Cooper turns the door knob and is surprised to find Charlotte in the kitchen eating a piece of toast. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here" she shoots.
"I know that, but you haven't slept here in a month."
"Violet talked me into coming home."
"Aha."
"What truck hit you?" Cooper's shirt is buttoned up uneven and half tucked in. His hair is messy.
"I got drunk and slept it off."
"Where?" Cooper looks guilty. "Where Cooper?" Charlotte's voice is intense.
"At Jen and Ethan's place."
Charlotte slams down her hand on the table. "I leave for a month and you jump into bed with her?"
"I'm not sleeping with her. I didn't have intercourse with her, if that's what you're thinking." Technically, they didn't.
"Of course that's what I'm thinking. What what were you doing there all night then?"
"Violet suggested I talk to Jen about a custody arrangement. You'll be happy to know Jen wasn't interested in letting Ethan stay overnight here and Ethan isn't interested in me at all."
"What do you mean?"
"I ate dinner with them. He had his little friend there. Ethan didn't say more than two words to to me."
"He's a kid, Cooper. What do you want him to talk about the stock exchange?"
"He's not interested in getting to know me. He only like me when I'm buying him something."
"You're his sugar daddy." Charlotte smirks.
"I am." Cooper sits on the couch.
"He's not used to having a father around. He likes the things you can buy him because he's done without so long. So, what did you do all night if Ethan wouldn't talk to you. Spend all the night getting to know Jen?"
"We started out playing Wii sports and it ended in a drinking game."
"Another drunken night with her? She better not end up pregnant again or I will kill you."
"She's not going to be. I told you we didn't have intercourse."
"Did you kiss her?"
"It was more like drunken slobbering."
"So you did kiss her. What else did you do?"
"Why does it matter? We didn't have intercourse."
"What'd you do? Give each other mutual hand jobs?" Charlotte's snaps.
"Something like that, but this isn't all my fault. You're not innocent in this!"
"Excuse me?"
"You left me a month ago. You barley speak to me. You didn't want me to see the ultrasound photos of my own babies. If it weren't for Violet, I wouldn't know you were having twins. Don't you dare put this all on me, Charlotte! You shut me out of your life for the past month, what do you expect?"
"Not for you to get drunk and screw whores."
"For the last time I didn't screw her."
"Hand jobs are still cheating." Charlotte slams her fist again.
"If you didn't walk out on me, I wouldn't have been at her apartment last night."
"I wouldn't have walked out on you if you paid a little attention to me instead of spending so much time with your spawn."
I wasn't spending so much time with my spawn. It was maybe two or three times."
"Every time I made plans to go out with you to tell you I was pregnant he got in the way. Either for ice cream or a basketball game or when you were babysitting him."
"Two out of three of those times didn't work out with him anyway. He didn't want to come with me to the basketball game and the day you walked out, Jen came by to pick him up fifteen minutes after you left. If you just hung out fifteen minutes longer we could have went out to dinner and you could have told me you were pregnant."
"What do you want to do? Do you want to try and work this out or do you want to throw in the towel?"
"I love you, Charlotte. Of course I want to work it out."
"How do we do that?"
"I'm not going to abandon Ethan, but you're right. I haven't been in his life for the past seven years; he doesn't need to see me every week."
"I'll compromise. You can spend one weekend a month with him. I think that's more than fair."
"One weekend a month." Cooper agrees. "But, you have to allow for special events too. Like if the circus is in town or if there's a ball game he wants me to take him to."
"One weekend a month and one special event a month. You can't go the the circus with him one weekend and a ball game the next and the movies the next, or else, we're going to end up in the same position we're in now."
"Okay, I'll see him one weekend a month and one special activity day a month."
"And you can't have any contact with Jen."
"How am I going to do that? She's his mother."
"You can arrange Ethan's visits on the phone, but I don't want you at her house or her to come here, after what you did with her last night."
"Right." Cooper nods.
"Have her drop him off at work. Violet or Pete can meet her at the door and walk him up to you. Or she could drop him off at Violet and Pete's place and we can pick him up there."
"That's a lot to ask of Violet and Pete."
"Believe me, they'd prefer that than me and the twins living with them come spring."
Cooper chuckles. "Things are going to get a little crazy around here when the twins are born. I can't wait." He smiles.
"That's another thing. You better be there for me when I go into labor. I don't care if you're at a ballgame or at the circus with your spawn, you better drop everything to be with me when the twins are born."
Cooper feels both hurt and insulted. He raises his voice, "how could you even think I would miss the birth of our twins? You know how bad I've wanted to have a baby with you! That's the most important thing in the world to me and I'm mad that you would think it's not."
"Well, the way you are with Ethan."
"Ethan didn't ask to be born. It was my careless decision to have sex with Jen without protection that got him here. I have a responsibility to him. But, it's not the same as it is with our babies. Not even close. I've been waiting so long for this; to have a baby with you. I can't turn my back on Ethan but these babies, our babies, are my world."
Charlotte tears up. This is exactly what she needed him to say. She hugs him and sniffles. "Okay. I'm sorry I left you."
"Does that mean you're moving back in for good?"
"Back for good." She squeezes him.
"I'm going to have to talk to Jen about working out the schedule; about the one weekend a month deal."
"You think she'll go for it?"
"She should. It's fair. Do you want to come with me when I talk to her? We'll meet her at a public place."
"I don't think that's a good idea, take Violet with you when you talk to her. Violet's used to dealing with this stuff."
"Okay. I'll ask Violet. Now, tell me about the babies. Any morning sickness?"
"Surprisingly not."
"Did you talk to Addison about it? I thought you'd be really nauseous with twins."
"Addison says I'm fine. Not everyone has to get morning sickness and it's been a blessing I don't have it, considering everything else I've been dealing with."
"Sorry about that. I promise to make sure the rest of your pregnancy goes smooth and happy."
"How can you promise that?"
"I'll make sure after this meeting, I don't meet with Jen again and I'll only see Ethan one weekend a month." He smiles.
She smiles back. "I've missed you." She kisses him.
"I've missed you too. Let me take a shower and then we can celebrate."