August 7

Moon woke up and noticed that her vision was oddly blurry. She could not see the ceiling clearly. She looked at the clock and panicked nearly jumping out of bed before remembering that she wasn’t going to class today. As the adrenaline wore off she noticed and became distracted by a splitting headache. She closed her eyes and settled back in her quilt wrapping her arms around her wife. Unfortunately she found herself unable to fall back asleep and she was met with a bout of nausea. She grabbed her phone and earbuds off her bedside table and listened to a podcast until Sunset finally woke up.

Sunset rolled over to face Moon and smiled. “It’s nice to have a slow Friday morning with you. What do you want for breakfast?”

“I am really interested in an omelet. What do you think?” Moon did not open her eyes and Sunset noticed she had earbuds in.

“Sounds great!” after a moment Sunset asked, “are you okay?”

“No. I’m having another migraine.”

“I’m sorry.” there was a pause. “I’m going to go make breakfast. Tell me if I can do anything for you.” Moon Nodded and squinted at her phone to put on another podcast.

Sunset got up and went into the bathroom. After her morning routine she walked into the kitchen. Sunset started getting cooking supplies and vegetables.

Half an hour later Moon walked into the kitchen.

“What are you doing up?” Sunset asked as she flipped an omelet over in the pan.

“I need to eat something. Are there papers in the omelet?”

“I made two. One with and one without.”

“Great.” Moon’s voice is flat and emotionless.

“Sweetheart, go lay down. I’ll bring you food.”

Moon nodded and walked back into their bedroom and layed down. After ten minutes of waiting she began to get worried. Just as she was about to get up again Sunset walked in with two plates she set them down carefully on the bed and then rushed out. She came back with two full water bottles. “Let’s eat!”

Moon did her best to eat quickly but her blurry vision forced her to slow down. Sunset laughed at the mess Moon made of her food. “Here let me help you.” Sunset reached out and took Moon’s fork from her hand and picked up the piece of omelet Moon had managed to cut and readied it in front of Moon mouth. “Just close your eyes and let me feed you.”

“I feel like a toddler.” Moon said blushing. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth. Sunset fed Moon the piece of omelet.

Sunset started laughing. Moon opened her eyes and gave Sunset a questioning look. “This is just so weird! Feeding someone else slowly like this.”

“Isn’t this a normal part of a day taking care of a toddler?” Moon and Sunset looked at eachother and then down at Sunset’s belly. After a moment of awkward silence the two started snickering and then broke out into laughter.

“We are so unprepared for this!”

Moon closes her eyes again and Sunset feeds her the rest of her meal. After they finish eating Sunset said “you should get some rest. I am going to do some last minute cleaning and packing. I’ll wake you up in a few hours and we can see how your migraine is doing.”

After about an hour and a half of housework Sunset was done with all that she felt able to do on her own. She walked back into the bedroom and slipped herself back under the covers. She wiggled and squirmed until her belly was pressed up against Moon’s side (Moon was sleeping on her back). Sunset wrapped her arms around her wife and smuggled in.

Moon sudden motion as she squirmed jolted sunset back to awareness. She wasn’t sure if she had dozed off or just spaced out. She re-positioned herself placing her hand on Moon’s lower belly.

Moon stiffened suddenly. “You’re here…” she took a deep breath and relaxed.

“Yeah. How are you doing?”

“My head still hurts a little but I feel a little better. I don’t think this migraine is going to last too much longer.”

“Okay.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to cuddle with you.”

Moon sighed, “you know you have been getting more touchy-feely lately.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Yeah. I meen not a whole lot but you seem to want to cuddle, hug and hold hands more lately.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay. I like it. You and Lili are the only people I like hugging and cuddling with.”

“Yeah. You and my ex are the only people I have ever cuddled with.”

Moon rolled over to face Sunset. “You never cuddled with you sisters?”

“There were a couple times where I layed in bed with my little sisters to help them fall asleep. We didn’t really touch.”

“Do you wish you had cuddled with them?”

Sunset shifted uncomfortably and looked at the sealing. “There is apart of me that wishes I had been the perfect big sister, loving and caring for them like a mother. There is another part of me that wishes I had walked out on them. Honestly I don’t really know.”

“That’s fair.” Moon and Sunset looked at each other briefly before Moon closed her eyes. After a about a minute Moon started wiggling to wrap herself around Sunset.

“What are you thinking about?” Sunset asked.

“I’m thinking about what our parents would think of us if they could see us now?” Moon opened her eyes.

“What do you think yours would think?”

Moon sighed. “I keep feeling like they would be disappointed with me.”

