My body felt like it had been trampled by a truck, dragged for miles and then dipped in hot boiling lava. Everything fucking hurt, so much... too much. People say giving birth is one of the hardest things in the world... well, I would say the after is much worse. Julie was a good baby, she wouldn't cry too much, not really, but everything was heightened now. I honestly didn't know how single parents did this... how someone did this alone. If not for Jordan, Eva, the grandma... just literally everyone around us, we had definitely been at each other's throats.

"Come here, sweetie..." I sighed, grabbing my moaning baby from her crib and sitting together in the rocking chair.

I heard Jordan argue with his mom downstairs about lunch, and I sighed. Those two had been arguing day in and day out ever since Angela had stepped foot into the house after Julie had arrived. She was still hurt we hadn't told her we had been home for a whole day – I knew why, and I honestly wasn't surprised about it.

"Let's get you some lunch..." Julie grabbed her lunch straight away and I groaned at the pain "Ouch... ouch, darling... you've eaten three hours ago, you can't possibly be that hungry!"

She sucked quickly, letting little moans out every now and then – well, at least someone was enjoying herself... I heard Jordan grunting as he stomped up the stairs. When he got to the nursery, he silently closed the door and pretended to scream, in total silence, arms up and everything – that made me chuckle.

"Is she busting your balls?" I grinned, using an expression my lovely fiancée had used incessantly about his mom over the last few weeks.

"Jesus... she wants to help, I know she does." Jordan sighed, coming to kneel beside the two of us "I really appreciate it, but... Goddamnit, I want to do things for my family. I want to cook and clean and have everything sorted, and not having my mother hovering around telling me everything I'm doing wrong!"

"She only wants to help." I smiled, patting his cheek "And you look tired, you should go have a nap and let her do what will make her happy."

"I was planning on doing a nice roast." He shrugged, and I had to chuckle at his disappointed face "And she went ahead and did her own thing because she, and I quote, 'Knows what she's doing" He rolled his grey eyes.

"Ouch." I grunted at Julie's suckling "If you produced milk, I would trade this for fighting with your mom, any day."

"Is it painful?" He winced, caressing Julie's almost bald little head.

"Not really. Today it is, I'm a bit tender" I had to admit.

Jordan sighed, as he caressed Julie's tiny hand, curled against my breast. His smile was so sweet that it melted my heart.

"You know... when I first saw you, back in my shop? I thought that you were so put together and serious, I just wanted to mess you up."

"Aw, so romantic!" I chuckled.

"At the club... you were so freaking hot, love." He mumbled, and I giggled a bit "Couldn't keep my eyes off of you."

"And you didn't" I reminded him with a cheeky grin.

"Well... love, you are really gorgeous." He chuckled, caressing my knee "Right here... with sleepy eyes, a massive robe, and our baby in your arms feeding off of your tiny body... I've never in a million years imagined this happening... I was prepared to go after you and date you... When..." He sighed, rubbing his trimmed hair back "When you dropped the baby bomb on me... I kinda freaked out."

"You seemed fine" I joked.

"I was fucking terrified." He assured me "I mean... I have no idea what being a father means... Having a tiny little human being dependent on me? That shit scared me."

"Still scares me, baby..." I sighed, patting Julie's little tiny bum.

"But... every day it passed... I felt this weird... caveman instinct to go and build a shelter and hunt for a wild boar for food." He seemed to be embarrassed at that, and it took all I had not to laugh "I suddenly just... felt like... responsible for that little life, for you, for our family. I know this is the modern era and you really don't need me" He assured me "but I needed to be there for you..."

"You are" I assured him with a smile.

"I just..." He shrugged, caressing our daughter's little hand "feel like I need to do all these things and I need to supervise everything."

"You really don't, darling." I chuckled, taking my now drowsy baby off my breast "You want to help? Make her burp for me."

His smile was huge as he got his daughter into his heavily tattooed and muscled arms, and held her over his shoulder. While he pated Julie into burping oblivion, I leaned myself and rubbed some moisturizer over my breast. This was an assault on the human body... Sure, it was definitely special and beautiful... until the words 'cracked nipples' finally made sense.

"All done." He winked, nestling her to his big chest "Anyway, you should know lunch is almost ready."

"It smells really nice." I had to admit, kissing the top of Julie's head and then Jordan's lips "She smells so nice..."

