The Dawn of Autumn

by Forever without him

Alison DiLaurentis rules her town with a sharp tongue and an even sharper attitude. But she meets her match when Emily Fields, rebel with a cause rolls into town on her motorcycle and captures Alison's attention, and her heart. But there is more to Emily than meets the eye. Her mysterious past begins to bleed into her future, and it invokes Alison to go on the ride of her life.

46. When September Ends

A/N: At long last. Here we are. Previously on 'The Dawn of Autumn': Hot girl on bike steals Queen Bee's heart. Hell's Angel makes it her mission to protect her Uptown Girl. Uptown Girl makes it her life mission to do the same. Some crazy stuff happens. Hidden secrets, deadly enemies, past trauma, babies (what?!), and all that jazz. But these two girls belong together, and nothing can tear them apart.

From bike rides to the rollercoaster ride of life, love, pain, and sacrifice...these characters have taken quite the journey. Thanks for trusting me to handle that journey. Thanks for coming along. I hope you'll share your thoughts in the reviews, but I understand if you're shy, too.

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Chapter 46:

When September Ends

The week before summer ended Alison and Emily were trying to get Autumn adjusted to a new sleep schedule. It was not going as planned. Every time Autumn made a noise they couldn't resist the urge to check on her. They couldn't help themselves. It was usually Alison who broke first.

One of her favorite things to do was go get the baby when Emily got up for work in the morning. She would bring her back to their bed and lay down with her, watching her, conversing with her without words. Staring into Autumn's eyes was like being transported to an entirely different world. Alison didn't know what love was until she'd become a mother.

Autumn had spent almost ten months inside of Emily, getting to know her intimately. Alison had done her best to connect to the baby, but there had been long stretches of time when she wasn't around. During the pregnancy she couldn't lay in bed with her every night or share her every meal. Emily had been with the baby constantly. She had carried her for nearly 300 days. Their bodies had been physically connected, and that created a strong emotional bond. That was the art of pregnancy. Now, Alison was making up for lost time, connecting to her in her own way.

Alison laid Autumn down on her back in their bed. Alison was on her side, propped up on her elbow and smiling down at her daughter. She lied with her for a few minutes, the two of them looking at one another, having a quiet conversation.

Autumn's brow was creased in concentration, her mouth forming a little "o" shape. After a few seconds a wide grin broke out on her face and a string of giggles filled the room. It was like a light-bulb had gone off in her head. She recognized her mama.

Alison loved it when Autumn smiled at her. It was her favorite thing in the world.

A soft rumble of thunder from outside startled the baby, but Alison regained her attention by tickling her bare feet. She picked them up and pretended to eat her toes. Autumn howled in laughter. Alison blew raspberries against the bottoms of her feet and then made a silly face at her. Autumn's laughter got louder.

Alison was so lost in her own little world that she didn't hear Emily coming towards the room.

The brunette paused when she reached the entryway. She leaned against the door frame, her hands cupping a mug of hot coffee as she watched Alison watching Autumn. Of all the beautiful sights she'd seen in her life, nothing came close to seeing her daughter smiling at the love of her life. There was a certain magic to their bond that defined a love so powerful that it defied nature itself.

There was a tugging sensation in her chest.

My heart.

That's what her family was to her. Her heart.

Images of the past year flashed through her mind. She reflected on the isolating loneliness she'd felt after moving back to town. Autumn had been the tiniest bean, barely larger than a grain of rice. Alison had been a shrewd ice princess that seemed impossible to thaw. Yet that tiny little human and the frozen queen came together in a magnificent way. They were a deeper part of her, a part she would not be able to exist without.

Because of her baby, things had changed for the better. Together they formed a love so powerful that it altered the very basis of who they were. Autumn wasn't the only one who had grown in those months. Emily and Alison were both totally different people.

Emily felt the warmth of the mug against her hand, but what's more, she felt the pull of the heat in her heart as she listened to Alison tell Autumn everything that made her special. It was something she did every day. She always found something positive to say to her.

"Your smile brings joy to the world."

"The way you connect to people is beautiful."

"Your eyes tell a story that can't be put into words."

"Hearing your giggles is the best part of my day."

"Are you just going to stand there like a creep or are you going to join us?" Alison peered over at Emily.

She knew the brunette was watching. The brunette was always watching. She had seen her out of the corner of her eye, but had been too focused on Autumn to register that Emily was there.

She was dressed and ready for work in her gym attire. Her tight sports bra and her leggings were clinging to her body, accentuating her curves. She'd been helping Jake train in his classes. She'd gotten back into the active style of her life, which had helped her get back to feeling her best for her family.

"Says the creep who used to stalk me on Insta." Emily fired back. She chuckled. "If I remember correctly our very first date was in detention."

Alison laughed. Emily had called Wilden's teaching "garbage" and called him a trash human to get into detention with Alison. They had joked about it being their first date. There was a picture of them somewhere looking like hardened criminals in a high school classroom.

"You said something about Butch and Sundance. I think you called me your cellmate."

"Hottest cellmate in that hell of a prison." Alison lifted her brows, her eyes ogling Emily's chest. "I'll always be the Butch to your Sundance."

"You're still so not Butch." Emily pushed off against the door frame. Autumn cooed. Emily glanced at her. "We have a hell of a story to tell her though."

As Emily took a step into the room Alison eyed the mug in the brunette's hand.

"Is that decaf?" she asked.

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Don't nag me, woman." She took a sip of the coffee to prove some kind of smug point. "I pumped earlier. And there is plenty of breastmilk to cover her while the terrible terrible drug works its way out of my system. Trust me, these puppies…" she jutted her chest out, which always got the blonde's attention, "…will be caffeine free by the end of the day."

Alison couldn't help but grin. She was reaping the benefits of Emily's post pregnancy body. She had always been a boob girl, and Emily's breasts were beyond glorious when they were engorged. She now had to share them with Autumn, but she didn't mind.

The brunette took a step towards the bed, the muscles in her strong legs bulging as she walked. Alison was impressed with Emily's determination to get back in shape. She'd been working hard. She'd gotten back into boxing and swimming. She managed to keep a set routine, even with Autumn's schedule.

Emily put the coffee mug down on the nightstand next to the bed and then carefully climbed on to the mattress on the opposite side of Alison. She mirrored Alison's position, leaning on her elbow. She looked down at her baby.

"Morning peanut." She pressed her lips against her daughter's forehead.

She buried her nose into Autumn's neck, inhaling her scent. She was so clean and pure. She rubbed her nose against her neck and snorted like a piglet. Autumn started giggling again.

Emily pulled back and propped herself up on her elbow again. She smiled at Alison.

"You know we're spoiling her."

"Her sweet little face deserves to be spoiled!" Alison countered.

She loved making her daughter happy. It made her happy.

"I could stay here all day." Alison nudged Autumn's cheek with her knuckles.

"I know." Emily placed her fingers against Autumn's other cheek.

Autumn looked up at Emily. She tried to push herself over, twisting her legs and grasping at the sheets for leverage as she rocked from side to side. She'd been on the cusp of turning over by herself for almost a week.

"Is she turning over?" Alison exclaimed in excitement. "Are you turning over, baby girl?"

"You can do it, Autumn." Emily encouraged her.

All her tummy time was paying off. At nearly four months old she was hitting her milestones earlier than most babies. Alison bragged incessantly about her genius child.

She was growing too quickly for both her mother's liking. She twisted the top half of her body and kicked her feet against the mattress as she clung to the sheets for leverage, half rolling and half scooting towards Emily. Her head bobbed unsteadily as she landed in Emily's hands. She stretched her neck and looked up at Emily with a smile on her face.

Alison reached out and gripped Emily's arm in elation.

"She did it!"

"Good job, baby." Emily pulled her curly-headed little clone into her arms.

She swung her back and forth gently. She dipped her towards Alison. Autumn giggled.

Her thin curls bounced freely in the air. Her hair was slowly getting longer. Alison brushed her coils aside and planted kisses all over her face. Alison's pale pink lips were a sharp contrast to Autumn's tan skin. She was darker than Emily, but lighter than Isaac.

Autumn smiled, but it was upside down.

"How did you give birth to this perfect child?" Alison asked as Emily passed her the baby.

She slid her hands up underneath Autumn's arms and lifted her up until they were face to face. She kissed her on the forehead and then gently laid her in her lap.

"I don't know, I blacked out there for a while." Emily gave her a wry smile. "Pretty sure I did it with a lot of encouragement though."

Her labor was a blur, but she remembered the dirty looks Alison kept shooting the nurse for not being able to stop her pain.

Autumn smiled at Alison. Her entire body wriggled as she laughed. Her arms and legs went rigid with excitement. Morning rituals with her moms was her favorite thing.

"Aww." Alison tickled her palm. "I want another one. She's growing up too fast." She pressed her face against Autumn's and buried her nose in the thick of her neck.

"I just got my caffeine privileges back." Emily picked up her drink. Freshly brewed caffeinated coffee tasted so much better than she remembered. "Besides, my vagina needs a break."

"So I'll pop the next one out." Alison kissed the tip of Autumn's nose.

"You know you'd have to give up sushi, right?" Emily poked her playfully.

"You underestimate me." Alison wiggled her brow.

"Ali, we're still kids." Emily reminded her with a laugh. "You're starting college next week. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"But look at her little face." Alison's bottom lip quivered.

"I've heard that when the first one is calm and good the second one is usually a terror." Emily often wondered if she'd had a younger sibling what their demeanor would be like.

Alison thought about it. From what she'd heard, Jason was a good baby, but she was a nightmare. There was probably something to that old wives tale. But it didn't faze her.

"Don't care." She puckered her lips and kissed Autumn again. "You want a little brother or sister, don't you, baby girl?"

Emily's phone vibrated as she put her cup down. She glanced at the screen and laughed.

"My dad wants his daily morning photo." She tapped her screen and opened the camera app.

She angled the phone towards Autumn. She peeked out from beside the phone and started talking to her and making silly faces at her.

Autumn's mouth fell open in a grin as she giggled at her mommy. Emily snapped the photo and sent it to her dad.

I could squeeze her little cheeks for hours. Tell her her Pops loves her. Your mother wants to know what time you're bringing her by.

Emily looked up from her phone.

"What time are we meeting the girls tonight?"

"Seven." Alison was shifting Autumn into her arms to rock her.

Be there at 6:30. Cute squeezable cheeks and all.

"It's crazy that everyone is leaving for college. Toby must be freaking out about seeing Spencer go to Connecticut." Alison said.

"Four hours is a long way. But I have faith in them." Emily nodded.

"You have faith in everyone." Alison leaned over and pecked her cheek. Emily smiled at her. She twisted over to kiss Alison and then Autumn. "Your parents have her tonight, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Last time I left her alone with Jason I found a Dorito in her crib." Jason had only watched Autumn twice. He wanted to be a good dutiful uncle and his heart was in the right place, but he didn't have much of a paternal instinct.

