Previously…
– The judge denied Molly and Brent’s petition for temporary custody of Gabrielle, instead ruling that she should remain with Travis and Rosie.
– Following the judge’s ruling, Brent suggested to Molly that they should remarry in order to present the most united front in the custody trial. An overwhelmed Molly declined and rushed out.
– Tim and Claire admitted that they’ve developed feelings for each other again and made love.

“…whoa.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah…”

Tim Fisher stares up at the ceiling of his ex-wife’s bedroom. Claire lies beside him, her chest heaving about as hard as Tim’s as they both catch their breath.

“Wasn’t really expecting that when I came to see you tonight,” he says.

“That was not how I thought my evening would go, either,” Claire replies. “I have a whole bunch of Grey’s Anatomy waiting on my DVR.”

He rolls his head onto its side to look at her. “You still watch that?”

“I’ve invested too much time. I’m in it until the end.”

“So you spend all day working at a hospital and then come home and watch a show about people working at a hospital.”

She laughs. “There’s a reason I have so many episodes built up on the DVR.”

Tim moves his hand to rest it on top of hers. He entwines his fingers with hers and feels her squeeze back.

“I don’t regret this at all,” he says. “I meant what I said earlier: it’s you I’ve been thinking about.”

“I meant it, too.” She exhales heavily through her nose. “So weird, isn’t it?”

“Very, very weird. But in a good way. It’s been…”

“…more years than I want to count.”

Tim lifts his head from the pillow and plants a kiss on her lips.

“Do you mind if I get some water?” he asks.

“Not at all. There are glasses you can use in the cupboard above the dishwasher.”

“Thanks. Do you want some?”

“I’m okay. But thank you.”

He slides out of the bed and finds his gray t-shirt and boxer shorts on the floor. He pulls both on, then tosses his chinos and sweater onto the bed.

“Be right back,” he says. He crosses to the bedroom door and pulls it open — but as soon as he emerges from the bedroom into the short hallway, he realizes that there is someone else in the apartment.

“Oh, hey,” Tempest Banks says from her post at the kitchen peninsula, where she is opening a bottle of water. “I didn’t know if you were–“

She turns and stops mid-statement, shocked to see Tim standing there. He freezes, too, completely unsure what to do.

—–

Molly Taylor still feels shaky as she parks her Mercedes by the curb. She turns off the engine, takes the key fob from the cup holder to her right, and places it back into her green Birkin bag, which is resting on the passenger seat. But she lingers in the driver’s seat for a long moment, staring at the street lamp in front of her as it glows against the dark night sky. She still cannot wrap her mind around the fact that Brent proposed marriage to her tonight — or that she turned him down.

That is why she has come here tonight, though. Desperate for reassurance, she pulls on the door handle and steps out of the car. As she starts to walk the short distance toward her mother’s house, however, she sees someone already ascending the front steps.

Molly hesitates and then calls out:  “Sarah. Hey.”

Sarah turns with a start and then stops on the second step from the top. Molly hurries over the sidewalk and up the stairs.

“I was coming to see Mom,” Molly explains as her flats click against the concrete steps.

“Ah.” Sarah sticks her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. “I’m sure today was tough for you, with the custody hearing… I’m sorry.”

“It was. Yeah.” Molly steps past Sarah to stand on the front porch. “And it just kept going.”

“What happened? Did the judge call you all back or something? That’s… strange.”

Molly considers her words for a moment and then says, “No. Gabrielle is with Travis and Rosie for the time being. I just…”

Sarah sighs. “I’ll probably regret asking this, but what happened?”

“It’s Brent,” Molly says.

“What? Brent wants that kid back as much as you do — I know that much, Molly.”

Molly shakes her head. “He proposed.”

“He proposed…” Sarah’s eyes go wide. “Like, marriage?”

“I shouldn’t even be telling you this…”

“Why not? Oh, because I married him first and then the two of you had an emotional affair the entire time?” Sarah folds her leather-clad arms and cocks her head.

“It was more complicated than that,” Molly says. “But yes. I have a lot of regrets about how things went back then.”

