A/N - Okay (finally) back! I hope that everyone had a great Summer! It was personally a tough one over here. Life sometimes throws a lot at you at once, but I'm trying to hang in there.

Thanks so much for sticking by me and continuing to read the story. Some of my favorite scenes (of this "Act" of the story) are coming up in the next few chapters and I'm excited to finally share with you. I loved the flashback from the last chapter- one of my faves! We've never seen drunk-Ali on screen, but I've always imagined she'd be even more bold than normal. This chapter sets up a lot of the plot moving forward. Hope ya'll enjoy!

—

Emily sat down lightly on the corner of the bed. It was early morning and the light was just starting to stream in through the windows. Below her, Alison was still sleeping peacefully. Emily spent a minute taking her in. She was laying on her side, with one arm propped below the pillow. She looked the same as she always did when she was sleeping. Emily had watched her sleep before, in innocent situations on the couch as well as more intimate times in bed together in the past. Alison always took light breaths through her nose and exhaled in little puffs out of her lips. Occasionally, her eyelids fluttered, which Emily had always thought was particularly cute.

But she also knew that staring for more than just a minute or so was particularly creepy, so she moved to wake the other woman up.

"Hey, Ali…" she reached forward and lightly jostled the blonde's shoulder.

"Mmm," Alison turned her body slightly, pushing her face into the pillow and away from Emily's voice.

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on," she tried again. "It's morning…"

Alison tiled her head away from the pillow and peaked back at Emily with one eye. "Does it have to be?"

"Unfortunately yes," Emily gave a little laugh. She tried not to get caught up in how light Alison's eye was. That was something else that she remembered about the blonde, how light and and clear her eyes looked in the morning. It was as if the were refreshed and ready for a new day. "And we have a train to catch."

Alison closed both of her eyes again and tucked herself back into the pillow. "I wish that there would just be one morning that we could sleep in," she mumbled.

The problem for Emily wasn't so much the inability to sleep in, it was the inability to sleep at all. The previous night, she hadn't been able to string together more than thirty minutes of sleep at a time. Alison's offer to share the bed made Emily's already racing mind speed even faster. The offer reminded her of how she felt years ago when she and Alison were circling around what felt like the inevitable.

Back then, she'd felt nervous and a little bit confused, but all of that had been overtaken by the rush of excitement that she felt anytime that she was around the other woman. She'd been reminded of that excitement last night as she sat across from Alison, talking and laughing for hours in that dark retro bar. It also made her finally realize why she'd been so nervous leading into the night. She'd been letting her guard down with Alison for weeks now and whether or not she was willing to acknowledge any feelings resurfacing, they were definitely there. She knew for sure they were there after Alison had asked if she wanted to share the bed, because deep down Emily wanted to say yes.

But there was also the confusion that followed. She couldn't stop thinking about Alison and what her intentions were. She'd gone through the same thing five years ago until it became almost blatantly obvious that Alison was flirting with her and pushing for something. Given everything that happened since though, she was having a lot of trouble coming to that same conclusion this time. Maybe Alison was just being considerate last night?

And then there was the final piece to the puzzle. Even if all of this were true, what was Emily supposed to do with it? She'd had in her head from the beginning that she would never go there again with the blonde. Not after everything that had happened and the way that it had played out. Acknowledging that she was feeling something again was one thing, but actually letting her walls down was another altogether. Would she ever be willing to let her walls down again? Did she even want to?

Those questions had swirled around in Emily's head for hours and now that it was time to start the day, she wished that she had found a way to shut them down.

"Can we at least stop at the bagel shop near the train station?" Alison's request brought Emily out of her thoughts.

"If they have coffee and you can get ready quickly then I'm in," Emily nodded. Coffee was about her only chance of making it through the day at this point.

"Yeah, I'll go get changed," Alison turned and rolled out of the opposite side of the bed. She grabbed her folded clothes from the previous night and headed for the bathroom to change.

While the other woman was gone, Emily took the opportunity to evaluate the office in the daylight. She'd gotten caught up with just the books last night, but now that she was actually looking around at the different things she could definitely see how the space was both Spencer's and Alison's. The Persian area rug and wooden desk were traditional and reminiscent of the decor in Spencer and Toby's house. The wall decorations, however were totally Alison. The shiny gold frames weren't like anything that Spencer used in her house. The colorfully pink poster of what looked like an old French movie was probably the biggest tell of all. Emily smiled as she studied it. She had never been in a home that Alison had decorated, but she liked the style.

