"Gidge?" Franky whispered quietly.

It was two in the morning and she hadn't been able to close her eyes yet. She had to be on set to start filming in the morning, and her mind wouldn't shut off. Part of her hoped that Bridget was able to sleep since she had to work the next day as well, but the other part of her hoped that she was awake enough to hear her quiet words.

"Mm?" The blonde's reply came only a second later.

Suddenly the younger woman was at a loss for words. Asking if Bridget was awake seemed stupid since clearly, she was. They had already talked through all of Franky's concerns and anxieties, and she felt bad to keep bringing it up, especially in the middle of the night. She hoped that maybe the blonde would just fall back to sleep.

"Baby?" Bridget turned in the brunette's arms so that she was now facing her. She reached up and placed a hand on Franky's cheek. "Talk to me."

"I'm sorry I woke you." The brunette watched as the older woman shook her head.

"I was awake. Tell me what's wrong." Bridget snuggled in closer.

"I just can't stop thinking about everything. We've already talked about all of it, but my brain still won't shut up." Franky sighed. "I'm going to go sleep in the spare room. There's no point in both of us losing a night's sleep."

The blonde tightened her arms around the younger woman when she felt her try to move away. "Don't you dare." There was no way she wanted Franky laying by herself when she was feeling troubled. "Talk to me."

"It's nothing specific. My body just feels hyped up, you know?" The brunette lifted her head and looked at the clock over Bridget's shoulder. "And it's already two in the morning."

The blonde reached behind her and turned the clock around. "First of all, stop watching the clock. That's the worst thing you can do."

"I just-...there's so much..." Franky let out a long breath.

Bridget could tell that the brunette was getting frustrated. She suspected that at this point it might not even be the worries that were keeping Franky awake, but just the fact that she was putting too much pressure on herself to fall asleep.

"Shh, baby." The blonde reached up, and put her hand around behind the other woman's head. She let her fingers move slowly up and down the nape of Franky's neck from her hairline to the top of her back. Bridget gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "You can feel me breathing?"

"Yeah," the brunette whispered softly. She knew she was holding her tighter than usual, but it felt good to have the older woman close.

"Okay, just focus on me. Focus on my hand and my breathing," the blonde said softly.

There was enough light coming in from outside that she could just barely see the pulse in Franky's neck. It was fast, but after a couple minutes she could see it had slowed some. She gave the brunette a small kiss on the corner of her mouth and heard a contented sigh. Bridget knew she'd probably need a whole pot of coffee to get through the next morning, but she was willing to do whatever it took to make Franky feel better.

The brunette was still asleep when Bridget woke in the morning. She knew Franky already had her things packed, so she decided she'd make breakfast, and let her get a few more minutes of sleep. As soon as she moved, the other woman began to stir.

"Go back to sleep for a bit, baby. I'll make breakfast." The blonde gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

"I want to get up. I want to see you and Em before I leave." Franky rubbed her eyes and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Okay, but I'm still cooking." Bridget was proud of the cooking skills she'd acquired since she'd met the brunette.

"Alright." Franky gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll wake Em."

Bridget was in the middle of cooking when the brunette emerged from the hallway carrying the young girl. She gave Franky a questioning look, and the younger woman just shook her head.

Franky bent down and sat Emily on one of the stools in the kitchen. The young girl had her arms wrapped around the brunette's neck, and refused to let go.

"You need to let go, bub. I'm not leaving yet," the younger woman said quietly.

"No." Emily held on tighter.

Franky sighed, reached her hands under the young girl's legs, and picked her up again. This time she walked to the couch and sat down. If Emily wasn't going to let go of her, she was at least going to be comfortable. The young girl snuggled in closer against the brunette and Franky felt like she was being pinned against the back of the couch.

"Hey, just loosen your arms a bit, bub," Franky whispered as she rubbed her back. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I don't want you to go." Emily's voice gave away the fact that she was crying.

"I know, but we talked about this. I'll be back as often as I can, I promise." The brunette kissed the side of her head. "I need you to do me a favor though, okay? I need you to be brave and look after Auntie. She's sad I'm going away, too. So I need you to help her while I'm gone, alright? Can you do that?"

The young girl lifted her head. "Yeah."

"You can? Good!" Franky gave her a smile.

"Are you going to take me to school?" Emily asked quietly. Tomorrow would be the start of first grade for the young girl.

"I can't, I'm sorry. Auntie is going to take some pictures for me though, and when I call, I want to hear all about it, okay?" The brunette wiped the tears from Emily's cheeks. "Liz told me she has some fun stuff planned for you guys today."

