Beautiful Mistakes

"Dirty mind."

"I didn't say a word," he pointed out.

"You thought it."

"You can hear my thoughts now?" he asked, his tone impressed.

"Yep," she stated smugly. "Be afraid, be very afraid."

"Well, it's only fair that I get to hear yours too then," he said reasonably.

"Life's not fair," she told him. "I'm the pregnant one, only I get to hear the thoughts."

Frowning, Aaron looked down at his coat pocket and patted it, then he withdrew his cell phone, looking at the screen and answering it.

"Hey," he greeted.

While he was on the phone, Julie took the opportunity to walk around and glimpse the courtyard area. It wasn't a big courtyard, but it was fenced in, and it had a little playground for the kids with a green bench presumably for the parents who wanted to sit and watch. Smiling a little, she rubbed her belly as she imagined sitting there reading a Bronte novel while Alyssa was playing, waiting for Aaron to get home from work.

Sighing in contentment at the thought, she walked back over to Aaron's side.

"All right, yeah, that'll be fine. Just stop by whenever, I'll be there until about dinner time tomorrow…. Yep. Thanks. Bye."

Putting his cell phone away, he said, "Sorry."

"Business call?" she surmised.

"Sorta. It was that buddy I told you about that was going through the messy divorce, the one that sold me the property. He still technically has a bunch of the papers, and he's bringing them to me at the café tomorrow."

"When am I going to get to see this apartment building?" she asked curiously.

"Whenever you want," he told her. "We can stop by after we finish up here if you really want to."

Nodding, she said, "I like this plan."

Leading her into the brick building through the white front door that must be theirs, Aaron opened it and ducked inside.

A middle aged man with salt and pepper hair stood just inside the door, smiling at them. "Hello, Aaron. You must be Julie," he said, offering her hand.

"Yes, I am."

"I'm Ted, nice to meet you."

Allowing them to step inside the little room that seemed to be a foyer, Julie imagined how she would decorate it—with a little oak end table in the corner, maybe some flowers on it and a family photo. Glancing down at the cream carpet, she thought an area rug would make a nice added touch.

Smiling up at Aaron, she said, "I've never had a foyer before. So far, I'm a fan."

Chuckling, he draped his arm across her shoulder and followed Ted through the archway and into the kitchen.

Where the foyer had been decorated in deeper colors like brown and burgundy, the kitchen was a sunny breath of fresh air—the walls were ocean blue to match the drawers and cabinets, which had butter yellow trim. The counter top was a pretty marble, and there were three high stools at the kitchen island. The floors were tiled beige, and off to the left was a big empty space where the kitchen table would go, right in front of a big window that let it plenty of light.

"This is a very happy kitchen," Julie stated.

"Definitely," the realtor agreed. "It's bright and fun, but also calm and classy for Mom."

Smiling, she imagined Alyssa sitting in the corner with a little Easy Bake Oven as she helped Mommy or Daddy cook dinner.

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