She moved back over towards the desk and noted several l folders piled up in the middle. In the corner of the desk was a picture of Spencer, Toby, and Ellie taken in the little girl's nursery during her newborn photo shoot. Emily sighed. She'd seen the photo before plenty of times, but it caused a pain in her gut to see it now. She moved beyond the desk back towards the bookshelf. She wanted to find Alison's book again. Seeing it in person last night had made her curious. She'd spent years avoiding the topic with people and had never once even googled it. She was curious about the cover art and wondered if maybe there was a synopsis in the back. She located the book with her eyes and was walking towards it when Alison walked out of the bathroom.

"Ready?" the blonde called to her.

Emily turned to face her. She had on her outfit from last night, complete with her coat on and purse in hand. Clearly she was very serious about getting that bagel. "Yeah," she nodded. "Let's go."

They got their bagels and most importantly for Emily, their coffee and made it to the train station luckily with plenty of time to spare.

They were quiet once they got on the train, partially due to tiredness and because they were scarfing down their bagels. About halfway home something occurred to Emily. "What do we do if she asks us about the show?" She asked Alison with wide eyes. She'd almost forgotten that they had ditched half of the musical that her mother had give them tickets to.

"It's on Google," Alison shrugged and took another bite of her bagel.

"Like all of it?" Emily asked. "How do you know?"

"I read it earlier this week," Alison told her simply.

Emily arched a brow. "So you knew the whole plot of the musical going in?"

"Yeah, and I'm sure most people in the audience did too."

Emily stared at her for a minute. So she'd known the plot the whole time. Why hadn't she shared that knowledge going in? Maybe that was why she'd suggested they leave during intermission.

"Are you going to look it up yourself or do you want me to fill you in?" Alison spoke up again.

"I'll do it myself," Emily grumbled. It was probably better if they had their own versions of the plot line anyway. She finished her coffee and pulled out her phone.

She spent the rest of the time on the train schooling herself on the plot and the characters. She hoped that she wasn't expected to know the music and that she could actually pass for someone who had seen the whole musical. Her mother was known for being very observant, and Emily prayed that there wouldn't be a test. Because if there was she was definitely going to fail it.

Once they got back to Rosewood, Alison drove them back to the house. "Do I look okay?" The blonde asked as they approached the door.

Emily pushed her brows together. "Yeah. Better than me walking in with wrinkled clothes on." She pulled her keys out and walked up to the door.

"I told you I'd loan you something…"

Emily shrugged. Her head had been too all over the place to even consider taking Alison up on her pajama offer at the time. She stuck her keys in the door and unlocked it, pushing it opened. Before they could even get five steps into the house, Ellie came sprinting in their direction. Emily was briefly worried that the little girl had been scared. Last night, while she'd layed awake in the dark she wondered if it would trigger something in the little girl when she woke up and neither Emily nor Alison was there. She ran right passed Emily and dove into Alison's arms. "Annnn Ali," she called.

Alison lifted Ellie into her arms. "Hi sweetie," she gave the little girl a big smile.

Ellie had a smile on her face too as she hugged her arms around Alison's neck. If she had woken up upset or scared, she certainly wasn't showing it now, which was a relief. Emily walked towards her and ran her hand down the back of the little girls's hair. "Is your brother in the kitchen," she asked.

Ellie nodded her head a few times before tucking it into Alison's neck. The three of them moved into the direction of the kitchen where Liam, and presumably Pam, were.

"Welcome home," Pam called when they entered.

It looked like they were walking in mid-breakfast. Ellie had a plate on the table with a half-eaten waffle on it next to a bottle of maple syrup. Pam was standing over near the sink washing out some bowls. When Liam saw Emily he kicked around his feet in his high chair as she walked his way. "Hey buddy," she smiled and pressed a little kiss into his hair.

The baby made several excited sounds. He lifted up a piece of his food up towards Emily.

"Is this a waffle," she asked him excitedly.

He continued to make several sounds. Mostly they sounded like 'ah' and 'ba,' certainly nothing close to 'waffle.'

"Did you want one, hunny? I still have some batter left," Pam offered.

"No," Emily shook her head. "We had bagels earlier."

Alison walked in behind her at that point. She set Ellie back down at her seat at the table so that the little girl could finish her breakfast. "I'm going to run upstairs and change if you guys don't mind," she said.

Emily watched her turn around and head for the stairs for a moment and then looked over towards her mother again. Pam was staring straight back at her with a little smile on her face. "What?" Emily asked. She folded her arms, feeling self-conscious suddenly. With all of the thoughts that had been swirling around in her mind in the last day, the last thing that she needed was her mother adding on to it with her opinion.

"Nothing," Pam shook her head. "So did you have a good time?"

