((Disclaimer: I only own none movie characters. Ducks, characters are Steven Brill and a few other Disney people. This Love is a song by Maroon 5. Enjoy!))
This Love has taken it's toll on me
Julie and Connie stayed seated as everyone arrived. The whole team was here, along with Coach Orion and his daughter. Now everyone was waiting on Coach Bombay and his long-time girlfriend Miss MacKay. The girls talked aimlessly about nothing. Linda came over and sat down next to them, a bouncing baby boy in her lap.
"Hey, guys."
"Hey, Linda." Julie said smiling.
"Hi." Connie said simply, an indifferent look on her face. Julie gave her a stern look and her face erupted into a wide, fake smile. "He's so big now." She commented. Julie looked over at the baby. He had wisps of brown hair and big blue eyes. He was dressed in a button down shirt and small pants. Julie smiled, baby clothes were so adorable.
"Yeah, I know. It's crazy how fast they grow." Linda responded. Connie stiffened and stood.
"I'm gonna go check on the kids." She got up and crossed the room quickly. Linda turned to Julie with a sad look on her face. Joshua was falling asleep against her chest.
"Why does she hate me so much?" Julie bit her lip and sighed before answering.
"I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Linda."
"You could've fooled me." She said while readjusting her son on her shoulder.
"Really, she doesn't. She just doesn't know you. And I guess she's just protective of Charlie. They were close when they were younger."
"Yeah, but I've been with Charlie for nine years. We've been married five. Why is she still so bitter?
"I'm sorry, Linda. Connie just doesn't trust easily. Other than that, I'm not sure. You'd have to ask her yourself."
"It just seems stupid though. We're all adults now, we shouldn't be so awkward."
"I know. Give it time." Linda nodded and rubbed Joshua's small back. "Excuse me." Julie said, getting up and heading towards the bathroom. When she opened the stall door Connie was at the sink, helping her daughter Vanessa, wash her hands. Vanessa was the spitting image of Connie as a little girl. Even though hair was noticeably lighter, she had the same eyes, smile, and nose and bone structure as her mother. Connie dried the four-year old's hands with great care before washing her own. Julie sighed and leaned against the door frame, staring at her old friend.
"Don't give me that look, Jul."
"What look?" Connie dried her hands and turned to Julie.
"That look that you're giving me right now. Just say what you want to say and be done with it."
"She wants to know why you hate her."
"Oh please. I don't hate her."
"No, you just act like you do."
"I'm sorry, I never liked her when we were younger and she hasn't done much to change my mind since then."
"Connie, what did she ever do to you?"
"She was horrible to Charlie when they were dating. Leading him on, breaking up with him and then begging for his forgiveness."
"Like you were always fair to Guy?" Connie faltered and looked away. She ran her fingers through her dark hair. It was much shorter now, cut just past her shoulders and angled around her face. "That was years ago, we were teenagers, we were all stupid."
"But Julie, I just don't like her. She doesn't fit in; she never tried to get to know us. She couldn't accept that we were all a part of Charlie's life too. Don't you remember when she accused Charlie of cheating on her with me? She so petty and annoying."
"That was still eight years ago! She's a different person now, so is Charlie. Why are you still hung up on this?" Connie sighed.
"I don't know. I'm a different person too, you know? And I'm so happy with where I am. I guess I just feel like Charlie could've done anything, or had anyone."
"Guy could've done anything, Dean could've had anyone, but they didn't. They chose to love us, Con and their children."
"I know, you're right." Julie raised her eyebrows. Connie rolled her eyes back. "And I'll try to be nice."
"Good. Let's go." Julie opened the door and held it. Connie held Vanessa's hand in hers and led the way back into the hall. Just as they did Coach came through the door with thunderous applause. The joined in the clapping and walked toward the center of the room. Bombay was greeting everyone with hugs and smiles. Julie, Connie and Vanessa joined the queue to be greeted.
