by Sam Mariano
"Are clams really that happy? I mean, how would you know? It's not like they talk."
"You're stalling," she stated, picking up the room key and sliding it in her purse. "No more stalling. You look great, I have my camera, I have the key, and we are ready to go."
Nodding slowly, Aaron walked to the door. "The day can't last forever."
"It'll be fun. Just don't think about the people that we don't like," she advised.
"But they're everywhere," he told her, closing the door behind him.
"We hate that many people? Damn, we are antisocial."
Nodding, Aaron said without hesitation, "Damn right. I deal with people when I'm being paid. Right now I am not being paid."
"I'll give you a dollar when we get back to the room," she told him.
The reception was to be held at the hotel, but the wedding itself was going to be at a church a few minutes away. Julie drove them, smiling to herself when Aaron put Dean Martin on and thinking it was a cute little quirk to have.
When they arrived at the church and found a parking spot, Aaron sighed and started dragging his feet.
"Come on, strong and proud," she told him, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "Yes, we have exes and enemies inside this building, but look on the bright side—the roof could very well cave in on them."
"The floor could also open up and swallow us into the pits of hell—oh wait, that's already what we're walking into," he said.
"Well, at least we'll know someone," she offered with a bright smile.
With one last sigh he held his arm out a little. "Shall we?"
Grinning at the gesture, she looped her arm through his and then leaned a little closer, privately pleased with the contact—and he was sober.
Julie's stomach began to flutter a little and her bravado quietly faded as they approached the church doors and the moment of truth was upon them, but she forced herself to at least look confident as she held onto Aaron's arm and walked inside with him.
She tried not to immediately scan the room for Matt, she really did, but she also wanted to see the look on his face when he first spotted her on Aaron's arm.
Luckily, she found him in time to see it. He hadn't been looking when they first walked by, he was balancing Anna on his knee and smiling down at her in her cute little purple dress. Emma was standing next to him of course, but she wasn't looking at Anna and she noticed the two of them walk in almost immediately. As she stood there looking absolutely gorgeous in a purple silk dress, practically backless but with a little gathering at the neck that held the dress together, Julie watched Emma's gaze sweep over Julie and Aaron, then their joined arms, and she almost smiled.
Almost.
But then she must have decided not to, because she turned away from them and instead took Anna from Matt, causing him to have to turn so he was facing Aaron and Julie.
As soon as his gaze fell on them his expression changed; his face fell. For a moment, Julie almost felt a little guilty.
Then she recovered.
Matt's gaze left her and went to Aaron, a look of hostility quite visible in the way his jaw locked and the fiery look in his eyes.
Julie stole a sideways glance at Aaron to see if he was looking and she saw him meet Matt's gaze and hold it, then he smirked at his brother and offered a sarcastic little wave.
If they were wild animals, she knew Matt would be growling, because the look he gave Aaron as he turned his back to them was none too friendly.
Although she kind of felt like a trophy, she couldn't begrudge Aaron his satisfaction. All things considered, Matt deserved to be under the impression that Aaron had taken over Matt's former mistress right out from under him.
It made her feel a little bit whorish, but she shrugged that off as probably being because she was inside a church, so the moral bar was raised.
Anna caught Julie's gaze then, and when she noticed Julie Anna grinned and waved. "Hi!" she called.
Smiling a little sadly, Julie raised her left hand and waved back. "I miss her," she murmured to Aaron.
"Who?" he asked absently, then noticed the interaction. "Oh. Yeah, that… kind of sucks. Considering the history, you probably don't get invited for play dates, huh?"
"I wonder what Anna will be like when she gets older," Julie mused.
Grimacing, Aaron said, "I don't even want to think about it."
"She's such a sweet baby," Julie said.
"Yeah, she is, but she's doomed. Matt and Emma are her role models," he reasoned. "Just look on the bright side, you'll have your own in a few months, you can make sure he or she grows up following your standards."
