CHAPTER ONE:
"Hey Brian, Alex called. He said to tell you he is coming to visit." Leighanne called down from the nursery as Brian came in from the backyard. "When will he be here?" Brian asked, heading up the stairs to find his wife and son. "He said he should be here around 8 tonight." she answered, handing Baylee to his father. "We won’t be back from the party by then, will we?" Brian asked as he played with his son. "No. I told him that we won’t be home, but the baby sitter will be here and to come on in and we should be home around 9 or 10. I just hope he will be ok here with Julie. I mean, he sounded really depressed over his break up with Sarah Jo." Leighanne explained, rather worried about AJ's mood. "I’m sure he will be fine. Julie is a really sweet girl." Brian said as he played with Baylee. "Yeah, they will probably get along great." Leighanne agreed, not too sure about what she just said as the doorbell rang. "Baylee and I will get it." Brian offered as he went downstairs while his wife finished laying out Baylee’s night clothes. "Hi Julie." he greeted once he opened the front door. "Hi Brian, how’s my sweet baby today?" Julie responded with smile, playing with Baylee. "I’m just great, thanks for asking, but don’t let Leighanne hear you call me that." Brian laughed. "I was talking about Baylee." Julie said, laughing as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I thought you were talking about me." Brian teased, pretending to pout. "Sorry." Julie shrugged as she put her dinner in the fridge. "Hey, that smells good. What is it? Brian asked, sniffing in the air. "It’s home made turkey pot pie. I made it this afternoon for my dinner tonight." Julie told him. "It smells really good." Leighanne chirped as she walked into the kitchen. Julie smiled. "Thanks. You look really nice." she said, looking at her friend and neighbor. "Thanks. We should be home around 9.…10 at the latest. Oh, and before I forget, a friend of Brian’s is coming for a visit. His name is Alex and he should be here around 8. It is ok to let him in. He is going to be visiting for a couple of weeks so you will see him around a lot." Leighanne explained as she and Brian kissed their son goodnight, then handed him to Julie. "Ok, have a good time, and don’t worry about us. We'll be fine." she assured them. "Ok. Call our cell phone if you need us." Brian added, pulling his wife out the door. "So Baylee, what shall we do? How about you swing for a while and I will study? How does that sound?" Julie cooed to the baby, putting him in the baby swing, as she started studying for her finals. She was going to school to be a lawyer. She was in her last year of law school and then she had to take her bar exam.After a couple of hours, Baylee started crying to let Julie know he was hungry, so she put her books up and fixed his dinner. After changing him, she feed him, then started his bath. After his bath, Julie laid him down on his play gym blanket to let him tire himself out while she finished studying. After a couple more hours, Baylee became tired and cranky. Julie fixed him a bottle, plus put her pot pie in the over to warm while she fed Baylee and put him to bed. She changed his diaper once more, then feed him and soon he fell asleep in her arms. She took him upstairs to the nursery, placing him in his crib and covering him. She then turned on the monitor and went back downstairs to check on her own dinner. Walking into the kitchen, she found a man bent over the oven checking out her dinner. Figuring that this had to be Brian’s friend Alex, she decided to watch him for a second before she spoke."Excuse me, are you Alex?" Julie asked, startling him. AJ jumped. "SHIT! Why don’t you make some noise when you enter a room instead of scaring the shit out of a person!" he growled, holding his heart. "I’m sorry, but you are the one who just waltzes in here without even knocking, then proceeds to eyeball my dinner." Julie snapped back. "Well, excuse me! Isn’t this Brian and Leighanne’s house? Who in the hell are you?" AJ asked, now standing in a defensive manner. "Yes, it is their house, and I am Julie. I am watching Baylee for them. They told me that you would be coming tonight, but they didn’t tell me that you were such a rude shit head!" Julie replied as she walked over to take her food from the oven. AJ just looked at her as she made her plate and then walked into the dining room. "Asshole!" she muttered as she walked past him. "Damn, she is a Royal Bitch!" AJ thought to himself while flipping on the tv to find something to watch until Brian got home. As AJ sat there in the living room, the aroma from the pot pie that Julie was eating gave off a wonderful smell throughout the whole house and his stomach started growling from not eating any lunch. He stood up and walked into the dining room, seeing Julie sitting there by herself, reading a book while eating a nice sized helping