"Tell me again," Holly said, wine glass in hand as she paced the length of her kitchen. "Because I'm not so sure I understand."

"You have to meet her," Gail told her enthusiastically. "She's amazing. The coolest kid I've ever met."

"I have no doubt about that." Holly took a long drink and switched out her glass with the whole bottle. "If you're willing to adopt a child, she'd just about have to be the coolest one."

"Hol."

"Gail," Holly pinned her with a look. "You can't just decide to adopt a kid."

"Yes, I can," Gail told her. "I can. I'm an adult. I can decide to do anything I want."

"But…you live in a room with two twenty something boys," Holly pointed out. "One's in rehab! The other is…well, Dov."

"I can move," Gail said. "I've recently had experience in moving, actually."

"Since when?"

"Since a few days ago!"

"You don't even like to move groceries from the car to the house, Gail."

"True, but I can do it if I have to."

"You will," Holly said. "You'll have to. You can't raise a child there."

"Plus, speaking of Chris," Gail knew it was weak going in, but she couldn't seem to stop, "he was raising a kid for a while. And if Chris can do it…"

"Yeah," Holly nodded and took another drink. "Look how well that turned out."

"Not well…"

"One word: Kidnapping."

"Holly, c'mon, that wasn't Chris' fault."

"Okay, I'm going to ask a question that I hope doesn't come off sounding really snobby," Holly prefaced, "but can you even afford this?"

"Yeah."

"Really, Gail?" Holly questioned. "Have you saved any money? Do you have any idea how much it costs to raise a kid? Feed them, clothe them?"

"I can do it," Gail said seriously. "I can be the person Sophie needs. It should be me."

"Why you?"

"Because," Gail was adamant. "I care the most, dammit. It's got to be me."

"Us," Holly said.

"Huh?"

"Us," she repeated. "You really mean, it's got to be us." Holly set the bottle of wine down and sat on one of the barstools. "You're here, so I assume you want us-"

"Yes!"

"-to work out."

"Of course," Gail said. "I want you. I'd be an idiot not to want you."

Holly sighed, "I want you, too."

"I can do both," Gail was sure. "I can do this with you and I can adopt her."

"It's not either/or." Holly ran a hand through her hair, mostly in frustration. "You can't compartmentalize your life like that. It wouldn't be fair to me or us or that little girl and your relationship with her. It's either you or it's us."

"Meet her."

"I can't believe we're even discussing this," Holly said. "We're barely together. I don't even know that we are."

"We are," Gail said firmly. "I'm in this. You're in this. We're together."

"This is instant family territory." Holly took a deep breath, the weight of that sentence hitting her. "We're supposed to do a plant first. Then maybe a dog…or actually discuss an actual commitment, maybe. Yeah, that would be good. This is worse than U-Hauling."

"I can't help the timing here," Gail shrugged. "I can't just let her take her chances in the system."

"You should have told me."

"When?" Gail asked. "When you were dating someone else?"

"Yesterday at the station, maybe," Holly suggested. "Instead of letting me think you had a date."

"Yesterday at the station you acted like you just downed a bottle full of lady viagra and injected a pint of vodka directly in your veins before coming over to get down with me out of the blue while I was working," Gail recapped from her perspective. "You would have gone ahead with that plan if I hadn't cut you off."

Holly's eyebrows lifted, sure that those were indeed inaccuracies. "Nuh uh."

"Holly…"

"What?"

"You were on a mission," Gail said, reaching over to grab the bottle of wine. She took a swig. "The mission was me."

"I missed you!"

"I could tell," Gail smirked. She slid off her stool and turned Holly's chair to face her. "It was pretty obvious."

"Was it?" Holly asked, her voice low and seductive. She pulled Gail in by her hips and placed her between her own knees. "I wasn't sure I was getting the point across."

"I got the point."

"Good," Holly whispered. Her hands fluttered up Gail's arms, over her shoulders, and onto her neck. She gave just a slight tug and let Gail fall the rest of the way into her. "I want you, too."

"Mm," Gail moaned, enjoying Holly's thumbs stroking her jawline. "Are you sure?"

Holly stopped. "Yeah, of course."

"Because you were dating someone else yesterday," Gail reminded her. "Literally, yesterday."

Holly groaned. "It wasn't serious."

"You were together, though," Gail said. "If you 'broke up' then you were together."

"Together-ish."

"Did you sleep with her?"

Holly gave her a warning look.

"Did you?"

"Gail."

"I'm asking."

"You don't want to know."

Gail winced at that and pulled away.

"No," Holly tried to keep her in place. "Gail..."

"I'm not mad," Gail said quickly. "I'm just not…thrilled."

Holly looked up at the ceiling, hoping for answers. She contemplated it for a few minutes before leveling her gaze back on Gail. "I thought you were done. I was devastated. I was a mess. I went for a Hail Mary and jumped into dating someone else. It wasn't smart. It didn't work. I still was hung up on you the entire time. Yes, I did sleep with her. Twice. It wasn't great. It wasn't even good because I felt guilty about it. She wasn't you and all I wanted was you."

"You kept dating her even after I told you that I…even after I said what I said."

"You hurt me, Gail," Holly explained. "I was scared. I still am."

"Don't be."

"That's easy for you to say," Holly said. "She was safe. She wasn't going to hurt me."

"Taking Lisa's advice, I see."

"Gail, don't," Holly shook her head. "Just don't."

"I was pretty hurt, too, you know."

Holly held out her hand, curling her fingers to beckon Gail closer. When Gail didn't move, she said, "Come here."

Gail narrowed her eyes.

Holly lifted up slightly, just enough to reach her and pull her closer. When Gail was situated back in front of her, she smiled. "Hi."

"Hey."

"I still don't know what the hell happened that night," Holly said as she brushed Gail's hair back over her forehead and off to the side. "I don't know how it spun out of control so fast. All I know is that I was…in love with this amazing woman-"

Gail's eyes flicked up to hers, paying extra attention all of a sudden.

"-one second and we were done the next."

Gail licked her lips, "Me, too. I'm not sure I really knew it that night yet."

"I did," Holly confessed. "I did and that's why I was so shocked."

"I'm sorry."

"No," Holly leaned in and brushed her lips against Gail's. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you overheard her say those things. I'm sorry I didn't set her straight right there. I'm sorry I didn't tell you how I was feeling."

Gail let her lips slide against Holly's slowly, leisurely before resting her forehead against Holly's. "You think you can do this with me?"

Holly bit her lip, "It's not how I would have planned it."

"I know."

"We would be married," Holly said wistfully. "Have a few years under our belts of just us. Enjoyed each other."

"We can still enjoy each other, Hol."

"This is big, Gail."

"I know."

"It's not a decision we can make lightly."

"I know," Gail said again. "Meet her. Please. Just meet her."

Holly closed her eyes, conjuring up the strength to do what she was about to do. "Okay, Gail. I'll meet her."

A/N: I'm straight up Paula Abdul confused about everything I saw tonight. Sorry if this overtly reflects that confusion.