"We did," Emily nodded. She tried to wipe the little smile off of her face. "Seriously, thanks again. It was really good to get out of the house."

"Of course," Pam smiled again.

And that was that. Her mother didn't question the night any further about the musical or otherwise, and Emily didn't offer much else up. Once Alison got changed, she came back downstairs and got the kids cleaned up, finally giving Emily the opportunity to get out of her wrinkly clothes.

The rest of the day dragged on. They played with the kids for awhile and then ran errands in an effort to try to get organized and ready for the week ahead. Instead of hanging out in the evening after they put the kids to bed, Emily excused herself to her bedroom. She was tired and really needed to lay down early and get some sleep.

It felt like she had just shut her eyes when she heard her phone buzz on the nightstand. She picked it up and saw a new message. It was from Sabrina and she immediately felt guilty. She hadn't spoken to the other blonde much, and outside of a couple of quick visits to The Brew, they hadn't spent any time together since the night before Liam's birthday.

How was your weekend? It asked simply.

Emily rested her head back on the pillow and huffed out a big exhale. She was tired, both mentally and physically. She really didn't want to start a conversation right now, but the kind part of her won over. After all, Sabrina hadn't done anything wrong and she didn't deserve to be ignored. She responded with a vague, It was good. And then asked, How have you been?

Not bad. Emily stared at her phone for a moment unsure what to say to that, but then the bubbles appeared in the chat to show Sabrina typing again. I miss you, the message read.

Emily sighed again. She knew that she was going to wind up feeling bad and here it already was. She wanted to respond in agreement… because she did miss hanging out with Sabrina. The thing was that she missed hanging out with Sabrina before everything happened with Spencer and Toby, before taking over guardianship of their kids, and before living with Alison. Now it all just felt so complicated. I know… I'm sorry. She texted back. It felt like the most honest way that she could respond.

Can we see each other? Sabrina texted back. Maybe this Friday?

She stared at the phone before putting it down on the bed next to her and resting her head back on the pillow. She hated the position that she was in. Going out on Friday meant running it by Alison, which likely meant that she was going to get some attitude from the blonde this week. On the other hand if she turned Sabrina down, she'd feel terrible.

She closed her eyes for a moment to try to gather her thoughts. To turn Sabrina down most likely meant closing the door on their relationship and she didn't feel ready to do that. Because if she did, what was she left with? She wasn't willing to entertain the idea that Alison could ever be an option for her romantically. Alison had hurt her. Worse, Alison had left her. It was the opposite with Sabrina. When things got tough, she was there for Emily. When the brunette's world had turned upside down and she was dealing with the loss of her best friend, Sabrina hadn't bolted. She'd been patient and kind. She deserved something in return.

I should be able to make Friday work. Dinner? She texted. I can pick you up.

She didn't wait for a response. Instead, she plugged her phone back in and rolled over in the bed. She'd done enough thinking for one day.

—

The next week went by slow. It was freezing outside and Emily didn't leave the house unless she had to for work. Surprisingly, when she breached the topic of going out with Sabrina on Friday night, Alison had been pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. It made her think that the other shoe could drop at any time and Alison would flip her switch and start with the attitude treatment. She felt on edge throughout the week and tried to make up for it by doing extra things around the house. She offered to get both kids ready for bed by herself several times and cleaned the kitchen every night- even when she had been the one to cook. Alison had accepted the extra help and hadn't mentioned Emily's upcoming date, which the brunette felt extremely grateful for. She really didn't know if she could mentally withstand another setback in their relationship. She had told Alison that she would be back early and she planned to stick to that.

On Friday, she delegated swim practice duties to her assistants and left early to pick Ellie up from preschool. It was another task that normally was Alison's job, but Emily was really trying to go above and beyond to be helpful before the date. She had told Sabrina that she would pick her up around 5:00 which was significantly earlier than they normally met. Having an early date felt safe. She could pick Sabrina up, have dinner, drop her off, and be back home before 9:00pm. No risk of falling asleep, upsetting Alison, and in turn having to deal with the blonde shutting her out for a week.

She had a few minutes left before she needed to leave and was feeling content with everything finally. Alison was upstairs grabbing something from her room, Liam was crawling around his playpen, and Ellie was playing with her dolls nearby. She heard a knock at the door and furrowed her brows. Were they expecting anyone? She walked towards the door, wondering briefly if she and Sabrina had miscommunicated and the blonde had come to pick her up instead. When she opened the door though, it was wasn't Sabrina. It was another blonde, but not one that Emily knew.

"Hi," she tilted her head at the woman curiously. "Can I help you?"

