"Hey, Jillian! Can we talk for a minute?" Franky had happened to see the producer on set just before they started their work for the day.

She motioned for the brunette to follow her to a quiet area away from the others. She didn't know what Franky wanted to talk about, so she always tried to stay out of earshot of the others.

"Is there any way I can call Gidge before the dinner service tonight?" The brunette knew every time she asked for something special, she risked looking suspicious to the others, but she really wanted to be able to talk to Emily tonight as well as the blonde.

"Uh, yeah I guess I could arrange for them to call you in for a short interview before we start filming. I can't promise it'll be long though." As far as requests went, Jillian felt like the phone calls were pretty easy ones to fulfill, so she always tried to make them happen.

"Great! Awesome, thanks!" Franky gave her a smile, and headed back to her team.

"So what are we doing today?" Jenna asked the brunette when she entered the kitchen.

Franky felt like this was as good a time as any to tell them that she wasn't, and didn't want to be, the leader of this team.

"Guys, listen, I don't mind helping out or giving advice or whatever, but I'm not in charge here, no one is." She looked at each of their faces, but couldn't get a read on how they felt about what she'd just said.

"But you did it last time," Catherine said from the back.

"And you're good at it," Shayne chimed in.

George and Hank remained silent, so she assumed they either agreed, or didn't care.

"Alright," Franky sighed. "Hank, you're on seafood. I'll do the meat station. Jenna, you're on desserts. Catherine, you do the general stocking up, and George, you're on garnish. Remember we're prepping double the amount this time since we're doing both kitchens. If you finish your stuff early, help someone else."

They worked mostly in silence except for someone asking the occasional question. The brunette watched the time closely. She didn't want to miss her window to make her phone call.

As soon as they were done their work, and the others went to the dorms to grab something to eat before service, Franky hurried to the interview room.

"Hey, baby." Bridget answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Gidge, Em." The brunette smiled. It was always good to see them.

"Auntie Bridge said you were going to call early today, but that didn't mean I had to go to bed early."

Franky gave a small laugh. "Yeah, bub, I just have to work later on, but I wanted to talk to you. How's school?"

"Good! We had to read two books this week, but I finished them both today, so Ms. Williams let me get more from the library." Emily sounded almost bored with school so far. "I asked if we were going to learn about cooking, but she said no they don't teach cooking in school. I told her that you learned about it in school."

"I learned about it in a different kind of school. She probably just meant the school you're in now." The brunette could picture Emily correcting her teacher.

"Can I go to that school instead?" Emily asked, looking at both her aunt and Franky.

"When you're older if it's what you still want. Right now, you need to stay where you are, and learn about all the other things you can do besides cooking." The brunette knew that neither she, nor Bridget, would discourage Emily from choosing any career she wanted. "When I'm back, I can teach you more cooking stuff. Are you learning stuff with Liz?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't let me do as much as you do." The young girl looked down at her hands.

"She's probably just being cautious. She's not used to having such a little helper." Franky remembered that it took awhile before she was comfortable letting Emily do certain things, and she figured it would be the same with Liz.

"Are you coming home this weekend?" Emily asked this question every time they talked.

"I don't know yet. If I am, I'll tell you guys as soon as I find out." The brunette hated that she didn't have a concrete schedule. If she just knew for sure when she would, or wouldn't be seeing them, it would make it a lot easier.

"Franky, they're almost ready out there," Jiliian said as she stuck her head into the room.

"Okay guys, I have to go. I'll try to call tomorrow night. I love you both." Franky watched as both Bridget and Emily blew kisses and said their I-love-yous before they ended the call.

Before she turned in her phone, the brunette sent a quick text.

To: Gidge

I'll try to call you after service tonight if it's not too late. Xo

Bridget smiled when she saw the message appear on her screen. She'd never try to discourage Franky from talking to them, but she hoped that it wasn't going to eventually get her into trouble.

When the brunette returned to the kitchen, the others were already there. It seemed like they had already chosen their stations, and she was glad that they took the initiative to do so without her directing them. The only open station was seafood, which she didn't mind. People usually weren't as picky about their seafood as they are meat. As long as you didn't over or undercook it, they were happy.

