The morning of her park date with Holly and Rory, Gail wakes up early and more nervous than she had anticipated. She tries to keep herself busy and distracted until the afternoon but spends most of the morning shuffling around the apartment and bugging Dov. She arrives at the park before Holly and Rory and is grateful for the chance to calm her nerves. 'He's three years old Gail, calm down. Just be kind and minimise the snark' she tells herself.

Gail is sitting on a bench near the playground where she had agreed to meet Holly when she sees a streak of red running as fast as his little legs will carry him towards the slide with an amused Holly jogging behind. When Gail spots Holly she gets up to greet her.

'Hi Hols'

'Oh hi Gail, Rory is here but he got a bit ahead of himself' Holly points towards the toddler working his way up the stairs to the slide with a look of pure joy on his face. 'I told him there was someone here I wanted him to meet, but he loves the playground so much I think he probably forgot'

Gail is secretly grateful for the chance to observe Rory from afar for a few minutes, she adores kids but this is the first time she has dated someone with a child of their own and she is terrified she's going to do something stupid to mess it up. Of course Gail being Gail she is being too hard on herself and her fears are completely unfounded.

Gail and Holly are chatting on the bench when they notice Rory looking a little tired and making his way over to them.

'Hi Baby' Holly greets him 'you doing ok?'

'Can I have a drink Mama?' He asks. Gail's heart melts at Rory calling Holly Mama and she knows almost immediately after she hears his sweet little voice that he is going to have her wrapped around his little finger in no time.

'Of course Rory, come here there's someone I want you to meet' she gets Rory situated on her lap with some water and gestures towards Gail. 'This is Gail; remember I told you we were meeting someone at the park?' Rory nods and smiles shyly at Gail.

'Hi Rory, it's lovely to meet you' Gail is gentle as she greets him; automatically slipping into her special mode she has just for kids. 'You looked like you were having a great time on that slide over there, was it fun?'

'Yep, 'cept then I got thirsty so I came over here' He replies.

'Maybe when you're ready to go back I could come with you? We could test out those swings? They look like they could be pretty great' Gail suggests.

After that the rest is history, Holly watches her little man lead Gail over to the swings by the hand while Gail shoots her a sneaky thumbs up and Holly realises once again her fears about introducing Gail to Rory were needless, Gail is wonderful with children and Rory is no exception. For Gail watching Holly as a mother ignites something in her and makes her fall even harder for this stunning woman.

/

Later that evening after a wonderful dinner together where Rory entertained them with stories of his day at the park as if they hadn't been there with him, Gail and Holly are snuggling on Holly's couch. With Rory in bed the two ladies are free to be more open with their affection and both are happy to indulge in it. Holly is lying with her head resting on Gail's chest and the two are lost in thought, just happy to be close to each other.

The longer the silence goes on the more Holly's thoughts start to deepen to more serious issues and conversations she and Gail need to have, she doesn't want to break the moment but knows she has to be the one to do it. She sits up and Gail follows suit.

'So I kind of want to talk to you about something' Holly starts 'You were so wonderful with Rory today, and it's obvious that he cares about you already, he wouldn't stop yammering on about you when I was trying to brush his teeth, it was adorable, and kind of frustrating too!'.

Gail smiles at the thought 'Holly it's ok, just tell me what's on your mind and then we'll talk about it, no big deal'

'Ok, ok so I signed up to do this alone, I knew having Rory would affect any future relationships I had, and I might never get to meet the right person to settle down with, but I did it anyway and I have never regretted it for a second. But I need to know where you're at before we go any further into this. I don't expect you to be his mother, that's what I'm here for, but I need to know you won't run without a word and break his heart, so I have to ask, are you in this? With both of us?'

'You know…I've been through a lot of shit Holly, with guys and with girls, with coming out to my parents, they weren't so wild about the bisexual thing and I had one break up that just threw me for a loop and it really forced me to grow up and think about a lot of stuff.

After I got back to myself I promised myself I would never forget that I am worth more than the way I have been treated in the past. I told myself that if I met someone who didn't want all of me, then I would not give them any of myself. Since I made that promise, my relationships have been a bit all over the place, but I have come out of them proud of the person I am, and not having lost that person. I also promised myself that if I met someone who made my whole soul ache, for everything, then I would put my heart into it and suffer the consequences, whatever the world decided they would be.

The day we met when you were standing in front of me holding that dorky lunchbox with that amazing smile on your face I knew I was a goner. Holly I know we haven't known each other that long, but I have never been this honest with anyone before, except for maybe myself, and my heart has been aching for something like this my whole life and that little boy is the most positive consequence of putting my heart out there that I could ever have imagined. I am here Holly, and I am in this. With both of you'.

A/N: I thought I had uploaded this a few days ago but I must have forgotten, sorry! Another chapter will be posted tonight to make up for that :)