The blonde woman didn't answer right away. She peered at Emily for a moment, squinting her eyes slightly. Her mouth eventually curved up into a smirk. "You're Emily," she said knowingly.

Emily's curiosity gave way to full blown confusion at the other woman's expression. "Do I know you…?" She asked slowly.

"I'm CeCe. CeCe Drake," the woman told her. She had the same smirk on her face as she spoke with one hip out and a slight head tilt. "I was looking for Ali. Is she here?"

Emily blinked several times, unable to answer the simple question. All that she could think was how similar this woman was to Alison. She had perfectly curled blonde hair, blue eyes, and impeccable style. Plus, to boot, their mannerisms were almost identical. They even sounded alike. It was uncanny.

"CeCe?"

A voice stirred Emily from her thoughts. She turned around to see Alison a third of the way down the staircase staring at the other blonde with wide eyes.

CeCe lifted her head towards the staircase. "Did you miss me?" She asked with a touch of amusement.

Alison huffed out a laugh in return and descended the stairs. She went right for the other blonde and gave her a big hug. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Emily was so thrown off by the encounter that she didn't know what to say. She'd never actually met anyone who was just Alison's friend before. That was what this woman was, right? A friend? She took a step back, feeling a little bit awkward when there was no formal introduction. She was about to run late anyway, maybe it was best to just leave.

"I was actually on my way out," she announced. She grabbed her keys and tossed her phone into her purse. "Did you need anything before I go?" She asked Alison.

The blonde, to her credit, picked up on Emily's interruption. She stepped back from CeCe and moved out of the doorway. "Nope, I'm good," she shook her head.

"Okay," Emily walked through the door. She uttered a weak goodbye that she wasn't sure if either woman heard.

The whole thing was weird. And of course the weirdness spilled into her date with Sabrina. She tried to be present and listen to what the other woman was saying, but her mind kept wandering to Alison's weird twin visitor. How did they know each other? Why hadn't Emily ever heard of her? Was she still at the house? Were they making sure that they were watching the kids?

"Emily." Sabrina stated seriously from across the table.

The brunette blinked several times. Shit, she had no idea what the other woman had been talking about. "I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I got distracted."

Sabrina poked her fork into her salad. "You seem to be really distracted today," she commented. She didn't sound pissed, more sad really.

Emily sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry." She repeated and shook her head to try to bring herself back to reality. "A friend of Alison's showed up like two minutes before I left. It kind of threw me off."

Sabrina eyed her briefly before taking a bite of tomato. She looked like she didn't really understand, but was trying to make sense of it. "And you were worried about leaving the kids?" She asked.

"No," Emily shook her head. She knew that the kids were Ali's first priority the way that they were for her too. "I've just never seen this girl before. It was bizarre."

"Do you not have friends that she's never met?" Sabrina asked, with some annoyance finally slipping into her tone.

"Of course I do…" Emily answered. She knew that she should probably drop it and avoid getting Sabrina pissed off at her, but she couldn't get the encounter out of her mind and wanted to talk it out with someone. "It's just this girl was exactly like her."

The other woman didn't appear interested. "That's probably why they're friends," she shrugged.

"No, I mean they even looked alike," Emily stressed with her brows raised in slight awe.

Sabrina stared a her for a moment. She had a look on her face that Emily had never seen before. Her eyes were more narrow than usual and her mouth was slightly ajar. "Are you jealous or something?" She finally asked.

"Am I-" Emily's brows contorted and her mouth hung open in shock. "What?"

Sabrina didn't respond. Instead she held Emily's gaze and raised her brows.

"I'm not jealous…" Emily told her. Her voice wasn't as confident as it could have been, but she was so thrown by the question. How did Sabrina get that from their conversation?

"I just don't understand why you care so much," Sabrina shrugged. She attempted to go back to her meal. She shifted the lettuce around on the plate several times, but didn't make a move to eat it.

"I don't know…" Emily finally spoke. She initially wanted to say that she didn't care very much, but that would be a lie. She couldn't get the mysterious girl at the door and her relationship with Alison out of her head.

Sabrina put her fork down finally. She looked back at Emily and let out a long exhale. She stayed quiet for a moment, looking torn. "Are you sleeping with her?" She asked the brunette seriously.

"What?!" Emily's eyes widened bigger than she thought possible.

The blonde exhaled again and tucked her lips in. "Please don't make me repeat that."

"No," Emily shook her head emphatically.

"Would you tell me if you were?" Sabrina asked.

"I'm not." It kind of pissed her off. Sure, her behavior was what had driven Sabrina to even ask at all, but she couldn't believe that she was actually being accused of the one thing that she had told herself that she would never do again.

