Emily grimaced as she continued to dab the cut on her friend's upper lip, the cotton ball beginning to squish between her two fingers. "You shouldn't have done that."

Dave gave a laugh. "And let you stay here with your abusive husband? I don't think so."

Emily's lips thinned slightly, her body stiffening as she continued to clean his cut. "He's not abusive and you know it."

"He hurt you."

The brunette shook her head. "He was drunk."

Dave gripped his friend's wrist in his hand, effectively stopping her movements before looking into her dark eyes. "Emily, I came here tonight to protect you and I did just that."

Emily bit her lip. "You sent him to the hospital."

The author felt himself smile. "Yeah."

Emily gave a small laugh in spite of herself, grabbing the ointment from the coffee table long with a q-tip. "You seem pretty happy about it."

"You and the girls are safe and that's all that matters."

The younger woman smiled gently to the older man as she dabbed the ointment onto his cut. "You're so sweet."

Dave immediately nodded. "Oh I know."

Emily let out a giggle. "Oh shut up."

The author turned his head, taking the objects from the brunette woman's hands and set them on the coffee table before them. He gently took her face between his hands and set a kiss to her forehead. "What do you plan on doing?"

Emily gave a small shrug, covering his hands with hers and letting her fingers stroke over his. "I really love him, but I can't do it. I've been staying with him for the kids and because of this stupid hope of our relationship growing back to how it was before Rebecca and Billy, but nothing is the same. I don't think it can go back to the way it was."

"Do you want it to go back to the way it was?"

The brunette woman licked her bottom lip. "On some level, I don't think so."

Dave gave the softest of smiles before bringing pressing his lips gently against hers.

Emily moaned slightly at the touch she had been craving, and her fingers tightened around his. "I love it when you do that."

"I love it too."

She sighed when the older man fingered at her marital ring and she gently shook her head. "Will you do it again?"

Dave nodded his head, rubbing his nose against Emily's. "Anything for you."

The couple kissed for a few minutes, their lips pressing against one another's again and again before Dave finally managed to lay the younger woman on her back.

Emily slowly pulled her lips from the older man's, her hands going to his chest and holding him up and away from her. She laid her head back on one of the couch cushions as the author pecked her cheek. "Dave..."

The older man shook his head, silencing her with another kiss, his hand running over her covered stomach. "We don't have to do anything, Emily. I just want to feel close to you."

Emily felt her eyes sting with tears before she nodded her head. "I want to feel close to you too."

...

Imogen's tiny head tilted to the side as she watched her mother and the older man lay down on the couch. Her tiny fists shook in the air before turning to her sister that sat behind her in the playpen. "Mama."

The brunette twin looked over to her sister, crawling up beside her and looking over to their mother. The older woman was letting her friend's hands gently rub over her stomach and chest as they kissed, and Rylee quickly shook her head. "Mama!"

Emily's lips quickly disconnected from the author's before her head turned, her dark eyes glancing to her daughters.

Imogen shook her head, her short blond hair flying as she stood up with the help of the playpen's padded barrier. "No mama."

Emily let her eyes widen slightly before she pushed the older man off of her body that, not a second ago, was responding to his touch. She smoothed down her shirt before standing. "We can't do this in front of the girls."

Dave quickly nodded in agreement. "Of course, I'm sorry."

The brunette woman turned and shook her head, putting out her hand to help her friend off the couch. "No don't be, please. Trust me, I loved it."

Dave smiled to the younger woman. "So did I."

Emily felt herself blush at the older man's words, and she silently interlaced their fingers. "We'll just wait until we're alone."

"Got it." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the brunette's blushing cheek. "Em?"

"Yeah?"

He moved his lips to the younger woman's ear and gently suckled. "Your hair is insanely sexy."