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"Syd?" Vaughn glanced at his watch. "Are you ready?"

"No…" her voice called out from the bedroom. "Give me fifteen minutes."

Shaking his head, Vaughn turned to the bench where Emilie was already secured in her capsule. "This, Em, is what we call a 'Francie' moment," he said. "Promise me that you will never, ever have one, ok? At least in my presence."

Emilie just stared at him with her clear and unblinking eyes and Vaughn had to laugh. "Who am I kidding?"

"Who are you kidding?" Sydney asked walking out of the hall as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

"Myself." Vaughn replied. "So, can we go?"

"Yeah…I just have to grab a few things for Boo," Sydney mused out loud as she headed across to Emilie's room. "We're not late, are we?"

"Well, actually—" Vaughn stopped as the phone rang. "Hello?" he said, picking it up.

"Michael, it's Francie. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Syd is just channelling you tonight." Vaughn replied.

"Oh, ok." Francie let out a laugh. "We were just getting a little worried."

"Well, if things keep progressing as they are, we should be about twenty minutes."

"Ok then. See you then."

"Who was that?" Sydney asked, exiting Emilie's room, a nappy bag slung over her shoulder.

"Francie." Vaughn said. "Wondering where we were."

Sydney bit her bottom lip. "Are we that late?" she asked.

"Just a bit," Vaughn replied, lifting the capsule off the bench. "So I suggest we leave before she comes knocking on the door."

"Ok then, Eric," Francie challenged. "After all the free desserts that I have sprung you, I think the least you can do is dedicate a song to me on your show."

Weiss swallowed his mouthful of fried rice before answering. "I play one for you everyday, Francie. You just haven't picked up on it."

Francie's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Yeah, every time I play something like Bowie's 'Queen Bitch' or Phantom Planet's 'Big Brat', that's for you." Weiss replied slyly and then had to duck as a pork ball flew at his head.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Will asked.

"No, now, don't be jealous, Will," Weiss said. "I play 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' just for you."

Everybody cracked up. "Snap!" Nat managed to gasp out. She knew exactly what Weiss was talking about. Sydney and Francie had wasted no time in telling her about Will's striptease on the diving board. "Let me guess- 'Land Down Under' for me?"

"No," Weiss replied straight-faced. "For you it's Cat Steven's 'Trouble'- because that is just what you are. I know it."

Craig glanced at Sydney and Vaughn. "Do we even want to ask?"

"I've got a little 'You're So Vain' for Vaughn, a touch of 'Cold Hard Bitch' for Sydney- you're not quite up to Queen Bitch standards and some of Beck's 'Loser' for Craig," Weiss jumped in without missing a beat.

"What about Ainsley then?" Sydney asked. "You've got all these lovely songs for us. What about your wife?"

Ainsley grinned. "I know exactly when Eric is playing a song for," she leaned over and pecked him on the check. "Because there really is one every show."

Everybody's laughter seemed to die down a little. "Seriously?" Francie asked.

Ainsley nodded. "Without fail."

"How do you know?" Nat asked.

Ainsley shrugged. "There might be something in the introduction or maybe the song relates to something we've been talking about."

"Oh my god." Sydney deadpanned. "Eric Weiss- the man who makes Valentine's Day everyday."

"Hey," Vaughn piped up. "You could use that as a new tag line for the show."

"Hey Ainz," Weiss turned to her, a sickly sweet smile on his face. "Remember the discussion we had about maintaining my reputation?"

"Reputation?" Craig scoffed. "And what might that be?"

"Yeah, we all know that you are a big romantic sap," Sydney put in.

"We just didn't know how big," Francie added, turning to Weiss. "And I must say I am very impressed. I might even forgive you for the Queen Bitch comment."

Weiss perked up. "Let me get this right. I be nice to Ainz and you forgive me?"

Francie frowned, taking in what Weiss was saying. "Hang on a sec. I didn't—"

"Cos that sounds like a great idea to me!" Weiss cut her off, clapping his hands together. "Now, where is the birthday cake?"

"Eric!" Ainsley gave him a push. "Most of us are still on the first course," she said, gesturing to the cartons of food that were covering the coffee table.

"And where is the rule that states that dessert cannot be eaten half-way through dinner?" Weiss demanded.