Jared called out the first ticket, and Franky was up right away with two orders of scallops.

"Three minutes!" The brunette called out the time she'd need to cook her dish, so that the others could be ready at the same time.

"Three minutes, heard." Hank was doing the garnishes tonight, so he would be setting up the plates everyone needed for their main dishes.

Franky seared each side of the scallops then took them up front to Jared.

"Hank! Where's the garnish to go with these?" Jared looked behind him to see what was going on.

"I need a couple more minutes." Hank was casually stirring something in a pot.

"These scallops don't have a couple minutes. If you're not ready in less than thirty seconds, I'm tossing them." The chef knew he was hard on the contestants, but he refused to send subpar food from the kitchen. "Come on, these are getting cold. You ready or not?"

"I need at least three minutes." Hank looked like he was making no progress toward getting his food out.

"Hank what the fuck is in the pot? Franky normally let Jared handle the others during service, but this time she couldn't help but say something herself. "The apple celery salad and tarragon mayo go with the scallops!" When Hank gave her nothing but a blank stare, she realized that he was preparing the wrong garnish. "Fuck sake."

The brunette walked around the end of the counter, and moved Hank to the side. She quickly plated two servings of the salad and placed the tarragon mayo on the plate. On the way back to her station, she set the plates on the counter at the front.

"Well done, Franky. Hope you were paying attention, Hank," Jared said as he placed the scallops onto the plates.

Hank didn't respond, but simply picked the pot up off the stove and threw it into the large sink behind him.

The rest of the appetizers went out without any problems, and now it was time for the main courses.

"Table four, two salmon, two new york strips, medium." Jared called out the orders for the first table and was met with a chorus of 'yes chef'.

"Two salmon, seven minutes." Franky called out her timing so the others could time their cooking appropriately. "How long for the strips, Jenna?"

"Um." The young woman looked to the front where the chef now had his back turned to them. "He said medium, right?" she asked the brunette quietly.

"Yep, how long do you need?" Franky knew the answer, but she wanted Jenna to call it out for the others, and to show Jared that she had confidence in her work. "Seven and a half," the brunette whispered when she still got no response from the young woman.

"Two strips, seven and a half minutes." Jenna picked up two of the seasoned steaks and placed them in the hot pan.

Franky waited and gave her a slight head start before she placed the salmon into her pan. She watched Jenna out of the corner of her eye, and things appeared to be going smoothly, so she didn't offer any more advice.

"Two salmon, chef." The brunette set the tray on the front counter.

Jenna was right behind her.

"Two New York strips, chef," she said, setting her own tray beside Franky's.

The brunette had already moved onto the next ticket when Jared called both her and Jenna to the front.

"Yes, chef?" Jenna asked nervously.

"Look at the steaks. How were they supposed to be cooked?" The chef had sliced them both open and laid them out on the tray.

"Medium," the young woman said in a small voice.

"And they are?" Jared waited for her answer.

"Well." She looked at the floor.

"Exactly." He turned his attention to Franky. "Your salmon was beautifully done, but unfortunately…" Jared picked up both trays and dumped the food into the garbage can. "They have to be ready at the same time. Both of you start over."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Jenna repeated on the way back to her station.

"Don't worry about it. Let's go again. We'll get it this time, yeah?" The brunette knew it wasn't her who had messed up, but she'd said 'we' so she wouldn't make the young woman feel any worse.

Jenna nodded.

A few moments later, they were both taking their food to the front for the second time.

"Jenna, back here, please." Jared once again laid out the sliced steak on the tray. This time he didn't have to say anything more.

"It's well, not medium." The young girl immediately turned to go back and start over for a third time.

"Franky, well done again, but you'll have to start over too," the chef called out as he once again, threw the food into the garbage can.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Jenna wiped her eyes as she walked right past her station.

"Hey, where are you going?" Franky reached out and just managed to grab the sleeve of the young woman's jacket.

"I can't do this, I'm sorry." She wiped her face again as she turned to face the brunette.