"To be fair I found a French fry in her bassinet when my dad watched her once." Emily assumed he was sneaking the fries out of view of her mom. Her mom didn't like him to have greasy food because of his heart.

"I bet they just stare at her while they eat." Alison laughed.

"Men are weird." Emily put her phone down. She reached for Autumn's hand and played with her fingers. She smiled at her, but she was addressing Alison. "What are you two going to get up to today while I'm at work?"

"I was going to take her to the park, but…" Alison gestured to the window. Rain was pelting the glass. Trees swayed in the breeze. She picked Autumn up again. "Would it be totally lame to hang out at the gym with you today?"

"I mean, if a bunch of gross sweaty gym bros gets you off…"

"Not funny!" Alison slapped her shoulder, which elicited a laugh from Emily. "Ugh, the Noel Kahns of the world are the worst."

"Well, we don't have to worry about him anymore since he moved to his brother's place in Philly." She'd heard the news a few weeks ago from Mona.

"I still can't believe he got into Stanford." Alison frowned in disgust. "The only business experience he has is being at the business end of your fist in his face."

Emily shuddered. She'd never forget the way she felt in the locker room when Noel cornered her. She would also never forget him coming to her defense after Ben wrote some nasty things on her locker about her pregnancy. Noel had always been a wild card.

"His brother apparently has pull there. Yay for nepotism, I guess." Emily shrugged. She wasn't exactly mad that he was gone. It meant he was out of their lives.

"All of this is so surreal." Alison sighed. "I can't believe we're like…adults now. I can't believe how fast last year went."

"Felt like it took forever." Emily felt like she'd been pregnant for 84 years.

"But at the same time it flew by." Alison added, smiling down at their daughter. "Right, sweet pea?"

She was in awe of the child in her arms. She still couldn't believe that she was a mom. It certainly wasn't something she'd planned, but she wouldn't trade it for the world.

"This is so crazy. We have a kid." Alison looked up at Emily. "She's ours. We're her mommies." Emily grinned at her. She loved it when Alison got sappy. "I just love her so much." She pressed her lips against Autumn's cheek and made a big dramatic show of saying "Mwah!" as she kissed her.

Autumn cooed in response.

Emily's phone beeped at her. It was an alarm she'd set for work. She hit 'snooze' and put the phone down and grabbed her mug.

"You really want to hang out at the gym today?" Emily asked.

"I want to hang out wherever you are." Alison shrugged. "And Ezra said it's fine to bring her any time. Don't they have that Toddler Sensory Gymboree class in the mornings? We can sit in on that."

"Sure. That's a cool idea." Emily smiled. "You start spending any more time there Ezra is going to have to start giving you a paycheck."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's not like I'm picking up gross sweaty towels. That's crossing a line. This manicure won't stand for it." Alison lifted her hand and wiggled her jungle red fingernails.

"You are such a diva." Emily shook her head with a laugh.

"What can I say? I have a fine appreciation for a certain class." She played into it, dramatically flipping her hair.

Her blonde locks swiped Autumn's cheek. The baby tried to grab a few strands. She was starting to clamp down on things with her fists. They'd been trying to be careful about hair and earrings, because she tugged hard.

"This Uptown Girl needs her Backstreet Gal. It's not like we're going to have a lot of opportunities like this when I start classes." She had a somber look on her face. She hated that their summer was over and their schedule was changing.

"Let's make the most of it then." Emily sipped her coffee.

"I just need to take a really quick shower." She gave Autumn back to Emily and moved towards the edge of the bed. "I already have her outfit picked out."

"Great. I'll get her changed and then we can head there." Emily climbed out of bed.

Alison scurried off to take a shower as Emily packed the diaper bag. She laid Autumn on a blanket on the floor to get her changed. She was unusually good for diaper changes, but getting her dressed was always a challenge. Once she was up and awake she loved moving around. She was their little wiggleworm.

Alison had picked out a white onesie and a pink jumper with white polka dots. Emily managed to get her to stop squirming and get the outfit on her. She topped it off with a raincoat and rain boots.

After Alison was dressed and ready to go Emily grabbed the car seat and Alison grabbed the umbrella and they quickly rushed out to the car. It was a routine they'd gotten down to an art. Domestic life really fit them well.

o ~ O ~ o

Autumn kicked her rain boots against the edge of the car seat and babbled nonsensical words as Emily drove them to the gym. She was a careful driver, but oftentimes not careful enough for Alison. Emily saw her eyeing the speedometer.

"Relax, Ali." Emily smiled at her, capturing her eyes for a split second before checking the rear view to check on Autumn and then looking back at the road.

Driving a car was so much less fun than her bike. She'd recently done some routine maintenance work on her bike. She couldn't wait to take it for a ride.

"I didn't say anything." Alison laughed sheepishly.

"I can feel your eyes on me." Emily called her out playfully.

"My eyes are always on you." Alison reached over and put her hand against Emily's thigh.

Emily's lips twitched into a smile.

"You're distracting the driver." Emily teased.

"I trust you in the driver's seat any day."

Emily got them safely to the gym. She hauled the car seat with Autumn in with her while Alison grabbed the diaper bag and paced in tandem with her.

Emily spotted Toby at the front desk, where she was supposed to be ten minutes ago. She'd texted him to tell him she was running behind. He was wiping down the counter with a small rag. He looked up just as Emily made it to the swinging side door that led to the back of the counter.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late. We…"

"You're good, Em. No worries." He tossed the towel over his shoulder and smiled at Autumn. "Bring her here."

"I'm going to make sure they have a slot for us in the Gymboree class." Alison motioned towards the kids gym. "Be right back."

Emily lifted the car seat up on to the counter. Autumn was staring at Toby.

"S'up, kid?" He tickled her cheek.

He reached over and pushed the pump on a bottle of hand sanitizer and wiped his hands together.

"Come here you little nugget." He unhooked the straps holding her in place and picked her up. "You look more and more like your mom every day." He glanced at Emily. "We just need to get her a little matching bike helmet."

"Alison would have a coronary." Emily laughed. The girl freaked out when Emily went down the slide at the playground with her. Alison would wrap her in bubble wrap if she could. "She's super protective."

"I get it." Toby nodded. "I'd jump in front of a bullet for her and I'm not even a parent." He gently swayed on his feet as he smiled at the baby. "Things going okay with you and Ali?"

"Yeah." Emily's lips twisted into a smile. Things were better than ever. "She's an amazing partner and an even more amazing mother. I don't think I could possibly love anyone more than I love her, especially when I see her with the baby."

Alison had been there since the beginning. She had connected not only to Emily, but to her growing child. It had been an intense bonding experience for all three of them.

"Good." He nodded. "But know that if she ever does anything to hurt you and Autumn…"

"She won't." Emily cut him off before he could finish. She appreciated his protection. She knew he loved them. But Alison would die before she let anything happen to them. She almost had died in New York. She had been ready to fall to her death if it meant protecting Emily and the baby. "Trust me, we're good."

"Cool." He made a goofy face at Autumn. There was a beat of silence as she stared at him, followed by a string of giggles.

"How are you holding up?" Emily asked him. "With Spencer's move and all?"

She saw his face tense up.

"We're going to try to make it work. I know it's not realistic that we'll stick together, but we've gotta try." He shrugged.

"Realistic flew out the window the second I told Alison I was pregnant and she told me she wanted to stay with me. There's no guarantee about anything when we're this young. You never know what could happen tomorrow. Ali and I are in love. We have a child together. But I'm not blind to the fact that anything could happen with us in the future."

She looked at her daughter, content in Toby's arms. Where would they be six months from now? A year from now? Ten years from now?

"In the end it's about letting go of what you think you have in your control and being present and in the moment. Just like we do on our bikes. When you're riding you're not thinking about anything other than how good you feel. Relationships...they're kind of like that."

"Are you telling me to ride Spencer?" There was a twinkle in his eye.

Emily's jaw dropped. She threw one of Autumn's plush toys at him and laughed.

"No, you perv!" She chuckled. "I'm telling you to let go, trust yourself, and be open to the end destination, but to be patient on the road that takes you there."

"Wise one you are, young Padawan." He did his finest impression of Yoda from Star Wars.

Autumn giggled at the silly voice. Emily smiled and leaned against the counter.

"We think we know what's going to happen, but we don't. And you have to be okay with that." She drummed her fingers against the desk. "Alison and I have only been together for a year...and we're teen parents. If we can make things work you can, too. We got our happy ending. You deserve yours, too."

Emily looked at her best friend. When she looked into his eyes she saw the same five-year-old boy who didn't know how to shoot free throws. He'd been crying in his driveway. He'd always been a sensitive little boy. Emily had offered to help him and he'd dried his tears. They'd been friends for life since then.

He went out of his way to protect her when other boys and girls made fun of her for liking "boy" hobbies. He'd taken special care to include Emily when he played. They went from shooting hoops to running drills. But they'd been more than just teammates. They had been friends. In between passing the ball and getting it in the basket they opened up to each other. Toby had always been there for her.

Now it was her turn to be there for him. She could see the sadness in his eyes. He wasn't happy about Spencer leaving, but he wasn't going to hold her back.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your unwavering optimism?" He smiled.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Emily bumped into his shoulder.

"Shh, don't let the blonde one overhear that. She'd cut the brakes on my bike to protect your love," he lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I would not be that obvious." Alison rounded the corner.

"Don't shoot. I have a child." Toby threw one hand in the air in surrender. He chuckled. He swung around dramatically, clutching Autumn tight. She roared in laughter.

Emily pulled her phone out and snapped a picture of Toby playing with her. He twirled her around like an airplane.

It was surprising that everyone was so good with her given that none of them really had experience with babies. It came naturally for most of them.

"She loves her Uncle Toby." Emily beamed at the picture she took. Autumn was smiling at him, mouth open mid-giggle.

"Of course she does. I'm the cool uncle." Toby kissed Autumn's head.

"I think you're going to have to fight Mike for that title." Alison snorted.

Mike had gone out of his way to hang around with them all summer because he wanted to play with the baby. He talked about taking her on all kinds of adventures. Alison had resigned herself to the fact that Autumn adored him. It was hard not to love the shaggy haired goofball. Alison kind of loved him, too.

"I could beat that kid in my sleep." Toby winked. "What do you say, Angel Eyes?" He smiled at Autumn. His voice changed octaves to a much higher paternal tone.

Autumn stuck her tongue out as her head bobbled. She was still growing into her neck muscles, but she could hold her head up.

"Guess we've got a war for her affection going on." Toby gently laid Autumn back down in her car set.

