"Oh, hi." Emily glanced up from the book she'd been reading at the sound of her mother's voice. "How did you…?"

"Jason." Kate explained, settling herself in the armchair across from her daughter's. "I went to the house and he told me you'd probably be here."

"Right…"

It had been a fortnight or so since Kate had last seen her daughter at the twins' second birthday party. As it so often seemed to do, a call had interrupted the event and lead to both Kate and Osgood reluctantly leaving the festivities. Apparently it was unavoidable as it had been about an incident they'd been monitoring closely for days and had led to several weeks of long hours; the pair barely leaving the Tower, apart from to co-ordinate intense operational manoeuvres. Both were grateful that the party was starting to wind up anyway and the majority of what they'd missed was the clean up operation.

Deciding that she wanted a proper catch up with her daughter, Kate had called at the house and been told by Jason that Emily would probably be in the coffee shop round the corner from the hospital until her shift started. He informed the blonde that he thought her daughter preferred the coffee shop to the one inside the hospital because she was less likely to be bothered and could get her reading done in peace. As he'd suggested, Emily was sitting at a table tucked away in the corner with an empty mug on the table and a large book balanced on her lap.

"What're you reading?" The older woman asked, lifting the book to look at the cover. "Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing? Sounds heavy."

"It's…" Emily sent her a small smirk. "You're right. It's heavy. Fascinating, though."

"How's the course going?" Kate asked softly. When Emily just shrugged, she leant forward in her seat. "Serena says you're doing great. Apparently you got top marks in your last essay."

"I didn't do too badly."

"When we first found out about this nursing idea, I honestly wasn't sure about it." Kate admitted with a shrug. "I couldn't imagine you as a nurse. But I'm really proud of you, Em."

"Thanks." The brunette blushed, tilting her head slightly so that her hair fell across her face.

"I still can't believe you're on Darwin with Jac Naylor." Kate continued, ignoring her embarrassment and choosing to change the subject. "How're you finding it?"

"I love it. They've sent me down to cover on Keller and in the ED a couple of times. Not AAU, though. I think they're deliberately keeping me out of Serena's way."

"But Darwin? From what I remember it's pretty tough playing by Naylor's rules."

Emily's eyes lit up at the mention of the Director of Cardiothoratics. "She's actually amazing. I've never met anyone quite so proficient at being a total bitch before. She's made it a form of art. She diagnosed and operated on a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome yesterday morning and still had time to call me an over-excitable excuse for a minion and order me to get her a coffee."

"She's still truly delightful, then?"

"I honestly enjoy hearing all the new insults she's cooked up for me. It's sort of our thing. I know she loves me very deep down." Emily grinned wickedly. "Also, I take great delight in getting her coffee order wrong every single day."

"You are seriously weird, sometimes." Kate chuckled fondly. "You're serious about this, then?"

"Yeah, I said so, didn't I?"

"No, actually, you didn't." Kate told her bluntly.

"Right, well… I'm as serious about this as I ever am."

Sighing deeply, Kate shook her head. "Don't do that."

"What?"

"Don't pretend you don't care. You're better than that."

"Fine, I care." Emily rolled her eyes. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." Her mother teased her. "I am proud of you, you know."

"I know. Finally got my life together at twenty-three."

"You had things sorted a long time ago, love."

They slipped into companionable silence for a while. Kate went to get more coffees while Emily finished up the chapter she was reading. When her mother returned, she asked about the latest situation at UNIT that had kept her so busy. Emily laughed at the image of her mother chasing a half-fish, half-horse like creature through the backstreets of Cardiff with the infamous Captain Jack Harkness, laughing even more when Kate informed her that the incorrigible Torchwood boss had prepositioned her at the least helpful moment possible.

"How's Serena's secondment going?"

"Another six weeks in Marseilles." Emily informed her gloomily, her face falling immediately. "We had a deal about our three year anniversary, but she managed to find a way around it."

"A deal?"

"Yeah… I was going to propose and she was going to say yes this time."

Kate blinked at her, shocked by the revelation. Her jaw twitched as she tried to appear casual. "This time?"

"Last time I asked her she convinced me that I was too young. She said that if I waited until now she'd say yes. Well, she wanted to wait until our five year anniversary, but I talked her round." Emily sighed, looking at her mother hopefully. "I don't want to wait, Mum. I know how I feel about her. It hasn't changed in three years… another two wouldn't make any difference. It's just… it's wasting time."

"Em, sweetheart, you're so young." Kate told her gently. "Maybe Serena's got a point. Maybe you should wait a bit longer?"

