Talia was true to her word and was ready to visit Cameron's place at 10am the next morning. She was doing up her jacket but with a rough look on her face, as she was currently in a bit of a dispute with Chase.

She wanted to take Effie along with her so that Chase wouldn't have to try and balance looking after her and Elijah at the same time - but Chase was insistent on looking after them both, for some bizarre reason. "Babe, don't you think I can handle it?" he challenged her in the bedroom over the sound of Effie's impatient cries. Talia simply rolled her eyes and waved him off tiredly, not in the mood to go through it again. "No, T, answer the damn question!" Chase suddenly snapped.

"I do think you can handle it, idiot! I just think that part of me being their mother, is trying to save you, my husband, from the noise and the stress of balancing them both!" Talia hissed as she swung Effie into her hands and attempted to soothe her by bouncing her up and down. "It's okay, angel-"

"Talia, when we got married we literally agreed to share the load! So would you stop taking everything so bloody head on?" Chase scoffed as he shook Effie's morning bottle.

"I'm not!" Talia exclaimed back.

"You are! Taking Effie to Cameron's when you already established that Cameron was being weird with you and therefore probably has some kinda problem that she's gonna wanna run by you is frankly - dumb! And borderline irresponsible, if you ask me," Chase grumbled under his breath, turning away from her moodily.

"Wow, then it's a damn good thing I didn't ask you then," Talia muttered back angrily. She pressed a final kiss to Effie's forehead and gently handed her over to her father as the volume of her cries increased. "You know what? I genuinely don't have time for this. I don't have time for you to constantly interpret these kinds of conversations as me doubting your abilities as a father, because it's extremely f*cking boring. If you haven't figured that out yet then I can't f*cking help you! Best of luck today, Robert - I'm off. Don't wait up."

And with that, Talia grabbed her bag and her car keys, and flounced out of the bedroom. Chase was left alone with their baby, who was beside herself with tears.

"Okay princess. It's fine," he whispered down to her, sitting down on her bed so that he could feed her the bottle. "Don't worry, Mummy will be back soon - Daddy's got you till then."

Talia waited at Cameron's front door and fiddled with her fingers as she waited for her to answer. She couldn't stop thinking and stressing about Chase, praying that he wasn't too overwhelmed with their young kids. Part of her was kicking herself for not just taking Effie with her without the fight - but sometimes Chase didn't back down easily and Talia just didn't have the time to fight it out with him today.

Regardless, Cameron swung the door open. She was dressed in her cardigan, tracksuit bottoms and baggy top.

She looked…exhausted.

And like she'd been crying - a lot.

"Hi," Talia started off hesitantly.

"Hi," Cameron sniffed, barely meeting her eyes. "Come on in, I've got Elijah's stuff in the kitchen." Talia nodded and did as she was told, stepping into Cameron's pristine apartment.

Well, it was usually pristine - now it looked a bit of a mess.

That's how Talia could tell that Cameron's mental health was on the rocks.

"Here," Cameron was murmuring, passing over the bag with the natural medicines inside. "This should have bub better in no time."

"Thank you," Talia smiled gratefully as she took it from her.

They rigidly stood opposite each other in a dreadfully awkward silence.

"Allison, are you-"

"Are you having an affair with my girlfriend?" Cameron suddenly blurted out.

Talia couldn't help it - she let out a short laugh before she could stop herself.

"E-excuse me?" she finally spluttered in surprise. "W-what-"

"She didn't tell me who she was going for lunch with the other day," Cameron continued, now pacing her living room floor. "And she's been acting weird as hell from before that. In fact she has been for over a month now, and she won't tell me what the hell is up. And it's only because I walked past the damn cafe on my way to the market that I saw it was you who she was with."

"Right. And so that equates to an affair?" Talia drawled in boredom. "Were we touching each other? Did we even look happy to be near each other? Because on that day - we wouldn't have been. Not at any point of the conversation were we happy to be seated there." Cameron's cheeks flushed red and she ducked her head, suddenly stopping her pacing.