"Where do I go after school if you're not there?" The young girl wasn't crying, but Franky could tell it was barely contained.

"Remember we said Liz was going to help us with that? She's teaching my classes while I'm away, so you can hang out with her like you and I did. Bea is still there too. You liked her, yeah?" The brunette watched while Emily nodded. "She said you could come visit with her if you wanted."

"When will you be back?" the young girl asked quietly.

"I don't know." Franky hated her answer.

Emily's bottom lip quivered.

"I have to stay there, it's the rules. I know you're not happy, neither am I, but I'll do my best to come visit. I just don't know when that will happen." The brunette didn't know what to say to make the young girl feel better without lying to her, which she refused to do.

"Breakfast is ready guys." Bridget had given them as long as she could, but she knew Franky had an early call at the studio.

"I love you, babe." The brunette gave Bridget another kiss. She'd already said her goodbyes to Emily, and now she and the blonde were standing in the driveway beside her car.

"I love you, too." The older woman brushed her thumb across Franky's cheek. "One thing before you go. I know you want to keep your personal life private on set, but you may have to open up a bit so that people don't feel like you're too disconnected from them."

"What do you mean?" the brunette asked.

"I mean..." Bridget took a breath. "People are going to ask questions about you. They're going to try to get to know you. They're going to wonder if you have a family. You're getting some special perks, so just maybe relax your rules on that a little bit."

Franky nodded. She knew what the blonde was saying. She'd been very withholding with Jillian at first, and it hadn't worked as well for her as opening up a bit did. It wasn't until she explained her reasoning behind wanting time at home that the producer had agreed that they may be able to work something out that would let Franky see them a bit. She gave Bridget a final kiss before she got in her car and headed to the studio.

When the brunette pulled into the parking lot, she sat for a moment, calming herself. She repeated everything that Bridget had told her. She reminded herself that she was doing this for her family; for Emily and Bridget and their future child, but also for Liz who had given her so much. Anything she gained from this, she'd use to provide for them. When she felt like she was ready, she grabbed her bag out of the back of the car and started walking towards the entrance.

As soon as she entered, someone took her bag from her. She was brought onto the main kitchen set.

"If you'll just stand there." A young man in a headset pointed to a spot on the floor.

One by one the other contestants were brought in and lined up along with the brunette. Franky studied each one of them. There was an equal mix of men and women and she guessed they aged from their early twenties all the way up to mid-fifties.

The brunette shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know what was going on. She thought they'd at least allow them to settle in before they started filming, but here she was, standing on set, with the full crew in front of her.

The young man who had brought her in earlier, returned with a young girl Franky judged to be no more than twenty or twenty one. The brunette gave her a small smile that wasn't returned. Franky thought the girl looked like she was five seconds away from throwing up.

"You know, it's probably not a good look if you spew on set the first day." The brunette caught a small smile on the girl's face out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm just really nervous." She wiped her hands on her pants.

"We all are. It'll be alright." Franky was nervous too, but she had the ability to be comforting to others, even when she herself was freaking out on the inside.

"Okay, listen up everyone!" Jillian was standing in front of the contestants. "As you know, part of the show is your ability to work under pressure. So we're starting right off with filming the first episode. You'll have one hour to create one of the dishes you listed on your application form. You won't know which one until you see the ingredients we've placed at your stations. The head chef this season is Jared Martin. He'll come out and tell you basically the same thing I just did, then you'll get to work."

Franky recognized the name; Jared Martin. She'd seen him on TV a few times, and his restaurants in the city always got rave reviews. She remembered that he'd always seemed nice in the interviews and cooking segments, but she'd reserve judgement until she saw how he was going to act here.

The brunette listened to Jared repeat pretty much word for word what Jillian had said earlier. When she reached her station and opened the ingredient box, she knew exactly which recipe of hers they had chosen. It wouldn't be easy with the time limit they were given, but she figured that was probably the point.

The girl who had been standing beside Franky earlier had ended up working beside her in the kitchen as well. They were almost twenty minutes into the challenge, and the brunette could tell that things next door weren't going well.

"Shit. Shit!" The girl sighed and laid down her knife.

"You need a smaller angle on your blade." Franky had been watching her. The girl had been trying to slice the meat she was using paper-thin, but it kept coming out too thick.

"What?" She wiped her face with the towel she had hanging over her shoulder.

