I know that I'm done and it's only begun

Finally, reaching home again. She hadn't spoken much on the way other than asking if it was okay that they drove to her place. Madison met them half way, sweet human girl really, never asked questions - just did her job. Julianne hadn't been gone for long, Annika was still sleeping which was a relief. Madison said her goodbyes and let Julianne and the handsome stranger come inside. "This is me," she sighed a bit running a hand through her hair. At least she had house keeper to clean up, otherwise it would perhaps have looked much like the mess inside her head. "What a fucking mess today was," she sighed and shook her head a little feeling her fists grab her hair for a second. "Oh yeah, I have two year old sleeping upstairs," she sighed a bit messaging her forehead. Right now she knew just why she had been needed to leave back then, because it was too dangerous and she had to know she made scars that couldn't be fixed. Letting go of her hair she took a sharper breath in, just really feeling like punching something, making a new hole in the wall perhaps? "You don't have to stay if you don't want to, I get it you have somewhere better to be," she gave him a soft smile. By now she was also quite used to it, so more or less Julianne already expected him to be out the door.

Theobald hadn’t said much on the trip towards Jules’ place. Mostly because he had a hard time shutting down his real feelings about seeing Danica again. He had been awful towards her, he knew that. He had sobbed like a child when his father had told him that their daughter had died before even being born. How he had yelled and screamed, begged even. To be let go so he could go to her. He had loved her, he truly had. But it had been wrong, and he knew better now. Which annoyed him more than anything, just how his heart ached from seeing her betrayed face as she had looked him in his eye. And all he had been able to give her was a smirk and a noncaring attitude.

He stepped inside looking around, nodding when she breathed that it had been a mess today. “Well, to be fair, it could have been a lot worse” he reminded her, werewolves weren’t to be trifled with. Especially when it came to their anger, they usually had problems with controlling. A soft smile formed on Theobald’s lips. “Boy or girl?” he asked a little curious and then shook his head as she told him that he didn’t need to stay. “Are you kidding me?” he laughed and looked at her, the grin disappeared “Seriously, if I wasn’t going to stay, I would have let you drive home alone” he assured her taking off his shoes and jacket. “Do you have a cup of coffee you can offer me or something like that?” he asked with a soft expression on his face.

"Girl," she replied with a lighter chuckle. Jules almost felt a need to go up and wake her just to just hold her child close, knowing she had just abandoned her oldest boy. Julianne tilted her head a little pulling a wider smile as he did make a good point that he would have let her drive home alone if he wasn't going to stay. She nodded a little, coffee, her eyes moved towards the coffee table, Madison had cleaned up and poured out the lonely cup of coffee. "I have a little of everything to be honest. Coffee, if you need anything stronger, wine -" Julianne took off her shoes, hadn't even put on a jacket when she left earlier. Then she made her way towards the kitchen, "I would honestly prefer wine, but I don't think I have many more bad mother points to go around for the day," she snorted a little dry, and licked her lips before taking to cups, and place under her coffee machine, and turned it on letting the brew started. Extra points for fancy coffee machines. Julianne turned around placing her back against the counter and let her palms rest on the counter's edge. She tilted her head a little bit to the side, "I didn't know you were in town," she pointed out the obvious, also wondering what he was doing at the hospital - and right now she really just needed to distract herself from what had happened at that place. It didn't even surprise her no one had told her Theo was here, because people had somewhat stopped telling her anything, she was just there, almost feeling as much like a ghost as Quentin was at this point. When had everything suddenly become so fucked up, and with her looking like the villain no matter what she did and didn't do?

