A/N: Wow, how is it already April?! It's been ages since I've updated any of my stories and I apologize for that. Unfortunately, it may be a few weeks until I can get any more updates posted. Until then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter - lots of teenage angst and Emily/Keely interactions.

"Keely's playing awfully uh… intense today," Lana noted as she and Emily watched the women's matches play out from the bleachers beside the court.

"Yeah," Emily frowned. Frankly, she was surprised Keely hadn't broken the string on her racquet yet with how hard she was hitting the ball. Keely had been in a mood the past few days and it was clearly coming out on the court as well. "She's been, not herself lately. Andrew and I are letting it play out for now, she always comes to us when she's ready but I'll admit the sass is getting old fast. Anyway, I noticed Steve isn't coaching today. Are he and Ethan still in Chicago?"

"Mmhmm," Lana nodded. "Ethan's being a good sport, entertaining the idea of attending Steve's and my alma matter and I'm sure the tennis coach would love to have him but he's got his heart set on California."

"California?"

"Yeah, he wants to study marine biology. He's been talking about it more and more lately. Keely hasn't mentioned it?" Lana asked with surprise.

"No, she hasn't," Emily replied, watching Keely as she scored a rather aggressive ace. Emily knew that college scouts had been attending games this season, that talk of offers and commitments would become more serious the closer they got to end of summer and early fall.

As the matches came to an end, Emily watched as Keely passively shook her opponents hand and walked off the court. She had won her match and the team had won 6-2 overall but she lacked her usual elation at the outcome. When she climbed into the car that evening, the headphones were already in, a sign she didn't want to talk. Emily decided to let her be, knowing her dad would ask how the match went when they got home and that if Emily had already talked about it with her, Keely was more likely to be short about her answers.

Turned out, it didn't matter. When Andrew got home from bringing Stella to gymnastics and asked how the match went, Keely's one word response of fine didn't really sit well with her dad.

"Fine? That's interesting because Steve called me after checking in with coach about how the team did today. He said the coach is worried about you, that you played really aggressively today. Is there something you need to tell your mom and I?"

"I'm fine. What? A girl isn't allowed to have a bad day?" The attitude in her voice did not go unnoticed by either of her parents.

"Keely Gianna Mendoza, you better watch your tone," Andrew warned, raising his eyebrow.

"We're just worried about you, sweetie. You've been… off for a few days," Emily spoke, choosing not to use the word moody.

"Yeah, well nothing to worry about," Keely said, walking off and up the stairs.

"Kee mad, mama?" Stella asked, looking up from where she sat playing on the floor.

"Yeah, baby," Emily sighed.

"I'm losing my patience with that girl," Andrew muttered, moving to the kitchen to start on dinner. Emily followed and talked with Andrew about how to help their eldest daughter as they prepped dinner, neither noticing Stella go upstairs until they heard Keely yell.

"Go away, Stella! I don't want to play right now!" Keely's voice was followed by the sound of her door slamming and Stella crying.

"That's it," Andrew said, turning to go upstairs, Emily only a step behind him. When they got to Keely's door, Stella immediately shuffled into Emily's awaiting arms.

"Shh, sweet girl. It's ok," Emily whispered soothingly to Stella as Andrew opened Keely's door.

"Phone, computer, now," he said, hand outstretched in waiting for the items.

Keely rolled her eyes and handed over her phone but made no move to grab her computer. "I have homework," Keely whined when Andrew gave her a pointed look.

"Your computer will be accessible to you downstairs for homework. You may get your phone from myself or your mom in the mornings before school for the sake of emergencies and you will return it after you get home from school or practice."

"Fine. How long?" Keely asked, arms crossed with a defiant look on her face.

Andrew took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "Two weeks."

"And you need to apologize to your sister," Emily added.

"She can't just come into my room!" Keely defended, throwing her arms up in protest.

"I just want to give Kee a hug, mama," Stella sniffled as she wiped her face with the back of her hand, burying her head into the crook of Emily's neck.

"That was very thoughtful of you, my little star," Emily reassured, dropping a kiss to her curls. "Regardless of coming into your room, you don't get to slam your door in your sister's face."

"Fine, sorry Stella," Keely said with absolutely no remorse.

"I'll expect you to say that again when you've calmed down and actually mean it," Emily said pointedly.

####

Later that evening, Emily knocked on Keely's door with a plate of food in hand. "Go away," she heard Keely say softly from the other side.

"I have some dinner for you," Emily informed.

"Not hungry."

"Keely, you need to eat something. I'm going to come and put it on your desk at least," Emily said before opening the door. When she entered Keely's room, the teenager was curled up in bed with her back to the door. The wall she faced had a linen bulletin board with photos tucked into the straps. Some were of her with friends, a few with her teammates and even one with Stella, but most were of her and Ethan. The pair had been dating for two years now and Emily had a pretty decent guess that something to do with their relationship was what had the girl in such a mood lately.

"I meant what I said earlier about being worried about you. If and when you want to talk, you dad and I are here for you, sweetheart." Emily said softly as she placed the food on Keely's desk. Turning back towards the door, she heard the young girl retort.

"Why do you even care? You're not my mom." The words were like a knife through Emily's heart.