"I didn't catch your name earlier." In all honesty, the brunette didn't think she'd missed it, they just hadn't done introductions yet.

"Jenna." She shook her hands to try and loosen up.

"Well, Jenna, I'm Franky. And you need more of an angle between the meat and the blade to get the cut you're looking for." Franky watched while Jenna picked up the knife again.

"Like this?" She held the blade against the meat and waited for the brunette to assess her correction.

"More like this." Franky reached out and put her hand over the one Jenna was holding the knife with, and turned it a bit more. "When you cut, be decisive. If you hesitate, you won't get a clean slice." She watched while the girl tried her suggestion and got a perfect slice.

"Thanks." She smiled at the brunette. Franky simply nodded and went back to making her dish.

The brunette had just finished plating her dish when the timer sounded. She placed the cover over it, and hoped that she'd done well enough to at least not have it spat back out by the chef. She watched while he tasted some of the other dishes. She was relieved that even when she could tell he didn't like a dish, he just gave some constructive criticism and moved on to the next contestant.

When Jared arrived to taste Jenna's dish, Franky could feel the waves of nausea in her stomach. Maybe he would hate hers. Maybe he'd been nice to everyone so far because their dishes were all really good and hers would be the one he absolutely hated,

"Very nice, Jenna. It's sliced beautifully, and you have a good flavor in the sauce. I would go a little lighter on the garlic next time though." He smiled at her. "Overall very good though."

The brunette could see how relieved the girl next to her looked. Jared took a drink of water as he walked to her workstation, and before she knew it, it was her turn.

"What do we have here?" he asked, lifting the cover off her plate.

"Ginger glazed Mahi Mahi with roasted wild mushrooms and baby potatoes." Franky knew she probably sounded like a robot reciting lines right now, but she was just trying not to fuck it up.

"That's an ambitious dish." Jared picked up a fork and took a piece of the mahi mahi. He nodded slowly then picked up some of the mushroom and potato side. He thought for a minute, tapping the fork against his lip, then took another piece of the fish. "That's really good. I would put a bit more ginger in it if I were making it, but that's just a personal preference. I like spicy stuff. This is delicious though. Well done." He gave the brunette a smile before moving on to the next contestant.

Franky rested her forearms against the countertop and let out a long breath. She bent over, stretching her back muscles. It felt good; she hadn't realized how tense she'd been standing there waiting.

They spent the rest of the day doing interviews, being introduced to each other, and getting settled into the dorm. The network had ordered them a catered meal for supper so they wouldn't have to cook for themselves on the first day.

"How was your day with Liz?" Bridget asked as she glanced at her niece in the rearview mirror.

"It was okay." Emily watched out the window as they drove. "She let me have chocolate."

The blonde smiled to herself. Liz really did treat the young girl like a grandchild. She loved giving her treats. Bridget suspected that today however, it might have served a second purpose of cheering her up a bit.

"I bought some chicken for tonight. I thought we could make quesadillas together." She remembered how Emily had made them for her and Franky once, and thought maybe she'd like to help out again this time.

"Okay." The young girl was still just looking out the window.

Bridget decided not to push the conversation any more. It was clear that Emily wasn't in a cheery mood, and if the blonde was being honest with herself, neither was she. This would be the first time she'd be spending the nights alone since Franky was released from prison.

The brunette was unpacking the few items she'd brought and placing them in the small closet.

"Looks like we're neighbors." Jenna smiled at her as she opened her bag. They hadn't gotten to choose their own beds. Whoever had taken their suitcases when they arrived had placed each one on one of the single beds. "Thanks for your help earlier. You're good at that."

"Yeah, no problem. I teach cooking classes." Franky closed the bag, and put it in her storage area.

She had left out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt which she grabbed off the bed. It had been a long day, and all she wanted to do was change into her comfortable clothes and find somewhere to relax.

She headed across the hallway to the bathroom. Once she was inside she locked the door, turned off her mic, and retrieved her mobile phone that she had wrapped up in the t-shirt. They had told her that she'd only be allowed to use the phone in the interview room, but they had forgotten to make her turn it in. She figured that since there were no cameras or microphones in the bathrooms that she'd be safe using it here too. Phone calls might be too risky, but she'd be able to send and check messages.

There was a message from Bridget that simply said 'I love you and I'm proud of you, baby.'. It was sent not long after Franky had arrived on set. Probably around the same time the blonde was starting work for the day. She quickly typed out a reply of 'I love you, too xo' and hit send.

