"What do you think he has planned?" Derek asked, clinging to Emily's hand – perhaps little tightly with nerves as if he were expecting a jumpscare or something – as they stood outside the door to his condo.

Emily shrugged, honestly having no clearer an idea than he did.

Anyway, she was saved having to come up with an answer because the door swung open in that moment. As she embraced her father, a plaintive wail from somewhere inside caught her attention. Pulling back from the hug, she shot her father a curious look, but he just smiled enigmatically and gestured for the two of them to come inside.

When they entered the living room, it was to find a small child throwing a fit in the middle of the floor.

Emily frowned, glanced over her shoulder at her father. "Daddy, where did you get this toddler?"

Emily's dad chuckled as he picked up the child and bounced her a few times to settle her. "That's my surprise for you," he said mysteriously. He smoothed the girl's hair away from her face where it had stuck to her tears. "Say 'hi', Kathryn," he encouraged the child.

"Daddy, who's kid is this?" Emily persisted in her questioning.

"She's your cousin's daughter," he explained. "She just turned two, so it's not quite the same as taking care of a newborn, but she will give you a run for your money."

Emily shot a confused look at Derek as they both puzzled over what he meant by that.

"You'll be taking care of her for the weekend," he explained, "To see what it's like to take care of a child without help."

Brows shooting up her forehead, Emily repeated, "Without help!?"

He nodded, then added, "If you really need me, I'll only be a phone call away, but the purpose of the exercise is for you to do it on your own, for practice."

For a few moments, Emily chewed her lip in thought. Then, she reached out towards the child. "Hey, sweet pea," she murmured. "Can I hold you?"

Derek watched as she settled the girl against her hip with a soft smile on her lips. "Are you sure about this, Em?" he asked. "We've never taken care of a kid before..."

"Exactly," she said, "Soon we won't have any choice and if, as you say, you want to live on our own, we won't have your mother around to teach us the ropes."

He sighed, nodding slowly. "I suppose that's true." He tickled Kathryn under her chin with a slightly nervous smile. "What do you say, munchkin? Are you going to be good for us?"

"NO!" she hollered, batting his hand away.

Emily knelt on the floor with Kathryn, doing her best to keep the child entertained long enough to keep her busy until nap time when she could finally have a break and some time to rest...but Kathryn's attention span was decidedly short and she kept trying to eat things she found under the couch.

Derek came through the door after football practice, pausing to drop a kiss on the top of Emily's head. "How's the munchkin?" he asked.

"Exhausting," she said on a heavy sigh. "Can you watch her for five minutes so I can pee?" She then began the arduous process of standing up without waiting for him to answer.

When she returned, Derek was holding the baby at arm's length, face scrunched up in disgust. "I think someone needs a new diaper..."

"So change her," Emily retorted.

"But... Please?" he whined.

Her expression was decidedly unimpressed. "You do realize I'm not going to change all the diapers when Simba gets here, right?"

"But I don't know how..."

With an exasperated huff, she more or less demanded, "Well, then I'm going to show you how. But you're doing the work!"

He held up his hands in surrender, following her to the bedroom where a makeshift change table had been set up. Luckily, she couldn't see the expression on his face because it was decidedly fearful...

"Okay, take off her pants and undo the tabs on the diaper," she instructed, crossing her arms over her chest as she stood back to let him work. "Now hold her ankles in one hand and pull the front of the diaper down..."

He glanced at her over his shoulder with wide, alarmed eyes.

She gestured for him to get on with it. "Make sure you wipe front to back," she added when he reached for the baby wipes.

"How do you know what to do?" he asked as he did his best to hold his breath while cleaning the mess.

"It's just a diaper," she said with a shrug.

"No, everything," he insisted, "You just like...know all this mom stuff."

Her expression softened a little. "You'll figure it out too, when the time comes."

A beat.

Then, in a small voice, "But what if I don't? What if I'm a bad father?" He picked up the girl, checking that the diaper would stay on.

"Good," Emily said, "But it's on backwards..." She gently took the baby from him and laid her back down so she could turn the diaper around.

"See!?" he exclaimed, "I already suck at it!"

She offered him a reassuring smile. "You just have to figure out which way the diaper goes – most of them will tell you on the diaper, so..."

"It's not just diapers," he insisted, "It's everything. I don't know how to make a bottle, I don't know how to give the kid a bath, I don't know the rules for putting a baby to sleep... I don't know a damn – I mean, darn – thing."

Once she snapped the onesie up and pulled on the baby's pants, Emily passed her back to Derek, then leaned in to kiss him. "We can always take a prenatal class," she suggested, "Or – and I know you might not like this suggestion – but we could stay where your mother can help us..."

He heaved a sigh, but the expression on his face was something like concession.