A/N- As always, hope you all are doing well. I appreciate all of the feedback. It blows my mind that some people are able to binge this whole story when they find it. It blows my mind even more reading all of the consistent support you guys offer. I remember when I was considering posting the story I thought, 'I wonder if anyone will review this?' Fast forward to now over 300 reviews on this story. Whaaaaat? Super grateful. After this chapter, there are two more left plus plans for an epilogue.

Hope you enjoy!

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Emily woke up first. She was accustomed to listening for the girls footsteps during the night and her eyes snapped opened at the sound almost immediately as a reflex. She noticed the light streaming in through the window and realized her mistake right away. She quickly sat up in the bed and tried to think of what to do. The footsteps got closer and when they heard a voice in the hallway say "Mommy?" Alison's eyes opened up too. They stared at each other for a beat, both of their eyes widening in realization that they'd accidentally spent the night in the same room.

Before the door opened, Emily log rolled out of the bed and made her way towards the closet. As she was opening the closet door, the bedroom door swung opened at the same time to reveal Lily and Grace. Emily stayed put and tried to be as normal as possible. "Merry Christmas!" She smiled at the two of them.

"We were looking for you!" Lily told her with a big smile.

Grace scrunched her nose up a little in confusion of finding Emily in Alison's room. "Why are you down here?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Alison tried not to react across the room. Her initial response was for her brows to raise and her eyes to widen at their daughters question, but she tried to keep her face as still as possible.

Emily pulled a random blanket down from the shelf and set it on the end of the bed. She closed the closet door and smiled at Grace. "I was helping your Mom look for something. Did Santa come?" She redirected by asking with some forced excitement.

"He did! He brought a lot of presents!" Grace informed her. She jumped up onto the bed where Alison was with the excitement that only a five-year-old would have at six-thirty on Christmas morning.

Lily followed her sister and climbed onto the bed. "He ate all of the cookies too." She told her Moms. Alison inwardly cringed at the memory. They'd put out way too many cookies out for 'Santa' to eat. She and Emily has eaten them all because they didn't want to waste them, but her stomach had felt full for hours after.

"I found your phone, Mama," Lily directed to Emily as she pulled Emily's cellphone out from underneath one the pillows.

This time Alison couldn't stop her brows from shooting up. Their daughters were young, but they were also perceptive. She decided to get all of them out of the room before they picked up on anything else. "Should we see what Santa brought?" She asked the twins.

The girls scooted off of the bed. "I don't think he brought us a puppy. We would hear him barking." Lily said, sounding a little sad.

"He lives at the North Pole, Lils, not the Pet Store." Emily playfully ruffled the little girl's hair as they as migrated to the hallway.

"Yeah, but I told him that was what I wanted."

"I bet there are a lot of other gifts under the tree that you wanted too," Alison pointed out at they neared the living room.

"Like this one," Grace shouted as she ran towards the largest gift. It was actually a soccer goal that they could set up in the backyard once the weather warmed up. It had been a nightmare to wrap.

The girls took turns opening gifts while Emily and Alison looked on. Emily could remember what it was like as a child to see a full stack of presents under the tree. It was even more magical when she had thought that Santa had brought them all to her for being on the Good List that year. As she had gotten older, the magic of Christmas had taken different forms for her and she had enjoyed each one of them. It was fun to watch her daughters go through this phase. They got excited over everything that they found, from the large presents with bows on them to the little PEZ dispensers and pencils in their stockings.

After everything was opened, there was one present left under the tree. Grace picked up the small wrapped gift and looked at the tag. "It's for you, Mommy." She held it towards Alison.

The blonde was surprised to hear that. She and Emily had agreed that they didn't need to get each other gifts this year. They'd decided that getting to spend the holiday together was enough to make them both happy.

The blonde read the tag out loud, "To Alison, From Santa." She gave a little smile. Obviously it was from Emily. She felt her heart skip a little, because it was super sweet, but she also felt bad. She hadn't gotten the brunette anything. Emily has totally cheated.

"That was very nice of Santa," Alison said, sneaking a glance at Emily with squinted eyes.

Emily looked away, trying to stifle a laugh. She knew that Alison would be a little bit annoyed because they had agreed not to get each other gifts. It wasn't anything major, though. It had just caught Emily's eye a couple of weeks back when she was out shopping. She had thought of Alison right away and couldn't help herself before buying it.

