Julian's POV

Brooke was in a strange mood when I entered our home that evening, and it wasn't hard to guess, why. Luckily, my mother and Justin were still up, so she didn't give me a moral lecture in presence of them, but after dinner and after we had put Justin to bed, she could no longer restrain her temper and attacked me with her accusations, as soon as I had closed the door to our bedroom.

"What were you thinking to offer Markham a job?!"

She glared at me and I groaned inwardly. I guessed that it would cause trouble. Maybe a reason why I hadn't told her. I only shrugged. "We were looking for a cameraman and then I remembered that he used to work in that job," I said casually.

"You can't tell me that he was the only cameraman you could find! He told me you called him. So you deliberately toyed with the idea of bringing him here. And I don't think you did it out of pure human kindness. You pursue a specific goal with it. Am I right?"

She was right, but I couldn't tell her that. She wouldn't understand it anyway. Our last meeting, four months ago, in front of the law firm, affected me in a way I couldn't really grasp myself. Justin's father had looked so sad and depressed, and I had remembered how I had felt when I thought Justin was my son. I knew what he felt. I, too, had wanted to be a part of Justin's life then. A fact that almost had cost Brooke's life.

"Julian? Would you please answer me!"

I looked up and frowned. "I didn't listen. What did you say?"

"Why did you offer Markham a job? And don't say, 'because we were looking for a cameraman.'" She rolled her eyes. "I know there is more behind it."

I reached for her hands and pulled her to the bed. "Sit down," I asked her. "I'll tell you, but please promise me you won't get upset!"

"I get upset if you don't tell me," she said, frowning. "Go on, spit it out. What's the real cause you brought Markham to Tree Hill?"

I took a deep breath before answering. "I want Justin to know who his father is," I confessed to her, waiting for her reaction, which came instantly.

"Have you lost your mind?" She gasped. "Justin is four, Julian! He still doesn't understand what the word 'father' means at all! He never had one. And just because Markham procreated him doesn't make him a 'father'. This entails more than that."

"Justin has a right to know who his father is," I contradicted her. "Imagine you were adopted. Wouldn't you want to know who your birth parents are?" I saw her lower lip tremble and her eyes filling with tears and suddenly felt bad. I knew she was scared that Justin would be taken away from her. And I also didn't want to lose him. But for many weeks, my conscience has plagued me that there were always two sides to a medal. And I just wanted to give Justin the chance to meet his dad before it was too late.

"He won't rest until he had taken our boy from us," she exclaimed desperately. "Do you want that, Julian?"

I pulled her into my arms. "He won't," I mumbled, kissing her forehead gently. "I just want them to spend some time together, getting to know each other better. Of course, under our supervision. You really don't need to be afraid. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything we don't want, okay?" I looked at her expectantly.

She nodded hesitantly. "Did you give him the job?"

"Yes, he's got the job," I confessed. "Now he is still looking for an apartment where he can live so he can move here as soon as possible."

"Do you think Chelsea would have wanted Justin to meet his biological father?"

I looked at her thoughtfully. "You told me that she sent him a message after Justin's birth. Apparently she wanted him to know and acknowledge the paternity."

"Yeah, I think you're right," she admitted quietly. "I completely forgot about that. I thought the fact that he didn't contact her was proof that he didn't care about the baby. But now I know that he didn't even know about it because he never got the message."

"We can't ask her anymore, but I think that Chelsea would have approved that Justin meets his father, don't you think?" As she smiled at me, she took a load off my mind. I was relieved that she wasn't angry with me anymore that I had made that decision without consulting her.

"Your stupid sense of justice," she said, rolling her eyes. "I should have known that you can't stop playing at fate." She cleared her throat. "What do you think how they can meet each other?"

"I'll leave that up to you," I said, getting up to get my pajamas. "But we have time until tomorrow. You need rest now." I was glad to see her getting up and reaching for her nightgown. It didn't take me long to get ready in the bathroom, but when I got back to the bedroom, Brooke was fallen asleep. Quickly, I slipped next to her, placed my hand gently on her rounded belly and smiled, as I felt one of the babies kicking. "Good night the two of you and sweet dreams," I whispered. It wasn't long before I fell asleep too.

