Gail's heart was beating a mile a minute. She couldn't be sure if it was the kiss she just shared with Holly or the fact that the sudden banging on the car window almost gave her a heart attack.

"Auntie Holly!" came a little voice from the other side of the door, and then suddenly two little hands could be seen banging on the window once more. Gail let out a little chuckle when a mop of brown hair bounced in and out of view.

Holly couldn't help but laugh too when she opened the door slightly to reveal an excited little boy, no older than four years of age. "Jack, why aren't you in bed? It is way past your bedtime!"

Just then, a slightly older looking Holly ran alongside and swooped the little boy up into her arms. "I'm so sorry, He was in bed, but then I saw him sneak out the front door and run straight to your car. I couldn't catch him in time."

"Jackson, you know you are not allowed to leave the house without your mommy's permission," Holly scolded as she stepped out of the car.

"Auntie Holly!" the little boy exclaimed. "You look so pretty," he complemented, flashing the most innocent smile as his mom placed him back on the ground.

Gail couldn't help but chuckle at the serious avoidance skills the little boy had, whether he did it on purpose or not.

Holly knelt down in front of him. "I'm serious, Jack. You can't leave the house like that. It is very dangerous."

"I know," the boy said softly, hanging his head. "I won't do it again."

"Promise?" asked Holly, dipping her head slightly to regain eye contact.

"Promise," he replied as he looked straight at his aunt. "I really like your hair. It's so pretty," he said, reaching up and running his hands through her hair.

Gail couldn't help but chuckle again. This boy was smooth!

"You do look really nice," Susan agreed, looking her sister up and down as Holly stood up again. "Oh my gosh, I've interrupted a date!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry," she added. She then bent down slightly to pop her head into the car. "I'm so sorry" she apologized to Gail.

"Susan, this is Gail. Gail, this is my sister, Susan," Holly introduced the two.

"Oooh, she's lovely" Susan whispered loudly to Holly as she stood up again. "But seriously, had I known, I would have called someone else."

"Don't worry about it," Gail called out. She leaned across the car to look up out of the passenger side door. "Family comes first," she said with a smile.

Holly couldn't hide her own huge smile that spread across her face as she watched Gail awkwardly try to be part of the conversation stretching across the front seat by bracing herself against the center console. She turned to look at her sister. "Don't worry about it. Like Gail said, family comes first."

"Oh but I feel so bad," Susan continued, looking at Holly, and then bending down to look into the car again. "Please come inside," she said to Gail. "At least have a cup of coffee. I've got decaf," she finished with a flash of a smile.

Gail sighed. Clearly her kryptonite was that lopsided Stewart smile, no matter which Stewart it was coming from. Gail continued to strain across the seat to look up at Holly then back at Susan. "Um…I could go for some coffee," she shrugged. She couldn't help but shake her head at the gleeful noise that came from Susan. She turned off the car and stepped out.

"Perfect!" Susan said with a clap. "I'll leave it to you," she said, winking at Holly. "I'm just going to grab my bag and head out. It was nice meeting you," she said, waving to Gail.

"Nice meeting you too," Gail smiled as she walked around the car to stand beside Holly.

In mid-turn,Susan stopped. She stood there for a moment, looking at her sister and her date. She couldn't help but think how good they looked together. She bit her tongue so as to not say it outloud. "Okay, okay, I'd love to chat and share embarrassing stories about Holly, but I've got to run," Susan smiled before turning again and running into the house.

Gail and Holly could only share a quick look before they were rejoined by Susan. "Alright, I will see you all later. You know where everything is. Um…he should have been bed like two hours ago, so best of luck with that, and feel free to help yourself to the wine that's in the fridge," Susan added before jumping into her car.

"She seems nice," Gail said as she watched Holly's sister start up the car.

"She has her moments," Holly responded as Susan carefully backed down the driveway, giving one last wave before driving down the street.

Once the car had disappeared around the corner, Holly turned to look at Gail. "Um…you don't have to stay. I know you were just saying it to make Susan feel better."

Gail couldn't help but chuckle. "Trust me, I said yes for purely selfish reasons," she winked, "someone promised me coffee," she smiled, earning a slap to the arm from Holly.

"And here I thought you were excited to spend some extra time with me," Holly chuckled, pretending to be insulted.

"More than you know," Gail said with a straight face, causing Holly's heart to flutter once more.

"Um…well, right this way," Holly said as she walked towards the house with the little boy trudging alongside, his little hand in her own. Holly's heart was beating a mile a minute.

Gail smiled to herself. Never in a million years would she agree to babysit on a date, and yet with Holly, she wanted to be nowhere else.

Gail volunteered to get the coffee going while Holly put her nephew back to bed. Thankfully the boy was truly exhausted and went to bed without a fuss. Holly stopped in the bathroom to freshen up a little before heading down. When she did make her way downstairs, she found Gail standing in the living room, looking at some pictures on the fireplace mantle.

"Are all Stewarts so photogenic?" Gail asked without turning to look at Holly.

"How did you know I was here?" Holly said, shocked that Gail knew she was standing there at the doorway. She had approached so quietly and was actually proud of her stealthiness.

"Oh, I didn't. I've just spent the last ten minutes saying the same line over and over again," Gail laughed, turning to look at Holly, "but seriously, the camera loves all of you," she said, holding up a framed family photo.

Holly walked over to her, and took the frame from Gail, looking down at it. It was taken at the last Stewart Christmas three years ago. She had flown back to Toronto from San Francisco. She remembers how much she debated calling Gail up, but decided against it because she was only going to be in town for a couple of days. Now she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she did.