Theo licked his lips looking once again up the stairs. A little girl, into all of this. Sometimes he had a hard time understanding why hunters could even get themselves to get children when it came down to it. Because they knew just what kind of world, they would put them in, then there was the fathers like Jules and his, that did it to have a legacy, and someone that could follow their footsteps after they were gone. But he still, didn’t quite get it. At least not anymore. But he didn’t let his thoughts be known, as he watched how she took off her shoes and did the same. Following her giving Jules a small smile. “You know what, a glass of wine wouldn’t be all that bad” he mumbled, knowing he had to get someone pick him up anyway, so he could take a drink or two before he had to leave again. “But when does taking a single glass of wine making you a bad mother?” he asked, giving a soft smile “You do know there is actually no studies that says that drinking a glass of wine or two while pregnant has something to say? The only reason they told mothers that they couldn’t drink, was because they were sure that people wouldn’t be able to stop after their limit had been reached” he pointed out but then looked at how she started making coffee for them. He shrugged and leaned up against the doorframe. “I actually came back in September, but I’ve done some odds jobs for my father –“ he took a deep breath in “I’m sorry about your brother” he added with a slow and low voice, watching her reaction to what he had just told her.

She took out two wine glasses, it was not that one glass would do anything. But she just judged herself. Well, how could she not. She had just let her son go, without a goodbye, without anything just left. Julianne longed to reach her phone and text Diego sorry about it, on the other hand she wasn't the only one who needed to apologize in this situation. It was right in this moment she was happy with the choice she had made not to have that third child with Diego. She chuckled a little by the statement of there being no studies, "well that is true, I looked that one up when I was expecting Annika, those few small sips of wine kept me sane," she chuckled and opened the fridge to take out the bottle. "Besides, with the life we live, we've earned a glass or two," she licked her lips.

September. She took a deeper breath in. Wasn't that just like Jamie had been back around that time? Why hadn't he said anything, maybe he hadn't known. Then again Jamie had always been greater friends with Frederik and Elenora than her, well all of them had really been greater friends with Elenora - or well then there was Theo. Julianne wasn't even sure they had told him Archie was alive, because they didn't want their father to know. I’m sorry about your brother, she poured up the wine and still held her breath, exhaling slowly. "Yeah me too," she licked her lips a little bit. Her jaw tensed a little bit. "I wasn't there, Nora, Nigel and Jamie were. Then of course your father who wanted to play God for a day," Julianne wasn't blind to the fact that Quentin had lost his mind. He had gone mad, pushed Elenora to the edge, even crossed the line with Nigel - with her as well some days, yet she had always known or understood Quentin in ways that the others couldn't. And now he was gone, and it was like that night never had happened, and she felt entirely alone by the loss.

He could see the confusion in her eyes, as he mentioned that he had been there since September. He understood why because he hadn’t travel with Jamie nor his father. Coming in by himself undercover and trying to figure out what Nigel was doing. Discovering just how many former hunters had turned towards the supernatural and started defending them. Which only had made him so mad, because where had they been when he needed the help to defend his love? Only making him believe, the fact that their heads were turned around by something far eviler than they had ever encountered before.

Then she explained that of course his father had played God for the day. Now, he knew that his father had decided to kill Quentin. But even though he knew that he played the role perfectly and a pure surprise glided over his face. “What are you talking about?” he asked, tilting his head pressing his brows together. Almost as he questioned the fact that she meant that his father had killed Quentin. Now, he had already talked with his father of this. Quentin had needed to be put down, because he was going down a rode that would get everyone killed. He wasn’t as patient as they needed to be, and if they truly wanted more hunters on their side, getting people to turn on their supernatural friends, family and loves. Then they needed to be much more convincing about it. “Jules, what have they told you about his death?” he asked, taking a step towards her, pushing his brows together in a concerned look.

Why did he look like that? Like she had said something that was completely wrong. As if her statement had been incorrect, at first she thought it could just be Theo wanting to defend his father's actions. Which wouldn't be a surprise either because, hadn't they all defended their fathers for their ways before? Julianne licked her lips a little bit when he asked what they had told her, her brows pressed together as Theo stepped closer towards her. "That your father suddenly showed up, shut Quentin without thinking twice," not that Elenora had seen it as she claimed that Quentin had turned off her senses so she hadn't been in need of watching his death. It reminded her of after Frederik had knocked her out back in June, and when she had woken up her father had been dead, acceptable loss - life taken by Elenora. "Why?" Clearly something had to be wrong, she read that on his face. Julianne took a sharper breath in, it had been days before any of them had been able to look at her. Frederik had found her the day after in the middle of the day, no one had looked for her to check up on her right after. "Theo -" she paused for a second and licked her lips, almost as if he had the power to turn everything around for her - and he did, she just had no idea. "What aren't you telling me?" She dared asking knowing there wasn't any turning back now, did she want to know what had really went on that night? She had just started not to be haunted by Quentin in her dreams, just seemed to breath again, and here she was - still asking the question that would change everything.

