Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...

"Jay?"

"In the kitchen!"

Emma dropped her bag and purse by the door, stepping out of her high heels, and shedding her jacket. She walked into the kitchen, smiling at Jay, clad in a pink apron, standing over her stove.

"Don't laugh, Nelson. Pink may not be my colour, but I'm still working it!" he smirked.

Emma approached him, shaking her head. She gave him a big hug, kissing his lips briefly. She peaked over his shoulder at the skillet. "Veggie stir fry, huh?"

Jay lifted the lid of the second skillet. "Meatless for you, dead cow for me."

Emma rolled her eyes, grabbing a carrot stick from the package on the counter. "Is Manny home?"

"Yep. She's in her room I think. So, aren't you going to ask me why the big meal?"

She smiled at him, hopping up onto the counter, as she noisily crunched on her carrot. "Okay, Hogart. Lay it on me."

He cocked an eyebrow, standing in between her dangling legs and wrapping his arms around her. "That will come later. Anyway, the Rolls? Finito! I handed the old lady back her keys today. And she even smiled at me when we took it out for a test drive. Gave me a nice hefty tip too!"

Emma leaned forward, kissing his lips. "Well then congrats! I guess we do have reason to celebrate, don't we?"

Jay went back to his two skillets, not looking at her, when he asked, "How did the proposal go?"

Emma smiled, despite the fact that Jay couldn't see it. "Hedges loved it! He's making a trip to Montreal next week to run it by the office there. And guess who will be accompanying him? Your's truly!"

Jay finished stirring his meat around the skillet, and stepped over to Emma. He kissed her lips gently and touched her cheek with his finger. "Look at us. Being all successful and stuff. It's almost like we're adults or something."

Emma slid down off the counter. "Well this adult needs to change out of her stuffy office clothes. I'll be back in a second."

Jay watched Emma walk out of the kitchen and smiled. If anyone would have told him six months ago that he'd be cooking dinner for Emma Nelson, he would have laughed in their faces. But so much had changed. They'd settled nicely into this...this... What the hell is this anyway?

"Smells good, Hogart!" came Manny's voice from behind him.

He made a face at her and turned back to his cooking. Manny stepped further into the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out a bottle of water. She unscrewed the cap and took a long drink.

"I know that I haven't exactly been a fan of your's or anything, but I just wanted to say that I'm really glad that you're around," Manny admitted.

Jay turned to stare at her, his mouth open slightly. "What do you want?" he asked, suspicious of the olive branch Manny was extending.

Manny rolled her eyes. "I've been worried about Emma and this whole wanting a baby thing. I thought that she was just looking for something, for someone, to take the place of Sean. I just didn't want her to bite off more than she could chew. Having a baby and raising it on your own can't be easy. I've been worried about Emma doing all of that."

Jay tried to ignore the baby conversation, especially with Manny. The fact was that Jay was beginning to think he wouldn't be able to give Emma the baby she wanted, but the truth was, he wasn't devastated by the news. Month after month, Emma would take her pregnancy test, find out she wasn't pregnant, and Jay would silently rejoice. They had a good thing going here, so why mess it up? But, of course, he hadn't mentioned any of this to Emma.

"At first, when Emma told me that it was you who would be fathering the child, well, I guess I thought that you were doing it for your own selfish benefits. But now I see that I was wrong."

Jay rubbed his face with his hand. Manny was about to praise him for something she couldn't be more wrong about. Jay liked the setup he had with Emma. They were compatible in bed, more so than even he expected. They got along and rarely fought. But Jay also had freedom to come and go as he pleased. Not that he'd been with anyone else, but still, the option was there if he wanted it.

"I know that you care about Emma. And I kind of like the idea of you being her child's dad. You're so good with Emma, that I'm sure you'll be even better when you two finally have your child," Manny smiled.

She gave him a small hug, from behind, and left the kitchen. Jay found himself unable to move, to breathe, to do anything more than blink. Dad? His child? It was all too much for Jay to comprehend right now. All he knew was that he had to get out of this apartment, and now.

Emma walked back into the kitchen, finding Jay, a stunned look on his pale face. "You okay?"

Jay swallowed and nodded his head. He faked a smile for her and, knowing that he was lying, failed to meet Emma's eyes as he said, "I just got a call from Tony. The lady with the Rolls is back. Apparently there's some kind of problem. I have to get back to the garage right now."

Emma's face fell. "Well, okay then. Um, do you want me to wait for you? I can grab a snack and we can have a late dinner?"

Jay shook his head, grabbing his keys from the top of the fridge. "You eat. I'll probably be later than usual anyway. If I don't make it back here tonight, don't worry, okay?"

Emma nodded her head, watching Jay leave her apartment. He didn't kiss me, she suddenly realized. He left without so much as a goodbye. What's wrong with him?

But Emma tried to push her fears aside as she prepared two plates and brought Manny some food.

Sorry it's so short, but you know where this is leading...