669A/N: Okay guys! I just want to take this moment to thank each and every one of you for following this story, for the feedback, for your patience, for everything! You guys are absolutely awesome, and writing this story has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much!
cat10985: Hmm, really? In my opinion, everyone stayed well within the bounds of their characters in the last chapter. It could very well be my fault for having such a long delay in posting the end chapter—in the earlier chapters, Leigh was very protective of Aaron and when Shannon came around, it was the first time Julie ever saw Leigh's bitchy side. From Julie perspective, I suppose you could say Leigh was slightly bitchy when she realized Julie had actually gotten knocked up by Aaron's married brother, but from Leigh's perspective, that was a sin she has spent years watching Aaron suffer over. I would have thought it was more unrealistic if she would have just said, "Hey, cool, at least the kid will look like you." Know what I mean? I guess as nice as Leigh is, I don't think she's that nice. And Matt didn't really do a 180; I've had him walking the tightrope between decent guy trapped in a bad situation and evil bastard for a good portion of the story. In the end, I just decided to let him redeem himself a little by doing the one nice thing he could do. Anyway, I'm sorry you felt it was rushed—I put the chapter on hold for months in an attempt not to rush it, but… I suppose it could have come out that way; I hate ending stories, especially ones where I love the characters so much. :) Anyway, thank you very much for your feedback! I'm sorry that the last chapter wasn't completely satisfactory. Perhaps you'll like the epilogue. :)
Epilogue: The Fairy Tale
As the grandfather clock struck eleven, Julie glanced up at it, wondering when Aaron would ever get home from work.
She needed to talk to him. She had even told him that when she talked to him on the phone before dinner. Then again, that was probably why he wasn't home yet, she thought with a private little smile. Even after four years of marriage, the man could not stand when she would break out, "We need to have a talk."
Frowning, Julie thought she heard a noise coming from the other room, and then she heard a very distinct thump.
Narrowing her eyes, Julie left the living room and made her way down the hall, walking very softly as she approached the bedroom.
Sure enough, a brown haired little sprite was peeking around her bookshelf when Julie peered inside the bedroom.
"Alyssa Jane Turner," Julie said, her tone scolding. "What are you doing out of bed? Do you have any idea what time it is?"
The six year old sighed then, giving up her hiding spot and said, "But mooooom."
"No, get your little butt in bed right now before I tell your father."
Instead of causing the little girl to jump into bed for fear of punishment, her little face brightened and she said, "Is Daddy home?"
Sighing, Julie stepped further inside the room. "No, he isn't home yet. But you need to go to sleep right now, or you're going to be in big trouble."
"But mommy, I want Daddy to give me a kiss goodnight," Alyssa said, the most adorable pout on her purposely sad face.
"I will have Daddy come in and give you a kiss like he does every other night that he works late. Your antics will not work on me, Alyssa Jane."
"My 'antiques' work on Daddy," the little girl muttered, reluctantly making her way back over to her bed.
"Well, that's because your dad's a big old softie. I, on the other hand, am not. Get in bed," Julie said, sticking her hand on her hip and raising one eyebrow in a very authoritative manner.
The little girl obediently climbed into bed, but she made sure to be very noisy about it as she sighed and complained about not getting to see her father before she went to sleep.
Julie walked over to the bed and leaned down, kissing Alyssa on the forehead. "Goodnight."
"Mommy," the little girl said imploringly, just as Julie straightened to walk away.
"Yes?" Julie said.
"Will you tell me our story first?" Alyssa requested, offering an innocent little smile, her front tooth endearingly absent.
Sighing, Julie knew she was going to give in, but she still managed to say, "You should be sleeping right now, young lady."
"Just real quick?" Alyssa begged.
Julie shook her head as she took a seat on the edge of Alyssa's bed, smiling reluctantly at her impish daughter. "It's a good thing you're adorable."
"And smart," Alyssa added. "Daddy says my brain is important."
"That's because Daddy wants to brainwash you before you're of age to date."