"Hey," Will sat up straight. "Sounds he's onto a good thing to me."

"Yeah, you would think that," Francie shot back. "He who puts chocolate chips in pancakes."

"Chocolate chips in pancakes?" Weiss got a mesmerized look in his eyes. "Genius!"

"Times up, times up." Weiss announced, taking a long drink from his bottle of beer.

"Hold on," Will muttered as he scribbled on his pad. "Hold on."

"Will!" Nat whacked him with her pencil.

"Ok, ok." Will dropped his pencil.

"Who's going first?" Ainsley asked. "Nat?"

"No. Will?" she looked at him.

"Ok," he looked down at his paper. "Numpce."

"Numpce?" Ainsley sounded aghast. "That's not a word. I challenge."

Sydney laughed softly, standing up as she saw Vaughn exit the bathroom and headed towards Francie who was pouring a drink at the kitchen bench.

"Hey Fran," she said. "I'm sorry, but Vaughn and I have to go. We need to get Em home to bed.

"I think numpce is a word," Craig's voice could be heard as he got up for the dictionary.

"Hey, that's ok," Francie wrapped Sydney in a tight hug. "I'm just glad that you all could make it."

Sydney smiled. "Me too," she said, walking back to the game to farewell everybody else.

"Numpce is totally a word," Will was saying.

"So not a word," Ainsley shot back.

Will threw up his hands. "I can't believe you're even questioning this."

"Here it is." Craig announced. "Numpce—"

"Thank you," Will gave a smug smile.

"A fool, a blockhead," Craig recited.

"All right," Ainsley huffed, as she looked at Nat. "Your boyfriend is so annoying."

Nat gave a little smile. "I got numpce too."

In a split second their expressions changed, Ainsley's to victory and Will's to defeat.

"What?" he demanded, reaching for Nat's pad. "Dammit, dammit!"

Sydney looked at Vaughn, who was holding Emilie's capsule. "Perhaps we should leave them to it?"

Vaughn nodded, a grin on his face. "Probably for the best."

"Ah!" Francie threw herself onto the couch beside Craig after she had farewelled the last of her friends at the door. He shifted slightly, lifting his arm so that he could wrap it around her.

"Good night?" he murmured, pressing his lips into her cheek.

"Great night," she replied. "But then again, when is a birthday celebration not a great night?"

"Oh, I don't know,"" Craig said. "There have been occasions."

Francie looked up at him. "You sound as if you are speaking from experience."

Craig nodded. "My 7th birthday. It involved parents getting the presents way wrong, mum making invite cousins who I did not like and an incident with a jumping castle…but let's not talk about that now. We don't want to ruin a great night."

Francie was laughing softly. "Well then, if you don't want to ruin a great night you had better be staying."

Craig saluted. "Yes, madam!" he said sternly.

Francie gave him a light slap on the chest. "Listen to you. You'd think that I was making you stay against your own will."

"I was simply responding to your dominating ways," Craig shrugged.

"Craig!" Francie gave an indignant pout and Craig could not resist placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be than staying here with you."

Francie smiled. "Smooth moves, Craig."

"What moves?" Craig asked, a playfully innocent expression on his face. "I speak on the honest truth."

"Well then," Francie started, "if you love staying over so much, why don't you do it permanently?"

Craig's eyebrows rose. "You mean like move in?"

Francie nodded, as she chewed her bottom lip, wondering if Craig would be open to the suggestion. It had been on her mind for a while now. She had just been waiting for the right time.

"Are you serious?" Craig asked.

"Yeah," Francie said. "I was just thinking—"

"Yes."

Francie blinked. "Yes?"

"Yes," Craig grinned.

"Really?" Francie couldn't help but return the grin. "Yes?"

"Yes!" Craig exclaimed, and then leaned in closer. "Do you need me to say it again?"

Francie shook her head. "No, I think I've got it."

"Good," Craig said, cupping her face with his hands. "Because there are other things that I would much rather be doing."

"And what might they be?" Francie whispered.

"I'll give you a clue," Craig replied as he leaned in and pressed his lips into hers. "Does that help?"

Francie smiled. "I think it might," she murmured, leaning in for another kiss.

A/N: Only three more chapters to go...