Chapter Thirty-FourGrace
Chapter Thirty-Four
Grace
S andwiched between Wes and Evan, I was cozy and warm in Wes’ bed. After many rounds of delicious birthday sex, I should be fast asleep. But something nagged at me. What had I forgotten?
Think. Think. Think.
The piano. I never cleaned the fingerprints off the piano.
Extracting myself from them, I went down to the laundry room in the basement and mixed some gentle soap with warm water in a clean bucket and found a soft cloth.
I padded up to the dark second floor. Not wanting to wake anyone, I didn’t turn on the light.
Instead, I first dusted the piano, then methodically wiped it down and dried it.
I put away the bucket and went back to the third floor to return to Wes’ bed.
Back to my pile of purrs and muscle.
I stopped in front of my room, the door ajar. A sigh escaped my lips as I surveyed it in the darkness, the only light streaming in through the window. It really was messy, wasn’t it?
Taking everything off the window seat and the bed, I took it all down to the laundry room to wash.
As I did the laundry, I got my room nice and clean–taking things down, putting things away, washing the windows and scrubbing the floor.
I didn’t vacuum the rug, because I didn’t want to wake everyone, and I couldn’t move the bed myself.
The room now smelled nice and bleachy. Everything was in its place. No clutter. No fuss. No one would think I was a slob and get mad.
I made my bed, using only the bare minimum of pillows, making the corners nice and tight. Mr. Hippo, now clean and brushed, sat in the position of honor. One stuffy was allowed. I put the teddy Evan gave me in the wardrobe, giving him a kiss as an apology.
Folding all the now-clean blankets, I put them away in the chest under the window seat, along with all the throw pillows but two, which I put in the window seat. Three?
No. That would be too indulgent. I didn’t want anyone to get angry.
I stood back and admired my work. Perfect. Nice and neat. Not even my mother could complain. I yawned as fatigue pressed down on me.
The room was clean, so now I should be clean.
After taking a quick shower, with extra soap, in Evan’s bathroom so I wouldn’t wake anyone by using Wes’, I went back to my room and put on a pair of PJs.
My hair was wet, but I was too tired to dry it.
Flipping off the bedroom light, I sprayed the room one last time with deodorizer, and grabbed Mr. Hippo.
Not wanting to mess up my nice clean room, I crawled under the bed, and went to sleep, curled on the soft rug with Mr. Hippo to keep me company.