Or Is It?
Emily finished washing up and sat down. Her guest had already set the table. It was far from his first time over.
"Thanks. How did you know I'd be home?"
Patrick Drake smiled. "Hmm…I don't know. It could be the fact that you said goodbye when you left and told me you were going home."
Emily chuckled and finished chewing her food. "Good deduction Dr. Drake."
Patrick's face fell just a little; he knew her past and her association with the name Patrick, which is why she never called him by his first name.
Sensing his thoughts, Emily switched gears. "So, how's Robin."
Patrick couldn't help the smile that came to his lips at the mention of his girlfriend's name. "She's good. You know, living at the hospital and such. I'm meeting her at Jake's later. You should come by."
Emily shook her head. "No, I think I'm going to stay in tonight. I rarely get to watch TV. I think I'll seize the moment."
Patrick laughed, "You, Ms. Quartermaine, are sad. Are you sure you don't want to come out?"
"I'm sure. I promise though, sometime soon."
Patrick took another bite and chewed. "I'm holding you to it." He allowed a few moments to pass. "So, have you talked to…"
"No. I don't think we have anything to talk about."
Patrick knew when to push and when to step back on that particular subject. "Okay. I'm no relationship expert."
Emily laughed. "I think we all know that Drake."
The next day Emily woke up and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed her coffee and nearly dropped her mug when she noticed she wasn't alone. It took her a few moments before she recognized the figure.
"Geez, Jason! What the heck are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?"
Jason leaned forward in the chair. "Why wasn't your door locked?"
Emily put the mug down and looked at her brother incredulously. "What?"
"Your door, why wasn't it…"
"It was; I locked it after Patrick left last night."
"Well, it wasn't locked this morning."
Emily leaned back on her counter. "Well I guess I forgot."
Jason began to stand up and quickly sat back down. He forced himself to speak calm and evenly. "Em, you know that you have to make sure you lock the doors, there's people that would try to hurt me through you."
Emily nodded, used to the song and dance. Although she appreciated her brother's concern, she wanted to just be normal, able to forget a locked-door here and there. Then again, whenever she felt that way she would think about what happened years before. Then all of her complaining stopped.
"Okay. Sorry."
Jason's stern face gave way to a softer one. "I know."
"So," Emily started. "Give me ten minutes."
"Ten minutes for what?"
"You're taking me to breakfast. You came here for a reason, so you can tell me what it is over food that you're buying me." With that she left the room, leaving Jason to sit back and wait, glad his sister was alive to make demands.
Jason stared at his sister as she downed her third cup of coffee.
"What?" Emily asked as she placed her cup down.
"Maybe you should take it a little easy there on the caffeine."
Emily chuckled. "Did you forget that I'm a doctor?"
Jason smirked. "No, but being a doctor one would think…"
"I'm very well aware of the side-effects of your business product Jase, but I don't think my patients would appreciate the care I'd give without it." She motioned for the waiter and asked for a glass of water. She then looked at her brother.
"See, I know how to balance." She momentarily played with the utensils. "So, what did you want to tell me?"
Jason couldn't help but smile. He leaned forward for a moment. "I asked Sam to marry me last night," he divulged, leaning back into the booth.
Emily leaned forward, "And?" she asked, waiting for Sam's answer. "What did she say?"
Jason chuckled, "Of course she said yes."
Emily excitedly clapped her hands together. "Jase," she said, reaching over the table to grab his hand, "That's great. Congratulations."
Jason placed his free hand on top of hers and gave it a light squeeze. "Thanks. It means a lot to me."
Emily leaned back and smiled.
Jason smirked, "What?"
"My brother is getting married."
Two days later…
"Dr. Quartermaine, you have a call on line one."
Emily signed the chart she was holding and smiled at the nurse who handed her the receiver.
"Emily Quartermaine."
"Bet you can't guess who it is."
She smiled into the receiver. "I bet I can. How's life oversees?"
"It's good. Really good. In fact, I was wondering if you wanted to come and visit for a while when you get a chance. You wouldn't believe the amount of men out here that would…"
"Okay Brenda!" she laughed, playing with the cord. "So, is there another reason why you called me at work and not on my cell?"
Brenda laughed, "Because I knew your sorry butt would be working on your birthday."
Emily shook her head in amusement. "So, you called to prove a point?"
"Yes. No. Maybe. Happy birthday brat."
Emily smiled, "Thanks Brenda." She heard voices in the background.
"Okay, I'm coming! Sorry Em, business calls. I'll talk to you later?"
Emily nodded, "Sounds good."
"Okay then, ciao!"
Emily ended up saying bye to the dial tone. She laughed and shook her head as she hung up and picked up her next chart.
"Three hours to go."
Emily finished having lunch with her parents. They wanted her to take the rest of the day off, so they compromised: two hours of work and the last hour they would take her to lunch. They went their separate ways and Emily bumped into Patrick and Robin as they entered the elevator.
Patrick kissed Emily and Robin hugged her.
"Well, if it isn't miss work-aholic." Robin smiled.
"Look who's talking," Emily laughed, leaning against the back of the elevator.
"What are the plans for the birthday?" Patrick asked.
Emily looked at her watch. "Well, it's only three o'clock. Who knows. Jason, Sam, Sonny, and Carly are supposed to be taking me to dinner and I'm going to meet up with Lucky and Liz for a while. You guys are still taking me for drinks, right?"
The two nodded.
"Well, that's enough excitement for one birthday."
Elizabeth smiled when she heard her son yell a familiar name and run off.
"Auntie Emily!"
Emily laughed and caught Cameron in her arms and spun him around, finally bringing him close. "How's my little guy doing?"
"Good." Cameron then looked at his mom who nodded and smiled. He kissed Emily on the cheek and whispered, "Happy Birthday."
Emily smiled and kissed him on the forehead, "Thanks Cam."
She let him down and he happily went back to play with Lucky. Elizabeth hugged Emily and wished her the same. She sat down on the bench and took over for Lucky who stood beside Emily. He gave her a hug.
"So my best friend is turning old."
Emily nudged him in the side.
"Ow!" he feigned. "I meant older."
"Sure you did. So, what'd you get me?"
Lucky chuckled. "You never change." He pulled out a bag from his pocket. "Here."
She smiled and kissed his cheek. "You never fail to come through Spencer."
Lucky laughed. "You are so easy to please Em, grape pixie sticks for every birthday."
Emily smiled, "And don't you forget it."
"Lucky?" Elizabeth called, "Could you come here for a minute?"
Lucky gave Emily's arm a slight squeeze, "I'll be right back."
Emily nodded, happily engrossed with her candy. Seconds later she heard a familiar voice.
"Happy birthday Em."
She turned around slowly. "Nikolas."
A/N: Please R&R!
Ashly-Ghfan: Thanks! Hope you can follow along. Did you read the prequel?