"I'm never gonna date unless I meet a boy like Daddy," Alyssa stated firmly.
"At six and a half you've decided?" Julie asked, amused.
"Yep," Alyssa said, nodding. "I wanna marry someone just like him."
"Well, I sincerely hope you do," Julie stated. "But I hope he has less money, because then maybe he won't have to work so late all the time."
Frowning, Alyssa nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I don't think my husband should work, that way he can be home with us all the time."
Nodding, Julie said, "We'll have to find you a trust-fund baby."
Tilting her head to the side, Alyssa appeared to be confused, but she didn't say anything more about it.
"Okay, enough stalling," Julie stated. "I'm going to tell you a story and then you're going to go straight to sleep—no more arguments."
Nodding eagerly, Alyssa said, "Okay!"
"Long ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a young maiden—"
"A princess," Alyssa cut in.
"No, she isn't a princess yet," Julie corrected. "She's a young maiden."
"A fair maiden," Alyssa countered.
Raising an eyebrow, Julie said, "Would you like to tell the story yourself?"
"No," she said, rolling her eyes and nestling back into her pillows.
Julie nodded and then she went on. "Long ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a lovely young maiden named Juliet," she said, compromising on the maiden's description. "The maiden's mother had died when she was very young, and her father had remarried a very unpleasant woman. She had a son whom she favored very much, and he was a spoiled, rotten boy named Jack. Growing up, Jack would always pick on young Juliet, pulling her pigtails," Julie said, reaching out and lightly tugging a lock of Alyssa's long brown hair, "and pushing her in the mud when Juliet's father wasn't looking. "
"Why didn't his mom yell at him?" Alyssa asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Well, she wasn't a very nice person either," Julie explained. "And she didn't really like Juliet, so she thought it was funny when Jack would pick on her."
Rolling her eyes, Alyssa said, "I never like Jack."
Smiling wryly, Julie said, "I've never liked Jack either. Now, back to the story…"
Alyssa became instantly attentive again, listening eagerly for the next part of the story.
"For years Juliet had to endure Jack's torment in her father's absences, and she never said a word to him about it, not wanting to upset him. But then one day when Juliet's father was out working in the kingdom, something terrible happened."
"He died," Alyssa stated, yawning.
"Well, yes. There was a carriage accident—"
"And he got runned over and died," Alyssa summarized. "I want to hear about the grumpy knight," she said impatiently.
"You're rushing me, child," Julie complained. "But you're right, it's getting later by the minute. Let's speed this thing up…"
"After Juliet's father died, the treatment of the stepmother and the wicked stepbrother got even worse. Since her father no longer came home, there was no one to stop Jack from tormenting Juliet all the time. One day Jack made Juliet come with him out into the woods so that she could carry all the wood he could find for their fireplace—"
"He's the boy," Alyssa cut in, "Jack should be carrying the wood."
"Yes, but Jack made Juliet carry all the wood. Carrying all the wood made Juliet very tired and thirsty, so when they came upon a spring she asked if she could stop for a drink. 'No,' Jack told her, 'you may not drink from the spring.' So Juliet didn't stop for a drink, she just continued to carry the wood. It seemed she was carrying the wood for a very long time, but she thought that was just because it was heavy. Then Juliet began to notice it was getting dark. Jack and Juliet were never supposed to be out in the woods alone after dark, because it was dangerous."
"Why was it dangerous?" Alyssa asked with a smile, because she already knew.
"Well, there were bandits," Julie explained.
Grinning, Alyssa said, "What happened to Jack and Juliet in the woods?"
"Well, when the sun finally disappeared out of the sky, Juliet realized that Jack didn't know where they were, and that was why he was making her carry the wood around everywhere."
"He should've asked for directions," Alyssa stated.
Nodding, Julie agreed. "Silly Jack."
Then, continuing on with the story, Julie said, "Suddenly Juliet heard the sound of horses galloping up the pathway, and she knew it must be the bandits!"