Theo blinked a little, letting his tongue run over his lips as she told him what had gone down. Well, it was true. He had shot Quentin without second thought. Or not quite, Quentin had been spiraling since Leonardo had died. It had been very clear, that after the loss of the head of the D’Avalos family, it was like the children had no idea what they needed to do to gather as a whole. Which had been one of the reasons why his father had decided to move out to Athena, he wanted to make sure that they could keep one of the oldest and best hunter families in check. Well, or at least as old as their own. He knitted his brows together and looked down at his feet, almost as he was trying to figure out if he should tell her or not. All a perfectly show for her benefit.

“Jules” he mumbled, and looked up, clearly distraught. He opened his mouth, closed it again as she almost demanded him to tell her, without using the words. “My father had come to help Quentin, to make sure that he could handle the fact that you had lost your father. He was spiraling, and he was pushing too hard to fast – but it wasn’t my father that shot Quentin” He shook his head. “Don’t’ you know about the werewolf my brother protected over Quentin?” he breathed, now, that was actually the truth, the last part at least.

She had heard those words before, her uncle Damon had tried to say the same: we were trying to help him. Julianne knew Quentin was spiraling, she had seen it first hand, dealt with it the most. But then he said; – but it wasn’t my father that shot Quentin, Julianne pressed her brows further together and held her breath for the moment as her mind picked up the pieces he left her, the pieces that started to connect in her mind. Now, Julianne had always been a quick but quiet study, she didn't have to brag about her wins in order to know she had done things right, perhaps why Frederik and Elenora had been the golden children. "I know Selene was there that night," she looked to the side and shook her head a little bit. Now, Selene and her didn't and hadn't seen eye to eye since she had left Derek. It had pretty much been the same look as Danica, and a part of her wished they would have understood that her father would just have come to hunt all of them down. They had been so lucky that she had put them all on the list as already dead so no one would come looking for them, just as Frederik had done for Irina back when he had met her. Well, sometimes people truly didn't understand what others did for them in the dark.

"Who shot my brother?" She then asked after having cleared her throat, lifting her chin a little bit more. Clearly more angry than sad right now, because if they had lied to her, why would they lie if not to cover their own asses. What had really went on that night? Why was both Selene, Nigel, Elenora and Jamie even out there - how had they known about Quentin's mission - well of course Elenora would like anyone else in the family be able to see what he was up to, which gave her a hint to what had been going on. The last thing she knew Elenora had said to Quentin as well had been, she no longer saw him as a brother, that he wasn't her family anymore.

He could see how her expression changed in front of him, and it took everything he had not to let a slight smile of victory glide over his lips. Now, it wasn’t much of a lie, he just twisted the truth just enough to make it seem like they had lied. Which in his eyes they had, they probably hadn’t told the whole truth? He was sure of it, otherwise she wouldn’t be so suspicious now, would she? Selene yes. “Selene was about to kill Quentin, did you know that?” she had hesitated, his father had seen it and didn’t want to take the chance that she did it or not, but it had been her intend. “My father intended to kill her, not Quentin” he informed “My brothers and your sister, didn’t do anything to save him, and in the end even though it was my father that pulled the trigger, he isn’t the one to blame for his death or that he got shot, do you understand?” he narrowed his eyes and took a step towards her, and let a hand reach out and if she would let him placed it softly against her shoulder. He was actually impressed that he could spin the story in such a truthful manner. That it would even be hard for her family and his brothers to talk their way out of it. “I’m sorry Jules” he whispered, leaning a little down so he could look her directly into her eyes.