Gail reached across and gently placed her hand on Holly's arm. "Hey, everything okay?" she asked softly.

"Um…yeah, um…it's just hard to believe how big Jack has gotten," she covered.

"They do grow fast, don't they? I remember when Leo was so small, and now he is almost as tall as me. It's kind of scary."

"You can say that again," Holly laughed. "Why don't you pick something to watch on the tv, and I'll go get the coffee."

"Actually, um…I was wondering if we could talk," Gail blurted out, shocked by her own confidence to suggest such a thing.

"Oh, yeah, of course. Do you still want some coffee?" Holly asked, feeling suddenly very nervous.

"Maybe after," Gail said, taking hold of Holly's hand and leading her to the couch. "I just want to get this over and done with before I lose my nerve," she admitted.

"Okay, you are making me really nervous. Should I be concerned?" Holly said, sitting down on the couch and watching as Gail sat down beside her.

Gail didn't bother turning to look at Holly. She simply looked down at her own hands. She took a deep breath before beginning. "Holly, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that I didn't keep in touch when you went to San Francisco. I should have done more and I didn't. I was too focused on feeling sorry for myself and it was easier for me to forget you existed than to deal with what I was feeling when you left," she said all in one breath.

Holly felt a pang of hurt when she heard Gail's words. She sat there looking at the officer. She was never positive if Gail really cared when she left, and now she knows and knowing the truth was painful. "Gail, Gail, please look at me," Holly said gently as she reached out and placed her hand on top of Gail's. "I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"No, no. I don't need you to apologize. You left for a very good reason. If I had been a better girlfriend, maybe you would have wanted to stay. I don't blame you for going."

"No, Gail. You can't say that either. I wanted you to come with me. Remember?"

"I know, but…"

"But the timing wasn't right. I understand that Gail. It has nothing to do with you being a good girlfriend or not. And trust me, Gail. I have missed you more than I can explain," Holly said with a huff, standing up from the couch. She began to pace the room. "I was being so stubborn. I wanted to succeed in San Francisco, while at the same time, I was miserable. I was so focused on my career that I totally gave up on living my life. I gave up on you. I gave up on us."

Gail stood up from the couch and in front of Holly, blocking her pacing. "Holly. You are not stubborn. You have all the right to want to succeed. That doesn't mean you are stubborn and it doesn't mean you gave up on us."

Holly looked straight at Gail. "But I did. I left. And to make it worse, I wasn't happy," Holly admitted.

Gail looked endearingly at Holly. She believed everything Holly was saying and it broke her heart. She reached up and gently placed her hand on Holly's cheek. "You are absolutely amazing, I hope you know that."

"How can you say that?" Holly sighed.

"Because I know. For Pete's sake, who stops an awesome date to help out their sister? Only amazing people," Gail smiled. "I understand why you went to San Francisco. I'm not blaming you for anything that happened. I'm incredibly happy you are back, and I guess I'm just bringing all this up because I was hoping you wanted to maybe try again."

Holly looked at Gail. A single tear slid down her cheek. Gail used her thumb to gently brush it away. "I would love to try again. I've missed you so much," Holly sighed as she took a step closer to Gail.

Gail placed both hands on Holly's face, pulling her in for a soft kiss, just like the one they shared in the car prior to being interrupted. Gail couldn't stop the giggle that slipped out mid-kiss.

Holly pulled back in surprise. "What is so funny?" Holly asked, very perplexed that Gail chose to laugh at this particular time. "This is not exactly the best time to get the giggles."

"I'm so sorry. I was just thinking about how the kiss we shared in the car was so rudely interrupted," Gail laughed out loud.

Holly let out her own laugh as she thought about the little hands that reached the window just enough to scare her silly. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about that," Holly said, resting her head against Gail's shoulder.

Gail merely wrapped her arms around Holly's waist and pulled her closer, enjoying the moment of laughter. "It's okay. At least it wasn't your parents. That would have been so embarrassing," Gail said as she continued to laugh.

Holly couldn't help but laugh right along beside her.

When the laughter finally died down, Gail took Holly's hand and led her back to the couch. Sitting down, she continued the conversation. "But I need to take things slow," she admitted.

Holly looked at her. She totally understood where Gail was coming from. And while Holly desperately wanted things to continue like nothing changed, she knew that Gail was right.

Gail continued when Holly didn't say anything. "I know that it might not be what you were hoping, and it isn't exactly what I'm hoping either, I want nothing more than to go back to the way we were, but at the same time, I've changed, and I have a feeling you've changed, and well, I want to do this properly," Gail sighed.

"That sounds like a great plan," Holly smiled. "When I first got back here, I was scared you wouldn't talk to me at all. Then that first day when you disappeared at the crime scene, it kind of made my worst theory come true. So to be here with you now, knowing that you are not shutting me out completely is more than I could ever ask for."

Gail sat there, taking in what Holly was saying. She was grateful that Holly wasn't pressuring her for more, and wasn't leaving because Gail wasn't ready. "Thank you, Holly" she said in almost a whisper.

Holly smiled at her. "Nothing to thank me for. I'm just happy to be spending time with you. If you told me you just wanted to be friends or even just colleagues, I would have been a little disappointed, but still happy to be in your life again."

Gail let out a big sigh. She had been worried about talking to Holly about this. Now she's not sure why.

Holly continued, "We will go at whatever pace you are comfortable with. You just let me know, okay?"

"Okay," Gail smiled.