I only saw this movie for the very first time a few weeks ago and ever since, I can't stop thinking about those papers Noah is reading at the end of the movie. Plus, I kept wondering if it was possible for Julia to be Piper's daughter after all and this is what I came up with... Hope you like it! :)
She knows how happy she should be that she's still part of the family, even after all her lies, but yet she can't seem to forget about how perfectly all the pieces fit. Julia's age is the same as that of her baby girl, the artistic ability is of course a major point and sometimes it's just like she's looking in a mirror when she sees Julia's eyes. It just won't leave her alone, the thought of that this Julia is her baby girl, no matter what Noah says. She knows there are ways to find out: she can ask when Julia's birthday is or she could look around the house for baby photos of Julia and compare them to the photos she has of her baby girl.
She won't, though, because she's afraid she'll get kicked out of the family again. She just tries to enjoy the time she gets to spend with Julia and push the thoughts about her own baby to the back of her head. Today it seems harder than ever, as she watches Julia work on the wall painting in the sub shop. The way she holds her paintbrush, the way she tilts her head sometimes to see if it's still as she wants it to be, the look of concentration in her eyes… Focus, Piper, she tells herself. She looks back to Noah, who's sitting at the table. He's reading the papers he received this morning by mail. She doesn't know who they're from, but she knows it's not good news. She does notice he keeps looking back to her and Julia a lot. He's looking back to often for it to be just to check if everything's okay. She'd love to ask him if everything is okay, but again she won't. Everything is so perfect between them right now, she doesn't want that to change, so she just continues to work on the painting and waits for him to say something. She doesn't have to wait very long.
"Julia?" he says.
"Yeah?" She doesn't even look up, which makes Piper smile.
"Can I borrow Piper for a moment?"
"Sure!" She still doesn't look up. Grinning, Piper steps down and makes her way to Noah's table. He nods with his head towards the door. "Let's go outside and find something a little more private to talk."
They find a quiet bench down the street where there's no one else around. Without any introduction, he just blurts out: "You were right, she is your daughter."
She's too stunned to say anything. What did he just say? He takes her hand in his and starts explaining: "The papers I received this morning… They are from the facility where my ex-wife was staying. She committed suicide three days ago…"
"I'm so…" she starts, but Noah shakes his head to let her know he has more to tell her. "Before she did, she wrote a long letter to explain everything… and she included the adoption papers. You see, she did give birth to a baby girl named Julia, but she never told me the baby was sick and probably wouldn't even make it to her second birthday. As soon as she found out about it, she decided she didn't want to keep this baby anymore and started looking for a baby girl to adopt. All behind my back, I never knew anything about it. The adoption was made final before she tried to commit suicide the very first time in the car. Our baby Julia was in the car with her, but your baby Julia came home with us from the hospital… She had copied my autograph onto the adoption papers and decided never to tell me that our baby girl had been replaced by another girl. Not until now of course…"
"Oh, Noah, I'm so sorry!" She means it, every single word. Finding out after all those years that your daughter is actually not your daughter and that your real child is dead… She can see how hard he is trying not to break down, but be happy for her that she has finally found her baby girl. It doesn't seem to matter anymore, all she can do is feel sorry for him.
"Please don't," he says when he sees the tears appear in her eyes. "Julia is your girl, you should be happy that you found her. And my girl… I've always thought that Julia was my girl. How am I supposed to feel bad about the death of a girl that I always thought to be alive? My baby is gone, but yet she's still here… If I feel anything already, it's confusion."
She understands, she understands so well. How else can she describe that feeling inside of her? First she thinks she has found her daughter, then it's not her girl and now it is after all? And if they'll ever tell Julia, she'll probably feel plenty confused as well.
"Let's not tell her yet," he says, as if he's reading her mind. She immediately nods, that's probably for the best.
"Do you think you can… act the same around her?" he wants to know. She doesn't immediately respond. It's not a weird question after what they have just decided. If they don't tell Julia the truth, she can't let the little girl know who she really is.
"Can I tell her that I love her?" she carefully asks.
"I think she already knows that…"
"Then I'll stick to that," she decides. He manages a smile as he holds out his hand to help her get up. "Let's go back to see how your girl is doing then. No, wait, she's officially my girl too… Our girl?"
"That sounds like something you say when you're married!" she says with a grin. He shrugs his shoulders. "Who knows… Maybe someday!"
And he kisses her right in front of the sub shop with Julia watching them from the window. As soon as they break apart, she runs up to them.
"You kissed Piper!" she calls out.
"Yeah…" Noah nods. "And I think I'm going to do it again…"
It's not the most romantic kiss of course with Julia giggling next to them, but Piper doesn't mind. She puts her arm around her daughter and walks back to the sub shop with Noah's hand around hers. Someday she'll tell her the truth, but right now she's pretty happy being the Mom that's Daddy's girlfriend.