“Yeah, well, I do, too. But that’s in the past, Molly. Seriously. Matt and I are very, very happy. And if you and Brent are back together, great. I’ll come throw rice at your wedding or whatever.”

“There won’t be a wedding,” Molly tells her. “Because I said no.”

Sarah’s head juts forward. “You what?”

“I said no.”

“Okay, I know we don’t always see eye-to-eye,” Sarah says, “but why in the hell would you do that?”

—–

The air in Claire and Tempest’s apartment seems to stand still for minutes on end, as Tim processes the fact that Tempest has just caught him emerging from Claire’s bedroom. Based on Tempest’s slack-jawed expression, he can tell that she feels the exact same way.

“Uh, hi,” he says across the apartment. “I was just, uh, here to fix something.”

Tempest nods slowly. “Okay. Sure. Yeah.”

At the sound of Tempest’s voice, Claire comes rushing out of the bedroom, clutching a dark blue plush robe around herself. She stops short just behind Tim, horrified that they have been caught.

“Tim was just here, um, fixing something,” Claire says. “The sink.”

“He already said that.” Tempest blinks several times in rapid succession. “I didn’t know the sink was broken.”

“It’s broken,” Claire answers hastily.

Tempest mostly suppresses a smile. “Okay. Cool. I’m gonna go drink this bottle of water in my room.”

“That’s a good plan,” Tim says, although he immediately recoils when he hears the words that have come out of his mouth.

Tempest comes down the hallway toward them, averting her eyes, and then disappears into her bedroom. At the sound of her door closing so decisively, Tim and Claire lock eyes.

“I thought she was supposed to be out,” he says.

“She was. She was seeing a movie that’s supposed to be three hours long.”

“I guess it was terrible.” Tim lets out a huff through his nose. “I should get dressed.”

“Yeah. I… I guess you should.”

Claire presses her body awkwardly against the doorframe as Tim moves past her, scrambling for the rest of his clothing.

—–

The porch light beside Paula’s front door casts its glow over the front steps of the house, where Molly and Sarah stand somewhat awkwardly.

“Because it wasn’t a real proposal,” Molly says.

“Did he say the words, ‘Will you marry me?'” Sarah asks. “Because if he did–“

“He said we should get married. Because it would make sense where Gabrielle is concerned…” She trails off, wanting to be careful with her words. “I wouldn’t exactly call it romantic.”

“Ah.” Sarah nods her head up and down slowly. “So you want the whole roses and candlelight and blah blah blah. The production.”

“No. I don’t need any of that.”

Sarah raises an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t,” Molly insists. “But I don’t want to remarry Brent as some — some strategy move in this custody case. This isn’t a game of chess. It’s our lives.”

“I doubt Brent sees it solely as a strategy move, either.”

“That’s how he made it sound.”

“He’s a man. And he’s Brent. He takes action,” Sarah says. “He doesn’t dwell on emotions a ton.”

“But it would be nice if he had those emotions,” Molly counters.

“Do you seriously think he doesn’t?” Sarah leans back against the railing that borders the steps. “The reason there’s even a kid to have a custody battle over is because you two couldn’t keep your hands off each other.”

“That was a few years ago…”

“Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Brent wants to remarry you. You want to remarry him. But you want him to really want to remarry you… which I’m 99 percent sure he does.”

Molly shrugs one shoulder. “When you put it that way…”

“If you had told me 20-whatever years ago that I’d be standing here giving you advice on how to get back together with Brent,” Sarah says, “I would’ve… probably thrown you down these stairs.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to put this on you, Sarah–“

“It’s fine. Really. Matt and I are happier than I ever imagined I could be. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I know that you and Brent can be that happy, too. You have three kids who need you both, Molly. This thing with Gabrielle is terrible for everyone involved — but you should be supporting each other as much as you can.”

The sisters fall quiet as Molly contemplates what Sarah has just said.

“Go talk to Brent,” Sarah says. “Tell him how you feel.”

“You’re right. I need to clear this up. I’ll go see him first thing in the morning.”

“Good.” Sarah steps up onto the porch. “Now are you coming inside or not? I’m sure Mom will be thrilled that you dropped by.”

