I wanted to do a non-baby-focused chapter. I like it. Insert usual ramblings here.

The dress seemed to flow around me, the pale blue making it almost look like water. The front came down to my knees, and the back went a bit longer to the top of my calves. There were silver sequins just below the bust, making it look almost like a belt. It wasn't a maternity dress, so if you were in the know, you could see my baby bump. I knew Emmett would like that.

I didn't know where he planned on taking me to dinner, and he grinned and shook his head anytime I asked. I wasn't sure what made him decide to ask, and if the look on his face had been any indication, he didn't know either.

"Good night," I said, my hand on my door knob. I was already exhausted, though it was only 7:30.

'Good night,' he signed. He turned toward his own door before quickly spinning around again. 'Would you go to dinner with me? Tomorrow night.'

"To... Dinner?"

'Yes. As a date. To somewhere... nice.' He looked almost shocked that he had asked, his brows furrowed slightly.

And I wasn't sure what made me open my mouth, I didn't know what my thought process was... I'm not entirely sure that I had a thought process. But I heard my answer before I even processed it. "It's a date."

So now, it was Friday night, the night before my appointment, and I was trying to dress up for him. He had said somewhere nice, hadn't he? He had been walking around the house, grinning all day.

"Seriously, where are we going?"

He smirked slightly and shook his head. 'To dinner.'

"Yeah, yeah, but where?"

'Somewhere nice.'

"Ok, how nice?"

'You're not getting it out of me that easily. Just think nice.'

"Whose definition of nice?"

'Just think nice.'

So with nothing more to go on, I had decided 'nice' meant a dress and maybe some low heels. The sandals. I never wore these, preferring boots over anything else, but my boots usually weren't... nice. I was focusing way too much on that word.

That done, I put my hair up in a ponytail just in time for Emmett to knock on the door. I quickly opened it and he smiled softly. He himself had gone with slacks and a white button down shirt, which looked... really good on him.

'You look great.'

"So do you." I reached over and grabbed my small back. "All ready to go?"

'Absolutely.'

I stepped into the hall and shut the door behind me, starting down the stairs. Mom stood at the kitchen counter-why did it seem she was always in the kitchen?-and smiled widely. "Ooh, you two look so good! Hold on, hold on, let me take a picture." She quickly grabbed her phone.

"Mom, no, no pictures, we should really-" Click! "Ok. We should go now."

"No, just one more, Emmett blinked."

I was ready to argue again when Emmett wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his side, smiling for my mom. I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway, pulling away as soon as I heard another Click!, tugging slightly on my ponytail. "Can we go?"

"Yes, yes, you can go. Thank you, Emmett."

He smiled and nodded, leading the way outside and to my car. 'Keys?'

"We aren't taking your bike?"

'Have you seen what you're wearing?'

I blinked and looked down. Ok, so maybe a dress wasn't the best choice for a motorcycle. I opened my bag and pulled out the keys, tossing them to him. Once upon a time, I didn't understand how one could drive while being deaf. His motorcycle had completely thrown me off. Now, I didn't give it a second thought as I slid into the passenger seat and buckled in.

'I really like that dress.'

"I figured you would."

We pulled away and drove through town, and slowly passed every 'nice' restaurant I could think of. They dwindled down, until I was sure I knew where he was taking me-some Italian place, the last place I could think of-and then he passed that, too. The city lights came fewer and further between, until we were outside city limits. I frowned, turning behind me, convinced we were lost, but when I turned to look at Emmett, he looked like he was trying to hide a smile. Ok, so he knew where he was going. He had to have picked a place out of town on purpose.

With no idea how long we would be in the car, I pulled my phone from my bag and plugged it into the car, quickly starting music and turning it up loud. I sang along when I wasn't laughing at Emmett's ridiculous dancing. He moved to the beat of the vibrations, and I was sure he was getting it wrong on purpose, if the glances he threw me were any indication.

We were in the car for another 20 minutes before we pulled up to a building. It wasn't very large, but the parking lot was full, so their food had to be good. If I looked to the horizon, I could see the beginning of city lights, maybe about 10 minutes away.

Emmett found a parking spot and got out, running around to my side to get my door before I could. Getting out, I slowly studied the building. The Garden of Eden. Seemed like they had a big name to live up to, but if the line was any indication, live up to it they did.

We made it to the door and Emmett pulled out his phone, typing on the notepad before going inside, holding it up to the woman at the podium. She checked her list and smiled, leading the way to the back, and through a back door. There was a small seating area, with only 3 tables for 2, each one several feet from the other. The deck was surrounded by bushes and flowers, the sound of a fountain nearby. If not for the building, it would look like we were sitting in the middle of a garden. Emmett pulled out a chair, and I took my seat, setting my bag on the table as he sat across from me.

'So 'nice' enough for reservations, huh? Look at Mr. Fancy.' I signed, grinning.

