Brooke's POV

Fortunately, I only had to stay in the hospital for 24 hours. After I had 'warmed up' again and had a stable circulation, they released me. The ankle was sprained, but this didn't prevent me from going back to work. I wanted to accomplish a particular plan, so I left the set and went to Chelsea's trailer during the break and knocked on the door. I needed to talk to her, something that Julian hadn't done until today. But it was about Justin's well-being and an earnest conversation was long overdue.

"Hi, Brooke! Come on in."

Chelsea wore only a bathrobe and held a cup of coffee in her hand as she let me in and then went to her small kitchenette.

"Do you want coffee, too?"

I shook my head. "No, thanks. Do you have a moment?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course. Let's sit down." She gestured to a seating group. "Is it about the costumes for the next scenes?" She asked curiously, sipping on the cup.

I felt my heart beating faster with nervousness. It wasn't so easy as I had thought to bring the subject to Julian. But now I was here and would go through with it. "It's not about the costumes," I said haltingly. "It's about something private."

"O-kay." She frowned in confusion. "What is it about?"

I took a deep breath. "I think I'd like some coffee now," I said hastily.

She got up, went to the coffee machine and poured coffee into another cup, which she handed to me.

"Let me guess... It's about Julian, isn't it?"

I quickly took a sip and then put the cup in front of me. "Yeah, it's about Julian," I confessed.

"Okay, before you draw the wrong conclusions," she began, looking at me with a serious expression. "I need to tell you something. I know the two of you are married, and I never would destroy a marriage."

"But you still love him," I blurted out without thinking. The look she gave me then, a mix of confusion and astonishment, wasn't played.

"No, why do you think that?"

I took my cup again and noticed that my hand was slightly shaking. "You have a son together," I said after taking another sip. "That connects you somehow."

"Are you talking about Justin?" She asked in disbelief. "Brooke, you really think that...?" She stopped and then shook her head. "Justin is not Julian's son," she finished the sentence.

"He isn't?" For a moment, I just stared at her in confusion. "But... I thought, you and him..." I broke off my stuttering because she suddenly smiled.

"Now I know why Julian's behavior towards me is so strange. He also seems to believe that Justin is his son."

I nodded uneasily. "Yes, he told me two days ago. I thought the two of you had talked about it before."

"What a mess!" She groaned softly. "The fact is that I fell head over heels in love with Julian when we met on set 5 years ago. But I was more interested in him than he was in me. And it was over quickly." She brushed back a long strand of hair and sighed. "Not for me, though. I absolutely wanted to get him back and did everything to seduce him. But he kept me at bay. And out of defiance and injured pride, I started an affair with the camera operator. Tom looked a lot like Julian. He was just as tall, had the same curly brown hair and dark eyes. When I was with him, I imagined he was Julian." She laughed bitterly. "I figured if Julian could do that, then I could do it too. I knew he still loved 'Brooke', the woman he never had forgotten. And I also knew that he only wanted to sleep with me because I reminded him of you. But my tactics didn't work. For Tom, I was just a sex affair, and when he found out I was pregnant, he gave me money for an abortion. But I'm not a murderer. I decided to keep my baby and raise it by myself."

I looked at her shocked. What a heartbreaking story! "Did Justin know about his father?"

She shook her head. "No. I wrote him that he had a son after Justin was born, but he never answered to my message. And I'm glad because Tom would never have acknowledged his son anyway." She shrugged. "I wished Julian was his father. Then many things would have been different in my life and also in Justin's. But he isn't."

"You need to talk to Julian," I said softly. "He believes he is the father. And to be honest, I would have liked the idea too."

"You wish he had a child with another woman?" She asked in disbelief.

"I wish he could be a father," I confessed, then looked at her sadly. "I can't have children, Chelsea."

"Oh, Brooke, I'm so sorry!"

She grabbed my hand and squeezed it and I felt my eyes filling with tears. "I've known it for a few years, but Julian just found out. And although he acts as if he doesn't care, I know that he would like nothing more than to become a father."

"Have you thought about adoption yet? There are so many children without parents."

I shook my head. "Not yet. But maybe we should think about it. At the moment, though, we both have a lot of work with the shooting of the movie."

"That doesn't run away." She smiled. "But you shouldn't give up. I saw you with Justin. You have good instincts, Brooke. That's what you need to be a good mother."

I finished my coffee and then got up. "I have to go. Your break is over now anyway."

Chelsea looked at the clock. "Oh yes, you're right. I should go change for the next scene."

