When it came to his daughter's relationship with Paige, Wayne Fields was a realist. He knew that it was unreasonable, or naïve, at least, to expect the girls to remain celibate for the period of time that they were together in El Paso. He only laid down two rules. First, they had to let him know where they would be beforehand; no "I'm sorry, we lost track of the time" after the fact. Second, there was to be no funny business in his apartment. He established that rule out of respect to Pam, mostly. At the same time, he didn't want to come home unexpectedly and see and hear his girls being girls.

They were happy to live within the limits of these rules. They settled into a routine. Emily spent the week with her father, sharing breakfast with him in the morning and getting a ride with him to Fort Bliss. From there, she was able to take the post shuttle to whatever building she needed to get to, depending on whom she was covering for. They spent the evenings together, sharing dinner and some other activity – working on Wayne's car, going to the gym, playing basketball, or watching TV. Fridays evenings, they met Paige for dinner. They rotated responsibility for dinner. The person whose turn it was on any given week had to cook or order something, or choose a restaurant. In theory, that person paid for the dinner, too, but it wasn't in Wayne's nature to let "his kids" pay for a meal. After dinner, Emily rode home with Paige, and spent the rest of the weekend at her apartment. Often, the three of them got together on Saturday or Sunday to do some sightseeing, often driving out of El Paso to see some other nearby attractions.

Emily really enjoyed her mornings with her dad. Between his deployments and his move to Texas, it had been a while since she had been able to spend any time with him, and she really missed him. She almost didn't realize how much she missed him until she was there with him. They had a way of teasing each other that inevitably led to some playful sparring. It ended up with her father yelling, "Elder abuse! Elder abuse!" as he fended off her attacks with one hand. "You're getting soft," he said, as he corrected her technique. "Remember…"

"Every time you attack, you leave yourself vulnerable for a counterattack," she mocked. "Yeah, yeah. Good thing my opponent is old and slow!"

"Well, if that girlfriend of yours doesn't treat you right, you'll see how fast I can be when I go into attack mode!"

"Dad!" Emily approached her father, and he protected himself, holding her at arm's length. "Dad," she whined, "I just wanted to give you a hug!"

"Oh, okay," he said, sheepishly.

"Thanks," she told him, kissing his cheek. "But you don't have to worry about Paige."

"I know that, Sweetheart. But that's not going to stop me from worrying."


"So, Dad, do you know where I'm going to be working next week?" Emily asked during Friday night dinner. It was Paige's week to choose, so they were eating out, of course, at an Applebee's crowded with other soldiers and their families.

"Yeah. You're lucky. You're going to be working with an attractive, young officer. They say he's the brightest guy on post."

Emily rolled her eyes, smiling at Paige. "Oh, God!"

Paige smiled back at her. She could tell that something was going on, but she couldn't quite figure out what.

"Apparently, I'm going to be working for my Dad next week!"

"Well, that should be fun." Paige let out a nervous laugh, not sure whether you should be happy or sad for Emily.

"It'll be a blast! It'll be just like when you were – what? three years old, and I took you to my office with me…"

Emily buried her head in Paige's shoulder. She didn't remember that day; she only remembered her father retelling the story. Countless times.

"You should've seen her, Paige. She was in charge. Just like her old man. She sat at that desk and gave it to everyone who came through that door."

"Sounds adorable," Paige said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Oh, it was, it was! Trust me." Wayne turned his attention to Emily. "And, don't worry, Hon. This time, you can go to the potty all by yourself!" Emily gasped and struck her father's shoulder, unable to believe that he went there.

"I don't think you want to start this, Wayne Fields," she said, scrolling on her phone. "I've still got some dub smashes on my phone that I'm pretty sure you don't want me to share with Paige!"

"What, you mean when I hit that… hit that…"

Emily rolled her yes. "Quan," she said through a deep sigh.

"You know it! I've got the moves!"

Paige's throat hurt from laughing as she watched the two of them go back and forth. She couldn't imagine relating to her father like that – as if he were a friend.


"You're so lucky," Paige told Emily as she drove back to her apartment.

"Yeah, I really am." Had it been one of her other friends who told her that, Emily would've made it into a joke, but, knowing that Paige's family life left so much to be desired, Emily just acknowledged the truth and squeezed Paige's hand, comfortingly.