of the pot pie. AJ cleared his throat and Julie looked up, noticing him looking at her food. "Are you hungry?" she asked, looking back at her book. "Yes, as a matter of fact I am." AJ said. "Well, there is plenty here. Go get yourself a plate and join me." Julie replied, not moving from her position at the table. Not saying anything, AJ looked at her, wondering why Brian would have such a bitch watching his son. He went and got himself a plate and fork, then returned to the dining room. "Help yourself." Julie said, never moving her eyes from her book. The two of them sat in complete silence as they ate. Julie finished eating, so she picked up her plate and returned to the kitchen, placing it in the dishwasher, then grabbing her book she went upstairs to check on Baylee. Finding him sound asleep, she returned to the family room to finish studying. AJ had finished eating as well. He placed his plate in the dishwasher then placed the left over food in the fridge before returning to the living room, only to find Julie sitting in the chair that he was sitting in before he went to eat. Sitting down on the couch instead, he started flipping through the tv channels, causing Julie to give him an annoyed look. "I’m trying to study here." she said, giving him the death look. "Brian has a study for that." AJ shot back, pleased with himself. Letting out a loud sigh, Julie stood up and headed out of the room. "Fucking jerk!" she grumbled as she passed by him. AJ looked at her, then settled down on the couch to watch a golf game on ESPN with a smile on his face.CHAPTER TWO:Julie stayed in the study for the rest of the night, away from the rudeness of the one and only AJ McLean. As she sat there trying to study her book, her eyes started getting heavy. Finally, she could not keep her eyes open any longer, so she laid her head back and closed her eyes, drifting off into just a light sleep incase Baylee woke up. Everything else around her was pushed out of her mind, and as she slept, she was only listening for a baby's cry.AJ got up from his spot on the sofa and headed for the bathroom. As he passed Brian's study, he quietly peeked in and noticed Julie lying there and how pretty she looked as she slept. Then he remembered how much of a bitch she was to him earlier and just shook his head, continuing on to the bathroom.A little while later, AJ laid on the couch surfing through the TV channels when he heard the back door open and then close. "Hey Bone! Nice to see you." Brian greeted as AJ stood up. "Hey Rok. It’s about time you guys got home. How was the party?" AJ asked as they shook hands. Looking around for Leighanne before he answered, Brian replied in a whisper, "Boring as usual." "Hey Alex, nice of you to come visit." Leighanne said with a smile as she walked into the family room. "Thanks for having me. You’re looking good." AJ complimented as they hugged each other. "Thanks. Where is Julie?" she asked, looking around but not seeing her. "Oh, you mean Queen Bitch? She is in the study sleeping. "AJ answered, looking at Brian. "Why do you call her that? Julie is a sweet girl." Leighanne defended as she at him with annoyance. "Sweet? She has been nothing but a bitch to me ever since we first met. How could you have someone like her watching Baylee?" AJ countered. "Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Julie tonight, but she is a very sweet woman and Baylee loves her." Leighanne insisted, giving AJ a look that said 'watch yourself' as she walked out of the room. "Man, Bone, you better watch yourself. That is one of Leighanne’s closest friends that you are talking about." Brian said as he looked at his friend. "Brian, she was unbelievable! The first thing she did was scare the hell out of me and it all went down hill from there. Everything I said, she had a smart remark for. Then I came in here to watch TV and she told me that she was studying. I told her that is what you have a study for, so she got up, called me a fucking jerk and left the room." AJ protested as they sat down. Brian sighed. "Bone, I have known Julie since Leighanne and I moved in here and she has always been a really sweet girl. Baylee just loves her. You must have really given her a shitty first impression." he said. "I swear Brian, I didn’t do anything to this woman. She just automatically took a disliking to me." AJ persisted, trying to defend himself. Brian shrugged, not knowing what else he could say. "Well, just watch yourself around Leighanne."Leighanne walked into the study to find Julie lying on the sofa, sleeping. "Hey Jules, we’re home." she called out softly. Julie slowly opened her eyes. "Hi. Did you have a good time?" she asked as she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah, I did, but I don’t think Brian did. Then again, he never does when it comes to birthday parties at my families house." Leighanne laughed. "Oh, that's too bad." Julie yawned. "Hey, I