It would have taken a Herculean effort to get up early and find my way to the gym, but thankfully I was spared from having to muster the energy. Since the place was closed on Sundays, I could relax and enjoy the comfortable warmth of Emmy next to me and Angela on the other side of her. I very briefly considered going for a run when I woke at my usual early time, but quickly gave up on that idea. Instead I just turned on my side and spooned Emmy, holding her slim body against mine.

She mumbled something but didn’t really wake up, so I drifted off with the smell of her skin and her hair lulling me back to sleep. It was nice to not have anywhere to be or anything to do besides snuggle my little bunny in bed for once.

When we made our way down to the hotel’s dining room for breakfast I saw Jackson headed out the front door of the lobby in the company of the singer from the opening band, so I guessed that she’d gotten lucky after all.

“Good for her,” I thought with a smile. Maybe good for him, too- she seemed much more down-to-earth than most of the groupies he associated with. More of a normal-looking girl, too. She wasn’t ugly by any stretch of the imagination, just sort of typical college-age cute, really. Like I said, pretty much a normal girl. With a cute Aussie accent.

Stephanie was eating breakfast by herself, her laptop next to her plate so she could work while eating. Seeing her, Emmy steered us over and we sat ourselves at her table.

“Hey, guys,” Stephanie said, glancing up. “Sorry, I just have a few things I need to deal with this morning. Those assholes at the shipping company are giving us a hard time about the load weight, when it’s exactly the same load as the last three times they’ve handled it. Some shit about it not fitting in the plane.”

“Steph,” Emmy said, laying her hand on Stephanie’s arm. “You are the boss. Whatever you need to do, do it. Do not apologize to us.”

Steph let out a big breath. “J.F.C.,” she said. “You guys are sooooo much easier to work with than any of the other bands I’ve managed, it’s ridiculous. I don’t need to hold your hands, I haven’t had to bail any of you out of jail, nothing. You’re pros, the way I could only wish everybody in this industry actually was. Plus, we’re all making stupid amounts of money on this tour. I mean, lots and lots of money. I wish work was always this easy.”

“So you’re going to be able to pay off your house in Silver Lake with the money you’re making?” I asked, signaling to the waiter.

“Three times over,” Stephanie said. “Honestly? I could probably retire after this tour. Or maybe pay off my house, then buy another in Maui for when I want to get away, you know?”

“That’s awesome!” I said, meaning it. I couldn’t even resent the percentage she was taking from the band- after all, I’d seen how hard she’d been working on keeping the tour running. Stephanie was earning her money, and from what I’d heard all three band members say, they were happy to pay her.

“I’m gonna need a few months off after this tour, let me tell you!” Stephanie said. “A few months of lounging on the beach somewhere tropical.”

An image of Stephanie lounging by her pool came to mind. Stephanie, with her golden-brown all-over tan, wearing nothing but her ridiculous heart-shaped sunglasses, sipping a cold can of Coke. I could almost smell the cocoa butter, the memory was so vivid.

“The weather here in Melbourne has been very nice,” Angela commented, breaking me out of my reverie.

“Yeah, you guys are lucky. I haven’t had the chance to get out at all,” Stephanie lamented. She was about to say something else, but her phone rang and she indicated that she needed to answer it.

When Stephanie stepped away from the table to argue with whomever it was on the other end of the call, Emmy said, “I do not envy her job. She has been equal parts cat herder, military logistics officer, babysitter and schoolyard bully.”

“Schoolyard bully?” I asked.

“You should watch her beat up these local promoters and take their lunch money,” Emmy nodded. “She is ruthless.”

“Lee, you should have been on the tour in Berlin, too. She yelled at Lee so much it almost made him cry. She set him straight- he respects her authority so much now that he asks her before he does anything.”

Emmy laughed, drawing the eyes of a number of other breakfasting hotel guests. “It is true. He is terrified of her now. What is the phrase? She laid down the law.”

“I think Jen wants in her pants,” Angela said with a sly smile.

“Jen wants in everybody’s pants,” I replied as the waiter brought our food.

“That is true,” Emmy said with a smile. “But yours most of all.”

“I can’t blame her, can you?” Angela asked Emmy, and they both agreed that my pants were the very best to get into.

I was hoping that Stephanie would stay away until that topic was done with- I didn’t need the awkwardness of her talking about the interior of my pants with Angela and Emmy. Thankfully, by the time she returned, a hint of a triumphant look on her face, the conversation had moved on to our final stop of this leg, Tokyo.

“It’ll be good to see Jenna and Andy,” Angela said. “We haven’t gotten together in months!”

“How are they doing?” Stephanie asked as she sat down to resume her breakfast.

