Dealing with the Changes Who: Aiden and Jules When: Around noon Where: Random restaurant? lol.
Waiting sucked. Jules was certain that waiting was the worst possible thing in the universe. The doctor visit had cleared up the fact that she hadn't hurt the possible baby with her birth control pills, but it didn't confirm whether she was pregnant or not. And they had to take blood from her which made her queasy. And now she was certain that Aiden was just taking her out to lunch to make sure she ate correctly for the baby she wasn't even positive she was pregnant with. Sitting down at the table, Jules looked up at Aiden. "Are you sure you're not going to get fired for not being at work?" she questioned.
"I'm not going to get fired," Aiden assured her. "Jett knew I had to take you to an appointment, so he knew I might not be in. It's covered." He motioned to the bit of cotton and tape they put over her arm where they had drawn the blood. "How is it?"
Jules looked down at her arm and shrugged a little. "It's alright." she muttered. Her nose scrunched up a bit and she shook her head. "I hate needles." she sighed. "I hate doctors. I hate waiting." she went on. She was so irritable she couldn't barely stand herself. She wondered how Aiden managed to stand her.
"You know you're gonna have to deal with doctors a hell of a lot more now," Aiden pointed out, not at all bothered by her grouchiness. He didn't bother adding 'if you're pregnant', since he was pretty sure she was at this point. He'd sort of already accepted it. "And... yeah, you're gonna be waitin' nine months... waitin' for appointments, and ultrasounds and..." He probably wasn't helping her mood so he made himself shut up for the moment.
"Seven months." she corrected. "I've already breezed past the first two being delightfully ignorant." Again with the grouchiness. She was annoyed with herself. She'd come to accept that she was pregnant, despite still not having that definite answer. Jules just had to be aggravated with herself for being too ignorant to figure out that she was pregnant far sooner than she had. "Two months and I couldn't even put the pieces of the puzzle together. Tell me again why you're with me?"
"Seven months," Aiden said with a nod. "You're right. A lot of stuff went down in the past two months. If you're not payin' close attention to... stuff... that's not your fault. It just... it is what it is. You can be irritated over it now, or you can just accept it and look forward, right?"
"And what do I have to really be looking forward to?" Jules asked. "Bloating, cravings, peeing every three seconds, getting fat, my boobs hurting, being miserable and grouchy and making you hate me. Sounds delightful doesn't it?" Only in a totally not delightful sort of way.
Aiden grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, sounds brilliant, actually. Your boobs are gonna get bigger." There was the upside to everything, right? Probably not in her eyes, but he wasn't going to complain.
"What good does it do if they're bigger when they're so sore you don't get to touch them?" Jules retorted. "Or when I'm so moody and sore and miserable I don't want to... well... yeah.." she said as the waiter approached them to ask for what they'd like to drink and if they needed time to decide on their meals. Jules looked up at him. "I just want a diet coke." she told him, already preparing for Aiden telling her she needed milk or juice or something. Men.
"I still get to look at them." He didn't know about not having sex. To him that... wasn't cool. Aiden didn't know the first thing about pregnancy nutrition, so in Aiden's mind, diet coke was probably acceptable. He figured the doctor would tell her the do's and don'ts once her pregnancy was confirmed. What he really wanted was a beer. Or three. "You don't want any food?" Aiden asked, after he'd ordered a coke, burger and fries.
Jules sighed and looked up at the waiter. "I want a ceasar salad." she said. "With extra ranch and those little crouton thingies. Like... a lot of them. And I want an order of fries and some mayo on the side please." she told him, then turned her attention to Aiden. "Happy?" Yes, she wanted mayo and french fries. She'd been wanting them all day actually.
Well, she wasn't waiting very long on getting into the stuffing her face mode. Not that Aiden would say that. Yeah, he was way too smart to verbalize it. "Yeah, I'm happy," he said, once the waiter disappeared. He tapped his fingertips on the table top, studying her with a tiny grin. "You're awfully grouchy today."
He didn't have to say it, because she was already thinking that he was thinking it anyway. "I'm going to be an elephant." she muttered, scrunching up her face in annoyance. "You're not even going to want to look at me by next month." she sighed. "And I'm not grouchy."