hear you met Alex." Leighanne said, looking at her friend and waiting for a reaction. Julie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I did. Why didn’t you warn me about 'Mr. Rude-Ass' himself?" she asked, annoyance obvious in her voice. "Jesus Julie, what happened between you and Alex tonight? He said that you were bitchy to him too." Leighanne questioned as she sat down next to Julie on the sofa. Julie told her the whole story from the moment she and AJ met, and when she was finished, all Leighanne could say was, "Jules, I am so sorry. Alex and his girlfriend Sarah Jo broke up a few weeks ago. I thought that he was pretty much over his hatefulness at this point, but I guess I was wrong. He usually is a very sweet guy with a heart of gold." "Well, I can understand his pain, but he don’t have to take it out on me. I didn’t mean to scare him. I even told him that I was sorry. He is the one that just spouted off at the mouth and I just reacted to his actions. He really needs to get over himself and check his attitude at the door because he is one rude man, and just because he is 'The AJ McLean' does not mean that I am going to bow down and kiss his ass." Julie told her. "I’m sorry Julie. Maybe you and Alex could start over?" Leighanne suggested. "NO WAY! I refuse to deal with him again. I mean, I'm sure that with him being here for a couple of weeks we will run in to each other at some point, but it's not something that I want to do on purpose. You know what I mean?" Julie replied with a giggle. Leighanne giggled along with her. "Yeah, but really Jules, he is a really sweet guy." "I'm sure he is, but I still think I will pass on this one. Thanks anyway. So do you still need me to babysit tomorrow night?" Julie asked, trying to change the subject. "Yeah, if you don’t mind. Brian and I have a dinner meeting with some big shots from our management company." Leighanne said. "Ok. What time do you want me here?" Julie asked. Leighanne thought for a second. "How about 6 PM?" Julie nodded. "That's fine. Tell Brian goodnight for me, and I will see you tomorrow night then." she said as she got up and headed for the door. "Goodnight Julie, and thanks for watching Baylee for us." Leighanne called out after her. "No problem, bye." Julie called back as she waved goodbye.After closing the door, Leighanne walked into the family room where Brian and AJ were sitting and talking. "Bone! You are such a jerk!" she hissed, looking at the surprised look on both AJ's and Brian’s faces. "What? Why? What the hell did I do now?" AJ questioned, shocked at both the tone of Leighanne's voice, and her accusations. It had been a couple of years since she had referred to him as a jerk. She went on to explain what Julie had told her just a few minutes earlier about her and Alex’s first meeting. "Well…..well….she scared the shit out of me. I thought I was going to have a heart attack." AJ stuttered in defense of himself. Leighanne sighed loudly. "I have only one thing to say to you about that Alex…..Grow up!" And with that, she walked away with an annoyed look on her face. Once she was out of earshot, Brian looked over at AJ. "Man, your first impression was something that is leaving a nasty taste in not only Julie’s mouth, but in Leigh’s mouth too." he laughed. "Well, I don’t care about Julie, but I don’t see why Leigh is so pissed off at me." AJ grumbled, looking toward the door that Leighanne just exited from. "I think it's because she was hoping that maybe you and Julie would hit it off." Brian confessed with a smile. "Oh yeah, sure. Me and the bitchy woman next door….that is funny." AJ laughed. "Seriously man, you need to get over that attitude. She was only reacting to your own bitchiness." Brian pointed out, laughing as AJ gave him a shitty look.CHAPTER THREE:AJ waked into the kitchen where Leighanne was talking on the phone, while cleaning up from lunch. "Yeah, so we will be expecting you around 6 then. Brian and I hopefully won’t be very late. I don’t know what he is going to do." he heard her say and look over at him as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "I’m sure he will be have himself." Leighanne continued, watching AJ as he went out the back door in search of Brian. "Hey Bone, what’s up? You look none to happy?" Brian asked as AJ approached him, sitting up from the blanket that he was laying on, playing with his son. "Why didn’t you tell me that you and Leigh were going out again tonight and that Miss Smart Ass was going to be here again?" AJ questioned. "Bone, it is a business dinner. We can’t get out of it." Brian explained. "You are more then welcome to come with us if you want." "What is the meeting about?" AJ asked before making a decision. "It’s for our heart foundation." Brain replied, as Baylee giggled from his daddy tickling him. AJ sighed. "No, that’s ok. I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. I'll just stay here with the 'she devil'. he said with a playful, but evil grin. "Damn it AJ! Will you do me a favor and at least try to get along with Julie tonight?" Brian asked in a pleading voice. AJ shrugged. "I'll see." he said, not sounding to convincing. "Come on! All I am asking is that you at least give it a try." Brian persisted, now somewhat annoyed at AJ’s stubbornness. "Fine! I'll try to make amends with her, and only because you asked me to, but it doesn't mean that I have to become friends with her." AJ relented, yet irritated at Brian for asking him for such a huge favor. