In Chris and Denise's household, chain reactions would often occur in accordance to their one year old, particularly his sleep cycle. If he was awake at 4:56AM then they had to be awake at 4:56AM, and if he didn't make sure of that, then Dodger would. Today was one of those 4:56AM days. Shortly after Jack woke Dodger up, the furry critter woke Chris and Denise up by jumping on their bed. A lack of sleep left them painfully groggy, they practically stumbled out of their bedroom. Denise attended to Jack in the next room whereas Chris ventured downstairs to heat their shiny new coffee maker: a DēLonghi Scultura Pump Espresso.

The machine was actually a wedding present that they had only recently unboxed as Chris wasn't a heavy coffee drinker and Denise had been pregnant when they received it. It was only after Jack came along, and after Denise received her work schedule that they realized coffee was vital for them to get through each day. It didn't take long for Denise to reintroduce herself to the art of making coffee, it was hard to forget her time as a barista; she'd spent too many summers slaving away at cafés to forget. She was so skilled that she managed to convert Mr. I'm-not-a-coffee-person into Mr. Could-you-make-me-another-cappuccino? Their home was still the habitat for all kinds of teas- rose being one of her favorites, and cinnamon chai being one of Chris'- but coffee was also settling in quite nicely.

When Denise came downstairs with Jack, Chris was in the midst of making breakfast. He claimed he was exerting himself with breakfast when in reality, the man was just pouring cereal into bowls. "Do you have something special prepared for Jack, or can he have cereal with us?" He asked her and she shrugged, yawning. Denise was so tired, she couldn't process anything he was saying. "Okay, let me take him," Chris chuckled, taking Jack from her. "Go make yourself some coffee, you clearly need it." She managed a smile as she staggered over to the machine, rubbing her eyes while waiting for the grinder to grind her coffee beans.

By the time Chris had to leave for the airport, Denise had finished a vanilla latte and was wide awake. She sat Jack down in front of the TV and turned on reruns of 'Elmo's World', leaving Dodger with him so she could start decorating the house. It wasn't a theme party, per se, they just got a lot of 'Winnie the Pooh' things. Jack liked 'Winnie the Pooh', so go figure. When Denise was done, she sat with Jack and Dodger, waiting for Chris to return with a van-load of some of her favorite people. She was excited because she was going to meet her godson for the first time, little Alex Denver Stan. She knew what he looked and sounded like thanks to modern technology, but it was always different in person. She was going to be able to hold him and kiss his chubby cheeks, which she'd been dying to do since Luca sent her the video of Sebastian playfully squishing said chubby cheeks.

"Do you know who's coming today, Jack?" Denise asked, gently prodding his side with her index finger. "Let me show you." She reached for her phone as he turned away from the TV, looking at her with wide eyes. Denise opened the video Sebastian had sent months ago; a video of him and Luca talking to Jack, introducing themselves. She played it for her son at least once a day so he knew who his godparents were. "Who's that, Jack?" She pointed at the screen as she pressed play. "Who's that?"

"Jack Jack," Sebastian grinned into the camera. "Hey buddy," he waved. "I'm your godfather, Sebastian. You can call me 'Seba', or 'Bas', whatever works for you. This," he turned the camera to Luca and she smiled and waved. "This is Luca, she's your godmother. I'd come up with a shorter form of her name for you to say, but I think Luca's short enough. I guess you could call her 'Lu', we do sometimes. But y'know," he turned to Luca, stifling his laughter, "we don't want you to think she's named after the toilet."

"Hey!" Luca laughed, playfully slapping Sebastian's arm.

Denise laughed every time she watched that video, which meant she laughed this time too, almost missing Jack's little mumble. Almost. She stopped laughing the second she heard his little voice, her jaw drop before a wide smile replaced her stunned expression. "What did you just say, Jack?" She asked and he watched her curiously. "Who is that?" She pointed to Sebastian on her phone screen. "Who's that, Jack?"

