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Cosima wakes up to the sound of metal saucepans hitting the floor, which is quickly followed by loud whispering and shushing. Delphine is draped lazily over her chest. Her chin buried deep in blonde curls. Cosima reaches over to her bedside table and retrieves her glasses. The alarm reads 8:00 am. Too early for a Sunday, even if it is Mother’s Day. She groans, but keeps her reluctant eyes open.
"Hey, Delphine, wake up." She whines, pressing light kisses to the top of the blonde woman’s head.
"Non," Her voice is low, laden with sleep. "You wake up."
Delphine was not good in the mornings. She loved sleep even more than Cosima and would do anything for a few more minutes. Cosima laughed. “Have you heard what’s going on downstairs? I think Beth’s cooking.”
Delphine groaned, still not opening her eyes or moving her head. “Before 10am she is your daughter.” Cosima wanted to get up and check on the girls, she really did, but she had never been able to pull away from Delphine, even when she should have. The blonde woman knew this and held Cosima tighter, placing a gentle kiss on her torso. Cosima rested her head on Delphine’s and her hand ran up on down her back. It would be so easy to fall back to sleep. The girls would be fine. Beth could handle it.
"LET GO!" A high pitched voice shouted.
"I’m going to tell mummy!" A different voice added.
"You can’t! They’re asleep!"
"I’ll wake them up then!"
"You can’t wake them up, stupid, that’s what why we’re making this."
Both women sighed. “I was never this bad with my sisters.” Cosima moaned.
"Cherie, you met your sisters when you were 28…and you and Sarah were this bad." Delphine lifted her head and rolled over, trying to muster the strength to get out of bed when her mind was still asleep. She slipped into her robe and walked into the en-suite. They’d received a hefty pay-off from DYAD to keep quiet about the clones and other illegal trials, most of which they’d spent on this 4 bedroomed town-house in San-Francisco. Cosima hadn’t wanted to stay in Minnesota or Canada. She wanted the girls to grow up close to at least one set of grandparents.
When Delphine left the en-suite she saw Cosima had thrown on one of her shirts. It drowned her, turning it into more of a nightie than a shirt. It never failed to make her smile. She didn’t believe she’d ever get bored of looking at her small, dorky wife. Cosima looked up and smiled. “Ready to inspect the carnage?”
_
"Woah, woah, woah," Cosima laughed as she hopped down the last few steps and scooped the youngest girl up in her arms. "What’ve you got there pumpkin?" The young girl blushed and buried her face in her mother’s arms. "What’ve we told you about cooking without us Danielle Cormier-Niehaus?" Her question was playful, but the young girl knew Cosima was serious about the cooking.
"But Beth said it would be okay." She whined back, trying to lay the blame on her big sister.
"You big tattle-tale! I wanted to surprise you momie." Beth pushed out her bottom lip and ran to Delphine, wrapping her arms around the blonde woman’s legs. It was strange, how the girl who looked the most like Cosima (They had managed to salvage a few of Sarah’s eggs from her oopherectomy, and she had been more than willing to allow Cosima to use them instead of Rachel) gravitated towards Delphine and the girl who looked the most like Delphine gravitated towards Cosima.
Delphine got down onto her knees to look Beth in the eyes. “It was a lovely idea, and we are very grateful. But if you are cooking, who will watch Danielle hmm? She is only 6 and you are only 10.” Beth looks down, a little upset that her plan of waking up her mummies with breakfast in bed hadn’t worked. Delphine pulls her into a big hug and kisses her cheek.
"Why don’t we finish up and then you can give mummy and Dani breakfast on the sofa?" Beth nods excitedly and runs off to the fridge to continue her work. Delphine eyes Cosima. She spins Danielle around, her blonde hair swinging, and moves into the living room. Sometimes it was hard to deal with the age difference between the girls. Beth was maturing quickly, and wanted to stay up with her mummies, which although they agreed to some nights (but only until 9) meant that Danielle whined about having to go to bed. Sometimes it was hard, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Beth was small for her age, taking after her mother, so Delphine pulled up a chair so that they could fry the bacon and eggs together. It wasn’t the healthy breakfast she had tried to establish in the house, but she couldn’t say no to Beth’s big brown eyes, so much like Cosima’s.
_
"Are you ready mummy?" Beth called from the kitchen.
"Oh yeah, I can’t wait. It smells so good." She wasn’t lying, the waft of bacon was always welcome in Cosima’s nostrils.
"Okay, close your eyes!"
"Okay!" She turned to Danielle, "Hey, are we gonna’ close our eyes for momie and Beth?" Danielle nodded and they both sat up straight on the sofa and closed their eyes.
Beth stumbled in carrying a tray of food with a lilly in a old jam jar, Delphine hot on her tail in case she spilled anything or slipped. She set the tray down on the table heavily, making it obvious that the food had arrived, but Cosima and Danielle kept their eyes shut, sniggering. “You can open your eyes now, you sillies!”
"Oh wow hunny, this looks great. Come give me a cuddle you clever girl" Beth ran around the coffee table and jumped onto Cosima’s lap. Delphine laughed and smiled at the sight, her three favourite girls cuddled together on the sofa. "Don’t worry, you’re my clever girl too." Cosima winked.
"You are such a brat." She sat down and leaned into the cuddles. "But now we should eat before Beth’s food gets cold."
"Wait," Danielle shouted. "We’ve got you presents!"
"Presents really? Who helped you get these?" Cosima was actually curious, she didn’t remember either girl asking her for money for a present for Delphine.
"Auntie Alison." Cosima laughed, of course Alison had helped the girls get presents. "This one is for you mummy." Danielle said as she pulled a small box out of a gift bag. "And momie, this is yours." She pulled another small box out of the bag and handed it to Delphine.
They looked at each other and agreed to open them at the same time. The necklaces were identical. Thin gold chains with thin gold hearts. Carved into the hearts in typewriter font, were the dates, 10.9.2016, (The date Cosima and Delphine got married.) 25.11.2017 (The date Beth was born) and 3.2.2022 (The date that Danielle was born).
Delphine was the first to cry. “Thank you. I love you both so much.” Danielle ran over and tried to put it on for her, Delphine ended up having to take over but she still hugged and kissed her thank you. Beth had helped Cosima fasten hers and received her own cuddles and kisses. Silence filled the air as the two women looked at each other and to their girls. Cosima smiled. 11 years ago, she had stood in front of Delphine and promised to spend the rest of her life with her, and Delphine had promised the same. Sometimes it was hard. Sometimes it was really hard. There were some nights where Cosima had started to pack up her things and there were mornings where Delphine had woken up early to avoid Cosima before work. But now, looking over as Delphine brought a strip of bacon towards Danielle’s mouth before pulling it away and taking a big bite for herself, she wouldn’t have had it any other way.