Since these are romantic one-shots, I knew it would be inevitable that I'd include the whole "having a baby together" adventure. I'm not really satisfied with how this one turned out, but I'm too tired to edit anymore. So please enjoy!

Warm tears streamed down Jessica's cheeks like salty waterfalls. She sniffled, wiping her nose and not caring if her mascara was running. This surely had to be the worst day of her life.

She leaned into Emily's side, breathing in the scent of printer ink and leather upholstery that was buried in her pantsuit. "I— I can't believe it, Em…"

She didn't even have to look up to see Emily's eye roll. By now, Jess could practically hear the sound of her wife's eyes rolling around in her head like cautiously amused brown marbles.

"She's just starting school, hon, not being shipped off to war," Em pointed out.

"I know… I just… it's just so… oh, god." Jess straightened suddenly, grabbing both of Emily's arms and giving her a little shake. "I feel so old! We are so old now! Right? I- I mean… our daughter is five now, Emily! Do you realize what this means?"

Emily shrugged. "It means… she's growing up?"

"Growing up? It means that soon there'll be no more blanket forts, no more finger-painting on the walls, no more— no more 'Stuffed Animal Battle,' no more—"

"Are you kidding? She's only five, not thirteen. There are still plenty of years left to play 'Stuffed Animal War of Attrition."

"But before we know it, she will be thirteen! And we'll be even older then. And she won't even want to be seen with us, she'll just hang out with her friends all the time and have sleepovers and not care about Mommy and Me Makeup Nights!"

Emily wrapped an arm behind Jessica's back to pull her into a side hug. "I actually have a feeling she will care even more about makeup nights when she's a teenager. She just… probably won't be smearing lipstick on her eyebrows anymore at that age."

The two of them fell silent for a moment, watching as the last of the kindergarteners filed into the school. Their daughter was at the back of the pack, and at the last second she whirled around and bounced up and down, waving her chubby arms to catch her mothers' attention.

A choked sob escaped Jessica's throat again. "Oh my god, oh my god, Em, she's so grown up!"

Emily squinted, throwing on a smile and returning the little girl's wave. Ella Riley-Davis was many things, one of them a sincere blessing. She had Jessica's natural brunette hair, which was also long and wavy. For her first day of school, Jess had meticulously swept it back with two barrettes, but even from a distance Emily could already see one clip loosening and a few stray strands falling in Ella's face.

The girl was almost a carbon copy of Jess—bright green eyes, cute sloped nose, big teeth and mischievous smile— just several feet shorter. That made sense, considering Jess was the one who carried her. It still felt like the biggest decision of their lives had only happened last week.

The question of having a child had, naturally, first been proposed by Jess. She had always been excited about becoming a mom; even way back before they got married, she would gush to Em about cute baby laughs and chubby baby faces, about dressing your kid up in cute clothes, and teaching them about everything in the world. Emily's counterarguments had always been, in respective order: no, baby laughs make them sound like they swallowed the devil, and no, newborns look like wrinkled old men, and no, children are not mannequins for you to experiment on, Jess.

But she didn't really have a rebuttal for the last point. Deep down, it excited Emily to have someone to show everything to. Bringing a new, fresh life into the world— that was scary. This tiny person would be helpless, and completely new to the world. They couldn't tell their foot from their forehead, let alone aspirin pills from candy. They would be unfamiliar with every last thing in the world, but over time Emily and Jess would familiarize them and explain how things worked. That was a thrilling prospect for Emily.

And so, after two years of marriage and Jess begging, Emily agreed. The next choice had not been too much of a debate for them.

"I've been setting aside money, so if we want to pay for a surrogate or maybe adopt, I can—"

"No. No way. I wanna be pregnant."

"Are… are you sure?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"You want to… to get fat, have weird cravings, and let your feet swell until they're basically unrecognizable?"

"Yup!"

"You're crazy."

"I know. But you're the one in love with crazy."

"Can't argue with the facts."

Emily had been worried Jess would regret her choice. But she remained so insistent on being the "carrier of life," Emily found it impossible to let either of their hopes down.

The next obstacle had been finding a suitable sperm donor. That had certainly been an adventure.

