Chapter Sixteen

A/N: Thank you to Mandy for reviewing the last chapter.

Julia looked out of her window, as the glorious sunset shone dozens of different shades across the abundant waters of Collinsport. She did not know how long she had sat there, admiring the view that she had ignored for so long, and in all honesty, she did not really care. She just needed some time alone, to try and gather her thoughts, and to make a decision that would influence the rest of her life.

'I have my family now, Caleb and Maddy.' she thought, and she smiled as she remembered that they were all together again. 'After everything we've been through, we're a family again. Three years ago, that would have made my life utterly complete. But now I have David, and he needs me too. He's like a son to me. How can I choose between them?'

Never in her life had Julia had to make a decision like this. On one hand, she had her husband and child, her family, the family that she had dreamed of having back for so many years and now they were finally here. But on the other hand, there was David. He had been there for her, comforted her and helped her through her sorrow. He had even helped her look for Maddy, to try and make her a little happier, and then she had just tossed him aside once she had her daughter back. She felt truly awful for doing so, but she had been so caught up in the moment that she had not even thought before choosing Maddy. But who would she choose this time? Even she did not have a clue.

It seemed to the woman that the decision she was being forced to make was impossible for anyone to make. It was a choice between a child by blood that she hardly knew, and a child by circumstances that she felt she knew better than almost anyone else in the world. Which one of them needed her more, and which one would suffer without her?

There was no simple answer to this question. Both of the children needed her, and she suspected that, if she were to leave either of them, they would be deeply saddened by it. Just as she would be.

'They're both my children now, by blood or not.' she thought. 'I can't leave them, either of them. But Maddy and Caleb are going back to our old home, given that we never sold it, and David will be staying here with his father and the others. I'll have to choose between them. There's no other way. But how?'

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Hearing it, Julia quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. She had hardly noticed that she had been crying, she had been so lost in her thoughts. She called a summons to the doorway, and listened as it opened.

"Julia." came a small voice, and the redhead spun around to face David, whose face was just visible around the door.

"David." she greeted, a beaming smile spreading across her face. This seemed to put the boy a little more at ease, to know that she was happy to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye." he told her, quite solemnly, and Julia was sure she felt her heart break a little. She bent down on the floor, so that she was closer to his level.

"Why would you need to say goodbye to me?" she asked him, although she knew the answer well enough already.

"Well, now that you've got Caleb and Maddy back, you're going to go back home together." It was not a question, not in the way the boy phrased it, with his voice as serious as if he were reading from a textbook. He made it sound as if this plan was written in stone.

Julia sighed deeply, wishing that things were only as simple as that. How could she explain to David the complicated nature of the decision she was having to make? He was still only a child, after all, with barely a few years on Maddy. How could he even hope to understand?

"I don't know if I want to go now." she admitted, knowing who the words would sound to anyone outside the room, but finding herself not caring about anyone else but David at that moment.

"Why wouldn't you? You'd be the perfect family. You'd have everyone together again." As she had thought, she could see that the boy could not understand the choice she was making. It was hardly surprising; she had spent so much time of late occupied with her husband and daughter that he had been pushed right to the back of her mind.

"The thing is, David... I'm not sure that is my perfect family. To me, it just wouldn't seem complete." She hinted heavily at her meaning, desperate for David to realise what she meant. But his face remained blank, no realisation flashing across it.

"Well, you have to try, for Maddy's sake." he told her, the comment sounding almost like an instruction. This made Julia smile. He was so determined to make things right that he had become the one giving the orders. However, his voice softened considerably when he spoke again. "She needs her mom. I'd give anything to have mine back; don't take hers away from her like the ocean took mine."

The redhead's eyes began to fill with tears, as she wrapped David in a tight embrace. This may be goodbye for them, or it may not be, but for now, neither of them cared. They simply content to hold each other, as the colours of the sunset finally began to give way to darkness.

Julia knew, of course, that she only had a few short hours remaining to make her decision, but she didn't need them, for she had already made up her mind. She had had an idea, to solve all her problems, and she hoped beyond hope that her plan wouldn't fail.

A/N: Please review, because the next chapter will actually be the last one, with possibly an epilogue after that, if anyone wants it.