She hadn't known Selene was out to kill Quentin, to be fair she had lost track on Quentin's enemies over the time month he had been in town. Some might have thought Quentin ruthless and a bit over the top - but he had also done things and gotten ideas that had on another pace perhaps been great. Julianne understood the concept of it not always being the shooter who was at fault for the casualty. How many times had supernatural creatures not been at fault for their own death. But why had they let Selene go for Quentin, why hadn't they tried to stop her? Why hadn't they tried to save Quentin? Of course perhaps it came down to the company they kept. Lots of things had changed over the past year, she had seen her sister in so many different moods and turns over the past years. Nigel and Jamie had changed as well, found some sort of peace, but if peace meant to suddenly stop helping the people you knew? Then what was it even? The hand on her shoulder made her blink for a second as she was brought out of her thoughts and back to reality. She looked up into Theo's eyes.  The weird nauseous sensation of how everything turned inside her, well she had felt for a long time like she was just dropped off in the middle of nowhere and had to find her way back herself. But she had never thought that they would chose Selene over Quentin, and just let her run wild to kill him. Quentin was dead because of them.

I’m sorry Jules, she shook her head a little bit, not because she was in denial of what he was saying nor that he didn't spoke the truth, but mostly because everything just became a bigger mess within the second. And she was already so tired. How could everything have fallen so far? Her sister had betrayed her and by those means she knew Frederik was in on it as well. Nigel and Jamie had betrayed her, lied. Julianne removed her eyes from Theo's. It was hard to breath. She had lost her son, knowing there was no way Diego would let her see him now. The weight of everything just pulling her down by the second. The last thing she wanted was to come off as was weak, but her legs felt so weak threatening to give up on her at any second. Everything, everything was just spinning out of control.

”Hey, it’s okay, I’m here, you have me, always, okay?” he whispered, letting his hands find her cheeks and turning her head so she looked into his eyes. His thumps glided over her soft cheekbones. It made it easier that he had always liked her, but the future had never been them together. So, he had let it go. Knowing that he was going to be used for other things. Sadly, his father had hoped for children and marriage from the wrong sons. Or sister for that matter, Mariella that had escaped before the marriage that would have made their hunter linage stronger. Nothing had really gone after the good old Mr. Blanchard. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss against her forehead. “I know you’re strong, you don’t have to put up a brave face, just because you are afraid what I will say if you crumble for a minute or two” he reassured her, before putting both his arms around her body and pulled her into a hug. Giving her the time, she needed. Amazingly enough, he could still care. To some extend at least.

She gave him a little nod as he placed his hand on her cheeks and turned her head towards him. His words echoing in her head, that she had him. Julianne took a deeper breath in, just looking into his eyes as his thumbs traced over her skin. Julianne held her breath for the moment and closed her tear-filled eyes as she felt his lips against her forehead. She chuckled a little which mostly just turned into a little sob as he then embraced her. Julianne was used to putting up a front, it was how she survived this long, how she stayed strong for her daughter's sake. But it was in the embrace as she closed her arms around Theo that she realized it was months since she had gotten a proper hug, not just from her children even though it was good hugs. But she was completely starving from lack of touch, so she didn't let go, she just stood there and let her tears fall down as the side of her head rested against his chest. Closing his eyes for a moment and just shut the world out for a moment. Julianne was allowed one moment to just let everything hit her wave by wave, till she realized just how everything looked. How she had been betrayed. "I just feel so stupid," she mumbled a little bit, she should have seen it coming. Quentin had warned her, hadn't he? When he had said they wouldn't care about anyone other than themselves when it came down to it, that they had picked a side and she should be careful where she placed herself. "He tried to warn me - Quentin, I didn't listen," she breathed slowly out.

