by Sam Mariano
"Her name's Julie, you'll meet her when I get there. Can you just add another chicken piccata for her?"
While Aaron finished up his phone call, Julie sat there debating the wedding and Aaron's family. She just couldn't believe that his sister would invite his evil ex-girlfriend not only to attend the wedding, but to actually be in the wedding. Did she have no consideration for Aaron's feelings? She could kind of understand why Matt would still be invited—he was her brother, after all, and maybe she either favored Matt or didn't want to take sides, but… inviting Shannon seemed a little over the line, cousin or no cousin.
Julie was suddenly glad that she had never brought any of her exes around her family. That would really suck.
Still, despite the circumstances, Julie found herself feeling a little too pleased about being Aaron's date—even if she was just a buffer. She would hate for him to have to go to the wedding alone, to have Shannon and Matt see him there by himself…
It just seemed wrong.
But he wouldn't be there alone, he would have Julie. While Julie knew that she was nowhere near as beautiful as Shannon or Emma—extremely unfair, to her way of thinking—it would still count for something.
Aaron was right about one thing though.
Matt was not going to be pleased when she showed up at a family event with his brother.
---
Matt didn't get back to her until the next day, at which point she did answer her phone because she didn't want him to start calling the apartment.
For some reason, she had this fear that he was going to know she went to the hospital, and that was why he wanted to talk to her.
But he didn't seem to know anything about it.
"What are you doing Thursday?" he asked her.
"Working," she stated.
"Well, what time do you work?" he asked.
"Why?" she returned, not understanding why he needed that information.
"Because I don't have much time to talk right now and I need you to meet up with me at some point this week so we can discuss something. I need to know what time you're free."
"I'm working three to close, but why do I have to meet you somewhere?"
Sighing, he said, "I can't really explain right now, I'm at work and… Emma's dad's here," he muttered. "But it's important, so can you come early? Maybe noon—I can use my lunch break."
Julie didn't like it, she didn't like it at all. The more she was not around Matt and spending time with Aaron, the less time she wanted to be anywhere near Matt—it would only get her in trouble.
"I don't… understand why," she said, hesitating.
"It's regarding your future," he told her. "Can you just trust me on this?"
Without even meaning to, Julie scoffed.
"Okay, clumsy wording," he acknowledged immediately. Then, sighing, he said, "Can you just meet me in Little Italy at noon on Thursday please?"
Aaron would be working at noon, so she could probably get away with it…
"I suppose," she finally muttered. She had to fight the instinct to tell him he better not mention it to Aaron—she still wasn't quite sure what the limits of their rivalry might be, and she thought perhaps letting him know that she wanted it to be kept a secret from Aaron could possibly backfire and result in him telling Aaron just to be an asshole and stir up trouble.
Not the wisest action for a married man, but she didn't know if he would think of that.
While Julie tried to imagine what about "her future" Matt could want to talk to her about, she found herself thinking a little guiltily that she shouldn't be meeting Matt in secret. It wasn't like she really owed Aaron an explanation or an account of where she went and who she was with, but knowing that it was a secret made her feel very uncomfortable about it.
When you were trying to keep something a secret from someone, it seemed like they always found out.
Shrugging it off, she decided not to worry about it until closer to Thursday.
---
Over the course of the week the bleeding turned to spotting, and by Thursday morning it seemed to have stopped completely. Although she wasn't keen on the idea of letting a man know about her bodily functions, Aaron would ask her daily if "it" had stopped yet, so she made sure that she alerted him that "it" had stopped as soon as she knew.
He was relieved.
Unfortunately, as soon as the spotting went away, the morning sickness actually kicked it up a notch. Eating—previously something the baby demanded quite a lot—became a lot less appealing.
She couldn't win for losing.
But morning sickness she could handle—that was an accepted part of pregnancy. Bleeding and spotting were not things that she—or apparently Aaron—could handle.
He didn't care if she had to throw up three times a shift, as long as the baby seemed to be okay and she was sure to drink plenty of water to replenish afterward so she didn't end up dehydrated.
One thing she was learning she could always depend on Aaron for was his extreme unpredictability. While initially she had been concerned that Aaron would be bothered by all the baby stuff—since it was Matt's, since Shannon had been pregnant by Matt, and since Aaron couldn't have children himself—he sure was surprising her.
On Thursday at a little after eleven o'clock, Aaron chose the untimely moment to pop in at the apartment unexpectedly.
Of course at that time, Julie was in the middle of getting dressed so she could go meet Matt in Little Italy.
"You here?" he called out.
Her eyes widened as she her hands froze on the clip in her hair, and she feebly called back, "Yeah."
Pausing outside the door, he asked, "Are you decent?"
"Nope, butt naked," she responded, eyeing her reflection in the mirror for any sign of wrong-doing. When she found none, she finished twisting her hair up and fastening the clip, then she mussed the loose hair hanging over and turned toward the door as she heard his hand turn on the knob.
"Liar," Aaron accused, then he opened the door.
Mock gasping, she covered her chest—which, of course, was covered by clothes— and shot him a disapproving look. "How rude."
