It's been a really long time. I'm so sorry for that. But I finally wrote something and you will be happy to know it's the longest chapter I have ever written. I warn you though, it's very fluffy. I wanted to write an epilogue but I'm lazy and this chapter really ends the story nicely. Tell me what you thought of it!

The first thing Julia's eyes caught when she woke up from her nap was the sight of Michael looking at her from the chair next to her hospital bed. She smiled and tucked one loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You know it's creepy to watch me sleep, right ?"

He responded by a smile. She could see that he was happy she had finally woken up. She wondered if she had been sleeping for a long time and looked around for something that might tell her the time. But there wasn't anything on the walls, not even a small picture to brighten the room, and no alarm clock on the nightstand. It wasn't a big deal anyway.

She moved a little in her bed, trying to sit rather than just lie. When she finally managed to find a position comfortable enough she rubbed at her eyes sleepily. If she was that numb she had probably been sleeping for a long time. She wondered if Michael had been there the whole time. After the way she had yelled at him while giving birth to her daughter, and how unattractive she had felt for quite some time now, she was surprised to see him still waiting at her side. She smirked, she was in the mood for some teasing.

"Still there ? You didn't grab the chance to run away ?"
"No, the nurses wouldn't let me." He joked but she could see that he didn't like what she was implying, and she felt a little bad about even thinking to say something like that. He had been perfect through all her pregnancy, knowing exactly what to do and when. Sometimes she wondered if it was all coming from his own experience with Monica, but she liked to think that it was because they were connected on some higher level. She wasn't really fond of the idea of being the other woman but she couldn't really complain, Michael had always been the other man. From time to times she wished they had met earlier in their lives, maybe everything would have been easier then. But then she could see what her life was right now and she was quite happy things had gone that way. Had things been different, maybe she wouldn't have been that happy.

"I'm glad you're here." She gave him the most honest smile she could give. If he didn't see that he was making her the happiest woman in New York, then he would have to be blind. He took her hand and squeezed it, as a way to show her that he was glad to be there too. He didn't have to voice it, his eyes were doing all the work for him. The both of them had always had that ability to communicate by just looking into one another's eyes. It was stronger than any form of conversation. Their eyes couldn't lie, whereas their words could and had many times in the past.

"How is Marilyn doing ?" She knew the nurse had taken her to the room with all the newborns and she was already missing her.
"She is wonderful, I could look at her for hours."

She smiled at the sparkle that had appeared in his eyes. She hoped it would still be there when their daughter would keep them up all night.
"And Leo ?" Her son had finally made peace with the whole new family they were going to form. He was getting along well with Michael, just as he had been doing before he found out about the affair, or at least something close to that. And he had been really excited about the arrival of his little sister.
"He keeps smiling. I think we will have one great babysitter."
"That's good because I intend to go out with you."
"Really ?" He lifted an eyebrow in a suggestive way.
"Really." She nodded and leaned closer to him before grabbing his face between her hands. She stared into his eyes for a few seconds before planting a small kiss on his lips. Then she slowly pulled away, leaving Michael a little startled.
He smirked. "Don't I get more than that for waiting patiently at your side until you woke up ?"
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer." She grinned back at him.

"Let's see if I can make you change your mind." He was now perched on the edge of his seat, leaning towards her bed so that their faces were merely inches from each other. He cleared his throat a little, more for dramatic effect than from real need. "Julia, you're the most amazing woman I've ever had the chance to meet. You made me a really happy man, even if it took some time. When I wake up in the morning and see your face I can only tell myself that I'm a very lucky man." Her cheeks were starting to turn red and she tried to make him stop but he kept going. "You're smart, funny, talented, beautiful-"
She chuckled and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on ! You know it will take me a lot of time to get back to a normal shape, if I ever do-"
He put his index finger on her lips to make her stop. "The signs of you carrying our daughter only makes you more beautiful. I don't care if you never go back to a perfect shape."
She smiled and didn't reply but she had already decided she would do everything she could to erase the sign of her pregnancy. If you had a man like him, you did everything you could to keep him.