I was already at the door when I turned back to her. "Thanks for being so honest with me," I said, smiling. "Justin is lucky that he has a mother like you." I opened the door and left the trailer to get back to my work.

Brooke's POV

On the set

A few weeks later

I was preparing the costumes for the shooting day for the actors, when Chelsea rushed into my dressing room with Justin at her side. I realized immediately that something must have happened, because normally she didn't bring her son to the set. Seeing her tormented expression made it clear that she was in a hurry. And as she approached me, I even noticed tears in her eyes. "Did something happen?" I asked worriedly.

She wiped her eyes and then put the bag down that hung over her shoulder. "My mom called," she said in a low voice. "My dad had a heart attack and is in a hospital. She says the doctors don't know if he's going to make it."

I spontaneously put my arms around her. Since our talk, we had become friends. For Julian, it had been a shock at first when he had learned that Justin wasn't his son. But he had quickly come to terms with it and saw himself now as Justin's 'Uncle', especially since the little boy also called me 'Aunt Brooke '.

"I have to go to L.A.," Chelsea said, interrupting my thoughts. "A friend of mine offered to fly me with his Cessna." She looked at the clock. "The only problem is that I have to leave immediately."

"You have two scenes to play for today," I said, giving her a thoughtful look. "But maybe we can just reschedule it. Did you talk to Julian?"

She shook her head. "Could you do that for me? And I have another request too…" She pointed to Justin. "Could he stay with you? Only for today and overnight? I've packed everything in this bag for him: toys, clothes, his toothbrush and his stuffed animal."

She looked pleadingly at me with her brown eyes, and I relented. "Of course he can stay with us." I tried to smile. "Your father's health should be your first priority now."

"I'll get in touch as soon as I arrive in L.A.," she promised. She bent down to her son and gave him a kiss. "Be a good boy as long as I'm gone, Justin. Aunt Brooke and Uncle Julian take care of you. That will be fun. They have a lot of space in their house where you can play."

I could see how hard it was for her to say goodbye to her son, because when she straightened up again, tears gleamed in her eyes. "I take good care of him," I promised and hugged her once more. "Call me!" I shouted after her and then watched her with mixed feelings as she left in a hurry.

"Where is Mommy going?"

I looked down at Justin. "Didn't she tell you where she's going?" I asked in surprise.

He shook his head. And I wondered why she hadn't told her 4-year-old son that his grandfather was sick. But maybe he didn't even know that he had a grandpa and grandma in L.A., it crossed my mind. Chelsea had been living a very private life with Justin for years. As if she had wanted to forget everything about her past. Chelsea's parents probably also didn't know that their daughter had a son.

"Aunt Brooke?"

I crouched in front of Justin. "Someone who is very important to your mommy got sick," I said. "She flew to Los Angeles to visit him."

"And can I stay with you?"

I smiled and ruffled his curls. "You can stay with Uncle Julian and me, all day and even all night. What do you think of that?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Cool!"

I had to laugh. With how little you could make a 4-year-old happy. But before I could take Justin home, I had to inform Julian. I waited for the next break and then went to him. From a distance, he frowned at me as he noticed Justin by my side.

"Where's Chelsea? She's in the next scene," he said in a businesslike tone.

"Her mother called earlier. Her father had a heart attack and is in a hospital," I told him. "She flew to L.A. to be with her family. And she asked me to take care of Justin in the meantime," I added quickly as he raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"That means you're finishing your work here and take him to our place?" He asked.

I nodded. "I've finished arranging the costumes for the next scenes. You just have to take them and assign them to the actors."

"Fine." He sighed. "We're simply shooting another scene without her then. We'll catch up with Chelsea later." He bent down to Justin and smiled at him. "Are you happy that you can stay with us?"

He nodded eagerly. "Do you have cookies?"

"As much as you want," I said and winked at him. The little boy was so cute. And he always spoke his mind.

"The two of you should go home now." Julian bent forward and kissed me. "I'm leaving work earlier today. We can order pizza later. What do you think?"

"Pizza is awesome!" Justin exclaimed, bouncing up and down like a rubber ball. "And chocolate chip cookies and ice cream for dessert."

I suppressed a laugh and noticed that Julian was smiling too. "And afterwards your tummy aches and you feel bad," I pointed out. "And when you're sick, your mommy is scolding me." As he pouted, I softened. "Well, let's start with the pizza and then we'll see."

"Hey, the little boy has already wrapped you around his finger," Julian whispered to me and grinned.

As Justin shoved his little hand into mine and gazed at me with his big brown eyes, I knew that he wanted to leave. "See you later," I said to my husband before leaving the set with the little boy.