A/N: Sorry it was so long between updates! I had a lot of trouble deciding where I wanted it to go. But thank you for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Julie separated from Charlie. He looked at her, waiting for her to answer him, to say anything.
"Charlie," she said. "I can't." He looked at her. "I'm sorry, I just can't."
"I don't understand," he said, "what can't you do? I love you!"
"I love you too," she said. "I'm just not ready for it." He stared at her. "I'm not ready to be with you forever, and it would have to be forever, because I know now that I can't live without you."
"So don't," he said. "We can get married and buy a house in the suburbs," he said. "I love you, and I love Tyler, I want us to be a family!"
"And I'm trying to tell you that I want those things too!" She sighed. "Someday, but I'm just not ready for them yet." He nodded. "Maybe we should move out."
"Julie," he sighed.
"It was supposed to be temporary anyway," she said. "And I think Tyler's starting to sense the weirdness. He keeps asking about going home."
"I don't want you to move out," he said softly, pushing her hair off of her face. "Don't go, I'll be good and wait until you're ready, Julie, I swear." She closed her eyes.
"We can't do this," she said, "I'm sorry. I can't stay here knowing how you feel and," he sighed. "I'll start looking for places tomorrow."
"Don't!" He said. She looked at him. "I promise, you won't hear another word about it, and we'll pretend that,"
"We can't pretend!" She said. "We've been pretending. It's exhausting and it sucks." He kissed her again. "Charlie," she whispered.
"So we stop pretending," he said. "You don't go, and we stop pretending." She swallowed. "We love each other?" He asked, wrapping his hands around her face. She nodded. "So then that's it, it's done, ready or not." They kissed again. "Let's go to bed."
"No," she said. He looked at her. "I mean, not tonight. Not until I break it off with Blake." He smiled.
"I love that you're such a good girl," he whispered and kissed her.
"I'm not that good," she said. "I mean, I did get pregnant when I was seventeen, and the first time we had sex you still had a girlfriend."
"Well, that's true," he nodded and kissed her again. "I'm going to go to bed. Tomorrow's Saturday, will you make pancakes?"
"God, I have a child," she groaned, "I don't need a boyfriend who's one too." He grinned. "What?"
"You just called me your boyfriend," he said.
"Yeah, well, I've had a lot to drink tonight," she shrugged and kissed him. "Good night." She walked into her room and got into bed and smiled sinking into its softness. She tossed and turned for a while and then got up and walked quietly into Charlie's room.
"Hey," he said turning off the TV. "What's wrong?"
"I couldn't sleep," she whispered and curled up next to him, her arms around his waist.
"Got it," he said as her breathing slowed and she fell asleep.
"Mommy," Tyler jumped on the edge of the bed. Julie groaned. "Mommy! Wake up!"
"Baby," she whispered, not opening her eyes. "What's going on?"
"Why are you in Charlie's bed?" He asked. She shot up and swatted Charlie.
"Mm, not Crosby," Charlie mumbled. Julie rolled her eyes and swatted him again. "Jeez, Cat, what time is it?" He sat up. "Tyler," he said. "Uh, what's up buddy?"
"Are you two getting married?" Tyler said. "When Daddy and Dawn were getting ready to get married they slept in the same bed."
"No baby," Julie sighed, "we just um, we were," she looked at Charlie who winked.
"We fell asleep watching TV," Charlie said. "I wanted to show your mom something that was only on my Tivo." Tyler frowned. "It's Saturday," he said picking Tyler up. "Why don't we shake things up and make pancakes for Mommy?"
"OK," Tyler said. They walked into the kitchen. "She's supposed to want to marry you by now."
"I'm working on it, OK?" Charlie said. "I think we've gotten past the being just friends thing."
"Good," Tyler mumbled. "That's better than Sean ever did."
"My interest is much different than Sean's," Charlie laughed and he went into the fridge. "What do we put in pancake?" Tyler shrugged.
Julie pulled her apron on and her hair back in the restaurant that afternoon, getting ready for her shift.
"Hey beautiful," Blake came behind her and kissed her neck. "I missed you last night." She closed her eyes. "I thought it went OK." She turned around and looked at him. "You didn't."
"Blake," she said, "I'm sorry, really, I mean, I do really like you," she looked down, "it's just, last night," she whispered, "it was,"
"A test run," he said. "I know."
"And it really didn't go well," she said softly. "Can you really see us having a life together?" He swallowed. "Because that's my life, what last night was, those are the people in my life."
"You said you hadn't seen Connie since your had you son," he said.
"Even that," she sighed, "the way you say 'my son.' If we did this, Tyler wouldn't just be my son, he'd be a huge part of your life."
"It's kind of hard for me to get theoretically emotionally attached to a child," Blake said. "Especially when I'm not allowed to meet him." She stared at him.
"Blake, I have to trust my instincts," she said. "I've been doing it for five years, and my instincts are telling me to run away from this." She kissed him. "I'm sorry." She walked out and wiped her eyes, smiling and taking orders. The day was moving fairly quickly.
"Julie," one of the other waitresses said. "Phone." She sighed.
"I don't have time," she shook her head.
"It's your ex," she said. Julie sighed and walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone.
"What, Scooter?" She said.
"Dawn's in labor, what do I do?" He said. She groaned.
"I don't know, what did you do when I was in labor?" She asked. "You were with your frat brothers right?"
"That's not funny," he said. "I'm freaking out here."
"I'm at work, what can I do?" She sighed.
"You could bring Ty," he whispered. Julie bit her lower lip. "I want him there Julie." She closed her eyes.
"I'm at work," she said. "He's with Charlie." She glanced back into the kitchen and saw Blake. "I'll get someone to cover my tables."
"Thanks," he said. "I'm sorry I was a dick to your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend anymore," she said. "I don't want to talk about it. I'll see you in a little bit." She hung up the phone, asked Sara to cover her tables and headed out the back door, ignoring Blake as he called her name. She took the bus home and found Charlie and Tyler outside of their building, Tyler on roller blades. She rolled her eyes. Charlie was trying to teach him to play hockey.
"Mommy!" Tyler said and skated over to her and tumbled into her knees. "I did by myself."
"I see that," she said. "Charlie, can we borrow your car?"
"Anytime," Charlie skated over. "Everything OK?"
"D-a-w-n is having the b-a-b-y," she raised her eyebrows. Tyler looked at her.
"You spelled Dawn and baby," he said. "Dawn's having the baby? I'm gonna be a big brother!" He hugged her.
"Yeah, well, get those skates off," Charlie said. "I'll drive you two down to St. Paul, OK?" Tyler plopped on the curb. "You OK?" He whispered, rubbing Julie's forearms. She nodded.
"Come on," Tyler, said tugging on Julie's pants. "I've gotta be a good big brother and be there."
"OK, alright," Julie laughed. Charlie plucked his keys out of his pocket and they walked to the car. Julie smiled. She knew in that instant when Charlie started the engine and winked at her that she'd made the right choice.
Keep those reviews coming!