"Hi Emma." Shannon's voice was gentle, kind, just as she remembered it. "It's good to see you."

She smiled at her old friend. "You too." She felt awkward. Did Shannon judge her?

"I...I brought a football for Zac to play with. You never can start too early." Shannon laughed, holding out the bright foam ball. "Thought I'd show him how to throw." She pulled her arm back, bringing it over her head demonstrating the motion. Maybe she felt as awkward as Emma did about their new situation. They both turned as Will headed to join them, Zac in his arms.

"Zac, this is a very good friend of mine. Shannon, this is my son, Zac." Will looked proudly down at Zac as he made that introduction and Emma waited, holding her breath, watching her son carefully to see how he would react to this new person. Someone who she knew could be playing an important role in his life for years to come.

Zac grinned, turning his head shyly.

"Hi Zac," said Shannon, her voice low and soft. "I'm honored to meet you." She held out her hand and Zac reached out curious, as she shook it. "It's a real pleasure."

Emma smiled then, a real smile. If Zac was happy then she could be too. Her feelings for herself weren't important.

"I thought you might like to play some football with me. Have you played before?"

Zac shook his head.

"Well okay then, I'll have to teach you."

Will laughed, pleased to see his son so happy there with him, and set him down on the grass, where Shannon handed Zac the ball and knelt right down to talk him through it.

Emma retreated to the bench to watch. Sport wasn't her thing. And Will moved a little closer though he didn't take his eyes away from Zac and Shannon huddled together.

"She's so great with kids," he said to Emma and there was no doubt that she could hear the love in his voice, see it in his eyes.

"She is." She felt mean. Shannon was her friend. She'd always been kind to her. She ought to be more generous, after all she wanted Zac to be around people who were kind and cared for him. "She's always been amazing with the kids at McKinley, I know."

"Yeah, she's incredible," Will's voice was distracted, his attention focused on Shannon and Zac, and Emma watched him move back towards them, picking up the ball Zac had thrown and gently tossing it back to him.

The three of them had a little game going, and just looking at them from her vantage point on the bench, Emma wondered if a passerby would think they were a proper family, Zac, Will and Shannon. And that she was a stranger. Maybe Zac would find he had everything he needed there. Maybe one day he would ask her if he could live with them. She turned away, blinking back tears. She knew it was silly. One step at a time. And for Zac to be happy with Will and Shannon she had to be a little bit replaceable.

She heard Zac's cry and turned around. He was on the ground and Will had picked him up. Emma was standing up and over to them before Will made it more than a foot or two towards her. A hole gaping in her chest as she heard his cries of "Mommy".

"Baby, are you okay? Tell Mommy what happened."

Between gulps, Zac held his hands out towards her and she took each one carefully and blew gently to clear away the dirt and grass before pressing kisses into each palm.

"Better?"

Zac nodded but Will looked anxious still.

"Are you sure he's okay?"

"Zac, are you okay?" Emma asked, looking carefully for any other signs of injury, a bleeding lip, a grazed knee. Zac nodded again, wriggling slightly, ready to get down.

"He's okay, Will," she said gently, with a smile. She was always the nervous one, it was strange not being in that role. But then she had experience. She knew the crying could be loud but that didn't mean the injury couldn't magically be healed with a kiss.

"Look he's fine," she repeated, placing her hand on Will's arm, as they watched Zac run for the ball.

"I'm sorry, Emma." Shannon's tone was apologetic.

"Don't be, he's a little boy. He does lots of running around and falling over. I mean, we try not to do the falling over part, but they kind of go together." Emma smiled at her. "You can't keep them wrapped up in cotton wool." She dropped her gaze. She knew her old friend might reasonably think that she would want to but she worked hard to be the kind of mother she thought Zac deserved and that meant not worrying too much, not stopping him doing all those normal things.

Will had gone back to Zac and Shannon was just standing there next to her. The silence felt awkward. Emma felt like she should say something, tell her that she was okay with her and Will being together. She started to speak just as Shannon did.

"Sorry, you go on," Shannon deferred.

"Uh," Emma started again, feeling even more awkward this time,"I just, um, wanted to say that I'm really happy for you and Will...that, uh, you're happy together."

Shannon frowned.

"I mean, Will's very lucky to have someone like you. And I...I hope you'll be happy together for a long time." She hoped that didn't sound like she was making a comparison with her brief relationship with Will. Like she wasn't genuine. Shannon was staring at her. Oh, God, how had she made things more awkward?

"We're not together, Will and I."

"Not together?" Emma didn't understand. Of course, they were together. That's why Will brought her to meet Zac today.

"As a couple," Shannon said slowly. "We're not a couple."

Emma could feel herself turning bright red as Shannon let out a chuckle.

"You thought that Will and I..." she couldn't get the words out for laughing.

Emma nodded weakly, though even through her embarrassment she felt something that seemed awfully like relief.

Shannon shook her head from side to side, still chuckling.

"I'm not Will's type, you know, he likes the busty blondes." Shannon looked over at her horrified. "Oh, Emma, I'm sorry. With feet the size of mine, you wouldn't think I'd find it so easy to shove 'em in my mouth."

"It's okay, I guess I always knew I was never his type either." Emma looked into the distance. She didn't want to let it show that it still hurt.

"Hey, I'm an idiot. What do I know."

But Emma knew that Will must have told her. Either that or it was an accurate description of his current girlfriend. She wanted to ask but what good would it do?

"He's not seeing anyone, you know," Shannon said gently.

Emma wondered if her friend could read her mind. She looked away, in case Shannon picked up any clues that she actually cared.

"I should go," Shannon said suddenly.

"Are you sure? You..you should stay longer. We've hardly had a chance to catch up." Emma didn't want her to think she was upset.

"Well, you'll be here again, won't you?" There was a tone of caution to her voice. Did she think Emma would run away again?

"Of course. Often."

"Zac's a great kid," Shannon said, her voice softer. "Will's crazy about him. Talks about him all the time."

"I..." she was going to say 'I know' but the truth was she didn't. "That's so good," she said instead.

As Shannon walked away, she turned around. "You should talk, you and Will."

Emma didn't know what to say. She was too busy wondering exactly what Shannon meant.