by Sam Mariano
"I already have the baby's name picked out, and you get absolutely no say in that as you are not going to be in his or her life."
"And who is, Aaron? My mom called me today, Julie, and do you know what she called about?"
"Global warming would be my first guess."
There was an agitated noise on the other end, then, "Why does she think Aaron is the father of my baby?"
"Because Aaron and I have decided that he is going to step up in your place," Julie explained.
"You don't think it's a little soon in your relationship to do that?"
After a pause she said, "Well, in the beginning that was a concern, but the way we figured it out is that it's no different than if I really had gotten accidentally knocked up—which I did, just by the wrong person. We're just disregarding that little detail and treating the whole situation the way we would if it really had happened this way. So it's fine. Accidental pregnancies happen. This isn't a relationship thing between us, it isn't contingent upon—you know what, why am I explaining this to you? You don't need the details. All you need to know is that you're off the hook. You can tell Emma to rest easy, and you don't have to worry about this whole ugly ordeal ruining your perfect little family. This is what’s best for everyone involved. I am having my kid, he or she never needs to know about Mommy’s poor judgment, and Aaron is just going to take your place.”
"We're not interchangeable!" Matt objected.
"I don’t want to fight about this," she said calmly. "I am very happy with this arrangement. If you take a minute to think about it, I think you will be, too. It’s the best solution for everyone involved."
"Julie… I want you to stop and think about this. What about… what about what I offered you? I meant what I said, I really do still want you in my life. I mean, I can't leave Emma right now, but Julie, if you will just be patient and work with me… I already had a plan. I'll help you with a place to live, I'll completely decorate the nursery—”
"I somehow doubt your wife would like that plan."
"Well, she wouldn't know about it, so it doesn't matter what she thinks."
Making a sound of disgust, Julie said, "You know what, I have to get back to my life right now with the guy who doesn't want to hide me away in some remote townhouse until he finds the right time to 'leave his wife.' The story has been told way too many times, and I'm just not that girl. Maybe you can find another dumb one somewhere, but just… stop getting women pregnant would be my advice."
"Look, Julie, Aaron can't have kids. That's the only reason he's doing this. He isn't doing it for you."
"I know that. I wouldn't want him to be doing it for me, Matt. Then if his feelings for me end so does his dedication to my kid. This isn't your business anymore, just be glad that you don't have to deal with it."
"But… I want to deal with it."
"Sorry, that option isn't on the table anymore."
There was a pause while Julie presumed the conversation was sinking in, then he said, "You know, biologically the kid is mine. If I wanted to, I could force this issue. A DNA test would prove I'm the father."
Rolling her eyes in irritation, Julie said, "Please, Matt. You think your wife is going to let you get a DNA test to take on the financial burden of a kid you had with your one-time mistress? Be realistic."
Unable to argue that logic, he said, "I just… I don't like it, Julie."
"Well, I don't care what you like, Matt. Now I have to go, we're home."
"Would you just think about what I offered you? Think about it, Julie. If I wanted out I would accept this out you're giving me and send you a fruit basket or something to show my gratitude. I want to keep you in my life."
Feeling extremely uncomfortable as Aaron shot her a sideways glance, Julie said, "I'm hanging up now. And no, I will not think about it. There's nothing to think about. Good night, Matt. And goodbye."
"Good night, Julie. But this isn't goodbye."
Rolling her eyes, she ended the call and shoved her phone in her purse, sighing. "Damn."
"What did he want?" Aaron asked gruffly.
"To congratulate us and ask if you want Cuban cigars when the baby is born?"
Cracking a smile, he said, "Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what he said."
"Almost word for word," she said, walking up to Aaron and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.
"Did he give you another 'he's using you' speech?"
"Does it matter?" she asked, giving him light little kisses from one corner of his mouth to the other.
"To a caveman," he said sardonically.
"Well, we're going to have to work on bringing you into the modern age. Do you know people don't have pet dinosaurs anymore? And there are these magical machines that suck up dirt off the floor, so you don't even have to use dangerous animals for household appliances!"
"No way," he said dramatically, playing along. "I suppose next you're going to tell me that women work for a living and you don't have to use your feet to make your car go?"
With a solemn nod and another light kiss, she said, "It's shocking, I know. But don't you worry, I am going to do everything I can to help you adjust."
"Hey, you're pretty cool. Wanna go see Anne Margrock at the Bedrock Bowl with me this weekend?"
Grinning, she took him by his hand and hauled him inside the apartment building, "Sorry, Fred, I’m seeing someone."
"Dammit," he said, pretending to hang his head.
"Come on inside and I'll fix you a nice pterodactyl burger. You'll feel all better."
"With cactus juice?" he asked.
Nodding, she said, "Of course. In fact, I might get a few cactus juices in you. They make you frisky."
Shaking his head, he said sternly, "You will not tempt me, woman. I am taking you on a real date first whether you like it or not."
Sighing, Julie lamented, "I would have to find the one gentleman left in this world."
With a smile, Aaron shook his head and wrapped his arm around her.