"Jules," Aiden said with a roll of his eyes, "Look, I've seen pregnant women before okay? They don't start gettin' bigger until like... five months in or somethin'. You're not gonna to be fat, you're gonna be pregnant. And yeah, you are grouchy. Maybe it's the hormones or somethin', I don't know." And he had a lot more months to put up with it. Brilliant. It'd be like seven months of PMS.
Jules frowned at him. "Don't roll your eyes at me. I'm already starting to get bigger." she pointed out. "And I'm just going to keep getting bigger." she pouted. "And then when the baby comes I'm going to have to get a needle..." she went on. Yeah, she wasn't looking forward to that at all. IV's and epidurals weren't on her list of things she wanted. "I don't mean to be grouchy." she said softly, pushing her hair away from her face and behind her ears.
"You're not even gonna see it when they use the needle," he said. "Maybe you should just stop worryin' so much about it. I doubt it's gonna be all bad, you know?" God he hoped it wasn't all bad. For her sake, and his own. "And it's okay that you are... I just think you're stressin' out for no reason right now."
"I've never been pregnant before." she told him. "I've never even had a pregnancy scare." she told him. "I'm terrified." Jules admitted. And she was. Of just about everything that had to do with pregnancy and birth. "I don't know what to expect and I don't want to do anything wrong and I don't want to drive you insane either..."
"I know you are," Aiden said, his voice softening a touch. "You'll be told what to expect. There's hundreds of books, Jules... we can go buy some after lunch if that makes you feel better. You're not gonna do anythin' wrong either, and you drive me insane on a daily basis, so that's not gonna change." Aiden smiled, clearly teasing. He just wanted her to lighten up.
Jules really wanted to just cry. She was being mean to him and grouchy and all he was doing was trying to help. The look on her face gave away the emotional turmoil inside of her and she nodded a little. "Yeah. Books." she said softly. She even managed a tiny smile at his teasing. "I'm sorry I've been so rude to you all day." she sighed. "I'm just aggravated that I have to wait to find out."
"You don't have to wait long... just a couple hours," he said. "And you don't have to apologize. I know you're stressed out. But I think we both already know the answer, don't we? Are you upset that you're pregnant?" If she was, then maybe they ought to have another discussion about the whole thing.
"I'm pretty positive that I'm pregnant..." Jules told him. "I think I've known since that first test." she admitted. "I just don't want things to change between us." she admitted. "I don't want to be a burden for you." Jules explained. "I don't want you to feel like you're... like I'm trapping you..."
Sighing, Aiden leaned forward and folded his arms on the table, his eyes locked onto hers. "For one thing, Jules, things are going to change. There's no way they're gonna stay the same now. Secondly, you're not a burden and I'm not stupid enough to believe you're tryin' to trap me. We've been together for several years, if you were gonna do that, you would have by now."
"Well I know they're gonna change... at least like... adding a baby to the whole equation, but I mean I don't want you to like..." she sighed and reached over the table to take his hands in hers. "I don't want you to be one of those guys that goes and bitches to all his friends about his nagging old lady and be... like... unable to stand me once the baby is born. I don't want you to like... find me all unattractive afterward with all the stretchmarks and gross... baby junk." she sighed. "I love you and I love this baby... I just... I don't want you to stop loving me." she mumbled, looking down at the table and letting his hands go so she could pull hers back and wrap them around herself.
Aiden lifted a hand to run through his hair and sighed softly. "None of that's gonna happen, okay? I just need you to be a bit more secure in what we're doin' here. I need you to trust me when I say none of that's gonna happen. I don't know what else I can do to convince you. I'm not gonna stop lovin' you because of the baby junk or stretch marks, or anythin' else like that. All I can do is give you my word."
She let her eyes meet his again and nodded a little. "I guess I should just stop worrying." she sighed. "It's probably not good for the baby to be all stressed out. You've never lied to me before about anything important so I don't see why you'd start now." Jules admitted. "Seven months." she said, shaking her head. "Are you really ready for this?" she asked him. "There's no going back now."
