Julianna was now 9 weeks pregnant and to make things worse, tomorrow, she was scheduled to do a major kissing scene with George for the season three finale. She hadn't kissed him on set for a long time and she knew things would be uncomfortable with each them for a while afterwards...like until the next season. Julianna was just happy that this was the last scene of the season so they could go on hiatus and she wouldn't have to see him everyday.
She lifted her shirt a little and peered down at her slightly growing abdomen. It wasn't noticeable through her clothes, but she thought if you looked long and hard enough, you could tell she was gaining weight. She just hoped that tomorrow no one would take notice and she could hide out for a little while during hiatus before having to let everyone know. She knew that the press would have a field day and tears swelled in her eyes at the thought. She rolled onto her side and bite her hand to keep from sobbing.
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The next day Julianna walked into work.
"Hey Jules." Tony says. She puts on her best smile.
"Hey Tony." She replies.
"How are you today?" He asks, smiling warmly back at her.
"I'm doing fine. So..today's the last day for awhile, huh?" She asks. He nods.
"Thank God. I can take this damn thing off!" Tony says, referring to the blue cast they had made him wear for his part. She laughs.
"Itchy?" She asks.
"Yeah! It sucks. I hope I never break anything." He says. She smiles.
"I had one of those when I was younger..I broke my arm when my sister and I were trying to fly." Julianna says. He chuckles.
"Guess it didn't work, huh?" He asks.
"Nope. Never jumped off a couch since." She says. George walks up and notices them chuckling together.
"What's so funny?" He asks, grinning that grin of his.
"Oh..just talking about broken arms." Tony says, lifting his cast up and smiling. "I'll catch you guys later." Tony says.
"See ya." George says.
"Later." Julianna says. She looks at George and smiles tightly.
"How are you?" He asks. She nods her head.
"Fine. I'm fine. I uh..better get going. Make-up." She says and walks off. He watches her go with a look of longing on his face. He shakes his head and walks away, his head down.
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Julianna was wearing a black dress, getting ready to do her scene where she walks out and all the nurses tell her how good she looks and she says goodbye to Doug. She sighed and looked down at her stomach, checking once more to make sure you couldn't notice the swell. She had gotten the clothing stylist to let her wear the dress she wanted. She had picked it out because it was loose around the waist and she hoped to hide any clue that she was pregnant. So far it had worked and no one had noticed.
"Julianna..it's time." The director says. She nods and gets ready. He gives her the signal and she walks out as all the nurses tell her how great she looks. She sees George's eyes on her and she looks away, not wanting to prolong the eye contact. She turns and says goodbye to him, keeping her eyes on his nose, not wanting to look him in the eye. She then walks down the hallway.
No one had noticed. She said a thank you prayer to God and waited with a queasy feeling in her stomach for her next scene.
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'Oh God, oh God. I can't do this.' Julianna thought to herself as the person beside her drove up in front of Carol's house. She stepped out and walked up the steps, going along with everything that was supposed to happen. Before she knew it they were on the take where George was supposed to kiss her. She took a deep breath as they started the scene. He smiled at her and walked towards her.
"What?" She asks, smiling, even though her stomach was flopping. He just looks at her. 'God, he's gorgeous.' She thought to herself. "What?" She asks again, letting the smile fade, knowing what was coming. He took a small step closer to her and gently pressed his lips against hers for a brief moment. Half of her wanted to cry and the other half wanted to lay him down on that porch in front of everyone and just make love to him. She shuffled closer to him, as she was supposed to in the script. She hesitantly pressed her lips to his and leaned even further into him, placing one of her hands on his cheek. His hands rested against her stomach and hips but she didn't even notice, she was already so caught up in the kiss. All of a sudden the baby kicked for the first time. Julianna immediately pulled away and she gasped. George's eyes widened as he looked at her, then quickly down to her stomach briefly.
"Cut! George..Julianna..what happened?" Christopher Chulack, the director asked.
