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.