"I tidied up after you." Emily informed her mother innocently when Kate entered the kitchen the morning after the party. The older Stewart narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "I didn't want either of you breaking your necks if you fell over the shoes or dresses this morning."
"Thank you." Kate replied casually, not rising to the bait. "We didn't wake you when we came in, did we?"
"I was out… actually, I was the one in danger of breaking my neck when I got in at four." Emily shrugged. "Did you enjoy the party in the end? Was it as boring as you expected?"
Licking jam off her finger, Kate settled herself at the table beside the teenager. "It was exactly as terrible as I expected. The Minister for Small Business and Enterprise was incredibly taken with Osgood, though. Not that I can fault his taste…"
"You liked the dress, then?"
A smile turned up corner of Kate's lips for a moment, before she regained control of her features. "It was a lovely dress. It really suited her. Thank you for taking Osgood shopping, Em, I know she was really nervous about it, but I think she enjoyed herself in the end."
Emily shrugged, taking a bite out of her toast. "It's fine. I really like Os."
"I'm glad."
"Besides, I kinda had to make it up to both of you after the whole Pippa and police station thing…" Kate shot her a look and the teenager held her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright… I won't say her name again."
While her mother moved around the kitchen making tea, Emily took the opportunity to watch her closely. There was a lightness about her that the young woman hadn't seen for a long time. In fact, the teenager thought, her mother seemed to be glowing. Kate smiled as she softly hummed along with the radio, reaching over to turn it up and letting the sound of upbeat pop music fill the kitchen.
Catching sight of her daughter staring, Kate narrowed her eyes slightly, tilting her head to appraise her in return. She noted how Emily's lips were curved up in a smile and she seemed, for once in her life, completely at ease. Despite her carefree persona, Kate knew that her daughter struggled sometimes with everything that went on in her head. Emily had once admitted that she felt as though it was her job to keep an eye on Kate and make sure that she didn't get so wrapped up in her job that she forgot she had a family and a life of her own. Somewhere along the line it had become Emily holding herself, Gordy and Kate together in a vague approximation of a family unit.
"What?" Kate asked finally.
"You… you're happy, aren't you?"
Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, the blonde nodded. "I am. I really am… I don't think I've ever been this happy."
"Good." Emily nodded firmly, standing up and crossing the kitchen to put her plate in the sink. "I'm really happy for you… both of you."
Reaching out, Kate pulled her daughter into her arms, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. Emily sank into the embrace at once, burying her face in her mother's neck and clinging to her as she had done when she was a little girl. It was easy, Kate thought, to imagine that her daughter was that small again as she soothed a hand slowly up and down the teenager's back, inhaling the comforting scent of her shampoo.
"This doesn't change how much I love you, though. You know that, don't you, darling?" Kate whispered into her hair. "You and your brother are still my number one priority. It means so much to me that you like Osgood, but nothing can stop me loving you with all my heart."
"I know, Mum." Emily giggled softly. "You're such a soppy cow, you know that?" Her grip on her mother didn't loosen, however. If anything it seemed to tighten. "I love you, too."
Breaking the embrace, Kate placed her hands on either side of the teenager's face and examined her closely, before pressing a kiss to her forehead and moving to flick the switch on the kettle. "I know you're heading back to Manchester tomorrow, so why don't we spend the afternoon together; just me and you, like we used to. I know that we haven't spent much quality time together lately because whatever spare time I have I've been spending it with Osgood."
"I'd like that." Her daughter nodded with a smile.
"Then maybe Gordy and Osgood could join us for dinner?" Kate suggested, glancing quickly at Emily. "Only if that's OK with you."
"Of course it is." The brunette agreed. "Maybe it could be my birthday dinner. I'm not sure whether I'll be coming back in two weeks for my actual birthday because of my exams and everything…"
"Oh…" Kate hadn't considered that she wouldn't see her daughter on her birthday. Gordy's birthday was at the beginning of September and so it had always fallen in the university holidays. With Emily's at the start of May it was inevitable that she would miss it. "Of course…"
"Are you OK?"
Kate nodded and smiled weakly. "I just can't believe my baby is going to be twenty… even though you've been all grown up since I can remember…"
"I'm still your little girl, right?" Emily teased gently, pressing a kiss to her mother's cheek.
"Always."
