Chapter Two: Anxious Awaiting

Description: After a long day of work, Ethan is ready to head home and sleep. However, Verity has other plans. After a hot bath and nice dinner, Ethan was completely relaxed. Verity, however, became quite closed off at the mention of her birthday.

Venus returns to her apartment after a long day to find Aurora waiting for her there. What started as a delight, was an evening of terror for the young doctor.

This is Anxious Awaiting.

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Ethan
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The sound of the door closing behind him let Ethan know that he was home. Seconds later, the pounding of heavy paws ran across his tile floors. He slight bent down to pet Jenner, his Golden Retriever, and Beast, Verity's Bernese Mountain.

The dogs follow him as he walks towards the kitchen. He smiles when the smell of herbs hits his senses. As he steps into the kitchen, Verity hardly notices him; she was busy adding the final touches to the chicken infront of her.

He admired the beautiful woman in front of him. Her long chocolate hair was in a low, loose bun and she was dressed in one of his white T-shirts and athletic shorts. The black and white apron that she received from Sienna last Christmas was cover her attire as she swayed in the kitchen.

Ethan sets his keys down on the counter, the sound making Verity turn her head towards him. She smiles brightly at him, and he smiles at her.

"Hello Love."

Ethan walks over to her and places his arm around her waist, gently kissing her crown and looking down at the chicken.

"I see you've been busy."

Verity quietly laughs before looking up at him.

"Yes, yes I have been. I wanted to make you dinner."

"It smells wonderful love."

Verity smiles at him before kissing his cheek.

"Thank you dear, but I won't be ready for another hour. So in the mean time, you can go relax in the bath I made you."

Ethan chuckles as her before places another kiss on her crown.

"You didn't have to do all this love."

Verity gives him a sad smile before snuggling closer into his side.

"But I wanted to, you've done so much for me these past few weeks. The least I could do is try and relax you after a long day."

"You heard about the Henderson accident, didn't you?"

Verity nods sadly at him before wrapping her arms around his neck, moving in front of him.

"I'm so sorry you had such a stressful day love."

"It was...long. But your mother actually helped."

Verity looks back up at him with shock.

"So my mom was at the hospital today."

"Yes. She was looking for you and Venus. She had brought Chicken Alfredo."

Verity gasped

"And you didn't call me?! I would have ditched Venus and Sienna in a heartbeat."

Ethan chuckled and pulled her closer to him.

"I know love. I was going to, but she insisted on having lunch with me."

Verity gives him a look

"She did love. You realize that the only time she has met me, you were dying."

The thought of those two days sent a chill down Verity's spine. Ethan frowns, instantly regretting bring it up. But Verity shook it off and looked to him with a goofy smile.

"Those were...less favorable times. I'm glad to you two got along."

"Yes, I'm glad we did too. But you failed to mention that your mom was once Chief of Medicine at Maine Medical Center."

Verity shrugs

"It never came up. Plus it was a long time ago, she rarely talks about her time as Chief now that she's retired."

Ethan nods before kissing her crown once more.

"Now enough about my mother. You should go bathe before the water gets cold."

"Join me?"

"I have to watch the chicken."

Ethan chuckles before kissing her lips and walking towards his bathroom.

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Venus
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With a sigh, Venus turns her key in her door knob and pushes open her apartment door. As she steps into her apartment she lets out a relieved sigh and slips off her coat and hangs her keys.

Walking down the narrow hallway she is met with the sit of her beautiful girlfriend exposed back facing her.

"Aurora?"

The brown skinned goddess turned and looked at her with a soft smile. Her white flare crop top was tight around her chest and flowed as she moved. Venus walks over to her with a smile and sits beside her on the couch.

"Hey babe."

Venus leans in and places a soft peck on her lips before leaning back beside her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I figure I'd come and see you. I wanted to...talk to you."

Venus gives her a side ways glance.

"Don't get me wrong baby, I'm glad you stopped by, but you could've just called."

Aurora gives her a sad smile before reaching out to grab her hand.

"It's something I have to tell you in person."

Venus nodded

"Well do you want to tell me now or after dinner? I was planning on making a chili."

Aurora stares at her. Venus could see she was debating inside her mind, and Venus could feel her stomach begin to twist and knot.

"We can talk after dinner. You should go and shower, and I'll start dinner."

Venus tries to push down her nerves, and smiles at her.

"Okay baby, I shouldn't be long."

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Verity
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As Verity pulled the chicken out of the oven, she could hear footsteps approaching her. She smiled brightly at the handsome blue eyed man on the other side of the island. His black hair, still damp from his bath, was combed over: slick and clean. His causal grey sweat pants and white T-shirt clinged to his built body as he leaned closer to her.

"The chicken looks incredible love."

Verity smiles brightly at him as she sets it down on the counter behind her. She turns around and leans through the opening of the island and places a soft kiss on his lips

"I'm glad love. I'll make you a plate, you sit down."

Ethan chuckled and grabbed her hand before she completely walked away. She giggles at him as he brings it to his lips and whispers against her skin.

"Thank you, baby."

Verity blushes as he releases her hand and takes a seat at the dinning room. Verity happily begins to cut away at the chicken as Beast and Jenner come prancing in.

Beast is the first to make a move, he plops down at her feet and begins to yawn cutely up at her.

"Beast, you know I'm not supposed to give you table food."

