A/N I kept writing and thought I would at least get this plot point all done. I have a plan for this and I think you guys will like it but if you have questions, comments, or concerns just message me!
Emily turned into the driveway of the house her GPS took her to. She was surprised how close it was to her parent's house. If she went down the next street and over she would have hit it. She put the car in park and got out. She made sure to child lock her back doors so she had to let Emma out as well.
"Okay, so you're mom said you knew where the key was." Emma nodded silently and walked up to the porch. She picked up an extremely obvious rock with her broken arm and struggled to pull off the back of it. Emily came into help and pulled off the cover to reveal a small key.
"That's not a very safe place to hide a key."
"That's not the key." Emma laughed. Emily was confused and let Emma take the key out of her hand. She walked to the edge of the porch where a bird house was sitting. Emma put the key into a hole in the back of the house and opened a hatch where the house key was sitting.
"You guys are an interesting bunch." Emily commented. She took the key and opened the door. Walking into the house, she was surprised at how spaced out it was. The whole living area leading into the kitchen was completely open with steps leading down to a large sitting area and pillars separating that room and the kitchen. Everything was painted white except one wall which was bright maroon. Emily looked at her watch and planned out the evening. If it was 3:30 then and Paige didn't get back for several hours it would mean she needed to cook something for dinner. She was nervous trying to navigate another person's kitchen and she considered ordering in. That problem was going to have to be a concern later because now she was standing in the middle of the hall with no child in sight.
"Emma!" Her voice echoed through the acoustically sound house. She set her bag and keys down and walked towards the first hallway.
"Emma." She spoke again. A head popped out of a door a few feet away and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"I was just changing out of my uniform." She said matter of factly.
"Okay just come back in the living room when you're done." Emily sat down on the couch and waited for Emma to come out. She shot a text to Paige so she knew everything was fine.
The package has been delivered.
She figured Paige wouldn't respond because of the case load she had. Emma came out of the hallway and plopped down next to Emily now wearing an adorable but mismatched pair of red pants with a bright green shirt.
"So what do you usually do afterschool?"
"First I change. Then, I usually eat a snack or something because dinner isn't until six. If I have homework I do it but my school is kind of boring so we don't have a lot of homework. My mom got me these books that I like to read instead." Emily was surprised that a kindergartner could read.
"Do you read well?" She asked.
"My teacher says I read better than second graders. Before I went to school here, my dad taught me at home and we started learning reading and writing. I wish I was better at it because I see some of the third graders talking about these books called Magic Treehouse but I can't read that well yet." Emily could tell the girl was really upset over this even though she should be happy that she could read at all.
"Do you have any of those books?" Emma nodded her head fervently.
"Go grab one and I'll grab you something to eat and we will read it." They both hopped of the couch to opposite directions. Emily went into the kitchen unsure of where she was going or what she was getting.
"If I were a child appropriate snack where would I be?" She muttered to herself as she looked at the dozens of cabinets. She didn't want to start randomly opening things because it would be a violation of their privacy. She opened the fridge and saw kapri sun drinks and grabbed one of those. She was about to the shut the fridge but decided to open it again and grab one for herself. She turned around and opened the nearest cupboard. She lucked out and it had a few snacks in it. She pulled out a bag of gluten free pretzels and dried fruit. When she got back down to the couch, Emma was patiently waiting. Emily opened their drinks and Emma's pretzels before she grabbed the book to begin reading.
"I'm going to read a page and then I want you to read some, okay? We will just switch off." Emma nodded with her mouth full of food. Emily began reading about a brother and sister with a time traveling tree house. She read the first two pages and then held the book up to Emma.
"Jack and Annie jum…jum."
"Jumped." Emily helped.
"Jack and Annie jumped out of the way. A horse had ju.." Emma struggled again.
"Just…a horse had just missed them." Emily dragged her finger under the line she was reading. They sat there together reading through the whole story. They made it through the first half of the book when Emily's phone went off.
Getting off soon. Has she made you swear off procreation?
"Who is it?" Emma questioned.
"It's your mom. She asked if you were being good."
"I'm always good." She said giving a devilish grin.
She's much better than her mother ;)
Emily sent her message back and got up to stretch. Looking at her watch she realized they had been reading for the better part of two and half hours.
"Well Em, what is there to cook in this house?" She thought it was funny that she used the same nickname for the little girl as many people used for her.
"We can mac and cheese and chicken nuggets." Surprisingly, that food combination sounded perfect to Emily. They both made their way to the kitchen and Emma pointed out where everything was. Emily started the oven and put on a pot of water to boil. While everything was preheating, she got the rest of the ingredients out.
"Did you know I have a secret recipe for mac and cheese?"
"Is it better than my mom's?" she asked wide eyed.
"It might be but I guess we'll have to see." She winked and poured the noodles in. She went to throw the box away and noticed a small step stool in the corner. She grabbed it and placed it next to her by the stove. She handed Emma a ladle and showed her the best way to stir. She placed the frozen nuggets on a pan and placed them in the oven, still keeping a careful eye on the girl.
"How do you know when it's ready?"
"When the noodles start to stick to your spoon, it's ready to go." Emily could tell that her arm was getting tired.
