"Nothing to worry about, right? If she asks, that was nothing but a fucking coincidence," he said to himself as he parked in front of his own house. Then he went inside and saw his daughter taking steps again. The last time he'd seen it was when Scarlett was around, then she hadn't managed to take steps for a while. Seeing his daughter step again now got Brian hyped and really happy.
"She definitely didn't take after two idiots like you and Michelle," Vivian said in a teasing tone. "My girl's smart as hell, right, you beaty?" She picked Love up and tossed her into the air; Love, who was already smiling, let out a cute little giggle every time she was thrown up and caught.
"Hahaha! She's walking again! My girl's walking!" Brian said with big joy. Then he went and took his daughter in his arms. Holding her with excitement, he rocked her. "My love, I love you so much," he said, and hugged Vivian with his daughter in his arms. Vivian's eyes had already filled with tears; she was trying hard not to cry, and inside she was thinking Michelle should be here too for this moment. Seeing her get emotional, Brian hugged her tighter and said, "We'll get through it—we'll get through these days too, mom." Vivian chuckled at first, lifted her head off Brian's chest, and looked at him. "Mom, huh?" she said with a smile. "Yeah, mom," Brian said with a smile back. He kissed Vivian on the forehead and said, "You're my mom now too," then hugged her real tight. Hearing Brian say that, Vivian got even more emotional and couldn't hold back her tears. Then Brian's phone rang; they let go of the three-way hug, and Brian handed Love to Vivian and looked at his phone on the coffee table in the living room. It was Julia calling. "Shit, she fucking saw me, didn't she? Fuck!"
He picked up.
"Hey, what's up," said Julia, calling.
"I'm good, how 'bout you?" Brian replied. He was putting together the lie he'd tell. If Julia asked, he was gonna act totally unaware and deny it.
"You called," Julia said suddenly. Brian was shocked for a second, and just as he was about to say something, Julia continued, "You called me on Instagram, dude. Why the hell you calling me on Instagram? Don't you have my number?"
"Fuck, did I call by mistake?" Brian thought, and in two seconds he pulled the call screen down and checked the chat with Julia and yep, he had called her. "How the hell did I do that. We hadn't even talked on Instagram before. Fuck my hands," he thought.
"Haha, I figured if I called you normal you wouldn't pick up. So I called on Instagram," Brian said, thinking that was the best lie he could come up with on the spot.
"Why'd you call?" Julia asked, calm but serious.
"I wanted to talk," Brian answered.
"About?"
"I think we've got a date that never happened between us. If you want, I mean. What do you say?" As soon as Brian said that, Vivian's eyes locked on him. She smiled and silently mouthed, you lucky motherfucker.
"Okay," Julia said calmly. "Are you free right now?"
Brian looked at Vivian first, then smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I'm free. I'll pick you up in an hour then," he added.
"Do you even know where I live that you're gonna pick me up in an hour?"
"Send the location when I text you."
"Alright, when you text me I'll drop the pin. Bring Love too tho. Don't come alone," Julia said.
"Haha, alright, alright. I won't come alone," he said and hung up.
Vivian, who'd just made that little mouth gesture, now said it out loud: "You lucky motherfucker," she said with a grin. "Go get ready, I'll watch Love," she said.
"All right," Brian said, and ran upstairs and hopped in the shower.
They pulled up in front of their house, and he checked his hair in the mirror. In the back seat, Love was watching baby videos on her dad's phone, unaware of everything. Then Brian got out of the car and knocked on the door. The woman he'd seen in the photo—the one in her forties—opened it. But after eight years, she looked much older; she'd probably hit fifty, or already halfway through it.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up Julia," he said, smiling at the woman at the door.
"Well look at you. Ain't you brave, huh," her mother said. "If you're here to take my daughter," she added.
"Haha. Why d'you say that? Your daughter doesn't seem like trouble," Brian said, still smiling.
"My daughter's not trouble. I'am," her mother said—basically telling Brian, hurt my daughter and I'll hurt you.
"I'll be careful, ma'am," Brian said, and then he saw Julia coming.
"Mom, what the hell are you babbling at the door again?" Julia said to her.
"I didn't say anything, sweetie, I just wanted to meet the kid you practically jumped for joy over when you heard from him," her mother said. Brian started grinning; Julia turned bright red. Then the two of them stepped out and got in the car. As Brian drove, Julia talked to Love, cooing at her.
When she saw Brian hadn't stopped smiling, she turned her head toward him, looked at his face for a while, and said, "What are you smiling at, huh?" Brian, without losing the smile, said, "Nothing." "'Nothing' my ass," Julia said. Brian didn't drop the grin; this time it grew, and he finally let out a laugh. "If I knew you'd be this hyped, I would've called you earlier," he said in a teasing tone. Julia turned to him again, looked at him for a moment, and said, "Shut up and drive." Brian started laughing even harder.
Since they'd met spontaneously without a plan, they didn't know where to go. They went for a walk on the beach; while they were trying to figure out what to do, the wind and the cold didn't let them walk long, so they got back in the car.
"My ass is frozen. My ass!" Julia said, voice shaking. Brian chuckled with his own shiver, "Don't even start, for real," he said, cranking up all the heaters and checking on his daughter. Since he'd bundled Love up tight and, when they went outside, covered her well in the stroller, she hadn't gotten cold at all; she just kept watching the video on her dad's phone.
"You hungry?" Brian asked. Julia pursed her lips, thought for a second, and said, "I am." "I actually ate before we met, but I'll eat again," she said. When she noticed Brian laughing at that, she gave him a light smack on the shoulder. "You gonna smile like that the whole time or what?"
While they ate hot dogs Brian bought from a street cart he saw on the sidewalk, the two of them chatted in the car and burst into laughter over and over. Love looked at them in surprise, like she was trying to figure out what was going on.
"Then she goes, 'Get the hell outta here,'" Julia said. "Hahahahaha," she laughed. Brian looked at her and laughed too. Thinking about it, the last time he'd laughed this much was probably back when he was with Michelle. There was a body lying in melting ice in the basement at home, but Brian didn't even have it in his head. He was just enjoying the moment, tasting that man-woman connection he'd said he'd never feel again. He wanted to kiss her, wanted it too bad but he didn't dare on the first date.
He dropped Julia off and then headed home. Love had fallen asleep in the car again. Brian put on a slow song, kept it low. As he drove, he lit a cigarette; to keep the smoke drifting backward, he leaned toward the window and blew it out of the slightly cracked window so the cold wouldn't rush in. When he got home, he gently lifted Love from the back seat, carried her up quietly, and laid her in her crib. Then he went down to the living room and stretched out on the couch, thinking. In a way he hadn't expected, he'd been moved by Julia today he thought about her and started smiling. "Can I do this again?" he said inside. "Can I trust someone again?" "This time, when someone look me in the eyes and says 'I love you,' will I be able to tell if it's a lie?" He was thinking, lying on the couch staring at the ceiling. Suddenly Sami's body in the basement flashed in his mind. "Ah, shit," he said, and got up. He immediately unlocked the basement door and went down the stairs. The body had gone pale, but there wasn't any smell. "Perfect timing," Brian thought. "Perfect time to get rid of the body." But then the doorbell rang. Brian rushed upstairs, shut the basement door, locked it again, opened the front door—and Julia was there. "What the hell?" Brian thought. They'd been together just an hour ago—why had she come?
"Hi, can I come in?"
"Shit! I gotta hide the body, but she came in with her pajamas on. Does that mean she's staying here? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"