When they told the group their plans, Josh and Mike had immediately jumped out of their seats.

"I can do it!" they both announced at the same time, then right after glared at each other. Josh shoved his way to the front.

"Really, pick me. I've been told I'm good in bed, Jess, so that part will be painless—"

Mike shooed him away. "I am super healthy. Like, really, really healthy. Good, strong genes. Everyone in the Munroe bloodline is guaranteed a long and prosperous life, I swear."

Emily crossed her arms. "No, dumbasses, absolutely not. First off, no skeevy Josh Washingtons are going to be getting anywhere near my wife. Second, we're not looking for a donor who we know personally. Because god forbid if we willingly allow any Mike Munroe spawn to roam this planet."

Jess had been gentler. "Yeah, we actually have been looking through possible donors for a while now. It's been tough finding a guy without at least one flaw, though." She'd then pulled out her phone and began scrolling through a bunch of profiles on donors. Very few had actual pictures of the guys, but basically all had vivid physical descriptions and health histories. Sam and Ashley leaned in curiously, eyes feasting on the information.

"Like, look," Jess said as she swiped onto a new profile. "This guy sounds amazingly handsome by the description, but then it says he has a history of heart disease and pancreatic cancer in his family."

In the end, it came down to compromise. They selected a donor who was apparently one-eighth Korean (that piqued Emily's interest) and had an almost spotless slate health-wise. If his or her bio dad's horrendous acne was passed on, Em had no doubt they would help their child through it.

For weeks afterward, Jess would lay upside down on the sofa, her legs propped up against the pillows and her hair like a blonde waterfall pooling on the floor. Whenever Emily spotted her sitting like that— which was almost every day— their conversations tended to go something like this:

"Just what the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Jess."

"None of your beeswax, girlfriend. It's just a little method to get it to… y'know… stick."

"Oh… my god."

"Now, could you be the best wifey ever and get me some ice cream, please? Just a scoop or two… or, on second thought, just bring me the whole damn carton."

Patience had never been one of their strongest virtues, so those few anxious weeks had been a trying time. Jess went through pregnancy tests and boxes of tissues at the rate an army would for very different items. Emily found herself repeating the same words over and over.

"It's too early to tell, baby."

"Too early yet."

"Too early. Too early. Not yet…"

After some time, she wondered if she was more telling herself that than telling her quietly crying wife who had soaked the fabric of her maroon Nordstrom suit with anguished droplets.

One night five weeks later, however, the shoulder of her suit remained dry. Emily had entered their house, only to nearly step on a pacifier.

"What the…?" She let out a tiny grunt of surprise, kicking off her heels and leaving them to dangle from two fingers. As she continued shrugging off her coat, her wandering eyes noticed an entire trail of baby pacifiers leading down the hallway.

Emily followed the trail, keeping a confused kink in her eyebrow and a nervous bite on her lower lip. The unusual path ended right at their closed bedroom door. Emily took a deep breath, then twisted open the knob and stepped inside.

She was greeted by a sly-looking Jess and a large collection of dinner rolls scattered over the floor— and of all things!

Emily let the shoes clatter to the floor. Jess maneuvered her way carefully around the rolls, and bent to pick up one. She tossed it back and forth from one hand to the other, a smirk flickering on her lips. She had on a tight gray camisole and black leggings, with her hair in a long, fraying braid that trailed past one shoulder.

"You've made… quite the mess here, huh?" Emily finally asked.

Jess stopped juggling the bread. Slowly, her eyes traveled from the floor to meet Emily's. Then, with trembling hands, she nudged up the hem of her shirt to expose her flat belly and held the roll over it.

"I guess you could say I've… got a bun in the oven." She spread her arms wide, a smile shattering her previously secretive features.

Emily grinned. An explosion of nerves fizzed in her own stomach. She rushed forward into Jessica's arms, stepping on a few stupid buns on the way. "Oh my god… that is the dumbest expression ever," she mumbled into the other woman's hair.

"Aw, I love you too."

