August 23, 01-November 8, 2002
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This story would be set sometime after Thanksgiving of 2002. When Carol was pregnant on ER, in real life Julianna wasn't. But, in THIS fic, Julianna WAS pregnant when Carol was. Because it is set after Thanksgiving of 2002, that makes the child three years and a few months old....
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George pushed the door to his house open and blinked his eyes against the darkness. He reached for the light but couldn't seem to find it on the wall. He chuckled at himself and stepped forward, into the kitchen, stopping for a moment to let his wavery vision clear and adjust to the darkness. He headed toward the living room and let out a loud curse when he rammed his hip into the table. George rubbed the sore area before moving on, into the living room. He reached blindly for the edge of the couch and wished Julianna would come downstairs, all rumpled and sexy and.....
The lamp beside the couch suddenly clicked on and George focused on the beautiful figure standing with her hand on the lamp and he smiled, letting his eyes run up and down her body. She was wearing nothing but one of George's t-shirts and her curly hair tumbled wildly around her head and shoulders.
George met her gaze.
"Where were you?" She asked. George didn't see her bottom lip tremble slightly because his mind was elsewhere, still lingering on those naked legs.
"I was out with some of the guys, having a few beers." George answered absent-mindedly.
"Until three o'clock in the morning?" Her voice cracked.
"Well, we weren't really paying attention to the clock, Jules..Just having fun." He slurred. She nodded and looked away, taking a step back as she nibbled on her bottom lip. George watched her teeth gnaw away at that full, pouty lip and felt it shoot straight to his groin. "I should have called." She nodded and glanced at him.
"I was worried." Her voice wavered and her vision blurred. He sighed and came around the couch, a bit wobbly on his feet. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, as much to comfort her as to torture himself. She hooked her chin over his shoulder and burrowed into him. George was so focused on her physically that he didn't notice the lone tear that gathered in her eye and crept slowly down her pale cheek just to drip off the edge and onto his t-shirt. She reached up with one hand and wiped the wet trail from her cheek. Julianna turned her head into his neck and her heart tumbled in her chest when she felt his arousal press against her lower belly, sending a delicious wave of anticipation coursing through her and she forgot all about her worry and let the physical aspect take over.
"Jules." He muttered gruffly into her ear and had her heart spinning wildy in her chest, pounding loud enough that she swore he could hear it. She lifted her head and offered her lips to his and sighed softly when his mouth slid over hers to nibble delightfully on the corners of her mouth. The kiss become more desperate, a frantic mating of tongues and mouths and Julianna felt the haze wash over her, like she too, was drunk.
She squirmed against him and he knew he would never make it up to the bedroom. He tightened his arms around her and lifted her a few inches off the ground. She smiled and wound her arms firmly around his neck as he laid her back on the couch and eased on top of her.
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Julianna stirred in her bed, shifting her head on the pillow. She sighed and lifted her arm up and threw it over her eyes as she rolled onto her back.
"Uhh.." She muttered and rolled onto her other side, away from the morning light filtering through the window. She lifted her elbow just an inch and glanced at the clock, reading that it was eight a.m.
She wondered where George was and thought that pretty soon Ollie would be awake and wanting breakfast and...Julianna stopped when she heard the high-pitched squeal coming from her daughter. Julianna smiled then when she heard the deep laughter that followed her daughter's giggle. She lay still and quiet, listening to the sounds of her boyfriend and their three-year-old.
The noises became louder and she smiled when she heard her daughter's quiet voice.
"Shh, Daddy, or Mama hear you!" Olivia exclaimed in a loud whisper.
"Oh, right, Mama's asleep." George said in an equal whisper. Julianna quickly shut her eyes and deepened her breathing, pretending to be asleep. She heard them enter the room and peeked her eyes open just a bit and saw George crawling into the room on his hands and knees while Olivia lay across his back, arms around George's neck and curly hair sticking out in all directions. Julianna forced her lips not to curve at the corners and she let out a fake snore.
Olivia giggled and George chuckled, knowing full well that Julianna was now awake. He pulled himself up onto the bed and Olivia stifled a giggle with her hand and Julianna bit her tongue to stop from giggling herself. Suddenly George groaned and rolled over, right onto Julianna, smooshing Olivia in between them. Olivia squealed and Julianna laughed.
"Mama, you awake!" Olivia exclaimed.
"Now I am!" Julianna exclaimed and made Olivia giggle. Ollie pushed her hands against George's shoulders.
"Daddy, you squishing me!"
"Yeah, me too!" Julianna exclaimed and reveled in the sound of George's deep chuckle and her daughter's light giggle.
"It's an Ollie Sandwich!" George exclaimed.
"Yummy!" Julianna said and slurped her lips, which made Olivia laugh.