“Why?”

“I wonder if they would approve of the choices I’ve made and the life I lead. I just don’t know if they would approve of me getting married and starting a family so young. I wonder if they would like you, or my new family. All I know about the know about their lives is what I have found in newspapers. I don’t know what they like or dislike. I don’t know much of anything!” Moon looked at the ceiling. “What about you? What would your parents think.”

“I like to believe they would be happy for me. I am holding down a good job and have an amazing partner. On the other hand I don’t know if they would care. They never had time for me and my sisters. How do I know they would dump a wedding invitation into the trash?”

“Life can really suck sometimes.”

Sunset started chuckling but was interrupted by a loud beeping from her phone. “It’s time to go. Grab a pillow to relax in the car with. I’ll guide you to it.”

“No I’ll walk myself.”

“Here is your room key ladies have a nice stay.” Sunset and Moon waved to the man behind the counter before walking to find the elevator.

The two women ride the elevator to their floor and then walk down the hall to their room. The university booked luxury suites for it’s staff and the two of them were very impressed with the size of the place. Their “room” was as big as an entire floor of their apartment complex.

“I feel like we are on a honeymoon!”

“Yeah.”

“Well if the evening goes right we could turn it into a little one!”

“Really Moon? You want to make love after having a migraine?”

“I was joking!”

“Let’s unpack some and check out the pool for a bit.”

About half an hour later there was a knock on their door. Sunset opened the door to find two men in suits.

“Room inspection! We are employees here to make sure our cleaning staff is doing their job. The hotel sends us from room to room to make sure our customers are being treated right and are satisfied. If we find they aren’t we will reimburse you for your expenses!”

“To keep things efficient one of us will inspect your room and the other will ask you some quick questions about your stay here and the service you have received and then we will be on our way!”

Sunset and Moon exchanged a quick look. Sunset turned to the two men and put on a smile.

“Oh wonderful!” Sunset said cheerfully. Moon casually walked into the bathroom. “Come right in!” Sunset opened the door widely and the two men walked past.

“Who was that walking into the bathroom?”

“Oh that’s my wife. She needs to make a very important call to the local hospital right a way.”

“The hospital? Why is everything alright” the man closet to Sunset asked with a concerned look as her turned to face her.

“Oh. we’re okay! It’s her grandmother. She had a heart attack. They have her on life support but they don’t think she'll make it. We are here to see her before they pull the plug if you know what I mean.” Sunset blinked and felt her eyes watering slightly. “My wife is trying to schedule an appointment so we can say goodbye.” Sunset said in an emotional voice.

“I’m so sorry. I hope you both can make it in time.”

“Yeah. it’s a really tragedy. Grandma Alice will never get to meet her great grandchild.” Sunset said rubbing her belly. After a moment of sniffling Sunset seemed to collect herself. “I’m sorry for dumping all of this drama on you. You had some questions for me.”

The man was taken aback for a second. Sunset gave him and innocent and expectant look. “Right yeah.” He pulled out a clipboard and pen. “So how would you rate the quality of service at the front desk? Would you say it was bad, mediocre, worse than other establishment, passable, good or excellent!”

“Oh it was excellent! The man was very kind. Her was most understanding! You see we had had a room mix up, they tried to give us the keys to a room on the ground floor even though we had booked this room. When relived the mistake that the room coordinators had made he called them personally to have them bring us the right key! He was so helpful.”

“Right umm. Next question. What conditions did you find the room in?”

“We found it in excellent conditions. Personally I was really impressed with the floral arrangements on the table! Of course I would expect a prominent man like yourself to understand the importance of proper floral arrangements but some, ah, less fortunate people just do not understand! It is such and important are and so many of the hotels I have stayed at just can’t see to get it right. The fact that the staff here understand the importance and can even get the little details right like having the single red columbine in the center, just shows me what a perfect place this is to stay! I will definitely tall all my friends back home to come!” Sunset gushed.

“Room inspection is done!” the second man said as he approached Sunset.

“Wonderful! Did you find anything?”

“No ma’am everything looks great. So we'd be off!” the two moved towards the door but stopped realizing that Sunset was blocking it.

“Are you sure there aren’t more questions? You only asked two? It looks like my wife isn’t done with her call so I’m still available. I’m sure your boss want as much data as possible for maximum quality assurance.” Sunset gave them an earnest expression.

“Right. Umm…” the man that had been talking to sunset looked at his clipboard and the other man glanced at his phone.

“We need to go now. We’ll check back in tomorrow to complete the interview okay?”

