by Sam Mariano
"I want to know that if I'm going to accept responsibility for this as my own kid—which I don't mind doing—I need the security of actually being his or her father regardless of whether or not you and I work out. Just like if I actually got you pregnant. If we break up in a year and you meet someone else, you can't change your mind. You have to deal with this exactly as you would if I really did father the baby."
"That's extremely fair."
"Especially considering… I mean, we're still very new. I'm not being completely altruistic here by offering to play daddy. I always wanted to have kids, so… regardless of whether or not you're in the package deal or not, I want to know I’m considered the father. No offense."
Shaking her head she said, "No, none taken. It would be unrealistic to expect you to just play daddy temporarily, and that isn't what I want anyway. The baby needs stability. Switching dads on him or her wouldn't be the most stable thing I could think to do."
He hesitated for just a second, then he said, "Would you be willing to put my name down on the birth certificate?"
Her eyes widened a little. "Well… I would, but if I do that you are aware that you would legally be the father… If things didn’t work out way down the road, you would still be on the hook. I mean, I wouldn’t go after you for child support or anything obviously, but you would be giving me that power.”
"That's not a problem," he said, rolling his eyes. "If it's my kid then I'm going to be financially responsible regardless."
Grinning, she leaned on his arm and said, "I'm sorry, I just need a mushy moment. Do you know how much happier I would be about life if it would have been you to give me a poppy seed instead of him? Just… this little glimpse here—it's so appealing."
Smiling slightly, he said, "Trust me, I wish I was capable of making my own poppy seeds."
"And if we really do this together… God, Aaron, it's going to be so great! I mean, I know since we technically just got together cynics might call it less than ideal—”
"How dare they be sensible!"
Julie lightly rolled her eyes, but she went on unperturbed, “I can see us in a few months, my baby bump protruding—not to the point where I can't see my toes or anything, but just enough so that people walk by and smile at my tummy—as we hold hands, walking through the stores looking for just the right crib. I have to say, it makes accidental pregnancy feel like a whole lot more fun to me."
"Well, there's your silver lining," he said, smiling right back.
"Come here, you," she said, pulling him by the shirt and standing up on her tiptoes, leaning in and kissing him.
"Wait," he murmured, pulling back. "Did we figure out all that pen and paper stuff?"
"Screw pen and paper stuff; you can have whatever you want. Write me up a draft and I'll sign it," she said, kissing him again.
Chuckling, he said against her lips, "Wow, you suck at negotiating."
"So I'll never get a career as a negotiator; big deal."
Letting his hands settle around her waist, Aaron seemed content to just kiss her for a few minutes, then he pulled back and just rested his forehead against hers, smiling a little.
"What are you thinking?" she asked, liking the way he looked.
Happy looked so much better on Aaron than grumpy did.
Shaking his head just slightly, he said, "I just… it's been so long since I ever thought I would be able to do this with someone."
"Do what?" she asked, confused.
He placed his hand on her still flat stomach. "This. I didn't think I could have kids, have a family, so… I never thought I'd be able to look forward to being a dad."
Grinning, she said, "Does that mean you don't need time for the shock to pass and the sinking in to begin? Because I was thinking with all the shock and the fact that I still technically have to deal with Matt… that maybe I shouldn't get all official on you yet."
"Why should we worry? You're the mother so you're automatically favored unless something is wrong with you and you're unfit. Since that's not going to be a problem and you're putting me down as the father on the birth certificate…"
"But if Matt demanded a DNA test—”
Scoffing, Aaron said, "Julie, do you honestly think Emma would let him do that?"
"Oh… well, no, probably not."
"Definitely not," he said. "He can’t get in our way unless he wants to blow up his own life. I know Emma will give us her full support on this, because if I take you over she doesn't have to worry about her husband straying in this direction."
"The silver linings just keep on coming," she said, shaking her head.
"We have one damn shiny black cloud."
Taking his hand she said, "You know, pregnant women commonly take naps."
"They do?" he questioned, frowning slightly.
She nodded solemnly. "They do. And I'm thinking that perhaps we should take a nap together."
"A nap?"
"Yep," she said, tugging on his hand.
"You realize that while today was a step in the right direction, I have not taken you on a date yet?"
Laughing a little, Julie said, "Aaron, my gentleman caller, it is possible to nap with clothes on."
"You actually want me to take a nap? Two year olds take naps."
"I don’t like sleeping without you," she said, pouting at him. "I have grown accustomed to sleeping in your arms, dammit. How on earth does a person fall asleep without a pair of strong arms and a nice warm body to curl into?"
"Gee, I don't know," he said, following her down the hall anyway. "It's not like you did that for 20 years before you met me or anything."
"That's it, I'm making my negotiation comeback. I'm giving you a baby—hours and hours of labor, terrible months of gas and nausea, headaches and having to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes. My body is going to get stretched out—I will never again wear a bathing suit without fearing that stretch marks are showing from this little human being's stay inside of my stomach. All you have to do is hold my hand and tell me to push, and you get a baby. So while I am napping—because I'm tired, because I'm currently giving said baby room and board—and you're at home, I require cuddle time. You have to nap with me at least until I fall asleep."