"Yes, you can. Listen, if you walk out of here now, they're not going to let you come back." Franky understood that Jenna was overwhelmed, but she knew the young woman knew her stuff, and she didn't want it to end like this for her.

"They all know I fucked up. I'm going to be eliminated anyway. Look." Jenna motioned to the others in the kitchen who were all standing, watching the exchange happening between the two women.

"Maybe, maybe not. Would you rather be able to say you were eliminated, though, or have to tell people you just gave up and walked out?" The brunette knew she was being harsh, but she was hoping it would make the young woman just mad enough to fight back and stay.

"You're right. Okay." She took a deep breath and made her way back to her station.

"Remember the trick." Franky held up her hand and touched each of her fingers to her thumb in sequence.

"What?" Jenna gave her a confused look.

"You know, so you can tell how done the meat is just by touch." The brunette just got another confused look, so she explained. "Index finger to thumb, then push on the big muscle right here." Franky pushed on the large muscle right below the inside of her thumb. "That firmness is 'rare'. Index finger to thumb, that's 'medium'. Ring finger is 'medium-well', and pink is 'well'. Check often, okay? It seems like those steaks are cooking a bit faster than the standard times."

"Middle finger steaks, got it." Jenna seemed oblivious to the humor in what she'd said until she heard the brunette laugh.

"Yeah, middle finger steaks." Franky shook her head and prepared to start cooking another two servings of salmon.

Third time was the charm, and the service flowed smoothly after that. The Blue team finished all their orders first, but that didn't necessarily mean they were the winning team. As they stood lined up waiting for Jared to return to film the elimination segment, Franky could tell that Jenna was nervous.

"Alright, so each team had some issues tonight, but something in particular stands out in my mind. Blue team, you're the winners for tonight's service, so you can all head back to the dorms. Red team, I need each of you to give me the name of someone on your team who you think deserves to go home tonight, and why. Shayne, you're up first. Who do you nominate and why?" Jared crossed his arms while he waited for Shayne's response.

"I'd nominate Hank. He had major problems getting started tonight and he brings a bad vibe to the team." Shayne could feel Hank's eyes burning into him, but he kept his focus on the chef.

"Okay." Jared thought for a moment before he moved on. "Hank, who do you nominate, and why?"

"I nominate Franky." Hank was confident at first, but the feeling started to fade when he saw the looks he was getting from his teammates.

"Franky? Wha-" Jared sighed. "Okay, why Franky?"

"I felt she was disrespectful when she pushed me aside and took over my station at the beginning. Had she been a proper leader, she would have also made sure Jenna knew what she was doing, before her food got sent back, twice." Hank held up two fingers as he glared at the young woman.

"Yeah, alright." The chef ran a hand over his face. "Franky, who do you nominate?"

"Hank. He hasn't been a team player from the start, and I believe he tried to sabotage our first service." The brunette had actually considered nominating Jenna. The young woman messed up more tonight than Hank had, but in the end, she felt that intentional sabotage was worse.

Catherine nominated Hank, and George nominated Jenna.

"Okay, so the three people nominated are Jenna, Hank, and Franky." Jared shook his head when he said the brunette's name. "Please step forward."

The chef stood and looked at the group for what felt like forever. Franky could sense Jenna shifting nervously beside her.

"Hank, you chose Franky because you feel like she disrespected you? I feel like you disrespected your team by being so unprepared that you were cooking the wrong garnish, and what happened with Jenna has nothing to do with anyone besides Jenna." Jared turned his attention to the brunette. "Franky, go back and join your team."

Franky let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and walked the few steps back to join the others. She felt Shayne's hand squeeze her shoulder when she took her place back with the group.

"Jenna, you were a bit of a mess out there at first. What happened?" Jared's demeanor had softened a bit compared to when he had been talking with Hank a moment earlier.

"I don't know. I just…" The young woman didn't finish her sentence, and just shrugged.

"You wanted to leave, but Franky stopped you. Do you still feel like you're done here?" Jared stepped in front of her, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"No, chef. I want to stay." Jenna took in a shaky breath.