Brooke's POV

Brooke's house

Three weeks later

A few weeks had passed since our discussion about Justin's future, and finally we had found a solution. Since we didn't want to overstress him, Julian had suggested that he'll carefully bring father and son together. And so he had taken the boy to the set to introduce him to Tom, who had found an apartment and had moved to Tree Hill in the meantime. I had invited Haley for coffee and cake while Sylvia had preferred to visit my mother; the two wanted to go shopping and then have lunch together. And as for me, I was 34 weeks pregnant and really longing for the birth of the twins. My belly was always and everywhere in the way, and even the most comfortable maternity clothes were too tight now. When it knocked I went slowly to the door and opened it.

"Hi, Hales! Come on in," I greeted my friend and let her enter.

"Finally a girl's day again," Haley said cheerfully. "We haven't had that for a long time."

"Yes, and it will probably be the last," I said with a sigh and pointed to my huge belly. "Next week, they want to remove the 'Cerclage', and then it won't take that long before labor starts."

"Are you okay?" Haley asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine so far. But I can neither sleep properly, nor lie down, nor stand, nor sit, without having twitches or pains," I admitted eye rolling.

"You're almost through with it," Haley said smiling and went over to the table. "Did you make the cake?"

I shook my head. "Sylvia made it."

"Where's your mother-in-law now?" Haley asked curiously and sat down.

"She met my mother for shopping." I flopped down on one of the chairs and reached for the teapot. "You can't imagine how much I would like to do that again," I sighed. "I've been stuck here for months."

"Have you finished setting up the nursery?"

I nodded. "Julian and Sylvia did that. I was only allowed to watch. But I must confess that I couldn't have done it better. The walls are painted in green and blue, the curtains are green, and then they hung up pictures on the wall. In addition, they set up the baby cribs and the changing table."

"Sounds good." Haley nodded. "I'll take a look at it later. You said on the phone that you wanted to tell me something. What is it about?" She asked curiously.

I took a piece of cake before answering. "You know that Julian and I thought about how to introduce Justin to his father. Well, today is the big day for them to get to know each other."

"It's going to be exciting for them," Haley said, taking a piece of the cake as well. "You have to tell me how it was."

I nodded. "Julian took him to the set today. There they should be introduced to each other. He doesn't want to tell the boy that Tom is his father. But at least they get the chance to 'sniff at each other'."

"I think it's great that you do that. Not all adoptive parents would be willing to do that for their child."

"I didn't like the thought at first," I admitted. "But Julian convinced me that it's important for Justin to know who his real father is. And the sooner he finds out, the better."

"How is it going with Julian's new TV show?" Haley asked, changing the subject.

"It's making progress," I informed her. "In a few days they will fly to Hawaii to shoot a wedding scene."

"Who is getting married?" Haley asked curiously, sinking her fork into the soft cake.

"Brooke and Julian," I said, grinning. "It was Paul's idea to add this part to the script. I think he never really got over the fact that his only son got married in Las Vegas."

"Didn't you also have plans to marry again, I mean in a church and with guests and family?" Haley asked frowning.

"Yes, we wanted to get married properly someday," I confirmed with a sigh. "But until now we couldn't find the time. First Chelsea died, then there was the adoption, and then I got pregnant. And I'm not sure we'll find time when the twins are born."

"Postponed is not abandoned. Do you already have names for them?" She changed the subject again and pointed to my belly.

I nodded. "Yes, but we will keep it a secret," I said with a grin. "Let yourself be surprised. If the decision had been Julian's, we still wouldn't know that we are having twin boys. He wanted to be surprised. But I was just too curious."

Haley scraped the remaining cake from the plate and then got up. "Didn't you want to show me the nursery?"

"Yes, I wanted to show you." I slowly got up and then kneaded my aching lower back. "I need a change of position anyway. Even just sitting is painful."

"Just a few more weeks, Brooke," Haley said, looking sympathetically at me.

I nodded and then walked her over to the nursery to show her the furnishings.

Julian's POV

On the set

"Aren't we going to kindergarten today?"

