Gail had been left.

Again.

She shouldn't be surprised. This was her entire childhood. Why should adulthood be any different?

Her mother had dragged her out early on a Saturday, her only day off that week, to go shopping for a dress for some fancy party she was planning to have next month. Why they had to go then was beyond her? But they did end up finding something: a beautiful long Catalina blue dress with a high neck and straps that crisscrossed over an oblong open back. The subtle inlaid sequins sparkled along the bodice as she moved. It was elegant and made her eyes shine.

Now in possession of this gorgeous dress, she was stuck. Literally, she had no ride from the mall. Her mother had gotten a phone call right after declaring that dress the one, and had swept into her dressing room to kiss her cheek, saying she had to leave, not waiting for Gail to get dressed, swept right back out and left.

Once Gail had fumbled into her boots, falling as she tried to walk and lace, she realized it was too late. Hurricane Elaine had come and gone. She was stranded. She could either call up someone, or risk her beautiful dress on the bus.

It wasn't the worst place Elaine had left her. Nothing was worse the time she had been promised a real family outing to their lake cabin when she was awoken in the middle of nowhere from a dead sleep in the backseat of the car to be dropped off in the woods, unsure of where she was or how to get home. She was told to be at the lake cabin by sundown the next day. She had made it, just barely, but the scars, emotional and physical, lingered. She guessed she could deal with getting home from the mall. At least there were soft pretzels here.

She was making her way through the department store when she heard a familiar voice coming from the nearby girl's section. Gail skidded to a halt; whipping her head around so quickly she made herself dizzy. That was Holly's voice. She was positive. It was a skill she had picked up being a cop, remembering people's voices after only spending one day with them. It had nothing to do with the woman herself. Nope, nothing at all.

"Mom!" Marty's adorable enthusiasm had her smiling as she moved through the racks, trying to locate them. "Mom, what about this one?"

"That one is very nice, Martin." Holly always spoke to her son in a soothing and encouraging tone. It warmed Gail's heart, picturing her stooped down; examining whatever Marty was showing her, face full of concentration and interest.

She rounded a rack of dresses, and there they were. Holly was, as she imagined, squatting down on the floor looking over the big pink tulle dress with bright silver sequins around the strapless top. Marty was holding it up to himself, proudly. He was the first to spot her. His eyes went wide behind those bottle-cap glasses, and excitement flooded his face.

Holly turned to see what he was looking at, and Gail waved rather lamely at her.

"Gail!" She started in surprise. She quickly glanced around them, before looking back up at her confused. "What're you doing here?"

Gail held up her dress. "Uh, what does one do in a department store? Shop."

Holly gave her that lopsided smile, standing up so she was now looking a bit down at Gail. "Right, of course."

"So what are you two doing?" she asked, looking from Holly to Marty to the dress. "Picking out a snazzy outfit too, huh?"

Marty nodded, thrusting his selection up in the air. "I picked this one!"

Gail shook her head in approval. "But you know what this needs?"

Martin glanced at his mother, who shrugged, before giving Gail his full attention. "What?"

"Accessories," she said, "A pretty dress can never go wrong with a few accessories."

His eyes went wide. "A crown?"

Gail laughed breathily. "Absolutely a crown. How else will others know you're a princess?"

"Prince!" he said as he rushed towards the section across from them.

"Of course, sorry, prince," she said. Holly caught her eye, and they exchanged soft smiles.

"You know…"

"Holly Stewart, don't you finish that sentence with "you don't have to," she said, rounding on her friend so they stopped, inches apart. She lowered her voice. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. I…I've grown rather fond of your son…and you."

She felt heat rising up her neck, and she turned quickly before it spread to her face. Not quick enough that she didn't catch the pleased expression on Holly's face.

She headed straight for Marty who was comparing two tiaras. He was adorable.

"Gail!" he called out, holding up the options. "Which one?"

Gail glanced at Holly with a large grin. She found the brunette returning that smile right back.

Later when they went to check out, Gail could feel Holly start to tense as they neared the register. Marty was skipping with the tiara on his head and waving about a wand. Gail knew Holly was gearing for the clerk to give her a hard time about letting her son wear "girl things", and Gail felt herself tensing in response. She would do anything to make Holly feel better. If anyone made this little boy feel bad about being who he was, she'd make sure to give them a parking ticket a day for the rest of their bigoted lives.

"Hello!" the clerk greeted as they got to the register. "Find everything alright?"

"Yes, thank you," Holly said tightly, placing the dress onto the counter. She turned to Marty. "Put the tiara and the wand on the counter, sweetie."

Marty did as he was told, smiling up at the woman behind the counter. The cashier smiled back.

"Is this everything?"

They nodded.

The clerk pulled at the dress to scan it. "This is a pretty dress. My little sister got this one as well."

"It's mine!" Marty declared happily. The adorable child bounced up in down in excitement.

Holly went rigid prepared for the worst. Gail felt her hand reach out to brush against the other woman's. Their pinkies joined together.

"Well that's just unacceptable," the cashier said with a frown.

Gail felt her whole body go into attack mode. But before she could open her mouth, the cashier continued, "There are no shoes to match!"

Gail felt herself deflate, and Holly relaxed beside her.

"He's got some lovely silver shoes at home that will match perfectly," she told the woman.

"I'm sure you'll look quite dashing," the cashier assured as she scanned the items.

Gail and Holly's eyes met, and Gail squeezed her pinky to reassure her. She wanted to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She tried to swallow them away as Holly turned to pay.

