I thank all those who've read/reviewed and apologize for the gap in posting. I was a little stuck on this chapter until I decided to write it in Julie's POV. I just started school again and have these ridiculous three-hour breaks between my classes that I've put to good use, producing this lengthy chap;)

While I was working on this chapter I was listening to music and three songs felt just right for this chapter and Julie: Veneno by Jesse & Joy (this one's in Spanish, so if you want a translation send me a PM), You belong with me by Taylor Swift and Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

While S&R are celebrating the news of their second baby, Julie's having some trouble defining her feelings for a certain someone…

Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE.

The new boots Ella got for me were uncomfortable, so after half a workday I was done.

"Give me a sec." I told Justin. "Gonna change shoes." I gave him an apologetic smile and told him I'd meet him in the underground garage. We usually have lunch together before tackling the afternoon appointments. Justin nodded and I reminded it was his turn to choose the place.

When I reached the apartment I was half expecting for the puppy to rush at me as soon as I opened the door. Instead, I was greeted with the scene of my Dad and Stephanie sitting on the floor and in a lip lock that definitely included tongue. Eww!

"I…uh…" I stuttered and pointed away from them. "Just gotta change shoes."

I hurried to my bedroom and swapped the new boots with my old, but comfortable ones. I stuffed the new boots with socks to widen them before leaving the bedroom. Quickly, I made my way to the front door. Thankfully, they were no longer in mid-kiss.

"Gotta go." I mumbled, moving past them.

"Dinner's at six." They explained their plan to surprise my little brother.

"Okay. Sounds good." I nodded, agreeing to take the pup with me to dinner. With a little finger wave, I left.

Justin was waiting for me by the exit. As we left Rangeman, Justin suggested Pino's for lunch. "We have one upgrade and one installation in the area." He said that way we could have more time to enjoy the meal before moving on to the afternoon appointments.

"Sounds like a plan." I shook my head, trying to erase the image of my Dad and Stephanie in mid liplock.

"What's the matter?" Justin glanced at me.

"It's just…" I cringed as I revealed what I witnessed.

"So?" Justin shrugged and slowed for a red light. "Everyone can tell how in love they are." Another shrug. "Seems perfectly normal to me."

"I know it's normal." It was my turn to shrug. "It's just. That's my Dad and Stephanie." I shrugged again. "It's just a little freaky, okay?"

"Okay." He said, shooting me a grin. I guess even after me walking in on him while he was in the gym's showers early in our partnership, he still thinks I'm a prude.

We got to Pino's and took the only table open near the back wall.

"The usual?" Justin asked me and when I nodded, he placed our order. The drinks and bread arrived almost instantly so we could keep busy while the food was in the works. We were sipping our drinks, sitting in comfortable silence when I saw his face light up. I followed his line of sight, instantly recognizing the person at the door. "Hey." Justin smiled wide, waving her to our table.

"JC." Angie returned the smile, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. It seemed the nickname was some sort of private joke.

"Hello, Angie." I waved, immediately regretting it the second I realized I'd ruined the moment.

"Hi, Julie." Angie returned my greeting, tearing her eyes from Justin for a brief moment.

"You two know each other?" Justin frowned, looking back and forth between us.

"My mom and Stephanie are sisters." Angie answered his question.

"I had no idea." Justin realized Angie was still standing and immediately stood. "You should join us." He pointed towards the kitchen and the movement made his black t-shirt cling tighter to his biceps. "We just ordered."

Angie gave us an apologetic smile. "I'm picking up lunch for some of my coworkers."

"Oh." Justin looked disappointed. "Well, then I'll see you tonight. Pick you up at seven?"

Her smile widened and it almost seemed like she was auditioning for a toothpaste commercial. "That's perfect." With a bit of awkwardness at first, they leaned close and kissed each other on the cheek.

"Angie!" The waitress waved her over to the register, saying her phone order was ready.

"See you then." Angie barely tore her eyes way from him before saying goodbye to me.

"Bye." I called after her.

"What a coincidence, huh?" Justin commented as our food arrived. "Never would have guessed it."

"Yeah." I busied myself with a slice of pizza. After a moment I asked him if they were dating.

"We're just getting to know each other." Justin said they were still trying to see where things would go.

"Oh." I took a swing of my Coke as I realized that just because I never knew him to have dates didn't mean he's never had any.

S&R

I spent the rest of the workday concentrated on what I got paid to do: work. At five-thirty I made it back to Haywood with enough time to take a quick shower and collect Eddie's pooch before making my way to dinner at Dad and Steph's place.

As soon as I parked on the curb in front of the house the front door opened and Eddie waved at me. I smiled and scooped up the puppy as I got out.

"A doggie!" Eddie's eyes widen as he watched me approach. "Is it yours?"

My brother's a smart little boy. He asked the right question, the one that would reveal whose pet it was. "Nope." I shook my head as I transferred the pup to him. Eddie held the dog protectively, his tiny hands struggling to hold on.

Dad was standing behind Eddie and my bro looked up at him. "Is it mine?" The little boy grinned, already detecting the answer. I told you he's smart.

"Yes." Dad nodded, but made it clear the dog would be his responsibility.

"Yeah!" Eddie nodded vigorously, assuring that he would take care of his new friend.

While Dad and Eddie fixed a place for the puppy in the laundry room I headed to the kitchen to see if Stephanie needed any help.

"Everything's ready." She started taking the food to the table, so I helped.

Dinner was filled with Eddie's chatter about all the things he was going to do now that he had a dog. I smiled at everything he said, liking his ideas.