Justin looked questioningly at me with his big brown eyes, and I wondered what I could answer. Of course he had expected me to drop him off at the kindergarten before I drove on to the set. I've always done that the last few weeks. And for children in Justin's age, it wasn't understandable why I had changed his routine today. I crouched in front of him and looked at him with a serious expression. "I'd like to introduce you to someone first," I said, turning to face Tom, who was standing a short distance away, eyeing us with a skeptical look. I gave him a sign that he should come to us, and he actually came slowly closer.

"That's Tom," I introduced him to Justin, who studied him curiously. "Tom is a friend of Aunt Brooke and me," I explained patiently.

"Hi, Tom!"

I glanced quickly at Tom and noticed how helpless and uncomfortable he felt. He hesitantly took Justin's outstretched little hand.

"Hi," He mumbled hoarsely.

"Do you work here?" Justin asked, still eyeing the stranger suspiciously.

"Tom is a cameraman," I intervened when the break became too long for me. "Look over there. There's his camera." I knew Justin loved cameras and he wanted to make a movie himself. As soon as I had finished the sentence, he ran over and looked admiringly at the film camera, which stood on a tripod and towered over him by half a meter.

"Wow, that's cool!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. "And it's taller than me."

I looked at Tom, who had followed us and now had his mouth twisted in a smirk.

"It's just so tall because it's on a tripod," he explained. "Would you like to see through it?"

Justin looked at me questioningly and I nodded in agreement. "Sure, just look through it, if Tom lets you," I said smiling and got a stool so he could stand on it.

"How do you make movies now?" Justin inquired curiously.

"Do you want me to explain it to you?" Tom asked, standing behind the 4-year-old. "Well then, listen," he explained. "You look through the viewfinder, and there is such a lever on the side, which allows you to swivel the camera into any position. If you press the button then, you can record everything you have in front of the lens."

"And the movie is in there then?" Justin asked, his cheeks starting to glow with excitement.

"Something like that," Tom said smiling. "It's a bit more complicated. But you can watch the finished film later in the theater. Have you ever been to the theater?"

Justin shook his head. "What is theater?"

"Like television," I quickly chimed in. "You have already watched movies on DVD. It's similar, except it's on a big screen and the picture is a lot bigger." I spread my arms wide so he could get a sense of what I meant.

"I also want to see a movie," Justin said, looking at me expectantly.

I smiled and tousled his curly hair. "I'll tell you something, when we've finished our TV show, you can join us if we look at the rough draft," I promised.

"Cool!"

I lifted him from the stool. "And now it's time for the kindergarten," I told him. "Go to my director's chair. There is your jacket. Please put it on and wait there for me, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Tom!"

I watched him smiling as he ran away, then turned to his father. "Hey, that wasn't so bad for a start," I said, patting his shoulder lightly. "The next time you just come with me when I pick him up from kindergarten. And maybe someday you can spend time with him alone."

"I'm really grateful to you and Brooke for doing that for me, but I think it's better if he doesn't find out who I really am," Tom said hesitantly.

"Why not?" I asked, startled. "That's what you wanted when you asked me for the job and moved here, didn't you?"

He nodded hesitantly. "Yes, that was the plan. But I have seen how much he loves you. You're his father now, and I think it would only confuse him when he learns that he suddenly has another father, too. Besides, he obeys when you ask him to do something."

"You think he always obeys?" I asked with a grin. "Not even close. He can also be pretty stubborn sometimes. He's only doing what he wants anyway. He is quite smart for his age."

"He has the stubbornness from Chelsea," Tom remarked, smiling thoughtfully. "She drove me crazy sometimes with her pighead."

"Yes, I remember," I admitted. "She really could be stubborn sometimes. But he clearly inherited your look."

"I thought the other day that I would never had known that I have a son if Chelsea didn't die," he said softly.

"Who knows?" I said with a shrug. "Maybe she would have told him later, and he would have expressed a desire to meet his birth father."

"Or not," Tom interjected. He pointed to the director's chair. "He definitely doesn't have that from me," he said, grinning slightly. "I couldn't sit still for 5 minutes at that age."

"I'll take him to kindergarten now and then come back," I informed him.

Tom nodded. "Thanks again, Julian. I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to meet him."

"Just wait, this is only the beginning," I said with a smirk and then went over to Justin. "Are you ready to go?" I asked him. As he nodded I reached for his hand and together we left the set to drive to the kindergarten.