She made a grunt, a noise of disapproval. She wanted to be held. She loved her Uncle Toby. Emily reached in and touched her hand, letting her tiny fingers latch on to her index finger.

"What time are you girls meeting for dinner?" Toby questioned, his tone suddenly somber.

"Seven. Are you and Spencer doing anything tonight?" Emily questioned.

"I'm driving her to her dorm in the morning. Her mom wanted to take her, but she has a huge case she's working on and she got called in to court. Her dad is at a funeral out of town. He really wanted to make it back in time, but he's not going to. I suppose it's for the best. It gives us a little time together…"

"Hey, college isn't forever, Toby." Emily interrupted him. "Who knows what's going to happen in a few years? You and Spence…you're good together."

He smiled at her.

"Thanks, Em." His baby blue eyes sparkled as he fought back tears. "I'm glad you two are sticking around. At least I still have my riding buddy for a little bit longer." He smiled. "You been back on the bike yet?"

"Been too busy."

"The rain is supposed to clear up in an hour or two. You want to take a spin at lunch?" he asked. "Jake and Ezra can cover."

She glanced at Alison. Alison could see how important this was to Toby, and to Emily. Before Emily could respond, Alison shrugged in nonchalance.

"That actually works out perfectly. Jason wanted to meet up for lunch. I can take Autumn. He'd love to see her. Then we can meet back here later for the self-defense class."

Emily mouthed a silent, "Thanks" because she knew how much Alison wanted to spend the day with her, but Toby was hurting, and she wanted to be there for him.

Alison took Autumn so Emily could get to work.

Emily watched from afar as Alison mingled with a bunch of other mommies with older toddlers. She didn't mind the distraction, though she did her best to keep her mind focused on work.

At lunch she ran home to get her gear and met Toby on her bike. They rode out to a scenic overlook of the town. It had been the first time she'd been on the bike since having the baby. She'd really missed it. The temperature was perfect. The rain had cooled everything down. The sun had dried up all of the roads. There was still a hint of moisture in the air, but it wasn't hot or humid.

They parked along a trail and took a short hike overlooking their small town. The ground was still soft from the rain. They trudged through the mud, neither of them bothered by it.

They quietly walked along the town's edge. The air of silence had a heavy grievance to it, but Emily didn't push Toby on his feelings. She waited until he was ready to talk.

He plopped down on a large boulder and sighed. Emily stood next to him.

"I'm really going to miss seeing her around town." He kicked his feet out, brushing the tips of his boots against the gravel. "I know she's only four hours away, but it feels like it's across the ocean or something. We're just getting started, you know?"

"Distance is hard." Emily nodded, sitting down next to him.

He picked at a crack in the rock.

"Mike doesn't seem to have a problem with Mona going to Columbia. They'll be long distance, too." He turned to face her. "Back in the winter when Alison got into NYU…before she made her decision to take her core classes here how did you deal with the idea of her leaving?"

Emily leaned back, placing her palms against the rock, letting the sun warm her face.

"I just told myself I wanted the best for her, and that if we were truly right for one another it would work. Maybe not in the way I wanted it to. Maybe not right away. But in the end I always had faith that we belonged together." Emily hated how self-righteous she felt saying it, because it was easy to say something like that when you weren't the one hurting. But it's how she felt and she'd always been honest with Toby. "Plus it's a little different with us. NYU is a hell of a lot closer than Yale. We were going to plan weekends. Facetime every night. Spend holidays and breaks together. We probably could have even met up somewhere halfway during the weekdays."

"I don't want her to go." He brushed his fingers through his hair. "But I don't want to be the asshole who tells her to stay." He gnashed his teeth together. "I know it's not logical to ask her to stay. What am I going to ask her to do? Flip burgers at the local burger joint instead of going to her dream school?" He scoffed. "She wants this. She's earned it."

"It's okay to want her to stay. You're entitled to feel that way."

"I don't know that it's completely about her. I think I'm just kind of messed up about all this because I'm still dealing with my mom leaving…" He paused and sucked in his lips and they made a 'tsk' noise, "…dying." He corrected himself. "I mean, she did leave me. She did kill herself, so she left me." He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. "Is it stupid that Spencer leaving makes me feel more abandoned by my mom? And that I feel like Spencer is abandoning me, too? I know that Spencer is still here physically and that they have nothing to do with each other, but…" He drifted off, stopping to observe a root in the ground.

He rarely talked about his mother, so when he brought her up, Emily listened.

"Not at all. I can't imagine, Tobes."

She also couldn't imagine being a mother abandoning her child. Her worst fear in the world was something happening to her. She never wanted Autumn to feel abandoned.

"You're a good listener. I'm glad you're still here."

Emily smiled at him.

"I'm always here for you." She bumped his shoulder. "Someone has to teach you how to properly put the ball in the hole."

"That sounded a lot less dirty when we were kids." He gave her a half smile.

"Mind out of the gutter, Cavanaugh." She rolled her eyes with a laugh.

"But I like the gutter." He countered.

"Even though the gutter has scary clowns that eat people?" Emily grinned.

She had made Toby watch It with her when they were little. She loved scary movies. In a weird roundabout way it made her feel less afraid about her dad being away at war. Fictional monsters made the real monsters seem less scary.

She had forced Toby to watch many scary movies, but none of them messed him up more than Stephen King. The stupid evil clown had scarred Toby for life. He still couldn't look at a red balloon without shuddering.

"You just had to bring that creepy fucker up, didn't you?" He shook his head with a sour look on his face. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to make forget about my girlfriend moving to a whole new state without me."

Emily simply shrugged in response.

"Well, mission accomplished. I'll be too busy worried about Bozo trying to eat me in my sleep." He shuddered.

"That's Freddy Krueger. He's the sleep killer." Emily grinned.

"We're in the middle of the woods!" He exclaimed, cupping his hands over his ears, pretending he couldn't hear. "Stop talking about killers!"

Emily walked her fingers up his back lightly, making him nearly jump up off of the boulder. He started laughing. She was grinning widely at him.

"You're so dead, Fields."

"Catch me if you can." She leaped to her feet and raced towards where they parked their bikes.

Toby jogged after her, chuckling under his breath. The brunette had done what she always did: she made everything better. She'd been doing it since they were kids.

They hopped on their bikes and the chase ensued. Toby had so much fun that he forgot about his pain, which was Emily's goal. Toby was in awe of her kindness. She truly had a heart like no other.

o ~ O ~o

They rode through some mud on the way back to town, so Emily had to part ways with Toby so she could run home to change before heading back to her shift at work.

She didn't sense anyone else there at first.

She kicked her muddy boots off by the door and then unbuttoned her riding jacket as she walked towards the bedroom. Something didn't feel right. She was fairly certain Alison was still with her brother. So why did it feel like there was a presence there?

The bedroom door was slightly ajar. She heard a rustling sound. She saw movement, a shadow. For a brief second she flashed back to all the times she was attacked in her past, the lurker in the darkness always around every corner.

She cursed herself for bringing up that stupid nightmare clown. She just had to talk about fucking horror movies in the woods. Though the horror movie in her mind was much worse. Her tormentor had been in this very apartment more than once. She'd touched her, held her, washed her face, as she bled out the night she nearly lost the pregnancy.

Her eyes darted around for a weapon, but before she could dash to the kitchen to grab the biggest fucking butcher knife they had she stopped.

She took a breath.

No…

She was safe.

She can't hurt us anymore.

They were safe.

She let her eyes adjust to the filtered light coming in through the window and she realized the movement she saw was a blob of blonde hair in their bed.

She pushed the door forward and saw Alison sound asleep with Autumn curled up on her chest. The little girl loved being close to both of their heartbeats.

Alison yawned and her eyes fluttered open. She saw Emily and smiled. The brunette tiptoed over to the bed and crawled next to them. Alison hummed happily.

"How was lunch with Jason?" Emily's hand hovered over Autumn's dark head of hair. She could hear her softly snoring.

"He's a dork." Alison replied quietly. "But we had a good time." She stretched without waking the baby. "We had to cut it a little short. He has a flight out to visit a friend." She glanced at Emily's riding attire. "How was your ride?"

"It was nice." Emily pressed her lips against Alison's forehead while simultaneously stroking Autumn's head. "How are my girls?"

My girls.

Alison would never tire of hearing that.

"She was a little fussy this afternoon, but we sang some lullabies and then decided to take a nap." Alison dipped her chin forward and looked at the sleeping infant.

"And here I am interrupting that." Emily scolded herself.

"You're not interrupting." Alison touched her hand. "You're joining."

"I wish I could, but I've got two hours left on my shift." Emily frowned. "Just came home to change."

"We'll come with. Makes more sense to carpool anyway since I'm coming for the self-defense seminar. Besides, she missed you." Alison carefully adjusted Autumn, holding her against her body as she slowly sat up.

They had become masters at not waking her when she slept.

As Emily got changed into a new sports bra and leggings Alison got Autumn settled in the car seat.

They were quiet on the drive to the gym, letting their little one nap. Emily had her eyes on the road. Alison had her eyes on Emily.

When they got to the gym Alison hung out with Toby while Emily helped some of the clients. Alison had never fancied herself a gym girl before, but the more she hung out with Emily the more she found herself interested in physical fitness. It made sense that Emily wanted to go into hydrotherapy. She lived her life in the most active way possible and she liked helping people.

Alison had taken an interest in Emily's interest, and she discovered how much she liked certain aspects of the gym. She had really gotten into sparring, especially with Emily as her teacher.

There was nothing hotter than their sweaty bodies pressed against one another in a public place, both of them heaving for breath and tangled up together. It was hard not to let it escalate. Sometimes she fantasized about ripping her clothes off and going at it in front of the class. Those fantasies made her slip up a lot, but the things Emily did to her in her daydreams were worth it.

She looked at the paper sheet hanging up that had them partnered up. Emily was paired with Mike first and Alison was paired with Aria. Then they were switching and Emily would take on Aria while Alison tried to hold her own against Mike. Sparring with Mike was always interesting. He was a very dorky boy with some very big non-dorky muscles.

Emily and Alison would practice together last. That meant Emily would work up a good sweat before her showdown with Alison.

Hot sweaty hands.

Hearts beating wildly.

Fingers gripping skin.

Bodies pressed together.

Crashing. Thrusting...

"Earth to Alison." She felt a sharp finger in her rib cage and she turned to face Emily. "What are you smiling about?"

Alison shrugged with a sly smile.

"You'll find out later."

They heard a boisterous voice from across the room.

Mike had arrived. He had spotted Toby holding Autumn and he was rushing towards them. He didn't even say hello to Toby. He just stretched his arms out and demanded,

"Gimme that baby."

Alison and Emily laughed as Toby passed Autumn to Mike. She gripped his shirt and stared at him for a second, but then she smiled.

