OK – this is a little different but I can see Julia having fun with her girlfriends just like this. Since I'm a huge fan of girl groups, that part just worked it's way in there. For the song and "moves" just take a look at the opening scene of Adventures in Babysitting.
Drifting in that pleasant twilight between sleep and awakening, Julia felt her hair being brushed aside; felt a soft kiss pressed beneath her ear. Eyes muzzy with sleep she squinted to see Barbie sitting on the side of the bed. He was smiling a bit ruefully…"Didn't mean to wake you."
"That's OK" she looped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her. "Mmm, you smell good" she drew back and looked again…"You look nice too. Where are you going?"
"I have a meeting this morning and then some things to do at Aktaion."
"I don't suppose I could entice you to come back to bed for a while?" She twined her fingers into his hair while pulling him closer.
"Tempting" Barbie responded and continued, punctuating each word with a kiss.
"Very…..very…tempting – but I'm late already. Should be back after lunch, OK? I love you."
Julia pretended to pout for a few seconds but she soon smiled, giving him one last kiss. "Bye. I love you and I'll miss you."
As he stood up, Barbie still held her hand bringing it to his lips to kiss her knuckles, not letting go until he turned to walk out of the room. Julia sighed and sat up in bed pulling the quilt around her shoulders. It was too cold without Barbie to snuggle up to so she began to think about what to do next. Her latest article had been submitted so work was not an option. They were still living in Don Barbara's house, their home not yet ready for them to occupy. That was all on track as well, so no over seeing to do either. "Something fun" Julia thought "what can I do that's fun and takes up some time?" All of a sudden, she began to smile and a giggle escaped her lips. "Cookies! I'll make cookies!"
She threw off the covers and hurried to the bathroom to shower. As soon as she dried off she threw on an old pair of jeans and a tank top. Noticing Barbie's denim shirt on the dresser, she grabbed that and shrugged into it, leaving it unbuttoned. Her hair was almost dry so she merely pinned it away from her face and made her way to the kitchen.
Norrie was already there, sitting at the island, sipping a mug of coffee. "Hey Julia. You're up early. Coffee?"
"Please" Julia responded, holding out a mug which was soon filled. "So good" Julia sighed as she took her first sip. "Barbie woke me. He had an early meeting and wanted to say good bye. What he actually said was he didn't mean to wake me but it's kind of hard to sleep with someone nuzzling your neck." She rolled her eyes a little but that did little to mask her look of pleasure.
"Still on the honeymoon, huh?" Norrie smirked "Do you think it will ever be over, the honeymoon, I mean?" She sounded a little wistful which captured Julia's attention. Norrie was grown up in a lot of ways but she still needed a little reassurance now and then.
"You know, I don't think so" Julia said softly. "Barbie is so amazing. When you said he has some romance in him, you didn't know how very right you were with that comment. Every woman should be so lucky."
This time Norrie snorted..."Yeah, yeah. Just don't forget that you're pretty amazing too Julia. There's a reason he's so romantic. I think we should stop this mush talk – sorry I brought it up. So what's going on with you today?"
Julia laughed at the way her mind jumped from one unrelated topic to another. "I'm making cookies today. Do you want to help?"
"You bet! I didn't know you baked. What kind of cookies are you going to make?"
"I'm sure there's a lot we still don't know about each other. It should be fun to figure it out. My mom, my aunt and my gram taught me to bake. We had cookie baking marathons that were so much fun. What kind do you like? Chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal...I can make all of them."
"All, of course! We'll surprise everyone with home-made cookies."
"We could do that. I don't even know if Barbie likes cookies. How's that for not knowing a very important fact?"
"Seriously, Julia? All guys like cookies!"
"Did someone say cookies?" A curious Angie edged into the kitchen followed closely by Melanie. "Are there cookies?"
Norrie patiently explained about Julia's cookie expertise and how it came about.
"Cookie marathons?" Angie smirked. "So you just baked cookies, like all day long. Sounds like fun." She ended sarcastically.
"No...we didn't just bake." Julia was pulling bowls, utensils and ingredients out of the cupboards but stopped to continue..."We talked about everything. My aunt was like my mom, only cooler. At least that's what I thought back then. We talked about men...well, boys in my case. As a matter of fact, I'm sure we talked about guys pretty much the same way that guys talk about us. All of them were awesome about sharing and telling it like it is. I miss them so much."
"Did you talk about guys butts?" Angie couldn't stifle the giggle that broke from her lips while the other girls burst into fits of laughter.
Julia laughed right along with them. "Not only did we talk about them...we rated them! Let's see if I remember...OK from lowest to highest, I think it went like this. Not even worth a look - has potential – nice butt – really nice butt and perfection."
Norrie was almost falling off her bar stool, breathless with uncontrollable mirth. Yet she managed to choke out a comment. "No way Julia! So let's rate! I pretty much know where we'd rate everyone else but I want to vote on Barbie. What do you say girlfriends?
"Perfection!" They shouted in unison. Julia joined them in their infectious laughter, all the while measuring out ingredients in each of the bowls. "OK – I can't deny that but ladies, this can't go any further than this room. At least not the rating part – that has to be a secret. Keep them guessing – it's a great tease and honestly, guys love to know their girls talk about them even though they'll act all embarrassed about it."
"This will totally make James blush" Melanie was exchanging an impish grin with Norrie who quickly added her comment.
"Joe will be like totally freaked out and embarrassed. I can't wait. Hey Julia, have you ever embarrassed Barbie...could you?
"Not a chance" Julia laughed. "Barbie retaliates...in the nicest sort of way." She bit her lower lip trying to keep a her face a mask but was failing miserably. A soft blush crept across her cheeks as she smirked coyly... "but I still keep trying."