"I uh.." George said, flustered. He looked at Julianna and could see the apprehension in her eyes that he would say something. "Nothing..nothing. Everything is fine." George says, turning to Chris and smiling. He gives them a suspicious look.
"Julianna?" Chris asks. She puts on her best smile.
"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. Let's try this again." She says. He nods, turning to the camera men.
"Alright, let's start from the beginning." Chris says. George walks a little way away from Julianna, retaking his position by the pillar on the porch.
"1..2..3.." Chris says, silencing himself after the three. George walks back in front of Julianna.
"What?" She asks, grinning. She can see the look in his eyes, questioning her. Her grin fades slightly. "What?" She asks again, more softly. He leans towards her and kisses her very gently on the lips before pulling away. She sighs, letting out the breath she had been holding. She looked at his cheek, not able to look him in the eyes anymore. She shuffled forward and pressed her lips to his yet again. She moved closer and he brought his hands up to her face, intently avoiding her stomach. She placed her hands on his hips, holding him a safe distance away from her, but close enough to look realistic. She moaned gently through the kiss, as the script had called for. They wanted to make the kiss as realistic as possible.
"Cut!" The two of them quickly pulled apart, not looking at the other as they listened to Chris. "That was great you two. Very realistic!" Chris said, smiling proudly at them. "Fantastic way to end the season!" He says. George and Julianna smile slightly. Julianna walks away and George looks after her before running to catch up with her.
"Jules. Wait." He says. She turns to him.
"Hm?" She asks.
"We need to talk." George says matter-of-factly. She nods.
"Wait until we get back to the set." She says. He nods.
"Alright." He says.
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Julianna and George walked into her trailer. He shut the door behind them and she began pacing. He watched her for a few seconds before he grabbed her arm, stilling her, before letting his arm drop back to his side.
"Jules?" He asks. She just looks at him. "Are you pregnant?" He asks, slowly, cautiously. She lets her head drop and she buries her face into her hands. She nods. He nods slowly, biting his lip. "And..is it mine?" He asks. She doesn't answer, just keeps her head in her hands as she cries softly. He reaches out, taking her face into his hands and lifting her head. He wipes her tears away with his thumbs. "Jules, is the baby mine?" He asks again. She sighs loudly.
"I don't know." She whispers. He shakes his head in disbelief, letting his hands fall back to his sides again. "I'm 9 weeks and I have no clue if your the father or if it's Ron. I had sex with Ron the day before you and I did, so there's no way I can know." She says. She starts sobbing and she raises her hands to her mouth as she cries. She grabs onto the back of the couch, trying to steady herself as painful sobs rack her body. He listens to her for a few seconds before he takes her into his arms.
"Shh..Jules..you've got to calm down. It's not good for the baby. Come on Jules..shhh....settle down...It's okay. Everything will be okay." He says, rubbing her back. She clings to him, trying hard to control herself, knowing that he's right, it's not good for the baby.
"What am I going to do?" She moans into his chest.
"I know what you're going to do." He says. She lifts her head, her eyes red and puffy. "Your going to have this baby and you'll love it and cherish it for the rest of your life. And you'll be happy with it." He says.
"I can't do it alone." She says.
"You won't." He says. She shakes her head, not believing him.
"I don't want to be a single mom." She says. He takes her face into his hands again.
"You won't. I won't let you. I promise." He says.
"But it might not be yours." She says. He shrugs.
"Maybe it's not. But maybe it is." He says.
"When we were doing our scene..that was the first kick." Julianna says smiling through her tears. She wanted to get away from the conversation about who was the father. She was confused and didn't want to hear anymore. She didn't want to let him tell her happy things and then none of it happen.
"That was amazing." He says, chuckling. She laughs, her body heaving with a hiccup. "Maybe that was a sign." He says. She looks at him, slightly confused.
"Of what?" She asks.
"That it's mine." He says. This only seems to upset her.
