A/N: A guest left this review on a previous chapter, so this chapter was written with that in mind! I hope you enjoy it.

'I was just wondering if you were going to expand on something Kate said about Emily? She said in one of the earlier chapters that she sometimes struggled with what in her head. I can completely understand this as I do to and was wondering if you could Mabey do something like that with Kate, be it with Emily or Osgood?'

:)

It had already been an incredibly long day and Kate was incredibly frustrated to see that it was only a little after two o'clock in the afternoon. She felt as though she'd been staring at the computer screen for at least three days, although it couldn't have been more than an hour.

The Head of UNIT had spent the morning down at the site of an unidentified possible artefact beside the River Thames. It had turned out to be less of a threat than they'd anticipated, but the resulting paperwork had been a nightmare. Kate sighed deeply as she re-read the same sentence for the fifth time, wishing she could take a break but knowing that she shouldn't. Osgood was still at the location so she didn't even have her girlfriend to keep her company or distract her.

Closing her eyes and inhaling sharply as her phone began to ring, vibrating against the surface of her desk, Kate snatched it up and jammed it between her shoulder and her ear without checking the name on the display. She had been expecting a call from the Prime Minister about the latest budget report and guessed it would be him phoning. That was one conversation she really didn't want to be having.

"Kate Stewart."

"Mumma?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, the woman leant back in her chair, completely forgetting about the form on her computer screen. She knew instantly that something was wrong. "What's happened?"

"Have you got time for a coffee?"

"Not really, sweetheart." The older Stewart admitted with a sigh. "I've got about six reports to complete and sign off on by the end of the day and I'm expecting a call from the Prime Minister. I can't really leave at the moment."

"Oh… OK. I guess I'll just see you tonight, then."

"I thought you were having dinner with Serena and her daughter?"

"Serena's got to work late and Elinor... well, she hates me."

"Oh, darling, I'm sure she doesn't hate you." Kate reasoned, sighing deeply. "It just must be a lot to get her head around; her mother suddenly having a girlfriend who's younger than she is. I'm sure it's not personal."

"It felt bloody personal when she called me a cheap little gold-digging whore." Emily muttered bitterly.

"She said what?" Her mother demanded, outraged. Sitting up straight in her chair, Kate was suddenly completely alert; her full attention focused on what her daughter was saying. "When? What did Serena say?"

"I haven't told her. I phoned Elinor to let her know that Serena wouldn't be able to make dinner but said that we could still go. She said she'd rather starve than spend time with a cheap little gold-digging whore like me and that she was going to make sure her mother came to her senses and realised that I'm not good enough for her."

Kate stood up angrily. "That's outrageous! You have to tell Serena."

"I can't." Emily replied quietly. "Serena adores Elinor…"

"I adore you and yet if you'd said something like that about Osgood–"

"She's got a point though, hasn't she? I'm not good enough for Serena. She's this mind-blowingly amazing woman. She's a surgeon, she basically runs that place... she was deputy CEO. I'm can't even get a sodding waitressing job."

"Another rejection?" Kate asked with a wince. "Where are you?"

"The coffee shop by the Tower."

Switching off the screen of her computer, Kate gathered up her things. "I'll be right there."

She ignored her assistant's questions about where she was going and whether she'd finished the report he needed to send over to the Home Secretary, striding hurriedly towards the main entrance out of the Tower that would take her onto the street where Emily was waiting. Nodding and smiling weakly at a young man who held the door open for her, she slipped inside looking around for her daughter.

Emily was sitting in an oversized armchair in the far corner of the café. She was curled up with her feet tucked underneath her and her arms hugging her legs tightly to her chest. Kate watched her for a moment, completely unnoticed, as her daughter gazed blankly out of the window. Emily could easily have been a fourteen-year-old again, having had her heart broken for the first time and relying on her mum to make things better and tell her everything would be OK. She didn't notice as Kate made her way over to the table and settled herself on the sofa on the opposite side of the table, reaching for one of the two untouched mugs of coffee on the surface between them.

"What do you want to talk about first?" She asked softly. When Emily jumped at the intrusion to her thoughts, Kate reached out and squeezed her knee. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Sixth one in two weeks…"

Knowing that her daughter wasn't talking about coffee, Kate sighed. "Sweetheart, it's not–"

"Sixth in ten days, actually."

"Emily, you're not the only person in London struggling to get a job, you know?" Her mother assured her. "It's hard, but you need to keep trying."

"I can't even get a job as a waitress… Elinor's right. Serena's a Consultant Surgeon! What does she even see in me? I'm useless! What's the point? Maybe I should just break up with her now, before–"

"Em, stop it." Kate ordered her firmly. "Serena isn't as shallow as you're making out; give her some credit. She understands that you're trying."

"Yeah? She didn't sound very understanding when I told her." The brunette toyed with the serviette on the table in front of her. "She just did that long, exasperated sigh and said 'brilliant' before telling me she had to work late."

"I'm sure she was just in a hurry, sweetheart." Kate soothed, knowing that her daughter would have built the situation up in her head to be something more than it was. "Come on, Em, you can't do this again… you can't sabotage this one."

"Why not?"

"Because you love her, darling."

"So what? I loved Ariel."

Kate laughed softly. "Ariel was a cat."

"I still loved her and she still went away."

Her mother's face hardened. "That was nothing to do with you, my love. Your father is a vindictive bastard, who–"

"But what's the point?" Emily asked, cutting Kate off. "I'm never going to be enough for Serena, am I? That Robbie guy's been sniffing around again. Maybe I should just let her-"

"Has Serena even indicated that she might be remotely interested in him?"

"No... but she's been weird with me ever since I told her about UNIT and the Doctor…"

"It sounds to me as though she's thinking that she might not be enough for you."

The brunette turned to look at her mother properly for the first time since she'd sat down. Confusion and uncertainty were written all over her face. "What? Why would…?"

"Think about it for a moment; you told her that there are countless different worlds out there and you go off exploring them with an alien in a police box. You've seen things that she's never dreamt of and could never even begin to imagine. You've got all that at your feet." Kate reasoned as gently as she could. "The only jobs you've applied for are temporary or agency – nothing that would keep you here if a better offer came along – and you don't even seem to be seriously trying to secure one of those. You're less than half her age. You have no responsibilities and no commitments. You could wake up one day and decide that you want to leave and that would be it. The whole universe is out there for you to explore."

"But I don't want the whole universe. I want Serena."

"Then you need to stop all this, tell Serena that and sort it out."

"Mum, I–"

"Emily." Kate reached over and placed her hand on her daughter's knee. "You don't have to think about anyone else, apart from you and Serena; not me, not Gordy, not Osgood… we're all fine. You don't have to worry about us anymore. You especially don't have to think about Elinor." She frowned darkly. "I am, however, going to be speaking to Serena about her."

"Mum, don't–"

"No, Emily. I won't have her speaking to you like that. She needs to learn some manners and I have a feeling that Serena needs to know what her daughter is really like."

"I'm–"

"Sweetheart, I'm under absolutely no illusions about what you're like." Kate informed her bluntly. "Now, come over here and give me a hug."