The Chair

Juliette and Avery adjust to married life and learn a thing or two about compromise. Missing scenes from Episode 3.11. Understanding that this episode and the next few will be Juliette-light (due to Hayden's maternity leave), I figured some blanks will need to be filled in. Might be a series once we see how the next few weeks shape up.

ABC, Callie and Lionsgate own everything. I'm just borrowing

Let me know what you think in the reviews!

"That's the last of it. I just tipped the movers," Emily said as she entered the living room. "Had to tip them a little extra to move all the things they had put down in here into the guestroom and the garage."

"Money well spent." Juliette groaned as she propped her feet up on the ottoman in front of her. "Seriously, where did all that come from? Avery lived in a tiny apartment and I don't remember seeing half of that stuff in there. I do not need all that crap cluttering up my house."

Emily giggled a little and sat down on the other sofa. "He's your husband now. He lives here too, remember?"

"Who's side are you on?!" Juliette asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm not on a side. I swear! I'm just saying he deserves more than three shelves." Juliette quickly quieted Emily with a glare. The assistant quickly looked down at her phone and shook her head. "I still can't believe you got married without me being there."

Juliette ran her fingers through her hair. "I know. I'm sorry! It just happened so quick. One minute I think he's walking away from me and the baby forever, the next minute, he's asking me to marry him."

"Well, you two always were all or nothing."

"I know it was fast, but it just feels right. We've been apart for six months and I just felt so ... I don't know. Empty, which is ironic," she said patting her belly.

Emily smiled at her boss, knowing that she was talking to her as a friend rather than an employee at that moment. "You never stopped loving him."

"No, I didn't," Juliette responded, shaking her head. Tears sprung into her eyes and she hated the emotional basket case she had become in the last few months. "But after what I did ... It wouldn't have surprised me if he had walked away and just washed his hands of the whole thing. It's what I deserve."

"But he didn't, J." Emily reached over and placed a hand on the other woman's knee in reassurance. "He obviously loves you too."

She shrugged. "He says he does. Last night, after he proposed, I had convinced myself that he was just doing it because of the baby. But he told me that before ... it ... happened, he was ready to propose. It would have been quick, but he knew it was right. Said he still feels that way." She sighed and looked down at her hands, smiling at the sight of the newly purchased diamond band on her finger. "And I can't help but think what all of this would have been like if I hadn't screwed up so badly."

"Hey, don't do that to yourself," Emily said sternly but with a caring smile gracing her face. "The what ifs don't matter now. You guys are married, and that's because you love each other and you love your daughter."

Glancing at a magazine on the nearby end table, Juliette couldn't help but sigh. "People are going to speculate about it. Say that it was just because of the baby."

"Who cares, Juliette. You know that it's not. Plus, no one knows about the wedding. We get to control when word gets out."

Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes at the thought. "Honestly, I don't want to send out a press release or anything. It's no one's damn business. If they see us walking around with our rings on, then so be it. I'm not feeding them information before they ask about it."

"Good for you," Emily said as a news alert popped up on her phone. Her eyes went wide as she read the update to the story she'd read earlier. "And ... I think your pretty safe right now. No one will be asking about you considering the other wedding fiasco going on in this town."

"What are you talking about?" Juliette asked, confused at the look on her assistant's face.

"You didn't see that Rayna called off the wedding?"

"What?!" Her voice went up a few decibels and her jaw went slack at this revelation.

"Yeah. And now I'm getting news alerts that Luke apparently drove over to Deacon's house and they got into a fist fight in front of nosy neighbors, who of course filmed it. Now it's on TMZ." She held up the phone for Juliette to see the headline "Luke, Rayna's Ex Pull Punches."

"Let me see!" Emily handed the phone to Juliette who watched with wide eyes as Deacon got a few good punches in before Scarlett intervened. She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. "Good for you, Deacon," she said quietly before looking back over at Emily. "And that means I don't have to put on a dress and heels tonight, so I am a happy girl."

"Do they still love each other?"

"Rayna and Deacon?" She chuckled to herself as she rewatched the video. "I don't think they've ever stopped. Their timing's just always been horrible. They've let stuff, like Luke, get in the way of their happiness, and they couldn't figure out a way to make it work."