"Oh no!"
Nodding, Julie said, "So as the horses got closer, Juliet and Jack both got scared. Juliet knew she couldn't run with the wood, so she sat the wood down by the side of the path and ran, hoping to get out of sight before the bandits came. 'Stupid girl,' Jack hissed at her. 'Mother will be upset if we come home without the wood.' But before Juliet could even respond, the horses were so close that she knew they must be right behind her. 'Stay with the wood,' Jack said, shoving Juliet in the direction of the wood pile and jumping behind a big bush so the bandits wouldn't see him. But the driver yelled out, stopping the horses. Juliet had been spotted!"
"What happened next, Mommy?" Alyssa asked, bouncing a little.
"Well, as it turned out, it wasn't the bandits."
"Who was it?"
"It was the prince of Juliet's kingdom, traveling home after his visit to a nearby kingdom. When he saw Juliet discarded carelessly by the side of the road, he stopped and climbed out of his carriage. Prince Marcus was his name, and as he climbed out of the carriage, looking Juliet over, he asked, 'Why are you alone in the woods at this late hour?' Juliet was afraid—she didn't know who he was or if Jack would get mad at her if she told the man that she wasn't alone out there—would they look for him, too?—so instead she merely said, 'I was gathering some wood for my fire and I got lost.' The prince raked an appraising look over her, saying, 'Lost, you say? Where do you live, girl? Where are your parents?' Juliet was quiet for a moment, unsure of what to tell him, and then she finally said, 'I have no parents, sir.'"
"Poor Juliet," Alyssa said. "I like the story where she does have parents, Mommy."
"Well, I'll tell you that version tomorrow, but it's too late to change it now."
"Okay," Alyssa agreed easily. "I just want to get to the good part."
Shaking her head, Julie said, "You are so impatient. Fine. Back to the story."
Nodding, Alyssa grabbed her raggedy old Build-A-Bear from beside her and cuddled it close, leaning a little more heavily into the pillow, her eyes beginning to get a sleepy gleam. "Pay attention, Poppy Seed," she whispered to her bear.
"Since Juliet had no family, Prince Marcus tells her to come in the carriage with him and he will take her to the castle and try to get her a guest room in the castle, and he will even try to find her a job as a maid. So Juliet goes with the prince, leaving Jack hiding in the bushes."
"I'm glad. I really don't like him," Alyssa told her mother.
Smiling, Julie went on. "Back at the castle Juliet grows fond of Prince Marcus as he arranges for the seamstresses to make her a new dress—one that isn't torn and sewn carefully out of old rags and potato sacks. Prince Marcus seems very nice to Juliet, and he also arranges for her to help out in the kitchen, and in exchange they let her stay in an old abandoned room near the attic. She and Prince Marcus become friends, and in the afternoons he even takes her out and teaches her to ride his horse."
Unable to ignore the instinct to interrupt, Alyssa said, "The first time you told me this story, I really wanted Juliet to marry Prince Marcus."'
Ignoring her precious little interruption, Julie went on with the story. "After living at the kingdom and visiting with the prince all the time, Juliet began to fall in love with the prince."
"Nooo," Alyssa whined. "She isn't going to marry him, is she? Where's the grumpy knight, Mommy?"
"Be patient, child," Julie reprimanded.
"I'm gonna be real mad if she marries the wrong guy this time."
Biting back a chuckle, Julie decided to speed the story up and save her daughter from an anxiety attack. "So one day Juliet and Prince Marcus are out gathering flowers in the field, laughing and playing and having a grand old time—"
"And he kisses her," Alyssa stated, wrinkling up her nose in displeasure.
Sighing, Julie said, "Daughter, I love you from your head to your toes, but you are completely butchering my fairy tale."
"I don't want Prince Marcus kissing my Juliet," Alyssa said protectively.