Jack examined the screen for a long time, in absolute silence. Denise watched him, unsure if he truly recognized Sebastian or if he was just repeating what he heard Sebastian say in the video. She was about to give up hope when Jack looked up at her, grinning. "Seba," he told her as the front door swung open.

"Oh my God," Denise gasped.

"We're back," Chris called from the front door.

A chorus of different variations of greetings floated towards Denise, but she was too lost in Jack's newest achievement to respond. All she wanted to do was get Sebastian so he could hear his godson say his name. "Seba," Jack repeated then giggled when Denise gasped again, clapping his tiny hands together. "Seba," he squealed, bouncing excitedly on the floor.

"That boy is even handsomer in person." Luca said to Chris when she spotted Denise and Jack on the living room floor. "Nise, hey." She called out to her best friend, laughing. "And she said she didn't want kids." She nudged Chris, who was laughing too. They were incredibly amused by how mesmerized Denise was by Jack, if only they knew what Jack had just accomplished. "Denise Hogan." Luca called again. "Look who Chris has with him." She gestured to Alex, who Chris had secured against him with one arm. "Are you going to come say hello?"

Still, Luca could not pull Denise's attention.

"Hey," Sebastian chuckled, lowering the bags in his hands onto the floor. "Earth to Denise," he called and her head perked up at the sound of his voice; she turned towards the commotion. "I thought because we haven't seen you since the wedding, you'd be barreling towards-"

"You would not believe what Jack just said," Denise cut him off, earning curious looks all around. "Seb, come here." She beckoned him over with her head, lifting Jack into her arms as she got to her feet. Sebastian walked over, smiling at Jack. The small child's eyes were attentively observing his approaching godfather. "I'm so sorry, I'll get to the hugs and hellos in a bit." Denise quickly told the rest, smiling when she caught her godson in her line of sight. "Alex is beautiful and I can't wait to hold him. I'm just- this is too amazing not to address first. Jack," she turned to her son, pointing at Sebastian. "Who's that?"

"Jack Jack," Sebastian unknowingly quoted himself from the video. It successfully triggered Jack's memory and made him smile. "Hi, buddy." Sebastian breathlessly chuckled, excited he could draw a reaction from Jack that quickly. "I'm your god-" Before he could finish his sentence, Jack spoke.

"Seba."

"No," Sebastian gasped.

"Yes," Denise nodded, grinning. "We were watching that video and he just said it," she passed Jack to Sebastian, who had tears welling in his eyes because he was so proud of Jack's achievement. It was heartwarming, it was as though Jack had acknowledged him as his godfather.

While Sebastian interacted with her son, Denise turned to his in Chris' arm. "Lu, he looks so much like you." She told Luca, who nodded with a smile full of pride and joy. "It is so good to see you," Denise walked over and hugged her best friend tightly. "I've missed you like crazy." When she pulled away, she glanced back at Sebastian and joked, "just so you know, I kinda hate your husband for living in New York."

"And I absolutely hate yours for not moving to Boston," Luca turned to Chris with furrowed brows. "I hate you," she repeated and Chris sighed. From Luca's tone and expression, Denise could tell her best friend was not joking. She turned to her husband and raised a brow, Chris just rolled his eyes in response.

"I hate you too, Chris," Denise heard Lisa chime from the kitchen and she snickered, suppressing her urge to smile at Chris' annoyed face. She guessed from his expression that they'd been pestering him about it for a while now, perhaps even the whole drive from the airport. That was not his 'I'm-pretending-to-be-annoyed' face, he was actually annoyed. "Tina and I have been browsing catalogues before the sale was even confirmed. We are dying to help with the furnishing and the interior decorating, so how about you get a move on before we actually die?"

"Well that's a bit dramatic, Lisa," Denise chuckled.

"I don't think it is from the way Chris is lugging his feet."

"Ugh," Chris groaned, "here we go." He passed Alex to Denise.

