"I didn't mean to flip out and make you leave work for a false alarm, I was just scared, I didn't think that was supposed to happen unless you were miscarrying."
"It's fine, Julie. I had no problem taking you."
"Well, thank you anyway," she said. "And thank you for going in with me so I didn't have to go through that alone."
Aaron merely nodded.
For the rest of the ride home she didn't say too much, she just looked at her picture and daydreamed about her baby.
She had never cared less who the father was than she did in that moment. She was just grateful that her little poppy seed was okay, and as Aaron drove them home she sat there in the car imagining different versions of their life together.
When Aaron got her back to the apartment he instructed her to eat something and then go to bed because the doctor said she needed rest, then he left to close up the store and told her he would be back later.
She hadn't really planned on going to sleep so early, she had only agreed to appease Aaron, but as she was lying in bed with her picture on the pillow next to her, she drifted off to sleep.
---
Later that night when Aaron came into the bedroom she heard the rustle of a plastic bag and she stretched out, yawning.
"Did I wake you up?"
She smiled a little as she rubbed her eyes. "No, you're fine."
He flipped the light on and she squinted, shading her eyes from the offending light. Aaron put the bag down on the bed and she made out rectangular shapes inside.
"What is that?" she asked, frowning little.
Pulling them out of the bag, she saw that he had books. "These are for you to read tomorrow and the next couple days. The doctor said you need rest, so I will expect you not to leave this bed tomorrow unless it is to get food or go to the bathroom. I got you a baby name book so you can start looking through those if you haven't already, and I wasn't completely sure what books you would want, so I just got a variety."
Smiling up at him, she said, "You got me books?"
"Yes. You need to rest, and I figured if you have a way to pass the time you're more prone to listening. I got Jane Eyre, The Lovely Bones, some shopaholic book Leigh liked, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Illustrated Egyptian Book of the Dead… because that one was on clearance and I thought you might be feeling academic-minded. Anyway, I'll put these over here, you can look at them tomorrow—and when I pop in at any given time you better be in bed with your feet up, or you're in trouble."
"Can we arrange for people to fan me with a giant leaf and feed me grapes, as well?"
"Now that's pushing it. The doctor didn't give me direct orders to do that, so you're going to have to get your own grapes."
Technically, the doctor had given "daddy" orders, but she kept that remark to herself.
"I work tomorrow," she reminded him. "But after that—”
"No, I already covered you."
Frowning at him, she said, "It was a four hour shift!"
He shook his head, stubbornly folding his arms across his chest. "You're not working tomorrow, you are resting."
Sighing loudly, she muttered, "I could have handled a four hour shift. I need the money, Aaron, I can't afford to not work, lying in bed eating Bon Bons all day."
"Don't worry about money, you need to worry about Poppy Seed right now."
Hearing him call the baby by her nickname made her grin, and she forgot she was frustrated at his high-handedness in calling her off.
He was being so damn cute, even if he was being bossy.
"Now I'm going to take a shower," he said, putting the bag with the books down by the nightstand and turning the light back out.
While Aaron showered, Julie picked up her ultrasound picture and looked at it, wondering if Aaron would have a problem with her putting it on the fridge. She didn't know the rules, she didn't know how Aaron felt about things, and she had no idea what his reaction would be if she flaunted her pregnancy. Since the baby was Matt's and he hated Matt, she wasn't sure that it would make him very happy—a daily reminder of Shannon?