“Let’s go,” Molly says as she joins her sister on the porch and waits for Sarah to unlock the front door.

—–

“You’re sure it isn’t too late?” Tim asks.

“For you? No way,” Jason Fisher responds as he steps aside to let his older brother into the house. “Sophie‘s in her room doing a marathon of the Scream movies.”

Tim listens closely and can hear a tense musical score emanating from somewhere upstairs.

“Here, come into the kitchen,” Jason says. “Want a beer?”

“I could definitely use one.”

The men move into the open-concept kitchen, which flows directly into a dining area and the family room. Jason goes to the refrigerator and pulls out two bottles of beer.

“Is an IPA okay?” Jason asks.

“Sure. That works.” Tim watches as Jason retrieves a bottle opener and pops open the beers. “I’m sure you’ll hear about this at work anyway… but I just had a, uh, unexpected encounter.”

Jason looks his brother up and down, noting his rumpled clothes and hair. “That kind of encounter,” he surmises. “Why would I be hearing about that at work?”

“Because I have no doubt Tempest will tell you,” Tim says as Jason hands him one of the bottles.

“What does Tempest have to do with your… encounter?!” Jason asks incredulously.

“Because she got home early and saw me there.”

Jason lifts the beer to his lips but then pauses, the bottle hovering mere inches from his mouth. “You and Claire?!”

“Yeah.” Tim nods and takes a sip of his beer.

“Has this been a thing that I’ve totally missed, or what?”

“No. This was the first time — well, in a long time. We’d been getting closer for a while, and then I noticed she was acting strangely toward me, so I went to see her.”

“And you had sex.”

“Yeah. After she told me that she’d seen me kissing Sonja–“

“Okay. Weird foreplay.”

Tim chuckles. “She thought Sonja and I might be getting back together. What she didn’t know was that I’d shot Sonja down about two seconds after that — and a big part of the reason I shot her down is because of Claire.”

“So this is a thing,” Jason says.

“I hope it is,” Tim admits. “I never expected to find myself back at this place, but being with Claire again, after everything we’ve been through… it just feels right.”

—–

Alone in her bedroom again, Claire changes into a set of pajamas and runs a brush through her brown hair. She feels slightly silly doing all this just to remain at home, when she might normally stay in her robe, but she feels a sense of obligation to be more presentable right now. She gives herself one more look in the mirror that hangs above her dresser and then steps out of the room. She stations herself in front of the door to the other bedroom, takes a deep breath, and then knocks.

“Come in,” Tempest calls through the door.

Carefully Claire opens the door and inserts her head into Tempest’s room.

“I’m sorry about that,” she says. “I didn’t think you’d be home for a while longer.”

Tempest sits cross-legged on the bed, scrolling through something on her phone. “It’s all good.”

“Thanks. But I hate that you were blindsided.”

“Like I said, it’s all good.” Tempest sets her phone aside. “Are you two, like, back together?”

“No. I don’t know. That was — an isolated incident.”

“Like a booty call?”

Claire winces. “I don’t know about that. Tim came to see me, and we had some things to get off our chests.”

“Did you tell him you’ve been all into him for a while now?”

“What?” Claire asks, feeling awkward as she exaggerates her surprise.

“I’m not blind, lady,” Tempest says. “I’ve seen you two. I’m gonna guess he’s been feeling the same way, if you two were… doing all that.” She waves her hand dramatically to indicate what just took place.

“We don’t need to get into the details. But yes, we had an honest conversation about how we’ve both been feeling.”

“And you’re feeling good about it?”

“I am.” A smile moves across Claire’s face. “I never expected for Tim and me to be back in this place after all these years, but it feels good. It feels right.”

“Good,” Tempest says. “Now can y’all start scheduling your booty calls a little better?”

“It was not a booty call!” Claire exclaims.

Tempest breaks out into laughter. “Even hearing you say ‘booty call’ is funny as hell.”

Claire joins her in laughing, still unable to believe what transpired tonight — or what it could mean for her future.

END OF EPISODE 1178

Should Claire and Tim officially reunite?
Did Sarah give Molly good advice?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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