Celeste was surprisingly strong for her age and size, judging by the way she dragged Derek into Emily's house with her little hand wrapped around Derek's fingers.

The more surprising sight, though, was the way Derek didn't even try to hide his smile as he looked at his granddaughter when he usually would have tried to pretend like he could care less in order to maintain his facade of macho manliness.

"GIGI!" Celeste hollered into the house. "GIGI, home!"

Emily came around the corner, trying to stifle her laughter at Celeste's shouting, her volume certainly outstripping her size as well. "You're home!" she greeted, kneeling down and extending her arms for a hug. "I missed you so much!"

Celeste threw herself into Emily's arms, hugging her tightly.

"Did you have fun at the park with Papa?" Emily asked. "You must've because you're all dirty... What did you two get up to?"

Celeste proceeded to babble away in explanation.

Emily glanced up at Derek in search of a more adult answer.

He held up his hands in self-defence. "It wasn't my fault," he insisted, but that appeared to be all he was about to say on the matter.

She just shook her head, but she was smiling, which Derek took as a good sign. "Do you want some coffee?" she offered, standing and dusting herself off as Celeste wandered away in search of her toys.

Following her into the kitchen to take her up on the offer of caffeine, Derek got sidetracked when he spotted a familiar ivory envelope on the kitchen island. "Hey," he said, picking it up and turning it over to find Emily's name written on the outside in ornate calligraphy, "I didn't know you and Jordan still kept in touch."

She nodded, shrugged, sipped her coffee.

"So, do you need a sitter to watch Celeste so you can go out dress shopping?" he asked, half teasing her about her spending habits, half serious in his desire to watch the toddler.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going."

"Since when have you ever turned down the opportunity to go out shopping?" he asked, "You bought shoes on like a weekly basis when we were dating..."

"You misunderstand," she clarified, "I'm not going to the wedding. I have no intention of showing up at a wedding unaccompanied – especially when the bride is Jordan Todd."

Derek shot her a dubious expression, obviously confused as to her sudden and vehement refusal.

Her expression in return was pointed. "You don't understand what weddings are like for women – all anyone wants to know is when you're getting married. And if you don't show up with someone, every guy there assumes you're looking to get laid. At least if Clyde were coming, he'd fend off the unwanted advances, but since he's working, I really have no interest in spending the entire evening trying to convince total strangers that I really have no interest in making friends with their penis."

For a few moments, Derek blinked dumbly at her speech. "Well, Savannah is going to be working nights all weekend, so I'll be flying solo as well... If you're interested, we could go together," he suggested. When he only got a puzzled look in return, he wheedled, "Come on... I promise not to try to reacquaint you with my penis..."

That managed to get a genuine laugh out of her.

"Is that a yes?"

She sighed, conceded, "It's a yes."

"What do you think you're doing?" Emily hissed under her breath while maintaining a picture perfect smile as Derek's hand landed on the small of her back as they entered the ballroom where the reception was being hosted.

"Making the ruse believable," he replied quietly so they wouldn't be overheard, maintaining his smile as well.

She raised a brow. "Ruse?" she repeated skeptically.

"I thought we were playing the role of the happy couple," he said. "You know, so people don't hit on you..."

She hummed a displeased little note. "I really don't think we should," she argued. "Jordan knows about Clyde – she addressed the invitation to the two of us. Besides, I don't want to be the source of gossip and rumours and take focus away from the bride. You know how territorial brides get on their big day."

As they settled at their table, Derek asked, "So, he's really been putting in a lot of overtime lately, huh? It seems like he's never around anymore. I didn't realize wannabe bands were in such high demand."

She glared at him. "He's been taking on a lot of extra shifts as a pilot," she informed him.

"You must be lonely," he said lasciviously, waggling his brows for added emphasis.

"Derek!" she snapped. "Do you have any shame?"

He shrugged. Because no, he didn't really. "So, it really doesn't bother you that you're alone all the time? Because when we were dating, you were always wanting to spend time together and go places and do things, you know?"

With a little huff, she said, "Well, for your information, I think we broke up. Or almost broke up. Or are about to break up. I don't know..." She shrugged, sighed. A moment passed before she seemed to realize what she'd just confessed. Her cheeks flushed red and she started stammering, "Oh, I, umm... I didn't mean to tell you that."

And even though he normally would have teased and joked and bugged her, he was uncharacteristically kind in that moment. "What happened?" he asked, not quite sure what he was supposed to say.

"I... I kind of revealed what happened between us in New York and I can't exactly blame him for being pissed. I just wish he would make up his mind about whether or not he still loves me so I could move forward or move on with my life," she explained.

"Oh, Em, I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I hope you know that I didn't want any of this to happen. If I'd known I never would have, well, you know..."

She shook her head. "You know what? I don't want to think about any of this right now. Dance with me?"