Well for one thing, he didn’t want her to blame herself. He himself had been blinded by Danica, a hybrid. One of the things that he hunted and wanted to make sure didn’t hurt any humans. But she had been able to turn his hatred into love, and he still wasn’t sure how she had done it. Knowing now, that it had been wrong, and his father had been right about one thing, something was happening around here. The magical energies that were pooling around the area of Moonlight falls, drawing more and more creatures to Athena region. It was just a matter of time before, yet another catastrophe would happen.  

He hushed her, as she told him that she felt stupid. Proceeding to explain that Quentin had warned her. That she hadn’t listened. “Nothing will come out of blaming yourself now, now you just need to figure out what you need and what you are going to do” he was close to tell her, that she needed to figure out what side she was on. But it didn’t feel like the right moment, not yet anyway. He pulled her a little closer, pressing his cheek against the side of her head. Feeling her soft blond hair press against his skin. And for a moment, he let himself indulge in having someone close. Just like her, it had been a very long time since someone had hugged him or giving him any form of human touch.

She knew what she wanted to do, did she like it? Not very much. But she knew she had to put her foot down. Julianne needed to stop letting people walk all over her, she had let them for too long. She had let it become a habit to just pull back into her shell and not fight back, to be on her own and not question the things she felt wasn't making sense. Julianne knew she had to make a stand, to show them. But right in this second, she just held Theo close - because a part of her could feel he needed the closeness just as much as she did, if not a little bit more than her. It reminded her that he didn't know his little brother was alive. He didn't know about Jack either, there were things she knew that Julianne knew they hadn't and possibly didn't even think of finding and telling Theo. To a point she understood the thing about having something and keeping it a secret for the protection of that person, she had kept Derek and Diego safe for many years. Eventually she had to let go as she could hear Annika call for her upstairs. "Mama duty calls," she chuckled a little and slowly let go of Theo, "you can stay, I'm sure she won't mind the extra company. Just another person she can show her professional puzzle making skills to," Julianne cracked a warmer smile. She reached for her glass of wine and took a larger sip before placing it back down and head upstairs to get Annika. Which didn't make more than at least eight to ten minutes, then the two year old girl was changed, got into some new clothing and was ready for the day, holding her mother's fingers with her small hand as they walked down the stairs. She picked Annika up and walked over to Theo with a smile, "this is mama's friend Theo -" she presented Annika to Theo.

Now Annika wasn't a shy child, but she always did need more than just a second to just look at people she hadn't met before. A thing or two her and Diego had disagreed a little on, since he had wondered so much if she would have been more outgoing if she had grown up with him, where Julianne multiple times had pointed out it was rather healthy that a child didn't just blindly trusted every single person they saw. Well, enough of that, she shook her head a little bit letting Annika look at Theo for a while, "you hungry?" She asked and Annika nodded, so Julianne sat her down. "Then I will get some food - you want something too? I make a killer avocado toast," she pointed out looking at Theo as she headed towards the fridge to find the stuff she needed, grabbing a sip of her brewed coffee on the way. Getting some milk so Annika could have a glass of milk. Meanwhile Annika just stood and looked at Theo for a moment, walking over to her box of toys and took out a pink bunny and grabbed it by one of the long ears and just let it drag across the floor, before she lifted it up to show it to Theo ,"Turtle," she laughed a little, Jules too because she knew it was the weirdest name for a Bunny - but hey Annika chose the name herself, she wasn't going to argue with that. "You found your favorite toy huh? Maybe you can help Theo and Turtle find a chair around the table?" She looked over at her shoulder to Annika who nodded and headed towards the dinner table, stopping for a moment to see if Theo followed her - then heading over to the table and touched one of the chairs before heading towards her own.