He didn't care. And Jenner joined him in the begging.

Verity looked down at the two adorable dogs and quickly looked to make sure Ethan wasn't looking and dropped them two pieces of chicken. They happily inhaled it before skipping off towards their beds.

Verity shakes her head at the two before finishing preparing Ethan's plate.

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Venus
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As she stepped out of the shower, Venus couldn't help but shake. Her stomach was turning and her mind was was racing with only one thought.

'Shes leaving me'

Venus clinched her stomach as she leaned over the toilet, and before she could stop herself: she puked.

Venus groaned before cleaning her face and brushing her teeth to try and hide the smell. She flushed the toilet and entered her bedroom to get dressed.

A few minutes later she stepped out of her bedroom in her Berkeley sweat shirt and spandex. She slowed made her way towards the kitchen, her mind racing and stomach doing summer salts.

As she enters the kitchen she smiles sadly at the sight of Aurora cooking in her kitchen, and she realized that tonight might be the last night that she does.

Venus struggles to keep the tears from flowing down her face as she clears her throat.

Aurora looks up to her with a sad smile before motioning to the finished chili pot in front of her.

"I think it's done. I hope I did it right."

Venus returned her sad smile before responding

"I'm sure it is."

Venus grabs to bowls and spoons from the drawer and cabinet beside her and hands a set to Aurora. She nods at her before using the ladle to pour herself a bowl. She motions for Venus to hand her, her bowl and she does.

"You can go sit down, I'll bring the food."

Venus nods sadly and goes to sit on her couch. A few seconds later Aurora joins her and hands her the bowl. They eat in silence for a few minutes before Aurora final speaks.

"Listen Venus...there's something...I got to tell you..."

Venus nods and looks down at her bowl, fiddling with the burnt substance inside.

"I uh-...why is this so hard?"

Venus looks over back at her, her eyes sad and glistening with tears.

"Listen V. I...I think that we should..-"

"Wait!"

Aurora stops short of her sentence and gives Venus a weird look.

"Sorry...sorry. I just really have to go the bathroom."

Both Aurora can respond, Venus runs out of the living room and straight into her bedroom. As she closes the door in a hurry, she collapses along side it; her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach.

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Verity
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As Verity finishes washing her and Ethan's dishes, she dried her hands on the towel having from the cabinet beside her and places the dishes on there rack. She grabbed the quarter bag of ice from the dresser and walked over to the pantry. Grabbing the hidden tin bucket and bottle of champagne from there hiding place, Verity began to pour the ice in the bucket and places the bottle in the center.

She grabs the bucket by it's handle and walks out happily to the balcony where Ethan was waiting.

As she stepped out onto the balcony, Ethan smiled at her. She set the bucket on the small table in-between the two chairs and let Ethan's hands guide her to his lap.

"Thank you, love. This has been a relaxing evening."

Verity smiles down at him, running her left hand through his hair.

"Your welcome Ethan. I'm glad this helped."

He presses his lips to hers as his hands find her waist, pulling her closer to him.

He pulls away softly before speaking

"However, you have set the bar incredibly high."

Verity looks down at him and raises a brow.

"Your birthday, my love. It's not far from now, and I have to find some way to top this wonderful evening."

Verity giggles before shaking her head.

"You don't need to 'top' tonight, Ethan. Really. I would just like a quiet day."

Rubbing her back, Ethan give her a slight surprised look.

"Really Verity? From what I've heard you've always had big birthday's, and 30 is definitely a big one. You don't have to calm it down for me dear."

Verity smiles at him before shaking her head.

"Thank you Ethan, but I just...don't feel very
...excited...about turn 30..."

Ethan gently moves his hands to Verity's face, gently forcing her wandering eyes to meet his.

"Why Verity? 30's a big year. And you've accomplished so much."

"I know...I know...but...I just..."

"Verity...look at me..."

Verity's heavy brown eyes looked down at Ethan's blue ones. They glistened in the moonlight, and frowned down at him.

"It's nothing Ethan, really. I'm just...having an early mid-life crisis is all."

Ethan gives her a look, but she ignores it and snuggles into him. He gaze brings him out across the skyline, his concern for his lover evident on his cold stare.

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Venus
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Venus splashed another hit of cold water across her face, before drying her hands and damping her cheeks. She lets out a ragged breath, preparing herself for the storm awaiting her outside. She step into her bedroom before slowed turning the knob to the living room.

Stepping out, she could see Aurora sitting straight up. Her head turns to Venus and she shows a concerned look as Venus sits beside her on the couch.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah..yeah...I'm fine."

"Listen Venus, I-"

"Wait! Before you break up with me, at least tell me why."

Aurora stops, her eyes searching Venus with a look of shock and terror. She remains silent for wait feels like an eternity, until she breaks out into laughter.

Aurora's body shoke so violently, she had to clinch her stomach to keep from falling over. Venus looked to her in shock, and felt slightly made fun of, until Aurora spoke through her laughter.

"I'm not..breaking up...with you...!"

Venus shows a face of relief as Aurora crashes into her, grasping her face gently and placing soft Eskimo kiss to her nose, all while still giggling quietly.

"I was just going to ask if we could take things slower, baby. I care about you too much to leave you."

Venus wraps her arms around Aurora's waist, snuggling into her neck

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that." She whispers

Aurora giggles quietly before placing a kiss to her crown and stroking her hair.