"No," Aiden said honestly and with a small shrug. "I'm not ready for it... but that doesn't mean I won't be. I'm still tryin' to process. Is anyone really ready to be a parent? Having someone else be completely and totally dependent on them? It's a scary thing... but I'm confident we'll get through it."
"What if I'm a horrible mother?" Jules asked him, obvious fear written all over her face. "What if I can't do anything right and he hates me? I don't want to mess up." she admitted. "I've never wanted something so much and been so terrified of it all at the same time. Except you..."
"You won't be," he said firmly. "Do you honestly believe you would be a bad mom? I get your fears, Jules, I really do... but stressin' out about it now isn't going to make things better." Aiden understood, since he had the same kind of fear. His happened to evolve from the way he was raised himself. He was terrified being a bastard was a genetic trait.
"I don't know." Jules said, shrugging a little. "I don't know what I believe." She bit her bottom lip and tugged at a strand of her hair, toying with it nervously. "I just... I can't believe there's a person inside of me." she mumbled. "It's so... crazy... There's this part of you... in there..."
Aiden nearly made an inappropriate joke, but managed to hold off. Now wasn't really the time. "Kinda strange, huh?" He still hadn't quite wrapped his brain around the whole thing. He didn't know if he ever would.
"Very." she nodded. "I'm just... I'm still so in shock." she admitted. "I think I've gotten over the denial part now at least I'm just trying to get over the 'oh my god, I can't believe this is happening' part." Jules didn't get much time to say anything else before the waiter came back with their food. Once he'd set their food down and left again, Jules started in on her fries and began dipping them in mayonnaise. "I hate mayonnaise." she sighed. "Apparently your child likes it."
"I think that part might last awhile," he said before picking up one of his own fries to take a bite out of. He eyed her with a small grin. "Cravings already? I'm guessin' they're only going to get worse the further you progress, yeah?"
"Yeah. My mom used to always tell me that she wanted Ice cream and pickles for eight out of her nine months of being pregnant with me." Jules said. "Guess I'll have to learn to love it." She did manage a small smile. At least she was starting to feel better.
"Maybe you won't have any strange cravin's at all," Aiden said. "Maybe you'll just lose interest in the foods you do like... although I don't know how that's any better." He sighed and shrugged with a small smile. "I'm not gonna be any good at this... I'm gonna try, but if I say somethin' stupid, please try not to get angry, okay?"
Jules laughed at his first statement and shook her head a little. "I can't make you any promises, baby." she told him. "I know that if I'm already moody and aggravated, chances are it's just going to get worse." She sighed a little at that and shook her head again. "I'm going to cry over stupid things and get offended about everything and be upset with you a lot." Then she paused for a moment and laughed again. "So things won't change a bit." she teased, slipping her flip-flop off underneath the table. "But... it's not all bad." she told him as she moved her foot slowly up his leg. "If I am pregnant... you can't get me pregnant again for seven more months." she whispered.
"I'll try to be patient," Aiden said. He had a feeling that her mood swings would probably get his temper riled, but he would have to really try not to let that happen. It would only make things worse. He felt her foot on his leg and grinned at her from across the table. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Guess that condom box is gonna get dusty, isn't it?" Since they wouldn't have to use protection. Not that protection had done them any good so far.
"I think it just might." Jules nodded, biting her bottom lip through a grin. She'd been spending a lot of time trying to piece together the night of conception, but thus far wasn't coming up with a single time she remembered going without a condom. Of course there were the times that it could have happened, like that night they were both drunk. Two drunk horny people didn't always mean two smart people. She continued to slide her foot upwards for a moment, then back down again and to the inside of his leg to do the same until she could let her foot rest lightly against the fly of his jeans. "If you want." she told him. "After all, I don't want to force you into not using them." she teased.
Aiden popped another french fry in his mouth and chuckled, perfectly comfortable with her foot resting where it was. It wasn't the first time she had done it, and he knew she liked to get him riled up in public. "Believe me, I think I can do without for seven months. The condoms, I mean, not the sex."