"I'm so sorry." She says, collapsing into tears again.
"Why?" He asks.
"I know you don't want kids. Neither did Ron." She says. He wraps her into his arms again.
"Maybe I do." He whispered into her ear. Her head flies up.
"What?" She asks.
"I never really considered the idea because I never fell in love with someone who I would want to carry my kids. Hell..I never fell in love with anyone." George says. She watches him, searching his eyes. "I never fell in love with anyone until you." George says.
"What?" She asks.
"I'm in love with you Julianna." He says. Her mouth is hanging open as she stares into his eyes.
"You..your in love with me?" She asks.
"Ever since I first laid eyes on you. I knew it when I met you and I tried my best to get you back onto the show. Why else do you think I fought so hard for you?" He asks. She shrugs.
"I...I dunno what to say." She says. He smiles.
"You don't have to say anything, but I'm not going to let this baby get raised alone, even if it's not mine." George says, leaning his forehead against hers. She feels a tiny glimmer of hope rising within her.
"Oh." She says, her eyes filling with happy tears. He chuckles.
"Even if it's Ron's baby, it's still part of you...the person I love. I'll help you." He says. She wraps her arms around his neck and squeezes him.
"Oh God. Oh George." She says, crying. He chuckles, wrapping his arms around her waist. Just then he feels a movement against his stomach and she pulls away from him and he chuckles.
"That..." He says, getting her attention, "Is my baby." He says. She smiles. He gets down on his knees and looks at her tummy. "Hey Baby." He says, holding onto her waist. "You excited in there, aren't you? Kicking your mommy around." He says, chuckling. "Okay..now listen hard." He says, turning serious. "If your my baby..if I'm your Daddy..give Mommy a real hard kick." George says, placing his hand over her stomach. They wait just a few seconds and just before they both start to lose hope, the baby kicks right into the palm of George's hand. Julianna gasps and her eyes fill with more happy tears. George laughs loudly, kissing her stomach, then standing and enveloping her into his arms. He kisses her forehead. "I told you so." He says. He holds her in his arms and rocks her, comforting her.
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George called Julianna the next morning.
"Hello?" She asks.
"Hey Beautiful." He murmurs into the phone. Julianna smiles.
"George." She says.
"How are you?" He asks.
"We're fine." She says. He smiles.
"I was thinking. There's a couple of things I wanted to talk about." George says. She nods slowly.
"Okay." She says, inviting him to talk to her.
"I already told you that I'm in love with you but I want...I need to know what you feel for me." He says quietly. She pauses, thinking carefully over her words, not wanting to hurt him.
"I know that I love you as my best friend...as a friend I could always count on to be there for me when I need you. And I know that I want to be more than friends but...I can't say that I'm in love with you...if I don't even know if I am." She says. He sighs very softly.
"You'd know. Believe me, you'd know." He murmurs. Then louder. "Tomorrow I start filming my new movie, and it's in a studio here in L.A. So I will be able to stay at home, instead of going to hotels. And I wanted to know if I can see you." He says. She smiles.
"Of course. But...you'd have to come over here because I am not going anywhere, once it becomes obvious, unless I have to because I don't need everyone to find out about this. George..they'll have a field day." She says and starts to cry.
"Aw Jules, you can't think about that. Come on..settle down. It'll be okay. I promise you." He says. She bites her finger to keep from sobbing. He waits until she composes herself. "Why don't you let me come over and I'll fix you some lunch and we can talk."
"Okay." She says shakily.
"I'll be over there within 10 minutes." He says and clicks off the phone.
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10 minutes later he pulls up to the gate at her house. She uses the keypad inside to close the gate behind him and opens the garage for him. He pulls into Ron's old place and steps out, going into the house. She is standing, waiting for him.
"Hey." He says, taking his hat and sunglasses off and placing them onto a table. She smiles weakly at him. He hugs her quickly and kisses her cheek. "How are you feeling?" He asks, rubbing his hands over her upper arms.
