Beautiful Mistakes

"Yes, mom," he drawled.

"That's right, I'm the mom and what I say goes. Aren't you the one that told me to be a pain in your ass?"

"You've never been so obedient before," he joked.

"I have to obey sometimes; gotta keep you on your toes.”

Chapter Twenty Eight-

Once they moved into the apartment, things got a little calmer.

By Easter, Leigh was so far past the feelings she had for Aaron that she suggested that—since no one else had offered—she throw together a baby shower for Julie.

Julie was stunned, but since she had practically given up all hope of having a baby shower, she readily agreed.

The shower wasn't big, just a few of the girls from work and a couple of girls Julie had befriended at school. They had the shower at the apartment, and Leigh came over early that morning in a cute pastel dress with a little white cardigan, trying to balance a cake, a balloon bouquet, a "Baby Shower" banner, and a grocery bag that looked to be filled with decorating supplies.

"Let me help," Julie said, taking the cake and putting it down on the counter and then turning around to grab the balloon bouquet.

"I still have a box in the car with the baby bingo and some more decorations, I just couldn't carry it all." Then, rolling her eyes but betraying herself with the glowing blush, she said, "Steve was going to come help me with this stuff, but I told him no."

Smiling at Leigh, Julie said, "Steve, huh? How's that going?"

"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head. "I think it's going well, but I'm trying to take it slow and not… you know, jump in."

"Sometimes you have to jump in," Julie informed her.

"I know, but… I don't know. It's scary. It's a lot scarier this time, I don't know why."

"You mean scarier than Aaron, or scarier than… Ryan?"

"Both. Ryan was my first love, I was too young and naïve to be afraid. Aaron… he wasn't scary at all, because he was such a long shot. Honestly… this thing with Steve… it's made me wonder how I would have even reacted if Aaron would have decided to get serious with me. Steve scares me more than other guys."

"How do you mean? Just… you don't want to get hurt?"

"I guess. It's just… the guys at the restaurant, they flirt, they feed my ego and everything, but I don't really take them seriously. They don't even intend to be taken seriously. None of them are serious, they just want to have fun."

"And Steve doesn’t?" she asked, thinking that sounded like a good thing.

"I don't know," Leigh said, looking a little frustrated. "He hasn't said that or anything, it's just a feeling I get when I'm with him, it feels more real. I don't really know how to explain it. He feels so comfortable, but also so daunting. He's handsome and funny and caring and responsible and I think that I could care about him, but that's what makes him scary. I don't want to experience that all over again."

"Well, if you want my opinion—”

"Oh, you're a happily taken pregnant woman; what single girl wants your opinion?" Leigh said half-jokingly.

/> Grinning, Julie went on unperturbed. "If you want my opinion, you need to keep your heart open to the idea and just give Steve a chance. Keep your eyes open for red flags, of course—men can be tricky. But give him a chance. Don't get too far ahead of yourselves, don't even think about where it's going to go and start building expectations on it yet. Just, for now, enjoy the ride."

"Easy for you to say," Leigh said, rolling her eyes. "We were at dinner the other night and his soon-to-be-ex-wife calls him when we get our menus, he tries to rush her off the phone and apologize to me, and she continues to call for twenty minutes until he finally just shut his phone off. It was so uncomfortable."

"Ew," Julie said, grimacing. "That's less than ideal."

"No kidding. He is finally moving out though, and thank God they didn't have any kids together, so I'm thinking maybe she'll just fade out and then it won't seem so much like I'm going out with another woman's husband."

"Yeah, that's not the best feeling," Julie replied dryly, thinking of her own experience.

"I do like him though," she said thoughtfully. "I don't know. We'll see. Anyway, enough about my stupid love life—this is your day! I'm going to go get the other box and then we can get decorating."

The party was going well until it hit a rather uncomfortable snag when a surprise guest threatened to ruin the festivities.