"I'm sorry… I just had to ask," Sabrina shrugged again. "I mean you guys live together and I know what she looks like. You've hardly talked to me in weeks and now that we're finally together she's all that you want to talk about. What am I supposed to think?"

Emily rubbed at her face. "I don't know…" she mumbled into her hand.

She knew that she was somehow going to wind up feeling guilty at some point tonight- she'd just assumed that it would be Alison making her feel this way, not Sabrina. Maybe going out tonight was a mistake. She had thought she was doing the right thing, but right now it really didn't feel that way. She wasn't even sure what the right thing was anymore.

One thing was for sure, she was ready for the date to end before dinner was even over.

—

An hour later, after dropping off Sabrina and driving back to the house, Emily walked back up the the walkway to the front door. She paused before sticking her key in the lock. It was only eight o'clock, so of course the living room light was on, but she could hear Alison talking inside. She sucked a breath in through her nose and released it. She really didn't want to see that CeCe girl again so soon. She pushed the door opened and heard Alison's familiar giggle. Lately, she'd enjoyed hearing it from the blonde, but right now she felt annoyed. She walked in to the living room and immediately noticed that it wasn't CeCe sitting with Alison.

"Hi Emmy," her mother smiled from the couch.

The brunette stopped suddenly in the doorway and stared at the older woman. What in the world was her mother doing at the house on a Friday evening? Could this night get any worse? "Mom? What are you doing here?" She asked. She knew that her voice sounded annoyed, but she didn't have the energy to be any nicer right now.

"I brought over some of that cherry strudel that I was telling you about," Pam explained.

"It's really good, Em," Alison motioned towards a half-eaten piece of strudel on the coffee table.

Emily took in the glass of wine in Alison's hand and then looked over at her mother. Pam was sitting on the couch where Emily usually sat with a matching glass of wine in her hand. Great, so these two were just drinking together on a Friday night. She blinked several times, but didn't say anything. Instead she headed for the kitchen. She passed the strudel on the counter. Admittedly, it did look delicious, but she wasn't in the mood for desert right now. Instead, she grabbed the bottle of wine on the counter and poured a glass for herself. She deserved a drink after the night she'd had. She inhaled deeply and then took a long sip from the glass before walking back to the living room.

"I didn't know you liked wine, sweetie," she mother commented when Emily sat down next to her.

She didn't respond. She just shrugged and took another sip.

"I'll take responsibility for that," Alison laughed.

Usually Emily would laugh along. Her newfound taste for wine had been somewhat of an inside joke between them lately, but she wasn't in the mood for the banter tonight.

The room was quiet for a few moments before her mother spoke again. "So how was your date?" She asked.

Emily glared at her. She knew that if her mother knew that the answer was 'not good' that she would revel in it and she didn't feel like giving the other woman that right now. "It was fine," she lied through gritted teeth with a tone that clearly didn't invite any follow up questions.

Pam left shortly after that, much to Emily's relief. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her mother… it was just that she didn't really want to see anyone right now. She hated the way that things had gone with Sabrina tonight. In the moment, she's been pissed off and even offended that Sabrina would suggest she was sleeping with Alison. The feelings had dissipated somewhat on her drive home though. It was so out of character for Sabrina to ask her something like that. Emily knew that it hadn't come from no where. It had come out because she was hardly speaking to the blonde anymore. It all just made Emily feel like shit.

"Did you want to finish this with me?" Alison walked back into the living room to break up her thoughts. She was holding the wine bottle up showing that there was just a little bit left.

Emily looked at the liquid. It wasn't very much, maybe a half of a glass for each of them. She was tired, but didn't mind staying up just a little bit later. "Sure," she nodded. She held out her glass for Alison to pour it in.

The blonde emptied the rest of the wine into her own glass and sat down on the opposite couch. She looked comfy with her legs tucked underneath her. She didn't say anything initially, giving Emily an opening, but after several quiet moments she finally spoke up. "Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," Emily answered softly. She didn't really know how to open up to the blonde about everything that was going on in her head. She wasn't really sure if there was anyone that she could talk about everything with at all. Everyone knew bits and pieces, but there wasn't anyone in Emily's life that would have the full story. Maybe Toby, but that wasn't an option anymore.

"Were you mad at your mom or something?" Alison wondered.

Emily sighed. She knew that she had taken out some of her frustrations out on her mother when she got back and she genuinely felt bad about that. Just another person that she felt like she owed an apology to tonight. She shook her head in response and took a sip from her glass. "I'm just kind of having a shitty night," she told her.

Alison twisted her lips. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Emily shrugged. It wasn't. Not really. She really didn't know whose fault it was. It was quiet for a moment and she took another sip of her drink. "I just didn't want my mom to have the satisfaction of knowing that I had a shitty night," she divulged.