"Good. Back in line with your team then." The chef returned to his original spot. "You know, Hank, there have been issues ever since you got here. I saw the footage from the first couple of nights here. I saw the footage from the first service, and tonight was a pretty big fuck up." He looked to where Franky was standing. He believed what she'd said about the sabotage; he'd seen the footage himself. "There's one thing I hate more than a fuck up or someone who plays dirty though, and that's someone who's lazy. George, step up here." Jared pointed to the spot beside Hank. "For two services, I've seen almost nothing from you come up to the front. You didn't finish your own prep work either day. Today, I'm pretty sure that Shayne and Catherine did most of it. Hank, go back to your team. George, give me your jacket, you're out." Jared held out his hand and waited for the man to hand over his jacket.

Franky couldn't believe it. She thought for sure they'd gotten rid of Hank. She had to admit that she hadn't noticed the fact that George was slacking off. She had been too busy with her own work, or helping Jenna to notice what he'd been doing tonight.

Hank gave them all the finger as he walked past them back to the dorms.

The brunette spotted Jillian, and hurried over to her.

"Can I have a few minutes to call home tonight?" Franky knew she was asking a lot to have two calls in one day, but she'd told Bridget she'd try.

"Yeah, fine, not too long though." The producer waived her off.

The brunette hurried to the interview room, and a crew member handed her her phone, then left. She quickly dialed Bridget's number. She answered on the first ring.

"Gidge." Franky's face lit up. "You're in bed, did I wake you?"

"No, baby, I was awake. I thought I'd wait for your call here," Bridget said as she pushed the blankets down under her arm. "How was service?"

"It was okay. We lost though, and I got nominated, by asshole Hank, but I'm still here." The brunette looked closer at the screen. "Are you naked, babe?" Franky could see the older woman's bare shoulders above the blanket.

"Maybe. Are you alone?" Bridget asked with a mischievous smirk.

The brunette looked around quickly. "Yep."

"In that case…" The blonde pushed the blankets down to her waist. "So why did you get nominated tonight?"

"I, um, I don't know, really. I think Hank just hates me." Franky moved her head like she was trying to see further down Bridget's body.

"Are you distracted, baby?" The blonde moved onto her back, giving the younger woman a full side view of her upper body.

"A little bit, but I like it." Franky smiled at her. "You're beautiful."

Bridget just smiled, and shook her head. Hearing the brunette say that always caught her a bit off guard.

"How's work been?" Franky really wanted to just watch her fiancée, but she also wanted to make sure she was doing alright.

"Work's good. No issues there at the moment." The blonde refused to use her name and allow her into their conversation tonight. They both knew what she was talking about. Bridget watched the brunette's eyes follow her fingers up and down the length of her stomach. "How long do we have tonight, baby?"

"Not long enough," Franky said with a smirk. "I could watch you all night."

"I wish you could take me to bed with you tonight." This honestly wasn't where Bridget was planning for this to go when she decided to show up to the call half naked. She figured she'd tease the brunette for a bit and that would be the end of it.

"You wouldn't want to come to bed with me here. I have a single bed in a room with five other people, with cameras." The brunette scrunched up her nose.

"You think if they were all asleep that I wouldn't have sex with you? We'd have to be quiet…" Bridget winked at her as she ran her fingers down her stomach again.

"Would you?" Franky honestly didn't picture that as something the blonde would be into.

"Sure, baby. I know you were here just a couple of days ago, but I miss being in bed with you every night." Bridget stretched and arched her back off the bed a bit.

She turned her head to see the brunette watching her intently. The blonde maintained eye contact and let her hand slip under the sheet that was around her waist. Her eyes fluttered closed for a second.

"Franky, time's up. I need your phone before you go back out there." One of the crew popped into the room, then left again quickly to allow her to say goodbye in private.

"Fuck, I have to go, babe. I'm sorry." Franky gave her an apologetic look.

"It's okay, baby. Maybe we'll continue another time." Bridget gave her a sly smile. "I love you." She kissed her fingers and held them up to the camera.

