Chapter Seven

A/N: Thanks once again to dionne dance for reviewing. You're awesome.

When she arrived back at Collinwood, Julia could be grounded by no one. She had spent the entire evening with little Maddy, and had been utterly thrilled that, when she was returned to Cairan and Kathy, the girl had not wanted her to leave. Because of this, she had promised to return the very next day, cheering the child no end.

Unable to contain her anticipation, Julia near skipped through the doors when she reached them, humming slightly under her breath as she did.

So caught up in all of her excitement, it took the woman a fair few moments to notice the child stood in the shadows of the staircase. The other child in her life. The one who, over the past few hours, she had practically forgotten.

"David?" she questioned gently, moving quietly toward the boy, who took a large step backwards away from her, his features twisting into a frown, something Julia had never seen on him, and never wanted to see again either. "David, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been here today, but I've been sorting things out with my brother, about Maddy. Just some business stuff."

"You're lying!" he exclaimed in response, a tear falling from his eye. "I saw you down at the beach, building sandcastles and eating ice cream. That didn't look like just business stuff to me."

Julia was silenced, considering what the boy had said. Each word was true, none was fabricated and she found that she had no response to give. It took her quite a while to think of one, and even longer to muster the courage to speak it.

"David, I am really sorry. Please believe me, I am. It's just that… David, she's my little girl, I haven't seen her for four years. I guess everything else just went out of my head." The woman knew that she was pleading with the young boy now, but she could see nothing else to do. She just prayed that he would understand.

"Yeah. Everything, including me." the boy said once again, sighing as he let the words fall past his lips, and doing so again when he saw the tears surface in the doctor's eyes. "I want to forgive you for that, Julia. I just don't know if I can yet."

With the final sentence, David began to walk away, leaving Julia utterly despaired in the doorway, clutching at her sides as she sobbed.

'What have I done?' she thought to herself, tears streaming unendingly down her face. 'I've got my little girl back, and in doing that, I've lost my little boy. I don't know what to do. I can't abandon David, but I can't leave Maddy either, not after all these years that she has needed me and I haven't been there. If only I could think of a way to keep them both with me. If only I knew what to do now.'

Julia could still hardly believe how the day had turned on its head. Just five hours ago, she had discovered that her daughter was in Collinsport, right under her nose, and she could not have been happier. Now, she had had to leave Maddy with her brother and his family, and had returned to her workplace, where she was rejected by David, the boy she had come to love as a son. Everything seemed to be going wrong.

"He'll come round, you know." sounded a voice from behind the woman, prompting her to turn and face the door. "David doesn't hold grudges, not really. You have that on your side, at least. He won't let you slip through his fingers, Julia. You're the best thing that's happened to him in years."

Even through her tears, Julia could not help but smile at the comment. She had not known that she could have made such a huge impression on David in the short time it had been since they had met. It meant a lot to her that she had done that, almost as much as the boy himself meant.

"How long do you think it will take, Liz? For him to forgive me?" Julia asked, looking her employer in the eye as she rose from her position on the floor. The woman shrugged her shoulders slight, walking forwards to place her hands on the woman's upper arms, smiling encouragingly.

"Not long, at all. In fact, he might even have done so already. He's just a little too proud to say it." Elizabeth told her, moving off in the direction of her study, in search of a bottle of wine to wash down the dramatic day's events. However, as she reached the first step of the staircase, the blonde stopped, turning to face her employee once again. "Oh, and Julia?"

"Yes?" the redhead replied immediately.

"I would never tell you to do anything, either way. But… I have a feeling that David is in the attic." With a slight wink in the direction of her friend, Elizabeth went on her way, leaving Julia, buoyed with a little more confidence, alone.

Five minutes passed, and Julia had begun to ascend the staircase of the attic, wincing a little as the ancient wooden steps creaked. The last thing she wanted to do at this point was shock poor David.

However, she did not need to worry about doing so, as when she emerged in the room, she saw immediately that David was facing the stairs.

"Hey." Julia began, trying to add just a touch of happiness to her tone.

"Hey." David replied, obviously trying to do the opposite.

"Listen, David. I have to go and see Maddy, she's my daughter, but… you're my son, and I don't want to fight with you. So… do you think you can forgive me?"

For a moment, silence was all that filled the air of the attic, as David contemplated what the doctor was asking of him. Then, he turned to her and wrapped his arms tightly around the woman, knocking her off balance slightly before she held tightly against her, smiles adorning both of their faces.

"I always wanted a sister, anyway."

A/N: I'll try to update quickly, because there is a bit of a plot twist in the next chapter or two. I'm aiming for three or four weeks, but, of course, the more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update. So… please review!