"How was your weekend?" Fran asked as Derek came through the door and immediately collapsed on the couch like he'd never been so tired in his entire life. (And, in truth, he wasn't entirely certain that wasn't an accurate impression.)

He didn't answer with words, but with a weary groan.

Fran raised a brow. "Where's Emily?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Probably still trying to get out of the car."

"And you're not going to help her?" Fran demanded.

"I tried!" he said, holding his hands up in self-defence. "She got mad and pushed me away!"

She didn't seem convinced. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he insisted on a whine. "I'm innocent. She's just extra hormonal today." When she still seemed uncertain, he grumbled, "You're supposed to be on my side, you know..."

She just smiled enigmatically and said, "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you don't really get to have a side anymore, dear." She was mostly teasing. Mostly. Though, to be fair, she knew Derek was so head-over-heels in love with Emily that he wouldn't really mind not having a say, so long as it made her happy.

Derek rolled his eyes. "You say that like I ever had a side before..."

Finally, Emily came through the door looking, if possible, even worse for wear than Derek did.

"Long weekend?" Fran asked.

"The longest," she agreed as she eased herself onto the couch. "I'm seriously considering letting Simba stay inside forever so he'll never reach the terrible twos."

Fran just laughed, nodding her understanding. "As tempting of an idea that is, believe me when I say you'll soon be willing to sell your soul to go into labour..."

Emily pulled a face that clearly said she was dubious about that, but didn't say anything, conceding to Fran's wisdom after having birthed three children.

"So," Fran asked, "Did you come away with any new wisdom after your weekend of childminding?"

Derek opened his mouth and Emily immediately knew that he was about to confess to being a complete idiot about all things baby...but she didn't give him that chance. "We decided we need to take a prenatal class," she declared, saving him the embarrassment.

Silently, he mouthed thank you for making it sound like they both needed the help.

"I think that's an excellent idea," Fran said with an encouraging smile. "There really is no such thing as being too prepared for a baby."

Going into the prenatal class, Emily had fully expected that she and Derek would be the only teenaged couple there. She was (mostly) okay with that, so long as no one decided to comment on their situation (in which case, she would have gone full-on hormonal on their ass...).

She was pleasantly surprised, then, to find that there was a couple there who looked to be in their early twenties. She was about to drag Derek over to them in an attempt to make friends, but before they could, the couple erupted into an argument...

"Goddammit, Haley! You always fucking do this!" the boy snapped.

The girl – Haley, apparently – rolled her eyes and audibly scoffed. "Please, tell me more about what a bitch I am for wanting our son to have a father figure in his life."

"He's got one!"

"It doesn't count if you're only there when it's convenient for you!" she retorted. "Being a father is a twenty-four/seven commitment and if you're not planning on being there one hundred percent of the time, I'd rather you weren't there at all!"

He gave her a stony-faced glare. "You can fuck right off, Haley," he said with surprising conviction, given his lack of overt emotion.

Without waiting for Derek to voice his clear reluctance to get in the middle of their spat, Emily proceeded to take the spot next to Haley while her partner stomped off to cool down. "Men, amiright?" she said by way of breaking the ice.

"Hey!" Derek whined. "I'm right here!"

The other girl, apparently ignoring Derek's protests, gave a snort of agreement. "Life would be so much easier if women could reproduce asexually..."

Emily gave a bark of laughter. (Even if, secretly, she was glad to have Derek's involvement.) "I'm Emily, by the way," she introduced herself. "I was hoping there would be someone else here young enough that everyone would be looking down their noses at them..."

"You'd think the fact that we're trying to be responsible parents would appease their judgment," Haley remarked, sending a glare across the room to where a huddle of adults kept staring in their direction like the group of teenagers were lepers.

Under his breath, Derek said, "Maybe that has more to do with the relationship drama..."

"Derek!" Emily hissed, slapping his thigh with the back of her hand. "Be nice!"

Haley just laughed. "Touche."

Emily still seemed embarrassed, though. "Babe, could you go to the car and get me my sweater?" she pleaded, as an excuse to give her a moment alone with Haley. Once he'd departed, she said, "I'm so sorry about him...he has no filter."

Haley waved away her apologies. "He seems nice," she said instead. A beat. Then, under her breath, she added, "Just don't get used to having him around..."

Emily's brows leapt up her forehead. "Excuse me?"

She sighed, shrugged. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but guys never stick around when it gets hard. It doesn't matter how much they say they love you or how committed they are to their kid, the second they realize they're going to lose their freedom to do whatever the fuck they want, they're gone."

"Derek's not like that..." Emily said in a small voice.

"I didn't think Aaron was either and yet...here we are: having a huge fight in the middle of a fucking prenatal class because he can't be bothered to stop playing video games for an hour to come to his own son's baby shower."

Emily wanted to say that not only had Derek showed up to their baby shower, but he'd actually planned it...but she didn't have the chance before the teacher clapped her hands to signal the start of class.