"There's that little smile." Mike cooed.

Aria walked up behind them, book in her hand. It was open and her eyes were tracking the page.

"Aria, is that any way to greet royalty?" Mike pushed Autumn towards Aria.

"Sorry. I've got like three pages left and I can't wait to see how this one ends."

"You say that about every book." Emily teased her.

"You guys ready to…" Before Jake could finish his sentence Aria held her finger up to interrupt him. She flipped the page, read the last paragraph and then lowered the book and sighed with a smile on her face. "I'm such a sucker for happy endings."

"Can I speak now, Miss Book Critic?" Jake asked jokingly.

"I'll allow it." Aria nodded, putting her things down.

"Well, then what do you all say we get this party started?" He looked at Autumn. He smiled at her. "You want to watch your mommy pummel your Uncle Mike?"

"Which mommy?" Aria laughed.

"Both." Jake grinned.

"Hey!" Mike frowned, offended. But the tension on his face faded into a soft smile when Autumn cooed at him. It melted Mike's heart. He sighed. "I'm such a sucker for girls." He smiled at the infant and lowered his voice to a quiet whisper between them. "Between you and me, I could never hurt your mommies."

Despite his mixed martial arts training he'd never been able to find himself able to go full force at a girl, especially not with a mother. Especially not Emily and Alison. He loved them too much to bring the real heat with them.

They took to the mat, taking turns jabbing and blocking. They worked on some self-defense techniques.

Emily bested Mike pretty easily. Alison lost her match to Aria. When they switched it up Alison beat Mike. He didn't mind. He'd gone easy on the girls because he couldn't find it in his heart to fight with them. He didn't care about the loss. It gave him a chance to sit down and bond with Autumn. Aria and Emily were fairly evenly matched and Aria almost won, but Emily skated by in the end.

When it came time for Alison and Emily to square up the blonde was jazzed.

They both quickly checked in on Autumn. Mike was sitting on the bench with her. He'd draped a blanket over his legs and laid her on her back. He was gently bouncing her, singing to her, and calling her "doodlebug". She was laughing hysterically.

Alison and Emily faced one another, both of them tuning out Jake's instructions. Their eyes locked. Their lips trembled, fighting back smiles.

"You ready?" Emily asked.

"You're so going down, Hell's Angel." Alison cracked her neck, trying to look cocky.

To Emily her intensity only made her look more adorable.

Emily leaned close enough to kiss her, but she didn't,

"Bring it, Uptown Girl."

They danced around each other, swinging and jabbing and trying to trip each other up. Alison's form was impeccable. Her body filled out her yoga pants and her tank top. Emily could see the definition of every muscle bulging underneath the tight fabric. Her eyes darted down to the crease in her pants in between her legs that was hugging her so tightly she could see everything. She swallowed hard and licked her lips. Her body shivered.

Emily grabbed Alison and pulled her back against her front, wrapping her arm around the front of Alison's collar bone. Alison could feel her heated breaths against her neck. Goosebumps popped up all over her body. She leaned forward and shoved her ass back against Emily, which caught the brunette off-guard.

When Emily let her go Alison spun around with a wicked grin on her face. Her light blue eyes sparkled in the light. Her face was gleaming with sweat. Emily watched her chest rhythmically rise and fall, her breasts bouncing as she hopped on her feet.

Emily realized too late that she'd let herself become distracted by looking at her chest for too long. Alison's boobs became her undoing. She saw Alison's feet leave the floor as she lurched towards her.

The blonde locked her arms around her. Emily felt a swell of pride. She'd been working with Alison for over a year. She'd barely been able to slap a punching bag when they first met, and now she was one of the best fighters in Rosewood.

Alison wrapped her forearm around Emily's neck and twisted her arm behind her back.

"Got ya." She whispered in her ear. She had the urge to lick her ear lobe, but she fought it.

Emily could feel Alison's soft chest pressed against her back. They were drenched in sweat, so it was almost as if there was no fabric between them.

"Yeah, you got me. But for how long?" Emily questioned.

There was no hesitation in Alison's answer at all,

"For the rest of our lives." Alison spun Emily around, pulling her into a kiss before Emily even had a chance to blink.

Emily's shoulders relaxed and her lips melted into the blonde's. The kiss was salty from their work out. Their breaths came out in spurts in between their passionate embrace.

It was only a few seconds later when they realized…they weren't alone.

When they pulled apart they saw Aria, Mike, and Jake grinning at them.

"Weirdest end to a sparring session I've ever seen." Aria chuckled. "Usually someone ends up pinned to the ground."

"Oh, I'll pin her to the ground." Emily wrapped her arm around Alison with a cheeky expression. "And I'll climb right on top of her…"

"Ahh….ahh…little ears!" Mike gently cupped Autumn's ears. He looked at Emily and Alison with a huge grin on his face. "Okay, she can't hear now. You can continue."

Aria smacked him on the back of the head. He let go of Autumn's ears and clamped his palm against his mussy hair.

"Ow. What was that for?"

"For the last seventeen years of my life." She gave him a sarcastic smile.

"I'll be eighteen in two months." He countered with a smile.

"You're right!" Aria's eyes lit up. She lightly popped him again. "For eighteen years."

"You better cut it out or I'll tell mom." He grabbed her arm and pulled her down for a hug.

Aria laughed and rolled her eyes. She faced her friends.

"We should probably call it a night. The rest of the girls will be at The Brew soon."

"We just need to drop Autumn off at my parents' place, shower and change." Emily pulled Alison closer, their slick bodies molding together.

"To save time you two could shower together." Mike lifted his furry unkempt brows.

"Mike." Aria uttered with a warning tone.

"What? They started it." He motioned with his free hand. The other was holding Autumn in place. "Plus it would save water. You're all about saving the planet."

Emily and Alison looked at one another, both smiling like fools.

"We uh…we should get going." Alison greedily grasped Emily's hand and pulled her towards the door. She couldn't wait to "save time and water" with Emily.

"Um…aren't you forgetting something?" Aria asked, pointing to Autumn, still in Mike's lap.

Alison glanced at Autumn and then she looked at Emily. She was beautiful, glistening. She needed her. And she needed her now. She had half a mind to ask Mike to take Autumn to the Fields house, but then she remembered that he was a terrible driver.

Aria saw the conflicted look on Alison's face. She couldn't help but laugh. She knew it had been a while since Alison and Emily had some grown up time together.

"I'll take her." Aria shrugged, reading her mind. "I mean if you want me to. I have to take this nerd home." She poked at her brother.

He snapped his teeth at her like a dog growling at their owner, but he was smiling.

"Thanks so much. You're the best." Emily pushed Autumn's diaper bag towards her. "Her binky is in the side pocket. I packed a change of outfit for her in case they need it…"

"They won't." Alison scoffed. "She basically has her own closet there."

"They have milk in their freezer already. Oh, and the car seat is up by the front desk. I think that should be everything."

They rushed towards the door and out towards the car.

Alison didn't make the drive back to the apartment easy on her. She kept slipping her hand in between her thighs when they were stopped at red lights and stop signs. Emily almost pulled off to the side of the road. She was going to drag her to the back seat and rip her clothes off with her teeth. She was going to lick every last inch of her body...

She felt Alison's fingertips gently massaging her inner thigh.

"Ali, you're killing me." Emily groaned.

"That's the point." Alison bit her lip seductively.

Emily pushed the accelerator to the floor.

Once she parked, very sloppily, in the parking lot they rushed towards their apartment.

They barely made it inside before Emily pinned Alison to the wall.

"Do you know how hot you were back there?" Emily slipped her hands into Alison's yoga pants.

She wasn't wearing underwear.

Emily shuddered. She thought she was going to pass out.

"I've never had another woman grab me like that." Emily moved her fingers slowly against her, and Alison let out a quaking breath. "Never let another woman use me like that." She nipped at Alison's lips.

Alison nearly buckled underneath her.

"You knew what you were doing on that mat." She buried her face against Alison's neck, licking the sweat from her skin. "When I felt your ass against me I was ready to rip your yoga pants off in front of everyone..."

"You're kinky like this." Alison smirked. "I should kick your ass more often."

Alison slid her hand into Emily's leggings.

She wasn't wearing underwear either.

Alison threw her head back and tried to catch her breath. Emily was ahead of her. She needed to catch up. So she mimicked Emily's motions.

"You didn't let me win, did you?" Alison lowered her fingers.

Emily's body tensed up when she felt Alison's soft touch. The pressure she felt made it almost impossible to answer.

She shook her head and glanced at the blonde's chest. She imagined them flopping around in front of her during their sparring session.

"I got distracted." Emily bit her lip when Alison tenderly moved her fingers. "Technical foul." Her breathing was beginning to get erratic. "Credit your boobs." Her body tensed in a wonderful way. "You should use them more often."

"I'll learn more by practicing on yours." Alison pulled her hands out of Emily's leggings and gripped the side of Emily's sport's bra.

Normally, Alison liked Emily to be in control, but she was still buzzing on adrenaline, so she forced Emily to follow her lead.

It was a blur of sweaty clothes being ripped off, hands on drenched body parts, and moans so loud that the neighbors were sure to hear. It was fast and frenzied. Heated. Uncontrolled. Impassioned. Hot.

They lost track of time. It was on their third…or maybe fourth go round that Emily's eyes landed on the clock.

"Shit. We're going to be late." She stared at the gorgeous blonde on top of her.

"So…let's move this to the shower then." Alison leaned down and kissed her.

They moved it to the shower, and then back to the bedroom. Then to the kitchen. Then back to the shower again. It was the first time they hadn't had to worry about waking a sleeping baby, so they went wild.

They nearly broke the headboard before they finally pulled themselves away from each other to get ready for their night out with the girls.

Alison pulled on a skirt…for easy access in case they both decided to go to the bathroom in the restaurant at the same time. Emily put on a pair of tight jeans that drove Alison crazy.

They finally made it out the door and to the car. But they didn't get very far. The car pulled off the road into a shaded area, and they continued their fit of passion.

o ~ O ~ o

When they showed up…twenty minutes late…to The Brew the girls stared up at them from the booth they were sitting in.

"You are so busted." Hanna snorted. She looked at Alison, unable to resist. "Did you get her pregnant again?"

"Very funny." Emily rolled her eyes and swatted Hanna's shoulder as she scooched next to her.

"You smell like sweat and shame." Hanna leaned against her with a smile.

Alison sat down next to Aria, across from Emily. She reached for Emily's leg with her foot underneath the table. Her foot brushed up against what she thought was Emily's shoe.

But it wasn't her shoe. It was a heel.

"That's my foot." Hanna chuckled. "And if you're going to go to second base with me you at least better buy me dinner first." Hanna playfully nudged her foot back.

"Excuse me. Mona and I are the ones leaving. I thought this was our party?" Spencer asked.

