"So, your birthday is coming up..." Emily remarked almost apropos of nothing as the two sat sipping their morning coffee on the patio, enjoying the early morning sunshine and the cheerful birdsong. She couldn't keep the small smile from playing about her lips over the idea of being able to finally celebrate together. (The past two years, Alex had made excuses – albeit believable ones – as to why they couldn't do something as a couple, but all Emily really wanted to do was celebrate the woman she loved.)

Alex nodded slowly, but said nothing as she waited to see where Emily was going with this. She was watching her over the rim of her mug, hoping she looked less like a deer in the headlights than she felt.

"I was thinking maybe we could do something," Emily suggested, "Just the three of us – or the two of us, if you'd prefer something a little more..."

Alex interrupted her to say, "To be completely honest, I'd prefer that we not do anything at all." She hated the way Emily's expression instantly fell from eager and excited to something not unlike a kicked puppy.

A beat.

"Oh... Umm..." Emily stammered awkwardly, clearly uncertain how to respond to that. It was clear she was a little disappointed at her idea so quickly being shut down, before she could even really get it off the ground.

"It's nothing personal," Alex was quick to assure her, easily sensing the disappointment coming off her in waves. "I just don't celebrate."

For a few moments, Emily drummed her fingers on her coffee mug, internally debating whether to ask the obvious next question. Eventually, her curiosity won out and she blurted out, "Why?"

She sighed softly, stared at the dregs of her coffee, then explained in a quiet voice, "It falls on the same day as the anniversary of my mother's death." She couldn't quite meet Emily's (no doubt curious) gaze, knowing that she'd been keeping a secret from her for their entire relationship.

Emily uttered a soft, "Oh..." Another beat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a painful subject, I just..."

Alex shook her head. "It's okay," she reassured her, "You didn't know." She still couldn't meet her eyes, guilt sitting uneasy in her stomach, already sour from one too many cups of coffee (she'd been meaning to switch to tea...).

"Can I ask why you don't talk about her?" Emily murmured, apologetic but curious all the same. She'd known that Alex's mother had passed away many years ago and that they'd been close, but that was all she'd really known on the subject – which she'd found odd, considering that she talked about her mother often and they were hardly on the best terms.

She chewed her lip a moment, debating whether she did, in fact, want to share. Then, in an even quieter voice, "My mother was the only person in the world who truly understood me. Don't get me wrong, I love my father, but with my mother, I didn't need to hide any part of myself. She always understood me, probably better than I've ever understood myself.

"When she fell ill, I was finishing up my dissertation. I only had a few courses left, so I crammed them into the summer semester so I could graduate early. I wanted to come home to help take care of her, but she wanted me to stay and finish – she knew how important it was to me. By the time I was done, she'd already passed away. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"Oh, Alex..." Emily whispered. She didn't seem to have the words to encompass the sadness she knew Alex must have felt, losing someone so important. "Come here." She extended a hand towards her and, when Alex accepted it, she gently pulled her into her lap, wrapping her arms around her.

Alex nuzzled into her neck, letting out a sad little sigh. "It's okay," she insisted. "I just haven't been able to stomach celebrating my birthday on the same day that I lost her."

"Okay." She was silent a moment. Then, "We'll do whatever it is you need to do. If you want to get as far from here as possible, I've got a lot of frequent flyer miles. If you want to go see her, we'll do that. I just...want to be a part of it." She thought on that for a moment. "Assuming that's what you want."

She reached up to cup Emily's cheek, thumb sweeping soft patterns along her cheek bone. "More than anything," she reassured, then leaned in to capture a tender kiss. And, while she hadn't planned on baring so much of her soul to Emily that morning, she was finding that she was glad she did.

Unfortunately, the moment in which their lips met was the exact moment Rosie emerged from the patio doors, a scowl immediately contorting her features. "Just what I needed," she muttered, just loud enough for them to overhear, "To vomit before breakfast."

"Good morning, Rosie," Emily said on a sigh. She attempted to resist rolling her eyes at the girl's attitude...not entirely successfully. (She wanted to feel bad for being so short with her daughter lately, but it seemed like she was in a permanently bad mood and nothing Emily did seemed to make any sort of difference...) "You're up early," she added, though it was more a veiled 'piss off' than anything else...

"Wish I wasn't..." she grumbled, then turned and shuffled back into the kitchen in search of coffee, the whole time muttering inaudible words under her breath. She hadn't planned on waking up in such an utterly volatile mood, but there was just something about the sight of them making out that brought out the very worst in her.

She'd been awake just long enough to overhear some of the conversation between the two women – namely, the part about Alex's birthday and her reticence to celebrate it. She wasn't normally one for intentionally causing strife, but in this particular instance, she had a feeling strife was exactly what the doctor ordered...