It was then that she saw the time displayed on the screen. It was later than she'd thought. If she wanted to call them tonight, she'd have to do it now or else Emily would already be in bed. She listened for a moment to see how much sound made its way into the bathroom from outside. She figured if she could hear the others, they'd be able to hear her talking as well. She couldn't hear anything, so she made her call.

The majority of the evening passed by quietly. Emily had helped her make supper, then they made sure she had everything ready that she'd need for school the next day. Bridget even made her choose an outfit to wear in case the morning didn't go so smoothly.

The blonde's phone rang on the couch beside her. She glanced at the display, and saw Franky's name. She quickly answered.

"Hey, baby." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Emily moving from her spot on the couch to come sit beside her.

"Hey, Gidge." The brunette's voice sounded tired.

"Franky?" the young girl asked, trying to get close to the phone, as if being closer would allow her to see who was on the other end of the line.

Bridget nodded and reached out to gently move Emily back a few inches. She held up a finger, silently telling her niece to wait for a minute.

"You doing okay?" The blonde knew 'okay' would be a relative thing for the next while.

"Yeah, it's just been a long day, and I miss you guys." Franky let out a sigh.

"We miss you too." Bridget could see that the young girl beside her was getting impatient. "I'll let you talk to Em for a second first, okay?"

"Sure." The brunette could imagine that Emily was eager to get the phone. "I only have a few minutes tonight. They did the interviews early today and you would have still been at work, so I couldn't call then. I'm hiding out in the bathroom right now."

"Okay, I'll put her on." Bridget handed the phone to Emily. "Just for a minute though, alright? She can't talk very long tonight." The blonde wanted to give her fair warning that she wouldn't get long to speak with Franky.

Emily nodded as she took the phone. "Franky! I miss you."

"I know, bub. I miss you, too." Franky did her best not to sound too down. "Did you help Liz today?"

"Yeah, she gave me chocolate." Emily glanced over at her aunt quickly. "I still have some left."

"What!? She paid you in chocolate? She never pays me in chocolate. She must like you better." The brunette pretended to sound surprised but it didn't shock her at all that Liz was giving out treats to the girl. "Be careful or Auntie will want to share the extra you brought home." Franky heard Emily giggle and it lightened her mood a bit. "Are you all ready for school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I'm scared." Emily had gotten quiet.

"It's okay to be nervous, but everything will be okay. You'll get to see all the other kids, and find out who your teacher is." The brunette wanted very much to be able to drop her off the next morning for her first day. "Be a brave girl for me, okay?"

"I'll try." The young girl nodded as though Franky could see her.

"Alright, good. Can I talk to Auntie now? I only have a minute or two before I'll have to go for tonight." She really didn't want to end the conversation.

"Okay." Emily said it in such a way that the brunette knew she was hesitant to give up the phone.

"I love you, bub."

"I love you, too," the young girl said softly then handed the phone to her aunt.

"Is she doing okay?" Franky asked.

"Yeah, about as expected." Bridget didn't want to say too much with Emily right there.

"Are you doing okay?" The brunette realized she hadn't asked the older woman that yet.

"So far, so good. Better now that we've heard from you." Bridget smiled to herself.

"Good." Franky could hear people starting to move around outside the door, and realized they were probably done unpacking their things. "I should go now before someone wanders by and hears me. I'll be able to talk longer tomorrow though."

"Okay, I love you, baby." The blonde knew she'd already said that multiple times that day, but she said it again anyway.

"I love you, too." The brunette was about to hang up when she remembered what Emily had told her. "Oh! Gidge?"

"Yeah?"

"She's got chocolate stashed somewhere." Franky gave a small laugh. She wouldn't usually tattle on the young girl, but she could picture it ending up melted in the bed or being eaten for breakfast.

Bridget chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I heard. I'll look after it. Goodnight, baby."

"Goodnight, Gidge." The brunette hung up. She knew if she didn't, they'd end up playing the game of who was going to give in and end the call.

Bridget heard the line go silent, and placed her phone on the coffee table.

"Time to go get ready for bed, love." The blonde was curious to see how this was going to go. "I'll be in to read you your story in a few minutes."

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Emily hadn't moved from her spot on the couch.

"No, you have to sleep in your own bed." Bridget had been expecting this question.

"But you miss Franky," the young girl said matter of factly.

"Yeah, but…" The blonde couldn't find the reasoning behind her niece's statement.

"Franky said you were sad too and that I had to look after you so I have to keep you company." Emily looked like she was taking the brunette's request very seriously.