"No, you didn't look happy. And that was the only thing that made me wonder if I was freaking out over nothing," she admitted awkwardly. Then her shoulders slumped. "But that still doesn't explain why she wouldn't tell me about you two meeting up, so I'm not gonna apologise for jumping to that conclusion!" Talia wasn't stupid - she knew exactly why Thirteen wouldn't have told Cameron about the meeting. Thirteen would've known that the meeting was about Leona's death, and she wanted to keep Cameron as far from that saga as possible.

Talia disliked what she did - but she was still her friend after all, so she wouldn't want to expose her either.

"You do remember that Remy was once my good friend before being your girlfriend, right?" she challenged Cameron instead as the anger started heating up. "For many months you could barely stand the girl - and now you've leapt straight to her cheating with ME? Talk about dramatic-"

"I…" Cameron trailed off helplessly. Her eyes were now filling with tears. "I'm at a loss, Talia. I thought it was far fetched until she started kicking off when she came back from…meeting with you."

Then Talia was interested.

"I'm sorry?"

"Talia, you can't freak out…" Cameron murmured, suddenly noticing that she clearly knew less than she thought.

"What did she say, Allison?" Talia asked loudly, taking another bold step towards her.

"She was so pissed. She was drinking a little but…kept saying that you were on moral high ground and that you needed to come down from it, that you weren't perfect either and that you going around acting as if everyone was beneath you was…'getting old'," Cameron explained awkwardly, watching Talia's face harden with every new word she spoke.

Ouch.

"She…she said that?" Talia croaked out as her palms started to get hot.

"Talia, I don't know if she meant it - b-but I thought that you had called off the affair, and that's why she was-"

"ALLISON, DROP THE AFFAIR THING!" Talia snapped, the anger now building too much in her chest. "I am NOT sleeping with your girlfriend-" But before she could finish, there was the sound of keys jiggling in the front door, and Talia's entire body stiffened up as Thirteen stepped through. Her eyes widened as soon as she spotted Talia in the hallway, her usually friendly face now stony, and Cameron with tear stricken cheeks.

"Great timing," she sniffed, turning her back to her.

"No, oh no," Talia scoffed angrily. "Remy, why don't you tell Allison what we WERE discussing on the day that we saw each other in the cafe?" Thirteen's face went pale and she gulped, her eyes pleading with Talia not to do it.

But it was far too late for that kind of redemption.

"No, come ON!" Talia snapped angrily. "Since, you know, I'm on such a moral high ground-"

"Talia," Thirteen murmured slowly, staring dead into her eyes. "Don't."

"DON'T? Are you insane, Remy? Do you know how cheeky it is for you to suggest that I was that kinda person after knowing damn well why I was so angry on that day? Are you sick or what?!" Talia continued to rage, now beside herself with fury. Cameron just looked between the two of them, now seeing that whatever the problem was, it was much deeper than some fling.

In fact, she knew that it was worse.

"Remy…what's she talking about?" she found herself asking steadily.

"Yeah Remy, what am I talking about?" Talia hissed on the side. "C'mon, cos its a high horse that I'm on now, right? That's what's happening? If it's such a high horse, then tell her!"

"Talia, please," Thirteen murmured again, as her feline eyes started welling with tears.

"Shut UP and tell her what the f*ck happened to my friend!" Talia shouted as her first tears started running too. "Tell her what happened to Leona!"

"Leona?" Cameron repeated slowly. Remy's teary eyes darted over to Talia one last time, obviously expecting her to explode and reveal what happened - but to her surprise, she didn't say a word.

"No. Don't you dare look at me like that - I'm not telling her so that you don't have any dirty work left," Talia hissed venomously. "YOU can tell her, just like you told her all that you really felt about me. You absolute bitch-"

"REMY, what happened to Leona? She died? She died because of the cancer, right?" Cameron asked loudly over Talia's ranting. Thirteen took a deep shaky breath and shook her head slightly. "I'm…I'm sorry?" Cameron blinked back.

"Hello?! SHE CAN'T HEAR YOU IF YOU DON'T TALK!" Talia yelled, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"I…euthanised her," Thirteen admitted, her shaky voice barely above a whisper.

Cameron's face completely drained of all rosiness, and she glanced over to Talia immediately for confirmation. All Talia could do was take a deep breath and nod, taking a few moments out to compose herself before speaking again.