"Holy hell, Gaffney. Look at you." He said after hugging her. "How are you?"
"I'm great and yourself?"
"Pretty good, pretty good. Hey, where is the little one?"
"I'm not sure, probably with her father."
"Alright, I want to see her though, before she falls asleep."
"Okay, Coach." He went on to hug Connie and gush over Vanessa. As much as he might have claimed he hates kids, he obsesses over the team's children. After all, they are like his grandchildren.
Dean came over and hugged Julie from behind. "Hey." He whispered in her ear before planting a kiss on her cheek.
"Hey, yourself. Where's Aimee?"
"With her 'Uncle Fulty'." He exaggerated his voice when he mimicked his daughter. Fulton lived with Julie and Dean in their large St. Paul house. He was often Aimee's babysitter and she affectionately referred to him as Uncle Fulty. Dean found the whole affair hilarious and took every opportunity to embarrass Fulton for it. He pulled Julie in and kissed her lovingly but it wasn't long before she pulled away with a distorted look on her face.
"What?"
"I honestly don't get why you insist on drinking beer. It's so disgusting." She said while picking up the nearest glass of water and drinking some. "Horrible." She muttered. Dean rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, babe, I forgot."
"Oh, no you didn't. You enjoy rubbing it in my face that I can't drink." He sighed loudly. This part of the pregnancy was so damn dramatic. He and Fulton had been walking on eggshells for some time now, trying not to get in her way or mess anything up. Dean sighed again thinking about how he always managed to mess things up anyway. Not to mention that she won't even tell him what the baby was going to be. He had a few names in mind either way. For a girl he liked Adrienne, Audrey or Lena and a boy would be Landon, Aiden, or Bryce. He also loved the name Wynne as a first name for either one. Julie eventually did make the final call because Dean had picked Aimee. Julie sat down pulling her purse toward her and went fishing through it. Dean sat down next to her and watched her intently. She was even more beautiful then she had been when they were younger, slightly taller, and much more curvaceous. Her hair ended near her elbows, the natural blonde highlights shining in the dim light. She turned to him in her seat. He looked into her blue eyes and smiled. She returned the smile and smirked.
"Open your mouth and close your eyes." Julie told him.
"Why? What are you going to do?" Dean asked and she laughed.
"Don't be silly, Dean. Just do it." He did as he was told and she put a peppermint in his mouth. He opened his eyes to her smiling face. "Now you may kiss me." He laughed and pulled her chin up to meet his.
"Ugh, please you two, enough already!." Fulton said as he sat down with Aimee in his lap.
"Oh hey, Fulty." Dean mimed his 5-year old daughter.
"Hey Fulton. Bombay was looking for Aimee." said Julie.
"Yeah, he found her. I had to pry him away." Fulton responded. Julie looked at Aimee whose head was falling back into Fulton's chest as she drifted into sleep.
"We should get going soon." Dean said, observing his daughter. She and Julie were his whole life. You could say she was unexpected, they couple was only twenty years old when they had her. But she was her pride and joy, he didn't want to mess up like his father had done with him. So she is his princess, not matter how many other children they have.
"Yeah. Let's give it another ten minutes, say goodbye to everyone." Julie responded, struggling a little to pull herself up. She pulled her shawl from the chair and wrapped it around her shoulders. She went to the table directly in front of the stage. Sitting there were Charlie, Linda, Coach, Miss McKay, Don Tibbles, Averman, Russ and his date, Luis and his fiancée with their two-year old son.
"Julie, hi, please sit down." Miss McKay said warmly.
"Oh I can't. I just came over to say goodbye."
"So soon?" Coach Bombay asked, finally pulling himself away from his plate.
"Yeah. Aimee isn't feeling too good and I want to get her home. I had a great time. Besides I'll see all of you tomorrow at the Father's Day picnic at Charlie's house right?"
"Yeah." Each occupant murmured around the table.