"I love you too, Gidge." The brunette returned the gesture, and ended the call.

She took a deep breath to compose herself before she rejoined the others. She hoped that everyone else was going to fall asleep early tonight, otherwise she might need to spend some extra time in the shower.

The next evening when Franky was allowed to have her phone back again, she turned it on and was greeted by a notification saying that Bridget had left her a couple of messages. That wasn't anything unusual. The blonde often left her little notes or sent pictures to show she was thinking about her throughout the day. The first one she had sent though, was a video. The brunette opened the message, and quickly turned down the volume, even though she was pretty sure she was alone.

The video was Bridget, laying in bed after their call the night before; the phone in the same spot as it had been when they'd spoken. Clearly she'd edited out some of the footage between when they'd said goodnight and when the video started, because it was getting right to the point.

Franky watched the blonde's body move in response to how she was touching herself, and heard her breathing change. After a moment, she came, with one hand gripping the bed sheet beneath her, her lips parted and her eyes closed tightly. The brunette could see her muscles tense then relax a few times.

The older woman took a few seconds to catch her breath then turned her head to look into the camera. She gave a small smile and wink before she reached over to stop the recording.

Franky took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she shook her head. Bridget was everything and more than she could have even thought to ask for in a partner. She had her kind, caring, supportive side, but she also had a fun, playful, naughty side as well.

She selected the blonde's number from her contacts, and waited for her to answer. It wasn't long before she appeared on the screen along with Emily.

"Hey, baby." Bridget gave the brunette a knowing smirk.

"Hey, Gidge." Franky returned the smirk. "How was your day?"

"It was good. I got a good night's sleep." The blonde raised her eyebrows a bit, making the younger woman laugh a bit.

Emily looked at the two of them like she was trying to figure out what was so funny, and why she wasn't in on the joke.

"That's good," Franky said with a nod. "How about you, bub? How was school today?"

"Good. We learned about helping the environment with things like recycling. Then Ms. Williams asked if we could think of things we did at home that would help, and I couldn't think of anything at first. Then someone said about taking short showers to save water, and I remembered you said that you and Auntie Bridge shower together to save time, so that was my answer." Emily finished her story with a big smile on her face.

Bridget and Franky exchanged a glance.

"You said we take short showers?" The brunette was hoping the young girl had left it at that.

"Yeah, and that you and Auntie shower together, so that saves even more water, because it's like two people at once." Emily again, seemed pleased with her answer.

The blonde tried not to react to the look on Franky's face, but it wasn't easy. It was a mixture of shock and embarrassment.

"That was a good answer, love. We recycle here at home, too. So now you have an answer for next time as well." Bridget stepped in, not wanting Emily to think she'd done or said something bad.

"Are you coming home soon?" The young girl moved on from the previous topic quickly.

"Not this weekend, sorry. You and Auntie will have to do something fun and you can send me pictures and tell me all about it when I call." Franky tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal that she couldn't come home that weekend, but inside, she hated that it would probably be at least another week before she had a chance to see them again.

"I just want to stay here with Auntie." The young girl put her arms around her aunt.

"We don't have to decide anything right now," the blonde said, rubbing her niece's back. "Why don't you say goodnight to Franky, and go put your pyjamas on? Then we can watch a cartoon or something before bed."

"Goodnight, Franky. I love you." Emily reached out and touched the brunette's face on the screen.

"I love you too, bub." Franky touched her screen as well.

"Did you like what I sent you earlier?" Bridget asked once Emily had disappeared down the hallway.

"Very much. It was really hot." The brunette grinned at her. "How did I get so lucky?"

The blonde shrugged. "I got lucky, too. I'm glad you liked it."

"I had to have a long shower afterwards." Franky laughed and Bridget joined in. "Speaking of which, Gidge, I can't believe she told her whole class, and the teacher, that we shower together!"

The blonde waived her hand dismissively. "It's not a big deal, baby."

"It kind of is, isn't it? I mean, that's our private business." Franky wasn't a prude by any means, but she enjoyed keeping her private life private.

