"Lulu, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"What do you want?" I ask hollowly. I was exhausted, stressed and overwhelmed with everything going on. The last thing I wanted to do was go another round with Dillon's ex-wife. I just wanted to drink my orange juice and read the music magazine I'd brought with me to Kelly's in peace.

You got kidnapped?!?

"Can I sit?" Georgie asked timidly, tucking a strand of light brown hair behind her ear. I nodded as she carefully pulled a chair from the table. Arranging herself in the seat, she waved Penny over to order a cup of coffee. "I'd really like to talk to you, if you have a minute."

"What could you possibly have left to say to me, Georgie? I know what I've done; you've listed my sins to me. I'm not in the mood to listen to it."

"I talked to Dillon," she began slowly. "I ran into him on campus. He told me about your mom. It sounds like you're going through a lot."

No, no, no, my family can't know about this.

"He shouldn't have told you anything," I replied bluntly.

"Well, I sort of already knew about it," she admitted. "Bobbie told my dad about it last night. I overheard them talking."

"I guess the cat's out of the bag then. My mom is awake. We're not sure for how long or if she'll go crazy again. She knows that I'm pregnant by my stepbrother…well, she doesn't know that my dad is married to Tracey, but she knows that I'm pregnant. She knows that Dillon and I are living together and that we want to get married."

"How did she take it?"

"How do you think? She tried to pretend that she was okay with it, that she just wanted me to be happy. But I could see it in her eyes. The inevitable disappointment rears its ugly head."

Family and friends -- if they're not the prime suspects, they can point you towards the prime suspects, and they always, always provide you with motive.

"Lulu, I'm sure your mother does just want you to be happy…"

"Don't!" I nearly yelled. "You don't know anything about my mother. And you don't know anything about me. Do not sit here and pretend to give a damn about me."

"We were almost friends once," she remarked sadly. "I do care about you. Yes, I'm angry that you did what you did, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone, not even you. I know this has to be hard. I don't know what it would be like if my biological father came back, and I don't even really know him. This has to be hard."

"I'll be fine," I assured her shortly.

You don't need to be going to sleep at night with that in your head.

George nodded thoughtfully. "I know you will. You have Dillon to take care of you. He's really good at that. Even when everything in you is screaming to push him away, he's there to make everything okay."

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's just that this is really hard for me to go through. I probably shouldn't say this to you, but I don't think I could get through this without Dillon."

"I never thought I would say this to you, but I'm glad you have him, too. Things with Dillon had been over for awhile. Even though I will never think that what you did was right, a small part of me is glad it all happened. It finally gave us the courage to move on."

"You have to hate me."

Don't put words into my mouth.

"I did," she agreed. "But my time with Dillon has ended, and I just want him to be happy. You seem to make him happier than I ever could. And we were pretty happy at one time, so that says a lot."

"I want you to know, I really do love Dillon. I will take care of him."

"Speaking of which," she murmured as Dillon came in. His eyes flashed with concern as he looked from Georgie to me. I smiled at him to reassure him that everything was fine, but I could still see the caution in his movement as I rose to greet him. Kissing his cheek tenderly, I whispered hello to him before shifting my gaze back to Georgie.

"I know you will," she smiled. "Look, I have to go meet up with Professor Marquez. I'm helping him with this project for class. Hopefully, I will run in to you soon. Maybe we could have lunch or something."

"That would be nice," I concurred as Georgie gathered her things. She patted my hand before making her exit, her striped scarf trailing after her. Once she was gone, I turned my attention to Dillon. "Hi."

Actually, it matters a lot.

"Am I in an alternate universe?" he asked with a wide smile.

"I don't know, maybe," I giggled. "I think we just got Georgie's blessing. I think she even wants us to be friends. It was all very…mature of us."

"She knows about your mom," he revealed. "I ran into her at the bookstore, and she started asking questions. I didn't tell her a lot, but I did tell her that Laura was awake. I shouldn't have."

"She already knew," I ensured him. "Bobbie told Mac. Anyhow, it doesn't matter. Everyone is going to find out soon enough, and we should be celebrating this. It's not something to hide. I feel like I've been depressed about it when I should be overjoyed."

"You're just trying to be cautious, no one can blame you for that," Dillon retorted. "You have the right to act and feel however you think is right. And thank you."

You okay?

"You're thanking me?"

He laughed. "Yes, I'm thanking you. You made peace with Georgie. You have no idea how much that means to me. I don't know if you all can be friends – that's up to you. But I appreciate that you made an effort."

"I have no reason to dislike her anymore," I taunt him lightly as I move closer to him. "She doesn't have anything I want anymore. In fact, I have everything that I could ever want right here at this table."

What happened in here changed everything – my life.

"Everything?"

"Well, not everything."

"Hey!" he protests with a laugh.

"Well, I could use a couple of those chocolate chip cookies over there. And a glass of cold milk."

"Anything for you, my love, anything for you."