"Leona asked me to do it and I said no. Apparently she then went to your girlfriend, who honoured her wishes - b-but she didn't tell me. The day I said goodbye to Leona a-after sitting with her, I went back home assuming she was joining the Boston trial to extend her life. Nobody said sh*t all to me, but apparently I had no right to be upset," she murmured thickly. Cameron's mouth ran dry. "And no, I WASN'T upset at Thirteen because she carried out the thing. I was pissed I cou-"

"Well I am!" Cameron snapped, spinning around to Thirteen with eyes ablaze. "You KILLED someone?!"

"Whole new ballpark," Talia murmured under her breath.

"A new ballpark that you can't judge, given that your own husband's done the same thing before," Thirteen muttered.

Cameron's face dropped even more and Talia's hands started to shake.

"Pardon?"

"Eric told me."

"You have some f*cking nerve," Talia spat, getting the closest to Thirteen that she'd ever been. "I have made it clear time and time again that I'm not upset at you for the action you took, but you continue to throw things into my face just to hurt me. Thank you for sh*t all, Remy. Only difference between yourself and Chase, though, is that eventually, he told me. He told Foreman and HOUSE before that - and the dude he killed was a villain killing thousands. You hid it from me, you hid it from your girlfriend - and your victim was my best, friend. So please, and I mean this with my whole heart - go to hell."

Then Talia turned to Cameron with a face of sorrow, who was already apologetic.

"Talia…I'm sorry for suggesting that-"

"Don't worry about it," Talia sniffed feebly. "Thank you for the medicines, and good luck with her. You're gonna need it."

Then she left, unable to stand the sight of Remy any longer.

Once Talia put the key in the front door, she knew that all she wanted to do was go and see Chase. She just wanted him to wrap her up in his arms and hold her close, to console her - she felt awful without him right beside her. She just wanted him to tell her that everything was going to be okay, because on days like this, she found it hard to believe that it would be.

And then she stepped through the door to silence.

Talia let out a tired sigh and continued to step into the hallway, shutting the front door behind her and chucking her keys into the pot. The living room was clean enough, but the kitchen was a mess - there was powdered milk formula dusted all over the countertops and the fridge door was swinging open as if it had suffered a raid. The washing machine was on and whatever was in the tumble dryer done, so it was beeping a shrill tone. That alongside the sight of the mess was giving Talia a headache. "I was only gone for 45 minutes," she whispered to herself as she shuffled off her coat and shut the fridge door. Then she tiptoed into the nursery, expecting to see the kids asleep - but instead she saw her husband curled up on Elijah's little toddler bed, with a snoozing Elijah in one arm and a blissfully sleeping Effie laid out on his chest, her tiny nose tickling the tufts of Elijah's beautiful blonde curls. All three of them were fast asleep, and Chase still had a storybook clutched lazily in his hand. Talia couldn't help but take out her phone and snap a few pictures, finding the whole scene adorable, before lifting Effie into her own arms and lowering her down into her cot instead.

"Mama?" came a cute little croak from the toddler bed. Talia finished laying Effie down before spinning around.

"Hi honey! You okay?" she whispered, lowering onto her knees as Elijah carefully clambered off the bed and lazily toddled over to her.

"Mhm," he nodded sleepily, leaning comfortably into her chest. Talia kissed his warm forehead repeatedly as she squeezed him into a hug.

"You hungry? Did Daddy give you dinner?" she murmured against his warm skin.

"Why, d'ya think I'd let him starve?" Chase grumbled out sleepily, also cracking an eye open. Talia leaned her chin on top of Elijah's head before rolling her eyes.

"Does it look like I'm in the mood for this right now?" she asked him calmly so that Elijah wouldn't freak out. Chase shut his eyes again with a bored sigh, and Talia redirected her attention back to her groggy son. "Hey, let's get Daddy outta your bed so you can get some rest, yeah? You look a little better - do you feel a little better?"

"A little bit," Elijah nodded slowly. "I drink lots an' lots of water."

"Good boy," Talia smirked before kissing his warm forehead again. She watched Chase heave himself off Elijah's bed and pace his way into the kitchen, leaving Elijah to climb back into his bed and pull the covers up. "Get some rest, angel. Love you," Talia hummed, stroking his curls away from his long lashes.