"Why would that make her happy?" Alison pushed her brows together.

Emily gave a sheepish look. "Because of who I was with," she confessed.

The blonde took in the information, processing it silently. "Why doesn't she like…"

"I don't know! She literally never did anything wrong," Emily huffed. She opted not to fill in Sabrina's name, mostly because she was pretty sure that Ali knew it and was deliberately choosing to leave it out. "She just makes opinions sometimes based on whatever she wants and doesn't change them."

"Glad she decided she likes me," Alison chucked.

Emily raised her brows and shook her head with a little laugh. "She really does." She could see why her mother liked Alison. The blonde was always all smiles and polite conversation when she was with the older woman.

"So what else happened that your night was shitty?" Alison asked.

The brunette kept quiet initially. She didn't really want to get into specifics with Sabrina. She took another sip of her wine and sighed. "I'm just sick of feeling like I'm being an asshole to everyone," she confided.

Alison pushed her brows together. "You're not an asshole to me," she shrugged a shoulder.

"I try not to be," Emily chuckled.

"I'm sure I make that very easy," Alison rolled her eyes playfully and took a sip of her wine.

The truth was that lately, she had made it easy. A lot easier than the first few months anyway. But Emily wouldn't tell her that. "So what about your night?" She decided to redirect the conversation. "Who was that girl that stopped by?" She figured maybe she could use this as an opportunity to get some information.

"CeCe?" Alison asked.

Emily nodded to confirm, as if Alison had people stopping by the house to see her all of the time.

"She's… a friend," Alison answered. "From Paris."

The brunette took in the information. "You two are like twins," she commented.

Alison laughed, "We spent a lot of time together. She lived in the same building as me, just a couple floors below."

Emily nodded again. That all made sense. "So is she here to visit you, or?" She wanted to ask 'what is she doing here' but rephrased it at the last minute. She didn't need to add Alison to her list of pissed off people today.

"She was actually in the States for a family thing," Alison explained. "She's from New York and she came here afterwards to visit. I didn't call her right away when everything happened with Spence and Toby and she felt bad that she couldn't be here," she shrugged.

That all made sense. Emily had felt the same way at the time. In between dealing with her grief and trying to figure out how she and Alison were going to be able to be co-guardians together she hadn't been able to reach out to everyone in her life. She didn't know what she was supposed to say. 'Hey I know we haven't spoken for a few months, but I just thought I'd tell you that my best friend passed away'. There was no right answer at the time.

"I'm glad you guys got to visit with each other. How long did she stay?" She asked.

"Mmm," Alison thought. "I guess a half hour or so before I took Ellie and Liam up to get them ready for bed."

"That's a nice visit," Emily nodded. At least one of them seemed to have a good night.

"Yeah…" Alison played with the stem of her glass for a second. "I think she's going to hang around before going back to France. She actually… asked if we could do something next Friday. Do you have a meet that day?"

"No," Emily shook her head. "You should definitely take a night out."

"Yeah?" Alison asked.

"Of course," Emily nodded. "Especially after you watched the kids while I was out tonight. I just hope you have a better time than I did." She knew that Alison had been lonely the last few months and she was happy that she had a friend in town. Sure, she thought CeCe was a little odd, but she figured she would get over it. She tilted her glass and finished her wine. "I think I'm going to head to bed."

Alison nodded and followed suit. They parted ways and Emily headed to her bedroom. Surprisingly, she felt much less tense than she had when she had walked through the door two hours ago. A part of it was the wine she'd drank. A bigger part of it, though, was talking to Alison. It was nice to vent a little and she was glad to get some clarity on who that mystery visitor was.

When they'd first moved in to the house together, Alison's presence made her constantly feel uneasy. She had to get over her initial negative feeling and get through entire days where she felt like she was walking on egg shells. It felt different now, almost like Alison was becoming a calming force in her life. It was a nice thought to go to bed to that night.

As the next week got into motion, there were plenty of developments to keep Emily's mind busy. Monday was a normal workday. She got through her daily routine at the school and ended the work day with a nice productive practice with her swim team. Alison usually did dinner on Monday's, and when she walked into the frontdoor she was greeted with the smell of something delicious. It was ironically funny, because when she'd known Alison years ago, she could never picture the other woman taking the time to cook a full dinner. Now, the blonde cooked even better than Emily.