"What are you going to name him?" I asked.

"Hmm…" Eddie touched his right index finger to his chin and thought about it. About a minute later he made a decision. "Buddy."

We all stared at him, surprised by his choice. "Why?" I asked him, curious to know.

"Because he's going to be my friend." Eddie said he now had a companion, a sidekick, for his home adventures.

"He will." I smiled at my brother. I had a dog once, Charro, and had some great times with him. When I looked over at Dad and Stephanie I noticed they were sharing some sort of nonverbal communication with their eyes. It's not odd, because they do it often without even noticing, but I still found it interesting.

Dad and I took care of clean-up while Eddie showed his mom Buddy's headquarters.

"Is something going on?" I told my Dad that it seemed like he and Stephanie were being secretive. "You guys seem more…" I thought about the right word for a second. "…affectionate than usual."

My Dad smiled as he shared the news with me. "We're having a baby." Stephanie walked in to help out will clean up, stopping in mid-step when she noticed the look on my face.

"Wow, Congrats!" I hugged them both, because if there's a couple deserving of happiness, it's them.

"Babe, was I not supposed to say anything?" Dad looked at Stephanie apologetically.

"I thought we were going to do it together?"

"It sorta slipped." Dad obviously can't hide his excitement. My time with him while I was growing up was always scheduled, but after the whole thing with his wannabe I learned to see Dad differently. I might not have had lots of time with him, but we did make the most of it. He's a good dad.

"Oh, Carlos." Stephanie leaned into him so they could share a kiss on the lips. This one was chaste compared to the one I'd witnessed earlier today on seventh.

S&R

I'd just gotten behind the wheel and before I turned the key in the ignition my cell phone chirped. It was a text from Jackson. He was inviting me to have a couple of drinks. I quickly replied, asking him for directions. Almost instantly there was a reply. He said he heard about a place just off of Route 1 by Quaker Bridge Mall and offered to pick me up. I told him to give me the address and as soon as he replied I said I was on my way.

I plugged in my iPod and pressed shuffled. The beat of a familiar song poured out the speakers as I pulled away from the curb. As soon as the lyrics began, I found that they hit a little too close to home.

Si no eres para mí sal de mis pensamientos…

"Very true." I nodded in encouragement as the song came to an end. If Justin's not for me, then I need to stop thinking about him in that way. I guess I wasn't ready to admit certain feelings until someone else came into the picture. With a slow exhale, I decided to stop thinking about him.

I kept driving and another song started playing. I rolled my eyes when Taylor Swift started singing 'You Belong with Me'. Annoyed, I switched over to the radio. Satisfied with the monotone drone of the latest traffic news, I continued my drive.

Jackson called me just as I parked in the restaurant-bar's small parking lot. It was a weeknight, but it seemed like the place was already bustling with activity.

"I just parked." I said into the phone.

"Great!" Jackson's cheerful voice responded. "I got a table right by the door."

"Kay." I hung up and went inside.

"Julie!" Jackson spotted me first, grinning widely at me.

"Hey." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and sat down across from him. Jackson waived over the waiter and asked me what I was drinking.

"Beer is fine." I showed my ID to the waiter and he was on his way.

"How are you?" Jackson heard about what happened to my mom back in Miami.

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess." I gave him the short version of what happened. I've known him since Middle School, but I didn't really keep in touch after I moved to Trenton. Distance and my life at Rangeman have kept me occupied. And I guess my social life's suffered because of it. "What about you?" I diverted the conversation to him. "What have you been up to?" The short get together we had before I had to fly to Miami didn't cover much, except that he was job hunting in Trenton. At the time I didn't really wonder why he would come such a ways to look for a job and now that I think about it I find that it's a little odd.

"Well…" Jackson flashed me a charming grin, one that I knew very well.

The waiter brought my beer and when I looked up to thank him, I spotted a familiar couple sitting on a table in the background. Justin and Angie were seated close to the bar. It was obvious they were having fun. There was a tug low in my belly and I felt my jaw clench.

"So, what do you say?" Jackson's flirty chuckle made me return my attention to him.

I blinked at his grinning face, realizing I'd stopped paying attention to him. Taking a swing from my beer I gave him a palms-up gesture, hoping it would make him continue.

"Come on." Another chuckle. "Let's go to The Shore and spend the day together on Sunday." Smiling brightly, he continued. "It'll be like old times." He gestured between us. "You, me and the beach."

"Uh…" It will never be like old times, because back when we were classmates I had a huge crush on him. And now… My gaze flickered over to where Justin and Angie were, apparently, having a good time without my permission. I looked away quickly. "You know what?" I flashed Jackson my best let's do this smile and agreed.

We chatted for about an hour until we got the ball rolling for our weekend outing. I'd hardly touched my beer, but I was ready to leave. With an apologetic smile I said goodbye to Jackson with the excuse of having to be up early the next day.

On my drive back to Rangeman, I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling swirling in my belly. Angie is my friend and Justin…we work together. Their…association shouldn't bother me.

"Julie, Julie, Julie." I muttered to myself. "I'm probably tired." And I skipped breakfast. That had to be the reason why my stomach wasn't feeling too well. Before I thought too much about my lame excuse I tuned into a different radio station and turned up the volume, offering myself a distraction from my thoughts.

Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head

But she's touching his chest now
He takes off her dress now…

And I just can't look it's killing me
And taking control

Jealousy…

"Seriously?" I frowned and killed the volume. "I'm not jealous." I snarled, as if it were the radio station's fault I couldn't pinpoint the source of my feelings.