After shopping, they went for ice cream and walk through the park. Marty insisted he wear his tiara and wave his wand around. Holly let him, though she was watching everyone who even glanced there way closely.

"Holly, your ice cream is melting," Gail said, taking a lick of her own chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream. Holly's mint chocolate chip was dripping down between her fingers in her distraction.

Holly jerked her head back round to stare at the offending green liquid. "Oh."

"Yeah, so eat up, and stop worrying!" Gail insisted.

Holly looked sheepish. "I'm…not worrying."

She took a lick of ice cream, trying to control the mess. Gail became rather distracted for a moment, before blinking it away. "Uh huh, sure you aren't."

"I don't know to what you are referring, Officer," Holly said. Switching the cone from one hand to the other, Holly shook the sticky green glop from her hands.

"Watch it, nerd!" Gail cringed as the cream flung her way.

Holly smirked. "Big bad cop, afraid of a bit of frozen milk?"

Gail scowled. "No."

"You sure?" Holly had a glint in her eyes. Gail didn't like it one bit.

The cold hit her, before she realized what was happening, and ice cream was smeared from nose to cheek. She squealed and reeled back.

"You brat!" she exclaimed, brandishing her cone out in front of her like a knife.

Holly shrank back. "Now, Gail, don't do anything rash."

"Rash, huh?" Gail took two steps towards her. "Rash like this?"

She lunged, the chocolate connecting with her chin to streak up to her cheekbone. Holly squealed, and Marty, who had already finished his ice cream, danced around them giggling.

"I concede!" Holly said holding her arms up in surrender.

"That's right, you do," Gail said, starting to eat her cone again.

"Again!" Marty exclaimed.

"No, sweetie, no ice cream fights," Holly said, looking guilty for giving her son ideas, "Food isn't for playing with."

Martin pouted, but before long ran to magic something else with a wave of the sparkly star wand. The whole ice cream fight completely forgotten in his mind. Gail shook her head, kids had the weirdest, most magically ways about them. It's why she liked them more than adults. They were innocent, and saw only the good in everything.

As they continued walking, Holly abandoned her cone in the trash.

"What'd you throw good ice cream out for?"

"Too messy!"

Gail shook her head. She took another lick of her increasingly liquidizing ice cream. "Weirdo."

"Look who's talking!" Holly said with a laugh. She glanced up ahead as Martin danced in front of them. A couple walked by, and Holly tensed until they smiled down at Marty.

"Hey," Gail said her voice going soft. She bumped shoulders with the suddenly serious Holly. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Holly said trailing off. She glanced down, before meeting Gail's eyes. "It's just…" Her eyes traveled to her sweet child as he bent down to magic a flower with a point of magic wand.

"I know," Gail said, "The world is a cruel place. But just remember, you have raised a precious little boy who sees light in everything he sees."

Holly smiled sadly. "I just don't want the world to take that away from him."

Gail nodded. "He's going to have a hard time. I won't lie to you, but…he's got you. Your support is what he'll really need."

"He'll never lose it." There was such conviction in Holly's voice that Gail's heart melted.

She reached out her hand, and Holly took hers gratefully. "And I'm here for you both."

Holly's eyes flashed with something that Gail couldn't quite put her finger on before it was gone. "To arrest some people?"

Trying to look as serious as possible, Gail's chest puffed out in pride. "Yes, to arrest ALL the people!"

She threw her fist in the air, and Holly giggled until she felt the smack of melted cream rain down on her. Gail, it seemed, had forgotten all about the ice cream in hand. In her surprise, Gail jerked it back, and what was left of the scoop fell from the end of the cone to fall right into her cleavage. Gail screeched as the cold liquid dripped down into her shirt.

Holly's laugh was almost worth the cold and mess, Gail thought. Taking hold of the big glob still stuck between her breasts, she tossed it out onto the pavement, and shook the excess liquid from her hands.

The brunette ran from the spray, as fast as she could while still giggling.

"Great, now I'm a sticky mess," Gail huffed. She looked up at the Stewarts who were standing together, bent over with laughter at her. "If you two aren't careful, I'm going to have to initiate a group hug!"

Holly's eyes went wide, while Marty just open his arms up for Gail to hold. He had a big grin on his face, so Gail rushed them, catching Holly before she could get away. Martin squealed and giggled as he clutched her. Holly struggled from her hold, but Gail pulled her against her. She rubbed the liquid still on her hand over Holly's chest without actually thinking the action through. Her face turned beat red as she withdrew her hand like lightning had struck.

Their bodies still close, Gail clutching the other woman tightly against her. Martin wriggled free of her grasp, and so it was just them in a strange sort of embrace. Embarrassed, Gail let go immediately and stepped back.

The two idiots shifted, all shy and awkward now, around each other, until Holly suggested they leave and get cleaned up.

"Good plan," Gail said. She didn't know where to look anymore; so decided the sidewalk was safe.

When they got to the car, Holly insisted it was fine for Gail to sit on the seat, but Gail made her find a towel for her. She laid it across the seat so her stickiness wouldn't transfer. No need to mess up the upholstery because the cop was a klutz.

"Gail," Holly said after a little while of them driving. She glanced in her mirror at her now sleeping son.

"Hmm?" Gail felt herself getting sleepy against the window.

"Thank you for today," Holly said quietly. She reached over and took Gail's hand from the seat. She brought their joint hands up to rest on the center consol.

Gail smiled, feeling herself drifting off. Her eyes drooped closed at the sight of Holly's smile. "Anytime."

Holly squeezed their hands together. "You're amazing."

And Gail was asleep.