"That's the kind of parent I want to be," Paige said softly. "Well, that's the kind of parent I hope I can be."

Emily squeezed Paige's hand again. "You will be, Paige." Paige smiled at her, wanting to believe her.

"Thank you," Emily said sincerely.

"For?"

"For taking this internship in El Paso. I didn't realize how much I missed my Dad."

"You're welcome." Paige waited a moment and added, "He missed you, too."

"Yeah." Emily took Paige's hand into her lap. "Anyway, that's how I know that you're going to be a great parent, because you always think about other people. That's really what being a parent is – putting someone else's needs before your own."

"I guess it's easy, when you're doing it for someone you love."

"Yeah," Emily said softly. "Hey, Paige, what do you say we skip out on the mountain tomorrow?" They were supposed to join Wayne and some of his buddies hiking in the Franklin Mountains State Park.

"Are you sure? Your dad's going to be disappointed… I think he's looking forward to showing you off to his friends."

"No, it'll be fine. They planned this trip before we decided to come out for the summer. I'm sure he'd be just as happy without us."

"You're sure?" Emily nodded. "So, what did you have in mind?"

"I thought we could borrow my dad's bikes and take a ride into town, maybe look at some shops, have lunch – nothing big." Emily was enjoying the time with her father, but he wasn't the only reason that she was in El Paso. And, after the way that Paige talked about her and her dad, Emily really wanted to give Paige that sense of family; of someone who wanted to hang out with her, spend time with her, enjoy just being with her.

Paige nodded, glancing over. "That sounds perfect."


Paige's leg was bouncing underneath her desk. She was biting her lip, trying to keep her breathing under control, and staring at the clock. The second hand was taking forever to move.

It was Friday, and this was to be Emily's last weekend with Paige. Wayne had considerately bowed out of dinner plans, leaving the two of them to enjoy a proper good-bye meal. Paige had made arrangements one of the nicer restaurants just outside the city. She wanted everything to be perfect. But that's not what was making her jittery.

Paige's phone lit up, to indicate a text from Emily. She looked around, making sure that she didn't have anyone's attention, before she moved the phone to her lap and opened the message.

Emily had done some shopping, and she was texting different looks to Paige.

"It's a little tight," she said of a ribbed tank top that seemed to have been molded around her curves. She was pouting in the picture as she held the camera high above her head, giving Paige a perfect view of just how tight it was. "Too much?"

"Do these make my butt look big?" she asked about the tiniest of pair of leather shorts.

"Good thing I had a wax! :)," she texted with a shot of barely there lacy black panties.

"Paige! Unzip me!" There was a shot of Emily, with her back to the mirror, making it look as if she couldn't reach the zipper of a body-hugging little black dress.

Paige, who was working and couldn't really respond, took a risk and typed, "I'd just rip it off u."

Emily was glad to get the reply. She knew that Paige was at work and probably not somewhere where she could text, but, still, she couldn't help fear that she was making a fool out of herself with all of the pictures. She turned to face the mirror, bending slightly to show a bit of cleavage, and puckering her lips. "Well hurry home, Love!"

Paige began fanning herself with the pages that she was supposed to be proofreading. She gasped in shock when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Paige, are you okay?" her editor, Jean, asked, in her distinctive Texas twang. Paige flipped her phone over quickly in her lap and stuttered out a reply. Her editor hadn't seen what was on her phone, but she had seen how jittery Paige had been for the past few minutes. Paige's eagerness to hide whatever was on her phone was simply the final confirmation. "You don't look so good. Get out of here. I don't want you getting the rest of my staff sick."

Paige looked up to protest that she was fine, but her editor gave her a wink. "Go on," she said. "It's Friday. There's nothing on your desk that can't wait till Monday."

Paige smiled apologetically and thanked her. Jean gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Have a great weekend, Paige."

"I intend to," Paige said, dipping her head. As she gathered her things, she fired off a quick text to Emily, letting her know that she was on her way.

Emily's heart started beating faster when she got Paige's text. She was eager to see her, of course, but their dinner reservations were still two hours off, and she hadn't even showered. She weighed her options briefly before she called her father to let him know that Paige was coming by to pick her up early. Emily, whose had finished her job for the summer, had dropped him off at work that morning, so that she could use his car for her shopping trip. She was supposed to pick him up after work, but he assured her that he would be able to get a ride.

