Ariana went to answer a knock at the fire escape door. She pulled it open and Penny, Bryon, and Alana all stood on the threshold.

“Hey, come on in,” said Ariana pleasantly, stepping aside to let them pass.

“Sorry to just barge in,” said Bryon apologetically, but since Alana was coming to pick up Sophia, well… we just thought we’d tell you all together.”

“Bryon and I going back to San Diego,” said Penny. "We... we're talking. Right now, that's all we can say. We're not getting back together or anything, but... we'd like to at least be friends. We'd like to be able to be a family."

“That’s great,” said Ariana happily. “Time heals all wounds, right?”

“Something like that,” said Kayla. “But we’ll miss having you guys around. It’s been nice, having you both so close.”

“I know, but Detroit’s not really my kind of city,” said Penny. “I miss being warm.”

“Me too,” said Kayla and Alana together. Ariana shrugged.

“The cold’s never bothered me anyway,” she said indifferently. “But we will miss you being here.”

“I guess everyone’s leaving me,” said Alana. “You’re going back to San Diego, Kayla and Ariana are moving to Mistbrook Falls…”

“Well, actually, Ari and I were talking about that last night,” said Kayla quickly. “We’ve decided that since Ariana bought Detroit Books, it would be better for now at least to stay here in Detroit. So, don’t worry Alana. We’re not going anywhere yet.”

“Except for Paris,” said Ariana brightly. “We’re going for Christmas… and my birthday.”

“And all of you are welcome to come,” Kayla offered. “It’ll be fun.”

“It sounds like it would be,” Bryon agreed. He looked to Penny. “What do you think? Christmas in Paris with our girls?” Penny nodded.

