Alex was used to being the only early riser in the house – partly because she needed to get up to start some of the doughs so they had time to set before she baked them, partly because everyone else enjoyed sleeping in. She didn't mind, though, because it gave her time to think without Ethan talking her ear off.. But on that day, she wasn't the first one awake.

She arrived in the kitchen to find that the coffee pot had already been started and the radio had been tuned to a station broadcasting all Christmas music, all the time. Almost immediately, she was swept into a warm embrace as Fran Morgan murmured a greeting in her ear.

"I'm not used to having other early risers in the house," Alex remarked as Fran released her from the embrace. "Usually I don't hear another voice for at least an hour and a half..."

Fran nodded knowingly. "Derek has always been a sleepyhead, ever since he was a little boy..."

Alex laughed softly. "Emily too. I swear, she'd sleep through the entire day if she didn't set at least five alarms."

"Ah, you and Emily... How is that going?" Fran asked, moving to pour them both a cup of coffee.

Alex blinked in surprise for a moment, not having realized Fran knew about their relationship. "Emily and I?" she asked. She knew, of course, what Fran was getting at, but she didn't want to come right out and admit to everything...

Fran gave her a look that only a mother could. "You didn't think the two of you were being subtle, did you?" she said. "I saw the way the two of you look at each other as if you were the only two people in the room."

"I... I didn't..." she stammered, mind going completely blank and words failing her for one of the only times in her life.

"And it doesn't help that Ethan can't stop talking about her as if she'd hung the moon," Fran added. "That boy is truly enamoured with her."

Alex had to concede that that was true. "Emily and I are..." she started to say, but then realized she didn't know how to finish that sentence. What were they? As far as she knew, Emily would be leaving in less than a week...and yet, barely twelve hours ago, she'd blurted out that she loved Emily. God, how could she be so stupid!?

She seemed to realize then that she'd been silent for an awfully long time and Fran was staring at her expectantly, apparently awaiting an answer she wasn't sure existed. "Emily and I are...fine," she finished lamely.

Fran raised a brow. "Just fine?" she asked. She clearly wasn't satisfied with that answer and wasn't about to rest until she'd gotten a clearer picture.

Alex shrugged. She didn't know how to describe what they were and wasn't sure Fran was the person to air their dirty laundry in front of. Not that she thought Fran was going to judge her...but she still didn't want to disappoint the closest thing she had to a mother by telling her the whole truth.

"The best relationships are always complicated at first," Fran said knowingly, sipping her coffee with a little knowing smirk.

"I don't know about that," Alex said with a nervous laugh. "I'm not sure it qualifies as a relationship, even. I mean..." She sighed, shook her head, really not wanting to get into the finer points of friends with benefits relationship with Fran. "I don't know what I mean."

Fran, though, seemed to know exactly what she meant, though. "You love her, but you're uncertain your affections are returned and you're not willing to risk your heart a second time, even if that means you miss out on something wonderful because at least you know you can't get hurt alone."

Alex blinked in stunned silence for a moment. "How... How do you know all that?"

Fran simply said, "I'm a mother, dear."

And, whether it was because she truly needed a mother's opinion on the matter or because she simply needed to get it off her chest, Alex found herself spilling the truth to Fran, apparently unable to stem the verbal tide now that she'd gotten started. "I want her to stay..."

"But?" Fran prompted.

"But she's made it abundantly clear that she has no plans to remain here. And I certainly can't uproot my entire life to follow her to London – and perhaps it's selfish of me to ask her to do the same thing I'm unwilling to, but I have to think of Ethan..."

"Have you told her that?" Fran asked.

Alex sighed. "We've discussed her leaving, but..."

Fran interrupted to ask, "Have you told her you want her to stay, though? Maybe she's simply waiting for you to ask her."

"She knows that it's what I want."

Raising a brow, Fran said, "Does she? She isn't a mind reader, Dear. She can't know that it's what you want if you don't explicitly tell her so..."

"That's a good point, I guess..." Alex admitted.

Fran patted her hand. "Trust me, Dear. You don't get to be my age without learning a few things about the inner workings of the human heart."

"Thank you," Alex whispered. "I think I needed a mother's advice here. Since my mom passed, I've really missed her no-holds-barred brand of guidance.

"You can come to me anytime," Fran said with a warm smile. "I think of you like one of my children."

At that moment, Derek came trudging into the kitchen, stifling a yawn. "Morning, Mama," he mumbled sleepily.

"Speak of the Devil..."

"Devil?" he repeated, incredulous. "I've barely been awake five minutes and I'm already the Devil?"

Fran laughed, stood to kiss him on the cheek, but made no move to rescind her assessment.

Turning to Alex, he said, "You see what I have to put up with?"

Smirking, Alex said, "You listen to your mother – she's a very wise woman."