Trevor (Strong Manor #6)

Chapter 6

Trevor thought that he’d sleep for a month. Henry had been in the hospital for a week now, and they were finally ready to free him. The man had had a great deal done to him and all he wanted to do was to go home and rest in his own bed.

The elevator had been finished up just the day before. Not only was the apartment set up for the two of them but Trevor had turned the bottom part of the garage into a large open area so that the two of them could entertain while they lived there. After all the weatherizing had been put in and carpets put onto the lower floors, he’d had a gas fireplace put in so that they could have company over as well. With a kitchen on the top floor and bottom, the two of them could do just what they wanted and live out their lives without a bit of problem. Even after the surgery had been performed, they were both excited to be going home to their new place.

“I’m so glad that the two of them will be close. After that scare, I want them close so that I can see them both daily, if not more.” Trevor told her that he liked seeing them daily as well. “It was brilliant of your parents to get them that golf cart. Now they don’t have to walk from their home to ours. I have to do something really nice for them.”

It turned out that Henry did have two tiny spots on his liver. After setting up the surgery so that they could look at them to rule out cancer, they found one on his right kidney as well. The surgery was long, three hours, because they were doing a full search while they had him open and taking care of the spots. After removing them, all five, they ended up finding were sent off to be analyzed. They’d know the results in a couple of days, but Weston was saying that he thought they were cysts and not cancer at all.

Trevor thought that all of them were worn out. He knew that he was. Between the hospital and work, he thought that he was sleeping standing up most of the time. But his job was something that he went to when things got scary at the hospital, and he wished that Anna had something like that. As it was, Henrie was running the shipping company and going to the hospital for her grandma three times a day. It was wearing on everyone.

“I know that we’ve been sharing a house. I would also like to share a bed with you.” He nodded, not sure where this was going, when Henrie turned to him when they were in the elevator going up to Henry’s floor to take him home. “I don’t mean sex right now. I’m still incredibly sore, but I think that once I’m rested up, and you are too, I’ll be a good deal better. I’ve been stressing and hurting since this all began—don’t tell my grandparents—that I think that’s what is keeping me from getting better. I’ve enjoyed running the business, but I can’t do both of them like this all the time. I need something to go better.”

“I agree. I’ve been working, too, and every time I go there, I find myself napping at my desk for a few minutes. The computer is usually asleep when I wake but I keep telling myself that it’s because it just turned off. For all I know, I could be napping for an hour.” They both laughed, and he kissed her on her mouth. “I would love to sleep with you. And I’m just too tired enough that there will be no getting frisky, at least on the first few nights. I want a nice big bed and you to warm me up.”

Thanksgiving was tomorrow, and he was happy that his mom had told him not to make anything like the others were doing. Just getting back and forth and through the day was taking up most of his time. Cooking a side dish sounded like it was too much. But when he’d been home this afternoon after work, May, their cook, said that she’d talked to his mom, and she was going to make some macaroni and cheese for him to take over. It was the best news he’d heard all day besides getting to sleep with his favorite roommate.

That’s why he was glad that he was going to be going home after getting Henry and Anna set up. They’d hired a cook for them as well so that they didn’t have to work around that chore. Henry was nearly asleep before he was put in his bed, and Anna was out. He noticed that she was a heavy sleeper, and nothing could wake her up if they needed her. But the little bitty sound of the alarm on her phone could bring her right up out of the bed like she’d been tossed from it. It was the funniest thing for him to know.

“I’m exhausted. I don’t know that I can eat anything.” Trevor told Henrie that she’d better eat something, even if it was just a yogurt, or her body would wake her up before she was rested, and that wouldn’t do her the least amount of good.

So, the two of them ate a small sandwich and finished it off with a vanilla yogurt. Dragging themselves up the stairs to the master suite, he was happy that his house was finished and that they didn’t have to make their beds in order to get into it.

All he did was pull off his pants. They were dusty anyway and he didn’t want to get the bed dusty too. His tee shirt was on the floor near his pants. Toeing off his socks and shoes, he was crawling into the bed even as Henrie was coming out of the bathroom. Laying his head down on the fluffy pillow, he was closing his eyes even as his body began to shut down. Exhaustion reached up and slapped him unconscious.

He woke up once and was startled because he didn’t know where he was. As soon as Henrie rolled into his body, he closed his eyes and was out again. He’d had a thought to get up and go to the bathroom, but once he closed his eyes, he didn’t think it was worth getting all worked up about and went to sleep.

Trevor was alone in the bed when he woke up the next time. Henrie’s side of the bed was cold, so he knew she’d been up for a while. Also, he didn’t see the light on in the bathroom and got himself up and moving. Stretching, something that he loved to do when he got up, Trevor felt better than he had in a while. It wasn’t just the sleep, but the bed had helped as well. A new mattress could make all the difference when you were tired.

