June 5th-June 7th
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Throughout this story, in bold print, I will put the time changing. Just so you don't get confused.
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Nearly Five Years Ago...
Ron and Julianna sat together on the couch, clasping hands. Julianna smiled warmly at Ron, very much in love. They had been dating for 6 years now, and the love she had felt for him hadn't faded. And to her it felt like it was only continuously growing.
"Are we really going to do this?" She asked. He nodded and leaned over, brushing his lips against hers.
"I think it's too late to turn back now." He replied. She laughed and hugged him tightly to her, already cherishing the life they had made, that was resting quietly inside her, and between their bodies.
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Nine Months Later...
The little squirming red body slid into the world and began to squall. Julianna let out a small laugh through her pain, and tears began to shimmer in her eyes as the doctor laid her baby onto her stomach, for the first time that the baby was on top of it, instead of inside it. She immediately forgot about the pain as she touched her baby's skin for the first time. A girl, Julianna though and glanced up happily at Ron. He was smiling slightly, but wasn't nearly as happy as Julianna thought he would have been. She knew he had been hoping for a boy, but she didn't think he would be so disappointed if it was a girl. But something about the look on his face...She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts and looked back at her beautifully messy baby. Julianna felt an intense love that she had never felt before, for no one or anything. And she smiled.
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The next day Julianna awoke in her hospital room, blinking her eyes open sleepily. She turned her head towards the door, and she saw Ron holding their daughter and walking around in lazy circles as he stared down at her. He turned his body towards the bed, and glanced at Julianna, only to find her staring back at him. He smiled and walked toward her, cradling the baby in his arms. Then he looked down at the child.
"She's beautiful." He said, as if almost shocked by it. Julianna pushed herself up on the bed, and winced a bit at the pain that came from below.
"Of course she is." Julianna replied. He looked up and met Julianna's eyes.
"It's just that she was so...well, ugly when she first came out." Ron said. Julianna's eyes widened a bit. Even in her wildest dreams, she never would have thought he would say that. When she had first seen their daughter, she had been awed by her beauty. And this man, who she loved so much, and who had wanted their child so much, was calling their baby ugly.
"She wasn't." Julianna said softly, feeling the need to take her precious Olivia away from him.
"Sure she was. She was all slimy, and red, and scrunched up." Ron replied. "But now she is gorgeous." He said. Julianna shifted, annoyed with him. She hadn't had any other experience besides this, but from her point of view, men shouldn't act that way about their children. At least her brother-in-laws hadn't seemed to feel that way when Alex and Rachel had given birth to their kids.
"Let me see Olivia." Julianna murmured. Ron bent down and placed the baby into Julianna's arms. Julianna grinned, immediately forgetting her annoyance with Ron. She let the baby wrap her tiny fingers around her own pointer finger and she held Olivia closer to her face and rubbed the baby's silky fingers against her cheek. Julianna sighed happily, realizing that no matter what happened later in her life, having this child would forever make her a happier, a better person. She would do anything for her baby girl.
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The first night the baby is home...
Julianna awoke for the third time that night to the sound of Olivia whimpering on the other end of the baby walkie talkies. She was hungry again. Julianna sighed and rolled over on the bed. She buried her face in her pillow as she listened to the sounds of her precious daughter. As much as she loved her daughter, she could use some help, Julianna thought. She rolled away from the pillow, and towards Ron. She shook him until he awoke.
"What?" He asked.
"Could you go get her?" Julianna asked.
"Why can't you?"
"I've already been up with her twice. Can't you just go pick her up out of her crib and bring her to me to feed her?" She asked.
"Wouldn't it just been easier if you went and fed her there and put her back to sleep and came back to bed?" He asked. Julianna sighed and rolled out of bed, extremely annoyed with him. He couldn't even get up once for her, his own daughter? Julianna knew taking care of a child wasn't going to be a picnic, but she didn't expect to be doing it on her own. Julianna sighed as she bent down over the baby's crib and picked her up.
"Looks like it's just you and me, kid." Julianna said and didn't really give a damn if Ron heard her or not.
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One week later...
Julianna awoke to the sound of the baby crying. She glanced at the alarm clock beside the bed which read 8 AM. She glanced to the other side to find that Ron wasn't in bed. She waited for a minute, hoping that he would go to their daughter. She waited for a whole minute, before she couldn't stand the sound of her daughter needing her for one more second and she went quickly to Olivia's nursery. She picked up the baby, and rocked her against her chest, shushing her quietly.