"Even when I'm gigantic?" she asked him, applying a little pressure to him through his jeans. "I have the feeling by like four or five months along you're going to be disgusted with me." Maybe. Maybe not. She figured he might be though. Men after all, were very visual creatures and Jules was well aware of this. "Maybe we should get a lot in to hold you over til I get less fat." she sighed.
"Yes, even when you're gigantic," Aiden said with a small laugh. He reached down underneath the table to massage her ankle. "I'm not gonna be disgusted. I think you might be kinda hot." He looked up from his food and shot her a look. "I'm not gonna be listenin' to you whine about how fat you think you are, or how fat you think you're gonna be. There's a difference between bein' overweight and havin' a baby inside of you, okay? It's gonna be harder to get turned on when you're on the bed complainin' about your big boobs."
She wanted to pout at him for giving her that look, but he might stop the massaging and she didn't want that to happen. "I think you might get off on the fact that your little friends are actually doing their job enough to knock me up." she smirked. "You really think I'll be a hot pregnant chick?" she asked him. Why yes, Jules was fishing for compliments, but maybe there would be truth to his response. Maybe. "You're easy to turn on baby. You know better than to think I'd complain if I'm wanting you."
He would have preferred if his little friends had been smart and stayed away from the egg, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now. "Yeah, well, it's hard to keep 'em contained," Aiden said dryly before reaching over to pick up his drink. "And yeah, I think you'll be a hot pregnant chick. You're hot all the time, Jules. I guess I'll have to make sure you're always wantin' me then, to keep you from complainin'."
"Har har." she said, rolling her eyes a little and taking a sip of her own drink, followed by a bite of her salad. "Aiden," she began, her tone taking a bit of a serious touch to it as she looked up at him. "Thank you." Jules finished, biting her bottom lip a bit before continuing. "For not freaking out about all this." she explained. "For not leaving... for going with me to the doctor." Jules was sure she could go on and on about the things she was grateful for, but those were definitely at the top of the list.
"You don't have to thank me for that stuff... it's not like I was doin' you a few favors. This is my responsibility too." Although Aiden wasn't exactly used to having this kind of responsibility. He would just have to get used to it. "Everythin's gonna be okay.' He hoped. He wasn't entirely sure, but saying that wasn't exactly comforting.
Jules nodded a little. "I just... I know that if I'm as terrified as I am, you've gotta be pretty close if not further into scared than I could possibly imagine." She let out a little breath and shrugged just a bit. "I'm just glad I don't have to do this alone..."
At least she knew him well enough to know he was terrified out of his mind. But someone had to be strong about this, so Aiden figured he'd let her panic and he'd try to stay calm. He gave her ankle a soft squeeze. "You're gonna be fine. And you won't have to do this alone, you know that."
"You're gonna be doing a lot more of that." she said, pressing her foot against him again. "The massaging thing. Feels really spectacular." she admitted. Especially since her feet were hurting today. "And I know I don't have to do it alone, I'm just... glad I don't." Jules told him. "Means a lot that you're here for me. For us..."
"So that means I'm gonna be massaging your feet more?" Aiden asked with a teasing wrinkle of his nose. "I guess if I have to, I will... if you wash them beforehand." He ate another french fry and nodded. "I'm not going anywhere." He wondered if she still thought he might, since she had been so sure he'd leave once he found out. There was only so many times he could tell her the same thing and hope she'd believe him.
"Oh please! You're feet stink so much it's not even funny. Mine are always clean." Jules said, shaking her head at the man. "Brat. Keep it up and I might not let you look at the brand new pair of boobs I'll be getting over the course of this whole thing."
"You can't hide those suckers from me, sorry." He shrugged and flashed her a smile. "But it would be pretty funny to see you try." It wasn't like she had a bunch of clothes that covered her from ankle up to her chin after all.
"I can always wear smocks all the time. Or scrubs like doctors wear and cover them all up. Stop sleeping in shorts and tanks or naked. God, you'd just die if I did that, wouldn't you? Since you're such a..." she glanced around the room and then leaned forward as if she were whispering the secret to life. "Cuddler." Jules teased.