Bridget thought for a minute. They had rules for when the young girl was allowed to sleep in their bed, and she knew if they started making exceptions, she'd try more often than not to spend the night with them. On the other hand, in Emily's mind, she was just doing what Franky asked her to. She found sleeping in their bed comforting, and since the blonde was upset, the young girl thought she would be comforted in the same way.

"You've done a very good job so far, and I really enjoyed our evening, but I promise I'll be okay by myself tonight. I know you're right across the hall if I need anything. Okay?" Bridget felt kind of silly; like the tables had been momentarily turned.

"But you sleep with Franky every night." Emily still hadn't moved off the couch.

"Yes, that's different though." The blonde really didn't want to pull out the 'because I said so' card, but she felt like that wasn't far off.

"Why?"

"Because it is." Bridget sighed. "Em, love, please just go get ready for bed." She caught the look on the young girl's face. Emily wasn't used to not getting answers to her questions. The blonde loved that her niece was curious, and she didn't want to discourage that. "We can talk about this some other time if you want, but right now you need to go to bed...in your own bed."

Emily got up without another word, and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. Bridget then heard her go into the bathroom, and a few minutes later she heard her go back to her room. The blonde made her way to the young girl's bedroom to say goodnight.

"Would you like a story tonight?" Bridget asked as she tucked in her niece.

Emily nodded, and the blonde took their usual book off the shelf. She picked one of her favorite stories, and before she was done reading, the young girl was asleep.

She quietly put the small chair back at the table, and was just putting the book away on the shelf when there was a knock at the door. She glanced back at Emily to make sure she was still asleep, and hurried to answer it before whoever it was knocked again.

Bridget opened the door to find one of the neighbors standing there. It was the elderly woman who lived across the street. They didn't know each other very well, but they did speak or have a short chat occasionally if they ran into each other outside.

"Oh, hey, Mrs. Campbell. Is everything alright?" Bridget was worried something was wrong for her to be knocking on her door so late.

"Yes, dear, everything is fine. I'm so sorry to bother you so late. And please, call me Elinor." She gave her a warm smile.

"It's okay, Elinor. What do you need? Would you like to come in?" Bridget stepped aside, but the elderly lady didn't move.

"No. Thanks. Actually, I've come to ask a favour. We've just gotten word that our granddaughter has had her baby, and we're going to visit them." She was talking excitedly. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind feeding the cat while we're away." Elinor held out a key. "His food is in the cupboard beside the sink. He gets one package a day and a scoop of the dry food. I'm sorry to ask on such short notice, I just don't really know anyone else around here."

"It's no problem." Bridget took the key from her. "What's his name?"

"Fred. He'll probably just hide when you come in." The elderly woman took the blonde's hand. "Thanks again. Feel free to have a swim in the pool too if you like. It's supposed to be a hot one this week."

"Oh, well thank you, and it's no problem. Don't worry, Fred's in good hands." Bridget watched as she walked back across the street.

The blonde closed the door, then listened carefully. She didn't hear anything, which meant that Emily must still be asleep. She tossed the key into the basket in the hallway where they kept theirs, and decided she'd watch one more episode of her show before she went to bed.

Franky sat on her bed, leaning against the wall. It was dark, but her eyes had adjusted enough that she could just make out the other beds in the room. It seemed like everyone was fast asleep. She looked at the big clock on the wall. It was just after two.

Sleeping without Bridget was hard enough, but the single bed and close proximity of the others was reminding her of her time in Wentworth. The more she thought about it, the more restless she got. She decided that if she was going to sit awake all night, she'd rather be out on the patio, so she quietly climbed off her bed and headed outside.

From the living area she could see that the outside lights were already on. At first she thought maybe they'd forgotten to turn them off, but then she saw someone in one of the lounge chairs. It was Shayne, a young aboriginal guy she guessed was barely old enough to be on the show. He had seemed pretty laid back when they all hung out earlier.

"Can't sleep either?" she asked as she took a seat in one of the other lounge chairs.

"Nah." Shayne shook his head. "You want some?" He held out the joint he was smoking to her.

"I'm good, thanks." For half a second she had considered it. It might slow her mind enough to let her get to sleep, but in the end she decided against it.

"You're Franky, right?" he asked.

"That's me." She laid back in the chair and looked up at the sky. "Shayne?"

"Yep." He nodded his head. "I like your tats."

"Thanks. You got any?"