"I'm exhausted." She says.
"Well why don't you go to bed?" He asks. She shakes her head. "No? Okay." He says.
"What am I going to do?" She wails and he pulls her closer, cupping the back of her head with his hand as she sobs into his neck. He holds her in his arm and walks to her couch, sitting down with her in his lap, just holding her.
"You're going to have this baby and love it no matter who the father is. You're going to love it and raise it. The little baby will love you and you'll love it more then you could imagine." He says.
"But you act like you want this baby...and that's what I need to know..is it acting? Or do you really want it?" She says. He smiles and takes her face into his hands.
"I really want it." He says. She can see the truth in his eyes and she nods.
"And so what if it's not yours?" She asks.
"Then you'll still love and raise it and it will still love you. Nothing will change..because as long as you let me..I'll be here for you and the baby even if it isn't mine." He says.
"You better live up to that because I would be broken hearted if you're lying." She says.
"I'm not." He says seriously, trying desperately to make her believe him. She stares into his eyes and she can't resist anymore. She presses her lips to his in a warm kiss. He cradles her face in his hands sweetly. He pulls away before things can get carried away. "Come on. Let's get some lunch." He says. She nods reluctantly and stands, holding her hand out to help him up.
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George is sitting on the couch after lunch. Julianna comes out of the bathroom. She sits beside him.
"Hey Jules..I was thinking..have you thought about getting an amino?" He asks. She sighs.
"I don't know if I will or not. First of all..I don't want to because there is a chance that the baby could be hurt but I do want to find out of there's something wrong with it, and if it's a boy or girl. And I don't know if I want to know who the father is yet because if I find out now and it's Rons..then will you really stay? And Ron has a right to know that he might be a father..so if I wait then I have to face him. And if I don't know who the baby's father is, the press will go CRAZY. And if it IS yours they would make up some big thing about me and you having an affair and I don't know if I could handle all of it. Either way, I lose." She says, her face extremely troubled. He sighs, rubbing his hand across his eyes with his back bent and his head down, his elbows on his knees. She leaned back onto the couch, closing her eyes tightly while she rubbed her stomach. They are silent for a few minutes before he turns to her. He takes her hand into his and she opens her eyes, looking at him.
"Jules..I think you should do what you think is best. It's a really tough decision to make..." He pauses, choosing his next words carefully. "IF..I was you..I wouldn't get it. I would want what is best for the baby, fuck the press..fuck the world. They will move onto something else soon enough. I would wait until the baby was born and then get a DNA test. As for Ron..he should know that you're pregnant..whether the baby IS his or not. I would just tell him and get it over with." George says. He places his hand on her stomach and smiles.
"I'm not leaving regardless." George says. He feels a strong kick on his hand. He smiles delightedly. "See..she approves." George says.
"She?" She asks, slightly amused. He nods.
"I can always hope, can't I?" He asks. Julianna pulls him towards her, wrapping her arms around him.
"What do you hope for?" She asks, trying to get cozy with him. He snuggles into her.
"Well..." He starts. "I hope that it's my baby. I hope that it's a girl." He brings his hand up to her face and trails his index finger down her cheek. "I wish you would believe me when I say I'm not leaving." She smiles, tears forming in the corner's of her eyes. "I wish I could take all your pain away and make the world right for you. I wish I could always protect your baby." He says, smiling warmly at her. Tears are running through the curves of her face. He leans foreward and kisses them away. His lips slowly find her lips and she kisses him back fiercely. He smiles against her lips and deepens the kiss slightly. She moans softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing him back on the couch. She climbs on top of him and he manages to talk in between kiss.
"Jules...are..you sure?" He asks. She nods.
"Yes. Please." She says. He nods, wanting this just as bad. He struggles to sit up.
"Come on..let's go upstairs." He says, picking her up. She giggles gleefully as he runs up the stairs, laughing with her.
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