"Knock, knock." Maggie pushed open the door to Liza's bedroom on late Sunday afternoon, to the sight of her friend laying flat on her back, surrounded by the pile of laundry she had started to fold an hour ago. "You alive in here?"

Liza yawned, propping her elbows up on the bed. She had meant to fold the piles of laundry, but her exhaustion had gotten the better of her. She had arrived home just before noon after spending the morning with Charles. They had woken slowly and, at her suggestion, had taken a dip in the pool before returning to the main house for breakfast. There she had sat at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, watching him whip up pancakes and eggs. Sitting there, she had let her mind wander into the future, imaging long weekends there with Charles and the girls, and Caitlin, reading, swimming, just relaxing. She pictured coming up here in the fall, when the leaves were just starting to turn, and spending long hours in the library with a book or raking leaves into piles with the girls. She found herself wasting away a lot of time fantasizing about the future with Charles, and she didn't feel bad about it in the slightest. It filled her with a sense of comfort and peace that left her feeling warm and fuzzy in all the right places.

"I'm alive. Just tired." She was also sore, her limbs feeling like they were weighed down with bricks. The reason for that, though, left her smiling. "What's up?"

"Uhm, Josh is here. Wants to talk to you." Maggie arched an eyebrow and shrugged.

"I think I know why. He can come in." Liza made no move to get off the bed and fiddled with a freshly laundered shirt belonging to Charles that he had left, folding it into a neat square. She hadn't even looked at her phone until this morning, when she saw the text from Josh that he had sent. She was annoyed, that was for sure. No one knew how Pauline would have reacted if she had found out another way, but Josh blabbing to her was definitely not part of the plan.

A moment later her bedroom door opened again, and Josh stepped in. "Hey, Liza." He folded his arms, a little sheepishly, and leaned against the doorframe.

"Hi."

"So, uh, you got my text last night, right? I'm sorry about that." He said it so casually, so nonchalantly, like he had forgotten to take out the garbage.

"Well, that's something, I guess. She didn't know, Josh. We hadn't told her about us yet."

Josh shrugged. "I didn't know that. Dude, I'm sorry, Liza. I thought she would have known already. You guys have been together for a while now."

"And it's a complicated situation that probably just got a whole lot more complicated because of you. They're in the middle of divorcing, and she's doing a book for us."

"You're seriously pissed off at me about this? I came over here to apologize, Liza."

"I'm not pissed, Josh. I'm frustrated. I'm annoyed. I'm tired. I know you didn't mean any malice by doing what you do. But I have a right to be upset. We're still friends, Josh, I just need some time."

Josh didn't say anything for a moment, taking a look around the room. He hadn't been in here since before they had broken up earlier that year, and he noticed subtle changes. New sheets, a bottle of cologne sitting on the dresser, a few ties hanging over the edge of the chair by the window, and some men's jeans and shirts folded, sitting neatly on the seat of the same chair. Like Charles was staking his claim on this room and the woman that occupied it. He noticed that she had taken the pictures of the two of them down. The only sign that he was even still in her life was a framed picture of the group at Lauren's hot mitzvah, sitting on a shelf by the window.

"Things sure have changed, haven't they?"

"Yes, they have." Liza answered quietly. She wasn't in the mood to have another conversation like this with Josh. She wondered if Clare had talked to him yet.

Josh sighed, defeated. "Okay, I'll leave you to it." He turned to leave and paused, bumping his hand on the doorframe. "You're happy, right, Liza?

A serene smile came over her face, and it felt like a kick in the gut to Josh. "I am. Very happy."

"Good." He glanced back at her one more time as she returned to folding the clothes scattered across her bed and tried to shake the sense of overwhelming loss that had suddenly come over him.

Across town, Charles collapsed into a chair in the living room, taking advantage of the first 5 minutes of peace and quiet he had been able to enjoy since arriving home with the girls. He wished he had 1/10th of their energy. He had been reluctant to see Liza off this morning, wanting nothing more than for her to spend the rest of the day with him and the girls. He wanted to have her at home with him all the time, but knew it was too early to even consider asking her to move in, for fear of spooking her. He was still fuming over the fact that Pauline had lowered herself to the level of hitting Liza. Liza didn't deserve that, and he fully intended to air his disappointment in Pauline to her.

He had packed up the rest of Pauline's things this afternoon as the girls played dress up in one of the playrooms. She had quickly settled back into the house, and he found her belongings scattered everywhere. He packed everything carefully into boxes and stacked them near the front door. He didn't want any reason for her to linger tomorrow when she came by. The girls had not even mentioned her since he had picked them up from Anna's house. He would talk to them over pizza about what was going on. And he would talk to them about Liza. He was ready to have her fully in his life, and he wanted her to have the opportunity to get to know the girls better. She had mentioned wanting to have them meet Caitlin, and he knew it was only a matter of time before that happened.

"Daddy, when's the pizza going to be here? I'm hunnnngggry." Bianca wandered into the room, and he scooped her up into his lap. Bianca giggled, looking over his shoulder. He heard Nicole giggle behind him, and he reached his arm around, scooping her up and pulling her over the edge of the chair, one girl on each knee. They were growing so fast, he thought, too fast.

"Soon, kiddo. I called a few minutes ago." Bianca nuzzled into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Now is as good a time as any, he thought.