“Yeah, it would seem so” he chuckled letting her go, so she could go upstairs to her daughter. He nodded, letting his hands find the front pockets of his jeans. “Well, then I better stick around to see just how good she is at putting puzzles together” he gave her a small warm smile. But the second she was gone, going upstairs the smile disappeared. He picked up his phone and started texting his father that someone needed to get the hunter that he had left at the hospital. And they needed to talk about the fact that he had seen Danica, now with a beta werewolf. Which in his opinion was worse. Because it hadn’t felt like the beta was just a beta werewolf. There was something about him, almost ancient given that he should only be as old as he looked. As he heard them come back downstairs, he put the phone away, and looked towards Jules and the small girl in her arms with a bright smile on his lips. “Hello Annika” he said and waved a little, looking from her towards Julianne. Even though the daughter was dark-skinned and clearly had a lot of features from her father. There was so much of Julianne in her as well.

Theo observed the scene between mother and daughter, until Julianne directed a question towards him. “You know what, an avocado toast would be really nice” he said with a soft smile, keeping his eyes for a moment at her curves as she moved around in the kitchen. When Annika came walking towards him with the pink coloured bunny, he squatted down and looked at it. “Well would you look at that, a bunny named turtle” he laughed looking towards Julianne before looking back at the young girl that decided she would help him find a chair. “Well, thank you Annika” he said with a smile and stood up so he could follow her, before sitting down he looked at the young girl. “Want help to get up in your chair?” he asked and saw the small nod as the shy girl hugged her favourite toy close to her chest. He picked her up gently and put her down in her chair. “There you go” then he walked over to sit down in the chair that Annika had marked for him to sit in.

"You got it" she nodded when Theo said he wouldn't mind something to eat, so she started finding the stuff. If anything Annika never got tired of avocado toast, so Julianne always had avocados. And one thing she learned quickly with a toddler around was to move fast and get things done with the speed of light, one good thing was she was gifted with that benefit of being faster than the average person. It was true what was theorized that mothers got gifted a third eye in their neck after their first child, she was always rather observant on what Annika was doing, but without actually having her eye on her daughter. One thing was for sure, all the hunter training also came in handy when dealing with keeping an eye out on children who suddenly could be anywhere than where they should. However, right now she found a new comfort in hearing that Theo wasn't scared to actually take a conversation with Annika - it was always something either people didn't mind being around children or they were wrecks who didn't know what to do or how to act. So, she was just happy to see someone actually interacting with her daughter. How could that not warm her heart? "And what do we say?" Jules chuckled a little, because Annika started to giggle a little knowing very well that she needed to say thank you when helped, after all manners were an important lesson to learn early, "thank you," the girl giggled a little bit. By now, Julianne knew it was just a matter of seconds before Annika would start talking like a waterfall, well after all she had timed with from whenever she had new sitters or people over, out of curiosity - well Julianne was perhaps a little bit of a perfectionist and her analytical mind liked figuring things like that out, so naturally she couldn't help herself.

Toasting the bread she brought over Theo his coffee and placed Annika's glass of milk in front of her, before turning the corner of the kitchen isle just in the time for the bread to have toasted and she could put the mushed avocado on - now she knew Annika liked hers with some cheese in it as well, because it melted after having been heated - but it wasn't for everyone, so she just cut Annika's first, also she didn't really use spices on the ones she made for Annika. Then she placed Annika's plate in front of her, Annika with excitement pointed towards her plate while looking at Theo, then she took Turtle and dropped him under the chair, she knew that with food on the table toys went under the chair and it would wait for her there - well some days she remembered that better than others. Julianne quickly finished up two more toasts, one for Theo and one for her, and placed the plates down as well, then taking a quick swing around to grab her own coffee before sitting down. Annika already full on eating, even if Julianne knew Annika would be the last one to finish her food in the end.

Theo looked up towards Jules as she brought him his coffee “Thank you” he said with a soft smile on his lips, before he just followed along in the routine that seemed to be so worked in, that it just seemed like a well-oiled machine. He would guess that was something that happened rather quickly when you were alone in raising a kid. Something told him, that Jules hadn’t really had anyone in her life after she had left the beta that was the father to the kid as well.
He didn’t really initiate a conversation; he had never really been the person to talk all that much. Well, that wasn’t true. Given the situation he could talk an awfully lot. He just liked to observe right now, giving a small smile towards Annika as he saw how she gleefully pointed towards the avocado toast she had gotten, and thew away her toy she had found. Taking small sips of his coffee, he waited patiently for Jules to be done with the food making, to thank her again as she placed it in front of him.