"Cuddler?" He cocked an eyebrow before shaking his head. "No, I'm not a cuddler. You're the one who's got to wrap every limb around me all night." Aiden released her ankle and went to eat his burger. "If you're gonna hide your boobs, I'll just withhold sex. Once you get into that horny pregnancy phase, you're gonna wish you hadn't been so mean to me."
"Like you care that I wrap myself around you. You know you like it." Jules argued. "And you couldn't withhold sex from me, even if you tried." she went on, picking up her fork and taking a bite of her salad. She the lifted the fork again and let her eyes catch his as she slowly put the fork back into her mouth and teasing licked away the ranch dressing from the utensil. "You really wanna fight, dollface?" she murmured, pressing her foot against his jeans again. "You're gonna lose, pretty baby."
Aiden shook his head with a small sigh, despite his lips curving into a small smile. "You really just view me as this sex fiend. It's motivating," he told her after chewing a bite of his burger. "You underestimate a, my willpower, and b, my patience. I'm a hunter, love, I've got both of them."
"Aiden, how many times a week do we fuck?" she whispered. "You really think that you could just quit me cold turkey like that? I think you have more of a chance of giving up those cigarettes you smoke than holding out on sex with me. Which brings me to that. No more smoking in the house." she told him. "Or around me, rather... I dont' want to like... doom my child's existance before they're even here." she sighed. "And fine, you probably could hold out on me if you wanted, but I don't want you to because I'm going to want you and you're not going to want me and if I say no then you could always just run out and get it from someone else and..." Jules pouted and her eyes watered and she honestly had no clue where all that came from. Swallowing and trying to calm herself down again, she pulled her foot back from him and slipped her shoe back on. "You win." she muttered as she focused her eyes back on her salad again.
He stared at her, honestly baffled by the shift in her tone and attitude. "What the hell, Jules?" Aiden had no intention of smoking around her. He barely smoked around her now, unless they were at a bar or outside where he could blow the smoke away. "I don't even know what you're talkin' about."
"I'm sorry." Jules said, shaking her head a little and lifting a hand to signal a passing waiter for a to-go box. She wasn't really feeling hungry anymore. "I don't know where any of that came from.." she said softly after the waiter had dropped the boxes back off at their table and she started putting her leftover food into the little dividers. "I'm sorry..." she said again. She was starting to think she'd never quit apologizing to him.
"Seriously," Aiden said, not really feeling all that hungry himself anymore either. "You think I'd go off and fuck some other girl if you weren't feelin' like havin' sex with me?" He was starting to feel exasperated. "You think I'm gonna leave you, you think I'm gonna find you repulsive, and then you think I'd find some chick to bang if you dare say no to sex. I'm really startin' to wonder what kind of guy you really think I am."
Her eyes had been watering before, but when he put it all out there like that, the tears started flowing and she couldn't stop them if she'd tried. So instead of staying to argue, she took her purse and got up from the table and did the only other thing she knew to do. Flee. Jules didn't know what was wrong with her. She seemed to keep pushing and pushing and if she kept doing it, she knew Aiden would get tired of it and just leave. She knew he wouldn't leave her, or at least kept trying to convince herself of that, but it always came back up in her mind. She worried about the littlest things. By the time she reached the car, she realized the door was locked and he had the keys. Great. What else could she do? She wanted to get away and waiting wasn't an option, so she looked around to find where she was again and started off in the direction of home on foot. Part of her wanted him to chase her and tell her that it was alright and everything would be okay and that he loved her, but part of her just wanted to get away from everything.
He sighed when she got up and left, not really surprised, but still somewhat annoyed. Mood swings? Maybe. He hoped not. He didn't think he could deal with this for seven months. Aiden had to stick around long enough to pay the bill, and he grabbed the box she had her salad in before walking outside. He didn't see her at the car, but after a quick glance around the area, he spotted her walking in the direction of their apartment. "Christ," he muttered. He set the salad box on top of the car before hurrying off after her. "Jules... where are you going? You're not walking home," he told her once he was close enough that he knew she could hear. "This is getting ridiculous."
