Author's Note: KrabbyPatty requested this from me so I decided to share it here. I hope it's worth the read. :)
Taking care of her own child was hard enough, Julie realized. Why had she volunteered to watch the Cohen's infant when she had her hands full with her own? To her left was Baby Cohen, other known as Sophie Rose. She was only two months old and already her little bit of blond hair resembled that of her mother, Kirsten. On the right was Baby Cooper-Atwood, or Jake, as his mother and sister had named him. Upon finding out that she was pregnant, Julie had picked out three names and Kaitlin, her daughter, had helped the brunette pick out the perfect name.
"You two are quiet today," Julie commented to the infants. "Usually you're loud."
Jake kicked his legs happily while Sophie cooed. Jake was in his blue car seat, the one Julie had found at Toys-R-Us and hadn't been able to resist. It had multi-colored race cars on the fabric and it just seemed perfect for the little boy. Sophie's car seat was pink with butterflies, and Julie liked it much better than the fabric used for Jake's seat cover. She had to stop and remind herself that little boys did not like pink butterflies, so she couldn't really expect him to ride around in an adorable seat like Sophie's. He was only a few months old, but Julie was convinced that he knew the difference between material intended for girls and the materials that were made for boys.
"Young lady and gentleman, shall I entertain you with a rattle?" Julie joked. She knew the babies couldn't understand a word of what she was saying, but the way they responded to her voice was too cute to pass up. Jake and Sophie cooed in unison, but began fussing as Julie gently shook the yellow rattle she had brought along with her. "No rattle. Got it."
Julie sat on the large ottoman that was strategically placed in front of the couch. She smiled at the infants as she tried to figure out what to do. The brunette did not want two fussy babies, and she knew it was just a matter of time before they grew tired of the silence. The ideas Julie so desperately wanted were not arriving. Or they didn't arrive as fast as Julie had hoped. A moment after she rested her head in her hands, the brunette's mind jumped into action.
"You know, Sophie, your older brother is quite the heartbreaker," Julie started, lifting her head up to look at the infant girl. "My daughter was in love with him."
As if she clearly understood every word, Sophie began drooling. Julie took that as a sign to continue.
"It was almost five years ago, I think. She met him in your driveway. He was smoking, she wanted a cigarette. I'm sure you know how it goes," Julie added the last line with a dramatic eye roll. Jake cried out, obviously happy judging by the look on his face. "I know, it's pretty amazing."
"A kid like that making a girl like Marissa fall in love with him. I was piss—, I mean I was mad at first." Julie smiled as she corrected herself. No strong language in front of the babies, she remembered. "I thought he was bad news, but he proved me wrong."
Sophie began fussing impatiently, so Julie gently lifted her from the pink car seat. With a small grin, Julie cradled the baby against her chest and watched Sophie's blue eyes sparkle the exactly same way that Kirsten's did. The brunette carefully bounced Sophie, the one thing she knew calmed almost all babies. As Sophie started calming down, Julie went on. "They went on a trip, the four of them. Seth, Summer, Marissa, and Ryan. They seemed to do everything together. Marissa was really sad, so she did something she wasn't supposed to and got sick. Ryan saved her."
Julie paused as the recalled the memory of finding out about Marissa's mistake. Her daughter, then aged sixteen, had taken a handful of pills. Julie had been furious at the time, but was now grateful that Ryan had been there to rescue her.
"Then… let's see, Ryan had to leave Newport later that year." Jake angrily cooed at this sentence, making Julie smile. "Marissa was not happy about it, but she understood his reasoning. She thought it was admirable of him to leave in order to take care of the mother of his child."
Once again, Sophie began crying. Her tiny face scrunched up, she gripped Julie's blue vintage t-shirt as tears rolled down her chubby cheeks. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
Julie stood up from the ottoman, Sophie gently supported in her arms, and started walking around the large living room. The infant seemed to be slightly calmed by the motion, but not entirely.
"There's a good part coming up, Sophie," Julie whispered. "Ryan came back, and Marissa was happy again. They went through some things; like Marissa's step-dad's daughter. Ooh, she caused some trouble for Ryan and Marissa. Then Marissa shot, yes, she shot Ryan's brother!"