"I do." Em pulled back, placing her hands on either side of Jessica's face. Her features were gorgeous, always worthy of being painted into a masterpiece and framed on the wall. This moment was no exception, and Emily wanted to save a snapshot of her right then forever in her mind. "I love you so much."

Jessica was truly unlike any other woman. She wore the pregnancy like a stylish outfit, garnering compliments and smiles left and right. Her skin was supple and her hair glowed. Her smile was radiant and her hands were always caressing and holding her bump. Emily was positive she had never been more in love with anyone else in her life.

Their daughter was born at three in the morning during an ungodly November ice age. Emily had imagined the classic image of childbirth: Jess screaming until her throat was sore and raw, and Emily's hand being squeezed until her fingers were purple. But what started as a calm and collected, "Em, I think my water just broke…" morphed into a quick stop at a McDonald's drive-thru and a doctor telling Emily hours later that no, your wife is not dilated enough to safely deliver this baby and yes, she will need a C-section. Emily had stood and watched, immobile and useless as a corpse, as Jess was suppressed and relaxed with pain meds. Their daughter emerged into the world with a furious cry and a wild thrashing of her arms, her way of announcing "I'm here, everyone! Bow down!" Emily cut the cord and tried not to wretch at all the blood and tried not to think about how she would have to explain to Jess when she woke up that a new scar would soon join the old ones.

But when Jess roused from her medicated slumber, she only giggled and cuddled their baby girl and mumbled, "C- can… can we go to McDonald's again after this?"

Emily let her wife's messy blonde waves slip through her fingers like soft sand. "Sure, hon. You can have all the Big Macs in the world."

Jess nestled her head against Emily's side and sighed. Right then, it felt like every ounce of happiness in the world was contained in that hospital room. If the world could really give them something as pure and precious as this tiny girl who was all theirs, then… her faith in the world was fully restored. All of her misgivings were washed away like a sand castle on the beach.

And now, as Emily watched that same little baby walk into kindergarten for the first time, her heart fluttered. She slowly led Jess back to the car. Neither of them said much at first; Em was too busy focusing on the road and Jess was too focused on digging tissues out of her purse. It was only when Emily pulled into their driveway that she allowed the words she had been carefully arranging for the past ten minutes to be heard.

"Jessie… I know you love her. I do too. But sometimes you just have to… loosen the leash a little. You have to let go bit by bit. And I know letting go is never easy, but… I'll help you through it. I promise."

"I love her to pieces," Jess said, her voice muffled by the crumpled tissue in her fist.

"So do I. And Ella loves us, too. She told me so this morning."

Gradually, Jess lifted her face from the soiled tissue, her red-rimmed eyes roaming Emily's face and setting her cheeks on fire. It was insane how she still had that effect on her after all these years.

"It'll be okay. I'll help you through it," Emily repeated as, seconds later, the two of them embraced over the center console. Her only reply was a sniffle into the shoulder of her gray pantsuit.

When that day ended, washed away by the speckled navy blanket of night, Jess was still a little fragile from that morning's events. Her eyes were puffy and hurt every time she blinked. Her throat was slick and stung with the taste of tears.

She was just making her way down the hall, and was about to enter their bedroom when she noticed the door to Emily's home office open a crack. She pushed it a tad more, and found the room bathed in the dim yellow light of Em's desk lamp. It placed a rustic and subdued filter over the scene, and it made Jessica's heart lurch a little. Emily's back was to the door, and she was hunched over something. Jess crept more into the room, her feet silent on the plush rug. When she finally reached the desk, she stood over Emily's shoulder and her breath hitched.

In shaking hands, Emily held a picture from the day everything changed. Jess in a rumpled hospital gown, smiling through a haze of pain meds as she cradled the newborn Ella. At first Jess thought the odd spots dotted over the picture were just dirt on the glass frame, but when more kept appearing, she realized they were tears.

Emily had always been one to cry behind closed doors.

Jess stepped backwards until she was out of the room, and re-positioned the door so it was barely ajar once more. If Emily ever found out she had seen her doubled over and weeping over the past, Jess knew she would murder her. Even so, she decided that while Emily helped her get through their daughter growing up, Jess would help her too, only in more subtle ways. It wouldn't hurt.