"Hey," Denise cooed, smiling when he smiled. "Hi, Alex. How are you?"

"Did you text all the women in our lives to gang up on me about moving?"

"Yes, Chris," Denise bit sarcastically. "You got me." Chris sighed because he knew she was just going to end her quip there, she was one of those people who went on and on until the person she was doing it to felt like a complete idiot, or a total jerk. "With the little spare time I have, I texted all the women in our lives to gang up on you about moving."

"She is not the reason we're ganging up on you," Carly interjected. "Common sense is the reason we're ganging up on you. You have a perfectly good house in Boston waiting, we're in Boston waiting. Jack's one now, in a blink of an eye he's going to be getting ready to go to preschool. You need to settle somewhere."

"Yeah," Shanna nodded. "He's not attached to anything right now. He's not at school, he has no friends. This is the best time to move." Chris dropped his gaze, letting out a weary sigh with a shake of his head. "If you don't want to hear about it, Chris, then start packing."

"Yeah, a ghost is going to claim that place if you leave it empty too long," Scott added.

"Don't joke about ghosts," Denise tore her attention from Alex and told Scott, making him laugh. "Seriously," she chuckled. "Just talking about it is like turning on a beacon. I don't want my forever home to be haunted, especially not when my husband is an actor who has to travel, leaving me alone for months on end."

"If you don't want ghosts-" Before Scott could finish, Chris spoke.

"I've had approximately three and a half hours of sleep, I really don't want to talk about it right now." Chris said in a tone that ended the discussion. An awkward silence filled the air as everyone returned to doing their own thing. Denise passed Alex back to Luca, who walked over to Sebastian with pursed lips. "Settle in," he told his family members. "I'm going to go have a shower to freshen up before the rest of the guests arrive." He headed upstairs and Denise followed, making her 'uh oh' face at everyone.

"Hey," Denise closed their bedroom door behind her. She could tell from Chris' demeanor that the conversation they were about to have was just a few wrong words away from turning into a full-blown argument. She had to close the door, just in case she fueled his anger rather than extinguished it. She didn't want to make things even more awkward for those downstairs, especially when it was meant to be a happy occasion. "What's with you?"

"Nothing," Chris huffed, pointlessly rummaging through then slamming the drawers shut.

"Chris, I am not going to waste my time playing back and forth with you." She told him and he sighed. "What's wrong?" He turned around to meet her gaze. "Why do you get so agitated every time we talk about moving to Boston?" She asked. "Wasn't that your plan? You've always said that that's where you want to end up settling down to raise your family, so why are you acting like it's such an inconvenience?" He licked his dry lips, unsure of how he was going to approach the bench. "It was your idea, you bought the house."

"Will you be honest with me if I ask you something?"

"I will only ever be honest with you, Chris," she replied sincerely.

"If I didn't buy the house." He paused. "If I didn't ask you to move, would you still move?"

"Yes," she answered with a nod, doubtless, but confused. "Boston is the place you said-"

"No, just- Stop," he cut her off and she furrowed her brows. "Please, stop." Denise had no idea what Chris' problem was, or why he was even asking her that question. Had she not been clear enough? Was he worried she didn't want to, 'cause she did; she'd go anywhere for him. Little did she know, that was the problem. "I want to know your life plan, Denise. 'Cause ever since we got together, we have been following mine. Y'know, marriage, kids, Boston- it's- what about you? 'Cause I know you, you had a plan before you met me and I feel like I'm messing it up."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about me not wanting you to wake up one day and realize you haven't lived your life the way you wanted." He answered and she felt her heart ache when she saw tears had welled in his eyes. "Because I am terrified that's going to happen, that one day I won't be enough to sustain you." She scoffed, amazed that was a fear of his. Before she could even discount his preposterous fear, he continued, "because I've seen it happen, okay? We've both seen it happen to good people, to couples we thought would last forever. Look at Chris and Anna, at Max and Lillian, they-" He cut himself off, sighing. "I don't want us in the same situation."