Rolling his eyes, he ignored her theatrics. "I brought your crackers."
Sighing in relief, she remembered that she had been complaining she was out of saltine crackers, and he told her he would pick some up if he made it to the store. "You are amazing," she stated, taking the crackers from him. "These are the only thing that Poppy Seed doesn't force out of me."
"You know, when the baby comes out weighing several pounds, Poppy Seed isn't really going to fit anymore," he pointed out.
"I know," she said sadly. "Actually, I looked it up this morning, and apparently the baby is about the size of a blueberry this week."
"Baby Blueberry," he said with a smile. "Makes me think of Willy Wonka."
Grinning, she said, "When the brat becomes a blueberry. That's a good part."
He nodded, but then he glanced down at his bag and reached inside. "I picked up something else, too."
Raising her eyebrows, she peered curiously into the bag and he pulled out a picture frame that said, "Baby's First Picture."
She gasped, smiling at the frame.
"It's for the ultrasound picture," he explained. "I know you didn't want to hang the original on the fridge, so I thought it would be safer in this."
Smiling at him, she said, "You're so… great. Thank you." Then, although she hesitated briefly, she decided just to throw caution to the wind and give him a hug. After all, he had bought her a present, and he was being a good friend lately, so she was probably allowed to do that.
Aaron seemed a little more hesitant than she was, and he seemed kind of stiff when she surprised him with the hug, but since she didn't feel like dealing with an awkward moment afterward, she chuckled and said, "I'm going to stay like this until you hug me back. Just a little pat will suffice, I promise you it won't hurt."
Her mission was accomplished; verbally acknowledging
the potentially uncomfortable moment seemed to diffuse it, and he kind of hugged her back.
"Thank you," she said again. "That was very nice of you."
"No problem," he said a bit gruffly.
Smiling, she shook her head a bit. "You're funny."
"Then why can't I be a face painting pirate?" he asked lightly, trying to ignore the possibility of awkwardness just like she was.
Wrinkling up her nose, she said, "You might find an opening after this weekend. When I told Jim I couldn't work the weekend he seemed kind of pissy."
"Well, if you end up retiring from piracy just let me know, I can try to get you some more hours."
"I know this probably isn't the best attitude for a mother-to-be, but all those little kids kind of make me want to pull out my hair."
Aaron merely smiled. "Don't worry, your blueberry won't be able to talk when it comes out."
"That's what you think. My kid's going to come out with the vocabulary of a five year old."
He rolled his eyes, stating, "'It really wouldn't surprise me."
Glancing down at her picture frame, she said, "This is really nice. I'm not sure where to put it though…"
Shrugging, he said, "Wherever you want. I'm not really much of a decorator, if you haven't noticed."
She smiled a little. "Yeah, but… if I leave it sitting around you're going to have to see it."
Raising his eyebrows, he said, "That would be the general idea of framing a picture."
"I know, but… is that going to…?" Julie attempted to trail off, but he just gazed at her expectantly so she sighed and tried again. "Are you going to mind?"
"Why would I mind?" he asked, frowning.
Instead of answering, she shrugged. "Well, if it doesn't bother you I guess it's irrelevant, right?" she said with a smile.
He gave her a slightly funny look, but he let it go. "I suppose," he said.
Glancing down at her phone, she wondered how she was supposed to leave with Aaron home. By her calculations, she needed to be leaving in order to meet Matt on time, but she knew that she couldn't tell Aaron… He wouldn't be pleased. Honestly, she kept wondering why she had even agreed to go in the first place. As a general rule, if it had to be a secret, it was probably not something you were supposed to be doing.
If it came up she would tell him—at least that's what she told herself to appease her conscience.
The fact that she felt guilty also indicated she probably shouldn't be doing it, but it wasn't intentional. Julie hadn't even wanted to meet Matt in Little Italy, but he needed to get off the phone and he said he had to discuss something with her concerning her future. It could—somehow—be about the baby. She wouldn't be able to keep using the baby as an excuse to talk to Matt, she acknowledged, but for the moment that was what she was going to say.
How did she get rid of him so she could leave?
If she just said she had to go, she would feel like she needed to explain. Or she ran the chance of him asking, and she didn't want him to know she had talked to Matt until she knew why she was talking to Matt—that way the inevitably good reason she was going to have could be utilized.
At least, that was what she was hoping.
"Well, I should probably head back before lunch starts," Aaron said.
Relief flooded Julie's entire being, and she smiled brightly. "Okay. Well, thank you for the crackers and the picture frame."
"Yep," he said with a slight nod. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see you later," Julie said as she turned around to busy herself, letting him leave. It seemed that he poked around in the kitchen a little longer, and she looked down at her phone again, reading the time and wondering how long she would have to wait for him to be gone before she could leave.
While she waited, she took the ultrasound picture and put it in the frame he bought her, smiling at it as she sat it on the dresser. She hoped leaving it on the dresser was okay. It was in his room; she didn't know if he would mind that or not. He insisted that he didn't mind anything, so to her way of thinking she would be able to tell if it bothered him.