Rolling her eyes, Julie fast forwarded. "Later that day after he kisses her in the field," she said, despite Alyssa's grimace, "visitors arrive at the castle. There is much excitement as the servants buzz around the castle, preparing for a feast, a celebration. Juliet has no idea what they're celebrating, but before she knows it she's swept into the kitchen, helping wash and prepare potatoes for dinner. Juliet is still thinking about her afternoon with the prince, however, so she walks around, dreamily helping to prepare for the big feast, not even curious as to what it's for. Juliet is in her own little world, dreaming of Prince Marcus."
Alyssa sighed, still looking displeased.
"Later that evening there was a big feast in the dining hall, and for the first time Juliet got to see the visitors. As the feast was served and Prince Marcus sat at the head of the table, smiling and looking as handsome as ever, Juliet was ever so surprised by the beautiful visitor who entered the hall. The visitor was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair that glistened like the sun as it fell down her back. She wore an elaborate purple dress, jewels worth enough money to feed Juliet's kingdom for a year. 'Welcome, Princess Emily,' called out the troubadour as he began singing songs to celebrate her beauty. Just then the king stood up, raising his glass and causing the entire hall to fall silent. 'This feast is in celebration of my son Marcus and his betrothal to the lovely Princess Emily. May they both have much happiness and be blessed with many beautiful children.'"
"Poor Juliet," Alyssa said again, shaking her head.
"Juliet couldn't believe what she heard! Prince Marcus had just kissed her earlier that day when they were gathering flowers—how could he be engaged to marry someone else? But he was smiling as he sat at the table, and he smiled at Princess Emily as she took her seat next to him, picking up the glass next to his and toasting him before she took a drink.
"Unable to watch any longer, Juliet ran from the dining hall, and she was so distraught that she couldn't think, so she just kept on running and running, wanting to get away from the celebration, away from Prince Marcus, away from the beautiful princess who would be his bride. Juliet ran fast even though she had started to cry, so she couldn't see very well through her tears. When she finally ran out of breath she did stop, but she had been running for so long that she realized she didn't know where she was. Juliet was lost and alone in the woods, and as she looked at the sky, she realized it was beginning to get dark."
"Uh oh," Alyssa said with a sleepy little smile as she forced her eyes to stay open.
"Juliet tried to find her way back to the castle, but it was getting very dark very fast. Still, Juliet was determined to find her way back." Then, switching the mood, Julie took on a more suspenseful tone. "But then something very bad happened. Juliet heard the hoof beats of horses coming her way, and she hoped that it was the castle guards so they could help her find her way back home…"
"But it wasn't," Alyssa supplied.
"Nope," Julie said, shaking her head. "It was the bandits! When they saw Juliet, they immediately jumped from their horses. 'What have we here?' asked the first bandit, walking in a circle around her as he appraised her dress to see if it held any value. Seeing that her dress was fashioned of a rich fabric, the bandit decided she must be at least a little bit important, and he decided to kidnap Juliet and hold her for ransom. Juliet was having none of that, and she kicked and screamed as the bandits tried to shove her into the carriage, demanding that they let her go. 'Ouch, why'd you do that?' asked the second bandit as she kicked him, and Juliet paused, thinking his voice sounded oddly familiar. Imagine her surprise when the second bandit turned out to be none other than Jack, her wicked stepbrother! He had heard that the prince was taken with her, so he thought it would be a good idea to capture her and hold her for ransom. Overhearing his discussion with his partner, Juliet stopped fighting to get free and told him instead, 'You're wasting your time. The prince is marrying someone else; he won't pay your ransom to get me back.' But Jack and the other bandit didn't listen to her, they just stuffed her in the carriage despite her protests.
"In the distance, Juliet could hear another set of hoofs, and Jack and his partner got nervous, saying, 'Hurry up, it could be the guards!' So Juliet waited until the hoof beats came closer, and then she took a breath, leaned toward the carriage window and began screaming for help."
Since Alyssa was getting tired, she had to sit up so she could at least stay awake through her favorite part of the story.
