/Firstly, thank you to all the people who keep coming back to read this story. And a massive thank you to those who are reviewing. It really makes me happy to know that people are reading and enjoying my story, it is the reason I write after all. Anyway, I re-read it after a few reviews and I do realise that the MM/David thing seemed to come out of nowhere. I guess I didn't think about that as I obviously have imagined this story in a lot more depth than I seem to have been writing. I've had dreams about it ffs :') I will aim to improve that area too. However, saying that, their relationship does make a big leap in this chapter. I had this and the next chapter fully or almost written when I saw those reviews, and I'm sorry but I wasn't going to delete those chapters and start again. True love doesn't wait! /


Chapter 6

It was Friday evening, and there were plenty of cabs around. Within half an hour, Mary Margaret was home, in her pyjamas with a cup of hot cocoa, trying not to cry at a soppy movie on the TV. Once again, she failed to keep her tears at bay, and by the end of the movie she wasn't trying to hold them back anymore.

A knock on the door caused her to furiously wipe at her eyes, but she knew she would not be presentable. She sniffed and took a deep breath shaking her head and her hands as if to calm her breathing, before making her way to the door. She had no idea who would be calling so late, she didn't have many friends in Santa Monica, and those she did have she knew would be unwilling to see her. She passed a mirror in the hallway, hanging up above a little table next to the door and sighed at her appearance, before pulling the door open.

"David..?" The tall blonde frowned at the sight before him, and had to physically hold himself back from wrapping her in his arms.

"Mary Margaret, what's going on? Have you been crying?" She shook her head, looking down to the ground in embarrassment.

"What are you doing here David? Where's Emma? Listen, if you came here to yell at me for upsetting your daughter, or to tell me to stay away from you, don't bother. I feel bad enough as it is."

This time David couldn't stop himself, and he stepped forward so he was almost toe-to-toe with the woman who had fit so seamlessly into his and his daughters lives. He grasped her chin gently, lifting so he was looking her in the eye. "First of all, Emma is with Ruby next door. They are playing some game that involves princesses and werewolves. When it comes to upsetting her, she's four. She gets upset when she has to eat her vegetables. As soon as the cake came to the table…" He paused, smiling lightly at her. "Nice touch by the way. Anyway, as soon as she got a slice of cake she was fine." He tried to get her to smile, but it was forced, her face too red and eyes too puffy to be believable. "Now as for the ridiculous notion that I want you to stay away from us. This is exactly the opposite. I came here because I can hold it in no longer. I have waited a long time to find someone who treats my daughter as well as you do…"

"Well yeah, she's easy to love." It was out before she could stop it and the baulked, back to looking at the ground. David wasn't fazed.

"Indeed she is. But that's not why I'm here." She looked up at him quizzically, holding in a breath in fear of what he might say. "Mary Margaret Blanchard, how would you like to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night? Just you and me?"

Mary Margaret had had to hold herself back from agreeing straight away. She stepped back from the door, glancing up at the blonde with a frown. "Alone? But what about Emma? I don't think she'd be happy with us spending time together. She hates me." Just saying it caused tears to spring to her eyes again and she sighed. David shook his head at that and stepped forward again so he was toe to toe, having stepped over the threshold of her house.

"First of all, Ms Blanchard, I say again, Emma is four. She hates bath time. When Ruby explained what was going on she calmed down and asked why you weren't having cake with us. Anyway, I know how much you care for her, and I know how much she loves you. If she really did hate you, I would be more hesitant, but…" The brunette was looking up at him, trying to hide her smile. "Mary Margaret I can't deny it anymore. I've wanted to ask you out since I saw you trying to lift a bookcase, alone, from the moving van. Your connection with my daughter is just a bonus." He raised a brow at her. "It seems you're just trying to avoid letting me down huh?"

She stepped forward so that David stepped backwards, making sure he was no longer stood in the doorway, raising a brow back at him with a grin. "Actually Mr Nolan, there was never a question. Dinner, just you and me, sounds perfect. Pick me up at 7." She leant up to press a kiss to his cheek, before winking and closing the door in his face. With a happy sigh she squealed silently, feeling like a teenager with her first crush.

On the other side of the door, David was grinning, and he stood there for a few moments before making his way back to his house. Ruby was waiting for David in the hallway, ready to gloat. He had expressed his concern to Ruby on their way back from the restaurant, feeling his feelings for her were unrequited. Ruby had snickered, and told him to stop being a girl and just ask her out. His grin when he walked through the door told the young woman all she needed to know and she shook her head, hugging David before walking out the door. She had told Emma that she would be around the next evening to say goodbye, knowing that Mary Margaret would say yes before he even asked her. "I'll be back about 6 tomorrow. Give Emma a kiss goodnight from me…"

Mary Margaret had been panicking all day. It was the first Saturday since she moved in that she hadn't spent most of her time with her neighbours, wanting to not monopolise all of their time. But being alone meant worrying. First she was concerned about how this would affect the future. If it turned out she and David weren't compatible, would he stop her from seeing Emma? Then she started to worry about the date itself. What if it went badly and she made a fool of herself. What if David realised that she was a good babysitter, but would be terrible as anything more? As the day went on, she began to stress about silly things. What would she wear? What if she didn't like anything on the menu? What if she said something that changed his mind about her? As her fears began to get the better of her, she text Ruby, requesting her presence to help her choose an outfit. The pair spent an hour sat around with wine, talking about David and Emma, and then themselves before Mary Margaret questioned her friend on an outfit.

