“Is that what you’re wearing?” Jake asked as I walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

“That’s rude. What I’m wearing to what?”

Jake laughed and threw his head back before putting his feel up on the couch, “You’ve got your big date with Justin.”

“I told him I couldn’t go.”

“OK, I’m pretty sure that you’re going. He’s coming, I’m positive of that. Just go with him for fucks sake Jules. Talk to him. Don’t be a baby.”

“I’m not being a baby.”

He laughed again. It’s so lovely having him back in this country. “Look Jules, he really likes you. For some crazy reason he likes you so much that he’s willing to put up with all your bullshit. Give him a break. You do realize he could have pretty much any girl he wanted and he wants you. So much so, that he’s putting up with your shit when he could go find some other girl with half as much. Just fucking go to dinner.”

I threw a pillow at him without saying a word and went upstairs to get changed. I suppose he’s right.  Justin is putting up with a lot of my shit and he could easily get any girl he wants. That has to mean something. I guess I at least owe him a talk.

An hour later Jake called up that Justin was here. I finished my makeup and tried to calm myself down.  I need to act like a normal human being and not yell or make a scene. Even if I don’t want a relationship with him that doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends or whatever else it was we were doing.

We drove in silence, except for some awkward small talk. I could already tell this is not going to be a fun night. We pulled into a small restaurant parking lot and were led to a private room in the back with only a small table.

“Did you take me to a restaurant so I wouldn’t make a scene?” I asked with a smile.

“Were you planning on making a scene?” he chuckled, “ That honestly didn’t even cross my mind. But, I guess we are in a private room so there’s still that option.”

“I won’t make a scene.”

“Alright, that’s good. I’m actually a little surprised you came so willingly. I thought I’d have to drag you out.”

“No, I’m a mature adult.” I smiled.

“Uh huh,” he said as he looked through the menu, “Should we get some wine?”

“Yes, please.”

We managed small talk through dinner, neither of us bringing up the night before or the actual reason for going out tonight. Everything seemed fine and I thought for a minute we actually wouldn’t talk about it all night. Until Justin topped up my glass of wine, “So about the R word.  Relationship. We need to figure this out.”

“You’re taking it way too personally, that’s the problem.”

“Of course I’m taking it personally,” he laughed, “you’re saying you don’t want a relationship with me. How am I supposed to take it?”

“But it’s not like, because it’s you. Trust me. I think you’re amazing. You’re funny, you’re gorgeous, you’re a good guy. My friends like you, my family…for fucks sake my brother want to be your best friend and my sisters are in love with you.  Seriously, even Jonas asked about you and he doesn’t ask about anybody.”

Justin smiled, a real genuine smile when I mentioned Jonas. He is really good with Jonas and that’s hard to find. “You have an amazing family and a great group of friends.”

“The thing is, it’s me. I’m not good with relationships, I don’t do them. I don’t have time. I’m so busy with my business and so many things are happening and I don’t have time, it’s too much work.”

“It’s too much work? It’s not too much work, especially now.  It’s just two people getting to know each other. Going to dinner, going on dates, spending the night in watching movies. I’m not high maintenance Jules, come on. It’s basically just what we’ve been doing with a couple perks thrown in there.”

“Perks?” I asked with a smile.

“The sex, mainly. Knowing that you’re not hooking up with anyone else.”

“But why can’t it just be what it is? Why do we have to call it a relationship and use the boyfriend, girlfriend words?”

He chuckled before taking a sip of his wine, “I’ve been more than patient with you Jules. There’s only so much a man can take. It’s not about the title; I don’t care about the title. I just want you to be able to spend the night with me and not sneak out. I know you’ve obviously been hurt, some guy really fucked you up. And trust me if I ever find him I’ll kick the shit out of him not just because he hurt you but because he’s made my life so fucking difficult,” he paused to chuckle and grabbed onto my hand, “But, I’m not going to do that. I’m not a bad guy. I can give you references, will that make you happy? You can call all my ex girlfriends… alright some of them.”