"Yeah, just one." He held out his arm so she could see the anatomical heart on the inside of his forearm. It looked like it had a stitch through it. "It means 'cross your heart, hope to die'. Kind of like 'keep your promises', you know?"

"Yeah. It's a good thing to keep in mind."

"I saw you help that girl today. She was freaking out a bit." He reached down and stubbed out the joint on the cement.

"She let her nerves get the better of her. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't good." Franky leaned forward in the chair. Even out here she was still feeling restless.

"For sure. I was just going to say it was nice of you. Most people would have just watched her struggle." He gave the brunette a small smile.

"I teach for a living, so yeah, kind of couldn't help it." Franky returned his smile.

"Teaching would be great, I think. Maybe someday, I've got a lot to learn first." Shayne yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "I'm surprised I got on here, really. I've only been cooking for a couple years. It's kept me out of trouble." He caught the brunette's look. "I was kind of a bad kid. Got in trouble, got bumped from one foster home to another. Some were okay, but most were shitty. Never got to stay at the good ones for long it seemed."

"Ditto." Franky almost felt like she was looking at a younger male version of herself.

"You were a foster kid too?"

The brunette felt her body stiffen. Why was she out here in the middle of the night telling stuff like this to a complete stranger probably with cameras all around them recording it? Bridget's words came into her head, 'just relax your rules a little bit'.

"Yeah, I was. Eventually I got in trouble and ended up with community service at a soup kitchen. I met a woman there who became my mentor." Franky felt bad calling Liz her mentor. She was so much more than that. The brunette considered her to be more like a mother than a mentor.

"But you made it out and now you're here." Shayne watched as Franky nodded slowly. "You got a family now?"

"Uh…yeah. Yeah I do." She shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey, listen, I talk too much but I'm just curious about people." He gave a small laugh and held up his hands. "Feel free to tell me to shut up and mind my own business."

"Shut up and mind your own business." Franky got through the line before they both laughed.

"Alright, we'll save the stories for another night. I'm gonna hit the bed." He got up and started walking towards the patio door. "You're a cool chick, Franks." He called over his shoulder before disappearing into the house.

The brunette just smiled and shook her head. She wasn't ready to go back inside yet. She turned off all but one of the small lights outside, and laid down on the couch, looking up into the night sky. She knew Bridget was only a few kilometers away but it felt way too far.

Bridget woke just before her alarm clock was set to go off. She reached up and flipped the switch so that her ears were spared the harsh tone so early in the morning. As she moved, she felt a weight stir behind her on the other side of the bed.

The blonde turned onto her other side, and saw that at some point through the night, Emily had taken Franky's spot in the bed. Bridget sighed. Her niece had broken their rules and had specifically gone against what she had been told the night before, but she looked so peaceful laying there asleep. She hadn't woken the blonde, so Bridget assumed that she wasn't feeling sick or had a bad dream. She was willing to bet that Emily was there because Franky had told her to take care of her.

Bridget reached for her phone on the bedside table and took a picture of the sleeping girl. She sent it to Franky with the caption: 'Following your orders and looking after me'. She knew the brunette wouldn't get it until sometime that night, but sending it made the situation feel a little more normal. She'd definitely have a talk with Emily later though about sneaking into their room.

"Em, time to wake up." Bridget brushed the backs of her fingers over Emily's cheek.

"Cuddle," the young girl mumbled into the pillows.

"What?" The blonde couldn't make out what she'd said.

"Cuddle." Emily said it clearer this time and reached out for her aunt.

"Ohh. Okay, but just for a minute, then we have to get up and ready." Bridget wrapped her arms around the young girl. She wanted to keep her talking too so she wouldn't fall back to sleep. "You excited for your first day of first grade?"

"Kind of." Emily buried her face in more against the blonde's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, don't get too comfy." Bridget gave her a squeeze and she giggled. "You'll get to see Charlotte."

"I wish Mia went to my school."

"I know, love. You can have her over to play though." The blonde thought it was unfortunate that the one child her niece had really bonded with lived just far enough away that she went to a different school. "Okay, we really need to get up now. You can have more cuddles before bed tonight if you want." Bridget gave her a kiss on the forehead and turned over to get out of the bed.

On the first day of classes, the parents were allowed to walk with their kids to the classroom since they would have all their extra supplies to carry with them. Emily held onto Bridget's hand tightly as they walked down the hallway. The blonde had taken a picture of her niece at their house before they left, and standing at the front door of the school. She wanted to get one of her sitting at her desk as well if she could since she knew Franky was upset that she couldn't be there with them.