"Jack immediately silenced her, but not before she cried out for help and said that she was being kidnapped. Suddenly there was a loud cracking noise and the driver started yelling. The carriage began to slow down, despite Jack yelling for the driver to go faster. 'I can't, sire! The carriage is broke!' The carriage shook then, as if someone had jumped on it—"
"He did," Alyssa said, grinning.
Julie offered a tolerant smile and proceeded with her story. "Jack called out, 'He broke the carriage!' And then, with the carriage coming to a complete halt, Juliet tried to get to the door to climb out, but before she could get to it the door swung open, and there before her in a dashing suit of shining black armor stood a knight, his sword poised to fight if he had to."
"The grumpy knight!" said Alyssa, clapping happily.
"Jack and the other cowardly bandit were shaking in the corner, and Juliet could only stare at the man behind the knight's mask. She couldn't see him, but she was very grateful to him for saving her. So, as any self-respecting maiden would do, she wanted to thank him. 'I am ever so grateful that you stopped to save me, kind sir,' she began. But, to her surprise, the knight seemed to be very impatient. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' he said, gesturing for her to climb out of the carriage. 'Come on, I don't have all night. As it is, stopping to save you has made me late for dinner.' Juliet was confused, and she frowned up at her grumpy savior, but she climbed out of the carriage and climbed up on his horse anyway."
Julie heard a soft chuckle from behind her so she stopped, startled, until Alyssa sprung from her bed and went running across her floor barefoot, throwing her arms around Aaron's waist and proclaiming, "Daddy's home!"
Aaron easily lifted her into his arms, giving her a kiss and gazing at her adoringly as he said, "Are you really making your mother tell you the grumpy knight story again?"
"Uh huh," she said with a cheerful nod.
"Don't you ever get tired of it?"
"Nope," Alyssa said, shaking her head vehemently. "It's my favorite story, Daddy."
"It's different every time it's told, how can it be your favorite?" he asked her.
"But it's always kinda the same," she told him. "The grumpy knight always saves Juliet and they always live—"
Aaron covered her mouth, raising his eyebrow and saying, "Now now, you're going to give away the ending." He placed her back down on the ground and looked up at Julie. "Why is she still awake?"
"She conned me into another bedtime story," Julie stated. "Plus, she wanted a kiss from Daddy before she went to sleep."
Shooting Alyssa a look as she climbed into bed, he stated, "That is an excuse, young lady."
"Daddy, come sit down. Mommy's going to finish telling us a story," Alyssa said, patting the bed.
"But I don't have to listen to this story, dear. I already know how it ends," he told her, absently leaning in to give Julie a kiss.
But Julie grinned at him impishly, saying, "You might be surprised."
"All right, but hurry it up. I would like to see my daughter asleep before midnight and my wife… at least in bed. I'll tell you a bedtime story," he told her, smirking.
"Ooh," Julie said, returning a playful smile. "Okay, where was I?"
"The grumpy knight saved Juliet from Jack and told her she made him late to dinner."
"He's a nice guy," Aaron remarked ironically.
Smiling, Julie said, "He can be. Anyway, after saving Juliet he whisks her up to the castle. As it turns out, the grumpy knight was on his way to the celebration feast. Once they're back at the castle Juliet remembers why she ran away in the first place, and the news of Prince Marcus's engagement."
"He shouldn't have kissed her if he was gonna marry some other girl," Alyssa stated, shaking her head.
"No, he shouldn't have," Aaron agreed. "Prince Marcus is an idiot."
"Aaron," Julie said in the same tone she used to scold Alyssa.
"Go on," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Not all princes are good," Julie allowed. "But some of them are. Those are the ones you want to live happily ever after with. Now, back to the story…
"With the news of Prince Marcus and his engagement to Princess Emily, Juliet didn't feel comfortable working at the castle anymore. The servants had known of her involvement with Prince Marcus, and when word finally got back to Princess Emily she was very angry, and ordered Prince Marcus to send Juliet away. The prince agreed, and Juliet realized that he was not the prince she thought she loved, because he wouldn't send her away…"
Stealing a glance at her husband, Julie noticed that even in the fairy tale, his face bore signs of vague irritation.
