"You're up to something..."

"What?" Derek said (more like yelped, actually). He held his hands up in self-defence. "Why would you say that? I'm not up to anything..."

Emily raised a brow at his vehement and dramatic insistence. If she hadn't been suspicious before, she certainly was now. She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what exactly it was that he was hiding.

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with his behaviour, per se, but he was going out of his way to be extra sweet and attentive... That morning, he'd proclaimed a sudden and all-consuming desire to take her out on a date (she was all for spending time together before the baby came, of course, but she could tell that he had an agenda). She'd gone along with his whims, which is why they were at the very hot, very crowded zoo in the middle of the day. And, in spite of the fact that she was getting tired and sweaty and her feet were sore, Derek kept insisting that they couldn't leave yet...

"What?" he said again. "I'm not hiding anything!"

"You're a shit liar, you know that, right?" she said pointedly.

"I am not! Because I'm not lying."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. You're not lying...you're just not telling the truth."

"Why won't you believe me?" he whined, pouted dramatically.

"Because you've got a tell," she informed him. "But I'm not going to tell you what it is or you'll stop doing it."

"You're really annoying, you know that?" he grumbled.

She shrugged as if the matter were out of her hands. "So, do you want to tell me what you're hiding from me or do I have to convince you some more?"

"Convince me, huh?" he said, waggling his brows.

"Not like that," she said, punching his shoulder.

Before he could retort, he got a text message. She tried to read it over his shoulder, but he kept elbowing her to keep her from getting a good look. "Let's go," he announced, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Go where?" she asked.

"Can't say."

She groaned, lolling her head back dramatically. "I hate you so much," she muttered.

"Nope. You love me."

"Surprise!" Derek shouted as he held open the door to the zoo's private party room. "Welcome to your – our baby shower!"

The room had been transformed in a Lion King theme, including a banner that proclaimed, Welcome Xavier Simba! It appeared that every single member of the Morgan family had shown up and a few people they knew from school. The conspicuous absence, of course, was her mother...not that she was at all surprised.

Emily clapped a hand over her mouth. She glanced over her shoulder to look at him as if not quite believing this was real.

"I know you're not really into big flashy celebrations," he said with a shrug, "But my family really wanted to do something to celebrate the new addition to the Morgan clan."

"It's wonderful," she murmured, almost breathlessly. "You guys really didn't have to do all this, though..." she insisted as she was overwhelmed by Fran's embrace.

"Of course, we did," Fran replied. "You're bringing a new life into this world, that's a reason to celebrate."

There was a timid knock on the door then, an older man poking his head into the room. "I hope I have the right place, I'm here for..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence, though, before Emily – whose mouth was hanging opening slightly – stammered, "Daddy?"

He offered a shy smile. "Hi, Etoile..."

"Daddy!" she exclaimed a second time. "What are you...? How...? Who...?" She whipped around to face Derek. "Did you do this?" she asked.

He couldn't quite tell if she was angry or excited by his presence. He smiled a little tightly. "Technically, yes... There's this girl at school who's really good at hacking and she tracked him down and I invited him because I know how much you miss him. Are you mad?"

"Mad?" she repeated. "You found my dad! Of course, I'm not mad!" She flung her arms around his neck. She rounded on her father, then, hesitating only a moment before she wrapped him in an embrace as well. "I can't believe you're really here," she whispered.

"Of course, I'm here," he murmured. "You're my little Etoile and you're having a baby. I wouldn't miss that for the world."

Emily was leaning back in her chair, Derek had her feet in his lap, gently massaging them while she finished off the rest of his cupcake (that Fran had carefully decorated to look like a lion – where she'd found the time, Emily would never know).

Her father approached, took the seat next to her. "He's a good man," he said, just loud enough for Derek to overhear.

Emily smiled fondly at Derek. "He is," she agreed. "The best."

Her father kissed her temple. "I've got something for you," he said, handing her an envelope.

"You being here is enough," she insisted, staring at the envelope like she didn't know what to do with it.

"Well, I want you to have it anyway," he insisted. "Open it."

Feeling Derek watching her with interest, she slowly opened the envelope, pulling a cheque from within. Her mouth dropped open and she caught her father's eyes. "Daddy, this... This is too much! I can't accept this!"

He sighed softly, reached over to cup her cheek. "Etoile, I wasn't the father you deserved, I wasn't there for you while you were growing up. I want do to better for you now. And for my grandson. I know that things are going to be hard financially and I can ease some of that burden for you, so please accept this. Not because I asked, but because I know you want your son to have everything he needs."

Derek could see that she was getting choked up, so he answered for both of them. "We really appreciate this, Mr. Prentiss."

"Please, son, call me Joseph."

"How about Papa?" he suggested.