"So you're in room five this year. That's right beside where you were last year." Bridget felt like she was talking to herself since Emily had gone quiet. "Here we are."

"Hey, good morning, Emily." Ms. Williams greeted them when they entered the classroom. "Hi, Bridget." The teacher gave her a warm smile.

"Are, uh, are we in the right room?" The blonde turned and double checked the number on the door.

"Yeah, you are." Ms. Williams gave a small laugh. "I moved up a grade too this year. I'm kind of new so they put me wherever there's an open job. This is the first year I've even gotten to stay in the same school."

"Oh, well that's good. Em enjoyed being in your class last year." Bridget watched as Emily made her way to her desk. "Do you mind if I get a picture of her then I'd like to talk with you for a minute if I could?"

"Yeah, sure. Take your time." She gave the blonde another smile then went to greet another student who had just arrived.

"Smile, love." The blonde snapped a picture of Emily sitting in her desk. "I'm going to go to work now, okay? You go to the Centre and stay with Liz after school and I'll pick you up there when I'm done." Emily nodded, but Bridget saw tears in the young girl's eyes. "Hey, no tears, alright? Be brave for me." She gave her niece a kiss on the cheek then went to find her teacher. They stepped out into the hallway so Emily wouldn't overhear.

"Is everything alright?" the teacher asked Bridget. She must have sensed Emily's upset.

"Yeah, uh, yeah. I just wanted to let you know that for the next few weeks, if you need to reach someone during the day, you won't be able to get a hold of Franky. She's doing something different for work for a bit and she's not available. I've left another number at the office though for Liz Birdsworth. If you can't contact me, you can call her. She's looking after Em after school. In a couple months though everything will be back to normal." The blonde could sense that she was talking fast. "Franky really wanted to be here today."

"Ohh, that explains why Emily seems a bit down. She always talked about going with her after school." Ms. Williams glanced into the classroom at the young girl.

"She'll be doing the same thing with Liz as she did with Franky, but, you know, Liz isn't Franky." Bridget shrugged.

"Yeah." The teacher smiled at her. "No worries. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks." The blonde returned her smile, and headed back to her car.

Day two on set seemed to have a lot of downtime, and Franky didn't like it. The only time she liked not having something to do was when she was spending time with Bridget or Emily. She'd lay in bed with her fiancée all day, or sit with the young girl and have a cartoon marathon, but ask her to do either of those things alone and she'd feel like she was going crazy after about an hour. She also hated it because it made her think that she really didn't need to be living there, none of them did. She hoped that the lull was only because things were just getting started, and they'd pick up in the following days.

She did her interview sometime late in the morning, and other than that she tried to look busy studying the info pack they'd all been given when they arrived. It contained a detailed breakdown of what they'd be doing each day, as well as the menu for the first night of competition.

It didn't look too bad, but she knew that it wasn't the difficulty of the dishes that would sink you on a show like this. It was the inability to work under pressure and as a team. She'd watched some clips of a similar style show on YouTube, and saw the chefs, who were mostly very good at what they did, mess up the simplest thing because they were more busy arguing with a teammate than cooking.

"What do you think of this?" Shayne dropped onto the couch beside her with his copy of the menu in his hand.

"Looks simple enough." Franky shrugged.

"There's a couple dishes on here I haven't made before." Shayne sounded almost embarrassed to admit it.

"Don't worry about it. We get some classes, and I can help you." The brunette flipped to the next page.

"Why do you think they haven't told us who's on which team yet?" he asked, watching a few of the others as they moved through the common area.

"They probably don't know yet." Franky glanced over and saw the puzzled look on his face. "I'd say they're watching how we interact with each other and they'll pair us up with the people we don't get along as well with."

"Why would they do that?"

"Drama," the brunette answered without looking up from the paper in front of her.

Shayne nodded, but didn't say anything more.

It wasn't long after supper was finished that Franky was called to the interview room for the second time that day. She stopped by the bedroom on her way there and grabbed her mobile. When she entered the room, there were no crew members there like there normally was, but instead there was just Jillian.

"Franky." The producer gave her a smile. "I trust everything is going well so far."

"As well as expected, yeah." The brunette wasn't feeling overly stressed yet, but she had found the day long and boring.

"That's good...I guess." Jillian hesitated for a second. "But anyway, as promised, this is your time to call home. You've got thirty minutes before you'll have to go back out, and you'll have to turn in your phone. Sorry. Someone should have gotten it from you when you first arrived."