She finished up the food and served it for Theo, and sat down to eat - helping Annika whenever she needed it, but she was getting pretty good at eating on her own. You could barely feel it on her that her and Theo had had this exhausting conversation about the truth minutes ago, as she was able to shut that part of herself off to focus on the task ahead of her. Luckily Annika was young, she had yet to even understand Diego could be a person who stayed, or what a father really was. Well, because she had never really had a male figure to look up to, it made the process a little easier - or at least she fooled herself into believing that was the case.
After having finished the food, Annika had completely warmed up to Theo, which was perhaps the magic of sitting there just having minor conversations and having an adult in the room. Annika was used to the staff and seeing new people in the house, and perhaps the whole fact that Julianne was so comfortable Theo also made the entire difference. She had shown puzzles, books - the entire toy box and been eager to drag him around all afternoon. Julianne was surprised he actually stayed this long, it was the longest she had any visitor for a while. It was nice. As the time arrived for Annika's dinner she made something quite easy, since she ate quite early - the adult could eat later. "Say goodnight," she chuckled a little as Annika waved goodnight, even blew a kiss towards Theo before Julianne headed upstairs to get her ready and put her down. Had asked Theo if he wanted to perhaps order them some food - depending on if he wanted to stay a little longer - there was still a glass of wine or two that needed to be drinken. There was only a small fuss getting Annika ready and get her put down for her sleep. Then she returned downstairs.

"This was far from how you pictured your day to go I reckon," she got back down stairs, having put her hair up into a messy mum bun earlier when they were playing, she could finally let her hair down again. And walked over to just let herself fall down to the couch with a small chuckle. It was weird having someone over by this hour, normally she was just her, it wasn't even that late.

It had been quite the afternoon. Being dragged around by a bossy toddler. Now, it would be a cold day in hell before he would admit that he was warming up to a child. Mostly because his father had other plans for him, than to run around being a father figure to a young kid. But it was hard not to fall a little in love with how sweet Annika was behaving. Her energy about wanting to show him everything. It had also been very easy for him to talk with him, which was the weirdest part of all. He had never really been the one that had played with the other kids when he had been younger. Of course, there had been a time where he had dreamt about having his own kids. Just not, right now. He waved back to Annika, and let out a laugh when she blew him a kiss.

Walking a little around in the living room, he looked at the couple of things that explained who Jules were now, but he was pulled away when she came back downstairs and placed herself in the couch. He let out a soft laugh. “That would be sorry to say” he nodded letting out a soft breath before he walked towards her and sat down beside her. “So, ordering food?” he asked, giving a soft smile in her direction.

She knew it wasn't what he had signed up for, and yet, he could at anytime had said: I have to go. Made some excuse to leave, but he hadn't. Which was perhaps what surprised her the most, then again their former conversation had been cut short after Annika woke up and it wasn't really something she had fished to talk about in front of her - even if she didn't understand that much of it. Her head turned to Theo as he then asked about ordering food. "Yes, there is no way I'm cooking any more today," she laughed a little closing her eyes and leaned her head back towards the couch for a moment. Then cracking a little bit smile, she had no idea how much she had just missed company that didn't feel forced to her. Julianne after a few seconds lifted her head and sat up a bit more straight before looking at Theo again. "So, what are you in the mood for, thai, pizza - I mean, I'm not picky," she chuckled a little bit. She picked up her phone from the coffee table, not a single text in coming about today, well she had at least hoped that perhaps Diego had texted her maybe an apology of some sort - or maybe it was just another round of Julianne's own fault. A small sigh left her as she licked her lips, before she found the app to check out what restaurants that were in the area. She was slowly letting go of what she had repressed this evening again, which just made her annoyed and still angry at Nigel, Elenora and Jamie, she was even angry at Mariella - but once you needed someone to blame why not take everyone in who had a finger in play. Herself included.

