Emily knew that Derek was stubborn. She had always known that. Which is why she wasn't surprised when she woke up to find that he was still firmly entrenched in his anger.

Which is why they were currently touring apartments for their apparent future together...on their own.

She still wasn't certain this was a good idea. Like at all. But she wanted to placate Derek's quest for justice, so she was along for the ride.

She stood in the living room, chewing her nail nervously as she mentally added up expenses.

Derek wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as he rubbed her belly. "So, what do you think, Princess?" he asked.

She hummed a vague note, not really answering his question either way.

He, of course, noticed her sudden reticence. "Everything okay, Em?" he asked, prodding her belly sharply.

"Sure," she said with a shrug. "Well, it was until you made me have to pee by pressing the baby into my bladder..."

"Are you sure?" he asked skeptically. "Because you have that look on your face that you get when your brain makes a noise like a fork in a garbage disposal..."

She turned in his arms to fix him with a pointed look. "Fork in a garbage disposal?"

He chuckled. "What's wrong?" he prompted again.

"Do you realize how expensive this is going to be?" she whispered.

"Yeah, sure," he said good-naturedly and immediately tried to change the subject.

She interrupted, insisting, "I don't think you do..." When he remained adorably pouting at her, she began listing, "On top of rent and utilities, there's phone and internet, all the furniture, groceries, not to mention the huge fucking doctor bills we're looking at...and then..."

He cupped her cheek, offered her a reassuring smile. "I know you're afraid..."

She pushed him away from her, stomped her foot. "Why aren't you!?"

"I guess I just...assumed..." he stammered.

"Well, stop assuming!" she shouted. "You're under some kind of delusion that this is going to be easy to do by ourselves, but it's not!"

He held up his hands in supplication, plastering on his most contrite expression, eager not to infuriate her any further. "What can I do to make this better?" he asked. He'd gotten into the habit of apologizing for everything lately, even if he didn't think he was really at fault...

For a few moments, she wore that expression that seemed to say he was going to regret asking that question, but fortunately for him, anything she might've said was interrupted by her phone ringing. She glowered for a split second as if this too was somehow his fault...but eventually answered the call.

Emily's father entered the coffee shop and immediately smiled upon catching sight of his daughter. When he got closer, though, he caught sight of her bruised face and casted leg and his face fell. "My God, Em..." he said breathlessly, "What happened?"

"It was just a little car accident," she said, minimizing the fact that she'd miraculously come away with only minor injuries.

"Minor?" he repeated dubiously and seemed about to protest the assessment, but seemed to think better of it upon catching sight of Derek trying to signal him not to press the issue. Ultimately, he settled with giving her a tentative hug.

"Why did you call, Daddy?" Emily asked, getting right to the point. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, it's just...weird."

He nodded in concession because that was fair, given the long time they'd been apart. "I want to make it a point to become a more active part of your life," he said, "Assuming that's something you want..."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Emily's lips. "You're my Daddy..." she said softly after a moment. A beat. Then, "It might take some time to fully trust you again..."

"That's fair," he agreed. "And I'm prepared for that. All I want is the chance."

"Maybe you could start by scaring some sense into Derek," Emily said and it was almost a joke...

"What? Why?" Derek whined.

At the same moment, her father took on an expression of mistrust. "What did he do?"

"Nothing...yet," Emily said, fixing Derek with a pointed look. "But he seems to be under the impression that it's a good idea for the two of us to move out on our own."

For a moment, her father glanced between her and Derek and back. Then, he said, "It isn't?"...which was a mistake, based on the expression Emily shot him. "I mean, it isn't," he repeated with a different inflection this time. There was a pause, during which he seemed to debate which version he truly believed. "I won't presume to know exactly what you're going through," he said once he'd had a moment to assemble his thoughts, "But all those cheesy 'it takes a village' sayings carry water. However difficult you think it's going to be, it's going to be much much harder."

If anything, he seemed to be making things worse because Emily was quickly turning ghostly white in fear.

Seeming to realize he was scaring her, he winced, sighed. "I'm not trying to alarm you," he said, "I simply mean that, if you have a support network built, it's wise not to cut those ties before you really need them."

Derek looked like he would've liked to say something on the matter then, but Emily already knew what he was going to say, so she kicked him in the shin under the table and shot him a glare that he accurately interpreted as meaning don't fucking say it.

"I'm prepared to assist you in getting an apartment, if that is what you truly think is best for the three of you," her father said, "But perhaps, there's something you should do before you take that plunge..."

Intrigued, Emily raised a brow, asked, "And what might that be?"

He remained tight-lipped on that, though. "Come to my condo next weekend," he said, "And you'll see what I mean."