The only sounds coming from the Stokes' den were not the sounds of conversation, but instead the songs from a singing, purple, dinosaur dancing across the television screen. Jules wanted to throw up every time she heard, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family" but she sucked it up, and left it on, because her little girl loved it.

Trista quietly sat in the tan, over sized, chair in the corner of the room biting the side of her fingernail. She glanced over at Jules now and then, but said nothing. Jules could feel her best friend's stares and knew Trista was giving it everything she had not to blurt out her thoughts for Emma's sake. Jules knew it would come eventually. She knew as soon as Emma's droopy eyes started to flutter, that it was only a matter of time before the questions flew.

She looked over at her daughter curled up on the couch next to her, she had her woobie to her nose and her thumb slightly falling from her mouth. She was asleep and both Trista and Jules were glad…they did have a lot to discuss. Jules grabbed the remote and turned Barney that annoying purple dinosaur off, before tossing it onto the arm of the chair.

Jules walked into the kitchen and her best friend followed behind her. Trista grabbed the coffee creamer from the refrigerator and placed it down on the counter while Jules went to the cabinet to grab two mugs. Jules silently began pouring the coffee when she heard the question she knew Trista was waiting to ask since before Emma fell asleep.

"Okay, so you wanna tell me what the hell went on here?" she placed her palm on the counter top and looked directly at Jules.

Jules ran her hand over her face and shook her head.

"I can't for the life of me even begin…"

"Well ya better start figuring it out! I left here and you were calling a lawyer…I come back a couple hours later and you are half naked in your bedroom with Nick!" Trista threw her hands up in the air dramatically.

Jules kept her eyes down, reached into the drawer, and grabbed a small spoon.

"…I see glass all over the floor, drawers opened, clothes thrown around the room and I see tears across each other's faces…what the fuck, Jules?" Trista was still on her rant.

"Our heat finally combusted?" she tried to make a joke.

Trista rolled her eyes.

Jules poured creamer into her coffee and handed the bottle over to Trista before stirring it.

"Well, I am fucked up. Is that what you want me to tell you, Trist?" Jules said softly.

"I already saw that! Now can you tell me how you ended up smashing pictures, throwing clothes, and then falling into bed?"

Jules began to tell her everything. She told her about him coming over for his work vest and how she didn't hear him. How she showed him the phone bill proof and threw things. She even admitted that, when he grabbed her, she hauled off and punched him in his mouth.

Trista's mouth flew open and she covered it with her hand. She had never seen Jules get violent with anyone, never mind NICK.

After her initial shock wore off, Trista lowered her hand and grumbled, "Good! He deserved it!"

Jules ignored her comment.

Jules explained that the screaming went on for a while and when she started throwing things like a lunatic, he reached out, held her tight and she lost it...she crumbled. He brought her back from her rage and she was able to grab control of herself…well, sort of.

Jules' strong tone that she used to tell her best friend what had gone on was slowly fading. Trista knew having to recall the details was bringing it all back for Jules and it was eating away at her piece by piece. She was thinking that it would only be a matter of time before all of this hits Jules again. Trista also knew that she would be there to catch her when it did.

""I still love him, Trista," she said softly after telling her all the details.

"I know you do, Jules. Of course you do! You don't turn that shit off overnight," she sighed and touched Jules shoulder. "But, but…sleeping with him, Jules? Really? Is that the answer?"

Jules shook her head no.

"Jules, honey, I love you…you're my best friend and I wouldn't be a good one if I didn't lay it all out for you… so I gotta tell you the truth, ok?"

Jules looked over at her with tears welling up in her eyes.

"The man had an affair with his college sweetheart. You have pictures. You have phone records that show they have spoken since the wedding. Honey, believe me, I can't comprehend it either…I adored Nick too but…but, Jules, he isn't who you thought he was," she reached over and hugged her best friend tightly.

'I can't keep carrying around this pain," Jules whispered as her face started to wilt, "I can't stand it. I just can't stand it...It hurts so bad."

Jules began to cry on Trista's shoulder and she continued spilling her feelings, "It went away…just for a little while…when I was…when I was with him," she said in between her cries.

"Ohhh Jules...Jules, I know, I know," Trista's voice began to crack feeling the pain of her best friend.

"When I wake up in the morning…I reach for him evvvery sssingle morning…and he is gone… and I remember…I remember why," Jules admits. "And, then, then each morning I see my baby's face ask me when her daddy's coming home…and that face…her beautiful, little, face is Nick's…" Jules wiped her tears with both hands and Trista holds her shoulder as they walk to the kitchen table.

Propping her elbows on the tabletop and running her fingers through the sides of her long blond hair, Jules continues.

"I see Nick in her actions, I see him in her smile…she is his spitting image and she reminds me of how much Nick and I loved each other... and then I remember that he threw it all away for one night. And it's her beautiful, little, face that makes me wonder, maybe I shouldn't throw it all away for that one night? That one mistake," she looked up and her sad eyes made her look like a little girl, "Maybe I should just pretend it never happened and get my happy family back?"

"I know you better than that. You'd never settle for less, Jules. You never have," Trista said picking up her coffee and taking a sip.

"I know. I know. I couldn't stay with him for long without hating him. Resenting him. Hating myself for letting him disrespect me like that. No, I know it is impossible but this is how my brain bounces back and forth alllll dayyy lonnnng!" she puts her face in her hands and groans with frustration.

Trista nods, imagining how hard it must be.

"Does…does Warrick know?" she asked softly.

Jules doesn't look up from her hands; she simply shakes her head no.

Trista groans loudly.

"He comes in on Friday. Will you sleep over here that night?" Jules looks up and asks. "He doesn't come in until 3 am."

"Of course. Of course." she squeezed her shoulder. "I'm here for anything you need; you know that….uh, but...just don't ask me to be the one to tell your brother!"

Her comment made them both crack a small smile.