There was a light cough from the other side of the kitchen door and then it opened, Osgood smiling warmly through the gap as it widened. She had clearly heard the exchange, but obviously hadn't wanted to intrude on the moment. Emily, wanting to put the older brunette at ease, grinned at her. Sending a wink in her mother's direction, the teenager headed for the kitchen door, patting Osgood on the arm as she passed and shutting the door behind her.
"Morning, sweetheart." Kate greeted her girlfriend with a quick kiss and a cup of tea.
"Morning… thanks." Osgood smiled and took a sip from her mug thoughtfully.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, exactly. Well, I don't think so but… It's just that when I passed the bathroom I heard the shower running. If you and Emily were down here…"
Exchanging a look, the two women headed upstairs quickly. As they stood on either side of the locked bathroom door, neither of them had considered the fact that thieves and murderers didn't usually stop to take a shower. Counting silently – Osgood with a shoe in her hand and Kate clutching the standard issue handgun that, as Head of UNIT, she was obliged to take everywhere with her – they prepared to break through the door.
An ominous click met their ears as their countdown reached two and the bathroom door swung inwards. Both Kate and Osgood's mouths dropped open and their eyebrows shot towards their hairlines at the sight of a young woman in the doorway, dressed only in a towel, and dripping water all over the floor. She stared at them open-mouthed, clearly not understanding what was going on any more than they did.
"Ahh…" Everyone turned to look at the source of the apologetic voice, spotting Emily leaning in her doorway looking abashed. "Sorry about that. Mum, Os… this is Claire, Claire… Mum and Osgood."
"Nice to meet you…" Kate said weakly, trying not to stare at the young woman in her bathroom. She extended her hand in greeting, then realised that Claire was clutching the towel around her body tightly and pushed it back into her cardigan pocket hurriedly.
Claire nervously skirted around the two women flanking the bathroom door and scuttled past Emily into her bedroom. As soon as she was safely inside and the door was closed, Kate arched an eyebrow at her daughter and pointed towards the room behind her. Awkwardly, Emily rubbed the back of her neck, wrinkling her nose.
"I didn't realise she would decide to go and have a shower… she was fast asleep when I went downstairs and I was intending to show her out while you two were acting all loved up in the kitchen." The teenager defended herself. "What were you planning to do, anyway? Bludgeon her to death with your shoe?"
"We thought she was a burglar or something." Osgood muttered, glancing at the stiletto in her hand as though only just realising how silly it was.
"Taking a shower?"
Kate frowned. "You could have warned us that you had a… friend… over."
"She's not a friend." Emily replied without thinking. "Well… not as such… I only met her last night."
"So she could be a burglar."
"She's not a burglar."
"How do you know, you only met her last night?"
"I just do, OK?"
"So, do you like her?" Kate asked with a small smile.
Emily shrugged, not remotely fazed by the abrupt change in the tone of the conversation. "Doesn't matter if I did or didn't, now. She's going to run a mile after you two doing your Charlie's Angels routine."
As though having heard her words, Claire opened the door of Emily's bedroom and slipped out onto the landing. She mumbled a few words of thanks, blushing crimson and completely avoiding meeting anyone's eyes as she did so, said goodbye and almost ran down the stairs. Seconds later they heard the front door bang closed.
"Told you." Emily muttered.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Kate apologised with a wince.
"No worries." Her daughter shrugged. "I barely knew her, so I didn't like her that much, anyway."
She smiled and went into her bedroom, shutting herself in and turning on her stereo. Heading back downstairs to the kitchen, Kate sighed and closed the door behind them. The faint beat of Emily's music was still audible, almost vibrating through the whole house. Kate had the horrible feeling that her daughter might actually have liked the young woman they'd managed to scare off with remarkable efficiency and she felt terribly guilty about it. Wondering whether she would be able to use her contacts to track Claire down, she jumped as she felt Osgood's arms slide around her waist.
"Don't worry about it." Osgood told her quietly. "You know Emily better than I do and even I know that if she liked that girl she'd have made sure she got her number before she left. Besides, your daughter has got charm oozing out of her little fingers. She'll be able to win her round in no time if she actually wants to."
"You're right." Kate sighed, smiling and leaning forward to press a quick kiss to her girlfriend's lips. "Of course you're right."
"Can I get that in writing?"
Kate chuckled and kissed her again. "Don't push your luck."