"You and Os didn't wait."

"That's–"

"It's not different. You and Os were engaged after fifteen months, had kids eight months later and got married two months after that. You did all that within just over two years. Serena and I have been together three."

"Darling, you're twenty-three. Osgood and I were not."

"Nor's Serena."

Trying to choose her words carefully, Kate took a breath. "So… this is because Serena's–"

Emily rolled her eyes. "It's got nothing to do with Serena's age."

"Then I don't really see the rush?"

"It's not a rush. I just don't see the point in wasting time. I know what I want, I know what Serena wants, simple as that."

"You know what Serena wants? So why did she tell you to wait?"

"Because she, like you, thinks I'll change my mind. I won't."

There was a long pause while the two simply stared at each other. Emily seemed to be daring her mother to make a comment, to tell her that she was too young and Kate didn't think it was a good idea. Arching her eyebrow in challenge, the younger woman waited for whatever was heading her way.

"Well in that case, what's your plan, kiddo?" Kate asked seriously. At the surprise on her daughter's face, she chuckled. "I'm assuming you've got a plan if you're so set on proposing to Serena?"

"Serena's birthday."

"Let me guess. You're going to Marseilles to surprise her."

"I'm that predictable, hey?"

"No." Kate narrowed her eyes. "That's how I know there's something else that you're not telling me."

"What–?"

"I know you better than you know yourself, Emily Stewart. What are you not telling me?"

Emily bit her lip. "I may have called in a favour… just a tiny one."

"You didn't? Not her?"

"She has a TARDIS." The younger woman pointed out with a shrug. "Cheaper and quicker than booking a flight."

"How romantic." Her mother retorted sarcastically.

"Maybe not, but apparently the Singing Towers of Darillium are."

Kate blinked. "What?"

"There's a restaurant on Darillium. The Doctor recommended it… apparently one night there lasts twenty-four Earth years. Not that I'm intending to spend twenty-four years there."

"Sounds like you've got it all planned out."

"Mmmm…" Emily looked at her mother, chewing her lip again. "There is one thing I need your help with."

"Will it involve my credit card?"

"No." The younger woman looked mildly offended at the suggestion. "I want your opinion on… well, on rings." A light blush crossed her cheeks, much to her mother's amusement. "I mean… Serena's… and I'm…" She frowned, irritated at her inability to formulate a coherent sentence. "She deserves the best and I… well… I'm not exactly sophisticated, am I? I just… I don't want to get Serena something she'll hate."

"Whatever you choose will be perfect, love." Kate told her honestly. "Serena loves you and she'll love whatever ring you choose."

"I can just imagine her face if she hates it."

"She won't hate it."

"But she might."

"Em. She won't."

The brunette huffed. "It's more difficult than I thought. I went to look and there are so many different cuts and settings and… and what the bloody hell is a setting anyway?"

Kate snorted with laughter. "I do have a suggestion for you. You don't have to say yes and if you don't it's completely fine. It's totally up to you."

"What is it? At this point you could tell me to propose with a hula hoop and I probably would."

"Remember, you can say no."

"Mum!"

"I've got your grandmother's engagement ring… the one my father gave her." Kate shrugged nonchalantly. "It was going to come to you anyway, but if you wanted to give it to Serena…"

"Really?"

"Only because I know how much you love her." The older woman replied evenly. "If I thought this was just a whim I wouldn't have even told you. I know Serena is your one and I'm glad you didn't go through two ridiculous relationships… a sham of a marriage… before you found her."

"Thank you."

Emily wrapped her mother in a tight hug, burying her face in blonde hair that was so like hers, only lighter. Kate held on just as tightly, unable to escape the feeling that she was losing her daughter. Gordon was off living his own life with his girlfriend. He'd been terrible for keeping in contact before things got serious with Lorna but now weeks went past without a word from him. Emily had always been around, popping in and out of her life without warning and generally with the same likelihood of leaving her mark as a hurricane. Now, though, with her daughter throwing herself into her nursing training and deciding to propose to Serena it felt as though she was slipping through Kate's fingers. The blonde didn't think she was ready to let go just yet.

"Are you sure you have to do this?"

Furrowing her eyebrows at the choice of wording and the tone her mother had used, Emily pulled back to look at her properly. "Have to? I don't have to do anything. I want to."

"I know that… I didn't mean…"

"I love you, Mama." The younger woman almost whispered. "Always have, always will; whatever I might try to pretend. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Rolling her eyes but not commenting, Kate pulled her back into another tight hug.