It was getting ridiculous and she knew it, which is why she stopped walking. She didn't turn around at first because the tears were already streaming down her cheeks and she knew her make-up was probably following the trails right down her face. She squeezed her eyes closed and bit her bottom lip, sucking in a little breath before turning around to look at him. "I'm sorry..." she cried, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Jules muttered. "I'm just..." She wasn't sure what it was inside of her that was driving her so crazy. Everything she'd always been thinking, she supposed, coupled with everything about the baby.
"You're just what? We were teasing each other about sex one second, and then you're crying and saying that I'd find some other woman to bang. I'm tryin' to be sympathetic here," Aiden told her. "But it's hard when every insecurity you voice to me pretty much makes me sound like a fuckwit. I need you to have more faith in me than that, okay? Or this isn't gonna work at all." Aiden was at least being honest. He didn't know how to be anything else, especially at that moment.
"It's not you!" she cried, shaking her head and rubbing her hands across her cheeks. It didn't help much, expect to brush the blackness from her eyeliner and mascara across her face. "It's me. It's me thinking that I'm gonna do something to fuck this up..." she explained. "That I'm not going to be pretty enough, or thin enough or... whatever it is that made you stick around this long." Jules whimpered. "I don't want to lose you and I keep pushing and pushing and pushing and I'm just gonna end up losing you anyway because I'm going fucking insane for no reason."
"I don't give a shit what you look like," Aiden said, lifting his arms in exasperation. "I'm not fuckin' shallow, Jules. You're gorgeous, whether you're skinny, or fat, or... I don't care, okay? I love you, not your tits. I stuck around because I love you. You. Just... you gotta start having more confidence in yourself, and in me. Stop pushin' so hard. Just... believe me, okay? Trust me for once."
And there were those words again. Those three little words that she'd waited so long to hear just spilling forth from him like she'd always wanted. And she kept trying to push him away? Why? She rushed back over to him and threw her arms around his body, pressing her face against his chest. "I do..." she mumbled. "I do, Aiden." Jules whimpered. "I'm just scared... I don't mean it. You know I don't mean it..."
"I know... I'm scared too. But I figure if we're both scared, we ought to just... try and make it work rather than thinkin' the worst, okay?" He slipped his arms around her and sighed. He wasn't the greatest catch, he knew that. He could be a pretty grand bastard and asshole from time to time, and he always knew Jules could do better... but Aiden was trying. He really was. "It's gonna be a long seven months if you can't trust me."
Jules's fingers tightened around the material of the back of Aiden's shirt. "I trust you..." she told him. "I'm just so afraid of losing you." she whispered. "You're the only thing I've got and it's just... h-hard for me to even imagine my life without you. I've never... never relied on someone the way I do you..."
"Then stop imaginin' it without me, okay? I'm not goin' anywhere. We've been together a long time, and that's not changin'." Aiden sighed and kissed the top of her head. "Things are gonna change, but not by that much that you've got to start thinkin' all these things." He didn't really know what else to tell her. He said everything he meant, and she had to know him well enough by then to know he was telling her the truth.
She nodded a little and pulled back enough that she could push her heels off the ground and press her lips to his. "I'm sorry." she told him, then kissed him again. "My head is just all over the place today and the doctor visit didn't help and I'm just... god, just... a mess." Jules said. "But you're right. I don't have to imagine it... I just wish you could convince my head of that. I'm over processing everything. You know how I am. If it can go wrong, my brain thinks of every possible way for it to get to that point."
"Everythin' and anythin' can go wrong," Aiden reminded her. "But you're gonna stress yourself out to the point of insanity if you keep thinkin' that way. I can't convince you, other than just givin' you my word." He glanced over his shoulder at his car. "Maybe we should just go home and you can take a nap... wait for the doctor's office to call."
She nodded a little. "Just wait til I find out I am pregnant and then I get to start stressing about all the things that can go wrong with that she sighed, releasing him and heading towards the car. At least the ride home was short. Once they got there, Jules spent about twenty minutes in the bathroom cleaning up her face and changing into a pair of shorts and a long t-shirt. It was one of Aiden's old shirts and it was like a tent around her small form. Heading back into the bedroom, she crawled up into the bed. "Are you going back to work?" she called as she tucked herself beneath the covers.