Alison looked at the present. It was flat and rectangular. She could feel that it wasn't very heavy. It reminded her of the feeling of some of the twins short books that they read from at night. She gingerly pealed back the wrapping paper to reveal what was underneath. It was a light pink leather-bound book, with a single clasp across the front. Alison opened the clasp to reveal an empty notebook with endless pages just waiting to be written on. She smiled at the gift. It was really beautiful and although she'd been doing most of her writing these days on her laptop, she was excited to write in a notebook again.

Lily walked over and inspected the gift. "Did Santa get that for you to use at school?"

"Maybe," Alison shrugged and smiled. "Santa knows I like to to write."

"Santa knew that I didn't want a boring old notebook," Grace huffed from across the room. She was more interested in getting her new toys opened than Alison's gift. The blonde couldn't help but snicker at the little girl's honestly.

Emily and Alison helped their girls take some of their toys out of the boxes so that they could play with them. As parents, watching their daughters open their Christmas gifts had always been a memorable event. It was afterwards that had always been challenging. Over the years, both women had been worn out before noon on Christmas from the twins opening their new toys and needing help with putting them together. Luckily as the girls got older, they had less complicated toys and were able to play with them shortly after opening the boxes.

As the girls played, Emily and Alison worked in the kitchen together to get breakfast ready.

"That was really sweet of you," Alison told Emily.

The brunette was pulling some dishes from the cabinet. She turned around with an innocent tilt of the head, "What are you talking about?"

Alison walked over to her and closed the distance between them. "My little gift from Santa," she clarified as a small dimpled grin found its way on her face.

Emily batted her lashes and continued to play innocent. "You should thank Santa then, not me."

"Shut up," Alison laughed. She slipped her arm around Emily's waist, pulling the brunette closer to her.

Emily finally let up her act and chuckled. "You're welcome." She put her hand on Alison's hip and leaned in to give her a short and sweet kiss. They made sure to keep it quick. The girls were occupied in the other room, but after their close call this morning, she didn't want them catching anything else.

"I didn't get you anything, though. Now I feel bad." Alison told her. There was nothing worse than receiving a gift when you didn't get the other person something. She had thought of plenty of great gift ideas for Emily in the past few weeks, but had restrained herself because of their deal.

Emily let her fingers that were resting on Alison's hip find their way just under the hem of the blonde's shirt. She traced the warm skin there. "I can think of some things that we can give to each other later," she told her with a soft voice.

Alison felt her whole body heat up at the suggestion. She could definitely get on board with that. "I like that idea."

The warm and fuzzy feelings continued for both of them as the morning continued on. They made a big Christmas breakfast for the girls and couldn't stop finding excuses to touch each other as they weaved around the kitchen.

While the four of them sat around the table. Alison found Emily's ankle under the table and lightly dragged her foot up and down it. Her love for the other woman was evident and her desire was at an all time high. They hadn't done anything sexual in over a month and now that the suggestion was out there for tonight, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Pam came to the house shortly after Noon. As usual, the twins flocked to the Grandmother. They gave the older woman even more attention than normal because she'd swept in with a fresh batch of presents. No matter what Emily told her, Pam seemed to show up with more and more gifts for the girls every year. She'd been spoiling the twins since they were born, but this year it was at the point that Emily had to help her unload the car.

Despite the little bit of saltiness left over from Thanksgiving, Emily was happy to see her mother. The fact that Pam had reached out to Alison and invited her to spend the day making cookies told Emily that her mother wasn't totally against the blonde, just the idea of their relationship. Maybe the older woman's opinion would change over time. She hoped that could be the case. Her Mom had brought a few gifts for her and even something for Alison. In Emily's mind, things were at least trending in the right direction.

The twins spent the afternoon opening more gifts while Emily and Alison watched in amusement. Lily and Grace didn't need any of the toys, especially after everything that Emily and Alison had gotten them, but it made Pam happy to watch them open what she'd brought.

Despite Pam being distracted, Emily and Alison knew that they needed to be extra careful now that the older woman was with them. Emily's mom had always been a bit of a hawk, and they were trying not to tip her off. It wasn't easy. They were both still feeling the same desire from earlier that morning mixed with all of the warm feelings that Christmas usually brought. The couldn't help sneaking smiles at eachother and letting their hands graze when no one was looking. They were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but they were really in their own world.