"Way to go Julia!" Norrie high fived everyone, a huge smile on her face. She was surprised at how much fun this was turning out to be and would be sorry when eventually they would live in their own homes.
"What else?" Angie asked gleefully, her eyes sparkling in anticipation.
Julia arched an eyebrow at her friends, not quite grinning. "I've given you enough ammunition against those poor, unsuspecting males. Now these cookies aren't going to make themselves. So – 4 bowls – 4 different recipes – pick your favorite and start mixing. Before long the first batches were mixed, dropped and baking.
As the next batches were prepared, Julia began to hum, singing snatches of long forgotten songs. She was smiling and swaying at the same time, as she recalled memories also long forgotten. Angie, Norrie and Melanie stared at her, then looked at each other, then stared at her some more.
"Wait, Julia, what are you singing? What is that "hey la" song? You totally just made that up, didn't you?" Norrie was amused as were the others but intrigued by this carefree side of their friend.
Looking up from her task with a laugh, Julia explained. "Cookies and boys weren't the only requirements for our marathons. Gram was a huge fan of the 60's girl groups so that was mandatory listening. You want to hear? Grab that laptop and do a search on YouTube for "My Boyfriend's Back". That's the "hey la" song."
"Too funny" gasped Angie as she struggled to talk through her giggles. "It's kind of sweet too but, seriously, I would kick that guy's ass myself and then I'd have my boyfriend do it too."
Norrie and Melanie were still unable to speak as each time they looked at each other, they were overcome by fits of laughter so extreme, tears were rolling down their cheeks. They
did manage to nod and choke out one word. "Totally!"
As they continued to turn out batches of cookies, Julia would toss out song titles that had long been forgotten. The songs were usually met with gales of laughter but after awhile they found themselves singing along. As they were stacking the last of the cookies, Melanie approached Julia squeezing her shoulder affectionately. "This was so much fun – thank you Julia."
"It was fun for me too – brought back so many memories. I'm hoping to carry on the tradition when Barbie and I have kids." That thought brought a soft smile to her face. They had just talked about kids and how they were looking forward to starting a family. And maybe, just maybe that would happen soon.
"Hey!" exclaimed Norrie... "we could so be a girl group!"
"You could!" Julia quickly agreed. " I've been listening and you can definitely sing. OK – so pick a song and you can learn it – moves and all. It'll be fun."
Norrie - "Walking in the Rain"
Angie - "Too sad. Besides that artist's voice is amazing. Don't think we'd do it justice. How about the hey la song?"
Melanie - "Too silly – we couldn't keep a straight face. We have to pick a fun song. What do you think about He's So Fine?"
Norrie - "Close, very close but not quite."
Julia - "I think it should be "Then He Kissed Me" - fun, sassy and very 60's. Norrie, print out some lyrics and we'll rehearse."
For the next hour, they did just that, laughing at themselves sometimes, sometimes at the lyrics and the moves Julia taught them.
"OK ladies. I think you're ready for the real thing. Now traditionally in girl groups there's a lead singer and the rest of the group sings back up. Why don't we each sing a verse and we'll all sing "and then he kissed me". And don't forget your moves – very, very important for the total effect." Julia's enthusiasm was infectious and the girls were totally into this musical adventure.
Norrie had already downloaded the song to her phone and hooked that up to a set of speakers she found. She set it to play and they followed along, just as Julia had suggested. They may have been off key at times but their moves were perfect and in the end they were quite pleased with themselves. "Woo!" hooted Norrie... "we totally rock!"
Julia laughed and hugged them all. "You are officially a girl group. You may never be famous but you can entertain me any time. Also you have officially completed your first cookie marathon. I'd love to do more of them with you."
The sound of clapping made them spin around toward the door. Barbie was walking into the kitchen, a broad smile on his face. "Ladies – you've made my day." He made his way over to Julia, his arm around her waist pulling her to him. Brushing a kiss across her lips as he spoke. "Is there anything you can't do?" He reached over and snagged a cookie from one of the platters, a look of pure pleasure on his face as he bit into it.
"Hey I gotta ask – is this girl group going on the road anytime soon? Because if it is, we need to get a bigger supply of cookies to keep us guys happy."
Their response was interrupted as Joe, Hunter and James made their way into the room – their focus instantly on the platters before them. Joe's smile was huge as he reached across the island. "Homemade cookies – I love you! I love whoever made them. Please say it was you Norrie."
Shoulder bumping him, she laughed. "I helped, does that count? Julia's the master mind here." In response, he hugged her and merely said... "works for me!"
Hunter was standing behind Angie, his chin resting on her head. "So what's this about girl groups? What don't I know?"
"I'll tell you later" she replied " Right now I think we should get out of here." She motioned for him to look at Julia and Barbie, who were whispering to each other, both with goofy smiles on their faces. Julia had just bit her lower lip at something Barbie said, prompting her to nip at his earlobe.
Melanie took in the scene and took James by the hand. "Sounds like a good idea."
"Take some cookies" Julia said as an aside, her attention still focused on Barbie. He was playing with a curl of her hair, managing to caress her cheek at the same time.
When the cookies were divided up, good-byes were said and everyone had left, Barbie whispered a question. "What else did you girls do this afternoon?" He nuzzled her neck just below her ear, not really expecting a reply.
Julia smiled and pulled back a little bit to look into his eyes. "We talked about guy's butts, rated them too."
Barbie smirked a little as he proceeded to kiss a path from her jaw to lips and back again. "Yeah?" he murmured... "was I included in this rating system?"
"I'll tell you later"
"Later, when?"
"Just later" She twined her fingers into his hair, reclaiming his lips with an intensity that more than answered his question.