I laughed when I felt my phone vibrate in my bag.  In any normal situation I wouldn’t check it but there was something that made me check.  My heart stopped beating for a second when I saw the text.

“I have to go.”

“What?”

“I have to go, we have to go.” I stood up.

“OK,” he stood up and tossed some money on the table, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“We have to go. Now.”

“I know, we’re going.” Justin said as he followed me out of the restaurant, “Where are we going?”

“The hospital. Unlock the door!”

He unlocked the door and quickly jumped inside, started the car and backed out of the parking lot. “What happened? Is everyone alright?”

“She’s having the baby.”

“Mel’s having the baby?” I nodded my head and Justin chuckled, “God, I thought somebody was hurt. You scared me.”

“Nobody’s hurt,” I laughed when I realized that I was freaking out like somebody was dying and I could have possibly told him Mel was having the baby from the beginning, “Sorry. I just… I want to be there.”

~*~*~*~

When we got to the hospital we had to wait in the waiting room for what seemed like forever.  I sat tapping my heel against the leg of the chair nervously, “You don’t have to stay.”

Justin looked up from the ground, “You do know I’ve known Kevin for five years.”

“So you’ve said.”

He chuckled and sat up, “You think I’m lying about that?”

“I just think it’s kinda weird that you say you’ve known him for five years and our paths have never crossed before.”

Justin smiled and put his arm around me, “You are ridiculous.”

“It’s true,” I giggled and rested my head on his shoulder. I’m not sure why I did it, but it felt right so I’m not going to think about it.

“What do you think, boy or girl?”

“Obviously it’s going to be a girl.” I answered quickly. What kind of a question is that?

“Obviously?” he chuckled, “I bet it’s a boy.”

“Fine then, let’s bet. What do I get when I win?’

 He gave me a sexy half smile before answering, “What do you want?”

“Um, I want…” I bit at my bottom lip as I thought of something, “I guess I could take some more of your home cooking. That was really good.”

“Really? That’s what you want?” he chuckled, “Alright I can handle that. When I win, I want you not to sneak away from me ever again.”

I rolled my eyes, “That’s such a waste of a bet.”

Kevin walked down the hallway, with his cell phone in his hand, looking completely flabbergasted.

“Kev,” I called out to him and jumped up to meet him.

“Oh hey. Hey,” he looked between us, a huge smile covering his face, “You made it, hey.”

“Congratulations,” I said before hugging him tightly, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s great. I have a kid, you know? A fucking kid. He’s cute, he’s fucking cute. You want to see?” he flicked through his phone to get to the pictures.

“He?” Justin asked, gently pinching my side. I pushed his hand away and he laughed.

“Yeah man, he. I’ve got a son,” he handed me the phone.

“He’s gorgeous.”

“He is,” Justin smiled, “Congratulations man.”

“Thanks? Right? I’m supposed to say thanks?” he laughed.

“How’s Mel?”

“Oh she’s good, yeah. They drugged her up real good. She’s alright now though. You guys can go in. She’ll want to see you. I have to call out parents. The reception in this place is shit. Go ahead and see Mel, the third door on the right.”

Justin grabbed onto my hand as we walked to the room, “A boy, huh?”

“Yes Justin, a boy. Just like I said.”

“Oh, here we go,” he laughed before we went into the room.

“Congratulations sweetie!” I said before leaning over her in the bed and giving her a hug, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, thanks. Hi Justin.”

“Hey Mel, congrats,” he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, “Where is he?”

‘Thanks Justin. He just went to find our parents. I can’t believe they’re not here yet.”

“Not Kev, your son.”

“Oh,” Mel laughed, “Yeah, him. The nurses are just doing some tests or something.  They need to bring the little fucker back.”

“Yeah, I’m thinking now that he’s all alive and shit you guys shouldn’t call him that anymore,” Justin said before sitting down.