The plan was for the five of them to open gifts and later have Christmas dinner together. Pam planned to stay until the late evening, while Alison was going to stay the night like she usually did. As was typical, Pam had pre-cooked a Christmas ham and brought it to the house. Emily and Alison had offered to make the sides to go with it. They got to work while Lily and Grace stayed in the living room with their Grandmother.

In the living room, Pam patiently let the twins show her each of the new toys that Santa had brought that morning. It was fun for her to talk to them about Santa Claus. Emily has stopped believing that Santa was actually real around the time that she was in third grade, and it was fun to enjoy the make-believe side of Christmas again.

"So did you leave some of the cookies that we made out for Santa last night?" She asked them.

"We did and he ate them all!" Grace told her excitedly.

"Wow! He must have been hungry." Pam put on a playfully shocked face.

"He was. I think because he had to get all of our presents inside," Grace reasoned.

"I'm sure that was hard work. He didn't wake up your Moms, did he?"

"No, he was quiet," Grace shook her head, causing Pam to chuckle at her seriousness.

"I thought Mama went to look for him." Lily supplied.

"Why did you think that, sweetie?" Pam turned to her other granddaughter.

"Because we couldn't find her when we woke up," Lily told her with wide eyes.

"What do you mean? Where was she?" The older woman's brows constricted. Emily had mentioned that the girls had them up very early. She couldn't imagine any reason for her daughter to be up much earlier.

"She was in Mommy's room," Lily answered.

Pam blinked are the little girl. What was Emily doing in Alison's bedroom? Immediately, her mind went to where she'd refused to let it go- that Emily and Alison had something more than friendship going on. But would they really not tell her?

"She was helping her look for something in the closet," Grace piped up.

Pan breathed a sigh of relief. That sounded more likely. She shook her head, trying to release the thoughts that had just gone through it. Emily and Alison getting romantic again was not something that she wanted to think about. She knew how it would end, and she didn't want any of them to have to go through that process again. She smiled at the girls and changed the subject, asking if they could show her how one the of the electronic toys worked.

In the kitchen, Emily and Alison we're enjoying a few minutes alone.

"That was nice of your Mom to give me a gift," Alison told her, "I'm glad I decided to grab that Spa certificate for her."

Emily shook her head lightly. "You didn't need to get her anything. She likes giving gifts."

Pam had given her a picture that she'd taken of Alison, Lily, and Grace back during soccer season. She had it blown up and put it in a pretty gold frame that would match the decor in Alison's apartment almost perfectly. The blonde could tell that some effort had gone into it and she really appreciated the thought.

Alison smiled in Emily's direction. "It's been a really good Christmas, hasn't it?"

Emily craned her head to peak into the living room, noting that her Mom and the twins were occupied. She made her way over to Alison. "One of the best," she smiled and squeezed the blonde's hand below the counter.

Alison squeezed it back, smiling even harder. She felt like she had gone back in time. Back when she and Emily were just recently married and spending Christmas together with their daughters in a house that they lived in together. It was close. She could feel herself finally getting back to where she had so desperately wanted to be. She looked into Emily's eyes and could see that same hope and love reflected right back to her. What she had said was true. This was one of the best Christmases that she'd ever had.

When it came time to eat, Emily and Alison were still doing their best to keep their affection under wraps from everyone else in the house. Emily kept her focus on cutting up the food on the twins plates and directing the conversation so that she didn't have to look at Alison. She was worried that her face would slip into a smile if she just looked at her and it would give them away. It didn't help that every few minutes she felt the blonde's foot moving along her ankle. She knew that she needed to keep her focus. They'd have plenty of time to be alone later.

"So when do we find out about graduate school?" Pam asked.

Emily took a deep breath. "I should have all of my responses in the next couple of weeks." She'd been trying to keep her nerves at bay, but the closer that she got, the more real it was becoming. All of the schools that she'd applied to were making their decisions in early January. "I'm trying not to be a nervous wreck."

"She's going to get in," Alison shook her head with a smile on her face. She'd been talking Emily out of her bouts of uncertainty for weeks now. She just wanted those acceptance letters to just get here so that the brunette could stop worrying.