"Yeah, she does..." He chuckled "I just want to carry her around on my arm all the time."

"She's not a lap dog, sweetheart" I chuckled, closing my grey robe.

"I know, but I like having her with me" He shrugged, patting her back as she curled into his shirt.

"Alright. Should we join your mother and eat? You should put her in the crib" I advised.

"Meh." He shrugged, following me downstairs with little Julie in his arms "Should I?"

I just smiled and decided that the dad needed as much bounding with his daughter as the mom. I had my bounding moments during breastfeeding, it was a very personal moment. Jordan, however, had to make his own moments, make his own opportunities. I didn't want to think about him getting back to work – it was coming quick, and I wanted to cry. Having him around made everything much more special and easy – what was I going to do all by myself at home with an infant?!

Trying to push those thoughts from my mind, we sat for lunch. Angela quickly took Julie off Jordan's arms, to which my grumpy fiancée reacted with a stern scowl for the rest of the meal.

***

"Who's a big girl?! Julie is a big girl!" Eva was laying over my bed, playing with my daughter.

My baby giggled with Eva's incessant tickles and belly kisses, as I put away all her changed clothing on the hamper.

"So, how are you feeling about the party?" Eva asked me, as she caressed Julie's tiny hands.

"Ok." I shrugged, sitting across from her "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy to through a party for everyone, but it's just... It's been a month, Eva. She's still so tiny! And with Jordan at work... It's just harder. I don't know if I can do this alone..."

"So, what am I, a potato?!" My best friend grunted, and I had to chuckle at that "You do know you have me to help you, right?"

"I know, I'm just saying: it's been a lot of changes!" I had to defend myself "I love the gang, and Jordan's family, and it's amazing to have such a big and close family."

"But...?" Eva asked, tilting a blonde brow.

"But... it's just a lot of pressure so soon. I mean, you know they're gonna ask about the wedding, don't you?!" I grunted and my friend had the nerve to laugh "C'mon, be on my side!"

"Look, I can't help you there: I can't wait to prepare your wedding. I mean going dress shopping?! C'mon, I'm dying to go!" She moaned.

"Ok, but can you agree it's too early for my body to dive into another clusterfuck?" I tossed, picking my baby and tucking her to my chest; she was getting sleepy, time for a nap.

"Yeah, definitely too soon." Eva shrugged, following me to Julie's room "About the barbecue, I would just let the boys do most of the work – oh, and your mother in law, she seems quite happy to take over."

"Yeah, don't I know it..." I smiled, tucking Julie in and kissing her head as she drifted to sleep almost immediately.

"Wow, she's down like you just pulled a plug!" Eva grinned, as we left the room.

"She's good, bless her." I smiled, taking my friend downstairs to the kitchen for some coffee "Angela baked. Let's sit and chat just us two – I miss that."

"Well, you're close to married life has taken over" Eva smiled, as I sat with her and two plates of cake.

She poured the coffee as we both sat on the breakfast area, the baby monitor safely on the side so I could keep an eye on Julie. My friend took a sip of her coffee and frowned as she looked down at her hands.

"Does it taste funny?" I asked, sniffing my cup.

"No, no, it's perfect." She smiled, shrugging "I'm just... never mind... it's stupid."

"C'mon, Eva. Stupid is having a baby with a guy you don't know, and look how well that turned out?" I winked.

"Yeah, well... It's kinda related to that, actually..." She sighed, rubbing her face "Look, forget it, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Talk before I smack you" I frowned.

Eva sighed, leaning back in her seat. She shrugged again, took another sip of coffee and spoke.

"I just... keep wondering what would it have been like if... if I had been the one to... you know, go home with him..."

I felt a burn on the pit of my stomach at that. Did she mean she... she had feelings for my fiancée? That was insanely fucked up!

"Before you say anything, no I don't have any feelings for me, it's not like that." She smiled "He's obviously gaga for you – and he was from the first minute, so I never ever thought about him in that way... It's just... I wonder you know? What if I had met some guy and... I had gotten pregnant and he loved me, too?"

What could I tell her? Don't worry, you will find someone! Don't give up! Yeah, that was the equivalent of saying 'She's pretty, but you have a lovely personality!' – Eva would punch me in the face – or a boob, which would be what hurt the most nowadays.