Taking a deep breath, she chose her next words carefully. "I'm sorry if I've ever given you reason to doubt how much I've come to care about you, Keely. I hope you trust me when I say that I love you." With that she closed the door and left the teenager alone. She tried to compose herself before walking back to join Andrew and Stella for dinner but since becoming a mother she hadn't been able to control her emotions nearly as well as she used to. So, she made her way down to the master bathroom and closed the door.

Emily was unable to stop a few tears from escaping her eyes. Keely had been calling her mom for over two years now and while Emily always knew it was a possibility that somewhere in the angsty teenage years Keely may pull the you're not my mom card, this was the first time she ever had. Emily tried not to take it personally, she remembered her own teenage years, saying and doing things intentionally to spite her mother in the midst of her own hurt and rebellion. She knew Keely was just upset but the tears streaming down her face weren't listening to her brain's rationale.

"Emily?" Andrew's voice called from the other side of the door, springing Emily into action. She quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and flushed the toilet, pretending she was simply going to the bathroom.

"Be out in a minute," she called, willing her voice not to crack. She splashed some water on her face and patted it dry, checking the mirror to make sure the tear tracks weren't evident before opening the door to the bedroom. Andrew was waiting, sitting against the edge of the bed.

"Are you ok?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Of course," Emily nodded immediately, only to receive an eyebrow of disbelief from her husband. She sighed. "Not now. Let's go eat, Stella's waiting."

As if on cue, Stella called from the kitchen. "Daddy, help cut chicken please!" Andrew and Emily both laughed and he dropped a kiss to his wife's forehead before following her out of the bedroom.

####

That night Emily couldn't sleep. For a long while, she lay curled against Andrew's chest but finally around 1am decided to get up for a cup of tea. Maybe some chamomile would help her settle. Dropping a kiss to Andrew's chest, she careful slipped from his side and crawled out of bed. She had just pulled the kettle off the stove and poured hot water into an awaiting mug when she heard someone coming down the steps. Knowing the steps were too heavy to be Stella, she pulled another mug and bag of tea out of the cupboard.

"Mom?" Keely's voice called tentatively.

Emily turned around, both mugs in hand, and passed one to her daughter. Keely took the offered tea, quietly whispering her thanks. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. I heard you get up." Keely spoke softly, not making eye contact with Emily.

"Do you want to talk?" Emily dared to ask. Keely nodded, so Emily placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed softly. "Come on," she whispered, directing the young girl to the den in the basement, both for privacy and so they didn't have to worry about being as quiet. They each settled at separate ends of the couch, Keely bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her mug on top.

"So, what's going on, kiddo?" Emily inquired.

Keely swallowed hard and her eyes pooled with unshed tears. "Ethan wants to break up," Keely replied with a crack in her voice.

"Oh sweetie," Emily reached over to place a hand on her forearm, fingers rubbing soothingly.

"He wants to go to school in California and everywhere I'm looking is out east. He said he feels like we won't be able to make it and so he thinks it's best if we just call it quits now," she explains further and Emily's suspicions are confirmed.

"Relationships are hard, long distance is hard," Emily starts.

"But he's right," Keely sobs. "I mean he's been gone five days, in a different time zone, and already it's hard to catch up with each other. What's it going to be like when we're on opposite sides of the country and only see each other on breaks? We'll have different schedules and meet new people and…"

"Breathe, Keely," Emily says, brushing a thumb across he cheek to wipe the girl's tears.

"I've taken it for granted, seeing him at school every day, on evenings and weekends when the tennis teams practice together. It makes it easier when we don't have time to hang out elsewhere during busy weeks but we won't have that anymore. It'll be facetime calls when we can squeeze them in and catching up over breaks." She sighs before whispering, "I love him, mom."

"Oh honey," Emily sets her mug down on the coffee table in front of them before taking Keely's mug and doing the same. Then she pulls the girl into her arms. Keely goes easily, curling into Emily's side and burying her face in her mother's shoulder. "I know you do and I know that first loves feel so special and breaking up seems like the end of the world but you guys are so young. You have so much time to find the right person and if that's supposed to be Ethan, then it'll happen."

"I don't know how to be just friends with him anymore." Keely sniffled.

"It's going to be awkward for a bit, I'm sure but it get's better in time, trust me," Emily spoke from experience.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence, Emily rubbing a hand up and down Keely's back as she dried her tears and took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry for saying you weren't my mom earlier," Keely finally said softly. "I didn't mean it, I just… I don't know why I said it but I didn't mean it. I love you, mom."

Emily squeezed her tighter and dropped a kiss to her head. "I know, sweet girl. Thank you for apologizing."

They were quiet for a few more moments before Keely asked, "Am I still grounded?" Her voice was playful, like she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Emily chuckled before adding, "and you still need to apologize to your sister in the morning."

"She was trying to cheer me up," Keely acknowledged remorsefully.

"She was," Emily confirmed.

"I can take her to the park tomorrow, try and make it up to her," Keely suggested.

"I think she'd love that. Now come on, we both need to get some sleep tonight." Emily stood from the couch, grabbing their mugs and heading up to the kitchen to deposit them in the sink. Emily kissed Keely's forehead before sending the girl upstairs to bed and heading to her own. Andrew stirred as she crawled back under the covers and pulled her into his arms, spooning up behind her.

"Keely ok?" He inquired.

"She will be," Emily assures, snuggling back into his embrace.

"You're a good mom," Andrew says sleepily before they both let sleep overtake them.