"Of course she is," Pam smiled. "Not to mention, she had an English professor proofread her essays."

Emily blushed a little at their obvious confidence. It felt really nice to be supported in her endeavor. She felt a little guilty knowing that she hadn't exactly done the same for Alison. They were past that, though, and she felt like they were handling this as a family unlike back then.

"She didn't really need my help. Her essays were much better than what I'm used to reading," Alison shrugged with a chuckle. She enjoyed reading her students' work, but since she taught all entry level classes, the student had varying levels of interest and ability. It was evident in their writing.

"Well cheers," Pam held up her glass of red wine, "I know you'll be great wherever you go. I'm happy for you, hunny."

Emily smiled at the thought of the future. It was shaping up to be exactly what she wanted. There was a lot to look forward to.

Once Lily and Grace were done eating, they sprinted to the living room back to their new toys. Emily shook her head and chuckled at them. She didn't blame them. She remembered how exciting it was to receive so many gifts on Christmas morning. She looked at her mom across the table, "You can relax with the girls. Ali and I can clean up."

Pam nodded, she didn't need to be told twice. She'd spent years being the one prepping, cooking, and cleaning every holiday. She was happy to let Emily take the reigns now that she was a parent.

Emily watched her mother walk out of sight. A wry smile slipped onto her face as she side-eyed Alison. "What exactly were you trying to do under the table?"

The blonde fought a smile. "I don't know what you're talking about." She gave Emily a look that was meant to make her seem innocent, but it was everything but.

"Uh huh..." Emily walked over. Alison had done the same thing to her during breakfast. She knew what the other woman was up to. She squeezed the Alison's hip lightly.

Alison giggled at the feeling of Emily's fingers. She let her mind wander to thoughts of them touching later tonight and her cheeks heat up with desire. They'd have to make it a few more hours, though because there was plenty of holiday time left to celebrate. They planned on having desert and watching a Christmas movie with the twins and Pam before it was time for the twins to go to bed.

The two women continued to clean the kitchen. They really hadn't meant to get so swept up in each other today, but they couldn't help it. They'd spent the past four months keeping things between them under wraps and while they had gotten good at it, it was certainly getting harder everyday. Christmas had brought that familiar warm feeling that made both of them let their guard down. While they cleaned the kitchen together, they found themselves continuously seeking out the each other with soft smiles and flirtatious eyes. They snuck in little touches any chance that they had. It wasn't smart, but they couldn't help it. They were so drawn to each other and happy to be spending this holiday together, as a couple.

When they were finished, they both stood at the kitchen island next to each other, taking in a few seconds to relax after cleaning. Alison turned her head briefly and glanced at Emily. She felt herself smile when their eyes met, dimples piercing into her cheeks, and looked back down at the counter. Both of their hands were laying flat against the surface only a few inches apart. She stared at Emily's hand for a beat. She knew her hands so well. She'd held them in her own so many times. Hell, she'd squeezed the life out of the brunette's hand the day she gave birth to their twins. Alison loved those hands. She inched her right pinky across the counter, slowly making her way towards Emily's left pinky. The smile remained on her face as she slid her finger over top of the brunette's and linked their fingers together, squeezing tightly.

Emily had been fighting a smile of her own since seeing the smile swim across Alison's face. Her whole body warmed at the feeling and she smiled as she looked down at their interlocked fingers. She felt the world around her start to slip away. It was as if it was just her and the girl next to her remaining. Before she could think about it, she leaned down and placed a delicate kiss on the blonde's shoulder.

It was was an uninhibited action. One that happened before she even thought about it. If she had, she would have considered where they were. She probably would have looked around to make sure that the coast was clear. But she didn't think twice until she heard another voice in the room. This one wasn't soft and sweet like Alison's had been earlier. This one was rigid and stern. It was almost scary how quickly it took her back to high school.

"Emily!" Pam called in a serious and hushed voice, causing both Emily and Alison to jump back from each other. They snapped their heads in the direction of the voice.

The other woman was standing at the other end of the kitchen. She'd seemingly walked in from the other side without either Emily or Alison noticing. They noticed her now, though. It was impossible to miss the look of disapproval that was so evidently plastered on Pam's face. Her brows were knitted as she stared at her daughter and her former daughter-in-law and her lips were parted in shock.

