Rosie's Apartment.

[Rosie Elliot]

[Rosie Elliot]

Rosie sat on the floor of her living room, crossed legged in front of a doll house. On the floor with her, happily playing with two small doll-house chairs was her daughter Olivia. The three year old babbled away making the chairs have a polite conversation with each other. Rosie smiled to herself, but there was still a slightly nervous expression on her face. Anxiously she chewed on her thumb nail, every couple of seconds her blue eye glanced over at the door.

It seemed like forever since she'd last spoken to Drake. In reality it had only been three days, over the phone. Inviting him over to her place. It had seemed like a bad idea to mention anything about Olivia during a phone-call. Rosie was regretting that now. What if this all went terribly wrong?

Sighing she ran a hand through her sleek black hair. It had taken her a good hour to straighten, luckily Olivia had slept late, so she'd had enough time. Trying to keep it all very casual Rosie was wearing a plain white tank top and some light blue skinny jeans, her feet were bare. Olivia was still dressed in her blue footsie pajamas, it hadn't even crossed Rosie's mind to change her out of them.

[Drake Wade Adams]

Drake hadn't known what Rosie wanted when she invited him over, but he didn't care. He missed seeing Rosie. It felt as though there was something wrong when she wasn't around, like he wasn't exactly complete without the girl he had first loved. Did he love her now? he wasn't sure, but he knew he cared for her deeply. When they were on the phone she sounded a little tense, as well. It felt like something big was going down today.

He knocked on the door to her apartment, then put his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. He was always a fan of leather jackets, and the style hadn't changed much over the years. This was his red and black riding jacket, to be specific, which he was wearing because he had driven over on his motorcycle (which wasn't the smartest idea, considering the rode conditions). His black jeans were thick and warm though and his boots kept his feet toasty. His hair, though it had been in a helmet, was still perfectly gelled and at least good looking.

[Rosie Elliot]

When there was a knock at the door Rosie leaped up and practically ran over. Olivia looked up momentarily then went back to playing. Whoever was at the door was of no interest to her. When Rosie opened the door she felt relieved and absolutely terrified at the same time.

'Drake', she smiled, keeping the door open just a little bit, so the full room wasn't in view. For a moment she just stood there, with a smile on her lips, but fear in her eyes.
'I'm glad you've come...', she started meaning to go on but she faltered and took a step back, 'Really', she finished.

What was that?! You have a child sat over there, Drake's child! TELL HIM!, her mind screamed at her.

[Drake Wade Adams]

Drake smiled when she opened the door, but the fact that she didn't open it the whole way made him feel uncomfortable. "Rosie, I'm glad to see you!" he greeted. He had planned to go for a hug but the door was still only open half way and he couldn't quite fit. When she stepped back, opening the door wider, he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How are --" he began, then stopped. She had a baby sitting there, playing with a dollhouse behind her.

His face crumpled, his emotions scattered about. A baby meant... a baby meant a boyfriend or fiance or someone important. A baby meant he was too late to be anything more than a friend to her. She looked to be two or three years old... had she been seeing someone for so long? Was it her baby or was it someone else's? "Who...?" was all he could manage to say.

[Rosie Elliot]

'Oh!', Rosie spun around, in the momentary door opening kiss on the cheek thing that had been going on, she had almost forgotten about Olivia still happily playing in the background. Rosie closed the door behind Drake and walked over to Olivia, scooping her up and balancing her on her hip. All this time she kept her back to Drake, wondering what she'd say next.

With a deep breath, keeping a smile on her face for Olivia's sake, she turned around and walked back to Drake.
'This is Olivia', Rosie introduced her, Olivia beamed at Drake, 'Am Olivia an' I am free', Olivia burbled, holding up the correct amount of fingers to illustrate her point.
'Yeah you are', Rosie smiled, giving her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek. The smile faded as she looked back at Drake, still unsure of what to say. Did he realise this was his daughter, from the simple fact she was three, and they were seeing each other three years ago? Well, it'd be lucky if he did.

[Drake Wade Adams]

Drake smiled at little Olivia. She was quite the cutie, and her eyes were such a wonderful color. They weren't exactly like Rosie's gray blue... Actually, they were very different. She had blonde hair and brown eyes, the picture perfect German child. Drake's brow furrowed - who's kid was this, exactly? He knew Rosie dyed her hair a lot, and maybe her original color was blonde (he couldn't remember). But the eyes were so different... so familiar.

They were exactly like Carver's.

Drake let that sink in for a moment. He ran through the possibilities in his mind - Rosie could have been with someone else, the eyes could have been a coincidence... But three. Olivia had said she was three. Three years ago... Rosie had been with him.

[Rosie Elliot]

Rosie watched as a look of realization emerged on Drake's face. It was probably time to confirm what he was thinking. Hesitantly Rosie put Olivia back on the floor to continue playing. When she stood back up she looked down at her daughter. Why couldn't everything be as simple as a three year olds world was?

'Olivia's your daughter Drake, well, our daughter', Rosie said, quietly, even though Olivia probably wouldn't understand if she heard anyway.

[Drake Wade Adams]

Drake couldn't help but stare at Olivia. There were so many things about her that made her similar to his children with Serena. And yet there were the pieces of Rosie that made her different. She had eyes like Carver's and hair like Sarah and Evangeline's (they barely had hair, but it was quite obviously the same shade as Olivia's). The face shape wasn't the same, however, and she wasn't built thin and wispy like Carver. At first, Drake took a step forward, and when Olivia looked at him with such big eyes, he stepped back.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked quietly, thinking of all the times he had hung out with her in the past weeks. Sure, they weren't dating and she didn't have to tell him that she had a child. But she should have told him that she had his child. He couldn't believe this. His emotions were entirely mixed - he didn't want a baby with any other woman but Serena. He loved Serena greatly, and she was always the mother of his children. Now Rosie has a baby that's his? It felt weird. Not terribly weird - she was lovable and he thought she was cute, but she was already three and Carver was five. When would Carver find out? When would Serena find out?

[Rosie Elliot]

Rosie sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch, her arms folded across her chest. It was a fair question. Over the past couple of weeks they'd spent a lot of time together. There was a bunch of time's she could have told him, but it had never felt like the right time. Then again, when was the right time to tell someone you had their three year old daughter ... Probably never.

'It just never felt like the right time', Rosie replied, she looked up at Drake hoping that he'd understand that.

'I didn't even know I was pregnant until seven months in, and by then we'd not spoken for five months or something. When I moved away, I never thought I'd see you again! I guess I was stupid not to tell you, but I've told you now ... so', Rosie looked down at her folded arms and scowled. It felt like there was so much more to explain. How she'd moved to the city with the main aim of telling Drake. How she'd lived here for a good year before even seeing him again.

The fact that at some point Serena would have to know absolutely terrified her. It also made her realise how her and Drake would never truly be a family for their little girl. Every time she thought about it, it made her equal parts upset and angry. Upset for her daughter, who would probably never have her real fathers full attention. Mad at the fact that even after all these years Serena still had the only man she'd ever truly loved.

As she thought about these things Rosie remained silent, still staring down at her folded arms. Right on cue Olivia padded over and sat down at her feet, tugging on the bottom of her jeans.

'Mommy? I can have some juice, please?', she asked, innocently. It snapped Rosie out of her thoughts and she forced a smile at her daughter and stood up, heading over to the refrigerator.