Title: Adrienne
Author: Naeryn, aka Megan
Feedback: Goddess, yes!
Distribution: Tell me where and give me credit. Other than that, fill your boots. *pauses to wonder where that phrase came from*
Rating: Rated E, for Everyone
Notes: Hmm... plotting children, mysterious strangers... whatever will our girls do? And a cookie to the person to spot my shout out to EasierSaid's wonderful fic, Neverland

...shouldn't be too hard.
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CHAPTER 10
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Tara, Adrienne and Willow strode into the warmly coloured restaurant. It didn’t seem to be very busy, there were one or two families scattered around the booths, but they were few and far between. Adrienne grinned up at the two women whose hands she was holding. Her eyes darted from one of her own hands to the other, back and forth for a moment, before she stepped back a little. Bringing her hands together, she slipped her own smaller hands from the women’s.
They gripped each other’s hands tightly, not realizing at first what Adrienne had done. They remained standing there, waiting for a server to take them to a table, oblivious to the contact until they heard Adrienne giggle – distinctly farther away than she could be if she were holding their hands.
Willow and Tara turned in unison to see the little girl, sitting on the bench for waiting people, smiling at their joined hands. Quickly, they parted, brushing the offending appendages nervously on their clothes.
“Oh, um, sorry. I didn’t mean to… uh, not that I don’t, I do, but, I mean… uh… sorry.” Willow waved her hands about frantically in an attempt to apologize, catching the eye of a server just exiting.
“Hello, ladies.” He eyed Adrienne, who was now frowning at her parents’ very much separated hands. “Table for three, and a booster seat?”
Tara shook herself out of her thoughts. “Oh, um, yes please.” She frowned. What on earth had Willow been getting at, and why was she apologizing? She hadn’t done anything, it was obvious that Adrienne was being her usual smartaleck self.
The server smiled and waved the menus he was holding in the direction of the booths. “Right this way, please.”
They followed him to a corner booth, away from the rest of the people. He smiled graciously at them as he stuck the booster seat firmly to the booth and offered Adrienne a hand up. “There you are, miss.” He settled her in. “I’ll be back in a moment to take your orders. Would you like anything to drink?”
Willow nodded, seating herself across from Adrienne. “Water, please.”
Tara went to sit beside Adrienne, but she shook her head. “Mommy, I can sit by myself.” She planted her hands on her hips, giving her what was quite obviously her version of ‘resolve face’. Then her expression changed to a bright, hopeful smile. “And can I have root beer?”
Looking from one grinning redhead to the other, she threw her hands up in mock exasperation. She cast a glance at the server as she seated herself next to Willow. “Water for me too please, and a small root beer for Miss Smarty Pants over there.”
With a cheerful grin, he smiled and nodded, heading off. Willow chuckled, seeing the flash of a hemp bracelet around his wrist, decorated with rainbow coloured beads. “San Francisco really is the family capital, isn’t it?”
“Definitely. You should see the art galleries.”
Adrienne looked from one woman to the other and shook her head. They were doing that silly grownup thing again, where they were talking and only said half of what they meant. It was weird. She was happy though; she saw Jamie’s daddies doing it all the time, so it had to be good, right?
“So, Adrienne, what did you do today?” Tara’s attention was locked on her daughter. Adrienne huffed. What did it take?
“Nothin’.” If they weren’t going to talk to each other, then she wasn’t going to talk to either of them, and that was that! She crossed her arms over her chest.
Tara rolled her eyes. “Adrienne, sweetie, are you all right? You’re acting very strangely.” Willow giggled. Tara shot her a sharp glance, eyes wide. “Will!”
“What? Kids act funny sometimes. That’s what they do.” Tara raised her eyebrow in mild rebuke, and Willow tilted her head to the side. “Oh come on. Like you never gave your parents a…” She trailed off, looking suddenly chastened. “Er… well, okay, good point. But still! Aren’t you glad Adrienne is willing to act funny around you?”
Tara sighed. “I guess, if you put it that way.