The air in the room felt thicker. Before anyone could say or do anything else, there was a crash in the living room, followed by an agitated voice. "Look what you did!" One of the twins shouted. It was never ideal when the twins were fighting, but this one time Alison would forgive them because it gave her an exit. Judging by the look on Pam's face, Alison didn't want to hear whatever was going to come next.

"I'm going to..." The blonde lifted her hand and pointed in the direction of the living room. She moved her legs that way as quickly as she could.

It left Emily in the kitchen staring back at her mother. She wasn't sure what to say. She knew that she was busted, but had no intention of issuing any apologies either. She picked up a spare dish towel that was sitting on the counter, and turned towards the stove. She kept her back to her mother as she folded the towel, taking several calming breaths, and hung it on the oven handle before she turned back around.

Pam's face hadn't changed. She continued to stare at Emily across the room.

"If you're going to say something, you may as well just say it," Emily told her. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She really didn't want this to be a scene, but she had a feeling that it was inevitable.

"I don't know what to say," Pam shook her head.

Emily pinched her brows together, "Are you really that surprised?"

"No, I'm not." Pam exhaled a deep breath. "I just didn't think that you would be so careless." She shook her head again to make her disapproval even more pronounced.

"Careless?" Emily leaned her head in as if she hadn't heard correctly. "You're the one sneaking around the house."

"Yes. Careless," Pam blinked at her daughter, "Your own daughters walked in on the two of you this morning."

Emily tilted her head. She wondered how her mom would even know about what happened earlier today. Even so, she and Alison had played it off just fine. It wasn't like Grace and Lily had walked in on them half naked. They hadn't even gotten half naked last night to begin with. This morning hadn't been ideal, but it definitely wasn't the worst case scenario.

She squinted her eyes at her mother's insinuation before closing them briefly and shaking her head. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Pam shrugged. "Well it seems like you two are just jumping back into bed together without any real plans or concern for your family."

If Emily had been calm and had the opportunity to sit down and think about her mother's point of view, she probably would have been able to admit what this looked like. Maybe from the outside it could seem like she and Alison were just sleeping together because they missed each other or because they were lonely, but that wasn't the case. It was so, so much more than that. But in the moment, she wasn't able to see things from another point of view. The insinuation alone pissed her off and there was no way for her to step back and look at things objectively.

"If you think that I'm not thinking of my daughters' best interests then you don't know me at all." She told her mother seriously.

"Then why, out of all of the people out there, are you sleeping with Alison again?" Pam asked.

"Because I'm in love with her." Emily answered, feeling exasperated.

"You're divorced." Pam reminded her.

Emily shook her head, "We're together. We've been together for months now."

"Months?!" Her mother responded. Her voice raised slightly in disbelief.

"Yeah," Emily answered. She felt her tone soften, "months."

"And you didn't tell me?" Her mother's brows pinched together. "Why would you keep that from me?"

Emily's eyes widened. Seriously? She thought. "Because of this." She lifted her hand with her palm up, "I knew that you would react this way."

Pam didn't say anything at that. Her shoulders slumped slightly and she looked down at the ground. Emily watched as she closed her eyes and shook her head again slightly. She knew that her mother wasn't going to welcome hers and Alison's relationship again with opened arms, but a big confrontation wasn't exactly how she wanted it to go down either.

The two women spent the next minute standing across from each other in silence. They weren't going to argue anymore, especially with Ali and twins in the next room. The tension in the kitchen was palpable, though. Eventually, musical sounds from one of the new toys flooded the room. Emily heard Grace cheer, "You fixed it!"

Alison walked in quiet and clearly hesitant a few minutes later. Emily was glad that she hadn't walked in while she and her mother were arguing. Still though, she wasn't sure what any of the three of them were supposed to say.

Alison filled the silence after a moment. "Hey, I think I'm going to head home for the night." She turned to Emily.

The brunette's initial reaction was to object. "What? No." She saw her mother leave the room out of the corner of her eye. She turned to face Alison directly. "You don't have to do that. I'm not letting you leave." She hated the idea of the other woman leaving, especially on Christmas night. Alison had a track record for running when she was uncomfortable. She knew that there was nothing to talk through right now, but Alison leaving still worried her.