"So we'll just make sure we don't buy you the 1001 things that can go wrong in your pregnancy book," Aiden said dryly. When they got home, he made sure she was in bed before he glanced at the clock. "Yeah, I probably should. I could fit in a few hours... need the money." Especially now. "Will you call me once the doctor calls?"
Jules wanted to pout at him because she wanted him to stay, but she knew he was right. They would need the money. So she nodded a little but still motioned for him to come closer to her. Shifting up to her knees on the bed, she slid her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. "I love you." she told him. "And I'm really glad that crazy doesn't make you run away for the hills."
"I love you too," Aiden said with a small smile. He hugged her tight and placed a kiss on her head before pulling back. "Get some sleep and I'll probably be home before you wake up." He was hoping her crazy was just temporary. Otherwise he had a feeling he would be drinking a lot more beers at Dorian's house.
It felt really good to hear him say those words. I love you without being forced to do it. She smiled a little when he pulled back and nodded. "I'll call you when the doctor calls." she told him. "Soon as I know, you'll know."
"Sounds good." He released her and nudged her to lay back down. "I'll talk to you soon." Aiden gave her a small smile and left the bedroom, double checking that his phone was turned on before he headed off to work. It was going to be hard to concentrate, but at least he would have something to distract him until she called.
Jules did as he wanted her to and for a while she did sleep. Or tried to sleep. She wasn't really sure because by the time her phone rang and jerked her from her slumber, she didn't feel any more rested than she had before. She spoke for a moment with the doctor and once she hung up, she pushed back against the headboard, then called Aiden. Listening silently to the sound of the ringing, she waited for him to answer.
Aiden was currently under the hood of a Nissan, changing the oil when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He motioned for someone else to take over to he could step away for a second. Wiping his greasy fingers on the rag hanging from his belt loop, he then tugged his phone out and answered it. "Hey."
"Hey..." Jules said, sucking it a short little breath and biting her lip as she tried to think of the best way to break the news to Aiden. "I just got off the phone with the doctor." she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and pulling her knees up to her chest. "So, do you want a boy or a girl?"
He smiled, feeling relieved, even though he had already known the outcome. "Ah... don't really care, as long as it's healthy. I imagine we've got a couple more weeks before they can determine that anyway. Though I'm sure it'll be a boy..." That was just his ego talking really... he honestly didn't care at this point. "Guess they told you what we already knew."
She nodded though it went unseen. "Yeah." she said. "I'm supposed to go in on Monday for a sonogram to find out exactly how far along I am." she explained. "You don't have to go with me to that one, but I figured I'd call you and tell you what they said..." Jules said, tipping her head and resting it against her knees. "Least I don't have to wonder anymore. How much longer you gonna be at work?" she asked.
"Thanks..." He glanced behind him at the cars waiting and estimated quickly in his head. "A couple hours. But I'll bring dinner home and then we can just relax for awhile..." It had been a long, rather stressful day here and there. He was already looking forward to crashing. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah." she nodded. "I'm alright." Jules was quick to assure him. "I'm gonna shower and go back to bed. I'll try not to kill myself in the process though." she chuckled. I'm just getting over the bruises from the last time I showered alone."
He grinned. "Yeah, watch out for those towels. Try to get some rest and I'll be home in awhile, okay?" He had a feeling he was going to be working a hell of a lot more hours now. At least he sort of liked what he did for a living.
"Alright." Jules said. "See you when you get home. Love you." She hung up then and headed for the bath, taking a quick shower and doing as she told Aiden she'd do, going to bed. She managed to get to sleep after a short while this time. She hadn't bothered with getting dressed and had the covers pulled up tight against her chin when Aiden got in from work.
Exhausted, Aiden got home a few hours later, still feelimg grimy, but at least he had gotten some hours in. He went directly to the shower and washed up. He figured at some point they would have to eat, but right now he just wanted to lay down and shut his eyes. He walked into the bedroom, pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and then crawled into bed next to Jules with a small sigh. "Long day," he murmured.