"You know, all this crazy role-playing has made me have a sudden mental image of you in a loincloth," she told him.
"A mental image is all you're ever going to have."
"Oh come on, we could do a 'me Tarzan, you Jane' kind of thing."
"No," he said, cracking a smile despite himself.
"Lame. At least take your shirt off, give me something to go on here.”
"We are going to go on a date very, very soon," he promised.
"Well, if you wanted to pretend we've already been on a date…"
"That's cheating," he said, shaking his head.
"But I'm having your baby and we haven't even had sex. I feel completely ripped off. I feel like I should be sitting on a camel somewhere in Bethlehem."
Raising his eyebrows he said, "Well, I've never been compared to God before, Mary. This role-playing thing just took a strange turn."
"Biblical role-play. That has got to be a sin."
"Undoubtedly," he agreed with a nod.
"I think the stone age role-play was more fun anyway, I could imagine myself with bright red hair, huge pearls, and a white dress. Plus Wilma has a waistline to kill for."
Aaron merely shook his head. "Did I know you were crazy before I started dating you?"
"Well, you lived with me, so if you didn't it's your own damn fault."
Shrugging, he said, "Oh well. A little crazy is kind of sexy."
Shoving her hand over his mouth she said, "Do not say the s-word."
Guffawing, he moved her hand and asked, "Why, are we six?"
"No, but you'll make my mind go places it shouldn’t. Besides, God is watching."
He raised his eyebrows at her suspiciously.
Feigning innocence, Julie crossed her heart and pointed upward. "I swear."
"Well, if God is watching He should be very proud of us tonight when we don't have sex," Aaron told her as he put the key in the lock and turned it, pushing open the door.
"As l
ong as it makes someone happy," she said, following him inside the apartment.
With a smile, Aaron said, "Don't worry. I promise to make you happy very soon."
With a grin, Julie plopped down on the couch to watch him shut the door and said, "Well, I suppose I will just have to wait patiently then."
"Good things come to those who wait."
"Just promise me that you and I will at least sleep together before I blow up like a beach ball and then your first naked image of me is just… Big Willy."
"I promise," he said, coming over and sitting next to her.
Sighing, she leaned into his shoulder. "Even though I give you hell about being a gentleman, you know I think it's cute, right?"
"Of course. I am the master of giving hell, Julie. Have you already forgotten the way I tortured you?"
"I will never forget," she assured him. "Every time I hear the word 'brother' for the rest of my life I'm going to flinch a little."
"And wasn't that because I thought you were cute?"
Grinning, she said, "You know, when I was in second grade and Danny Lawson picked on me all the time because he liked me, I never dreamed that the same principles would apply when I was a grown up."
"When I was in second grade I thought girls had cooties and I was convinced I would grow up to be a football player. I guess I wasn't as insightful."
"I wonder what Poppy Seed will be like in second grade," she mused, touching her stomach.
"Depends. Matt was really awkward and annoying in second grade. You were…?"
"Pretty similar to how I turned out, actually. The only difference was I played Barbies then. I was competitive with the only girl in my grade that I feared was smarter than me, I was madly in love with Wally Maguire, who was coincidentally best friends with the aforementioned Danny Lawson. I loved to play Barbies and read anything I could—books, magazines, recipes… and I hated every vegetable except broccoli, which is weird considering most kids hate broccoli. I’m less picky about veggies now."
"Well, hopefully the baby will follow more in your footsteps."
Nodding, Julie silently agreed. Then, after a very brief pause, she asked, "Would you rather Poppy Seed be a girl or a boy?"
"Twins. One of each."
Her eyes widened and she said, "That is so far from funny that I'm just going to pretend you didn't say it."
Smiling, he said lightly, "Come on, this is my only shot. As much as I would like to have another one someday, I am not willing to whore you out in a couple years to try to get you pregnant again."
Julie meant to have a snappy comeback, but her mind was reeling a little as it processed the fact that Aaron had just referred to them still being together in "a couple years."
He didn't seem to catch it, as he made no hasty afterthought concerning it or anything else. He just sighed and leaned back on the couch, kicking his shoes off.
Julie smiled a little and turned her face into his shoulder, deciding not to freak out or make too much of it. He probably meant it in a non-committal way, just a little harmless bantering like they had been doing since Julie needed to break down the jealous barrier he had up when she got off the phone with Matt.
Besides, even if she was wrong… still being with Aaron in "a couple years" didn't sound so bad to her.
Chapter Twenty Three-
As with most good things, winter break had to end sometime.
Unfortunately for Julie, it was that time already.
As far as her date with Aaron, she had learned that apparently her chances of going on the date were as good as her chances of getting a pet unicorn. For someone so interested in her, he was extremely elusive.
With the post-wedding vacation over, he was spending as much time between his two restaurants as he had before he and Julie had made nice—the only difference was that Julie knew why he was gone all the time.
It still sucked, but at least she knew why.
On the positive side, with school back in session she would have something to keep her busy while she sat at home by herself after work.