The kitchen was a familiar scene of the other three that she'd come home to many times before. The blonde was stirring something in a saucepan over the stove, while Ellie was coloring in a book on the table. Liam was sitting in his highchair with tiny bit sized pieces of food and an alphabet block on his tray. His eyes immediately lit up when Emily entered the room. It made Emily smile. The kids had been the brightest thing in her life after losing her best friends. There was nothing like coming home and seeing Liam's grin full of baby teeth or being tackled by Ellie in the doorway. As she made her way over to the toddler she heard something new that made her stop completely.

"Eh-MMMM," Liam babbled in Emily's direction, bobbing his body excitedly.

Alison turned from the spot she'd been standing at and looked towards the baby with wide eyes before snapping her head towards Emily. "Did he just…?"

Emily eyed Alison briefly and took another step towards Liam.

"Eh-MMMMMA," he repeated, this time with more force.

"Holy shit," the blonde slipped.

"Ali!" Emily scolded the blonde. She saw Alison slap a hand over her mouth and hoped that Ellie hadn't heard too clearly. She walked over towards Liam bent down to his level. "What did you say buddy?" She asked. When he didn't respond, she prodded. "Did you say Em?"

"Ehhhhhh," he opened his mouth and let out another sound.

"Can you say Aunt Em?" Emily asked again.

"Eh-MMMMMMM," the baby repeated, dragging the mmm sound even longer.

Ellie jumped up from her spot at the table and ran towards the high chair. "He said your name!" She cheered.

"I think he did," Emily beamed at the little girl.

"Can you say Aunt Ali," Alison asked as she joined them by the high chair.

"AnnnnAli!" Ellie answered with another chair.

"Not you, Els," Alison laughed.

"Ahhh," Liam piped up.

Alison's eyes went wide with excitement waiting for him to finish her name.

"Eh-MM," Liam repeated Emily's name again causing Alison's face to fall.

"Aw, he'll get it," Emily laughed at the blonde. She unsnapped Liam from his high chair and pulled him out into her arms. "Way to go, buddy!" She smiled excitedly and pulled his face close to hers. Liam giggled and tangled his tiny fists into Emily's hair. Below them, Ellie started laughing and jumping up and down to share in the excited. Emily took it in, because moments like this were ones that she wanted to remember forever. They were the kind of moments that could get her through even her worst day.

Monday's excited eventually faded, but Emily carried the happiness through the rest of the week. Her team had a tough meet on Wednesday and each swimmer over performed, with several getting personal best times. She and Alison had a fairly drama free week with the kids and had gotten along together. She felt so much better than she had after her date with Sabrina. She had even called her mother multiple times to catch up, which she knew made the other woman happy. That left just one person that she wanted to make things right with from the previous week…

Friday morning, Emily left the house early so that she could stop by The Brew on her way into school. She figured that today was a good time to stop, because Alison was going out tonight and she had to be home with the kids. She wouldn't feel guilty if Sabrina happened to ask what she was doing.

As usual, The Brew was buzzing with its early morning crowd. Emily walked through the door and searched the front area for Sabrina. She was hard to miss. Her blonde her was slightly messy, likely from the busy morning, and she had it pulled half back with a sky blue headband. She handed a customer a coffee and laughed at something the man said. When the path cleared, Sabrina made eye contact with her. Her expression morphed to a slightly more tentative one, but a small smile remained on her face. Emily took that as a positive sign and walked up to the counter.

"Morning," she greeted. She smiled back at Sabrina, hoping that the other woman was happy to see her. They hadn't spoken all week and after their date-gone-wrong she felt a little bit like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"Feels more like afternoon here," Sabrina gave a light laugh. "It's been crazy busy."

"Busy is good, right?"

"I guess so," Sabrina shrugged. "How was your week?"

"It was good," Emily let a smile slip. "The kids are good. Work is good…." She trailed off. "I can't complain."

"That's good," Sabrina pushed her lips together and nodded.

"Yeah…" Emily breathed out. She felt awkward all of the sudden. She'd come to clear the air and knew that she had to start somewhere. She quick glanced over her shoulder to be sure that no other patrons were waiting in line. "Listen, I wanted to apologize for the way that our date went last Friday."

Sabrina glanced around the room with her eyes. When she returned her gaze to Emily, she let out a sigh. "I shouldn't have accused you of that," she shook her head.

It had hurt Emily in the moment, but probably not for the reasons that Sabrina thought. "I understand why you did, though," she lifted a shoulder and gave a light shrug. "I'm sorry for making you feel that way. I'm trying to keep everything together, but I don't think I've got it figured out yet." She wasn't exactly sure if she ever would. She was doing everything she could to keep things normal on the outside, but inside she just felt like a confused mess most of the time. She felt like she was failing, but she didn't really know what to do to fix it.