"We think that because we know why we're showering together. Kids don't think the same way. She really believes what we told her; that it saves time. I doubt any of the other kids in her class think any differently than she does. Yeah, maybe her teacher gets it, but she knows that kids say awkward things sometimes because they don't understand what they're really saying. She probably just brushed it off and moved on." Bridget saw the brunette start to relax a bit. "There's another reason we need to not make a big deal out of this."

"What's that?" Franky couldn't think of any.

"I know we haven't talked about how we're going to handle some things as she gets older, and now isn't the time for you and I to talk either, but i think we can both agree that we want her to be able to come to us and talk about, or ask about, anything she wants." The blonde paused.

"Absolutely." The younger woman nodded her agreement.

"Someday, she's going to figure out what's actually going on in the shower, and I don't want her to remember us treating it like it was something bad, or wrong, or taboo, or that we wanted to hide. If she thinks that's our attitude towards sex and intimacy, then she isn't going to feel comfortable talking to us about it. I know it won't be an easy conversation, but I'd rather her come to us with her questions than to get her information from the older kids on the playground, or online." Bridget noticed Franky shift uncomfortably in her seat again.

"I get what you're saying, but I don't know how to talk to her about those things." The brunette never had someone to have those conversations with her as a child, so she had no example to refer to. "I didn't think that stuff would come up this soon either."

"We'll figure it out together. It's not like we're going to have to give her the sex talk tomorrow or anything. I'm mostly just talking about making sure that she knows that we have an open, positive attitude towards the subject, and that she can come to us if she has questions." The blonde felt herself slipping into therapist mode a bit, and she knew that was something she was going to have to be careful to avoid. "I'm sure she's going to have lots of questions if there's a new baby at some point."

"You're right." Franky's eyes were wide. "Can't we just say the stork is bringing it?" she asked with a chuckle.

Bridget burst out laughing. "Definitely not, baby." After her laughter died down, she studied the brunette's face for a moment. "You still doing okay in there?"

"Yeah," Franky sighed. "Just a little bummed out I won't be seeing you guys this weekend."

"Is that for sure? You already know there's no chance of it?" The blonde had hoped maybe the younger woman was just saying that so Emily wouldn't be disappointed if she didn't make it home.

"Yeah, pretty much. Unless there's a surprise challenge. There's nothing scheduled that would make it possible right now." Franky saw the momentary flicker of sadness in Bridget's eyes, even though the older woman was putting on a brave face. "I'll do my best to get some extra calls though if we're not filming."

Bridget saw the brunette acknowledge someone off camera, and knew that their time together was over for tonight.

"I have to go, babe. I love you, though, so much."

"I love you, too." The blonde gave her a small smile.

They ended their call with their usual goodbye gesture.

Once Franky had gone, Bridget sat and waited for Emily to return so they could spend some time together before the evening was over.

The rest of the week passed Franky making her usual evening phone calls. The brunette had told Bridget that they'd had another dinner service where someone from the Blue team had been sent home, so she was safe for a few more days.

There weren't any surprise challenges, so Franky would be spending the weekend on set. Emily had kept up hope and asked every night if she was coming to visit, but when the brunette had said 'no' again on Friday evening, the young girl's mood had sunk, and stayed there the rest of the evening.

When Bridget woke on Saturday morning, she had to admit that the reality of the situation had set in for her as well, and she was missing her fiancée very much. She wanted to try to convince Emily to do something with her or go somewhere, since it would be a good distraction for both of them.

As she was laying in bed, she heard her niece in the kitchen pouring herself a bowl of cereal. The blonde decided it was time for her to get up as well.

"Good morning, love." Bridget placed a kiss on top of Emily's head, then took a seat on one of the other stools at the kitchen island. "I think we should spend the day doing something fun together. Is there anything you'd like?"

Emily shrugged.

"We can go take a walk around one of the ponds at the reserve, maybe have a picnic. Or, we could go see a movie. I think there are some fun ones at the cinema now. Then we can play some games at the arcade after. We could go for ice cream. Maybe Mia and Charlotte would like to come along for that." The blonde was suggesting anything she could think of that her niece might agree to.