"I not a samich!" George rolled over and held himself up on his arms, taking some of his weight off them and bent his head, nipping at Olivia's neck.
"Tastes like one to me!" George announced over Olivia's squeal. Julianna laughed and wrapped her arms around the two of them as Olivia turned her head to look at her.
"Do I tas' like a samich, Mama?" Olivia asked. Julianna shrugged and pretended to think.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Let me try you!" Julianna said and smacked her lips against Olivia's cheek and then nodded. "Peanut butter and jelly!"
"Nooo, Mama!" But she giggled and looked up at George, putting her mind to work. "Daddy's the bread!" She exclaimed and laughed at her own joke, along with Julianna. George chuckled and managed to work his arms under Julianna. Then he rolled.
Julianna held on to her daughter as they were rearranged on the bed. Olivia laughed and fisted her hands in George's t-shirt. Julianna pushed herself up with her arms, lifting her weight off of Olivia and then she rolled off of them. Olivia scooted up and shifted so she was sitting on George's stomach. She propped her elbows on her knees and placed her chin on her fisted hands and looked at her father.
Julianna studied her daughter with her curly, dark hair and sparkling chocolate colored eyes. The little nose and lips that matched Julianna's. Olivia was a miniature of herself. George too studied his daughter, but saw the woman she would turn out to be, so much like her mother. And he smiled and glanced at Julianna. She grinned and reached up, taking her daughter and pulling her down.
"C'mere, Ollie-o." She said and wrapped her arms around Olivia. The child smiled and placed her hands on Julianna's cheeks and pushed them together. Julianna made fish lips and smiled when Olivia giggled. George chuckled and began to tickle Olivia. She squealed and squirmed against Julianna.
"Mama, help!" Olivia exclaimed. Julianna laughed and began to tickle George. He moved out of her reach and began tickling Olivia's feet. She squirmed and tried to kick him away before tucking her knees up to her chest. Julianna laughed and pulled Olivia up and into her arms before jumping off the bed. Olivia giggled and wrapped her arms and legs around Julianna as they bounded out of the room.
"Uh-oh!" Julianna exclaimed and went quickly, but carefully down the stairs as she heard George coming slowly after them, giving them some leeway. Olivia giggled and held tightly to Julianna and squealed when George came into sight.
"Go, Mama, go!" She yelled and giggled when they dashed around the kitchen table. George was on the other side. He stood there and chuckled when Julianna breathed a bit heavily and shifted Olivia higher into her arms.
"My baby's getting heavy!" Julianna said and Olivia grinned into her shoulder, peering over at George. She laughed when Julianna suddenly ran out toward the living room. She squealed when George caught Julianna around the waist and pulled them into his arms. He kissed them both with flurry and laughed.
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"Today was a great day!" George exclaimed and smiled at Julianna as he walked to her. She nodded and grinned.
"Yeah, it was nice to be able to stay home all day with Ollie, together." Julianna said. He chuckled.
"She's active! She made me tired." He said and moved to wrap his arms around Julianna's waist, but she pulled back, confusing him. He ticked his head to side, questioning her with his eyes as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, slightly hurt by her movement. She sighed and lifted her hand to her forehead and bit her bottom lip slightly as she glanced at him.
"George, we need to talk." She paused. "About last night and everything." She looked up at him and met his gaze. "Today just makes everything more important to talk about."
"Alright." George said, a bit cautiously and he sat down on the couch and waited until she eased down beside him.
"I..You and Ollie are the most important things in my life. I love you both," She closed her eyes briefly, "Sometimes so much that it hurts. And..It hurts me," She paused, "When you don't let me know what you are doing, where you are going. I worry that something happens. That maybe you got in a car wreck or something.." She didn't tell him what that 'or something' was. She didn't tell him that she was afraid he would leave her for good when he decided he didn't want her anymore. "I'm..." She took a deep breath and continued on quickly. "I'm not your wife and you're not...officially committed to me, so I guess you shouldn't feel obligated to tell me where I can find you, where you're going...But I'd like to know."
"You think that just because you're not my wife that I'm not committed to you?" George asked quietly, his voice cold. Julianna nearly shivered.
"I..That's not...exactly what I meant." George reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, not so gently.
"We have a child together, Julianna. I'm committed to her. And I'm committed to you, whether you'd like to believe it or not. Do you realize that for the past four years, I've been with only you? In every way? You're the only one I love, Julianna. I'm committed."
"Then why don't you tell me things?!" She exclaimed and jerked her chin from his grasp and stood, flinging her arms to the side. "I know you're a busy man, George. God knows I understand the business. But I know your daughter needs you. Dammit, I need you and it feels like you're only with us when it's good for you. You could have tucked your daughter into bed last night but instead you stayed out drinking with your friends until three o'clock in the morning and," Her voice hitched and her eyes filled, "Let me worry myself to the point where I was close to calling the cops. And it just seems to be getting worse and..."