Scoffing slightly, Julie said, "I think we might want to raise the bar a little, Aaron. I'm telling the baby I conceived by swallowing a watermelon seed."
Chuckling, Aaron said, "I don't think that will hold up for long."
"Then I'll say that I don't know who the father is because I was in a coma and when I woke up I was pregnant."
"These are the days of our lives," Aaron said a touch mockingly.
"I used to have such good morals," she said on a sigh. "I never should have had to lie about this. I should have had a baby with a decent man who would actually play a part in my kid's life."
Glancing over at her he said, "Well, it's not too late. Not like you're beyond redemption."
"I'm in the blueberry stage, Aaron. I think I'm slightly past being able to give this baby a decent father."
Shaking his head, he seemed to disagree. "That's not entirely true. There are guys out there who…considering your baby won't really have a father… they would take care of the kid like it's their own. Not right away, of course, but when you guys get serious. You're not that far along, you still have plenty of time to meet someone."
"Yeah, but since the baby won't really be his, what if he treats the baby differently?"
"Then dump him," Aaron said with a slight smile, but she could tell he wasn't joking. "If he's not an asshole then he's going to know that regardless of any mistakes you might have made—you are still young, those happen—it's not the baby's fault. If he's worth your time, that won't matter."
Biting her lip a little, Julie hesitated before asking, "Would you personally date a woman who had a baby?"
"Yes," he answered without hesitation.
"And you'd be… a father-figure if things got serious?"
"If she didn't mind, yes," he said with a nod. "Honestly, since I can't have kids myself… I wouldn't mind that at all."
A little grin blossomed on her face then, and although she didn't investigate as to why that might make her happy, it definitely seemed to.
Since it wasn't really time to find a seat yet, Aaron and Julie walked around. The idea was to mingle, but since Aaron wasn't much of a mingler and Julie didn't know anyone except people who didn't like her, they mostly just ended up walking around, looking at the purple flower arrangements and saying hi to a couple of people.
Eventually they went and found their seats, no longer wanting to mingle, and they just sat there waiting and talking a little bit. People began filling up the pews and the person at the piano took her seat and started playing some music.
"See, this wasn't so bad," Julie said quietly.
"It's not the wedding I was dreading, it's more the reception."
Grimacing, she said, "I hope you're hungry, because I don't feel like running to the bathroom in heels, so I'm thinking I should discreetly dump my food on your plate."
Shaking his head, he said, "Nope, I'm going to be drinking, I don't want to eat much either or I'll get sick."
"Well… I just figured that morning sickness would be a bad thing to get around your family. They do seem to be under the impression that you and I are together, so…"
"Yeah, no one knows your story. Shannon's not so lucky," he added.
From the pew across the aisle Julie heard, "Aw, there she is!"
She and Aaron both turned instinctively to watch Aaron's mom lean in and gush over
Anna, warmly greeting Matt and Emma. After a couple seconds of observing the scene, Julie could see Aaron look away out of the corner of her eye. He had a look of irritation on his face as he turned to face the front of the room.
"How is my favorite little grandbaby?" Denise cooed.
"Wow," Julie whispered. "I've never seen your mom so…"
"Nice?" he offered, nodding a little. "Babies tend to bring out that side of people."
One more thing she had robbed her child of, she thought with annoyance at herself. Even though she was carrying the woman's second grandchild, she wouldn't even know, and if she did know she certainly wouldn't be gushing over it like she was Anna.
Because Anna had been created the right way. Two married people having one beautiful child—on the surface, they had a nearly perfect life.
It just went to show you couldn't judge anything by how it appeared.
She did wonder, however, why it was that no one seemed to have a problem with the fact that Shannon and Matt had slept together. It seemed like Aaron was the one that had been cast out when he should have been the one embraced.
But as Denise and Josh scooted in the pew with Matt, Emma and Anna, that did not appear to be the case. To his credit, Josh did acknowledge Aaron, offering an almost sheepish smile at him as he sat with the rest of the family while he was visiting, never even coming over to say hi to Aaron. Then, when it got close to time to walk Rebecca down the aisle, he went back with the rest of the wedding party, murmuring to his wife that he would be back.
