By the grace of some divine power somewhere, Julian makes it home at 7PM like he promised his family he would. After he spoke to Hazel and Brooke, he spent the rest of the day rushing through his work, dodging unnecessary meetings and calls and thinking only of his fiancée and child. He doesn't just want to be a voice over the phone anymore. He has to sort himself out and he has to return to his family. He only hopes it'll be that easy.

When the door to the flat opens, Hazel and Brooke are cuddled on the couch in the living room watching a Hannah Montana DVD that Haley had sent last month. Hazel is mostly asleep, leaning on her mother's shoulder barely able to concentrate on her favorite show. Brooke isn't exactly awake, either.

When Hazel hears her father's heavy footsteps, she quickly awakens and runs to the door to find her Julian. Brooke feels the weight of her child disappear and she wakes up, alerted to Julian's arrival by her daughter's squeals of joy.

"Daddy!" Hazel yells. "You're home! You're home!" The young girl runs into her father's arms and he catches her and plants her on his hip.

"That I am, beautiful", Julian replies. "Did I wake you?" he asks, all the while staring intently at Brooke who stands at the end of the hallway.

"Kinda, but that's okay!" Hazel is clearly keyed up by her father's appearance and Brooke rolls her eyes, excited by the prospect of a hyper child an hour before bed time.

"Hey Hazy", Brooke says. "How about you march your cute booty to your bedroom and daddy will come read you a story?"

The child nods and wiggles out of her father's arms. "Come quick! And I get to pick the book." Hazel skips down the hallway to her room, blissfully unaware of what she left in her wake.

-xx-

Brooke slowly walks closer to Julian, unsure and scared and nervous.

"You're home", she says plainly.

"I am..." Julian says, just as plainly.

Brooke shakes her head as she moves a little closer. "Why?"

Julian's confusion is evident on his face, but Brooke ignores it. He can't be that naïve, she thinks.

"I told Hazel that I'd be here. I told you I'd be here."

"So, now you decide that you should come home to your family at night? Did a camera fall on your head and you finally realized what your priorities should be?"

"Brooke, please…I'm here now." Julian says, practically begging for Brooke to relax. He walks closer to his fiancée now and grabs her shoulders softly.

"Now, Julian…the operative word is now. But how about tomorrow or two weeks from now? How can I trust that you'll be here?"

"Because I want to be here. You have to know that."

"What I know and what you do are completely different things", Brooke replies coolly, taking Julian's hands and removing them from her body.

"I can move things around, I can turn down a project. I'm the boss- I can make those decisions. I can be home now", Julian says. There's a desperate tone to his voice.

Brooke sighs. She knows this sounds too easy and there's no way that Julian can make that big of a turn around so fast.

"I know you'll try. Because you always try. But we moved out here so you could work and since then, you've been overloading yourself because that's what you know and that's what you want to do. Fuck, your kid barely knows you. In Starbucks today, for the entire store to hear, she asked me why she never sees you. She's 3 and a half fucking years old, Julian!"

"I know, I know. That's why I want to come home. I know I can't do this to her anymore."

"And what am I at this point? Do you even still want to marry me? You avoid me like the plague, now you're saying you're only going to come home for Hazel. What do I need to do to get you to come home for me!?" Brooke yells. Finally everything breaks. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg, but at least Brooke is able to get some of it out. She bangs on Julian's chest with her hands in fists and as he calmly removes them from him, he reaches down and pulls Brooke in for a kiss.

A kiss is not what she expected and she doesn't know what to do. It takes a beat before she steps away from him. This isn't what should happen. Angst should not precede intimacy. They can't do it like that.

"Julian, no. This is not how we resolve things! We're not 22 anymore, I'm not sex hungry anymore. I want to be with you emotionally as well as physically. I am desperate for you to let me in! Do you know how desperate I am?"

Julian shakes his head without words. He doesn't want to interrupt her. He knew this was coming. He's not that naïve.

"I told Haley today that I should get pregnant for you to come back to me because that's how this relationship really started- when I got pregnant with Hazel." Brooke stops short after this admission, realizing that she's unsure if she's said that aloud at all lately. It's confirmed when Julian's jaw drops and he moves towards her.

"No, Brooke, that's not how it was. I told you that so many times when you told me you were pregnant. We were so in love back then and having a baby just reinforced that. You thought you had trapped me, but you didn't. I was the happiest man alive back then."

Brooke's shoulders begin to slump and the tears behind her eyes now become tears that flow down her cheeks, and the whole world felt like it's opened beneath her.

"Then, what happened? The second you told me about the deal to move out here, something happened. We weren't the same anymore. I want to know why! I want to know how to fix it!" The tears continue to flow and now Julian takes it upon himself to wrap his arms slowly around Brooke's body, waiting to see if she lets him. She does. She's tired and she falls apart in his arms.

"I know I've hurt you", he says.

"No shit", Brooke mutters through her tears.

"What can I say to make you believe that I do want to stay?"

"It's not what you say, it's what you do. And it's not just you…I haven't exactly been myself, either. It's just hard."

"I know, beautiful."

"Do you promise that we can fix this?"

Brooke's question takes a hold of Julian's heart and now tears begin to well in his eyes. He feels like an idiot for not seeing this sooner. He's known that he doesn't get to see his family often. He just didn't realize what it was doing to the woman he loves most.

"Yes. We can fix this. I promise you that we will fix this."

Brooke nods and nuzzles into Julian's chest. Her tears have abated but she is still tired. Julian tightens his grip on the woman and rests his cheek on the top of her head.

"I've missed you", Brooke says.

"I've missed you, too."

With the hope that maybe they can work to change their relationship for the better, even if they have to yell to get their emotions out or if it takes a lot of time, Brooke now takes Julian's hand and leads them towards Hazel's room.

The door is wide open and as they peer in, the couple sees their tiny, brunette daughter sitting Indian-style on her bed with Brooke's old copy of Angelina Ballerina in her lap. Her head is in her hands and she looks impatient. It takes her only a moment to realize that her parents are standing in her doorway and her face lights up in recognition.

"Mummy! Daddy! I picked the ballerina book", Hazel says, displaying the book for the couple to see.

Julian walks towards his daughter's bed while Brooke hangs back by the door.

"Scoot over", the man says as he tries to sit on Hazel's bed. Once comfortable, Hazel passes him the book and he opens it.

"Daddy, will you read me Mumma's words first?" Hazel lays her head on her father's shoulder as he begins to read.

In the weeks before Brooke's due date, she decided to go through boxes of old memorabilia that had been collecting dust through her multiple moves. It was in the first box that Brooke found her favorite books from childhood. Her ultimate favorite was about a mouse who just itches to be the best ballerina she could be.

She knew in that moment that her daughter needed to have the book and so Brooke grabbed a pen and started writing on the title page of the old book just how much she wanted a daughter and just how much she would be loved.

Dear Daughter (still unnamed) –

You're going to be gracing us with your presence in just a few short weeks (I hope!) and your father and I could not be more excited. I've waited a long time to be able to be a mother and I just cannot wait any longer. You are going to be an amazing little girl. Your daddy and I will love you like no baby girl has ever been loved before. Never forget that. Please come out soon, by the way. Mommy could use a cocktail.

Love forever and always and forever,

Mommy

Once Julian is finished reading the letter, he looks over to Brooke who is still standing in the doorway.

She leans her head against the doorframe and mouths, "Thank you."

Julian has no idea what she's thanking him for, but she's got a smile on her face and that's all that matters to him in this moment.