"What if Franky comes back and we're not here?" The young girl had stopped eating, and looked up at her aunt.

"Love, she's not coming home this weekend. She wouldn't have told you she wasn't if she was. She knows it makes us both sad when she can't be here, so she wouldn't lie to us like that." Bridget could tell that Emily wasn't convinced. "We can do something here at home instead if you'd feel better about that." At this point, the blonde just wanted her to do something.

"Okay."

"Yeah? You want to do something here?" Bridget was honestly surprised. Emily was usually a bit stubborn once she'd set her mind on something, but her niece nodded her head. "Okay, um, we could make some cookies, or we could build something fun with your lego, or we can have a games day."

"Games, and then lego." Emily finished her cereal, and hopped down off the stool. She started into the living room to pick out the games she wanted to play.

"Em, are you forgetting something?" When the blonde got only a blank look from the young girl, she pointed to the empty bowl left on the island.

Emily didn't say anything. She came back and placed the bowl and spoon into the dishwasher.

"Thank you." Bridget and Franky started a while ago asking her to help clean up a bit. She did pretty well with it, but sometimes needed a reminder. "If you want, we can run to the corner store really quick sometime this afternoon, and get a special treat to have tonight if we watch a movie."

"Candy?" Emily asked with a big smile.

"Sure, love, if that's what you want. You can pick out one thing when we go." Bridget was glad the young girl was a bit happier now, but she knew she couldn't bribe her with fun days and treats every time that Franky didn't get to come home.

Bridget felt like the day had gone surprisingly quickly. Franky had been able to call not long after lunch, and the blonde was able to convince Emily to go to the corner store with her right after that. The brunette had said she'd try to call again that evening.

The evening with their treats and the movie had passed by quickly as well, and they did get to speak with Franky once more. This time however, Emily seemed sad afterwards.

"What's wrong, love?" Bridget asked as her niece climbed into her lap.

"She's really not coming home this weekend. She said not tomorrow either." Emily rested her head against the blonde's shoulder. "Can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?"

"No, it's the same rules, remember? You need to sleep in your own bed." Bridget had been firm about this, especially since the first night when the young girl crawled into her bed in the middle of the night despite being told not to. She felt the young girl hold on to her tighter. "Let's get to bed. I'll read you a story."

The blonde stood up, with her niece still in her arms, and carried her to her bedroom. Bridget laid her in bed, and pulled the blanket over her.

"Can you sleep here with me?" Emily reached out for her aunt's hand.

"No, love. I'll read you a story, then we each need to sleep in our own beds." The blonde bent over and placed a kiss on the young girl's temple.

Emily didn't say anything more, but Bridget knew that she cried silently the whole way through the story.

"You'll be okay. I love you." The blonde gave her another kiss and wiped her cheeks dry before she left.

"I love you, too." Emily's voice was still shaky.

Bridget had a moment of hesitation where she thought that maybe, just for one night, it wouldn't hurt for the young girl to stay with her. Her voice of reason kicked in though, and told her that Emily would be fine in her own room.

The blonde was tired, so she didn't stay up long after she'd put her niece to bed. She cleaned up the dishes from their movie night, then headed to her own bedroom. She laid there awake for a while, and just as she felt herself drifting off, she heard the doorknob turn. When she lifted her head, she saw Emily's silhouette in the doorway.

"Em, you need to go back to bed, love." Bridget sat up a bit so she could see her better. Emily didn't move. "Is there something wrong?"

"I miss Franky and I want to sleep with you." The young girl's voice gave away that she was still crying.

"I know, but that's not a reason that you need to sleep in here. We'll get to talk to her again tomorrow. Go on back to bed for now, okay?" The blonde watched while Emily closed the door. She could hear her footsteps going back to her room.

Bridget laid down again, and this time sleep came quickly.

The blonde felt herself slowly coming into consciousness. For a moment she didn't know what had woken her. Everything was quiet, and it was still dark outside. She realized she had to use the washroom, and decided that must have been what had interrupted her sleep.