Sunset looked hurt. “I don’t understand you said you needed to talk to me and now you are running out?”

“We need to go now.” The two men stepped forward and attempted to push Sunset out of the way. Unfortunately the two pushed in opposite directions and were left stuck.

“How dare you handle me this way! I thought you two were supposed to be nice!” Sunset looked as offended as she could.

“Listen lady we need to leave now.” The man who had been inspecting the room lunged at Sunset. Sunset shifted her weight, grabbed his wrist and redirected his momentum into his partner. The two men fell over.

“That’s it. No more pretending to be nice.” the mam who had been asking sunset questions pulled out and gun and pointed it at sunset as he stood up. He approached her slowly “step aside or you’ll be joining grandma in the hospital.”

Suddenly the door opened. Revealing several hotel security as well as one of the managers. Both the men who had been in the room had expressions of shock and panic. Sunset took advantage of their momentary distraction to lunge forward and, using her kung fu training, skillfully remove the gun from the hand of the intruder.

“You are outnumbered. The police are on their way. Surrender now and you might get off on a lighter sentence.” one of the security officers said.

The two intruders looked at each other and then rushed the guards. Sunset flung herself out of the way. She stumbled slightly but caught herself. Moon darted out of the bathroom and rushed to her side. “Are you okay? I was so scared when they pulled out that gun!”

“I’m okay. Yeah that was scary, but I focused on my training took an seized the opportunity you gave me.” the two tuned and noticed that the guards had the one who had talked to Sunset on the ground the other took off down the hall and two guards when after him.

Half an hour later the intruders had been caught and Sunset and Moon were being interviewed by the police. “What tipped you off that they were scammers?” one of the officers said.

“Well honestly it was a hunch. One of my colleagues at work had this scam pulled on him and he told me his story. So when they showed up I got suspicious and had Moon call security. I figured that the worst that could happen is that they would say that is was real and it would be an embarrassing mistake.” Sunset answered.

“I’m impressed. This scam has become increasingly common and I’m glad you two did not fall prey to it.”

“I’m just glad that security showed up when it did. I was terrified when they pulled out a gun on my wife.” Moon said holding Sunset’s arm tightly.

“We are done documenting the contents of this briefcase. We have laid everything out on the bed. Come take a look and see what is yours.” a female officer said.

Sunset and Moon stepped out of their large hotel shower together.

“I happy we managed to get some time in the pool.” Sunset said grabbing a towel and handing it to Moon. “I didn’t realize just how stressed out I was but the scammers until we stepped into the hot tub.”

“Yeah. that was crazy. I’m glad we caught it in time.” Moon looked a little sad.

“Hay.” Moon looked at Sunset. “This is supposed to be our night! You have been planning this for a while now. Lets try to put what happened today behind us and focus on tonight and our future.”

“Okay.”

Sunset did not have a lot of maternity dress clothes. She had gotten a pair of dress pants altered and had bought a semi formal dress. She had decided she could get away with not dressing super formally.

Sunset sat on her bed in her blouse and dress pants waiting for Moon to let Sunset into the bathroom. Sunset planned on helping Moon with makeup, but Moon had insisted on surprising Sunset with her outfit first.

Finally Moon opened the door and stepped out. She war wearing a very nice midnight blue dress shat sparkled slightly in the rooms bright lights. It fit her perfectly and hugged her curves in a way that made them noticeable. It had a silver ribbon that tied just under her small breasts. It made Moon look feminine and mature.

“Well?” Sunset noticed that he was staring with her mouth open. She quickly closed it and stud up.

“You look great! Where did you find that?”

“I overheard some of my classmates talking about a store in the mall having a sale on older dress designs and so I thought i’d check it out. Yesterday after class when you thought i was in the library I took the bus to the mall.”

“Wow.”

“So… You like it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Oh Moon. you really don’t need to try so hard to impress me! I already think you are beautiful!” Sunset reached out and moved a strand of hair out of Moon's face. “Now let's go do your hair and makeup.”

After twenty minutes of Sunset fussing over Moon the two were finally ready to set out. “You know I think that blouse is a little too informal. What about a cardigan?”

“Good idea. We should both bring coats in case the weather turns or gets cold.” They both get out their trench coats.

“To the car!”

“Shut up!”

Sunset plays music from her phone as Moon drives. They sing to their favorite songs and laugh together on the way to the restaurant. The ride was fairly short. Moon parked and and she and Sunset get out. The two link arm and walk to the front door.

“Do you have a reservation?” the door man asks.

“Yes a seven thirty reservation for Moon Dancer Evans!”