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Brian and AJ talked about everything that was going on with AJ since his break up with Sarah Jo. "So, are you looking for another girlfriend, or do you just want to be alone for a while?" Brian asked. "I think I just want to play around for a while." AJ answered honestly, unaware that Brian was asking because of Leighanne. Last night while they were in bed, Leighanne had told him that she really felt that if Julie and Alex had met under different circumstances that they would have liked each other. But with Alex and his stubbornness, and Julie and hers, they never had a chance. It was doomed right from the moment they met."Well, I guess I had better go and get ready for this meeting." Brian told his friend, picking up his son and the blanket and heading upstairs. At 6 o'clock on the dot, Julie rang the doorbell. "Hey Bone, could you please let Julie in?" Brian called downstairs. "Yeah!" AJ called back out to Brian, then whispered to himself as he headed for the back door, "if I really have to.""Come on in." AJ said, pushing the door open and then walking away, leaving Julie to catch it as it went to swing shut. "Hello to you too, Mr. Asshole McLean." she grumbled out loud, knowing full well that AJ had heard her, but just didn't care what she thought. Julie walked in the kitchen and turned on the stove, placing a pot on the burner and adjusting the flame. She then went in search of her baby boy. Walking into the nursery, she found Baylee napping, no doubt tired out from Brian playing with him all day. "He should be waking up soon to eat. He fell asleep about an hour ago because Brian had him outside most of the day, playing." Leighanne said, coming up behind her. "He is so perfect. I can’t wait until the day comes when I start a family, but my career has to come first right now." Julie gushed, still watching Baylee. "Hey, all you have left to do is take your bar, and you will do that next month." Leighanne reminded her, smiling. "Hopefully." Julie sighed, closing the door to the nursery. "What is that wonderful smell?" Leighanne asked as the two women headed downstairs. "It's shrimp gumbo. I made it a little while ago, but it still need to cook for about an hour more. I hope you don’t mind." Julie replied. "Heavens no! I don’t care." Leighanne laughed, hearing Brian open the bedroom door and come out. "Hi Julie. You look nice as usual." Brian complimented. Julie smiled at him. "Thanks, so do you." "Thank you. Are we ready to go?" He asked Leighanne as he smelled in the air. "Yes, I was just waiting on you." Leighanne answered, looking at him in amusement. "Oh man, you go ahead. I’m staying here for dinner. I smell gumbo." Brian teased, sniffing the aroma that was silently filling the house. "Come on Brian! Let's go before we are late." Leighanne said, grabbing his hand and heading for the door. "Ok Julie, we should be home around 10 if all goes well. You know how to get a hold of us if you need to." she said as they headed out the door. "Yeah, you and Alex behave yourselves now. Don’t kill each other while we are gone and leave our son to fend for himself." Brian called out as he got into the car and drove away. "I just might have to kill him though." Julie replied to herself, closing the door. "What is that God awful smell?" AJ asked with a wrinkled up nose as he came into the kitchen. "That is my shrimp gumbo, and it smells great!" Julie replied, walking past AJ to stir it. "Yeah, I guess it does smell good if you compare it to a garbage can." AJ cracked with a grin. "You know something Alex? I don’t want to deal with you all night and I’m guessing that you are not too crazy about me being here either, but we are, so I will tell you what. You stay out of my way, and I will stay out of yours. I won’t tell you how distasteful and rude I think you are as long as you keep your immature comments to yourself. How does that sound to you?" Julie said after attending to the gumbo and then walking away, leaving AJ speechless for a few seconds."Hey 'Miss Smart Ass', who do you think you are calling immature here? You are how old and still a baby sitter? Why don’t you get a real job?" AJ called after her, wanting to hurt her feelings like she had just done to him. Julie turned around and looked at him, laughing. "You know what? You better hope like hell that I never have the opportunity to see you in court, because I'll work my ass off to take you for everything I can get, even if my client doesn't deserve shit from you!" Julie fired back, then walked away from him to get a crying Baylee.