"It's okay, darlin', Mama's here. Don't you worry anymore, Ollie. I'm here." She murmured and sat down in the rocking chair. She pushed her shirt aside and the one-week-old baby latched quickly to her breast. "There ya go, eat up." Julianna said and began to rock softly. She studied the soft down curls on the top of her baby's head. Then her eyes traveled to Olivia's eyes and she saw the soft greenish-blue eyes staring back up at her. Julianna smiled and rubbed the baby's cheek gently with her finger.
"I love you, sugar. You're Mama's little monkey." She whispered with a grin. Then she broke the gaze and leaned her head back against the wooden chair. She was exhausted. She knew that having a child would do that to her, and she knew that she was smart for taking some time off of work, but dear God, she hadn't known it would be this hard. Then again, she hadn't been expecting to do this all alone, either.
Not once in the 7 days they had been home, had Ron gotten out of bed for Olivia. Every time she cried he just rolled over and ignored her, even though Julianna knew he was awake. Each time she had to get out of bed and do everything herself. He hadn't changed one diaper. If he was holding the baby and he realized she had dirtied her diaper, he merely handed her to Julianna and said she needed changed. Julianna was baffled, and extremely pissed off. And she planned to confront him about it.
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A few minutes later...
Julianna walked downstairs, fully dress, carrying the now dressed Olivia in her arms. She walked into the kitchen, to find Ron reading the newspaper and drinking a coffee, all dressed for the day, as he sat at the kitchen table. Julianna placed the baby down into her baby swing that they had set up in the kitchen. She made sure she was all snapped and snugged in and then she turned to face Ron. She placed her hands on her hips until he looked away from the paper and at her.
"What?" He asked.
"Didn't you hear her?" Julianna said, her voice low.
"What?" He asked.
"Did you not hear the baby crying?" She asked.
"Oh, yeah. I heard her." He said.
"Why didn't you get her?" Julianna asked.
"I figured you would wake up and get her." Ron said. Julianna threw up her hands.
"She's your daughter, too, Ron. I didn't make her all by myself." Julianna said, her voice rising just slightly.
"You are her mother." Ron replied, setting the newspaper down and preparing himself for an argument. She was so testy, he thought.
"And you're her father!" Julianna exclaimed.
"But I can't feed her. That's your job." Ron replied calmly.
"Damnit, Ron, you could at least go pick her up. Maybe see if you can calm her down and get her to sleep for a little while so I can sleep in a bit. You haven't gotten up with her at all. You're being so inconsiderate. I've been doing everything. You haven't touched a diaper unless it has already been on her! It's not fair!" Julianna shouted, her anger rising with her voice.
"What do you mean it's not fair?" Ron asked.
"I can't do this all by myself. It's exhausting. I didn't have a child expecting to raise it alone." She said.
"You're her mother, you're supposed to feed and change her and get up with her at night."
"Are you blind? We're living in the twentieth century. Men help their wives now! I never realized you were that old-fashioned." Julianna said.
"I'm not. That's the way I was raised and the way I intend to carry on." He said.
"Bastard!" Julianna yelled and winced when Olivia began to wail. She turned away from Ron, knowing she couldn't speak to him anymore or she'd say something she would probably regret. She bent down and picked up the baby, and leaned her against her shoulder. "Shh, it's okay, darlin', I'm sorry for yelling." Julianna grabbed the diaper bag and headed toward the hallway that led to the garage. "C'mon, let's get your coat and shoes on." She said. She opened the hall closet and placed the bag on the floor. Julianna struggled to get the baby into her coat when she saw Ron standing in the hallway entrance.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"Out. I need to get out." Julianna said. He got a disgusted look on his face and turned, stalking away. "Thanks for the help." Julianna murmured. Olivia was still whimpering in her arms, and Julianna felt like she was about to start crying also. She finally got the baby all wrapped up before she headed out to the car, diaper bag and baby in hand. She buckled Olivia in and got in and buckled herself in before she backed out of the garage. Then she realized she didn't know where to go. She couldn't go anywhere public, because she didn't want people to take pictures of her baby. Not yet. And who would take her in?
George. His face immediately popped into her head and her fingers relaxed on the wheel when she realized that he would be there for her. Then she tensed again. What if he wasn't home? It was a Saturday, but he worked all the time. What if he wasn't there when she needed him to be?