Without saying a word, Emily, eyebrows raised, looked expectantly at Juliette. She sighed as a realization hit her. "Crap." She worked to push her self up from the sofa and waddled toward the garage. "Come with me."

A few minutes later they were both staring at the yellow chair. "It's actually not ... that ... bad," Juliette said, a pained look in her eyes.

Emily turned to Juliette, surprise marring her face. "Really?"

"No, it's still hideous, but there has to be some place in this house that we can put it and make it work." Juliette lowered herself down into the chair and sat back. "Damn."

"What?"

"He was right. This thing really is comfortable." Chewing on her lower lip, she thought about where she could put the chair. A kick against her hand that had been resting on her belly gave her an idea. "I think ... I know where this thing just might actually work ..."

She watched Avery for a second as he sat alone in their daughter's nursery, until he finally looked up and caught her staring. "Hey," she said, as she leaned against the doorframe.

A huge smile lit up his face. "It's the perfect spot. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Juliette responded, her face mirroring his. "Look, I'm really sorry about earlier. I was acting like a crazy person and you didn't deserve that. I've reorganized my closet so you have more than three shelves."

"You're giving up half your closet?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I didn't say half. Let's not get crazy." She moved further into the room and stood in front of him. "But, you need more than just three shelves. I know that. I'm just still getting used to this whole 'marriage is compromise' thing."

"Come here." Avery held out his hand and when she placed her hand in his, he pulled her toward him and into his lap. "We've been married for like 12 hours. I don't think we have to be experts quite yet. It will take some adjustment. For both of us. We have to figure out what's worth arguing about. When I left, I went over to Gunnar's to complain about the stupid chair and ..." His voice faded out, uncertain if he should tell her what his friend had revealed to him earlier that day.

"And what?" she prodded.

With a sigh, he continued. "He found out that Micah's not his. He's actually his brother's kid. Jason died last year."

Juliette covered her mouth with her hand, sympathy in her eyes. "Wow. Poor Gunnar."

"What's worse is that when he told Micah, he completely shut Gunnar out. Told the judge he wanted to go back to Texas with his grandparents. Now Gunnar's just completely lost." Avery shrugged and looked back up into his wife's eyes. "Kind of made the chair thing pale in comparison. It made me realize how unimportant some things are. We can get rid of the chair."

She shook her head defiantly. "No we can't."

"You like it now?"

"I didn't say that. But you're right about one thing," she said with a smile as she looked around the room. "It is really comfortable. I think it works in here, and it can be something special for the baby from her daddy."

Avery smiled and leaned in to kiss her, placing a hand on her belly. "Thank you. But I will spend some time this weekend going through the other boxes. Most of it just needs to be thrown out anyway."

"Or we could just put it in storage for the time being. I mean ... We might have room for some of it one day."

"You want to move?" he asked, knowing that she had never mentioned moving before.

She shrugged. "Well, I was thinking about it. I mean, I never really liked this place to begin with, and when she starts walking, it's going to be a baby-proofing nightmare with all the glass and tile. It just doesn't feel like a comfortable family home. When I think of a home I want to raise our daughter in ... it's something like Rayna's house. Not this place. Do you remember the land I told you about that I own, just outside of town?" She waited for confirmation from him, then continued. "This is the reason I bought that in the first place. So that I could build a house on it and be the real me. Well, the real me is a wife and a mother now. And it will be our house. Not my house that you just moved into."

Avery nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "Okay. I think that's a good idea, if it's what you want to do."

"I really do."

They shared another smile and he pulled her close for a kiss, which intensified quickly as she attempted to maneuver her belly so that she could face him directly. Unsuccessful, she couldn't stop the laughter that fell from her lips as she broke the kiss.

"This didn't used to be this difficult," she giggled, her forehead pressed against his.

He nodded and kissed the tip of her nose, then helped her into a standing position before standing himself. "Come on. I love having the chair in here, but I'm not really keen on the idea of having sex in the nursery. It's kind of weird."

She took his hand as she lead him out into the hallway. "Fair enough. King size bed down the hall."

"Works for me."