AN: This is for deenikn8. It's perhaps not entirely what you requested, but I hope it's enough anyway.

PJ

Gillian positioned herself at the restaurant table on Cal's right, carefully within shin kicking distance if the need should arise (she angled her foot carefully once they were settled to make sure, accidentally giving his knee a little nudge, which made him look over at her, brilliant blue eyes in the light overhead and her breath stuttered a little. Self inflicted). Emily sat opposite her and Ajay was on Gillian's right, dressed tidily in dark wash jeans a light blue button down shirt. The food was nice but conversation amongst the four of them was a little strange in the beginning; strained and unsure. Gillian and Emily carried most of it for much of the evening, both trying to encourage their men to get involved, contribute. It was kind of amusing; a weird opportunity for bonding for the two women.

To his credit, Cal wasn't completely antagonistic with Ajay, like he had promised, but he wasn't being helpful either. He was happy to talk to Emily and Gillian but when it came to the younger man, he was still giving off that over-protective, slightly hostile father vibe. Gillian didn't have to kick him in the shins though. She considered that a small victory. (There might have been some light leg caressing though.)

"You want anotha drink?" Cal asked her, leaning in a little, like he was sharing a secret. The others had wine. Gillian had fruit flavoured sparkling water. Wine would have been nice too, but she was not complaining, not complaining. She could stay sober while she was pregnant. Easy sacrifice. The reduced amount of coffee was more of a problem. Especially in the mornings; she got incredibly irritable.

"No, thank you, I'm fine with what I have. But I do need the bathroom," she excused herself from the table. Cal gave her an apologetic expression (for the wine) and brushed a hand against her thigh (because he was even more tactile now that she was pregnant) before she could relocate her napkin and stand.

"I'll go with you," Emily volunteered, pushing back her chair as well. As they walked away from the table Gillian had a fleeting thought about leaving Cal alone with Ajay. But surely Emily would have thought of that too? Which meant she had possibly just instigated this on purpose. Which really was very sneaky of her. And funny. Or potentially disastrous. Nah, Cal was on his best behaviour, and Gillian actually trusted him to maintain that, so... yep, it would be interesting to see what happened in their absence.

No queue for the bathroom, luckily. Sometimes being pregnant snuck up on Gillian. She wasn't used to her boobs being bigger (or so tender), or how the smell of her own deodorant made her nauseous (had to switch that out quickly), or that she needed to pee a lot more often (sometimes it felt without anyway warning). Sometimes she forgot to go before they left the house, then got desperate, and had to put up with Cal teasing her when she made him pull over before they even got to work.

The etiquette for bathroom conversation was always slightly awkward, but doubly so with her husband's daughter. When Gillian was younger, she didn't think much of making conversation with her girlfriends at the mirror while reapplying make up or fixing hair. But when it came to merely washing hands afterwards... well, what did she say in that moment? How was she going to make small talk? Talk about the meal while in the bathroom? Weird. She was usually much better at this.

"Dad's doing pretty well with behaving himself," Emily noted lightly.

Gillian gave her reflection a smile. "Yeah he's not doing too badly."

"Did you give him the speech?"

"The speech?" Gillian repeated softly, unsure, turning off the tap.

"When I was a girl, Mom and Dad used to give me the speech when we went out somewhere. About using my manners and being on my best behaviour. Especially if it was some work thing of theirs."

Gillian smiled again and reached for a towel for her hands. "Maybe."

Emily gave a pleased grin. Her mouth twisted a little as Gillian watched, and she guessed the younger woman had something else she wanted to say, but perhaps wasn't sure about actually voicing it. Gillian made a point to dry under her wedding band, slipping it up her finger and then back into place. Emily dried her hands quickly and leaned against the sink waiting. "Gill?"

"Yeah?" Gillian tossed her paper towels to the trash, now damp, and turned back to face Emily.

"I appreciate that."

Gillian gave a slight smile, a 'not a big deal shrug'.

"You're really good for Dad."

The smile got a little wider; a flare of her heart.

"Have I ever told you that?"

Gillian gave a little nonchalant lean of her head. She was giving Emily an out, in case she didn't want to take this conversation too far. Yes she had known the girl for a long time, but that didn't mean they were close. Close but not overly close. Acquaintances to start, maybe, tentatively, friends now, but not anything more than that.

"I should have," Emily said forcefully, meeting Gillian's eye. "Sooner. So that you knew you were welcome?" She winced slightly. "That's not what I mean."

"I know what you mean," Gillian cut in. This was Emily giving her approval. Gillian didn't realise it had mattered to either of them before. It had just been assumed. "And it's ok. Don't worry about it. We're ok."

Emily gave a grateful nod, looked down at her shoes for a second. There was more, Gillian could tell, so she waited a second longer than necessary, letting Emily find her way. She pushed her wedding ring further back on her finger so it didn't slip past the knuckle; equal parts conscientious and something to do with her hands. She figured Emily was going to ask her opinion on Ajay, so she was surprised when Emily said, "You've been a really cool friend to me Gillian. Over the years. And I'm not sure if I ever said it but, I really appreciated that I could come and talk to you whenever I needed to."

Gillian swallowed the lump in her throat suddenly threatening to explode in tears.

Emily gave an awkward twist to her lips, looked up and met Gillian's eyes with a slightly rueful expression. "This probably isn't the best place to have this kind of conversation but I wasn't sure if I could get you alone before you left and I didn't want it to go unsaid. Especially now you and Dad are having a baby, which is so awesome. I just wanted you to know... I think you'll be a really great mother."

Ok. Tears. Tears and choked up feelings and hugs. Hugs now.

Gillian stepped forward and pulled Emily against her. The younger woman's shoulders still felt bony like the small teenager Gillian had once known. Emily hugged her back, a little awkward, just a little bit of reservation. Gillian reined her emotions in, knowing they were a product of the pregnancy hormones just as much as they were from the words Emily had uttered. She let the younger woman go relatively quickly; didn't want to let the contact go on too long so it was weird. Careful steps forward. "Thank you. That really means a lot to me that you think that."

Emily gave a shrug, an easy smile. "It's the truth."