Sophie whimpered at the statement, but Julie was prepared. "No, it's okay. He was a bad guy so he deserved it."
Seemingly satisfied with the way Julie justified the actions of her daughter, Jake and Sophie calmed down enough for the brunette to keep going. "Then the next year, the school board tried to kick Marissa out. I was going to get married again, but that fell through. By the way, Jake," Julie strode over so that she was standing in front of her son. "If that had worked out, you would be Baby Cooper instead of Baby Cooper-Atwood. Pretty interesting, huh?"
Jake chewed happily on the edge of his green blanket, as if he couldn't wait for Julie to finish her story. With a quiet laugh, Julie resumed her task of slowly walking around the room. Sophie seemed to be enjoying herself but the brunette assumed that one of the main reasons for the infant's discomfort was that she wasn't used to people who weren't her mother and father. Julie knew that with time Sophie would grow to be accustomed to Julie. But considering that the infant was only a few months old, Julie wasn't expecting the change to happen anytime soon.
"So Marissa and Ryan finished school together, with their usual problems. Ryan wanting to be a fisherman, Marissa becoming friends with a crazy surfer. It wasn't a very good time for them." Julie paused, gathering herself for the next part of her rambling story. "They graduated together, looking happier than I had ever seen anyone. Ryan was going to drive Marissa to the airport. She was flying to Hawaii to live with her father, and he wanted to be there to say goodbye to her."
"A guy in a car, Marissa's jealous ex, ran them off of the road which happened to be a cliff." Looking solemnly down at Sophie, Julie felt a familiar pain in her stomach. The same one she had experienced after learning of Marissa's death. "I'll never forget that night when your brother called me. I was… I was a mess after that."
Sophie sneezed, which Julie found to be incredibly adorable. She gently tickled the infant's cheek. "This year wasn't so bad, except that Marissa is really missed. She would have loved to meet you two," Julie nodded with a grin. "She would have taken you shopping, Sophie. And Jake, I'm sure she would have taken you to the ocean. She always loved it here."
Unaware that she was being watched, Julie continued her gentle bouncing which made Sophie coo happily. From their hiding place in the kitchen, Kirsten and Sandy watched the brunette and how her maternal instincts appeared to be much more amazing than they had ever given her credit for. Due to her little history lesson, Jake was sleeping in the comfort of his seat and Sophie had stopped fussing.
"Look how cute they are, Sandy," Kirsten quietly gushed. She didn't want to give away the fact that they had been watching Julie for little over an hour. They wanted to see how she interacted with the two infants, to see if she was at all overwhelmed. Remembering that it was Julie Cooper she was talking about, Kirsten wondered why she had ever doubted the brunette.
Sandy nodded. "Yeah. Too bad she's going to corrupt Sophie's mind."
With a barely audible giggle, Kirsten playfully and very gently shoved her husband. "She is not going to corrupt Sophie!"
"Think about it. The woman wears six-hundred dollar shoes and outfits that cost more than I used to make in a week." Sandy kissed Kirsten on the cheek. "You know she has something planned."
Kirsten shook her head, convinced that Sandy didn't know what he was talking about. "That's not true," The blond bit her lip. "Those outfits aren't that expensive!"
Dissolving into soft laughter, Sandy and Kirsten recovered in time to hear Julie start talking about the importance of shoes that fit comfortably, but look good all at the same time. Sandy's eyes widened in horror and Kirsten had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggling.
"If our daughter requests Prada heels for her first birthday, I'm blaming you two." Sandy gestured to Julie and then to Kirsten.
Unable to control her laughter any longer, Kirsten darted from her hiding spot and ran out of the kitchen in a fit of muffled giggles. She knew that Sandy was only joking, but the thought of a one-year old Sophie Rose asking for high heels was too amusing for the blond to handle. As she quickly inhaled the fresh air just outside of the front door, Kirsten decided to get back in the house before Julie convinced her infant daughter that a dress to match her heels was a must.
