Julie may have been living at home since she came back to Maine, but she was not allowing her parents to take care of everything. She moved herself and Coby into the apartment above their garage and even paid rent and her share of the bills. She took care of everything concerning Coby herself. Only asking for help when she really needed it.
The time in some ways seemed to go by so fast and in other ways it had crept by. Julie thought about that as she slowly climbed out her bed bright and early in the morning. She quietly made her way over to the crib where Coby slept soundly. She pulled a rocking chair over and sat down and just watched him sleep. "Happy Birthday Coby." She whispered. She looked at the clock and smiled. It was exactly one year ago today that she had given birth to him. She sat and watched him sleep for another half hour before she got herself up to start getting things ready for his birthday party. It wasn't going to be anything real elaborate. Just a few friends and family.
Julie got dressed and cleaned up the apartment. She wanted to get as much done as she could before Coby woke up. It wasn't often that he slept this late, so she wanted to take advantage of it. "Okay…" she looked around not sure where to begin. "Streamers and balloons. I should put those up while he's still sleeping." She rummaged through the closet until she found where she put them.
It took her thirty minutes to get all the balloons blown up. At which time she was greeted by a small yell coming from the bedroom. "Just thirty more minutes. Couldn't have slept thirty more minutes?" Julie put everything on the table and headed into the bedroom. "Good morning birthday boy." she smiled as she lifted Coby out of the crib.
She took back into the main room of the apartment which served as living room and dining room. She gave him some breakfast then sat him down to play while she finished decorating. A job which should have taken her an hour at the most ended up taking two hours because she had to keep going after Coby keeping from getting to things that could potentially be dangerous.
Julie didn't bother to give Coby a bath before hand. She was smart enough to know that would be pointless. He was just going to end up becoming covered in cake and icing and ice cream. So, she would just wait until after the party to do that.
Julie had been right. By the end of the day there was cake and icing all over the place. Coby was covered from head to toe. She shook her head and laughed at the site. She couldn't resist taking as many pictures as possible of that site. "Coby honey you're supposed to eat the cake not wear it." she laughed as she took him to the bathroom.
She cleaned him up and got him all ready for bed. They were in the living room and she was picking up a few things. Coby was standing by the coffee table. He had been walking with support since he was ten months old, but when she looked up she noticed he wasn't holding onto the table. He looked as if he was thinking about taking a step, but was unsure about it. Julie sat the stuff she had in her hands down and walked in front of Coby and smiled. "Come on Coby. You can do this. You'll be fine." Coby looked at Julie and took a small tentative step. "That's it. Just a little more Coby. You can do it." She held her hands ready to catch him if he fell. He smiled confidently at Julie and took another step followed by yet another. He made it all the way to Julie without falling. It wasn't that far, but for his first steps it was an accomplishment. "Coby I'm so proud of you." She picked him up and hugged him tightly and kissed his cheeks. "You would pick your first birthday to start walking on wouldn't you." she laughed.
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Portman sat in his dorm room with a book open on his desk. Probably for the first time in his life. He stared down at the book attempting to read. He tapped his pen on the desk then slammed the book shut. "Forget this shit!" he grumbled.
"What's your problem?" Fulton asked from across the room. Portman shook his head. "I don't get this shit, and I don't see why I have to know it. When will I ever use it." Fulton plopped down on his bed. "Yeah I know what you mean dude, but you have to pass that class to stay on the team." That's all he'd been hearing for the last year. You have to pass this class, you have to pass that class. He thought Orion had been tough requiring that the Ducks maintain at least a "B" average to play.
"I'm going out." Portman grabbed his leather jacket and headed out the door. He thought he'd go down to the game room and shot some pool or find a girl to flirt with or both. But when he got there wasn't a girl that caught his attention. Granted there were plenty to chose from, but none of them appealed to him. This had been happening a lot. Even the girls he did go out with or even flirt with he soon found something wrong with them. It took him awhile to figure it out. Then it dawned on him. He was comparing them to Julie and none of them measured up to her. "Damn it Julie. Why can't I get you off my mind?"