Thanks for the reviews, it gave me the motivation to write this chapter ! Tell me what you think of it.

Sam had stopped by Tom's apartment earlier in the evening and had been surprised to see Julia there. Tom hadn't yet had the chance to tell him the news, but he seemed fine with it. He had even stayed for dinner and now they were all in the couch watching a movie. But Julia could sense that she was in their way and it wasn't really feeling right. She didn't want to disturb Tom's life too much, so she decided to leave the apartment, even if she had nowhere else to go. They protested but finally let her go, excited at the prospect of being alone.

So now she was wandering the streets of New York, without any purpose. It was quite pleasant, the air was still a little warm, reminding everyone of what a hot day it had been, but at the same time she could feel a fresh breeze. The city was all lit up and all she could hear was people laughing. Apparently their joy was communicative because she couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly, as she looked up, she realized her feet had led her to Michael's building. Without further thinking, she decided to follow the strange instinct that had led her here, and pushed the door of the building before climbing the stairs to Michael's apartment.

A few minutes later she was in front of his door. She rearranged her hair and knocked. She was still trying not to think too hard about what she was doing, or about all the reasons she had not to do what she was about to do, whatever it might be.

When he opened the door her mind was still in not thinking mode so she didn't hesitate one second before planting a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Julia ?" Michael couldn't believe what had just happened. He hadn't expected that at all when he had opened his door. Of course in his dreams it had already happened a thousand times but there was usually a big difference between his dreams and reality.

"Hi." She smiled and just continued staring at him.
As they were both staring at each other without saying anything, she understood she should probably explain what she was doing there. But since she didn't know why she was there, there was nothing to explain.
"I was in the neighbourhood..."

He laughed, she had no reason to be in this neighbourhood except for him, but it didn't really feel like the best time to point that out. As they were still standing there staring at each other, a little boy appeared behind Michael and pulled his father's sleeve. "Dad, you're missing the movie."

Julia wasn't expecting that, she hadn't thought for one second that Michael might not be alone. Probably what happens when you stop thinking though.

"I... I should go... I had no idea you were with Artie."
He considered letting her go for one moment but it was just too painful. Julia being at his door was a rare opportunity and he would hate himself for not grabbing it. Besides, he still had the whole weekend to spend some time alone with his son, since Monica had finally agreed to let him have Artie one weekend out of two. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing.
"No... stay. You could watch the movie with us."
Just like him a few seconds before, she realized she didn't want to leave at all. She wasn't sure she would have the guts to come back anytime soon.
"You're sure ?"
"Of course. What do you think, Artie ? Is it okay if my friend Julia watch the movie with us ?"
The toddler nodded and ran back to the couch. If it meant his father was coming back to watch the movie with him, he had no problem with it.
"I hope you like Disney..." Apparently Michael hadn't managed to convince his son of watching anything else.

She came in and he closed the door behind her.
They sat on the sofa with Artie in between, in a desperate attempt of not touching each other. But, as the film was progressing, their feet, which were resting on the table in front of them, were gradually coming closer and closer to one another. When they finally touched, Julia shivered and she could sense that it had had a pretty strong effect on Michael too. They both quickly took their feet off the table. Artie was the only thing that was keeping them from throwing themselves at one another. They were trying not to look at each other, but sometimes their eyes were meeting for a few minutes, during which they couldn't seem to be able to breath normally anymore. Luckily Artie was half asleep so he couldn't sense the tension around him.

When the movie finally ended Artie opened his sleepy eyes and looked at his dad.
"I'm hungry."

"Yeah, I'm starving too. What about you, Julia ? Have you already eaten ?"
"Only some small healthy things with Tom and Sam, I could really use some more food."
"Do you hear that, Artie ? Julia agrees with you : no healthy food. What do you want then ?"
"What about pizza ?"
"Pizza !" Artie was now fully awake and already dreaming about a huge pizza with lots of toppings on it.
"What am I going to do with both of you ? Can we at least have some vegetables on it ?"
"Yuck..." Artie's disgusted face made them both laugh.

While Michael had gotten up to order the pizza, Artie went on Julia's lap. She was surprised because Leo had always been a shy kid, he would never have done that after only a few hours. But she didn't mind, Artie was really adorable. He started playing with her hair, amazed by their color and how much there were.

When Michael came back into the room he was surprised by the sight of his son on Julia's lap. If possible, it made him love her even more. This scene was really close to perfection.

"The pizza should be coming anytime soon."

He went to sit next to them and put his arm on Julia's shoulders.
"You know, Artie, Julia is a really good story-teller. She is the one who writes all the songs that I'm singing in the Marilyn musical. If you ask her nicely I'm sure she would love to tell you one."
"Tell, tell !"
"What do we say Artie ?"
"Please..."

Julia laughed. It had been a long time since she had last done that, but she complied. How could she resists to such an adorable child ? Moreover it was bringing back good memories of the time she used to tell story to Leo.

When they heard a knock on the door, Michael was the one to get up to go pick up the pizza, he didn't want to interrupt the story. But when he opened the door his smile instantly faded. It wasn't the pizza guy, it was Monica. Apparently Artie had forgotten one of his favorite toys. It wasn't a big deal but it brought him back to reality.

Just as she was going to leave, Artie and Julia laughed, probably at some twist in the story, and Monica couldn't help but notice the feminine laugh next to his son's.
"Michael, who is with Artie ?"

He didn't respond, he could see that she was going to get mad and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"This had better not be her."
She came in the apartment, uninvited, and rushed to the living room. She stopped at the vision of Julia having fun with her son. Fury was taking over her. She grabbed her son without a single look at the other woman and went to stood in front of Michael.
"You're unbelievable ! What were you thinking ? So much for the 'just a one-time mistake' !"

Julia could see that this wasn't going to end well and that she had no place in the middle of it. She gave Michael an apologetic look and quickly got out of the apartment while Monica was too busy yelling at him to even notice. She ran into the delivery guy in the hallway and paid for the pizza, assuming this was probably better than letting him wait for Michael or Monica to notice him. Then she put the pizza next to the door and quickly went down the stairs, not really willing to wait for the elevator with the delivery guy when she could still hear Monica yelling.

How was it that everything was so hard for them ?