"Anyway," she said, moving along quickly, "Prince Marcus told Juliet that he was going to send her to live in his brother's castle, and she would get a job in the kitchens there. Juliet was sad, but she would rather that than to have to go back to live with her stepmother and Jack, so she packed up the few things she had and prepared to leave the kingdom.
"Imagine Juliet's surprise when Prince Marcus's brother showed up to take her back to his castle and it turned out to be the grumpy knight! He wasn't a knight after all, but a prince from a neighboring kingdom. "
Glancing at his watch, Aaron raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay, I'm going to finish it up. The grumpy prince took the beautiful Juliet to his castle and he wasn't very nice to her at first, because he thought she was foolish to have ever liked his brother, the pompous Prince Marcus. Also, as Juliet did nice things for the prince and even made him Rice Crispy Treats every night after dinner, the grumpy prince realized he was beginning to fall in love with Juliet, and strangely that made him even grumpier."
Julie cut in, saying, "After many weeks, there was a grand ball thrown at the palace, and the grumpy prince was attending. Of course, being a kitchen maid, Juliet wouldn't have gone to the ball, but the grumpy prince wasn't being so grumpy, and he invited her to the ball and even had a gorgeous gown made for her. There was a visiting princess from another land there to try to win the prince's affection, Princess Shanna, and Juliet didn't know why, but she didn't like her very much. Juliet was so excited to finally go to a ball, so she wore her pretty dress and she went to the ball, but she realized something as she stood in the ballroom and watched her grumpy prince dance with Princess Shanna…"
Aaron cut in then. "She was madly in love with him," he stated, winking at Julie.
"And he was so modest that Juliet couldn't resist," Julie said sarcastically.
"The Prince, to his credit, also finally realized that he was in love with Juliet, so he asked her to dance with him, and as he danced with her in his arms he knew that was where he wanted her to be forever. So when the ball was over, the grumpy prince asked Juliet if she would marry him and become his princess."
"Princess Shanna was really mad," Julie whispered conspiratorially to Alyssa.
"And Prince Marcus wasn't very happy either," Aaron stated. "But Juliet and her grumpy prince were very happy and they loved each other very much, so they got married right there at the castle and before long, they had a beautiful little girl who would grow up to be their beloved princess. And together Juliet, her grumpy prince and their beautiful little princess lived happily ever after."
"Wait," Julie said, holding up her hand. "That wasn't the end."
Frowning, Aaron said, "Yes, it was."
"Well, if you would have let me finish the story instead of being so impatient, maybe you would know that that is not how the story was supposed to end tonight," Julie reasoned.
Sighing, he said, "She needs to go to bed, Julie. It's the end. Give her the extended version tomorrow."
Julie shot her husband a dirty look, but she didn't say anything else, she merely stood up, standing by the side of the bed with her arms crossed as she waited for Aaron to tuck Alyssa in and then walk out of the room and into the hallway with her.
Aaron sighed as he walked down the hallway, tugging his tie loose as he said, "It's been such a long day."
"I can't believe you ended my story," Julie told him. "And you did it wrong."
Rolling his eyes, Aaron said, "Julie, I'm one of the main characters too, I know how the story ended."
"Damn impatient, grumpy princes," she muttered.
"But I'm not wrong," he said smugly.
"Yes, actually, you are. The ending was going to be different, and it was going to be cute and you ruined it. Nice going, grumpy prince Aaron."
Rolling his eyes, he said, "What did I leave out that was so important?"
Unable to contain her smile she said, "You should probably sit down."
"So you can tell me a story?" he asked, smiling and shaking his head. "No thanks, I would prefer we finish this argument about a stupid bedtime fairy tale that way you and I can get into bed," he said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close, placing a kiss on her neck, then another one a little lower, then another…
"You're distracting me," she stated.