When she sat up in bed she glanced at the clock and saw that it was only one in the morning. She didn't bother turning on the light. She knew the bedroom from memory, and there was a small nightlight she'd put in the hall when Emily first came to stay with her so she could find her way to the bathroom at night.

Bridget opened the bedroom door, and barely registered something right outside it on the hall floor, before she stepped out.

"What the-?" When her eyes focused in the dim light, she saw that it was Emily.

The young girl had brought her blanket and pillow out of her room, and laid in front of Bridget's door.

The blonde felt the tears in her eyes. She thought how desperate to be near her the young girl must have been to choose sleeping on the hard floor over her own bed, just to be closer to her. Bridget wiped away a tear from her cheek. Emily hadn't woken up, so she decided to use the bathroom, then deal with her afterwards.

When the blonde finished in the bathroom, she tried to pick Emily up from the floor without waking her. It was an awkward lift though, and the young girl stirred.

"Auntie Bridge?" Emily mumbled.

"Yeah, love, it's me. I've got you," Bridget said as she carried her into hers and Franky's bedroom. After seeing her niece sleeping on the floor, she didn't have the heart to send her back to her room alone again.

The blonde laid the young girl on Franky's side of the bed, then got back in on her own side. It was only a second before Emily moved in closed to her, and Bridget put her arms around her.

"Thank you," Emily said quietly.

The blonde's heart broke. She felt horrible that she'd turned her niece away earlier that night, when all she'd wanted was to be close to someone. Bridget rubbed the young girl's back, hoping that it would help her fall back to sleep.

"I had a dream that Franky said she was never coming home because she likes it better where she is now." Emily had her face buried against the blonde's front, but Bridget could still make out what she was saying.

"That won't happen. She likes it much better here with us, I promise." The blonde held her a bit tighter. "Try to go back to sleep."

"I don't want to have that dream again." Emily held on to a handful of Bridget's t-shirt.

"Just relax. It'll be alright." Bridget quietly hummed a tune she was making up as she went along.

She felt Emily start to relax, and she had almost drifted back to sleep herself when the young girl woke with a start.

"Shh, it's okay, love." Bridget tried to sooth her back to sleep before she woke up too much.

"I don't want to sleep. I'm scared I'll dream." Emily was fighting sleep, but her voice gave away how tired she actually was.

This cycle continued on and off all night. The young girl would wake with a start, which in turn woke the blonde as well. Emily would say she was scared to sleep, not realizing that that's what she'd been doing only moments before, and Bridget would soothe her back to sleep.

It was a long night, and when the blonde finally woke and saw daylight outside, she realized they must have gotten at least a couple of hours sleep.

"You look exhausted, babe. Em did too. Is everything alright?" Franky had been allowed a few minutes after lunch to call home and talk to them. She'd already spoken with Emily, who'd now gone to her room to play.

"Yeah, just had a restless night is all." Bridget didn't know how many details she was going to give the brunette.

"You or her?" Franky had sensed that they were both a bit off today right when the call started.

"Her." Bridget sighed. "She asked to sleep in our bed, and I said no. I had to send her back to her room once not long after I went to bed. Then I got up to use the bathroom and she was sleeping on the floor outside the door. So I caved, I brought her in with me. She said 'thank you'. I felt like such an ass. All she wanted was to be comforted, and I had refused to do it. She said she'd had a bad dream and she was scared to go back to sleep. She fought it most of the night, so neither of us got much sleep."

The blonde had left out the details of Emily's dream. She didn't want the younger woman to feel bad.

"Shit, that sucks. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help out." This type of stuff was exactly what Franky had been worried about when she found out she wouldn't be able to stay with them.

Bridget shook her head. "It's just one of those things kids go through once in a while."

"I have to go, babe I'm sorry. I'll try to call and check on you guys later on. See if you can get her to take a nap." The brunette knew that her fiancée didn't need her advice, but she wanted to feel like she was contributing something.

They said their goodbyes, and Bridget sat looking at the now-blank screen. Two weeks down, four or five more to go.