"Night, guys." Julie said as she went to the next table. Her best friend was whispering feverishly in Guy's ear, looking extremely worried. "Sorry to interrupt?"
"No it's okay. I need about three drinks anyway." Guy said while getting up. Julie sat down in his place and stared at Connie.
"What's up?"
"Nothing. He's just upset about the whole thing tomorrow. Cause you know technically he isn't the twins' biological father or whatever." Connie said, attempting to remain calm, but really hurting inside. It's not like she could go back in time and correct it. "I just wish he wouldn't keep bringing it up, because it hurts for me to hear that. It wasn't my fault. And he is their father, he's the one raising them. Why can't that be good enough?" She said choking on her tears.
"Oh Connie." Julie said simply while rubbing her arm. "You know it's good enough. We all know that he is their father. He knows that, he loves that. You can clearly see why Father's Day would upset him, but you need to talk to him. When you're both calm and not drinking." Connie laughed and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "I'm heading home now. If you need me later tonight just call me, okay?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine, really. I'll talk to Guy when we get home."
"Okay, see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
Julie got up and barely took a step before she was once again in front of Adam Banks.
"We have to stop meeting like this." Adam said laughing, a fresh drink in his hand.
"Yes we do." Julie smiled. "You're coming tomorrow right?"
"Of course."
"Good, I'll see you there. I'm heading home so I'm just doing the rounds, saying goodbye. Don't get too hung over okay? You owe me a game of bullshit."
"I promise." Adam said smiling. He quickly hugged Julie then went to his table.
When she finally said goodbye to everyone, her, Dean and Fulton carrying Aimee got inside a spacious SUV and drove home. Once there, Fulton put Aimee to sleep and went to his own bedroom. He didn't really live in the basement, because it was really another level of the house with lots of rooms. Julie got undressed, took of her makeup and got in bed. She sighed loudly and looked around the room. The master bedroom, king-sized bed, two night tables, a walk in closet, sky light and anything she could ever want. She thought back to the minute she first saw Dean, and who would've known that he could give her all of this a decade later. Growing up changes a lot of things.
"Hey." Dean said to his wife has he climbed into bed next to her, always on the left side.
"Hi." She barely responded, still deep in thought. Dean took her hand into his and kissed it. Julie broke out of her trance and smiled. "Sorry, I was just thinking."
"About?"
"Connie and Guy and Vanessa and Evan. There's so much complicated drama there and it's like, damn, Connie and Guy can never be happy for more than five seconds without something happening. And I just hate that. Because if anybody deserves love and peace then it's them."
"Do you think she'll ever tell Guy who the father is?"
"Eventually, but after a lot of time has passed. When they're somewhat stable."
"And the twins?"
"She has to tell them when she tells Guy. It's going to be really hard for them to take. Thank god it's a long way off. We have at least thirteen years to deal with that mess. Right now they are legally his children, if not biologically. And I just hope that will be enough." Julie yawned, looked at Dean with a smile, then turned on her side and closed her eyes.
They didn't open again until a few hours later, when her cell phone rang. It was on vibrate which turns out to be pretty loud when it's on wood. She opened the flip of the razor phone and yawned into the microphone.
"Hello?"
"Julie!"
"Connie?"
"Oh, thank god. Come downstairs and open the door."
"What the fuck, it's 3 in the morning?"
"This is like 911 emergency. I need to talk to you."
"You're serious?"
"Hey, you said I could call you. Please, please."
"Okay, okay, I'm coming." She replaced the phone on the bedside table, grabbed her bath robe and went downstairs to the front door. Opening it displayed Connie, clad only in her tank top and shorts, but somehow not forgetting her pink Coach purse. Julie looked at her, turned on her heel and made her way to the kitchen. Connie closed the door behind her and followed Julie. "Did you walk here?" They did live on the same street.
"The car makes too much noise." Connie sat at the table and placed her bag in front of her. Julie handed her a cup of tea. "How do you drink tea?"