“That’s probably a good idea,” I agreed with a laugh. “Do you want us to get anything for you? We can get stuff set up at your house if you want. We’ll get some food.”

“No, everything is under control. I’m staying over tonight and we’ll leave in the morning. Kev is weirdly over prepared which is just strange for him.”

“He’s in daddy mode,” I smiled, “it’s cute.”

The nurse came in, pushing the baby in one of those clear plastic bed type things. I jumped up right away and noticed Justin right behind me. “Oh my god he’s so cute. Can I hold him?”

“Of course, hold him. Just try not to drop him,” Mel smiled.

I lifted the little angel in my arms and fell in love immediately. He’s so tiny! “He’s so precious.”

Justin reached over and gently touched the baby’s cheeks, “He’s pretty big.”

“Yeah, he ripped me up real good.” Mel laughed, “TMI?”

“Yeah, a bit,” Justin smiled before turning his attention back to the baby, “Can I hold him?”

“I guess,” I answered softly handing him over, even though I didn’t want to let go.

I sat down at the foot of Mel’s bed and watched Justin carefully. He’s really comfortable with him. There’s just something about a man holding a baby, I swear.  Mel rubbed my arm to get my attention, “What’s going on with you two?” she asked in a whisper.

I shrugged with a smile and leaned my head down on her legs.

“Do me a favor and don’t fuck it up. I really like him. And so do you,” she whispered and pinched my arm, “Look how cute he is.”

“I know.”

We could hear Mel’s parents coming down the hall so Justin reluctantly handed the baby back to his mother. “Call us if you need anything?”

“We will. Thanks for coming guys.”

“Of course. Congratulations again, you’re going to be such a great mother. He’s absolutely adorable.”

“Thanks dear, we’ll see you soon.”

After making our way out of the hospital saying a quick hello and congratulations to Kev and Mel’s families we drove away in silence.  Justin grabbed onto my hand as he drove and gave me a cute smile before asking, “How many do you want?”

“How many what?”

“Kids.”

“Oh,” I paused to think for a second. “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I want kids some day. I think. I don’t know how many.”

“I thought for sure you’d say seven or eight. You know, gotta outdo your parents. Yeah, I’d say eight with names starting with… K.”

“I think that’s a bit much,” I laughed, “What about you?”

“I don’t know, a couple. Three, maybe four. It’s up for negotiation.” He smiled as he stopped in front of my house. “Well… you’re home.”

“Thanks.”

Justin nodded his head and gave me a slight smile. I had fun tonight, even though I didn’t want to. I’m starting to see that maybe I do need to grow up and open my eyes to this whole thing.

I took a deep breath, “Ok, fine.”

“Fine?”

“Yeah, fine. With your whole… thing.” He just looked at me even though he knows damn well what I’m talking about but he wants to hear me say it. “Girlfriend/boyfriend thing. But, you have to listen. There are definite conditions.”

“I’m listening.” He smiled.

“You need to go easy on me. And take it slow. And don’t expect too much because I’m not good at this stuff. I don’t know how to have a real life adult relationship.”

Justin chuckled, “You’re making this out to be way more serious than it needs to be. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Expect maybe don’t freak out over little things and run away.”

I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm, “You’re going to have to meet my parents. You know that, right?”

He laughed again, “I want to meet your parents.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Of course I do. I’m good with parents. Parents like me.”

“My dad is really strict and protective.”

“So are your brothers and I can handle them.”

I laughed, it’s funny and cute he thinks my brothers are strict and protective. “Justin, seriously, Jake is like 1/1000th as protective as my father. Johnny isn’t even that bad.”

“Well then, we’ll put it to the test. I can handle it.”

“We’ll see.”

“You have no faith in me,” Justin said as he kissed me gently.

“I do, I just have no faith in my father.” I answered honestly, “So, do you want to come in?”