He smiled and nodded, the hostess setting a couple menus on the table. "Sophia will be your waitress tonight, she'll be right over, Mr. Bledsoe." He nodded, and she walked away.

'So, what do you think?'

'It's beautiful, Emmett.'

'I've heard good things about it. I thought you'd like it.'

'Thank you.'

He smiled and nodded, taking a glance at his menu, and he quickly settled on what he wanted. I, on the other hand, took more time, easily distracted. My eyes would drift to how the light fell on the flowers, the glint in the glasses, any number of things. After awhile, he waved at me slightly and I looked up.

'You want to draw this place, don't you?'

'So very badly.'

He smiled and pulled his phone from his pocket, quickly snapping some pictures before hiding his phone away again, acting like he had broken some kind of rule. 'I'll send them to you later, see if they're any good.'

I smiled happily and turned back down to my menu, deciding just as Sophia showed up. She was blond and perky, her smile never faltering once. She took our drink and food order, practically skipping away.

'Wow. She deserves to work in a place called 'garden'. She's like one of those fairies you read about.'

I snorted, nodding. 'My thoughts exactly.'

Despite my being nervous earlier, it was pleasant. As we waited for our food, we just... talked. It was like we had been before. We talked about the new movie had watched, and I talked about how I missed painting. He told me how he hated his math class, and I told him that I was ready to be done with French. For one night, we weren't 'almost parents', we were just... Bay and Emmett. It's like nothing else in the world mattered, nothing else was important, nothing else was happening.

He was in the middle of an animated story about his friend getting into a fight at school when Sophia came back. She set our plates in front of us, smiling widely. "You just let me know if you need anything else. Enjoy, you two."

"Thank you." I smiled at her and turned to my plate, my mouth watering. Most foods were fairly hit and miss lately, but this was already a hit. With one bite, I moaned slightly, my eyes rolling back. The Garden of Eden was officially my favorite place in the world.

When I opened my eyes, Emmett looked both amused, and pleased with himself as he watched me. He had yet to touch his own food, seeming more excited about my reaction than anything else. 'Good?'

'This is amazing, you have no idea. I would marry this food. No, I want to go marry the chef, so I can always eat this food. Where's the chef? I need to propose. Right now.'

He smiled and took his own bite, his eyes widening. 'You have to share. You, me, and the chef. Let's go.'

I laughed, and my food was gone faster than I would have liked. He was done at about the same time and cocked his head slightly. 'Dessert?' I knew he was asking just to be polite, as he had to know my answer.

'Only if they have pudding.'

He smiled. 'That's what I thought.'

For whatever reason, I just didn't want sweets lately. The closest I ever got was pudding, I could not get enough of pudding. But cake, ice cream, anything else... I just didn't want it. When Sophia came back, she asked about dessert, and quickly confirmed their possession of pudding, and shortly after there were two bowls on the table. Emmett took the first bite, and quickly stopped me, the spoon halfway to my mouth. 'You don't want this.'

I set the spoon down. 'I don't?'

'I don't think so. It's really sweet. Nothing like the cups. Which means it's ridiculously good. But sweet.'

Still, I doubted him and took a bite anyway, while he watched me with a raised eyebrow. I did my best to hide my grimace, but by his smile, I had to have failed. 'And?' he signed.

'Ok, ok, so it's too sweet. I decided to focus on 'ridiculously good', ok?'

He smiled and ate his own pudding idly until Sophia returned with the bill. I pulled out my wallet to pay for my half, but Emmett waved me away, fixing me with a light glare. 'No. My treat.'

I bit my lip, uncertain. This place looked... expensive. But still, I nodded slightly, putting it back in the bag, waiting until Sophia brought his card back. He stood and took my hand, leading me back through the building and into the car.

On the way back home, I drifted in and out of consciousness, my head leaning back against the headrest. I had heard it called 'fat puppy syndrome' once. Full, dry, and happy... the only thing left to do is sleep. Before I knew it, we were back home, and Emmett was handing me my keys. We made our way inside and upstairs, and he turned to me between our doors.

'So you really had a nice time?'

"I had a wonderful time, Emmett. Thank you." I smiled widely. Tonight I would treasure for a long time, for once all the pressures we had been facing off our shoulders. We had just been two people out on a date.

He smiled and stepped closer, his hand slowly coming up and resting on my cheek, giving me plenty of time to step away. He bent his head down, his face inches from me, leaving it to me to close the distance. I tilted my head up a fraction before I heard the creak on the stairs and quickly stepped back. Daphne soon came into view, and Emmett moved closer to his door. "Hey, guys! How was it? Fun?"

Emmett smiled and nodded. 'Yeah. It was a wonderful place.'

"You would have loved their raviolis." I was glad to turn my attention to her, trying to calm my racing heart. "I'm beat, though. I'm going to head to bed. Good night." I spoke and signed, quickly turning toward my door and going inside, gently shutting it behind me.

That had been close.