"How about you be my looker to see when the noodles stick?" She picked the girl up and set her on the counter next to the stove. She continued to stir while Emma looked over the pot diligently. Emily knew it was going to take a bit of time for the noodles to be done she wanted to talk to Emma about something she didn't address earlier.
"Hey Emma, remember how earlier you were asking me if I was dating your mom or your dad?" She shook her head yes.
"Do you know what that means?" Emily didn't want to correct the girl if she thought dating just meant being friends.
"It's when two people are in love so they go to dinner and see movies…but my parents do that but they aren't dating. They are best friends."
"Your mom and I are just friends too."
"Do you not like going to dinner with her?" Emily should have known the conversation was going to take this turn.
"We actually just eat lunch together because friends only eat lunch…together."
"So you like daddies?" Emma continued.
"I like mommies." Emily regretted defending her sexuality to a six year old.
"But you don't like my mom?" Emma asked confused.
"I think your mom is great! Paige is amazing and beautiful but we are both really busy right now…and I think these noodles are just about done. Where's the strainer." Her attempt at clearing up the situation probably made it worse. Emma pointed to a cupboard and Emily retrieved the strainer and drained the noodle.
"I know what you mean. Christoff and Anna want to get married but they can't until they save Elsa."
"Sure." Emily conceded rubbing her forehead with her hand. She added her secret ingredients into the pot and stirred in the noodles. Right as she finished, the oven rang.
"Let's set the table up and then we'll eat. Where are the plates?" Emily managed to get everything together and made a plate for Paige as well.
"Do you want any dipping sauces?" Emma requested ketchup and as Emily went to get it, the front door opened.
"I'm home!" Paige shouted. Emily sat down and squirted some ketchup on Emma's plate.
"We're in here." Paige set her stuff down and was pleasantly surprised that edible food had been made. When she got home with Caleb, the closest thing to food was a bag of popcorn. Paige jumped up the steps and put a hand on Emma's shoulder. She leant down and gave her a peck on the forehead. In auto pilot she moved along to Emily and gave her a kiss on the head as well. It wasn't until she was headed to the fridge, that she realized what she had done. She quickly turned around to a confused Emily.
"Sorry, I am in auto pilot and my sleep deprived brain thought you were Caleb." Paige bit her lip hoping Emily would not make the situation become awkward.
"I completely understand. One time when Hanna and I were living together after I broke up with my girlfriend I gave her a full on kiss on the mouth before leaving for work." They both laughed, albeit slightly forcibly.
"So what did you guys do?" Paige asked, trying to change the subject.
"Emily helped me read the magic tree house books and then she cooked her mac and cheese which is better than yours." Paige mocked being hurt.
"Well baby girl I go straight off of the box, so half of the mother's in America are better than me at mac and cheese." They finished their dinner with small conversation about work and school in between them. Paige and Emily carried the dishes into the kitchen.
"I made the mess, I can clean it up." Emily offered.
"Don't even think about it. I owe you…a lot." Paige grabbed her dishes and threw everything into the sink.
"Will you stay for a movie? Tomorrow is Saturday so I know you don't have work." She thought it over for a second before conceding. It was only eight and even though she was tired a movie would be relaxing. Paige threw Emma over her shoulder and walked them towards the couch. She put her in the middle and Emily sat down on the other side. Paige put in Beauty and the Beast, turned off the lights, and sat back down on the couch. She spread a blanket over the three of them and pressed play on the remote. As soon as the opening song began to play, they all relaxed back into the couch. Emily curled her legs up and leaned back. Emma was curled into her mother's side, with Paige's arm around her. Emily couldn't remember the last time she had seen this movie and was so invested she didn't realize the girl next to her had fallen asleep. She readjusted her position, trying not to hit the sleeping tiny human. Her left hand was now lost under the sea of blankets.
She spread out her hand to stabilize herself and her pinky came in contact with flesh. Her eyes stayed on the television unsure of what to do. As she moved her finger again, the object she was touching moved as well. She realized that it was another finger, an adult sized finger. She adjusted her legs a bit, still focusing on the television and moved her finger over her neighbors. She took in a deep breath as Paige responded moving her finger farther under Emily's pinky. After a few moments, half of Paige's hand was now under Emily's and the overlapping digits were intertwined. A small smile began to form at the corner of Emily's mouth and was mirrored on Paige's. Emily moved her thumb gently over the side of Emily's hand. Neither woman dared to look at each other at the risk of breaking the simple moment they created with the weight of reality. Paige flipped her hand over completely intertwining their fingers together. The sudden movement caused the sleeping beauty to sleep no longer. The motion of Emma waking up caused them to quickly break their hands away. As they did, both women caught the breath they didn't realize they were holding. The movie was coming to a close anyways so Emily got up off of the couch.
"I really should be getting home." She moved to the door to get her things.
"Emily wait please. Let me walk you out." Paige slipped her daughter off her lap and jumped up to follow Emily.
"You need to put Emma to bed I can walk the twenty feet to my car." Paige didn't want Emily to go but she knew she was right.
"I'll see you Monday. We have big plans, right?" Paige gave the best smile she could muster even though she was disappointed Emily was leaving.
"I'll see you Monday." With that, Emily walked out as quickly as she could. In her whole life, she had never felt such passion in just the touch of a hand. If that was any indication of her feelings for Paige, she knew she wasn't going to be able to keep her distance for long.
TBC