"Maybe your party will be an orgy. You don't know." Hanna shot back.

"Hanna, I'll kill you if you do something that gets us arrested tonight." Mona glared at her.

"Ohhh, so a Roman orgy, Caesar style. Et tu, Mona?" She cast a flirty wink towards the short brunette. "Rowr."

"What has gotten in to you tonight?" Spencer laughed.

"I use dark humor as a defense mechanism when I'm depressed about two of my best friends leaving the state where we grew up together." Hanna pushed her lips out in a pout.

"Aw." Mona's face changed from stern to soft. She reached out and took Hanna's hand. "We're just a couple of hours away, Han." She pat her fingers gently. "And when you finally decide to chase your fashion passion I'll have a spot for you in The Big Apple."

"You know what I've never understood?" Alison asked. "Why do they call it The Big Apple? What kind of giant fruit is attractive to people?"

"I mean…I like big peaches." Emily gave Alison a subtle wink that made the blonde want to leap over the table and pin her to the booth and have a go at her.

"Peach is already taken if I understand. Georgia peaches and all that." Mona was completely oblivious to their dangerously dirty flirting.

"Giant fruit is not nearly as enticing, as say…mmm...Mexican cuisine." Alison had a line she wanted to use. It involved tacos, a throwback to something Emily had once texted her,

"Bad girls don't get to eat tacos with their girlfriend."

But there were children in the booth next to theirs and she thought about Autumn. She thought about how she wanted to protect her innocence. She held back the dirty joke.

"The Big Apple is lame. It should be called The Big Burrito."

"The Big Burrito?" Aria snickered. "That sounds like Mike. You need to stop hanging out with my brother."

"Not all of his ideas are awful. He told me about this ziti baked bread recipe that was life-changing." Alison was practically drooling.

"God, I miss carbs." Spencer sighed.

"You're dieting?" Aria asked. Spencer had always had a healthy relationship with food, mostly because her sister and her mother had been heavy into dieting and she rebelled by eating everything they refused to eat.

"Preparing for the dining etiquette in Connecticut." Spencer shrugged.

"Ha. That rhymes." Hanna laughed.

"Apparently Ivy Leagues aren't known for their party foods. It's quiche, vegan chicken, and quinoa for me from here on out." She dramatically put the back of her hand against her forehead. "Help me, Lord."

"I'll snuggle you in some cheeseburgers when I visit." Hanna promised.

"You make it sound like crossing the border with something illegal." Emily laughed.

"Psh, what are the Connecticut authorities going to do if they catch me? Get into a polite-off with me? Yankee-Doodle me to death?"

"Yankee doodle?" Aria almost spit out her drink.

"It's the state song." Spencer grimaced.

"You're going to be a yankee doodle dandy?" Emily burst into laughter.

"Ugh. I want to yankee doodle die." Spencer's face flushed.

There was a round of laughter. After a few minutes it slowly died down.

"So…can I ask the obvious?" Hanna glanced at Spencer and Mona. "How are the guys taking it?"

"Mike is already talking about coming up and sneaking into frat parties." Mona laughed.

Spencer's face was more serene. She was tense.

"I'm going to miss Toby," she sighed. "We're setting up a facetime schedule, but I feel like we were just getting into a groove here, you know?"

"I'm sure he'll come to visit." Emily smiled in encouragement. She knew how hard it was for Toby, too. She knew he'd hop on his bike and ride for hours just to see Spencer for a few seconds. "He's a really great guy, Spence."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I know. I just wish I would have seen it sooner."

"Just don't give up on him." Alison piped in. She reached across the table for Emily's hand. "If two teen parents can make it work…" She faced Spencer, "…just…hold on to him. He's a good one."

"Thanks, Alison." Spencer smiled. The words felt foreign coming out of her mouth. They had gone all through high school despising one another. Now they were friends. It was truly wild.

The two shared a glance. Alison's cheeks flushed. She still couldn't believe she'd been accepted by Emily's friends, especially not after how horrible she'd been to them over the years. She'd almost driven Mona to suicide. She'd pushed Hanna into a mental institution. She had done some reprehensible things. But they had proven to be better people by giving her a second chance.

The girls reminisced about happier days and made jokes about the bad ones.

"Remember that time you took a swan dive in front of a chainsaw?" Spencer brought up the Halloween dance.

"Alison beat up the twat twins that night. It was glorious." Hanna added.

They talked about the wild and crazy year they'd had, from Wilden being exposed as a pedo to Mike threatening to beat the shit out of Noel Kahn and Ian Thomas. They talked about Alison's crazy drunken karaoke antics at The Brew to the tune of Uptown Girl. They talked about how Emily had danced around in the cafeteria serenading Alison on Valentine's Day with the same song. Uptown Girl would forever be their song.

They talked about Emily's promposal and how badass she'd looked riding through the school hallways on her bike to ask Alison to the dance. Spencer talked about Toby charming his way into her life. Mona talked about Mike's dedication to her and how sweet he'd been with the move coming up. Hanna asked Aria when she was finally going to make a move on Ezra. Aria threw a buttered roll at Hanna's head. Hanna laughed and threw it back at her.

Spencer and Mona begged Emily and Alison for a lot of pictures of Autumn.

"We'll add you to the subscription." Emily laughed. "My parents and Jason are constantly asking for them, too."

"Ooooh, add me!" Hanna exclaimed.

"Me too." Aria nodded eagerly.

As the night wore on they talked about everything from kindergarten sleepovers to prom. Alison and Emily felt the race against time. They continuously made eyes at one another from across the table.

While Aria was in the middle of a story about how she and Spencer had gotten stuck in a cedar trunk together after Hanna dared them, Emily slipped her foot out of her shoe. She reached up and touched the tips of her toes against Alison's bare knee.

Alison jumped when she felt it. She stared at Emily for a second, making sure it was her and not Hanna messing with her. When she saw the smile on Emily's face she had to bite back a smile of her own. She felt an unyielding desire for the brown-eyed beauty that she couldn't contain.

Emily slid her foot further up against Alison's leg. Alison swallowed a lump in her throat. She reached for her water and took a sip to try and cool herself down as she absentmindedly nodded as Aria spoke.

The tip of Emily's foot slid underneath her skirt. It was dangerously close to the point of no return.

Emily was teasing her now, and Alison couldn't take it anymore.

She cleared her throat, interrupting the story.

"I um…which way is the bathroom?" Alison licked her lips.

"You've been here a million times before." Hanna eyed her suspiciously.

"Oh, right." Alison laughed it off. "Baby brain. I'm so tired I forget where I am sometimes." She faked a yawn.

"I've got to go, too." Emily slid out from the booth. "I think I remember the way." She casually glanced at Alison over her shoulder.

Alison envied how good Emily was at being cool. She nearly bolted out of the booth. As they walked across room and rounded the corner Hanna let out a laugh.

"They're totally going to do it."

"Don't be crude, Han." Mona rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Caleb and I have made some memories in the last stall many times." The dreamy expression on her face faded. "I got my foot stuck in the toilet once."

"What a charming story about true love." Spencer snarked sarcastically.

"I think it's kind of cute." Aria smiled. "They're so happy and in love."

"This is exactly how you should remember Rosewood, and you both know it." Hanna pointed at Spencer and then at Mona. "Everyone happy and in love. And that's that."

As Hanna was talking about love, Emily and Alison were in the midst of the act, unable to keep their hands off of each other.

Alison's idea for the short skirt had paid off. While the girls were sharing appetizers, most of them finger foods, Emily was enjoying a different kind of finger food.

Watching two of their friends jumping into life ignited something in their relationship. Everything was moving so fast. They wanted to capture every moment. Every explosive passionate moment.

Everything they had been through coupled with the fact that they were mothers now was catching up to them. So when Emily held Alison against a locked bathroom door, her skirt hiked up, making her see the light...neither one of them were thinking about the past or the future. They were thinking about the present.

They tried to make themselves as presentable as possible when they walked back towards the table. Even though their friends knew what they'd really been up to, they all completely understood. They kept their composure and the night went on as normal.

They didn't want the night to come to a close, but time stopped for no one. By the end of the evening they were all exhausted, but Spencer insisted in going by the Fields house to see Autumn. Mona agreed.

The child had become the center of attention for everyone who knew Emily and Alison. She had a draw to her, a pull that couldn't be explained. She had the amazing ability to make people forget their problems.

Spencer and Mona didn't want to leave town without seeing Emily and Alison's daughter. So they came crashing into the Fields house late that night. Luckily, Autumn had been up for a feeding.

Spencer and Mona got to say goodbye to her. There were a lot of tears, but none from the actual baby.

Autumn's tears didn't come until later.

When Alison and Emily got the little girl home she was worked up by all the excitement. She was fussy, like she knew Spencer and Mona were leaving.

They took her for a walk and ended up on the roof overlooking their hometown.

Autumn was always quiet when they were in their little family spot. She seemed to sense the serenity there.

Things were changing, but in a sense they were staying the same. They were learning how to survive together.

The next morning they watched Mona and Spencer drive away in opposite directions, and with them they each took a piece of Alison's and Emily's hearts. But they knew it was part of growing up.

They knew that one day, they would leave Rosewood behind, too. But they'd never leave behind the stories…the memories they'd made. Rosewood would always be their home, no matter how far away they were.

---

~13 Months Later~

It felt surreal when the day came for them to make a big move of their own. Alison had finished most of her core classes and was readying to transfer to NYU. Emily had found a job at a physical rehab practice not far from the college. And the best part about it was that they had a daycare.

Autumn was doing great. It was crazy how quickly time flew. They'd blinked and she'd grown up.

She said her first word at seven months old. To their disappointment it wasn't mama. It was shit. They had found it hysterical, but they also talked to one another about toning down their swearing, because the uppity women at their mommy and me classes had been horrified.

Her next word was more. Alison had been feeding her and she was getting impatient. She'd been learning sign language and was frantically pressing the tips of her fingers together, but Alison wasn't feeding her fast enough. So she demanded it vocally.

Then it was mama. Only it had been directed at Mike, which was hilarious. She finally corrected herself a week later when she started calling both Alison and Emily mama.

She started crawling when she was eight months old. She'd been tottering on her hands and knees for weeks. What gave her the momentum to start crawling was an old cheerio she'd seen on the floor. Alison had been busy with her school work, but when she looked up she saw the little girl giggling as she scooted across the floor.

She took her first steps at ten months old. It hadn't been anything groundbreaking. They hadn't been encouraging her to walk at the time. She just pulled herself up against the edge of the table and teetered towards Emily. The brunette had been looking for a toy that had fallen into the cracks of the couch when she heard Alison shout "she's walking!" Emily had turned around just in time to fall to her knees and meet Autumn with open arms.