"I pretend it's coffee." She said sitting down next to her.
"Oh sorry. I didn't think anyone would be awake." A twenty-something blonde stood before them, wearing only Fulton's duck jersey. All of Fulton's girlfriends looked the same: blonde hair, dark brown eyes, skinny, and they were either a figure skater, a dancer, a gymnast and there was always the odd model or two. "I'm Andrea, Fulton's girlfriend. I was just looking to get some water."
"There should be some bottles in the fridge. Help yourself." Andrea grabbed two bottles of Poland Spring then quickly went back down the stairs leading to the lower floor.
"It's kind of sad, actually." Connie commented, stirring a pound of sugar into her tea. "All of his girlfriends look the same."
"Look like the same girl, you mean." Julie corrected, taking a sip. She was of course, referring to Tammy Duncan. Everyone in District 5 knew about Fulton's crush on Tammy. But in their junior year at Eden Hall, Tammy came back and her and Fulton hit it off. But for college she went somewhere in Canada to train in figure skating. It broke Fulton's heart. So now every single one of his girlfriends looks and acts like her.
"Hey, so do you think he calls them all Tammy in bed?" Connie asked, trying her hardest not to laugh. Julie snorted and broke out laughing.
"I would hope not. Poor Fulton." They laughed.
"Poor Andrea." Connie said blowing into her tea.
"So you just woke me up at three a.m., what's the big emergency?"
"Oh yeah. Well I figured out why the hell I've been so emotional lately."
"Great. Why?" Instead of answering Connie slid the bag over to Julie. Julie opened it and pulls out the item on top. "You're out of gum, oh my god!" She said sarcastically pulling out an empty orbit gum box. Connie motions for her to keep going. "Okay, okay." She pulls out a white wand with red lines on it. "Is this what I think it is?"
"If you think it's a positive pregnancy test then yes."
"Oh my god! When did you take this?"
"Right when I got home. And to make sure I wasn't hallucinating I took two more, from different kits. Please tell me why you would want to piss on a stick when you could just piss in a cup?"
"They're all positive?" Julie asked, her mouth agape. Connie nodded. "You're such a biter." Julie said laughing, sliding the purse back across the table.
"Oh please, I don't copy you."
"You're only pregnant because I am." Julie said mockingly, in a little kid's nanananana voice.
"Really? Cause I was under the impression that I'm pregnant cause I had sex." She said smiling coyly. It was the beauty of exhaustion, when silliness takes over.
"Well obviously. But I did it first and now you're just following me. Just like when I was three months pregnant with Aimee and you're two months pregnant with the twins. Then me and Dean decided to get married and then you married Guy. Copier, copier, copier. Biter!" She said laughing.
"I'm done now." Connie said, her laugh breaking off,suddenly aware of how tired she was.
"Me too." Julie responded, calming down. "So you haven't told Guy?"
"Not yet."
"Is he gonna be happy?"
"Are you kidding me? Like a pig in shit. He can't wait to have a baby."
"Can you? This will be your third baby and you're twenty-five years old."
"I know, it's crazy. But I love Guy and I want him to be happy. And yeah, I guess I want a new baby, it'll be fun. We'll have to lose weight together again." She said, making them both laugh. "And I guess it'll be much better this time. First of all, I'm married and I actually own a house, and a job to take leave from. This baby was conceived in love and not in a really drunk mistake. This will be good."
"Yeah. It will." Julie agreed, trying to console her friend.
"I'm sorry I worried you and woke you up. I just needed to talk."
"I know. Anytime. That's what Best Friends are for, Con." She said hugging her. Julie walked Connie to the door and put her bathrobe over her to walk home in.
Julie went back upstairs, snuggled up on Dean's shoulder, and fell asleep.
6/22/06
Yeah, there you go. I did all of this around 2 am but I'm just kind of indifferent about where its going. Review and tell me what you think.