AJ just stood there, stunned at her coldness toward him. He wasn't use to any woman being so hard toward him. Hell, usually they were throwing themselves at him. He poured himself another cup of coffee as Julie re-entered the kitchen with Baylee. Holding him in one arm while trying to get his dinner ready with the other one was never a very easy task. AJ watched her as Baylee wiggled around in her arm. "I could hold him while you do that if you want." he offered, looking at her. "You know how to hold a baby?" Julie asked, looking back at him. "You know what…..just….." AJ began angrily, but Julie cut him off. "No, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry. That came out wrong. It's just that you don’t strike me as the fatherly type." she apologized, handing him Baylee. "Well, that just goes to show her that she knows nothing about me then, don’t it Bay?" AJ said playfully to the baby he now held in his arms. Julie stood silently, watching this rude, rugged man turn into a sweet, caring human being right in front of her eyes, over nothing more than a 15 pound baby that seemed to like him, but why she didn't understand. Was there something about Alex that she was missing? Was this just a front? No, babies have the ability to judge people, even at Baylee's age. Was Alex's rudeness and hatefulness just a front so he wouldn't get hurt again?"Well, no matter which way it is, I refuse to let him treat me like I beneath him." Julie thought, standing firm on her dislike for him.CHAPTER FOUR: Julie finished putting Baylee to bed, then she sat in the family room reading her book while AJ sat watching re-runs of the Golden Girls and eating pizza. Julie looked over at him as her thoughts ran over the nights events, and she wondered how one man could change from a rude, over-bearing egotistical asshole, to such a sweet, funny, caring and lovable man when it came to a helpless baby. After Julie feed Baylee and gave him a bath earlier that evening, AJ had played with him until he became cranky and wanted his bottle to go to sleep. During this time it gave Julie a chance to eat her own dinner, which she was thankful for. While she put Baylee to sleep, AJ then ordered himself a pizza and had it delivered for his dinner since he didn't even want to give her gumbo a chance. 'This is the kind of man I would love to start a family with' Julie thought to herself, but then she shook her head, remembering what a despondent asshole he had been and how much she despised him. The two of them fight much during the rest of that night, but then again, they didn't talk much either, which was alright with both of them since the argument that had taken place earlier in the kitchen had pretty much put AJ in his place. At around 10:20 pm, Brian and Leighanne crept quietly in the door, not hearing any noise inside the house except for the television. "I wonder if they killed each other, and if they did, which one survived?" Brian asked with a grin, then heard AJ laugh at the TV. "Well, Alex is still alive. Let's just hope he isn't standing there laughing over Julie's dead body" he laughed."Brian, stop that! That isn't funny at all." Leighanne scolded with a frown on her face as they walked into the family room.Finding both AJ and Julie co-existing peacefully in the same room, Leighanne and Brian just looked at each other in surprise and smiled. "It's a start." she whispered to her husband as he grinned."Hey guys, we're home." Leighanne announced as Brian walked over and sat down beside AJ, stealing a piece of pizza from the box and settling in to watch the Golden Girls with him."Hey! How did tonight go?" Julie asked, closing her book as she stood up. "It went pretty good I think. They were interested in the program, so it all looks good. How was Baylee?" Leighanne replied. "He was just perfect. Alex and Baylee played a lot tonight, so he was really tired. I think it was around 9:30 when he finally fell asleep." Julie told her as she headed towards the back of the house where her car was parked. "Really?" Leighanne asked, surprised. Julie nodded. "Hey, there was some gumbo left over from my dinner, so I put it in the fridge incase you and Brian wanted some. I will pick up my pot either tomorrow or Sunday." she said as she slid her shoes on that were laying by the back door. "Cool. So did you and Alex get along better tonight? Leighanne asked with a sheepish grin. Julie sighed loudly. "Leighanne, will you stop it already? Alex and I can't ever look at each other without having something nasty to say to the other, much less do anything else. You need to face it. We can't stand each other. "Yeah, well, you two