"I just feel... lonely, you know? Like I'm getting past that age and... I have nobody even close to wanting to get me pregnant!"

She started to cry, like big, ugly sobbing cry. I winced – yep, I was going to start producing milk if she didn't stop, blame physiology...

"Oh, darling..." I sighed, changing seats to be next to her and hug her "I don't really know what to say without sounding either condescending or absurd, but... Have you tried dating services? I'm serious, we can't all expect to meet the perfect guy by chance!"

"I've tried everything!" She sobbed, cleaning her tears with a tissue I handed her "I've tried online dating – Jesus, have you seen the creeps that show up!" She actually shivered "That was a bust. I've tried dating agencies – I either get someone who's only after a good curriculum or overachievers. And I don't want to settle! But... maybe I should just... settle with a guy with the career and background..."

"No, honey! You cannot just settle. C'mon, Eva, you're amazing! You deserve an amazing guy, too."

"And how long should I wait for this amazing guy?" She tossed, looking down at her coffee.

What could I say? That she was definitely going to find her Happy Ever After? How could I be sure, anyway? I wasn't a hopeless romantic and she knew it. I didn't believe there was a Soul Mate; we were just incredibly lucky to find one of the probably dozens of people in the world that would compatible, and once we did, we had to hold on to them with all we had.

Eva shook her head and shrugged after a minute.

"Forget it. I'm feeling sorry for myself, here. Look at me!" She chuckled, wiping the tears away; she could try all the wanted but she wasn't going to convince me this was her just being silly "Here I am, crying over my lack of love life when you're balancing your own, plus a house and a baby! Silly me! Uh, that's my goddaughter crying – I'll go and get her."

She ran upstairs even before I could say another word. I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes. How do you help your best friend? How do you convince her that she will get her very own Happy Ending, when you don't believe in the 'Happily Ever After', anyway?

***

I lay in bed but couldn't sleep. There's no easy fix for Life, there's no way you can help your friend with their love life; you can't just snap your fingers and magically create the perfect guy for her!

"Why can't you sleep?" Jordan asked as he turned in bed.

"Eva." I sighed, rubbing my hair back as I turned to him "She's... not feeling great."

"What happened?" He frowned, caressing my chin.

"Boy trouble... Well... lack of, there is" I winced.

"Oh..." He grimaced "She's a great girl, I'm sure she'll find her Jordan."

"Aren't you cheeky?" I chuckled and he grinned "Coming to think of it, actually... baby...!"

"Oh, no...!" He winced at my begging face, putting his hands up and trying to turn his back to me in bed, but I clawed at his back "I'm not getting involved in this!"

"But, Jordan!" I pouted "You have so many single male friends! I'm sure one of them would be a good match!"

"Fuck me sideways..." He grunted, rubbing his face with his tanned hands "Alright. Actually, Mike could be a good guy for Eva. I mean, he's constantly away on a new adventure, but... Yeah, I could see it!" He suddenly grinned "I mean, God knows he needs a girl in his life!"

"What do you mean?" I frowned; I loved Mike, Mike was the genuinely good-looking warm-hearted boy next door.

"Well. E's constantly away, isn't he? It's lonely. A girl who would love to keep up with him is exactly what he needs." Jordan shrugged, rubbing his chin as he considered it "Yeah, why not Eva?! She definitely needs adventure, she's sweet and funny. How did we not think of pairing these two before?!"

"I don't know, but I do know that I love you." I smiled, kissing the tip of his nose "Thank you for helping me... Could you have Mike pop over for the barbecue next week?"

"Of course. He loves you." He shrugged "Is it weird that I'm actually really excited for the two to meet? I have a good feeling!"

"Let's just hope she doesn't get pregnant like I did" I grinned and he tickled me mercilessly.

***

Angela was cooing at Julie, and my baby daughter was laughing at her grandma's silly faces. The backyard needed a lot of work, the grass needed TLC and the barbecue needed to be replaced, but that didn't mean people didn't have fun! Even dad was having a laugh with Jordan's tattooed friends from the studio – yep, weird friendships and relationships were being shaped, and I grinned expectantly when I saw my best friend walk into my yard in a nice summery spaghetti-strapped white dress. With her short blonde hair and tanned skin, Eva always looked like a mysterious deadly blonde.

"Where is my goddaughter?" She demanded immediately – she was a good six feet from me when she asked!