Eventually, it was time for everyone to quiet down and the wedding march started. The color for the wedding was a really pretty shade of lavender, so when the maid of honor and bridesmaids walked down the aisle, they were wearing pretty strapless lavender organza ball gowns. Of course Shannon looked the most radiant as she walked down the aisle holding her bouquet of flowers. As she passed Aaron's pew, she looked over at him, her eyes sad and imploring.
How did she manage to look so damn pretty when she was obviously so awful?
It was a mystery to Julie, and not one that made her very happy. She may have made some mistakes in her time, but she would never do something like that to Aaron, and she knew she wasn't as beautiful as Emma or Shannon. They both looked like they had stepped out of the pages of a magazine and into the world.
As soon as Poppy Seed was born, she decided, she was getting a make-over, a new hairstyle, and she was joining a gym.
The wedding itself was pretty boring, pretty standard. They all sat through it (although Julie totally forgot to take pictures) and then when it was over they all walked outside to throw birdseed at the bride and groom as they climbed into the limo. It was finally over then, and it was time to head to the reception.
"What do you say we play hooky on the reception?" Aaron said with a smile.
Smiling back, she said, "Oh, we made it this far."
"Yeah, but you can't serve alcohol in a church. We have five hours of open bar ahead of us tonight, and anything could happen."
"It'll be okay. What's the worst that could happen, you might get a little touchy-feely when we dance? I think it'll be all right."
Shaking his head, he said, "No, that's not the worst thing that could happen."
But he didn't push the issue, and they made their way back to the car and went back to the hotel. First they went up to their room to get the gift, then it was already time to head down to the dreaded reception.
Upon their arrival, they found the table for the gifts and got rid of the package. Then they went to find the table with seats reserved for them. Both table settings were marked "Aaron," probably because no one knew the name of the girl he was bringing. Julie did wonder why his family didn't seem to think it was strange that no one knew Aaron had a "girlfriend," but the more she observed them she realized they really paid very little attention to Aaron. As she watched, she got the impression that Matt was the favorite, and Rebecca was probably next in line.
Poor Aaron—who had done nothing wrong, who was as loveable as ever, who deserved for his family to be on his side—seemed to be the black sheep of the family, cast out in favor of his siblings.
She was beginning to get too protective over him, she realized. That might not bode well for her.
Much to Julie's unpleasant surprise, as soon as she and Aaron found their seats and sat down, Julie heard a pair of heels on the floor as a voice she didn't immediately recognize said, "Aaron."
Looking up, Julie expected to see Shannon making another one of her idiotic attempts to get Aaron's attention.
Instead, she looked up into the beautiful face of Emma Turner.
Aaron sighed, but he turned to look at Emma.
Emma offered a smile and took a seat next to him. "I knew you were coming, I didn't expect you to bring a date," he said, one eyebrow rising a little bit.
"I'm full of surprises," Aaron stated.
Smiling, Emma's eyes twinkled a little as she said, "That you are."
"Not to be… me, but did you have a specific purpose for coming over here, or are you just trying to piss your husband off?" Aaron asked bluntly.
Julie smiled to herself, loving Aaron's lack of tolerance for bullshit.
Emma maintained her smile as she crossed her perfect legs, causing the dress to ride up just a little bit across her thigh.
Aaron merely shot her a look, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
"I was just coming over to see how Flavor is coming along," she said.
Frowning, Julie wondered if she heard that sentence wrong. It made no sense.
"Really?" Aaron asked idly.
"Yes," Emma said, smiling in that alluring way of hers. "I mean, I know you were setting up the last time we talked, but it's been a few days. I wanted to see how those tables I picked out for you worked. I know they weren't exactly what we had in mind, but I couldn't find an exact and you wouldn't let me order them custom made."
"It was expensive and unnecessary," he stated. "Things are coming along fine. Is that all?"