Her job meant she usually dressed rather conservatively, and she didn't own anything she deemed suitable for a date, but Ruby found an adorable three-quarter sleeve red pleated dress and some red heels in the back of her closet, that the older woman felt comfortable wearing and her makeup was kept light.

Before they knew it, it was 6 and Ruby informed MM that she had to go next door, not sure whether David had informed Emma that he was going out, so she wanted to be there just in case. Mary Margaret hugged her friend tightly, Ruby whispering good luck in her ear. She felt better about the upcoming evening just from having someone there to talk it through with, yet when she was alone, she began to panic again.

Instead of talking herself out of her date, she went through to the spare room where she'd stored a few of Emma's things that had been left there and sat on the rocking chair that she had left in there. For some reason, closing her eyes as she rocked, thinking about the family next door calmed her down instead of making her fret. Her worries paled as she imagined herself as part of the perfect little family, looking after Emma, and waiting up for David coming home from work, loving them both. She was surprised when that thought didn't terrify her, and instead she began to daydream about it, baking with Emma after school, grocery shopping with David, celebrating father's day… celebrating mother's day…

After what felt like mere minutes the doorbell rang. Mary Margaret couldn't stop the smile that was covering her face at the images she had conjured in her mind, and it only widened when she saw David at the door, holding a single yellow and red tipped rose. Having a passion for horticulture alongside her ornithology, she knew exactly the meaning behind the flower, and she giggled, knowing David had likely googled the meanings of the colours. She raised her brow at him and he grinned at how quickly he'd been caught out. "Emma chose it..?" Shaking her head, the brunette turned, walking back into the house to pick up her coat and purse, quickly filling a glass for the lone rose.

"Shame on you David, blaming your daughter. If you'd have admitted it I would have told you that I think it is beautiful, and very unexpected." she winked at him, pulling her coat on. While she was turned away from him she bit her lip, holding in the excited squeal that was building up inside her. When she had her coat on, she turned to her date and nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, following him out of the door. They walked side by side, chatting about David's job, ad Emma's time in pre-school and his trip to Victoria that he had taken a few years before.

"So where are you taking me Mr Nolan?" David smiled down at the brunette beside him, linking their fingers as he took her hand.

"There's a nice little restaurant about 15 minutes away which is an authentic British pub. I always wanted to try it, and I remember you telling Emma at the diner a few weeks ago about that summer you spent in England so…" Mary Margaret smiled, squeezing his hand. She leant her head against his shoulder as they walked.

"I can't believe you remembered that David… I told her that as a passing comment…" The couple walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before David broke the silence. "So if you look over there..." He pointed across the road to where some trees were blocking the view of the ocean. "That is Palisades Park. Good for picnics. And a little further up the road is Santa Monica Pier. It's beautiful around sunset. We should take Emma sometime…" Mary Margaret blushed, staring down at her feet as they walked. She couldn't help but feel excited that she was already being included in the future plans of the father-daughter-duo. Absentmindedly she noticed that she and David were walking exactly in sync and squeezed his hand, more comfortable that she had been in a long time.

Having heard no response to his last comment, and concerned that he had said something that freaked his date out, he backtracked, trying to keep the mood light. "You know we've known each other for weeks now and I still don't know much about you…" He paused, waiting for her to answer with some fun fact about herself.

"Well, that's what a first date is for, is it not? Asking each other embarrassing questions and trying to impress each other?" She laughed as he bumped his hip against hers.

"Well Ms Blanchard, the date has begun, so it is time for you to answer some questions! Let's see…" He paused, pretending to ponder what to ask her, though Mary Margaret could tell from looking at him just what he wanted to ask. "So what caused the sudden move to Santa Monica? Running away or moving on?" The brunette paused, frowning down at the ground.

"I uh… got a new job. My career is my passion, and I couldn't turn my dream job down, so it meant moving to the other side of the country…" David could tell there was something she wasn't saying, but figured it wasn't a good idea to push the topic on their first official date.

"And what exactly is it that you do?" Mary Margaret looked up at him, grinning.

"You will find out soon enough." Their conversation paused as they turned the corner of Ocean Avenue onto Santa Monica Boulevard. Mary Margaret was seeing the street for the first time, but looking around it was clear to see where they were going. There was a gift shop, a restaurant and a pub in a row, all bearing the Union Flag and it made Mary Margaret stop walking, David only realising when she squeezed his hand, pulling him to a stop. After a moment marvelling at the view, the brunette fell back into step with her date, keeping hold of his hand as they walked into the restaurant.