"Mama?" Julianna heard a little voice. Julianna froze and slowly turned to face her daughter. She smiled and wiped at her eyes a bit.
"Baby, what are you doing out of bed?" Julianna asked, walking to her and crouching down. Olivia looked over Julianna's shoulder at George and he nearly smiled at the sight of her, rumpled and sleepy, a teddy bear dangling from her hand before he realized what Julianna had been yelling about and instead felt a sharp pang in his heart. Olivia looked back at her mother.
"There are monsters under my bed." Olivia whispered and Julianna smiled softly, reaching out to tuck the child's messy hair behind her ear.
"Well, sweetheart, how about you come and sleep with Mama in her bed and Daddy can go and make sure that the monsters are gone." Julianna suggested and glanced over her shoulder at George. He nodded slightly and Julianna turned back to Olivia. The girl nodded and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, gripping the teddy bear's arm. Julianna lifted her and hoisted her up a bit and began to ascend the stairs. She smelled the soap from her daughter's bath and blinked the fresh tears away.
Julianna walked into the room and laid her daughter on the bed before straightening.
"Mama, are you mad?" Olivia asked and Julianna closed her eyes for just a moment, wondering how much her daughter had heard. George, who had been continuing down the hall, heard the softly asked question and wondered himself if she was angry, really angry, with him. He sighed and went into Olivia's room, quickly checking under the bed to find nothing out of the ordinary, just as he suspected. He smiled quickly and made his way back to the bedroom, just as Julianna slid under the covers, now in her pajamas. Olivia turned when he entered the room and lifted a hand to him, wanting him to get into the bed also. He smiled and bent over her before quickly kissing her nose.
"In a minute, baby." He said before moving to the walk-in closet and quickly changing inside it. Then he headed back to the bed and lay down, reaching over to turn the lamp off. Olivia pulled on his shirt, indicating him to scoot over and he did, sandwiching her comfortably between himself and Julianna. Olivia sighed softly and laid her head on Julianna's breast and quickly slipped into sleep. George stroked her tiny curls and sighed before meeting Julianna's gaze over their daughter.
"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I know I do things that upset you, like not calling when I'm going to be late or not being home to tuck Oll' in when I could have been." He sighed. "I never did think I was cut out for this father stuff. But..I do love her and you. So much. I love you both more than anything else in this world. I just..don't know how to show it sometimes. But..I promise to try harder from now on. I don't mean to do the things I do." He reached out and stroked Julianna's cheek gently. She smiled slightly.
"I know you don't. I'm sorry I blew up downstairs." She said. He grinned.
"I deserved it." He said and rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip before he leaned over and kissed her gently. "I love you." She smiled.
"I love you, too, George." He laid his head back on his pillow.
"Goodnight, Julianna."
"'Night." She replied and glanced at her daughter before closing her eyes. George watched his two girls and hoped he could do better by them.
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The next night George made it a point to be home in time to put his daughter to bed. Julianna waited downstairs as he tucked Olivia in and she knew that things would be okay with them.
A few minutes later George headed down the stairs. He walked into the living room and sat beside her on the couch. He took her hand into his and kissed her fingers.
"Thank you." She said. He nodded.
"She's my girl." He paused and looked at her. "You're my girl."
"George, I know that you love us. We love you. And you came home tonight like I wanted you to. You made an effort when I asked. That's important to me. So I have a compromise to make." She said.
"What's that?" He asked. She squeezed his hand.
"I don't mind if you go out with the boys. My only requests are that you call me if you are going to be out so that I know and so that I can warn Olivia ahead of time. Also, I would appreciate it if you only went out two nights a week. That leaves 5 days where you can Olivia in. I want what is best for her and having you here is what is best for her. When you are filming a movie away from home and Olivia and I are still here, you can go out all you want. But when you are home…five nights a week you are here, okay?" She asked. He nodded.
"That works for me. Two nights out a week is good enough. You're good at compromising, ya know that?" He asked. She smiled.
"I love you and to make this work we have make compromises. I have no problem with you going out with your friends, it's our daughter who has the problem. But I think we can all manage with two nights a week."
"I agree. Good thinking. But I'm home tonight." George said and wiggled his eyebrows. She giggled as he began to climb atop of her.
"Oh are you? I hadn't noticed." She said.
"Yeah right!" He exclaimed and nipped at her neck. She laughed and kissed him.
"I love you, George."
"I love you more." She wrapped her arms around him and she knew that everything would be okay.
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