The Sunday before she returned to school she was working at the café—since her days as a face-painting pirate were no more—and a delivery man came in with a bouquet of pink roses and baby's breaths. Julie was consumed with dread even before the man approached her. She quickly accepted the flowers so as not to look suspicious to the curious co-workers, and she even worked in a smile.
"Pretty," Debbie told her.
With a big smile, Julie lied smoothly. "Yes, they're from my mother. A congratulations on the baby. She's so sweet."
Aaron just walked in the back, because he knew as well as Julie did who they were from.
However, she was glad that he did walk away, because then he didn't see the jewelry box that was attached to the bouquet's ribbon. Julie stole a glance inside just to see what it was, and found a beautiful diamond and sapphire necklace in a bed of velvet, all pretty and shimmering.
Quickly pocketing the box, she tossed the card in the garbage, then she took the flowers back to the office, unable to toss them out since she had claimed they were from her mother.
Aaron was sitting in the chair looking sullen and Julie took a seat on his lap, carelessly tossing the bouquet on the desk.
"You know he's only doing this to get to you," Julie stated.
"Well, it works."
Taking his face in her hands and kissing him soundly, she leaned her forehead against his and said, "Don't let it. I couldn’t care less about flowers, Aaron. You know that."
"I just… wish he would stop sending them."
"And eventually he will," Julie stated. "Right now… he just… he's still trying to play a game that he doesn't seem to understand he’s already lost. Now come on, don't let this ruin your day."
Aaron had met her halfway, attempting not to let his brother get the best of him and returning to normal before too long.
---
The following day was her first day back to school, and after class she stopped by the pawn shop and hawked her pretty diamond and sapphire necklace for $235. She was certain that the necklace was probably worth more, but as it was she had to haggle that last 35 bucks out of him, and she just wanted to be rid of the thing.
She didn't have to work for a couple more hours, however, so with her cash in pocket she took the opportunity to stop and look at cribs on her way home.
What she had left from her "Matt Money" was all set aside in her baby fund, which she planned to use to buy her baby a pretty crib that she couldn't otherwise afford. The bedding would have to wait, since Julie couldn't pick a theme before she knew if she was having a boy or a girl. Still, it couldn't hurt to take a peek. Of course Aaron would have to go with her to make the final choice, but since he was so busy she figured she could do the leg work.
As soon as she got to work at four Aaron asked her how her day had been. She told him briefly about how much she already loved her literature class and told him she had taken a preliminary look at cribs.
Frowning, he said, "Hey, don't leave me out. This is the only crib I get to buy."
"I didn't pick one yet, I was just looking. Next time we get a chance I'll haul you in there and we can see which cribs we both like."
"It's a date," he said.
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Yeah, right. What's a date? I don't believe those exist anymore."
With a smile, Aaron said, "Well, start believing. What are you doing tomorrow night?"
"Hm, I'll have to check my schedule but I think I'm very busy doing absolutely nothing tomorrow night."
"Well, can you reschedule?"
"Maybe. What's the occasion?"
"I was thinking since Leigh’s closing tomorrow anyway and things are… a little bit weird right now, you and I could go on a date."
Gasping, she said playfully, "A real date?"
"The real thing. I want to go kind of early though, if that's okay with you. I was thinking I'd leave work at 6, we could leave by 6:30?"
"Sounds great," she stated. "Where are we going on our date?"
He smiled a little. "It's a surprise. But don't worry, I think it's one you'll like."
---
The next day was one of the longest days of Julie's life.
It seemed like 6:30 was determined never to come, and all the time she seemed to have just gave her opportunity after opportunity to find renewed hatred for every item of clothing that she owned. Four times she had found the "right" outfit for her date, but then after looking at it long enough each outfit inevitably began to disappoint her.
Aaron wouldn't tell her where they were going or what they were doing, so she wasn't even sure what to dress for. With Aaron and his penchant for proper first dates, she didn't know if she should expect a fancy dinner at a restaurant that required reservations like two years in advance, or perhaps the more casual dinner-and-a-movie. Should she wear jeans or a skirt?
In the end, she decided to pick out three outfits—one that she intended on wearing, a fancier one to change into in case he walked in, took a look at her, and told her she was dressed all wrong, and one last back up in case she changed her mind ten minutes before he got home and decided that she didn't like the black skirt with the black tights, and the cranberry button-down blouse made her look too much like a secretary or a librarian.
Reasonably she could tell she was overly prepared, but she couldn't help it. She was so happy that she and Aaron were actually going on a date, and that everything was going wonderfully with very few bumps in the road.
When 6:25 approached and Aaron still wasn't at the apartment, Julie began to worry a little. He said they would leave by 6:30, so he had to show up sometime within the following 4 minutes.
And if they were going somewhere he could wear his café clothes, she was definitely dressed all wrong and she would have to change again.
Going out with Jack had never required so much thinking and planning.
When the clock hit 6:26, she decided to take a little walk downstairs and ask the doorman if he had seen Aaron. She felt silly doing it—he couldn't have gotten lost on his way to the apartment, after all. But if she sat in the apartment a moment longer she would have to change clothes again, and then she would probably mess up her hair.