"Love you," Elijah yawned sleepily - and then he fell back asleep again. Talia stood up straight and tiptoed out of the bedroom, slightly shutting the door behind her and then making her way into the kitchen too. Chase passed her a creamy coffee without saying a word, and Talia took it from him with a small hum of thanks.

There was a silence before either one of them spoke again.

"You…okay?" Chase finally asked slowly, as if he wasn't too sure what her reaction would be.

"Do I look okay? Or do I look like sh*t?" Talia scoffed moodily as she leant herself up against the breakfast bar.

"Please. You never look like sh*t," Chase scoffed under his breath. Then he sighed and shook his head whilst Talia took a few sips. "Not gonna lie to you, it was rough."

"What was rough?"

"Being here alone with the kids. Elijah wanted constant attention and it turns out that Effie did too. She's really not a fan of being put down briefly-"

"I know," Talia interrupted him smoothly, putting her cup down on the kitchen counter. "I figured that out myself when you were off indoor surfing the other day."

"Ah."

"Robert, nothing I say is to patronise you or to make you feel small. The fact that you're starting to take every comment from me as some kind of negative feedback is beginning to grind my bloody gears and I cannot do it anymore," she continued telling him honestly, clearly on a roll. "I think you're an incredible father. You're amazing at what you do and our babies love you to pieces. I couldn't have a baby with or be married to a better man than you, in fact. But Rob, you're not making it easy for me. It feels like we're divorced and just trying to get along until the kids fall asleep, then we're the happy married couple again - and that's not how it's meant to be."

"That's not true, T," Chase sighed lowly.

"Yes, it is! We were snapping at each other all day and now both the kids are sleeping, we're lowering tones and trying to talk sh*t out calmly again? How can you not see that?" Talia nibbled on the inside of her lip. "Are we…is our marriage-"

"Our marriage is fine," Chase interrupted as quickly as he could. "So don't. It's not our marriage that's the problem."

"So what is the problem?" Talia sniffed shakily.

"We're stressed, baby. We…" Chase sniffed and knocked his head back. "Alright. I think I need to go back to work or pick up a hobby or do something outside the house. For me personally, I think I'm losing it here…I clearly wasn't meant to be a stay at home dad. I love you and our kids so much but every time I see Lij, I remember the fear on his face from that stupid f*cking accident a-and the other day, the bloody prison called and House was t-trying-" Talia quickly stepped over to him and took his flushing face in her hands.

"What?" she murmured.

"House called, T. He was trying to get hold of me and it kinda…suddenly reminded me of all he did. It set me back a few paces and I guess I've been clinging onto that negativity since," Chase admitted awkwardly with his head lowered. "I should've told you, but I didn't wanna freak you out."

"Oh sweetheart," Talia breathed empathetically as she brought him in for hug, much to his surprise. "He tried to contact me too, just yesterday in fact. It freaked me out as well, and I think that's normal. I went to get help for my trauma, bub. You had to sit here and deal with it head on and with our son - I'm so sorry for never thinking about that earlier. It must've been tough for you."

"It's not your fault baby," Chase frowned as he rubbed her back. "Saying that, I should probably get on some therapy sessions os something, right?"

"Yes, please. I'll help you find them," Talia hummed. She pulled apart from him and kissed his lips sweetly, which he eagerly returned. "I love you. Don't feel like you have to carry this on your shoulders by yourself - which is ironically the issue we had when Ryan was calling, remember?"

"Yeah…I should've never shouted at you on that day. I now know how torn it feels to tell your partner news that could somewhat destroy them," Chase muttered ashamedly. "I'm so sorry-"

"Shush," Talia hushed him, kissing his forehead. "Hey, we can find something fun for you to start doing, too. Sounds like you need a bit of a distraction…"

"I guess so," Chase sighed. "It just makes me feel like such a sh*t father, you know? I know that staying home to raise our kids is your idea of heaven-"

"It's not staying home to raise our kids that you hate, it's looking at one of them knowing you could've lost him in a tragic accident. I understand, baby, but I need you to understand too, because the two are not the same and I don't want you putting yourself down over it," Talia assured him, making him smile lightly. "You're an amazing father and one they both adore. I wouldn't trade you for the world and neither would they - and that, I know for certain."