"I feel left out." I pouted, but showed her my mother-in-law playing with Julie alongside Dred and Jordan's grandmother "She's keeping herself busy, I'm afraid."

"Uh, it smells nice!" She smiled, taking her shades and dropping her handbag in one of the chairs "I need something to drink. Had another date last night – dear Lord... He had a toupee, Violet..."

I smothered a laugh, walking her towards the food – good ol' Rocco was on barbecue duty again. Dad was laughing at some joke Rocco had said when we joined them.

"You ate anything yet, Evs?" Rocco asked my friend.

"I'm waiting, chef." She winked and grinned at the drink I offered "Uh, an umbrella! Someone pulled all the guns for today!"

"Angela went a little overboard. I mean, have you seen the chocolate fountain?" I sighed, rubbing my head "Anyway, can you believe only four weeks for Christmas?!"

"Aw, Julie's first Christmas!" She suddenly realized "I want a proper Christmas Card!"

"You mean one of those tacky family cards with the whole family?!" I moaned.

"They're not tacky!" She gasped, pouting "They're so adorable! Nothing says 'Hey, we're a family!' more than two things: fighting during Monopoly, and Christmas Cards!"

"I guess... I wonder if I can trick Jordan into wearing a cardigan..." I pondered, and Eva laughed.

I saw Jordan and Mike walking just two feet behind Eva. Mike was having a beer and finishing his third burger – boy did the guy eat! He was telling Jordan another one of his fascinating stories in the Serengeti. I did a quick thinking and decided that if there was something I could do for my friend was to give her the fairytale story – or at least, trying to.

In a split second, I jerked, pretending to see a bee, and bumped hard into Eva. She shrieked and jumped out of the way, bumping hard into a distracted Mike. They both cursed and his drink went all over both their clothing. In the immediate aftermath, I saw my fiancée looking at me like as if asking 'What the fuck is wrong with you?!'.

"Oh, my God!" I moaned, running to stand beside the two of them "I'm so sorry! Oh, I'm such a mess! Hormones, you know."

"It's been five weeks" Jordan tossed, tilting a brow.

"You really don't understand a woman's body!" I pouted "Oh, you two, I'm so sorry! Oh, you don't even know each other, I'm all over!"

Jordan slapped his forehead and shook his head, not believing his eyes.

"Mike, this is Eva, my best friend!" I grinned, grabbing her by her elbow and pushing her right under his nose "Eva, this is Mike. You know, the one with the cabin on the beach?"

"Oh, right!" My friend understood, showing him a hand "Hi, nice to meet you. Sorry about your shirt."

"Nah, that's fine!" Bronzed and blonde tall Mike flashed her his million-dollar smile "I've had worse being thrown at me! I once had an elephant peeing on me."

"Oh, yes Mike's an adventure photographer!" I grinned, elbowing Eva's side.

"Wow, that's incredible!" Eva's eyes widened "What does that mean, exactly?"

"Just means I travel all over the world and snap photos of everything you can imagine" He smiled.

"Wow..." Eva sighed "That's gotta be wonderful..."

"It has its moments, I guess. Like any job, right?" Mike winked "But, yeah, traveling is the major part of the job. Can't lie, it's pretty rewarding to be able to meet the world, different people, cultures..." Mike shrugged, grabbing a handful of napkins and handing Eva some "Here, try to dry some of the beer. Sorry about that, I didn't see you either."

I sneakily pulled Jordan away with me, leaving the two of them to talk by themselves.

"That was the worst thing I've ever seen." Jordan snorted into laughter, as he grabbed a squealing Julie from Angela's arms "Here's my big girl!"

"Well, I had to do something big and flashy!" I defended myself, grabbing Julie's pacifier and playing with her; my daughter laughed and squealed as she tried to catch it "I want her to be able to say they met in the most romantic way ever."

"You know, you can't just pair people like lab rats and expect them to tie the knot." Jordan pressed his lips at me disapprovingly "Love doesn't work like that."

"Oh, I have a feeling there might be a chance there!" I winked, and grinned wider as the two of them walked away together, chatting and laughing "They make such a cute couple!"

"Alright, crazy pregnant lady hormones resurging again..." Jordan rolled his eyes and patted my shoulder "Here, have the baby. I'm getting another drink as someone decided to waste perfectly good beer in the name of love..."