Emily entered Dawn's office to find her staring daggers at her phone. Taking the seat across the desk from her, she said nothing, watching Dawn in anticipation of an explanation for her apparent bad mood. When no words seemed forthcoming, though, she remarked, "Practising our pyrokinesis are we?"

As if only just noticing her presence, Dawn looked up sharply from her phone, eyes wide in surprise.

Her surprise confused Emily, given they were supposed to grab dinner together, now that her shift was over. "Everything okay?" she asked.

Dawn nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again. "It's fine," she said, though she said it in such a way that it seemed she was trying to convince herself of that.

Even more dubious now, Emily said, "Are you sure?"

"We're invited to a baby shower," Dawn said in way of explanation, though said explanation seemed to leave more questions than it did answers.

"And you're mad because...?" she prompted.

Dawn shook her head, seemed about to argue that assessment, but instead just sighed, shook her head again, saying nothing.

Raising a brow, Emily asked, "Whose baby shower?"

"Alex's," she answered in a small voice.

For a moment, Emily remained silently surprised. Then, just to be sure, she said, "Alex as in..."

She nodded, finished for her, "The woman Charlie left me for."

Suddenly, Dawn's irritation made perfect sense. Emily could only imagine the kind of feelings it would bring up to have your ex-husband's new fiancee announce their pregnancy and then, to add insult to injury, be invited to the celebration of said pregnancy.

"Why does she get everything?" Dawn burst out, surprising both of them with her sudden vehemence. "Why does she get a baby without even trying?" She looked up at Emily with tears glinting in her eyes. "Why can't anything come easy for us?"

With a sympathetic sigh, Emily moved to kneel in front of her, resting her hands on her knees. "I wish I had a good answer for you," she said honestly. "I've seen enough of this world to know that things are really fucking unfair."

Dawn scoffed because no shit...

Emily continued, "But just because it's unfair doesn't mean it's bad. At least, not all bad." A beat. "Just because she's having a baby doesn't mean we can't or won't," she insisted. "I know it hurts, but maybe the right thing to do is to go and show our support."

Dawn stared at her pointedly for several moments, seemingly not entirely certain she'd heard correctly. "You want to go to Alex's baby shower?" she eventually repeated, voice dripping with skepticism.

"Maybe?" she said with a sheepish shrug, lacking her previous conviction. "I mean, ultimately, it's your decision. She's your coworker."

"I hate it when you're right," Dawn said by way of greeting when she arrived home from work.

Emily frowned, stood from the table where she was typing up case reports, and crossed the room to kiss her. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific," she said, "I'm right about so many things..."

Dawn rolled her eyes, but couldn't help her smile. "In this instance, I'm referring to Alex's baby shower," she admitted. "I think we should go."

If Emily seemed surprised by her sudden concession, she wisely didn't say so. "I'm proud of you," she did say in a gentle murmur.

"For what?"

"I know this isn't easy for you – for a lot of reasons. It takes a lot of strength to put all the past bullshit behind you for the sake of being a supportive friend," she said.

Dawn pursed her lips. "I don't know that I'd call it friends, per se," she muttered, just loud enough for Emily to hear.

Shaking her head fondly, Emily just sighed. "You know I don't buy this whole ice queen act, right?" she said with a quirked brow.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

She just laughed softly. "Much as you love to deny it, you're softer than you'd dare let anyone see."

Humming a soft note, she said, "I'm not entirely certain that's a compliment." It was mostly joking...mostly. Because Dawn knew she was a lot of things, but warm wasn't one of them.

"Not even if I'm the one saying it?" Emily asked, brow quirked, smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Dawn simply responded with a pointed look that said she was clearly still uncertain...about the source and the words themselves.

Emily just laughed, shaking her head fondly. She cupped Dawn's cheek, pulled her in for a kiss. "I know you're still unsure about this whole baby shower thing, but I promise it won't be as bad as you think."

"No, you're right, it will be worse. A room full of people I work with celebrating the woman Charlie replaced me with and every single one of them will be giving me sidelong glances because they all know I'm the one he cast aside."

"So, bring me with you," Emily countered.

A beat passed, during which Dawn looked at her like she had lost her mind completely. "You want to go to a baby shower?" she asked. "It's going to be everything you hate..."

"True," she conceded, "But I'm happy to endure a few hours of mindless small talk if it will take some of the heat off of you." Dawn still didn't seem convinced. "No one is going to give a moment's thought to your past when you show up with your lesbian fiancee on your arm." She paused for a moment in thought. "Though, it will almost certainly open up an entirely new set of rumours, but..." She shrugged, smirked. "That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

Dawn stared at her for several moments with wide-eyed surprise.

"What?"

"Well, it's not the worst idea I've ever heard..." she admitted slowly. "I mean, it's certainly not the best one either."

Emily smirked. "But...?"

"But if you're willing to join me, I'm not going to stop you," she said, the layer of playfulness under her pointed words slowly slipping out.