“Real good,” Angela said. “It’s the off-season right now and they’ve been working on the house a lot. Jenna says she’s really happy with their choice to buy there in Sherman Oaks. They like the area, and have great neighbors.”

“I looked over in that part of the Valley when I was house hunting, but wound up falling in love with Silver Lake,” Stephanie said.

“I have not seen your house yet, but Leah told me it is very charming,” Emmy said. “You must have us over sometime after the tour is over and we can all relax.”

“Yeah, you guys do really need to come over for a visit,” Stephanie agreed. “Maybe I twist Stephen’s arm into cooking- he’s much better in the kitchen than he gives himself credit for.”

“That would be lovely,” Emmy said.

“He promised me Margaritas a long time ago and hasn’t yet delivered,” I said.

“You haven’t had his Margies?” Stephanie asked, amazed. “Oh, now that’s a crime. He really does make the best I’ve ever had.”

“That’s what he said,” I replied. Then, in response to Stephanie’s groan, I added, “No, I really mean he did say that. ‘I make the best Margaritas,’ I think were his exact words.”

Stephanie laughed at that. “Yeah, he does say that, alright.”

“Stephanie, do you have any plans for the rest of the day?” Emmy asked.

“Once the gear gets on the plane, I have nothing to do until it lands about ten hours later,” she said with a sort of rueful chuckle. “Then I get to yell at the assholes on the ground there in Tokyo.”

“Then come out with us,” Emmy insisted. “We are going on a harbor cruise. It will be fun!”

“And,” I pointed out, “You’ll have phone coverage the whole time, so if anything happens to disrupt your chi…”

“My chi is far from centered these days,” Stephanie admitted. “Alright, I’m in. What time do I have to be ready by?”

The cruise was nice, even if there was no tasty dinner like the Sydney harbor cruise had. Melbourne is a pretty city, but honestly, not as interesting from the water as Sydney (Or for that matter, Singapore or NYC, where we’d also taken harbor cruises).

Stephanie joined me as I was leaning against the rail on the starboard side, looking back at the high rises of the Melbourne business district.

“Hey, babe,” she said as she took a spot next to me.

“Hey, Steph,” I replied.

We stayed like that in silence for a few minutes, before Stephanie asked something surprising.

“Um, Leah,” she said, unsure how to ask whatever was on her mind. Finally, she decided on the right words. “So, both Angela and Emmy are pregnant, right?” I made some sort of noise of agreement, so she continued. “I hear they’re actually your babies, too? How does that even happen? How can you be a dad? I mean, I’ve seen your equipment…”

Amused by that last part I turned to face Stephanie. “An experimental process. They harvested my eggs, separated the DNA, and used it to fertilize Emmy and Angela’s eggs, just like it was a sperm cell.” I explained.

“Is that even legal? Or ethical?” Stephanie asked.

“Probably, and definitely,” I said. “Why would it be any less ethical than normal hetero in-vitro?” I asked.

“I didn’t mean that part, you big dummy,” she said, giving me a little punch on the arm. “You know better than anybody that I’m down with same-sex relationships. No, I meant the experimental part. I mean, using you guys as lab rats.”

“Yeah, I do seem to recall that you lost your virginity to another girl,” I said, giving her a dreamy, far away smile.

She gave me another punch, but then wrapped her arm around my waist and leaned against me. “Yes, I did. You were the first person I ever loved, you know that?”

I just draped my arm across her shoulders and gave her a little side hug. There was far too much to say about how things had happened between us, and we both knew it.

“We actually sought out the lab,” I eventually said, returning to the earlier topic. “They had a number of successes with the process with rats and mice, and then sheep. I waved a ton of money in their direction to try it with us. It took months and months before they got a successful fertilization, and then the implanted eggs didn’t take the first few times, then it took with Angela but not Emmy, and then a month and a half later, with Emmy, too.”

“And that’s why Angela is starting to show but Emmy isn’t,” Stephanie said, nodding her understanding.

“Yeah. Angela really wanted the two babies to be born right around the same time so they could be like twins, you know? But six weeks isn’t much of a difference. They’ll both be together in the same grades in school and stuff like that.”

“I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around how adorable the babies will be,” Stephanie admitted. “They’re gonna be gorgeous.”

“They’re going to be the prettiest babies the world has ever seen,” I agreed.

“Of course they will, with mommas like those two,” Stephanie teased.

“So, you and Stephen…” I said, changing the subject. “Things are going good?”

“Yeah, they are,” Stephanie replied. “You know he came to the Stockholm show, right?”

“I knew that was the plan,” I replied. “How did it go?”