She continued driving towards his house, growing nervous and more tense as each mile passed. Finally she pulled up in his driveway and entered the code to his gates. He had let his closest friends know it. The gates swung open and Julianna drove up the driveway. She parked the car and got out, looking at the house and wondering if he was there. She wasn't sure whether to take the baby out just to knock on the door, or to leave her in there for a few seconds. Before she could decide, the door swung open and George stepped out, a huge smile on his face.
"Do you need some help?" He asked. Tears filled her eyes and she nodded before she turned, to get the baby out. He walked to her and smiled.
"There's the little monkey." George said and Julianna let a little sob slip out of her lips when she heard him using one of Olivia's nicknames. "Woah, what was that?" George asked, turning Julianna to face him just as she pulled the baby into her arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Julianna said.
"Alright, it's okay. Here, hand me Olivia." He said. Julianna passed her off and then dug her fingers into her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop. "Jules, get her bag, okay?" He asked. She nodded and reached into the car and got the bag. "Now, c'mon." He said and put his free arm around her waist. She leaned her head against his shoulder and followed him into the house. When they got inside, he led her to the nearest couch. "Why don't you sit down." He said. She obliged him, and he slipped the diaper bag off her shoulder and set it off to the side. He shifted the baby in his arms carefully, so that her little head was snuggled against his shoulder. He took a seat beside Julianna and looked at her. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" He asked. She shook her head a bit and wiped her hand under her nose.
"Ron." She said.
"What about him?" He asked as tears continued leaking from her eyes.
"We fought." Julianna said. George nodded.
"Okay." He said. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
"I'm sorry." She choked out.
"Hey, don't be." He said and rubbed her back with his free hand.
"I..I'm so exhausted, George. This is so hard." She said.
"I know. If you ever need time off I'll be here for you. You know I'm a good uncle." He said. She smiled and sniffled a bit, nodding.
"I'm sorry that I ruined your afternoon. I should have at least called first." She said as the tears ran a little slower down her face.
"Hey, you didn't ruin my afternoon. In fact, you made it even better. You brought this little monkey here to see me." He said. Hearing him call Olivia 'monkey' only made Julianna cry harder. It was one of her nicknames for the baby, and George was the only other person to call her that. Ron had never called her anything but Olivia and occasionally Ollie. Julianna used every pet name under the sun for her daughter. And knowing that George would too, made her even sadder. "Hey, hey, I'm sorry." George said softly, apologizing for something that he wasn't really quite sure of. "I have an idea." She looked up at him, her eyes red with tears. "How about you go upstairs and take a nap. I'll watch Ollie, and you can sleep for as long as you can. I'll play with her and put her to sleep and only wake you if she needs fed. And even if she needs fed, you can go right back to sleep when she is done, okay?" He suggested. "How does that sound?" Julianna nodded.
"Like you are my savior." She said. He chuckled.
"Okay, let's go get you tucked in. You can sleep in the spare room beside my bedroom." He said. She nodded in agreement and let him lead her up so she could pass out for a few hours. She'd worry about Ron later.
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Julianna slept for six hours and George woke her up twice so she could feed Olivia. Finally after a long time of sleeping, Julianna made her way down the stairs. As she stepped into the room and George caught sight of her, his breath was stolen. Her hair was all rumpled from sleep, and she had a sleepy smile on her face as she looked at him holding Olivia as they watched TV together.
"Hey. She's awake." Julianna murmured. George nodded, and looked away, trying to get his breath back. Where did that come from? No woman had every stolen his breath like that, especially not a woman who had just gotten out of bed and shouldn't be so damn sexy.
So why had he felt that way about Julianna? His old buddy Jules? He tried to ignore it as he glanced back up at her and passed the baby off to her.
"Has she been good?" Julianna asked as she shifted the baby into her arms and sat beside George. He nodded.
"She was about ready to nod off again, I think." He said. Julianna nodded as she watched Olivia let out a little baby yawn, and wave her fist in the air for a moment. Then she blinked her eyes sleepily before she finally let them fall shut.
"I think you're right." Julianna said and then looked at him, meeting his gaze. "I just want to thank you. For all of this. I..Thanks." She said. He nodded.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. She hesitated and then shook her head. She knew that George made a good uncle, but he never wanted to be a dad and she wasn't about ready to burden him, or anyone else with her problems.
"No. I just need to talk to Ron about it. I'm sure everything with be fine." She said softly.
"You sure?" He asked. She nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, but thanks though. I really appreciate you doing this for me. I really needed that sleep." She said. He nodded.
"Anytime." He said, and meant it.
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