She heard the shower running and was almost completely awake by the time he got to the bedroom and crawled in with her. "Mhm." she nodded, shifting a little to lie on her back, the blanket still up over her chest. She pulled her hands free from beneath the covers and pushed her hair out of her face. "You're all clean." she smiled, resting her palm against one of his cheeks. "I missed you, dollface." Jules murmured.
"Missed you too," he said. "And of course I'm clean, I showered." Aiden smiled lazily before shifting on the bed to get comfortable. "Are you feeling better?"
Jules nodded a little and shifted enough to press her lips to his. "Much." she nodded. "All the crazy is gone." she assured him. "I've come to the conclusion that if you wanted to leave... you wouldn't be wasting your time with me, right? You're far too lazy to carry on a relationship you're not really interested in."
"Yup, that's exactly it," Aiden murmured, thankful that the 'crazy' was gone, as she called it. He didn't think he had the energy to get back into that kind of argument again tonight. "Things are gonna be okay." He figured if he kept saying that, he would really start to believe it.
She nodded and pulled the blankets down enough to expose her tummy to him and reached for his hand to press it against her bare skin. "At least I have an excuse for being 'bloated'." she teased, smirking a little at the man. "I think I'm more relieved knowing than I thought I would be." Jules admitted.
Aiden managed a small smile when she took his hand and placed it on her stomach. There was that quick sliver of panic, but he pushed it away. "Yeah... I am too. Even though we knew but... having it be official is nice. You've got good insurance through your work, right?" Because babies were fucking expensive as hell, even before they were born.
"My insurance is just fine." Jules assured him. "And as soon as I phone my mother to tell her that I'm pregnant, you and I both know that the other room is going to be filled with baby things." she pointed out. "I won't be surprised if she flies out here to decorate it herself." she chuckled. Her mother had the money to do such things after all. If Jules really needed cash, she didn't have to look very far for it. "She'll tell me that it's about damn time. 'How long have you been with that boy, Juliana? You should have already been having pretty little Irish babies'." she mocked.
Aiden cocked an eyebrow at the thought of Jules's mom coming out to Michigan. He sort of forgot about the family part of this whole thing. He didn't have any family but for his dad, and his dad certainly wasn't going to be involved. "Well, now she'll get off your back about it, yeah? As long as she doesn't insist on movin' in with us when the baby's born. I might have to put my stinky Irish foot down then."
"Mom would never leave the comfort of Beverly Hills and Rodeo drive." she assured him. "She'd come down until it got anything close to cold and head back for the woods. Hollywood that is." Jules smiled. "But if she wants to buy me baby furniture, I'm not going to complain about it. Every little bit counts, right? And cribs and high chairs can get expensive. If I'm like... two months along I'm going to be having the baby in like... December or January." she said. "I'm going to be huge and it's going to be cold. At least I'll have all this insulation to keep you warm." she teased.
Aiden found he couldn't disagree with that. A part of him wanted to tell Jules they could buy their own things... it was a male pride thing to provide for a family after all, but he was smart enough to know Jules's mom would do whatever she wanted. So he bit his tongue. "Yeah, won't need the heat on when we go to bed," he said before stretching. "Are you hungry yet? Or do you mind if I sleep for awhile..." Between the doctor's visit, the arguing, the work... Aiden was just tired of thinking about anything.
"I'm alright." she told him. "I can scrounge around for something if I decide I want to eat." Jules assured him. She rolled onto her side and curled her naked body against his. "Why, baby, are you wearing jeans to bed?" she asked him, a little smirk moving over her face as she twined her leg through his.
"Thought I'd go out and get food," he said, closing his eyes when she snuggled up against him. "But the bed's too comfortable now, so I'd rather sleep... then eat. Then probably sleep again."
Jules chuckled a little and rested her head against his chest. "Or sleep, then eat, then screw, then sleep." she smiled, teasing him as always.
He opened one eye to look at her before smiling a bit. "Yeah... that could work too." He slipped his arm around her and closed his eyes again. He finally felt... content. It was a strange feeling. But it wasn't scary. It was pretty nice. And he didn't want to let go of it for a long time.