Time seemed to fly. Before they knew it they were looking at places to live in New York. It all happened so quickly.

Once they put a deposit down Emily put in her two weeks notice at the gym. On her last day Jake, Toby, and Ezra threw her a party. They were happy for her, but sad to be losing her.

"I can't believe you're blowing us off for some fancy schmancy hoity toity city-folk." Toby leaned against the front counter. He had a paper plate with a piece of cake on it. He shoved a piece with frosting in his mouth with his plastic fork.

"Yes, and after all the sweat we've cleaned up together. I feel so betrayed." Jake shook his head and made a "tsk" sound with his mouth.

"You act like I'm the anointed one or something." Emily scraped the last piece of cake off of her plate and ate it.

"Jake! Got a minute?" Someone called from across the gym.

Jake plopped his plate down and ran to help a teen struggling with some weights.

"You're going to come visit, right?" Toby asked.

"Yes. And don't forget the street goes both ways. You…" she poked him square in the chest with her index finger, "better haul your ass up to New York to see us."

"Yes ma'am." He didn't argue.

"Oh, hey…about that letter of recommendation…I got Ezra's and Jake's. Do you have yours?" Emily asked.

Even though she already had a job lined up she'd asked all of her coworkers and teachers for letters of recommendation to keep in her file.

"Yes, I'm going to tell everyone who dares try to steal you away from us that you are a terrible person who should never be hired so you'll have to come back here." He grinned at her. "It's in my locker. I'll grab it before you go."

He tossed his empty plate at the garbage can. It missed and fell to the ground beside it.

"Still need some work on your free throws, I see," Emily deadpanned.

"Sorry. I'm distracted." His face reddened. He leaned over and picked the plate up.

"Oh, right. You're going up to see Spencer this weekend." Emily grinned at him. He was such a dope around her.

"Yeah." They were still trying to make it work, though it wasn't easy.

They didn't get to see each other in person much, but technology made long-distance relationships a little easier. They had "taken breaks" a few times, but they always found their way back to each other.

She looked at the bursts of red on his cheeks and smiled. She was going to miss seeing his face every day.

"I'm really going to miss you." She sighed. She felt her nose and eyes burning.

"Yeah." He took a heavy breath. He was trying not to cry. "You too, kid." He glanced at her. "Got time for one last ride?"

"For you? Always." Emily nodded. "Let's tear this town up."

Once they finished eating they took off on their bikes. Emily felt like she was seven years old again racing down a hill next to Toby, her legs peddling as fast as they could go, pink streamers from her bike handlebars swaying in the breeze.

But they were grown up now. They'd traded the pedals in for throttle and the streamers in for gears. They weren't children anymore, but if Emily closed her eyes for just one second she could see their childhood.

When they finished their ride Emily gave Toby a hug. They held back tears until the end. They both called each other sissies and then exchanged I love yous.

Emily was in a melancholy mood as she drove home. She was meeting her parents, who were dropping off Autumn. They were going to help her finish packing the moving van while Alison finished up packing some things at her house. The blonde had planned to spend a few hours with her brother before they left.

When Emily pulled up to the apartment complex she saw the moving van. It sent a flurry of mixed emotions through her. She had flashbacks to unpacking the van in San Antonio and being befriended by Nick. Flashbacks to loading up the van and saying goodbye to him. Flashbacks of Alison watching her from across the street as she unloaded the van in Rosewood. It felt like her entire life was spent on the go.

When she walked into the apartment she found her parents packing the rest of her things. The movers wouldn't be there for the furniture until morning, but the rest of the apartment was bare.

"Hey, kiddo." Her dad put a box down on the counter.

"Dad, I told you not to do any heavy lifting." Emily frowned at her father. She didn't want to push him into yet another heart attack.

"I'm as fit as a fiddle." He waved her off. "You think that just cuz I'm a grandpappy now I can't handle a little exercise?"

"Your cardiologist told you to take it easy." She reached to take the box away from him. "I'd say your cardiologist knows better than you do." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "And I know about all that fast food you've been sneaking."

Toddlers weren't exactly discreet, especially when food was involved. Autumn told her mommies all about how Pops, which is what she called him, gave her yummy chicken nuggets and French fries.

"Alright." He put on a mopey face, one of a stubborn man who didn't like to be told what to do. It was his turn to lower his voice. "Don't tell your mother."

"Just promise me you'll take care of yourself, dad." When she looked at him she looked like a little girl worried about her daddy coming home from war.

"Always, Emmy." He pulled her in for a hug.

Emily laughed when she thought about the fact that they'd come back to her scolding him for moving boxes. She'd done the same thing when they moved to Rosewood.

"How is mom holding up?" Emily pulled back.

"Your Ma is fine. I'm the one weeping all night about losing his baby girl." He kissed the top of her head.

"You're not losing me." Emily rolled her eyes with a soft smile on her face.

"I know. We raised you right, baby. You'll do fine." He cupped her cheek, a proud papa bear. "Just watch your six out there. I hear New Yorkers have some crazy drivers."

Emily chuckled.

"So…how is mom? Really?" Emily tried to tread lightly.

Her mom hadn't talked much about the move, but Emily could tell she was upset.

"She wanted to move with you girls." He laughed. "I told her that's not how it works. We can't follow you around for eternity. I get it though. When you started walking she used to follow you around religiously in case you fell." He smiled. "She wanted to be there if you fell."

"Where-as…you pushed me down that giant slide and I nearly fell over the side." She bumped into him playfully.

"I caught you before you hit the ground." He waved it off. "You were fine. And it was five feet off the ground, max."

That was the difference between her parents. Her mother wanted to keep the falls from happening. Her father wanted to teach her how to get back up. And he had taught her well.

"I am really going to miss you, dad." The weight of her emotions came out of nowhere, but she promised she wouldn't cry.

"We're just a phone call away if you need anything," he said quietly, trying to contain his own feelings.

They hugged again.

Emily heard the unmistakable pitter-patter of her daughter's feet slapping against the floor. Her bright-eyed little curly-headed baby toddled out of the bedroom.

Her mother was right behind Autumn, ready to catch her if she fell. She had a small box in her arms, but she was ready to drop it at any moment if her granddaughter needed her.

Autumn squealed when she saw Emily.

"Mama!" Autumn rushed towards her.

"Ultra Violet!"

They had a lot of nicknames for her, but Autumn loved her middle name. She was learning about colors and she was obsessed with them. She said "I wi-o-let" trying to pronounce Violet all the time.

Autumn's chubby little legs carried her right into her mom's arms. She pushed her cheek against her shoulder and gripped her neck, clutching her shirt with her fingers.

Emily kissed her head.

"Hey, baby."

"Mama." She uttered again quietly with a smile, burying her face in Emily's hair.

Emily stood up to face her mother.

"Thank you all so much for watching her." She had a hard time meeting her mother's eyes.

Ever since she'd had Autumn she'd started to see her mother differently, to understand her emotions on a level she hadn't before.

It made her want to cry every time she looked at her, because being a mother was akin to wearing your heart outside your body, and she understood that now.

Pam reached up and rubbed Autumn's back.

"She was good." Pam smiled. "She's always so good. I'm going to miss these playdates."

"You'll have to come visit us." Emily finally managed to gaze at her mother.

She regretted looking. She saw all the pain that Pam was holding in. Watching her child finally fly the nest had not gone anything like she expected.

Autumn reached for her Pops and he took her into his arms. He walked outside with her to give Pam and Emily a few minutes.

The awkward silence gave way when Pam huffed out a breath.

"You promise me you'll be safe out there." She took a hesitant step towards her daughter.

They were both afraid of the physical intimacy, because they both knew they would not be able to hold it together once they let the gravity of their emotions come to the surface. A touch between a mother and daughter was sacred. Special. And sometimes it was painful. Saying goodbye was painful.

"It's going to be weird not having you right around the corner." Emily admitted, rubbing her arm self-consciously.

She'd had doubts about how they would do on their own in New York. Her parents and her friends had been a huge support system in Rosewood. She wouldn't have them to fall back on in New York.

"You'll be okay." Pam's smile wavered. She cleared her throat. "There are casseroles in the freezer." She glanced at the fridge. "I don't want you to have to worry about food your first few nights out there. They'll fit fine in a cooler for the drive."

"Mom, you didn't have to…" But she stopped herself, because she'd learned that there was no have to with parents. It was always a need. She needed her daughter to be taken care of. "Thank you."

"Emily…" Another step forward, the distance between them closing in, "…you can always come home. I want you to know that. I trust that you can do this on your own. That's who you are. That's who we raised you to be. But I want you to know our house will always be your house, too. No matter where you are in the world." Her voice cracked.

Emily felt it. The tears burning her temple as she fought them. They had come so far. Emily had hated her mother so much once upon a time. She never thought she'd forgive her for the way she treated her after she came out. But they had managed to come back from it stronger.

"I love you, mom." It was Emily who took the final step, and they finally embraced. Warm tears spilled down her face. When she looked up she saw the reflection of her own tears on her mother's face. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Don't be a stranger, okay?" Pam reached up and wiped her face with the palm of her hand, but it was no use, because the tears kept flowing. "Call us every now and then. And…and send us pictures of Autumn. That sweet precious girl really has my heart."

Autumn had a lot of hearts. She was special in so many ways.

"I promise." Emily nodded. "Facetimes every Friday. And we'll try to come home a couple of weekends a month. I won't let her forget her grandparents."

Emily's mother cupped her cheeks, cradling her face as if she was an infant again.

"You have a beautiful family, Emmy." She kissed her forehead before laying her head against Emily's. She wept, freely, openly. "I'm so proud to be your mom."

Emily pulled her mother in for a tight embrace. It felt good to be in her arms again. It felt good to be her daughter. She wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's smaller frame and they both sobbed. Not quietly. It was loud and messy, and people around them would have assumed someone had died.

But it was about more than saying goodbye. It was about the fact that after nearly twenty years…they finally understood one another.

They had dried their tears by the time Emily's dad came back in from his walk with Autumn. They didn't want Autumn to see them crying and then get upset.

They all managed to keep it together as they loaded the last of the boxes in the moving van. They said a final goodbye, her dad quipping about whether or not she could handle a moving van and Emily replying he taught her everything she knows about vehicles.

"Well, I wish good luck to the other drivers on the road then." Her mother had gotten in a cheeky barb before climbing into the car.

She watched her parents drive away and then she walked inside with Autumn. The baby could tell that something was going on, but she wasn't sure what.

Autumn gripped two of Emily's fingers with her hand as they walked through the bare apartment…the first place that Autumn had called home.

All that was left was Alison's small piano, the couch, the bed, Autumn's crib, and the refrigerator. Emily let her hair down and wiped some sweat from her brow. She took Autumn into the bedroom and plopped down on the mattress with her.