“It sounds wonderful.”

~~~~~~

The Girl and the Warehouse: A Christmas a Paris

It's funny how things happen. How fate intervenes in our normal, everyday lives and flips the ordinary on its head. Well, it’s not actually. But that… well, that’s another story. One, perhaps, for another place and time. This story… this one isn’t about that. There are no twists of fate here. No spiraling strands of destiny reaching out to change the world… or even the lives of one small family.

No, this story takes us back to the very beginning… or at least the end of it. For you see, when one chapter closes a new one must always open. It was mid December 2014, the 15th to be precise. The city of Detroit was, as was quite common, covered in a thick blanket of snow. Some cities would be slowed down by such a weather event, but Detroit was used to winter weather and so the city barely paused as the heavy snow moved in.

The Motor City was always loud and bustling, even at night or the wee hours of the morning… at least in the more populated areas. Most people lived and worked in the more central areas of the city or in the suburbs, in houses or apartments. Some of them even lived in mansions. There weren’t too many people who could say that they lived in a warehouse. Off in a quiet, remote corner of one of the largely abandoned warehouse districts, in a large red brick warehouse known as Warehouse 15, was where some of those rare people could be found.

In the wee hours of the morning on that Monday, with snow falling gently in the quiet peacefulness of the night, that old red brick warehouse stood out brightly against the void of darkness that surrounded it. Rows of Christmas lights had been hung, somewhat haphazardly, from its exterior walls and around the pair of large cargo bay doors near the entrance. More strands had been twisted and tightened to the railings of the fire escape that led to a door that was slightly ajar.

Suddenly, the door swung open and twenty year old Kayla Austin huffed through it, carrying a very heavy looking suitcase. She placed it near the staircase that led down to the parking lot below and stood up, brushing her elbow length brown hair away from her face. She paused for a moment, looking up at the distant view of the city that she had spent many nights out here on this very fire escape looking at with her new family.

It was a family she had never truly dreamed of having, and at one point had not even been one she would have wanted. But time, and love, can change everything. And love had most certainly changed her. She looked down, remembering with vivid clarity the moment barely thirteen months ago, that she had been running down the alley that separated Warehouse 15 from Warehouse 14 and had run headlong into the person who would change her life for the better, forever.

That, of course, is another story too. And Kayla didn’t have much time to reminisce. Instead, she turned and stepped back into the home she had helped build together with the two most important people in her life. She stepped into what had once been a conference room, but was a conference room no longer. In the far left hand corner was a small kitchen; complete with a stove, refrigerator, microwave, sink, and a tiny round table with four chairs.

A few feet to the right sat the sofa and coffee table. As was quite common around their home, there were clothes strewn across the couch cushions and a number of books and tattered magazines littered the table. The far and left hand side walls had wide windows set into them so people could look down on the warehouse floor far below. To Kayla’s right was a solid wall with two doors. The nearest one led to her bedroom and the farther one the bathroom. This was the small ‘apartment’ where she and her wife and daughter had made their home.

It was a warm and happy place, filled with love and laughter. Kayla questioned every day if she deserved it, but she was damned determined to make it last.

Also sitting on the couch were three more suitcases that were doubtlessly just as heavy as the one she had just carried outside. Atop the suitcases, a three year old girl with vibrantly red hair sat peering down at her clutching a very fat gray cat with a bejeweled pink collar around his neck.

”Found a new place to sit, I see,” said Kayla, smiling up at the girl.

“I like it up here,” the girl said brightly. “I feel tall.”

”Snow, if you’re anything like your mother, you’re going to be wishing you were tall your whole life,” Kayla replied. “She’s a whole five foot nothing on a good day.”  

“Five foot one, thank you very much Miss Kay-Kay,” said the soft melodic voice of her wife, Ariana Austin, as she came out of the bedroom holding a cat carrier. Much like her daughter, Ariana had vibrantly red hair and very bright blue eyes. She stood in the doorway, smiling playfully at Kayla.

“You keep saying that, kiddo, but I can’t say you’ve ever actually proved it,” Kayla countered, grinning at Snow who was giggling at her parents’ playful banter. Kayla nodded toward the suitcases Snow was sitting on.

“Babe, seriously, how much shi… ugh… stuff… are we taking?” Kayla asked. She really was trying to swear less, at least in front of Snow. It could be difficult at times, but she’d made a promise to Ariana. “We’re only going to be gone for three weeks.”

“Well, I just want to make sure we’re prepared,” Ariana said wisely. “We’ve got clothes and toiletries… oh, that suitcase on the bottom is full of all of Fluffers cat toys.”

“Well sure, being prepared is important but… wait, did you say all?” Kayla stared at her wife in disbelief, although in truth she knew she shouldn’t be surprised. That was a very Ariana thing to do. Ariana seemed to ignore that particular question altogether.

“Are we meeting Alana and Sophia at the airport or are they coming here?”

“At the airport,” Kayla replied, checking her phone to see if her older sister had called. “And I’ve been meaning to ask you… why are we leaving at this Godforsaken early hour when we’re taking your grandfather’s private jet?”