"Oh, you are going to love being able to hold this over my head, aren't you?"
Grinning, she opened the bedroom door. "So far I have no complaints."
He shook his head as he followed her inside, but before he shut the door he said, "That's it, we're going to need to go on that first date as soon as possible."
---
Returning to work was not something that Julie was looking forward to at all.
It would have been bad enough if the smell of the food didn't make her want to throw up, but to make her day brighter she was scheduled to work with Leigh. While she typically liked Leigh, she didn't figure that on that particular Monday Leigh was going to want anything to do with her.
During naptime, Julie and Aaron decided if they were going to do the baby thing they were going to do it all the way. Regardless of their status as a couple, as far as Julie could see signing parental rights from Matt to Aaron was an amazing upgrade.
Before breakfast Aaron had already been talking about how his one-bedroom apartment wasn't going to be big enough for them once they had the baby and how he would find them something bigger and better as soon as he could. Julie tried to tell him there was no need to rush, he should probably wait and see if he liked dating her before he decided to move in with her.
When she suggested that he just looked at her dumbly and said, "But we already live together."
"Yeah, but… I mean, why make a change right now?"
"We're having a baby," he stated as if she had somehow not been informed of the fact.
"Yes, I'm aware."
"You agreed that it was mine, too.” That was said a little defensively.
"Definitely is," she replied easily.
"So… we're having a baby—you're my family now, Julie.
I'm never going to be able to have another one, so why not do it right?"
"Because… I mean, Aaron, we're very new. I don't want you to change apartments and then find out you hate me and don't want to live with me."
Shrugging, he said, "Even if we didn’t work out, the baby would still need a bedroom. I don't see a problem with my plan at all."
And then before she could say anymore he had gone into the kitchen to make her French toast for breakfast. Really, who could argue with the man making the French toast?
But once at work the magic was gone. Just looking at Leigh as she watched Aaron walk in, her face lighting up in a familiar smile before she remembered that he was no longer only hers, then the dimming of the smile and its relocation to Julie, where it finally disappeared altogether.
Walking in the door when Leigh worked turned out to be a bit depressing.
Leigh was still as nice as she could be to Julie. She wasn't petty about it at all, but Julie could tell the difference.
In place of the bubbly happy-go-lucky waitress, every smile felt like an effort, every exchanged glance just a little painful. Leigh's politeness was no longer an offer of friendship, but a kind of forced civility.
If Leigh only acted so despondent to make Julie feel bad, Julie wouldn't feel bad.
But it was quite the opposite. Leigh did make an attempt to act like it wasn't killing her to see them together, but when Aaron gave Julie one of those secret little smiles that should have made her happy, all she could focus on was the guilt from Leigh's wretched expression.
Near the end of Leigh's shift Julie caught the tail end of a bit of gossip between the waitresses—Debbie, the incoming, and Leigh, the outgoing.
"Are you sure the baby isn't his?" Debbie was asking Leigh. "I mean, if it isn't his baby then why is Aaron taking care of her? Why did he give her a job? Why is she living with him? None of it makes sense."
"Because… Aaron is a good person," Leigh said a little desperately, as if she still clung to the hope that he had no romantic interest in Julie, he was merely doing a good deed.
Deciding to put an end to it all, Julie breezily made her way over to them with a smile and put in, "He sure is."
Debbie looked startled, but Leigh just offered a wan smile. "Hey, Julie."
Debbie pasted on the fakest smile Julie had ever seen. Since her idea that Julie was sleeping with the boss, Debbie decided to get real nice to Julie. "Aw, how's the baby?"
Giving Debbie a coolly polite smile, Julie said, "The baby is wonderful, thank you for asking."
Aaron walked up behind them, oblivious, and shook his head with a tolerant smile. "You women and your baby talk."
"Oh, just you wait, mister. You think a casual 'how's the baby?' is bad, wait until it's time to start buying baby furniture and I spend every spare moment obsessing over whether I like natural wood or white better for the crib."
Smiling, he said, "I won't mind."
"That's what you say now," Julie said, but then—considering Leigh was standing right there—she decided to drop it.
"And that's what I'll say then," he said, giving her a crooked smile. "I know how to shut you up. If you get on my nerves I'll buy both."
Debbie latched onto that, eyes slightly wide as she said, "Wow, you buy employees cribs, too?" she chuckled then, although to Julie it was clear she was fishing. "Man, I wish I would have known that when I had my kid."
"I don't buy employees cribs, Debbie. That could get expensive." Then, perhaps oblivious, perhaps uncaring, he went on, "But I will buy Julie a crib."
"Well, that's nice of you!" Debbie gushed, clearly excited at how much information she was getting. "What brought on such a charitable gesture?"
Rolling his eyes a little, he said, "It's hardly charitable to buy a crib for your own kid."
There was a clinking noise behind Aaron and a pair of gasps, then Leigh saying, "Oh, sir, I'm so sorry."
Aaron turned around to see Leigh—as white as a ghost—clumsily putting the coffee pot down and using a thick white towel to clean up the coffee she had just spilt all over the counter as the customer moved his plate closer to him so as to avoid the hot liquid.