"I want to talk to you two about a couple of things, is that okay?" He stood and resituated them in the chair he had just vacated, choosing to sit down on the edge of the coffee table in front of them.

"Is this about Mommy, Dad?" Nicole asked bluntly, sitting up.

"Yes, part of it is. Mommy isn't going to be staying here anymore. She and I have been talking, and we're going to live in separate houses from now on, okay?"

"Are you getting a divorce?" Nicole asked. He studied her face for a moment. She didn't seem upset, but the question had taken him by surprise.

"Yes, we are, Nicole." He reached out and took one of their hands in each of his. "I love Mommy very much, but we just aren't happy anymore. That doesn't mean that we love either of you any less. We both love you, so, so much. But we just don't love each other like we used to."

"Do we have to move houses? I like my room, Daddy." Bianca looked up at him, a little woefully.

"No. You guys are going to live here. I don't know if Mommy is going to have a house here yet or if she wants to live somewhere else, but you are staying here. You can see Mommy whenever you want to, okay? All you have to do is ask."

"Okay. We like living here with you, Daddy."

"I like you living here, too." He smiled warmly at both of them. They looked a little sad, but not as upset as he had anticipated. "Now, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What?"

"How would the two of you feel if I started spending time with another lady? If she came over for dinner and watched movies with us and we did fun stuff together?"

Nicole eyed him cautiously before asking "It's not that Radha lady, is it? I didn't like her very much."

"Me neither. She wasn't very friendly, and she never played with us. Not like Liza plays with us."

He grinned as they said her name. "How would you feel if it was Liza? If she started spending more time here with you two, with me?" Both of their faces lit up.

"Would she have sleepovers with us? Nicole, we could build a fort with Liza!"

"She would love to have sleepovers with you two. She makes awesome pancakes, too."

"Is Liza your girlfriend, Dad?" Nicole was batting 100% with the questions tonight. When did she become so mature?

"Yes, she is. Is that okay?"

"Do you love her like you used to love Mommy?"

"Very much."

"Okay." Bianca shrugged. "I love Liza."

"Me too." Nicole added, smiling shyly at her Dad.

"Me three" Charles added, and the girls grinned toothily back at him. The doorbell rang, and all thoughts of anything but pizza were erased from the girls' minds.

You still awake? Liza picked up the cell phone as it buzzed on the couch cushion next to her. She and Maggie had settled in to watch a few episodes of Downton Abbey (her forty something guilty pleasure) with a bottle of wine, and Maggie had dozed off halfway through episode two. Liza wasn't that far behind her.

Barely. Someone kept me up all night.

Ditto x Can I call you?

Of course. She stood as the phone began to ring, answering in a whisper as she turned off the tv and walked into her bedroom, closing the door.

"Hey you."

"Hey." Her body warmed at the sound of his voice, as smooth and velvety as a drink of fine whiskey. She settled onto the bed, leaning against a pillow. She hated spending a night apart from him, but she loved these late-night conversations that they had become accustomed to.

"How was your day with the girls?" He yawned in response, and she giggled. "That good, huh?"

"I love them, but my god, they're exhausting. I told them about the divorce though."

"How'd they take it?" She remembered telling Caitlin about her separation from David. She had been a little upset, but she was 17 years old, not 7 and 9.

"Pretty good, actually. They didn't seem too upset. They were more concerned about if they were going to have to move."

"They'll have questions, trust me. They haven't fully processed it yet. You know, this whole situation has reminded me that my divorce hasn't been finalized yet."

"It hasn't?"

"No. I was supposed to sign the papers the night I ended up in the hospital. So, I'm going to call David and the attorney this week and see if we can get this settled. I want a clean slate."

"Me too. I told the girls about us to." He paused, waiting for her response.

"Oh? How'd they take that?"

"Liza, they're thrilled. They're already planning all the things they want to do with you. Be prepared for forts and Polly pockets." He smiled as she laughed.

"I can't wait."

"I was thinking you could come over for dinner with them this week. Pauline will be here tomorrow to pick up her things. I don't know if she is going to want them at all, but she leaves for the book tour next week."

"I'd love to have dinner with you and the girls. Maybe breakfast, too." She could almost hear his smile through the phone.

"I'd like that. I thought we could do something with Caitlin this weekend. It's the 4th of July. We could do a picnic in the park or something."

"I'll check with her and see if she is free. I think she is."

"Sounds like a plan." He yawned again, trying to stifle it so that she wouldn't hear how tired he was, but he couldn't fool her.

"Go to bed, old man. You need your rest after last night."

"So, do you. You know, we never got around to using those ropes." His voice got husky and deep, and it liquified Liza's insides. It was insane how he could turn her on with just a few words. It still took her by surprise when he said something like that to her. He was so buttoned up and professional and charismatic, but she knew how truly primal and sexual he could be. If felt like their little secret, and it certainly made it difficult for her to focus in staff meetings.

"I'll have to take a raincheck on that, baby."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"You better." He chuckled, wishing desperately that he could reach through the phone and pull her to him, onto the empty bed beside him.

"Goodnight, my love. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, babe. See you tomorrow." Liza disconnected, reluctantly, but crawled into bed with a happy heart. Things were finally looking up.