“Because your father had business in New York, which meant it was easier and quicker to meet him and your mom there instead of having them fly down here,” Ariana replied. “And since we want to get to Paris today, we’ve got to get in the air. It’s a long flight.”

“Only like eight hours from New York,” Kayla countered. “Try flying from San Diego to Sydney. I visited my cousin down there when I was ten. Nineteen hours trapped on a commercial jetliner is pure hell…. Uh, heck.”

“Right…” Ariana replied, rolling her eyes. She was smiling though. “But still, if we leave soon, your parents won’t have to sit for hours at LaGuardia waiting for us, so we should go.” She lifted Fluffers McMuffins out of Snow’s arms and ushered him into his cat carrier. He went in, although he meowed grumpily and looked quite unhappy as he did so.

“Oh, you’re fine,” Ariana told the cat, scratching his ears between the slots of the door.  “We’ll let you out on the plane, I promise.”  

“Alright, well I guess let’s get moving then,” said Kayla, nudging Snow off of the suitcases and lifting the topmost one which did indeed prove to be just as heavy as the previous one. She set about dragging the remainder of their luggage down to the large Chevy Suburban parked outside. She would have loved to have taken the Mclaren out, however as it only had two seats there wouldn’t be room. Not to mention all of their luggage.

Before long, Kayla had all of the luggage safely secured in the SUV, and Fluffers’ cat carrier was placed in the backseat. When she was finished, she hurried back upstairs to the apartment. Ariana was waiting by the door with a few bags in her hands. She smiled when she saw Kayla coming.

“Snow’s in the bathroom,” Ariana told her. “She’ll just be a minute.”

“It’s gonna be weird, isn’t it?” Kayla asked, looking around the apartment. “It’s been ages since we’ll have been gone from home so long.”

“It’s good to get away sometimes, Kay-Kay,” said Ariana. “You know, distance makes the heart grow fonder… or something.”

“I’m not sure I could love the warehouse any more just by being away from it for weeks,” Kayla responded. “I mean… it’s the warehouse.” She looked out onto the warehouse floor that stretched on seemingly endlessly in the distance. “This place… it changed my life.”

“It changed all our lives,” Ariana agreed, scooting closer and wrapping an arm around Kayla’s waist. “Mine, yours, Snow’s… everyone. I think that’s what this place makes. It makes changes.”

“I thought you said it made cheese wheels,” Kayla said thoughtfully, remembering a conversation from many months earlier.

“It might have made those too,” Ariana said with a shrug. “I mean, everyone likes cheese wheels!”

“You know Ari, I can’t actually say I’ve ever had a cheese wheel,” said Kayla, turning to look at her wife. “In fact… what’s even the point of a cheese wheel?”

“Hmm… I don’t know,” said Ariana, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. “Why do they make round cheeses?”

“No doubt to befuddle the minds of beautiful redheads,” said Kayla, grinning playfully.

“I’m not befuddled!” Ariana exclaimed, looking scandalized. “What, um… does befuddled mean?”

“I think,” said Kayla, leaning in a pressing a feather of a kiss to Ariana’s neck. “It means confused.” She placed another, ever so slightly more forceful kiss to Ariana’s cheek. “Perplexed.” She nipped Ariana’s lower lip slightly, causing the redhead to shiver. “Dumbstruck.”

“Mmm,” Ariana whimpered. “G… good words.”

“The best,” said Kayla with a smirk. Kayla leaned back in and their lips had just met for the briefest of instances when they heard the toilet flush in the bathroom.

“Fuck…” Kayla breathed, remembering suddenly that they were not in fact alone. Ariana gave her a look that only a wife and mother can give. Kayla shrugged her shoulders.

“What? She can’t hear me out here,” Kayla retorted. “Besides, I was having fun.”

“You’ll get to have fun in Paris,” Ariana promised as Kayla’s hands wrapped around her and began a gentle and hesitant exploration. “Your mom promised to take Snow and Sophia for part of the trip so that you and I could have some alone time.”

“Yeah, but that’s like, you know… later,” said Kayla. “I want to have fun now.”

“You are a bad girl, Kay-Kay,” Ariana said with a sly grin. “Very bad.” Kayla smirked and kissed her quickly and passionately, knowing that Snow would be rejoining them at any moment.

“Would you have me any other way?”

“Not a chance,” Ariana replied as the bathroom door opened and Snow stepped out.

“Ready!” She announced brightly to her parents.

“Okay, then let’s get going, Dove,” said Ariana, taking her daughter’s hand and guiding her out of the fire escape door. Kayla paused, looking back out once more onto the warehouse floor. Her thoughts went back to everything that had happened to them, the good and the bad. The wonderful and the tragic. The heartwarming and the heartbreaking.

That, she had come to realize, was simply life. Happiness and sadness go together like darkness and light. They can’t exist without the other. And right then, Kayla was happy. And for the moment at least, that was enough for her.

She flicked off the lights and plunged the warehouse floor into darkness. She glanced once around the apartment just to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything, but it seemed that Ariana’s packing had been quite thorough.

“We’ll be back soon,” Kayla said to the warehouse as she took her keys off the hook by the door and stepped outside. “We can’t stay gone too long, after all.” She turned of the apartment lights and closed the door. She set off down the fire escape to join her wife and daughter at the car.

She wasn’t sure how this trip would go or how much of the promised alone time she and Ariana would truly have, but she was fine with that. The whole family would be together for Christmas and that… well, that was what truly mattered. Whatever happened, Kayla knew that it would be a long ride… with those two redheaded girls and their trip to Paris.