however, a small bit of her couldn’t help but wonder. Lorraine looked too ‘okay’ for someone that has caught a sickness bug, maybe it was something else, something she didn’t want to talk about? Perhaps all the military training had gone to Nikki’s head; now’s the time to stop second guessing.

Nikki looked her wife up and down as she stepped out of the bathroom, making sure she did look okay but also having a quick glance for ‘clues’, something that may give the act away. Nikki stopped herself from searching  by wrapping her arms around Lorraine’s waist and just accepted that she doesn’t need her to be protective all the time.

It was much harder to put on that mask again when the person who would see it was also the person who knew what was behind it. Years of lying should've prepared Lorraine for something like this but now she was in a situation where she needed to hide the truth, she wasn't sure what to do. She was still observant enough to notice Nikki looking her up and down suspiciously as she left the bathroom, and she knew that if she didn't fall back into her wife's embrace, it would just cause even more suspicion.

So she leaned back into Nikki and rested her head on her chest, trying to play the part of a woman who was completely and utterly fine.

"-A prank-puller, for one~? Seriously though don't worry about me Nik, I'm okay, you'd know by now if I wasn't. Yeah, I know a lot's come between us recently, but surely you know by now that what's done is done and won't stand in our way, right?"

Walking through the house, Lorraine was no where to be seen. Where was she? Nikki noticed she’d left school early and her car is on the drive but no response. 

After scoping the entire downstairs of the house, Nikki moved to the upper floor, playfully bouncing on each step of the stairs. Maybe she should have seemed more concerned that she couldn’t see or hear her wife but for some reason Nikki was in a brilliant mood and nothing could get in her way.

"Lorraine? I know you’re home so stop messing" shouted Nikki, throwing open all the doors in the house, "-are you trying to get me back for the the rubbish pranks I’ve pulled in the past?" added Nikki, finally making her way into the couple’s bedroom, why she didn’t think to check there first was a mystery. Nikki looked around but Lorraine was still nowhere to be found; the room looked just like the pair had left it this morning, tidy and well-kept. 

Nikki couldn’t help but wonder where Lorraine might be but settled for the fact that maybe she’d gone for a walk or gone to see Sonya, nothing to worry about. With her mind at ease, Nikki thought it may be a good idea to start the laundry, you know, keep on top of things! Opening the bathroom door to take out the clothes from the dirty laundry basket, the door wouldn’t open. Nikki stopped and just faced the door, reaching out and pulling on the handle again; nothing. There you go… It had finally hit her. Nikki gently placed her forehead on the wooden door and softly spoke:

Oh no, nothing to worry about, it was only the last person Lorraine wanted to see right now.

Her wife's arrival couldn't have come at a worse time, and now somehow she was going to have to get around her without her getting suspicious - easier said than done. And in all honesty the only way Lorraine would get around her is to lie through her teeth.

It would make her feel guilty, not being truthful to Nikki, but hey, Lorraine had spent years being persuasive and lying through her teeth - what's it to her if she just tells one more white lie? It was for Nikki's benefit, after all - Lorraine couldn't help but fear that if she found out, things would fall out of hand quickly, and her wife had gone through enough crap recently as it was.

"-I'm fine, Nikki. Stop worrying, it's just that sickness bug that some of the kids got at school going around." She wrapped the pregnancy test in some tissue and slipped it into her pocket, not wanting to risk Nikki finding it if she threw it away somewhere. 

She quickly got up and flushed the toilet, trying to indicate to her wife that she was 'okay' now, and quickly looked at herself in the mirror - no obvious marks or signs to be worried about, she was fine. Now she just needed to put on the mask she'd once left behind for a little bit longer and keep it all under control whilst she figured out what to do.

It was a greyface curse, after all, and she was due in a week - within a few days, she'll start showing. She can't let Nikki or Sonya know, whatever the cost.

And with that, she unlocked the door and opened it, looking directly up and Nikki with a trademark smile she'd become known for.