The server came back with a tray with five drinks balanced on it. He placed three of them down on their table, water in front of each of the women and the small root beer in front of Adrienne, who grinned and immediately clamped her lips around the straw. The other two drinks looked alcoholic in nature. These he took over to a nearby table, in which Willow could see a guy staring obviously at the other seat, somewhere near breast level, and laughing randomly. Huh, must be a knockout.
Punching Willow lightly in the arm, Tara giggled. “What, see a pretty girl somewhere?”
A soft smile broke Willow’s lips as she turned to face Tara. “Well… yeah.” Both girls blushed and looked down.
The server, Steve by the name on his tag, came back a moment later after depositing the alcohol on the other table. “May I take your orders, or would you like some more time to decide?”
Shaking her head, Tara smiled. “Well, Will’s the only one who’s been here before.” She looked over at the redhead beside her. “What do you say?”
Willow’s eyes widened. “Um, what? You want me to o-order for you? Oh, uh, I don’t… I don’t know.” She paused, the expression on her face the very picture of anxiety. “Um… I guess… a hamburger pirate pak for Adrienne, I’ll have the teriyaki chicken, with the prawns, and Tara, what do you think? Soup, salad?”
“Sure, that sounds good. What kinds?”
“Um…” Willow flipped hesitantly through her menu. “Oh, this one sounds good, the hot chargrilled chicken caesar. ‘Romaine, croutons and parmesan with sliced chargrilled chicken breast and our signature Caesar dressing.’ What do you think, want to try?”
Tara smiled. “Mm, yum. All right, I’ll have that.”
Steve smiled. “Excellent choices, all. Will the pirate pak have fries or a small salad?”
“Salad, please.” Willow looked at Adrienne with her eyebrows raised. Apparently the girl had Tara’s taste. When she was four, there was no way she’d have asked for salad. It was all about the deep fried fake potatoes.
He nodded, fixing Adrienne with a wide smile. “Very good, miss.” Adrienne giggled and returned her lips to her straw, gazing at Steve out of the corner of her eye.
Tara and Willow exchanged a quiet smile.
Moments passed in a comfortable silence, broken occasionally by a flirtatious giggle coming from the other table. Casting a glance over, Tara realized that the one making the distinctly feminine sound was the man. She nudged Willow discreetly and gestured her head in that direction. As the man laughed again, Willow fought back a snort.
“Ah, San Francisco.”
Willow snorted again. “Well, it takes all kinds, I suppose. Some odder than others.”
Tara quirked her eyebrow again, giving a teasing half-grin. “Oh, and you’re normal?”
“I never said that! Just because I say someone is odd, doesn’t mean I’m saying that I’m
not odd. Why does everyone automatically assume that?”
Bursting into gales of laughter, Tara rested her head momentarily on Willow’s shoulder. Adrienne, on the other side of the table, looked down, masking her face with her hands. Everything was going right. Not that her plan was anything compycated, but still. Soon everything would be the way it was supposed to be.
Faster than expected, the server returned, placing a large, colourful and delicious looking salad in front of Tara, a plate of chicken and a skewer of large, plump prawns in front of Willow, and the pirate pak in front of Adrienne.
Eyes wide with something akin to wonder, Adrienne stared at the display in front of her. It was a cardboard pirate ship, with little cartoon people sticking out of those funny holes on the sides. In the middle part, her burger sat next to her salad. At the back, there was a container of what looked like ice cream, and at the front was CHOCOLATE! Shaped like a coin, too! Adrienne’s fingers twitched on the table, and Willow chuckled.
Tara smiled as she watched her daughter pick up her fork and dive into the salad, managing to get the tiny amount of dressing absolutely everywhere but in her mouth. Shaking her head slightly, she picked up her own fork to attend to her meal.
Willow smiled and thanked the server before taking up her knife and fork and cutting into the chicken.
None of them noticed the pale face, framed with dark, wavy hair and imbued with dark eyes peering at them from the neighboring table.