could atleast try and put your differences behind you and be civil to each other. I mean, you were both in the same room tonight without fighting. That's a start, right?" Leighanne pointed out, still smiling. "Yeah, because we weren't talking. Think about it." Julie shot back playfully as she rolled her eyes, then she got into her car and waved goodbye to her friend, not wanting to discuss this any further. Back in the family room, Brian turned his attention to AJ. "Hey, did you and Julie make amends tonight?" he asked with a smile? AJ just looked at him in surprise. "Not really. To start the night off, she told me off, then I told her off, so she in return told me off again, and then we agreed to not talk to each other anymore and to just stay out of each other's way. The most conversation that either one of us had tonight was with Baylee. Does that tell you what the night was like?" he replied, looking at his nosey friend. "Well, atleast you two were in the same room without arguing." Brian offered as AJ stood up. "Yeah Rok, we were. We ignored each other, pretending that we were not here together. Really good start!" he mumbled as he walked towards the door. "Where are you going?" Brian asked, watching him. "To bed, man. I don't need this! She is a wonderful woman when it comes to Baylee, but other than that, forget it." AJ replied, heading for the stairs that led to his room. Brian went upstairs to his own room to find Leighanne turning down their bed. She looked at her husband as he entered. "So, what did Alex have to say about his night with Julie?" she asked with a smile. Brian sighed. "I think you are wrong about this thing with Alex and Julie, Leigh, and I don't want any part of your little matching scheme. From what I can see, they can't stand each other and that is that." he answered in a 'I give up' voice as he flopped down on the bed. "I don't know, Brian. I still think there is more there than what they want to admit." Leighanne countered. "Honey, just forget it and leave them alone." Brian said as he got undressed for bed. Leighanne just smiled. 'Ok, for now I will, but they will be together before the end of these two weeks.' she thought to herself. AJ laid in his bed, thinking about how nice the night had been. Even if there wasn't any talking going on between him and Julie, he did notice how wonderful she was with Baylee. 'I wish she was just a little nicer. Maybe then we could find something good between us.' he thought, wishing that their first meeting with each other had gone a little differently. "I guess it was just meant to be this way." he mumbled under his breath, turning on the TV in his room and settling down for some peaceful rest. Julie laid in bed as well, reading her romance novel and wishing that she had some romance in her life. Closing the book, she let out a heavy sigh. 'I have to have a man in my life to have romance, and I just don't have time for that right now. My plate is so full with my studying and trying to set up a good clientele, and when I finally get my bar done, it will be even harder to have any time to myself. Jesus, when will I be able to be happy?' she thought to herself as she turned off her light and settled down for a long night of not being able to sleep due to the worry of life in general. The next morning, Leighanne was in the kitchen reading the morning paper with her cup of coffee when AJ entered the room. "Good morning, Leigh." he greeted. "Good morning, Alex. Want some coffee? It's pretty good this morning. I tried Julie's French vanilla recipe." Leighanne replied as she got another cup from the cupboard. "Where is Rok?" AJ asked. "He went to the store. We thought we would have a cook out today. I hope you don't mind, but I thought since Brian will have you to hang out with that I would invite Julie over so she and I can talk. She really is a nice girl, and with Brian and I here, I don't think the two of you will be....well,...let's just say, having any vocal differences." Leighanne said as she looked at him, waiting for his response. "Hey, this is your house. I am just a guest here, so I have nothing to say about who you have over. Julie and I made an agreement last night that I will stay out of her way and she will stay out of mine and that we would keep our comments to ourselves, so I guess we will be fine being together again." AJ commented with a evil smile. "Alex, I don't like that smile you have on your face right now. Leighanne warned. "No, seriously. We agreed to that last night, and I am sure that we can do it again today." AJ assured her as he walked outside, seeing Brian pull into the driveway. Leighanne just shook her head at him. "He likes her, I can tell."CHAPTER FIVE:COMING SOON...© Copyright 2003 All Rights Reserved. No part of this text may be copied or reprinted without the author's permission.
Chapters 6-10
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