“It was good, but I think he thought we would have more time to go sightseeing and that sort of thing. I’d told him that work was pretty hectic, but he had no real idea.”

“Yeah, that sucks,” I commiserated. “Did you guys get to do any sightseeing at all?”

“We did. We had two full days. Now, I gotta tell you, Stockholm in the winter is pretty, but freaking depressing, what with the sun rising at like eight thirty and then setting again at three in the afternoon. But they do the town up really nice with lights and all- that ‘hygge’ thing is real. But I couldn’t live there- at least not in the winter.”

“You said a while back that you were thinking of asking Stephen to move in with you?” I asked.

“Yeah, I did, and he has. He was spending all his time at my place anyway, so it only made sense. He was renting but I own my own home, so it was obvious which way things should go.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed.

“And it’s good while I’m out on tour, so the place isn’t empty for months at a time,” Stephanie added.

“That makes sense, too,” I agreed. Then after a moment, I added, “I really like your place. It’s super adorable.”

“Real estate-speak for small,” Stephanie laughed.

“Small compared to my place, maybe, but my place is ridiculously large,” I admitted.

“Your places,” Stephanie corrected. “The Manhattan townhouse is a bit deceiving because it’s spread out over six floors so you really don’t get a feel for it, but it’s huge, too.”

“Seven floors,” I corrected.

“That’s even worse,” Stephanie said, shaking her head. “How big is the place you guys just bought in London?”

“It’s only forty-four hundred square feet,” I said. “Less than half the size of our places in LA or New York.”

“Only,” Stephanie scoffed.

“You know you can stay at the New York place any time you want, right? And the London place when it’s ready,” I told her.

“Yeah, well, when I buy my place in Maui you can stay there when you want, babe. It’s only fair,” Stephanie replied, leaning her head against me.

“Are you really thinking of doing that?” I asked.

“Honestly? I wasn’t joking about how much money I’ll be making from this tour. I am literally going to be a millionaire when all this is said and done. I still owe about eight hundred grand on the Silver Lake house, and the first thing I’ll do is pay that off, but then I’ll have maybe two, two and a half million burning a hole in my bank account. I could see getting a condo in Wailea with a view of the ocean for maybe five, six hundred grand and throwing the rest into the business. Maybe help Mom pay off her mortgage… If she’ll accept it. I think she hates the idea I’m making more money than she is, you know?” Stephanie asked.

“I could see how that could rub her pride the wrong way,” I agreed.

“So, the answer is a definite maybe on the Maui thing,” Stephanie said. “But if I do, you guys are welcome to use it whenever it’s empty.”

“I appreciate that,” I told her.

We stayed like that, my arm across her shoulders and hers around my waist, her head against my chest for a while, just enjoying being with each other.

“Leah,” Stephanie said, breaking the silence. “Don’t tell me if you don’t want to, but is it true you actually killed the guys that attacked Emmy in San Francisco?”

I sighed, but said, “Yeah, I did. I just went into attack mode and killed them both. I’m not proud of it or anything, but I’d do it again in a moment under the same circumstances.”

“I always thought it was probably true. You know, the rumors and all,” Stephanie said, her voice soft. “And the scar.”

“What other rumors have you heard?” I asked, curious.

“Well, um, everybody says that you three screw constantly. Rabbits are jealous of your sex life, so the story goes.,” Stephanie teased.

“And do you believe that one?”

“Oh, Hells yeah,” Stephanie said. “I’ve experienced your sex drive first hand, remember?”

“Says little miss ‘Let’s go swimming’,” I retorted.

“God, we were like rabbits, weren’t we? I swear, we had more sex that summer…” Stephanie mused. “Emmy and Angela know we were, um girlfriends, but they seem O.K. with you and me still being friends…” Stephanie said, a bit tentatively.

“Yeah, they are,” I confirmed. “Angela was a little jealous at first, but I think that was when she still wasn’t so sure of herself in our relationship, if that makes sense. And Emmy, she’s always wanted me to continue to stay friends with you, even when she was still hurt…” I trailed off, not sure whether I’d ever told Stephanie about how Emmy had seen us together in Fallbrook. “From when her parents took her away, back to France,” I finished.

“I never really understood why Emmy wanted to be my friend, but I was always really glad she did,” Stephanie said, her voice wistful. “It’s no exaggeration to say that, directly or indirectly, it changed my life.”

“Mine, too,” I agreed, and we lapsed into silence again. Eventually we made our way inside to where Emmy, Angela, Grant and Tiny were relaxing out of the wind. I was happy with the conversation that Stephanie and I had just had- it seemed as if we might be on slightly more comfortable footing with each other, and that was good.