He couldn’t help but laugh when he told him, that she wasn’t cooking anymore today. To be fair, he found it quite incredible how much she was doing on her own. Having a kid was really no joke. And if he was already this tired, he had no idea how tired Julianne had to be. Running around, trying to keep up with everything that had happen. Not really getting the time she needed to grieve. There were a lot of things that made it amazing she was still holding on as well as she were. Then again, any woman would probably tell him that it wasn’t about them. When they got a child, it would be all about them. Protecting them and making sure that they were alright.
“I never say no to Thai or Chinese” he said with a smile “Even though when you come from Nepal and have been to the places and gotten the real food it never really holds up with what you get when ordering takeout” he mused but didn’t really care. Food was food, and he wasn’t picky either.

She chuckled a little bit, "true that," she pointed out to the fact that he was from Nepal, but never judged a good take out. Well, Julianne was from New York, take was basically all they did there, fast food, healthy food everything really. Even desert you could order that with über eats. So, for her to order food out to make it easier on herself, it wasn't a new thing and honestly she allowed herself to make some things a bit easier. "Thai it is then," she pointed out finding the best of the places she knew, because again, she knew the best places around town. She opened the place on her phone and handed it to him to he could select the things he wanted, and thereafter doing the same herself, and then it was just paying and waiting. She then placed the phone down again and ran her hand over her hair. "You look like someone who just experienced the first day of toddler madness," she chuckled before getting up from her otherwise comfortable seating to get two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. One way to survive hell was wine, made things at least a little bit easier when everything was so stressful. "Secret tip of the day," she chuckled a little to herself as she once again sat down and placed everything on the table. "Always have wine in your home." Well with everything going on, and what had happened just last year with the witch almost killing her by burning her and such - luckily magic was a thing in this world so it couldn't be seen - well,  just overall she was barely holding on yet still managing to keep her head above water.

He nodded, giving her a half smile. Letting her order what she thought was best, not really being picky of sorts. If there was just something to eat, he would be happy. Because to be honest, that toast with avocadoes had been the only thing he had eaten since breakfast, and that almost felt like days since he had done that. He turned his head towards her again, when it seemed like she was done with ordering something to eat. He let out a soft chuckle. “Do I really look that bad?” he asked, when she pointed out that he looked like it was his first time. Well, it was, so he couldn’t even deny it.
“Yeah?” he hummed, when she told him that there was a secret to all of it. Now, what she told made a rare but genuine laugh leave him, when she added that you always needed to have wine in your home. Now, that sounded like a rule he could live by. Even though he would rather have a cold beer, or a whiskey. But wine he could live with. “well then, if that is what helps, then please don’t let me stop you from finding that wine you talked about earlier” he said with a slight smirk on his lips.

Well perhaps it wasn't just having a kid that made a glas of wine a needing ending to her day, but it sure was on the list at times. Then everything else topping and Julianne had just gotten a habit of having a glass of wine, besides one or two glasses didn't really do any damage, right? "I got ya," Julianne pointed towards him getting up from the couch to go fetch the white wine she had in the fridge and headed back to Theo, and sat down so she could open the bottle. Then she poured wine into the glasses and placed the bottle down, so she could take both glasses and hand one of them to him. "There you go," Julianne chuckled a little bit, "just close your eyes, deep breath in and take a sip, and tell me it isn't the best thing after a day like this," she instructed before taking a sip herself, closing her eyes for a second, and exhaled a little while after. Now, it wasn't as easy to let the day go as usual, not with everything that had been going on and still was going on. A part of her hoped that even if they had argued that Diego had the heart to at least text her when Diego was home safe and okay, even if he didn't well she would find a way to figure out for herself. But sometimes it was just the small things no matter the fight that mattered the most. However, Julianne was used to just go on a flow and hope that things would take her where she needed to be by now. "Now, I'm a little curious, what were you even doing at the hospital in the first place?" Julianne wondered, but it wasn't like she couldn't piece together that it was most likely hunter related.