"Sure, thanks." Franky took her phone out of her pocket and settled into one of the chairs as the other woman made her way out of the room. She had been hoping they'd forget that she wasn't supposed to be allowed to keep it.

The first thing she saw when she turned it on was the picture that Bridget had sent her that morning of Emily in their bed, then the ones she had taken that morning at the school. She smiled despite the tears in her eyes. She selected the blonde's number in her phone, and waited for her to answer.

"Franky!" It was Emily, not Bridget who answered.

"Hey, bub!" The brunette let out a small laugh at hearing how excited the young girl was. "How was your first day of school?"

"It was okay. Where are you?"

"I'm on set, remember? Hold the phone in front of you and I'll show you." Franky switched to a video call and saw Emily and Bridget's faces on her screen. "See?" She moved her phone so that they could get a view of the room.

"Hey, baby." The blonde gave her a warm smile.

"Hey, Gidge." The brunette returned her smile.

"Tell Franky about school, love." Bridget prompted her niece.

"I have Ms. Williams again, and Charlotte is in my class, but not Mia." Emily had effectively summed up her day in one sentence.

"You have the same teacher again?" Franky saw Emily nod. "Well that's good, since you liked her. I saw the pictures that Auntie sent too. You looked very nice today."

"Auntie Bridge made me pick it out before I went to bed."

"That was a smart idea." The brunette didn't mention the picture of the young girl in bed. Since Emily hadn't brought it up, she thought she may not know that Bridget had taken it.

The young girl turned to her aunt. "Charlotte asked if I could sleep over at her place on Friday night."

"Oh, that's nice of her," Bridget said with a smile. "Do you want to go?"

"I don't know." The young girl shrugged.

"You should go, Em. You'll have fun." The brunette thought it would be good for Emily to spend some time with her friend. It would also give Bridget some time alone.

"But what if you come home? I don't want to miss it."

"I really don't think I'll be home then, bub. You shouldn't miss out on things just to stay home and wait for me." Franky didn't want her to constantly sit home waiting for her. That would be hard on both the young girl, and Bridget.

"Okay, but I want to come home early. Before lunch." Emily gave Bridget a serious look. She wasn't spending any more time than necessary away from the house, just in case.

"I'll pick you up before lunch. Promise." There was something about the look on Emily's face that made her seriousness humorous, but both adults managed to hold it together.

They all chatted for a bit longer, then Bridget sent Emily to get washed up and changed for bed so she could have a few minutes to talk with Franky alone. She waited until she heard the water running in the bathroom before she spoke.

"I'm glad she decided to go," the blonde said with a small smile.

"Me too. I thought maybe you'd like the alone time as well." The brunette had that cocky smile on her face.

"You've got a dirty mind." Bridget gave a small laugh.

"So do you apparently, because all I was thinking is you could you know, have a bath and read a book or something." Franky glanced around to make sure there were no crew members listening in.

"Or something?" the blonde asked. She could play the younger woman's game.

"Or something." Franky scrunched up her nose a bit and smiled.

The time passed too quickly and before the brunette knew it, it was time to say goodbye. Emily was back from getting ready for bed, and they said a round of 'goodnights' and 'I love yous' before they ended the call.

Franky looked at the blank screen and sighed. She sat there for a minute before she felt ready to go back and join the others.

"Can't sleep again either?" Franky was quietly making her way to the kitchen to get a glass of water, when she heard Shayne's voice from the living room.

"Uh, yeah, I guess not." She gave him a smile . "I thought everyone was asleep."

"I don't really sleep." He let out a small laugh. "I was just on my way to sit outside for a bit if you want to join me."

The brunette hesitated for a few seconds. She liked this guy, he seemed nice, and genuine, but she wasn't here to make friends. Friends asked questions, and wanted to get to know you.

"You weren't trying to make a run for it and I caught you, were you?" Shayne asked with a half grin when she remained silent.

"No, I wasn't trying to make a run for it." Franky gave a small laugh and shook her head. She sighed. "It's…."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. We can just be two insomniacs who like to sit outside at night, and leave it at that." He shrugged. "But just so you know, I don't spread people's shit around; I hate that. So any secrets are safe with me."

"Thanks, and yes, I'd like to sit outside." The brunette gave a small nod, and followed Shayne outside. "I'm not sure I'm in the mood for talking tonight."

"That's fine, we don't have to talk, we can just sit." He let himself drop into one of the lounge chairs.

"Sounds good," Franky said, taking the chair next to him.