Beautiful Mistakes

Shrugging, Matt said, "I got done with work early."

Bending down, Julie let Anna down and began to quickly think up reassurances to feed Aaron, but to her surprise, before she could say anything, Matt did.

"Don't worry, Aaron, I just got here literally less than a minute ago. Anna wanted to show me a picture she colored before we left, so Julie reluctantly let me inside to see the picture. We were just on our way out."

Since that speech was entirely untrue, Julie could only stare at Matt, trying not to lookn shocked.

Nodding, Aaron said, "Okay, well… you should probably go."

"Anna, give Uncle Aaron a hug," Matt said.

Anna went over to give Aaron a hug goodbye, and as she did, Matt offered Julie the slightest of smiles.

For a split second, she remembered the side of him she had liked once upon a time, and in that moment she wondered if his circumstances really did just suck so much that that's why he had turned into a complete asshole.

It wasn't her problem, however, so she immediately dismissed the thought and walked over to Aaron, allowing him to wrap an arm around her waist.

"Are you hungry yet?" Aaron asked her as Anna made her way over to her father.

"For cheesecake," Julie replied with a smile.

Matt picked up Anna's tote and said, "Thank you for watching her on such short notice."

"No problem," Julie replied with a small nod.

Lifting Anna onto his hip and sighing as he slid the tote on his shoulder, he said, "Don't laugh because I look very feminine right now."

Julie chuckled a little, shaking her head.

Matt nodded, inclining his head briefly, and then he was out the door.

Aaron sighed. "He beat me here."

"Barely," Julie replied.

"Oh well. He behaved?"

Thinking about the conversation they had about Matt's marriage, she figured that "acting human" probably wasn't under the heading of good behavior for Aaron—not when it came to Matt, anyway—but then she thought about the way Matt had deliberately not caused a fight when he could have.

Nodding, she said, "Yep, very well behaved."

"Good." His grip tightened slightly and he smiled a little. "You ready to go?"

"I sure am," Julie said, grabbing her jacket and slipping it on, then picking up her purse.

"I kind of figured he’d be an asshole if he got here before me," Aaron replied.

Chuckling, Julie said, "He's not all super-villain; sometimes he's a normal person."

"Rarely," Aaron said, rolling his eyes.

Offering a smile, Julie said, "Let's not talk about him. Alyssa wants some cheesecake."

Aaron smiled and nodded, leaning in to give her a little kiss. "Good idea."

"I'm full of them," she replied with a cheeky grin.

"Well, I don't know about that…"