She only stayed for a few more minutes, then Leigh told them she was going to go call Steve and see if he wanted to have dinner. Julie thanked her for her help with the shower and Leigh gave a half-smiling nod in response, but it didn't feel quite as warm as it had earlier.
Once she was gone, Julie sighed and said, "Well, she thinks I'm a whore now."
"She doesn't think you're a whore," Aaron stated loyally.
"No, she does," Julie insisted. "She thinks I'm on Shannon's level."
"You couldn't reach Shannon's level if you tried. Your heart isn't black enough. Leigh's just surprised."
"No kidding. I'm going to have to send Matt a thank you note," she remarked dryly. "What the hell was he thinking?"
"About himself, naturally," was Aaron's simple response. "The only person he ever thinks about. He wanted to make his presence known at the shower, wanted to shake everything up… it's what he does, Julie, how are you still surprised?"
"I really do have half a mind to send him a thank you note in hopes that Emma will see it," she muttered, even knowing as she said it that the threat was empty.
Aaron merely smiled, a rather satisfied looking smile and said, "Don't bother, I'm sure he's already feeling the depth of our appreciation."
Glancing at Aaron a little uncertainly, she said, "What does that mean?"
Stepping closer to her and leaning in to brush a soft kiss across her lips, he said, "Nothing to concern yourself with. You look tired, why don't you take a nap while I assemble some of this stuff and get rid of the boxes?"
Since she was always tired—a state she sincerely hoped would pass when the baby was born—Julie agreed and waddled her way into bed.
---
Less than a week later Julie was sitting in a booth at the café rolling silverware and making up cups of sour cream while she kept an eye on the one and only table that Aaron allowed her to have. He had been trying to talk her into staying home for the rest of her pregnancy, but she insisted that sitting by herself at the apartment made her go stir crazy and if he loved her he would at least let her do something to help out around the café.
After her shift, Julie went home and rested on the couch for a little bit, shifting uncomfortably and begging the baby to make her entrance soon. Those women who had pregnancy addictions, she concluded, were obviously crazy. She couldn't wait to be done being pregnant. Honestly, Aaron couldn't either. He enjoyed all of the pregnancy related stuff, probably only because he had previously thought he wouldn't get to do any of it, but even he was extremely eager to meet their daughter. He already had her entire bedroom set up, complete with a fully stocked little bookshelf full of stories he planned to read to her religiously. The man had done so much parenting research that she figured their kid had a better shot than m
ost any kid in the entire world at being a baby genius.
The ringing of the phone interrupted her little rest and she shoved herself off the couch, waddling over to the phone and heaving a sigh before rubbing her back and answering.
Without even a hello, Matt said, "I want to talk to Aaron."
"Aaron is at work, and I doubt that he would want to talk to you anyway barring an emergency."
"I consider him fucking up my life an emergency," he replied shortly.
"Well, he probably didn't like when you fucked his up either, but what are you talking about?"
"He called Emma. I don't know what all he said to her, but he told her I showed up at the baby shower, greatly embellished the story, and now she's informed me that we're moving to New York or she's filing for divorce and moving there without me, and either way Anna goes with her."
Heart dropping, Julie immediately answered, "Aaron wouldn't do that."
"Yes, he would. To get me out of the way once and for all, he certainly would."
"He's not that spiteful," she insisted.
"I'm sorry, have you met my brother?"
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Well, okay, he's a little bit spiteful, but you earned it. Even if he did say something to Emma, you crashed his baby shower just like you've crashed a million other things for him—honestly, if that's the only way he feels assured that he can enjoy this baby without you butting into his life, I can't even say that I blame him. You won't bow out gracefully."
"Why should I?" Matt fired back. "You're having my baby. And I've got news for you, if Emma does leave me and take Anna, I'm taking you and Aaron to court for custody. A DNA test will prove I'm the father, not him—”
"You would not do that. You're not that evil."
"Is it evil to want to see my own kid? The more Aaron tries to push me out, the more it makes me want to fight back. Rightfully, I should be able to be present at any baby-related—”