He pulled back and she was wondering why, when suddenly she saw him get on his knee. A rash of panic took hold of her. She hadn't planned that at all. She watched it happen as if it wasn't happening to her, as if she was watching a movie. He reached for his back pocket and took out a little box from it. Then he opened his mouth to talk but Julia was quicker than him. "Michael, don't." The excitement she could read on his face just a few seconds ago instantly faded and surprise took over. He couldn't understand why she stopped him and it was making it so much more difficult for her.

"I can't marry you."
Now the surprise was starting to get mixed with pain. "What do you mean ?" He was still holding the little box in his hand, his fingers tight around it. He couldn't understand what he had done wrong. They were both in such a good mood and it had seemed like the right moment.

She straightened a little in her bed and took a deep breath. "Don't get me wrong. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, wake up every morning next to you and raise our wonderful daughter together. But marriage I can't. It would be wrong. I still care about Frank and I have a lot of respect for him. Marrying you would go against all of that. I know we don't like to talk about it but I betrayed my marriage for you. I could never stand in a church and look at all our friends and family without feeling ashamed of myself. But I really do want to spend the rest of my days with you."

He still seemed a little startled but the pain had gone away. He wasn't sure that he understood exactly what she meant but he understood it well enough. He put the little box back in the pocket of his trousers but stayed on his knee. He wasn't going to let that ruin the day. "Julia, do you want to spend the rest of your days with me, and not marry me ?" He put the emphasis on the not and she laughed.

"Of course I do !"
He went back on the edge of his seat so he could take her in his arms. They held tight and their lips met. It was sweet at first but then her lips parted and it all became more passionate. She was tugging at the hem of his shirt, having totally forgotten that they were in her hospital room, when they heard someone at the door clearing his throat. It's Julia who got to see who it was first. "Frank ?!"

At the mention of the name Michael quickly pulled back and jumped to his feet. "Frank. Hi." He was standing uncomfortably, not really knowing what the appropriate thing to do or to say was. He ran his hand through the hair at the back of his head, a gesture he was used to do for lack of something else.

Julia wasn't really feeling much more comfortable than he was. She was also standing straight, even if it was from her hospital bed. She had an embarrassed smile on her face. Frank had never caught them actually kissing and she thanked god it hadn't happened before. She could have crawled into a hole somewhere to avoid his eyes.

But Frank wasn't here to be unpleasant. Actually it was quite the opposite. He still wasn't sure why but he wanted to congratulate them on the birth of their new daughter. He had flowers in his hands and he looked at the embarrassed couple with a smile. Even if he wouldn't admit it because he had decided to be nice from now on, he enjoyed seeing them both so uncomfortable. He was the one who would decide how things would go and it was glad to finally have some power. "Hi. I brought you some flowers." He raised his hand to show the ones he was holding. "Leo told me you were all here. I saw Marilyn and you both did a good job, she looks great."

"Thanks." Julia and Michael both smiled, still a little ill-at-ease.
"I would have come in earlier but I felt like I would be interrupting... I waited at the door instead."
"Really ? How long have you been standing there ?"
"Long enough." He smirked as their cheeks turned red. He knew he shouldn't have listened but it had been stronger than him. Especially when Michael had tried to propose to his ex-wife. He had been touched by her reaction. Maybe they really could try to be friends. "I wanted you to know that I still care for you too. You should move on. You could get married if you wanted to." But it was more a polite saying than what he really thought. Actually he had been surprised by how much their way of thinking was alike. He had noticed that Michael hadn't really understood but he hadn't been in their marriage for eighteen years. It was normal.
"You know I couldn't."
"Yeah..."
"But thanks for saying so."

He looked at her tenderly, and put the flowers on the table at the other end of her bed. "I should go, I have a train to catch. But it was nice seeing you." He paused for a second and it looked as if it was hard to say what he was about to say. "Both of you." He walked towards Julia and gave her a small hug. Then he stood next to Michael, without really knowing what to do. Michael tried to take the first step and raised his arms to give a polite hug but Frank took one step back. "I'm not there yet. I hope eventually I would, but not now."

"I get it, really I do." Michael was already really surprised by Frank's appearance and how nice he had decided to be. Monica wasn't half as nice as he was. She was still really pissed at him but he hoped they would be more civil eventually.

So they both smiled awkwardly to each other and Frank left the room. Michael turned back to face Julia and saw her smile widely. "What ?"
"I think we're all going to be okay."