"I know I don't have to," Alison forced a half smile on to her face, "But I think it's probably for the best."

Emily shook her head. "You leaving is not for the best." She wanted to make sure that Alison understood that. "If anything, my Mom should leave."

"No," the blonde raised her brows and told her sternly, "She shouldn't."

"Why are you doing this?" Emily was frustrated. Did this really have to blow up on Christmas Day?

"Em, I'm not going to come between you and your Mom. That would be the worst thing that could happen here. She's going to need time... and you need to figure it out with her."

"That doesn't mean that you have to leave."

Alison reached out and squeezed Emily's arm. "I'll be back tomorrow. I promise."

Emily stared into her eyes. She didn't want her to go, but she could see that Alison meant what she said. She wasn't running. "Okay," she said softly with a nod. She peered into the next room. "The girls are going to be sad."

"They'll be fine." Alison told her. Lily and Grace would be fine. She and Emily would be fine. Pam would be fine. Eventually. She hoped anyway.

They walked into the living room and Alison said goodbye to Lily and Grace. The twins put up a little bit of a fight. They didn't quite understand why she was going home all of the sudden when she'd been sleeping at the house with them every night for the past couple of weeks, but eventually they moved on. Alison said goodbye to Pam and thanked her for the gift. The older woman gave her a hug, which was encouraging even if it felt a little bit stiff.

Emily tried not to sulk for the rest of the night. She didn't want the twins to think that anything was wrong, especially with Alison's unexpected departure. She tried to keep herself upbeat when engaging with her daughters. She'd had to put on a happy face for them plenty of times over the years, notably during the time that she and Alison had decided to separate. It was a different story with her mother. She didn't put hardly any effort into that act. She didn't need to. It was clear where both of them stood.

There had been a little part of her that had thought maybe, just maybe this wouldn't be an issue. That when the day came that her mother knew that she was seeing Alison again that she'd welcome the relationship. That maybe she'd be able to see just how happy Emily was. That she'd be able to recognize that this was a good thing for their family.

It had just been a hope though. Because deep down, she always knew that her mother would disapprove. It was why she'd been putting off the idea of telling her mother since the beginning. Pam had been upset back when Emily and Alison had decided to separate and get divorced. She was frustrated with Emily. She didn't believe that her daughter was trying hard enough to work it out. She was disappointed in both of the girls. They were a family. Pam was raised in a traditional household and she couldn't wrap her head around the idea that Emily and Alison could get divorced when they had two toddlers to take care of. And then there was Alison- a girl that she'd had trouble trusting from the beginning. She'd sat across from Pam and promised her that she would always take care of Emily. The blonde had let her down. All of her promises had felt like lies.

Of course Pam hadn't been in the relationship. She didn't know all of the bits and pieces that made up their history. She hadn't been through the pain and trauma that A and AD had caused to the girls over the years. She didn't realize that it had seeped into their marriage and was rotting everything that Emily and Alison had worked so hard to build.

Emily had been there, though. She knew the problems that had torn her and Alison apart before and she promised herself that she would never let that happen again. They'd talked about it. They were both dedicated to keeping their relationship healthy by communicating. Emily knew that they could do it this time. If she didn't know this for sure, she wouldn't have let things get this far with Alison again. She knew for sure. And she was all in.

She knew that her mother was entitled to her opinion, but she knew that they would prove the older woman wrong.

She didn't say much to her mother for the rest of the night. The twins fell asleep during the movie, worn out from a long and exciting day. She normally would have made conversation with her mother, but instead she just kept her eyes focused on the tv screen, pretending to watch it. She actually wasn't paying attention to the plot at all. She was thinking of Alison. She missed the blonde and wondered what she was doing. She wanted to know where her head was at. They'd done such a good job about being opened and talking about their feelings this time around. She hoped that this wouldn't break them.

After the movie, Pam helped Emily get the twins from the living room to their bedroom. Emily walked her mother out. She gave her a hug and wished her a Merry Christmas. It was awkward, and she wasn't exactly sure where to go from here. She wasn't mad at her mother. That wouldn't be fair. She just felt sad. She wanted everyone to be happy. She'd fought so hard for so long. She wanted this to work for all of them.