"Mama…sad?" Autumn questioned, cocking her head as she looked at her face. It looked puffy from the crying, and of course her observant little savant would know that.

Autumn reached out with her fingers and touched Emily's face. Despite the fact that one of her fingers went up the brunette's nose, she couldn't help but smile. Autumn gently patted her cheek.

"Mama," she said softly. "Mama no sad."

"It's okay, baby. Mommy is just tired."

"Ahh…" Autumn cooed, like she was comprehending it. She crawled on top of her and curled against her and sighed again. "Mama."

She buried her head underneath Emily's chin and snuggled close to her. Her tiny warm body was a sense of comfort to her. They knew each other in a way that only a child could know their parent, that a mother could know her daughter.

Emily reached up and stroked Autumn's back as she leaned down and kissed her full head of hair. Her curls were getting completely out of control. Emily loved it. She was the most perfect child in the world.

She saw Autumn grasping the pacifier that was hooked to her shirt. She was trying to do things for herself these days. Discovering her own independence. She gripped the binky and put it in her mouth, chewing on it. She stroked Emily's collar bone like she was trying to soothe her.

Emily yawned and laid back against the pillows. She tried to fight the feeling of exhaustion, but her body was too tired to stay awake.

o ~ O ~ o

Alison found them half an hour later, Emily sound asleep with Autumn curled up against her, her head resting underneath her chin. Her favorite binky pulsed as she suckled in her sleep.

Alison quietly took her shoes off and walked towards the bed. She sat down against the edge, not wanting to disturb them.

She watched them for a few minutes. Autumn had Emily's facial expressions when she slept. Her little eyes twitched underneath her closed eyelids. The baby let out a sleepy sigh.

Autumn's eyes slowly opened. Alison smiled at her, but she didn't say anything, because she didn't want to wake up Emily. Autumn looked back at her and a smile tugged at her lips underneath the binky. Her smile widened and the pacifier fell out of her mouth, dangling against the clip on her shirt.

Autumn rubbed her cheek against Emily and smiled at Alison. She loved her mommies. She seemed to understand that Alison wanted her to be quiet. She touched the tip of her index finger against her lips and said "shush" quietly. Then she giggled.

She was all smiles for a while, but when night rolled around she had a rough time. She didn't understand why the apartment wasn't lined with pictures of her family or where her toys were or why her mommies seemed so sad. The changes were starting to upset her.

She threw a tantrum at dinner that ended with peas in Alison's hair, avocado smudged on Emily's neck, and sweet potatoes splattered against the wall.

She ran from them at bath time, her naked ass hanging out as she ran through the entire apartment while Emily and Alison tried to round her up with a towel.

She cried when they tried to put her to bed.

She cried for hours.

They were firm, but patient with her. They told her she had to go to sleep so they could get up and go on an adventure in the morning, but Autumn didn't want to hear it.

She was a baby and she didn't understand. She couldn't articulate what she was feeling, so she just cried instead.

Emily held her on the couch as Alison paced the floor. She knew what tantrums looked like. She'd thrown her fair share of them when she was a child. But it was different, because it was her child and she didn't know how to help her. So she just watched as Emily rocked her gently on the couch.

They had exhausted almost all of their options when Emily came up with an idea.

"How about a lullaby?" She glanced at Alison. "She loves it when you sing to her."

Alison glanced at the small piano she'd hounded Emily to let her get. She played it on occasion, but not nearly as often as she'd played the one at her parents' house. It was about a quarter of the size of the one in her house, but she'd gotten it because it fit in the apartment and she wanted Autumn to love music.

Alison sat down at the tiny piano bench as Emily lifted Autumn off of the couch. Her screams had turned into quiet whimpers, but she was still crying.

Alison only knew a few songs by heart. Her own composures, none of which she could play with the limited range on the little piano. Autumn's Beauty required the grand piano. She knew some baby basics, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which Autumn had heard a million times, and for some reason Alison didn't think that would soothe her. She knew a range of songs from Beethoven to Journey, but none of them seemed to fit. She knew Piano Man, which didn't feel right without the harmonic accompaniment. She closed her eyes and tried to let her heart guide her to what her little girl needed.

Her fingers hit the keys, lightly at first, repeating a basic melody in a high key. She started humming Rachel Platten's Better Place as her fingers found the right notes.

"I'll tell the world, I'll sing a song. It's a better place since you came along. Since you came along."

She looked over at Emily, who was squeezing on to the bench next to her.

Alison looked down at Autumn, who had her thumb in her mouth. Her little cheeks were red from all the crying.

It broke Alison's heart to see her daughter in distress. It wasn't the first time she'd seen her upset, but it hurt every time, because as a parent all she wanted to do was fix what was hurting her.

"Your touch is sunlight through the trees…" She watched as Emily rubbed their daughter's cheek with her fingers. "Your kisses are the ocean breeze."

Emily pressed a kiss against her forehead while Alison continued the melody.

"Everything's alright when you're with me…" Alison doubled down on the notes as she kept her eyes on their baby girl, who was watching intently. "And I…I...I hold my favorite thing. I…I…I hold the love that you bring."

She saw Autumn relaxing against Emily's body, and it gave her momentum.

"It feels like I've opened my eyes again." Her eyes met Emily's. There was a quiet moment between them. "And the colors are golden and bright again. There's a song in my heart. I feel like I belong…"

She'd never belonged to anyone before Emily and Autumn. They were her home.

"It's a better place since you came along." She played the chord again and lowered her voice, "It's a better place since you came along."

She started repeating the verse chords,

"I see the whole world in your eyes. It's like I've known you all my life." Her eyes met Emily's and then slowly tracked down to her stomach, where Autumn had called home for almost ten months. She knew the baby before she'd met her. And she knew Emily was the one when she looked into her eyes, "We just feel so right."

She saw Emily swallow hard as she fought back tears.

"So I pour my heart into your hands. It's like you really understand. You love the way I am."

Emily had always accepted the best of her, and so did their daughter. Autumn loved her. She loved her mommy more than anything, and that made Alison feel like she belonged. And she wanted Autumn to know that she would always love her, and that she would always belong.

Her hands found the notes to the chorus again,

"And I…I…I hold my favorite thing. I…I…I hold the happiness you bring. It feels like I've opened my eyes again. And the colors are golden and bright again. And the sun paints the skies and the wind sings our song. It's a better place since you came along."

Alison took a breath, fighting back tears as she watched her girlfriend cuddling their daughter. Her voice came out soft,

"It's a better place since you came along."

Her fingers hit the keys in all the right places. She sang a chorus of "ahhhs" and "oooohs" before she came in for the grand finale,

"Now I'm alright."

Because of Emily.

"Now I'm alright."

Because of her daughter.

"Everything's alriiiiight…"

Because of their love.

She took a breath before finishing strong,

"Cuz it feels like I've opened my eyes again. And the colors are golden and bright again." Her voice fluctuated into a higher range with a stronger vibrato, and then slowly came back down, "There's a song in my heart. I feel like I belong…"

She belonged. She belonged with her family.

"It's a better place since you came along." She sang, and then lowered her voice to a whisper, "It's a better place since you came along…"

Autumn's breathing had steadied. Her sobs had stopped. She laid against Emily calmly. Her watery eyes met Alison's. Her little lips trembled, but she wasn't crying anymore. The song soothed her into a tranquil state.

Her eyes fluttered as she fought the sleep she'd been fighting all day.

"You're okay, baby." Alison said softly as she touched her warm little cheek.

Autumn let out a breath and then closed her eyes, drifting off to a world outside the apartment. A world so calm and serene and quiet that she was able to relax against her mother and let her little body fall limp against her.

Emily felt the shift. She looked down at her sleeping daughter.

"You did it," she said quietly.

"We did it." Alison reached out and touched Autumn's cheek again. The hardest part about playing the song was not being able to touch and soothe her baby. But Emily had done an amazing job at that. It's why they made such a great team.

Emily slowly pushed herself to her feet. She managed to get Autumn into her crib without waking her up. It was like an Olympic sport…not waking a sleeping baby.

Alison and Emily were exhausted. They fell into bed without saying much.

After a few minutes Emily turned towards Alison.

"I said goodbye to my mom and dad today," she said quietly.

"How did it go?"

"I'm going to miss them." She sighed. "Did you talk to your parents?"

"They stopped caring about me the minute I moved into the apartment with you. I told them I was going to New York. Dad just grunted something about the city being full of prostitutes. Mom gave me a hollow smile and congratulations. Not even a we'll miss you. Because they won't…"

"Ali…" Emily touched her arm.

"It's fine, Em. I've made my peace with them." She looked at their sleeping daughter in her crib across the room and then turned to the brunette again. "I don't need them. I have you."

Emily's hand landed softly against Alison's cheek and their lips found one another. Alison's lips were soft against hers, and she would never tire of it.

She had been apprehensive when Alison first said she wanted to be a part of the baby's life. She was afraid for herself and she was afraid for her child. But as they grew together during the course of her pregnancy Emily realized something about the blonde.

The love that she had in her heart was endless.

She knew that Alison was serious when she said she wanted to be Autumn's mother. She knew they would make it.

Raising a child was tiring, but they wouldn't trade it for anything. Emily wouldn't have changed a thing. She fell more in love with Alison every day.

She appreciated every moment with the blonde. Alison had done nothing but surprise her since that perfect fall day back in September outside the gym. She had gone from a prissy little Uptown Girl to a scrappy fearless fighter who loved their daughter with all of her heart.

The day Alison had approached her outside the gym had altered the course of their lives. When Emily drove her home that day she never would have imagined that the bitchy queen bee would melt her heart, weasel her way into her brain, and become the mother of her child.

As she held Alison in her arms that night she understood the depth of their love. She understood the depth of Alison's love.

They slept soundly.

o ~ O ~ o

When they woke up the next morning Autumn was standing in her crib, fingers gripping the bar, drool running down her chin. She was soft and calm and looked nothing like the terror child they'd had to soothe the night before.

"Mama," she said when she saw them awake.

She bounced on the balls of her feet and laughed as she swayed against the crib bar.

Alison was the first one to get out of bed. She was by the crib in an instant. Autumn held her arms out to be picked up.

"Up Mama."

Alison obliged, gently lifting her from her crib. She turned around to see Emily getting out of bed, dragging her feet.

The morning was quiet, a stark contrast to the wild night they'd had. Emily packed up the remainder of their things while Alison got Autumn changed and fed her breakfast.

Emily loaded the moving van with the last few boxes.

It had been raining on and off, but it wasn't too hot or too cold. The temperature was just right. It was the perfect fall day. Trees were starting to change, but it wasn't cold just yet.

They took one last look at the apartment and then got strapped into the van. It had taken Emily forever to find a rental van company that had a back seat where she could safely strap Autumn in.