The doorman whistled and a waiter materialized and bows them in.

Sunset gasped at the sight of the inside of the restaurant. It had the same fancy tables and silver arches and the signiture mural of the night sky on the half dome ceiling that Sunset remembered form years algo.

“Don’t act so surprised Sunset! You knew I was bringing you here!” Moon laughed and Sunset smiled at her.

The waiter pointed them to a booth and the two moved to sit down. As Sunset adjusted herself to squeeze into the booth she locked eyes with another pair of sea-foam green eyes.

Sunset froze. This other person looked exactly like her: same face and hair color, same height and build. Sunset found herself transfixed by herself? She wasn’t sure.

Due to her mental distraction Sunset lost her balance. Moon jumped up and scurried over to fuss over Sunset.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Sunset say a flash a read and looked up to see the woman who looked like her run out the door of the establishment. She is fast! Like me. Sunset thought to herself.

The woman who had been sitting with Sunset’s look alike walked over to the two of them. “Umm... Hello. My name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. What are your names?”

The couple looked at each other. “My name is Moon Dancer and this is my wife Sunset.”

Several emotions flashed quickly across Twilight's face. “Nice to meet you both.” she smiled.

Twilight stood awkwardly by their tables as Sunset and Moon sat down.

“Is there something we can help you with?” Sunset finally asked.

Twilight flinched and sunset mentally winced. That had come out a little rude and she hadn’t meant it to. She just didn't know what to do.

Twilight opened her mouth. Then she shut it. Finally she opened it again. “I know this is wired. I was wondering if I could get you contact information so we can meet again… we can talk! Umm. maybe about how you and my girlfriend look the same!” Twilight looked nervous. She removed her glasses and cleaned them quickly.

Sunset and Moon looked at each other. “Sure.” sunset said. She pulled out her phone and handed it to Twilight. “Enter in you number and I’ll text you mine.”

“Okay. thanks” Twilight looked embarrassed. After putting in her name and number she handed Sunset her phone.

“Great! I’ll text you now.” Sunset texted twilight and twilight saw the message pop up on her phone.

“Great!” after an awkward pause Twilight gave a slight bow “well nice to meet you both! I hope to hear from you soon.” Twilight looked extremely uncomfortable. She turned and marched back to her booth. Sunset and Moon observed Twilight gathering her and her girlfriends things and pay her bill. Finally Twilight hurried out of the restaurant.

Sunset and Moon looked at each other. “What just happened?” Moon asked.

“I have no idea.”

The two women arrived back at the hotel room earlier than they had planned. After their strange encounter they had tried to make the most of the situation but the romantic energy they had worked hard to build was gone. The most they could do was enjoy a nice meal and make small talk.

Moon and Sunset undressed from the fancy cloths and but on their pajamas.

“This has to be one of the strangest days of my life!” Moon said as she flopped onto the bed. “Wow. this comforter is soft!”

Sunset chuckled “yeah.” Sunset sat down on the bed and pulled a bow out of her bag. “I have something for you.”

Moon looked up from the fascinating comforter. “Oh. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Sunset handed Moon the box. Moon opened it. There was a necklace inside it with a quarter crescent moon and star pendant on a silver chain. Moon stared at it.

“Where did you get this! And when?”

“I was at the mall a roughly the same time you were the other day. One of my coworkers gave me a coupon for a custom necklace at this one jewelry place. I remembered the design of the quilt you had as a small child. I made a sketch of the Moon pattern and brought it in to talk to them about it. They called me Tuesday morning and talk be it was ready. I figured tonight would be a good night to give it to you.”

“Wait when did you order it?”

“About a month ago.”

“Wow.” Moos stared at the necklace.

“Here let me put it on you.” moon handed Sunset the necklace and Sunset afixed it around Moon’s neck.

“Thank you Sunset. I don’t have anything for you.”

“You got the dress. That was all I needed today.”

“Yeah but it’s not the same!” Moon complained.

“Moon Dancer. You are always surprising me with surprise gifts it’s about time I get you back!”

Sunset stud up and grabbed her glasses case off her bedside table and walk into the bathroom. Moon got herself situated under the covers. She was glad they had made the bed before they left.

Sunset walked out of the bathroom and crawled into bed.

“I know earlier we talked about making love tonight but given everything that happened today. Lets just cuddle and rest together some more.”

Author's Notes:

Another chapter! What do you think?

The next think i will be working on is the final chapter to this book's prequel. Please check it out!

The scam is based on one of my friends stories. it is very similar to an experience she had on a business trip. It is a real think that happens so be careful!