Julie was still frowning, and she felt totally in the dark. What was Emma even talking about? And why was she talking to Aaron when they hated each other?
Flicking a glance in Julie's direction, Emma observed, "She looks even more confused than usual. I guess you never shared any news of table shopping with her. It's dull, really, I don't blame you. And that lunch we had—”
"Okay, Emma, I'm not your husband," he said, cutting her off and giving her a dark look. "You can go now."
Giving him a little frown, she said, "You're so disagreeable sometimes. Anyway, Wednesday I'm flying to New York for that gala I told you about, but I wanted to let you know that you should stop by the gallery Friday night between 6 and 8, I'm having an exhibit and there are a couple of pieces that I think you might really like. There will be champagne and hors d'oeuvres, so even if I'm wrong, there's something in it for you."
"Matt's watching you pretty closely right now," Aaron observed, leaning back in his chair and looking up at Emma.
Rolling her eyes, she said sarcastically, "I care, really."
"He is your husband," Aaron reminded her.
Smiling, she gestured to Julie and said, "And she was his whore. Isn't it funny how we're all…tangled together?"
Standing up, Aaron said, "I'm going to get a drink."
He began to walk to the bar, but he stopped when he realized Emma wasn't moving and he looked back at Julie, frowning slightly.
"Come with me," he said to her, slanting Emma a slight frown as she continued to stand there.
Julie glanced back at Emma, but followed Aaron.
"Why did I come here?" Aaron murmured, almost to himself. "I could have gone to the wedding and left. Why did I come to the reception?"
"Family duty?" Julie suggested, but she felt distracted. "What was she talking about back there? I was so lost."
"Just… don't worry about it right now," he told her. "Just try to stay away from her, she's in one of her moods.
"
Julie nodded, but she still wasn't anywhere near satisfied. Emma had been talking about table shopping—together?—and lunch… and it didn't make any sense at all. And Emma was an art dealer, and she was talking about him coming to the gallery to look at pieces, but Aaron didn't really strike Julie as a collector of art, and even if he happened to have that unexpected quirk, why would he buy from Emma? He hated Emma, didn't he?
But she didn't pry. She let Aaron get his drink and wished she could get one too. Once he had his drink, he glanced back at the table to see if the coast was clear and instead of Emma being gone, he saw the same thing Julie saw—Shannon hesitantly approaching their table.
Aaron's jaw went slack, verifying for Julie that it was indeed strange to see Shannon approaching Emma.
Emma seemed to sense her coming, and she glanced up. A smile tugged lightly at the corner of her lips and she shook her head, then she looked straight at Aaron, her smile widening.
"I think this is what hell is probably like," Aaron observed. "I really have no idea what to do right now. I don't think going back to the table is our best bet."
"Probably not," she agreed, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the scene at her table.
Shannon finally got up her nerve to approach Emma, or so it seemed, and watching closely Julie could read from her lips that she had said, "Hi."
Emma said nothing, she merely leaned back in Aaron's chair and smiled at Shannon, but it wasn't a nice smile.
"Can we move closer?" Julie whispered.
"You gossip," he accused, but since he did inch a little bit closer she suspected he was curious too.
"How's minimum wage treating you?" Emma asked, swirling her wine in her glass.
Unfortunately, they moved too close. Shannon saw Aaron and got that deer-in-the-headlights look, then she excused herself and walked away.
Emma raised her gaze to Aaron and smiled yet again, but Julie sensed something else in the smile, some sort of dare or challenge.
Aaron didn't bite.
Shaking his head at Emma, he said, "Come on," to Julie, and they decided to do another round of the mingling.
---
As the night wore on, Emma left Aaron and Julie alone. Matt seemed to be matching Aaron drink for drink, and he spent most of the night looking moody as he sat at his table, half the time with Emma, half the time left alone with Anna. Honestly, the man was probably in his own idea of hell—with Shannon, Julie and Emma all there, he didn't have much to look excited about.