After what she hoped was a sufficient amount of time, Julie left the apartment and headed toward Little Italy.
When she finally showed up, it was six minutes after and she walked quickly to the little restaurant that Matt told her he would be waiting outside of.
As she approached Matt, she noticed that the figure next to him seemed to be with him. From afar, she just thought it was someone else on the street, but she could tell the way Matt would turn his head to speak he was talking to the person in glasses next to him.
"There you are," Matt said, rubbing his hands together as he moved forward to greet her, lightly touching her on the back as he said, "Julie, this is Doug. Doug, this Julie."
"Pleased to meet you," Doug responded, his expression pleased even though his nose was red from the cold.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she said uncertainly, looking from Matt to the middle-aged man named Doug.
"Well, are you ready?" Doug asked, smiling as he withdrew a key from his pocket and turned around.
"Ready for what?" she murmured toward Matt.
"Well, it was a surprise," he told her, half-smiling. "Doug's my realtor; he's with me because I wanted to take you through this cute little condo I found. It's two bedrooms, I've already been inside, I think you'll like it."
Feeling more confused than she had in a while, she just reiterated, "Condo?"
Nodding, Matt took her by the arm and led her up the stairs behind Doug. "It's really cute, and we're just a couple minutes away from campus, so the location will be really convenient if you like it. There's even a fireplace for Santa," he said, his eyes twinkling at her as he nodded at her stomach.
Her confusion doubled and she knew it was showing on her face, but she didn't care.
He didn't seem to either. He certainly didn't acknowledge it, just led her into the little condo.
The realtor was unlocking the first door in the hallway, then he stepped back and allowed Matt and Julie to walk inside.
"These wood floors are lovely," the realtor told her. "And the condo is relatively new—it's about five years old, so everything is still nice. Little fireplace in the corner," he pointed out with a smile. "You could curl up with a book and some hot cocoa during the winter months."
All she could do was frown, and finally she said quietly, "Matt, why am I here?"
"To look at the condo," he responded sensibly.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she lowered her voice even more to tell him, "I am really not in a place right now where I can financially afford a condo."
"I know that," he said, rolling his eyes as if common sense guaranteed as much. "I told you that once things got settled down I would help you find a place."
Sparing the realtor a glance, Julie wondered what he thought of their situation.
He discreetly averted his gaze, and then he wandered into the next room, murmuring that he was just going to take a look.
Grimacing, Julie looked up at Matt and demanded, "What are you doing?"
"Showing you the condo."
"What are you doing?" she repeated, not looking away from his eyes.
Sighing, Matt raked a hand through his hair, looking away from her face. It seemed a long moment before he tiredly answered, "What I said I was going to do, Julie."
She watched him for a few seconds, but he still wasn't looking at her, he was looking out the window, but she could tell he wasn't really looking at anything—just not at her.
Finally, she said, "I don't need you to take care of me, Matt."
"Stop trying to be tough," he said, still not looking at her, but his eyes darkened a little, and she wasn't sure why.
"Sorry, I don't have that option," she said. "Tell me why I'm here wasting Doug's time."
"We're not wasting Doug's time. I wanted to show you this condo because I thought it was really cute and the location was close to your school. I thought you would l
ike it. If you do like it, then I'm going to help you get it."
"How much is it?" she asked.
"Don't worry about it," he said, shaking his head. "Just tell me if you like it enough to live here, to raise our baby here for a little while."
Her heart experienced a slight jump when he said "our baby," but she quickly brought it back down and sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward. "I'm not letting you pay for my…condo. It's way too 17th century England for my taste—jewelry and townhouses—are you going to take me to operas, too?"
"If you want to go to one," he stated.
Meeting his gaze, she said simply, "What changed? You're the same guy who tossed me out on my ass, remember?"
He averted his gaze once more, and it returned to the window. "I had to wait for things to settle down, Julie. Now that they're settling… I want to get you settled. There's no reason for you to keep living at Aaron's anymore. I will help you get a place, as I said before, and things can get back on track."
She said nothing, but she wondered exactly where the "track" was.
"Anyway, if you'll stop being difficult for a moment, I don't have long for my lunch break and Doug has other people to meet with, so could I take you and show you the condo?"
Still, she didn't really say anything, but she did let him drag her in to Doug, where Doug pretended everything was perfectly fine and he took them on the tour.
The first bedroom they approached was the smaller one. The walls were all painted beige, and there was a nice big window letting the light stream in through blue curtains.
"I was thinking this could be the baby's room," he murmured close to her ear. "You could put the crib over there, decorate the walls…"
For a moment, she thought of her baby having its own room, with a sleigh crib in the corner…
No, she told herself firmly. Not on Matt's dollar.
They continued to tour the condo, which was surprisingly big, but then when they got to the last room Doug said, "For 1300 a month, this is a steal."
"What?" she said, looking at Matt with wide eyes. "No," she said then, shaking her head. "I could work at the café every day of the week, Matt, and still not be able to pay this rent."