She dragged herself upstairs to her room and changed for bed. She rested her head against her pillow and tried to put the negative feelings she'd had throughout the day behind her. Before she drifted off to sleep, her phone rang. She knew who it was before she even checked the screen and saw the contact ID.

"Hey," Emily exhaled into the phone as she answered.

"Hi," A soft voice sounded on the other end of the line. "You weren't asleep, were you?"

"No, I just laid down a couple of minutes ago."

"I've been laying down for almost an hour." Alison told her.

"Can't sleep?" Emily asked.

"No, I just miss you." The blonde sounded sad in the other end of the line before she continued, "And I've decided that I hate this bed in my apartment."

"You slept on it just fine for over a year," Emily pointed out, chuckling a little bit at Ali's stubbornness. She'd slept in that bed too and had thought it was just fine, though that probably had to do more so with who she was sleeping with.

"More that I just don't like where it is." Alison told her.

"I know," Emily agreed, "I wish you were back here at the house." Alison had spent the last few weeks sleeping in the bedroom downstairs. Emily didn't go down to cuddle with her every single night, but it meant something to know that she was close by. It felt right having Alison in the house full time. Alison belonged with them.

"We had plans for tonight." Alison reminded her.

Emily turned her head into her pillow and groaned a little in frustration. They sure did have plans that they should have been carrying out right now. Emily had spent all day thinking about those plans as a matter of fact. "I know."

"You could ask me what I'm wearing... I might have an answer you'd like."

The thought made Emily smile briefly. The idea of some late night sexy talk was enticing, but over the course of the evening, her appetite had changed. "I'd rather wait until I can just see it for myself."

"You don't want to make any guesses?"

"I just want to hear your voice." Emily told her. "I missed you tonight."

"I know, me too."

"You didn't have to leave, you know?" Emily wasn't sure what would have happened if Alison had stayed. She didn't know if her mom would have just left early, or what. Either way, it would have been nice to have the blonde stay the night instead of going home to her apartment forty-five minutes away.

"I kind of did, though. Even if you think it wasn't what you wanted." Alison disagreed.

"It wasn't what I wanted." Emily stressed.

"Right, but you wouldn't have wanted to choose a side either."

"I shouldn't have to choose sides. She should understand that we love each other and support our relationship. I have no problem defending what we have to her."

Alison let out a light, humorless laugh on the other end. "You just chose a side right there."

"That's the point, Ali. Of course I would choose you." She thought back to the day that her mother warned her that she might have to choose sides between Alison and her new girlfriend someday. Emily knew that she would never be able to not choose Alison.

"But I don't want you to choose me over her. That was why I left."

Emily felt her heart speed up in her chest. "What are you saying?" She forced the words out, feeling terrified at the possible responses.

"Relax, babe. I'm not trying to find an out or run away." Alison told her. The words immediately brought a wave of calmness to Emily. "We just have to find a way for the three of us to move forward. She's been there for our family since the beginning. Give it time."

Emily shook her head. "I don't know if she'll come around."

"She will."

"How do you know that?" Emily pinched her brows together above her tired eyes.

"Because there was a time when you didn't trust me." Alison answered her confidently. "I had to earn it back from you and I have to prove to you everyday that I deserve your trust. I broke her trust too, Em. It's going to take time to get that back."

Emily sighed on the other line. Alison was right. Plus, it wasn't just Alison that had to earn back that trust. She knew that her mother thought that her decision making was clouded when it came to the blonde. She needed to prove to her that wasn't the case. She was making the right decision now, she knew that.

She also knew that despite how serious and strong Alison was coming across over the phone that the blonde needed her reassurance just as badly. She could hear the quiet and sad tone on Alison's voice when she first picked up. Emily would be strong for her too. They'd weather this storm together.

"We'll get through this," she told Alison through the phone. "We're going to be okay."

She meant it. Even if she wasn't sure how to get things back to okay, she believed that they could. She believed in herself and the girl that she loved. There had been a time when they weren't this strong, when they may not have been able to get things figured out without breaking. They were stronger now than they ever had been. They'd get through it together.

—

A/N - Thanks for reading and hanging in here as we near the end of this story. Last major obstacle for the girls. Or is it?

Looking forward to reading your thoughts. Take care!