"Klutz," Aaron murmured jokingly, not understanding as Julie did what had just happened.
"Can you clean this up? I need—”
Aaron just blinked in confusion as Leigh all but ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
That had been what Julie was afraid of.
Grimacing, she went over to help Aaron, clearing away the cup and saucer that the customer had and grabbing him a new one, filling it up with more coffee.
"This is not good, Aaron," Julie remarked as she tossed her white towel into the soapy bucket Aaron was cleaning his out in.
Glancing up, he asked, "What's not good?"
"Did you not see what just happened?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
He frowned. "Leigh spilled some coffee? I hope she didn't burn herself. She did go running into the bathroom pretty quickly… Maybe you should check on her."
Sighing, Julie said, "Are you really that oblivious, Aaron? Leigh didn't have a clumsy moment, she had a shocked moment. She is probably in the bathroom either crying, hyperventilating, or maybe even both if my own experience serves as any indication."
"What are you talking about?" he asked cluelessly.
"She dropped the coffee because you admitted to fathering this baby," Julie said, pointing to her stomach. "Maybe you missed the memo, but Leigh definitely thinks she's in love with you."
Aaron scowled in response. "Leigh can't be in love with me, Julie."
"Yeah, well… I'm hoping she only thinks she's in love with you, but regardless, thinking you're in love with someone can be equally as dramatic as actually being in love with them, but since it's an illusion and illusions eventually fade, it sucks a lot more. I know this, because I was once that girl hiding in the bathroom crying and hyperventilating because the man I 'loved' was having a baby with someone else. It's what chased me to Chicago in the first place. It's really not a good feeling to have at all, and I think it would be best if you scheduled Leigh and me apart for a while."
Confusion was written all over Aaron's face and she could see that he clearly didn't understand.
Sighing, she tried to think how to relate it to him, to convey to him how Leigh would be feeling and why it would be best for everyone if she and Julie weren't forced together. "Okay, this might… hurt for a second, but for just a second I need you to try to remember how you felt that instant—and the moments that followed—when you found out about Shannon and Matt."
Aaron grimaced, looking up at her. "No…"
Julie nodded. "I'm afraid so. That is how she's feeling right now."
"Well, damn. I never meant to hurt Leigh. I didn't realize…"
"Of course you didn't," Julie said, lightly hugging Aaron. "It's not even your fault, really. It had to happen eventually. Now she can… work on accepting it and she will eventually move on—perhaps because of this, since that's how it worked out for both of us. I moved to Chicago because of mine, and you stayed single while you waited for me and had an unnatural aversion to your brother which caused you to take me in. We would have never met if not for that moment that Leigh is currently having."
"That doesn't make me feel any better if she's crying!"
"Well, maybe she's not crying," Julie lied to appease him. "Either way, she's feeling shitty right now, but unless you secretly love her as more than a friend, this was unavoidable. Do you secretly love her as more than a friend?"
Grimacing, he said, "Only if your definition of 'more than a friend' includes a sister. I don't… see Leigh that way, I've already told you this."
"Well, okay, then this moment had to happen. Now it will propel her forward, so don't feel guilty."
"How can I not feel guilty? You're telling me I just crushed my best friend."
Resisting the light stab of jealousy she felt when he referred to another woman as
his best friend, Julie went on to reassure him. "She'll be okay, it will just take her some time. If I knew any good single guys I'd try to hook her up, but… you know, if I knew any good single guys I never would have dated Jack, so…"
Aaron cracked a smile. "I get the impression that a blow-up doll would be an improvement from Jack."
"And you didn't even get to meet my first ex, the one that ran me out of town. Believe it or not, my relationships got progressively better with each one."
Shaking his head, he said, "That's really sad."
"I agree," Julie said.
Glancing back at the bathroom, he asked Julie, "Are you sure she’ll be okay?"
"I am positive," Julie said with a nod.
Fortunately Leigh emerged from the bathroom only a moment later looking as put together as ever and briskly explained she had to leave because she had some things to do.
Even though it meant working with Debbie and all her fakeness, Julie was still kind of glad to see Leigh go that day.
After closing with Aaron so he could show her how it all went again, Aaron gave her a ride home—since they had worked the same long shift that day—and during the ride Julie's cell phone started ringing. It was Matt, so she ignored it and waited for the voice mail message.
Before she could check the voice mail message her phone started ringing again.
Sighing, she gave in and answered the phone in her most annoyed tone. "Hello?"
"Julie?"
Rolling her eyes, she said sarcastically, "No, it's Martha Washington. Is there a reason you are calling me at this time of night?"
"I need to talk to you and this is the only… time I've been able to," he mumbled.
With mock solemnity she said, "I know, wives are such a drag."
Skipping ahead to his point he began, "I got an interesting phone call today."
"Really? Please tell me all about it."
"Why are you being so mean?" he asked abruptly.
Sighing, she told him, "Because I am attempting to have a relationship with your brother and that would be a lot easier if you would stop calling me. We have nothing else to talk about, Matt."
"You're having my kid, dammit, there's plenty to talk about. Politics, weather, baby names—these are just off the top of my head."