I didn't call Julia when I got home, even though I was dying to. Andrew would be home tomorrow afternoon, so I thought I'd wait to tell him what I had discovered before I took that step. I was not prepared to tell him I had gone near Liam's house, let alone snuck in, though; he was going to be furious with me for putting myself in danger.

Changing into my silk nightgown, I cleaned up the condo and was getting ready for bed when my phone rang with a FaceTime call from Andrew. I hoped he wouldn't ask me what I did today because I don't think I could look him in the face and lie. I slid to answer and lay on my stomach on the bed.

"Hey babe!" I said brightly when his face popped up on the screen.

"Hey Char!" he exclaimed, smiling widely. "I like that nightgown," he said, winking. I looked down and realized my cleavage was just out there.

"I wore this for you, Mr.," I flirted, realizing how much I missed him.

"I appreciate that—can't wait to get back into town so I can rip it off of you."

"Me either babe," I said, turning over onto my back and holding the phone over my face.

"So, what did you do today?" he asked, fooling with something on the hotel nightstand.

Damnit. "Nothing, really. Went to one of my schools, met a new kid, went to Chick-fil-A, came home and cleaned the condo," I said quickly. "Nothing special!" I shifted my eyes away from him, knowing I was being too overzealous.

He narrowed his eyes. "What did you do today?" he repeated. He was on to me.

I sighed. "Ugh...okay. I did all of that, but something happened at Chick-fil-A," I admitted. He waited, raising his eyebrows. I told him what happened with the text messages and how I flipped my shit in the middle of the restaurant.

"Jesus, Charlotte. I'm sorry that happened...you didn't recognize the number?"

I shook my head.

"What happened after that? I know there's something else, Char. I can see right through you."

"Yeah, yeah...I was going to tell you when you got home. I started to go to Julia's, but I ended up in Belle Meade."

I watched as his face went from perplexed to angry. "Charlotte Rae Jameson, you went to Liam Covington's house, didn't you?" he demanded.

"I know, I know. I was just so angry. I don't know what I thought I was going to do, and he wasn't home anyway. But just listen. When I got there, Julia pulled up."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I slipped in the door after her and followed her. She was getting all of her stuff, and before she left, she wrote him a letter."

"A letter? What did it say?"

I pulled up the picture and read him the letter, my voice cracking when she mentioned my miscarriage.

"Jesus," he breathed. "And you're sure she didn't know you were there?" he asked.

"Completely. Drew, she really is sorry for what she did, and we know she was off her meds for so much of what she pulled. What do I do?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "That's up to you, babe. Even if she is sorry, even if she is mentally ill, could you trust her again?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "But I promise I won't do anything until you get home."

"Okay." He yawned. "Listen, I've got another day of conferences tomorrow. I'm going to go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow night, okay Char?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Drew," I said, blowing him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said, pursing his lips into a kiss. He smiled and disconnected the call.

I put my phone on the nightstand and rolled over to grab the remote. It was time for The Golden Girls.

The next morning, I rolled out of bed and immediately felt sick to my stomach. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I vomited.

As I rinsed my mouth, I looked into the mirror, and a thought occurred to me. The last time I woke up and puked, I was pregnant. Could it be?

After I threw on some clothes, I ran to the Walgreens down the street and bought a pregnancy test. I couldn't wait; I went to the bathroom in the back of the store. I jiggled my leg as I waited, my knee bouncing up and down. I glanced at my watch and sighed deeply.

When I looked at the test, the lump in my throat exploded. My face was wet with tears within two seconds, and I put my free hand over my mouth and sobbed.

It was positive.

Andrew was due to be home any second, and I had thought all day about how I would tell him I was pregnant again. I hardly got anything done at work because it was all I could think about.

The perfect idea came to me at about 5:00, thirty minutes before his plane landed. I stripped my work clothes off, put them in the hamper, and slipped into a black and red sleeveless dress, one of Andrew's favorites. 

Just as I was taming my hair, my phone chirped. It was a text from Andrew, telling me he was in an Uber and he was only a block away from the condo. My heart quickened as I tapped out a reply. I took one more look in the mirror and was standing at the counter when the door opened. I tried to play it cool, but when he saw me, his face lit up. He dropped his bags and came right to me, not even bothering to close the door.

"Charlotte!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around my waist and swinging me around, his lips meeting mine. I smiled against his mouth and kissed him back.

"Drew—God, I'm glad you're back," I whispered. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He separated himself from me but held both of my upper arms in his hands. "You okay?" he asked, noticing the tears that had sprung to my eyes.

"Yes. I'm fine—I'm more than fine, now that you're here. Listen, can we take a walk?" I asked, running my hand through his hair.

"Sure," he said, holding out his hand for me to take. "I love that dress, by the way. You look beautiful." He lifted our hands to his lips and kissed the back of my hand.

"Thank you," I answered as we got on the elevator. When we got to the sidewalk, he looked around.

"Do you have a destination in mind?" he asked.

I certainly did.

When we reached 5th Avenue, most of the shops were closing up and there were only a few people around.

He looked around and smiled. "What are we doing here?"

"This is where you proposed, which was one of the best nights of my entire life. And I wanted to come here tonight, since tonight is going to rival Christmas Eve," I said, casting a sidelong glance in his direction.

"Oh, is it?"

"Yeah, it is," I whispered, turning toward him and taking his hands in mine. We stood facing each other, and I took a deep breath. I had thought all day about how to tell him, but in the end, I just said it, no fanfare or frills. "Andrew, I'm pregnant," I whispered, a tear spilling over onto my cheek.

Andrew's eyes widened and his grin split across his face. "Oh my God, Charlotte, really?!" he exclaimed, tears filling his eyes.

I nodded, and he scooped me up into his arms, twirling me around.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it. This is amazing," he murmured into my ear.

"I know. We have another chance," I whispered, my voice cracking.

He shook his head in wonder. "We're going to be parents," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Yeah, we are, and I think we'll be damn good ones," I said, rising up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

"The best," he agreed, leaning against the brick wall behind us and pulling me into his chest. We looked at each other for a long time, just not wanting the moment to end.

It got dark, and as we headed toward home, I felt at peace—even with everything else that's happened. I looked up at Andrew and leaned my head on his shoulder as we walked. The world just felt right.

But I had to admit in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about Julia. I wanted to tell her I was pregnant, but would she care? And could I trust her with the information? I didn't know, and for this moment, I only wanted to share this with Andrew.

The next afternoon, I intended to go to Old Navy, but on the way, I head to pass by  Julia's neighborhood. I don't know what I was thinking, but at the last second, I turned on her street. When I pulled up, her car was in the driveway. 

I stopped in front of her mailbox, parked my car, and got out. I took a deep breath before I could make my feet move, but before long I found myself at her front door. I started to knock, but suddenly the idea of talking to her had paralyzed me with fear. I was turning away when the door clicked open.

"Charlotte?"

I gulped and slowly turned back to face her. "Hi, Julia."