Not much happens in that chapter but I hope you'll like it anyway. I love it when you review, so please do !

Later that night, when she pushed the door of her own apartment, Julia had the surprise of seeing Michael reading on her couch. She knew he was supposed to come over, and she had given him the keys a few weeks ago, but she thought he would have been gone by now. Her evening with Frank had been longer than what she had expected.

He raised his head when he heard her entering the room. There was a big smile on it. If only she could always be welcomed like that for the rest of her life.
"Hey you."
"Hi." She went to sit at the other end of the sofa, took off her shoes and put her legs on his lap, following an old habit she had taken with Tom over the years. "You waited for me ?"
"I'll always wait for you." He put his book on the table in front of the sofa. "So, how did it go ?"
"Actually it went fine. He was a little mad at first but I think he's moving on."
"Good for him."
"Yes. He is going to accept a job offer in Boston."
"Really ? He is moving to Boston ? When ?"
"Apparently they need him quickly, the teacher he is going to replace left without a warning, and since it's a really good school they don't like to leave students without a teacher."
"But what about Leo ? He is not going to Boston with him, is he ?"
"No, Frank says it's better if he moves in with me."

Michael could see how happy that was making her. It had been killing her not to be able to see her son more than a week out of two. And he could understand, he had even less time with his own son and the news of Monica letting Artie spend more time with him would be the best news he could ever hear. Unfortunately it wasn't going to happen in a near future. Even his lawyer, who was supposed to remain optimistic, had warned him that it was close to impossible, since she was the mother and he was the one to blame for the end of their marriage.

Julia understood what was happening in Michael's head and she lost her smile. She just brought her body closer to his, so that she could rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"She will come around, eventually."

He was surprised that she had guessed what he was thinking about but, when thinking about it, his train of thoughts had been the most logical one. He was annoyed at himself for ruining her happy moment. She was supposed to celebrate the news, not worry about him.
"Yeah, sure." He smiled while saying that, even though he wasn't thinking a word of it. When it came to Artie he had lost every hope but he wasn't willing to show it. "What about some wine to celebrate ?"
"No, thanks. It's already late, we have a long day tomorrow. I think I'm going to go to bed." She rose as she was saying that and offered him her hand. "Are you coming with me ?"
He took the hand she was offering and they both went to her room.

The truth was that she didn't want to celebrate the news because it didn't really feel like a victory. She still cared a lot about Frank and she was sad that he wouldn't be able to see Leo as much as he used to, especially when she was seeing how sad that was making Michael not to see Artie enough. But it was his choice, so she probably should have been enjoying the news anyway.

The sound of Julia coming out of the bathroom awakened Michael. She looked as sick as the precedent mornings but she had been hiding it from him and he had no idea why. He wasn't willing to ruin the moment by confronting her about it, even though he was dying to, so he just closed his eyes again and waited for her to go back into the bed and pretend she had never even been out of it. But he was worried, he promised himself he would question her about it before the end of the week, before Leo's week (during which he could only see her at work), even if she hadn't decided to bring it up yet.

She turned and saw him opening his eyes.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
"How are you ?" She planted a tender kiss on his lips while saying that.
He responded with another kiss. "I'm always fine when I wake up next to you." He paused for a second, thinking of "Leo's week" had raised up a problem for him. "About that... What does Leo moving in means for me ?"

It was exactly the question she had been asking herself when she had just woken up and seen Michael next to her. Of course she liked it when Leo was there, even if he wasn't talking much, but there was always that time in the evening when she was trying to fall asleep all alone, and that time in the morning when she was waking up to an empty bed. Usually she was comforting herself by thinking of the following week, but if Leo was moving in with her, there would be no following week.

"You could try to join us for dinner at first, and then you could spend the night."
"You said Leo wouldn't be okay with that."
"I know but eventually he will have to get used to the fact that you are-" He raised an eyebrow and she blushed. "my boyfriend. Oh gosh I am way too old to be saying that, it's so stupid-"
He drew her closer to him to make her stop.
"No, it isn't. I'm honored to be your boyfriend."
He leaned to kiss her but she suddenly rose and ran to the bathroom. He ran after her and arrived just in time to hold her hair as she was throwing up.

They were now both sitting on the floor of the bathroom in complete silence. Her face was really white and she looked as if she was going to throw up again. He waited for her to feel better before talking.
"What's going on, Jules ? I know you've been trying to hide it from me but I also know that you have been sick every morning this week."
"I don't know."
He could see that she didn't want to talk about it but she would have to eventually, and the sooner the better.
"Julia... Is it possible that you are... pregnant ?"

She paused for a second and shook her head, as if she was trying to make this thought go away.

"The same thing happened in Boston, even if it didn't last that long. I thought I might be pregnant then, so I took the test but it turned out I wasn't. It was just stress. And it's probably the same right now. We're opening on Broadway in one week and I'm not sure we're ready. I have reasons to be stressed."
"You know we are ready, and I don't think it's stress. We have already worked together and nothing like that happened."
"I'm not pregnant, Michael."
"Well if you're so sure you won't mind taking the test if I bring it to you, will you ? And if, like you say, it turns out negative we are going to see a doctor."
"Fine." It was probably just to make this conversation stop but it was enough for him.

He helped her getting up and ran to the drug store while she was eating her breakfast. On the way he couldn't help but think about what it would be like to have a baby with Julia and a big smile found its way on his face. That test had to be positive. They had deserved some happiness at last.