To Emily's surprise, Sabrina reached across the glass countertop and found her hand. She gave it a light squeeze and looked back to the brunette's face. She sighed again. "I know you're trying."

There was something about the action that made Emily's chest and throat feel tight. She wasn't sure where the emotion was coming from, but it was almost as if she was about to cry. She try to swallow it down. She couldn't just start crying in the middle of The Brew. "You've been so patient with me…" she pushed her lips together and looked away.

Sabrina squeezed her hand again. "I'll keep being patient with you." She tilted her head to find Emily's eyes again. "If you want me to…?

She nodded immediately. Sabrina had made her feel cared for even before her life was turned upside These days she craved for someone to care for her. She spent everyday trying to make sure that she got everything done and checked the boxes. The kids where good, Alison was happy, her swimmers were successful… but Emily? She felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown every few days.

"Can I ask you something?" Sabrina disconnected their hands and took a step back.

Emily raised her brows. "Yeah," she answered, though she was a little bit nervous where the question was headed.

"Would you be upset if I slept with someone else?" Sabrina asked.

"What?" Emily's eyes went wide. Was this a trick question? Or…?

Sabrina stood across from her with an unreadable expression. She didn't make any moves to elaborate.

"I don't know if I would have the right to be, but yeah," Emily nodded. "I'd be upset." She wasn't sure if she would be mad at Sabrina or mad at herself because her lack of attention would have likely caused it, but the reality was that she didn't feel ready to let the blonde go yet.

"That's all I needed to know," Sabrina gave a half smile. "Want me to grab your usual?"

Emily coughed out a laugh. She blinked a few times to get her bearings after the other woman had switched gears so fast. "Um, that would be great, yeah."

She ran her hands through her hair as Sabrina turned and headed for the expresso machine to make her drink. She let out a long breath that she hadn't realized she'd been keeping in. That had gone well enough. Maybe she was capable of keeping everyone in her life happy. If everyone in her life was happy, that meant that she could be, right?

In time that Sabrina made the drink, a new line had formed behind the brunette. They said their goodbyes and Emily felt a sense of accomplishment as she walked away. She was slightly distracted in her thoughts and she didn't notice a different blonde sitting by herself at a table in the middle of the room until a voice called out to her.

"Not going to stop and say hi?"

Emily pinched her brows together at the tone. It sounded almost teasing, as if this person knew her well, but when she turned to look in the direction of the voice she realized that it was coming from someone whom she hardly knew at all. "CeCe?" She stopped walking next to the woman's table.

"Let me guess… Americano?" CeCe lifted her chin towards Emily's cup.

"It's- it is… yeah," The brunette fumbled over her words. How would CeCe know her drink order?

"I've heard those are good," the blonde lifted her brows slightly. "Hot… strong…"

"I- I like them. They're… pretty good." Similar to the first time they'd met, she was having trouble keeping up in conversation with this woman. When she spoke, it was like her mind was already two steps ahead of Emily's. There was something about CeCe's tone that seemed like she knew more than she was letting on.

"Do you come here often?" CeCe asked with an innocent blink of her lashes.

"I do, yeah. It's on my way to work," she nodded. "What brings you here?" She meant the coffee shop, but if the blonde wanted to elaborate in general, Emily didn't mind.

"Ali recommended it," CeCe told her. She took a sip of her drink.

That made sense. "Are you guys doing dinner tonight still?" Emily asked.

"We're going out later, yeah," CeCe smirked.

Emily wasn't sure what to make of the other woman's expression. She tried to ignore it and push the conversation forward. "I'm sure it will be a fun time." She pushed her lips together and nodded. She didn't really know what else to say.

CeCe eyed her, holding the gaze for several seconds. She took another sip of her drink and was silent for a moment.

Emily was ready to say her goodbyes. She was probably running late for work now and being stuck in this awkward encounter wasn't really a reason that she wanted to give her boss. Before she could say anything, CeCe spoke again.

"This doesn't have to be weird, you know," she told Emily with a casual tone.

"Weird?" Emily tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

CeCe breathed a short chuckle from her nose. "You know…" She tilted her head to match Emily's and let the insinuation hang in the air for a moment. When the brunette didn't respond, she went ahead and filled the gap. "Because we've both slept with the same girl."

—

A/N - Oh hey CeCe! That one is going to throw Emily for a loop! And just when she though she finally had everything under control…

I know that this chapter was a little shorter, but it made the most sense to cut it here with all that is coming up. Hint - another flashback next chapter!

If you guys are still with me, do me a favor and throw in a review to let me know that there are still people out there who want updates. Looking forward to sharing more with you guys! Thanks again!