"Chris." She felt her own eyes well as she found herself at a lost for words. "I- I don't-" She stuttered and he ran his thumb over his bottom lip, fighting his urge to cry. It took a few seconds for her to figure out what she was going to say, and when she did she walked over and cupped his face in her hands. "We're not going to be." She assured him. "They're them and we're us. Just because they grew apart doesn't mean we will." He wrapped his hands tightly around her wrists. "I love you, Chris. I don't know a lot, but I know that. I know you are always going to be enough, I know that a life with you is exactly what I want. You're not going to lose me," she told him firmly. "Because I need you, it's as simple as that. I need you and I'm always going to need you."

"I think I need you a lot more than you need me," he whispered and a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Sounds like we're stuck together then." She said then chuckled, successfully drawing a small smile from him. "Hey," she beckoned for the gaze he'd lowered. "You and me against the world, right?" She quizzed and he nodded, taking the breaths he needed to calm himself down. "Why are you suddenly so worried about this?" Her thumb brushed the tear off his cheek. "Have I done something to make you feel like this?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's not- no, you've done nothing. This is me, okay? Not you," he shook his head again. "It's just that my parents are divorced, and quite a few of our friends are too so- I don't know, this has always been a worry. It sorta comes and goes depending on what we talk about and I don't talk to you about it because I don't want to jinx it, but I've always been worried about it."

"And it comes whenever we talk about the move?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I just feel like moving means- I don't know, like we're officially together? Like here, we know this place is temporary, we don't plan to settle down here. There is no commitment, y'know? There's nothing to really make us feel trapped, right?" Denise laughed at Chris' poor choice of words, releasing his face from her grip; they simultaneously dropped their hands to their sides. "Fuck," he chuckled, "I'm just bringing forth a divorce with my choice of words, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but I'm fluent in the language of Chris so I know what you mean," she replied and he managed a small smile. "Look, I get it. When we move, it's like we've officially signed the contract because that's where we know we're going to spend the rest of our lives. Moving means having to deal with that, and other big conversations like whether or not we want another child, and how we are going to take care of them when we have such demanding jobs."

"When do we plan on retiring so we can live a normal life and raise our kids." He added and she nodded. "And I don't like that conversation because I think it's unfair. You're sixteen years younger than me and just starting out, you shouldn't have to think about retiring yet, or at all. Maybe retiring is not something you want, but it's something I want. Eventually. I just- Moving is dealing with all those conversations and I don't know if we're ready."

"Then we stay in LA until we're ready," she shrugged. "I don't mind, Chris. Honestly, I haven't even thought about it since Thanksgiving. You said you'd tell me when you know and I trust you, I'm okay staying in LA for now. I am happy wherever you and Jack and Dodger are, so if you want to stay then let's stay. I want to stay, okay?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Okay."

"Okay," he nodded.

"Now were you really planning on having a shower, or did you come upstairs so you wouldn't have to deal with how awkward you'd left things with your, 'I've had approximately three and a half hours of sleep, I really don't want to talk about it right now'?" She mocked him in a gruff voice and he laughed, making her giggle.

"I was really planning on having a shower."

"Okay," she chuckled. "Well, I'm going to let everyone you're fine so they don't feel the need to walk on eggshells around you the whole day." She told him and he pressed his lips together, scratching the back of his neck. If he could go back in time, he would've to prevent how awkward things were still going to be for him when he went back downstairs. "Are you good?" She asked, giving his right arm a gentle rub. "'Cause we can talk about it further if you're still feeling uneasy about things, you know I'm just as good at being reassuring as I am at being irrational."

"Yeah, I know." He laughed. "But I'm good, honestly," he kissed her forehead. "It's really hard not to be with you as my wife." He said and she smiled, quickly pecking his lips before leaving him to have his shower. "I love you," he called as she was about to close the door behind her.

"I love you."