They were ready for their new adventure, but Emily had one last place she wanted to stop before they took off.

Hanna was waiting when she got to The Brew.

They had been avoiding saying goodbye for weeks.

Alison knew the importance of letting them have their moment. She knew they needed to be alone, so she stayed in the van with her sleeping baby.

Caleb had Emily's and Alison's order ready to go, along with a few free treats for the road.

"On the house." Caleb handed her a bag of goodies.

"Thanks, Caleb." She owed him a lot more than a thank you. She owed him her life. Alison's life. Her daughter's life. Without his help they never would have survived. "You almost done with your tech classes?"

"I should be the one teaching." Caleb smiled, a cocky expression on his face. "Bunch of amateurs."

"One day you'll be working for Big Brother."

"Never." Caleb swiped his overgrown bangs out of his eyes. "I'll never conform to society. Anarchy, baby."

"That's my little rebel." Hanna playfully tousled his hair.

Emily saw Sabrina behind the counter. She waved. She remembered how kind she'd been the weekend she moved back to town.

"Mike not working this morning?" Emily questioned.

"He's off romancing Mona in New York. You'll probably pass him on your way in to town." Hanna picked at a loose hangnail.

Mona was gone. Now Emily was leaving. It was hard for Hanna to fathom, especially since Emily was taking her favorite little niece with her.

"You're going to come visit. And that's an order," Emily said sternly. "Someone has to be there to teach me my Nordstrom from my Saks."

That elicited a tiny smile from Hanna.

"You're hopeless without me. Please let Alison help you with your style." Hanna gave her a hard time. "I mean, leather pants and a bike jacket are cool every once in a while, but you wear the trend out, my friend."

"And I look damn good doing it." Emily held her head high.

"You do." Hanna nodded with a laugh. "You really do. If I was into chicks you would totally be my type. Bad girl with a soft heart."

"Who you calling soft?" Emily puffed her chest out.

"You're nothing but mush, Em. You know it." Hanna's eyes were sad, sweet. Kind.

"C'mere." Emily held her arms open.

Hanna accepted the invitation, hugging her best friend. She'd had to say goodbye to her once when they were kids. She thought that was hard. But this was torture. She knew that they weren't that far away. She knew they were adults and they could visit each other. But it still hurt to say goodbye.

"So…you're in to bad girls now, huh?" Emily cocked a half smile at her. "I seem to remember you telling me that you were a little gay for Alison DiLaurentis…"

"Honey we were all a little gay for Alison DiLaurentis," Hanna had once said.

Hanna stiffened in her arms.

"Never tell her that. I will kill you." But there was a smile on her face.

"I'm going to miss this." She gestured between them. Their wit. Their banter. Their friendship.

"Me too." Hanna sighed. She dropped her walls. Emily could see the sadness she was swimming in. "You'll always be my best friend, Emily, no matter where you are. Chicks before dicks, right?"

Emily laughed at the word choice, but she knew what Hanna meant.

"Always."

She looked around the coffee shop. The nostalgia of running into Hanna after moving back to town wafted over her. After Toby, Hanna had been the first friendly face she'd seen when she got back. They had picked up right where they left off that day.

"I have to get going. We've got a long day ahead of us." Emily glanced out the window.

"I assume Alison is with the baby?"

"Yeah, Autumn fell asleep right after we left. We had kind of a long night." Emily bit her lip.

"Oh, sweetie..." She rubbed Emily's arm. The whites of her eyes were red, which usually only happened when she was up all night with the baby. "Autumn not taking the move well?"

"She's okay now. But she screamed her little head off for hours last night. It took us forever to get her settled. I think we got maybe two...three hours of sleep."

"Hence the coffee." Hanna nodded.

"Yeah. But even if we hadn't had a long night I still would have come by." Emily smiled. "I knew you'd be here. I couldn't leave without saying goodbye. You're my best friend."

"God, I'm going to miss you." Tears threatened to spill down Hanna's face.

"Come see us. Open door policy." Emily took Hanna's hand in hers. "Thank you for everything, Han. Sincerely. I don't think we'd be alive if it wasn't for you and Caleb."

"You would have done the same for me." Hanna's cheeks flushed. She didn't consider anything she'd done out of the realm of possibility for friendship and love.

"You bet your ass I would have." Emily pulled her in for another hug.

"Call me when you get there?" Hanna asked.

"You bet."

They hugged one final time before Emily walked out to the parking lot. She made it out to the van before she let a few tears escape.

Alison didn't say anything. She just reached for her hand.

"Let's take one last swing around the old stomping grounds." Emily buckled her seat belt.

They drove through town, silently taking in every single moment they'd shared with one another. They were romanticizing the good while trying to diminish the bad.

They had so many memories at so many places.

The gym. The Brew. The wishing well. The treehouse. The trails they had hiked. The Kissing Rock.

As they were on the cusp of crossing over the town line something stopped them in their tracks.

Alison's gaze had been fixed on Emily. There was something fascinating about taking in the emotions on her face as she reminisced about the better aspects of the town. That was her Emily. The dreamer. The optimist. The person who wanted to see the good in everyone, even rotten people.

Alison had been busy watching Emily's face when she saw something in the brunette's expression change.

Emily's jaw went slack and her eyes widened. Before Alison could ask her anything Emily pulled the van to the side of the road.

"Look." She pointed towards something out the front windshield.

Alison whipped her head forward, her eyes landing on the biggest double rainbow she had ever seen in her life.

It was painting a vast canvas of colors across the entire sky, arching over their town, bathing it in beautiful light. The colors were bold and vivid. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and the most beautiful shade of violet that they had ever seen.

Alison's eyes trailed the rainbow, trying to see where it was coming from and where it had ended up. It had emerged through the thick of some trees, in a wooded area that was around a place that held a very dear connection to them.

"Is that starting where I think it's starting?" Alison asked.

"The sun must be hitting the kissing rock just right." Emily smiled.

There was no doubt about it. The rainbow was concentrated around the area where they had shared their first kiss after Emily arrived back in Rosewood.

The rainbow told a story unique to both of them. As their eyes followed the trail of colors to its end they thought of all the special moments they had shared together in the quiet sleepy little town.

It took a moment for Emily to pinpoint the end of the rainbow, but she used a map in her mind to figure out the ending location.

It ended by the gym.

Emily broke into a fit of hysterical laughter. The first time she'd spoken to Alison outside the gym they had argued about the color of her hair.

"Hey, Indigo Girl, nice bike." Alison's eyes had been glued to her. "I like your hair. Bold move. Indigo is all the rage."

Emily remembered thinking to herself, "this girl is trouble" and she couldn't have loved her more.

"It's more violet than indigo."

"They're the same." Alison had argued.

"You ever seen a rainbow? They're totally not."

Now they were looking directly at the vivid colors, and it was clear that indigo and violet were not even remotely the same color.

Emily couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"What's so funny?" Alison asked in confusion.

"Still think indigo and violet are the same color?" Emily winked at the blonde.

Blue eyes narrowed at her.

"Don't ruin our moment." Alison scolded her.

She was right about one thing. It was their moment. They were seeing a rare rainbow in the autumn with their Autumn.

As if on cue, Autumn cooed from the back seat. They both glanced back and saw her touching the little mirror above her car seat, where a reflection of the rainbow was shining back at her.

"Whoaaa. Wooow."

The little girl was mesmerized by the colors shining back at her. She quietly spoke to herself as her mothers watched.

"Wow."

She had been learning her colors through a picture book that Emily and Alison had been reading to her. She loved the colors of the rainbow. She loved everything, because her mothers were teaching her how to love.

Emily stared at the looming prism of colors coating the town she'd called home. She thought about how all the colors layered together created a beautiful story.

That's what Autumn and Alison were. They were her beautiful story. But the story wasn't complete without other aspects. It wasn't complete without her friends. Without her parents. Without Isaac. Even without all the terrible things that had happened to her. Because she wouldn't be where she was today if she changed one thing.

She had come so far. She had fought so hard to become someone she had always been at her core. Alison and Autumn completed her in a way that only love could.

She was finally starting to realize that she didn't have to keep her past and her present separate anymore, because her future looked brighter than ever.

She felt a soft touch. Fingers against her hand on the steering wheel.

"What are you thinking about?" When she looked over at Alison she saw all the colors of the rainbow at once. She saw a vision that only she could appreciate.

"You." Emily smiled, taking her hand, bringing it up to her lips and kissing her knuckles lightly.

Alison smiled.

"I love you, Hell's Angel."

"I love you, too, Uptown Girl." Emily slowly turned to face the rainbow again.

It was a sign of better things to come. They had been through hell. It was about time that they got to experience Heaven.

Emily put the moving van in drive again, glancing in the mirrors to make sure it was safe to pull back on to the road.

She saw her town reflected back at her. She kept her eyes on the rear view as she moved forward. She watched as Rosewood slowly started to shrink into the background.

With Rosewood in the rear view and New York in front of them they were on to their newest adventure. They didn't know where the road would take them, but they knew one thing for sure…they would be together, and that's all that mattered.

They were ready to bathe in the beauty of the fiery colors of nature. They were ready to let the magic of fall become a staple in their lives. They were ready for anything that life threw at them. Because they had each other.

A new day was dawning. And it looked beautiful. It was in large part, because of Autumn. She had brought people together before she'd ever been born. She'd created a path for people who loved her. She had created a whole world that revolved around her. She was the sun, pulling love into her gravitational field.

Autumn Violet Fields was the best of the best in the world. But she was only the best of the best because of her mothers. Emily and Alison made the world a better place by putting their hearts and souls into their child, who would one day carry on their legacy. She made them proud every day. They knew she would grow up to be kind, loving, and compassionate. Funny. Daring. Empathetic.

Emily and Alison would have found their way together no matter the circumstances, but it was Autumn who had sparked the light of love between them. Their little girl would always have their hearts. That was the true meaning of love.

It all started with two headstrong girls on a motorcycle in the small town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Their lives had been a ride from the very beginning. It hadn't been a perfect journey. There had been quite a few roadblocks and speed bumps along the way. They had gotten hurt. But they got right back up, dusted themselves off, and got right back on that bike together.

They had been through hell together, but they had walked through those flames and emerged like a phoenix rising from the ashes of devastation. The driving force of their love kept them going.

It had been terrifying at times, taking a ride with love at the helm. It had been the riskiest ride they'd ever taken.

And they'd do it all over given the chance.

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A/N: Goodbyes are never easy, but I really enjoyed writing this end. Everything coming full circle with everyone, and I adore writing the little Emison family. What tugged at your heart the most? And do you forgive me for the torture?

More to come. I know there is one character who was noticeably absent. But this one was about Emison and Rosewood. The final tail end of the fic will tie up a few things.

Epilogue coming soon...