Paige stopped by her apartment for the quickest shower of her life. She was dressed and ready in a flash, taking her time driving to Wayne's apartment, listening to mellow jazz to cool herself down.

When Emily met Paige at the door wearing the dress that Paige had promised to rip off of her, all of the pictures that Emily had sent came flooding back. Before Emily could get the door closed, Paige had her against the wall in the entryway. Her hands and her lips were everywhere, and she was moaning needily. As Paige was nipping at her neck, Emily managed to pull it together enough to put on the breaks. "Paige..." she breathed out, "Not here... My Dad!"

Paige stepped back, and Emily lunged for her shoulder to keep from collapsing. Paige leaned her head back, running her fingers through her hair as she stared at the ceiling. "Destiny's home," she said, frustrated. Emily tilted her head and bit the corner of her lip, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "Yeah, you know what? Fuck it!" She grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her toward the exit.

"Paige! Let me grab my things!" Paige chuckled lightly. Emily gave her a quick kiss to hold her over while she dashed to grab her bag.

When they came crashing through the door to Paige's apartment, Destiny took one look at them and announced, "I'm... just... going to go... now." Paige smiled a thank-you in her direction. Once Destiny was gone, Paige and Emily made a beeline to the bedroom.

"Wait!" Emily yelled urgently, reaching for the zipper in the back of her dress before Paige could make good on her promise. "It's brand new!"

"Oh, yeah." Paige shot Emily a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

They never made it to the restaurant.


"Paige," Emily whisper-shouted as she tapped her sleeping girlfriend on the shoulder. "Paige!" When Paige rolled over onto her back and grunted, Emily whispered, "I'm hungry!"

"What time is it?"

"It's 10:45. Do you think Destiny's back?"

"I don't know." Paige rubbed her eyes. "God, only 10:45? Why am I so tired?"

"I'm going to get something to eat!"

Emily didn't feel like getting dressed. Paige smiled as she watched her creep toward the door like a soldier on a special-ops mission. She made it to the door and opened it slowly, smiling back at Paige as if to say, "Let's do this!"

Emily bounced quickly into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, its light the only illumination in the room. She grabbed some cheese, cold cuts, and mustard, and picked up a loaf of bread from the top of the refrigerator. When she turned around, she saw the glow of the TV in the living room and panicked, dashing back to the bedroom, no longer trying to be surreptitious. "She's HERE!" she said, speaking out loud for the first time since she woke up.

"Did she see you?"

Emily shook her head slowly and laughed, letting out the tension.

Later, as Emily sat cross-legged on the bed eating her sandwich, her legs covered by the sheet and her chest only covered by her hair, which she kept pushing behind her back, Paige laughed and said, "I love that I'm the one who gets to see you like this. I mean," she said, gesturing to her nakedness, "not - like this - but, playful like this."

Emily gave her a wink. "You bring out the freak in me."

"Don't try to blame that on me," Paige said with a wry smirk.

After a bit, Emily complained, "I'm thirsty!"

Paige shrugged. "You know where we keep the drinks."

"Paige! What if she's still out there?"

"So? Just put on a damned robe!"

"Ugh! Fine!" Emily got up and picked the shirt that Paige had been wearing earlier, when they were still planning to go out, up from the floor. She had to tug on it with a hand on each side, to keep herself covered. "You have no sense of adventure!" She tiptoed quickly to the kitchen, leaving the door open so that she could smile back at Paige on the journey, sharing the adventure with her.

"The trouble with your roommate," Emily said when she got back, "is that she thinks four hours is enough time to vacate the apartment. Say what you want about Hanna, but she had the common decency to give us the whole night!"

"Emily..."

"I know, I know. I'm just kidding. It was nice of her to leave on the spur of the moment."


"I'm sorry that we didn't get to go out to dinner," Paige said, stroking Emily's hair as they lay next to each other."

"I'm not," Emily said truthfully. "I'm glad that I got to spend the time alone with you."

"You got all dressed up for nothing."

"I got all dressed up for you, Paige."

Paige smiled, giving Emily a kiss. "Thank you." Emily didn't reply. She just squeezed Paige a little tighter. "We should probably get some sleep," Paige said. "We've got to get to your dad's early tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," Emily agreed. But they didn't sleep. It was the last time that they would be able to see each other - and to hold each other - for a little over a month, and they were in no hurry for the night to end.