Beautiful Mistakes

He had brought home an air mattress at that time, which Julie stared at as he tried to inflate it in the corner of the living room.

"Do you want some help?" she asked, putting her textbook down on the couch and starting to stand up.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it," he said.

Pausing, she watched him skeptically as he blew up what was supposed to be her bed. "Not to be a complainer or anything, but are those things comfortable? I haven't slept on an airbed since I was like 10, and I really can't remember."

"Yes," he said gruffly.

It didn't look comfortable to her, but she didn't argue. Instead, she watched him for a second longer, then started when the phone began to ring.

"Can you get that? I'm a little busy at the moment," Aaron stated.

Nodding, Julie went over to grab the phone. Not sure of how she was supposed to answer, she went with a simple, "Hello?"

There was silence on the other end, then she heard, "Julie?"

Her heart thudded in her chest, and she swallowed. "Hi," she said lamely.

"Hello," Matt returned.

After a split second, Julie blurted, "You probably want to talk to Aaron, huh? Here he is."

Dodging the dirty look Aaron was tossing in her direction, she handed the phone off to him and went back to the couch, becoming instantly absorbed in studying.

Or tried to, anyway.

But really she just found herself listening to the only side of the conversation that she could hear.

"Working," Aaron said shortly. "At this very moment I'm working on getting her a place to sleep…. In my bed…"

Julie's ears perked up at this, and she frowned, glad that her back was to him.

"Where else was she supposed to sleep? I didn’t know she was gonna be here…." He snorted then. "In my apartment that I pay for? No, I don't think so…. Yep… Don't worry, I'm not you… Yes, I believe it was… Not really… Nope," he said more decisively. "She's pretty adamant about that one… Uh huh… No, that I will not do… Because it isn't my business, Matt… Nope, that would still make it yours… Well then have her come chat with her, but warn her first that I keep garlic hanging above the entrance of my door, so she might want to take it outside… Mm, I try," he murmured dryly.

Thoroughly frustrated, Julie tried to piece together possible things Matt could be saying to get the responses.

"I don't know, Matt. I've been working all day… What did you expect? I told you I don't have time… No, that's not what I'm saying… I already told you I would keep her…"

Yep, it was definitely about her, she decided.

"Look, I may have agreed to be your damn babysitting service," Aaron said, abandoning the project of inflating the bed and standing, walking past the couch Julie was sitting on and down the hall. The last words she heard before the door shut were, "But I have my limits."

Julie tried to listen through the walls, but all she could hear was muffled mumbling from the other room.

She could tell it was at least partially about her. Maybe entirely. Would Aaron tell her what Matt said? He didn't really seem like the type to come in and gossip with her, but she wanted to know what was going on.

She had been tempted three times to just give in and call Jack. He hadn't texted her again since she ignored the one he sent back, but the idea kept floating back into her mind along with some weaker thoughts she didn't want to acknowledge.

Jack had seemed pretty sincere the night she told him she was leaving. She still didn't love him, but maybe… maybe in his own way he really did love her.

Thoughts like that were immediately discarded, and instead she would focus on what she could do in her own life to take control instead of letting Matt run it for her.

She had taken down the number for that babysitting job while she was at school, and she had been on top of things all day—she even called already and spoke with the woman who needed a Thursday sitter. Apparently some other girls had already called about the job, but the woman was very particular about who would watch her two children, so she was going to give everyone phone interviews and then narrow it down.

She was hoping to get that one. The woman was offering $10 an hour and it was 9 to 6 under the table, so she would make $90 on a Thursday alone, and there was a possibility that she would have time to do homework there the following semester once school was back in, and that could just be a day she wasn't available at the café. She wasn't sure how she was going to juggle working as much as she would have to and school, but she knew with a baby on the way, she was definitely going to have to figure it out.

Once the baby was actually born, she really had no idea what she was going to do. Juggling school and work was going to be enough of a hassle, but school, work and being a single mother? She would probably end up dropping a class each semester, and she would end up falling a whole semester behind before it was over and done with.