"Damn," he said dryly, placing a kiss at the base of her throat.
"Aaron, wait," she said, pulling away. "I didn't get to tell you who you left out of the story."
Sighing, he closed his eyes and probably counted to three, then he opened them and said, "Who did I forget?"
"Their second baby."
Frowning, he said, "What? They don't have a second…baby…"
By the end of the sentence, he sounded very uncertain, so Julie smiled softly and took his hand, placing it on her stomach and she whispered, "They will in about seven months."
Aaron's jaw just fell open, and all he could do was stare at her. "But… you can't be… I can't…"
"Well, you did," Julie assured him. "I'm pregnant, Aaron. We're going to have a baby."
"How?"
Shrugging, she said, "I don't know, I guess it's just one of those fluke miracles."
He merely blinked, looking down at his hand on her stomach. "Are you… absolutely sure?"
"I am absolutely sure, honey. I am definitely pregnant—I waited until the blood test came back to tell you because I wanted to be sure. I didn't want to tell you when I just suspected, because I knew it was highly unlikely and I didn't want to get your hopes up and then leave you disappointed if I was wrong."
"We're having a baby?" he asked in awe.
"We're having a baby," she verified, glowing.
"We're having a baby!"
"I know, I got the memo," she said teasingly, leaning in and giving him a little kiss. "I've been trying to decide how to tell you, and then when you came in I got this creative little idea… but no, you had to ruin it."
"Nothing could ruin this," he informed her happily. "You could have kicked me in the balls before delivering the news and I would still be this excited."
"Well, just wait until I'm in labor, you might get your wish. For right now, I'm very excited. Alyssa has been making subtle comments lately about wanting a little brother or sister and I've been wondering if we should look into adoption, but before I even had a chance to bring the idea up to you, I realized I was late."
"And Matt's still in New York," Aaron replied ironically.
Leveling another dirty look at her husband, she said, "As far as I know, but that's not funny."
"I know, I'm sorry," he said, still smiling as he tugged her closer, only sounding half-apologetic.
Deciding to give him a little bit of a hard time, she leaned back, not letting him pull her completely close. "Although, you know, since he and Emma are finally getting divorced, maybe I changed my mind…"
One black eyebrow shooting up, Aaron said, "Don't make me lock you up and throw away the key. Alyssa will be deeply confused if I morph her bedtime story into a version of Rapunzel instead."
"I think she might also wonder where Mommy went," Julie lightly joked.
Grinning, he said, "I can't believe you're pregnant. And the doctor said everything looks okay, looks normal? And he's sure you're pregnant?"
"Absolutely positive. I assure you, I was quite a pain in his ass. He finally brought in the ultrasound machine to show me the baby on the screen. We have a second poppy seed, my love."
For a moment, Aaron only stared at her, shaking his head with a certain light in his eye.
Twining her arms around her husband's neck, Julie leaned in a little and said, "What are you thinking?"
"That since I first met you, you've been making the impossible in my life… possible."
"I'm good that way," she teased, leaning in even more and giving him a lingering little kiss.
"You certainly are," he murmured in agreement, securing his arms even more firmly around her waist. "I think that it's my job as a husband to show you just how grateful I am."
"Mm, that sounds promising," she stated with a little grin as he walked her backward toward their room. "We still have lots to discuss though. We have to tell Alyssa, too, and your parents, I guess," she added grudgingly. "I don't know what names we should consider, and we have to decide about the nursery—"
"There will be plenty of time for all that later," he informed her firmly. "Right now I just want to enjoy my wife and the perfect life she's given me."
And he did.
The End.
A/N: I hate ending stories! Anyway, that's all, folks! I hope that you've enjoyed reading about Julie's little adventure, and thanks so much to everyone who helped out along the way, all of wonderful, awesome readers—you guys are helpful beyond all words and you make me feel like writing is worth my while!
Also, to Chad: thanks for keeping my head above water in a time when I was trying my hardest to sink. :)
Until next time—thanks again everybody!