After taking a long hot shower, he dressed and went downstairs. The house was quiet, and while that didn’t bother him, it did make him wonder how much longer he’d been asleep than Henrie. As he was leaving the kitchen, looking for someone, he found an envelope with his name on it in the dining room.

“Hello, love.” He liked the sound of that and sat down to read the rest of the note. “Grandda wanted to get up and around today, so I went over to help him. I hope that now that he’s home, he doesn’t overdo it. I’m just there for moral support, not lifting him out of the bed.” She drew him several little hearts before she continued. “I love you, Trevor. I wanted to say that first. If I had gotten up and you weren’t home, I’d be nuts trying to find you. But I do love you. I’ll be home as soon as I can, or you can come over to the house and help grandda around. I think he just needs to feel like himself again.” Then she wrote, “Love you, H.”

Making his way to their home, he was excited about the snow that was coming down. Glad that he didn’t need to drive anywhere, he was happy to be able to walk to his parents’ home for dinner. As soon as he knocked on the door, he was happy that Henrie answered it. Kissing her on the mouth, then a second time just to make sure that she was happy, he went into the room and looked at the mess that had been strewn all around the living room since yesterday. It was everything that Henry had brought home, flowers and cards, a breathing machine to help him recover. There were blankets, too, that had been brought to Henry from home that needed to be washed up before being put away again. He picked up one of the larger boxes of plants and began distributing them all around the room. Just doing that took care of some of the things just lying about.

“Just leave those, Trevor. I’ll get to them later.” He told her that the flowers and such needed to be out of the boxes so they’d not die. “I never thought of that. To be honest, I can’t believe that so many people sent flowers and planters to the hospital for him. My goodness, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them all.”

“You could call my mom. She usually organizes things like this to take to shut-ins that don’t get pretty things like this. And planters can be broken down by her ladies’ committee and made into much easier things to care for.” She asked if he knew if she was busy. “Yes, today. It’s Thanksgiving.”

“Oh my, I completely forgot. Oh, I’m so sorry, Trevor. I don’t know that we’re going to make it.” Henry came out of the bedroom then and asked what they weren’t going to make. “Thanksgiving at the Strong house. I completely forgot about it. We’ll have to cancel.”

“We will not cancel, Anna. I’m not going to die anytime soon, and since I thought I was, I’ve decided that I’m going to be grabbing life with both hands and doing anything I can to become a vital part of the world. Even if it’s stuffing my gullet with food this time of year.” Henry looked at him. “You think your parents will be upset if we show up a little less formal? I might be too tired to get into my—never mind. I’m going to dress to the nines. Yes, sir. I’m grabbing all I can from the world and family while I’m still around to do it. Come on, Anna, let’s get ourselves all dolled up and have some fun. Trevor, you’ll help me, won’t you? Might need some help tucking me into my suit if it still fits.”

Henry lost some much-needed weight while in the hospital. The man was tall, so he could handle a few extra pounds, but today, he looked to him like an old man who had been through hell and back. Yes, he’d help him, and he was happy to hear that he was going to live his life with gusto, too.

They were a little early to his parents’ home. Mom nor Dad seemed to mind as he took the dish that he’d brought over to the kitchen. Setting it down on the counter to be cooked when it was time, he snagged himself some veggies off the platter that had a dip as well and went into the living room where his family was meeting. After hugging both his parents, he sat down next to Henrie. She was talking to her mom.

“You don’t have to do that. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t think of renting the place we wanted to give to you at all. I wanted you both close, and this is the best way for all of us.” Anna said that they might need it for a rainy day. “Grandma, I have enough money for several years of rainy days without you paying rent. Just enjoy being there so that when we have babies, I’ll know that I have you to depend on. Why don’t you think of it as free babysitting money for me? This way, I can know and depend on the two of you when I need a break.”

“Well, I’m going to put the money aside and give it to your children when they come along. I don’t suppose the two of you have popped any questions of late? I mean, it’s nearly the new year, and it would be nice to have something to plan for the summer months.” She said she thought they might get married at the courthouse. “No. Now, you’ll have a large wedding to celebrate life. I want you to send out hundreds of invitations, plan the food, and pick out a cake. And just so you remember, I have your mom’s wedding dress—no, that won’t do. You need your own style and dress. Yes, that’ll be the ticket.”

“How about we get married now in the courthouse and plan a large reception for when the warmer weather comes around.” Anna didn’t look like she was going to agree with that either, so he smiled at her. “If you make me wait until summer to sleep with your granddaughter, we’re going to be carrying our child in our arms when we go down the aisle.”

“Trevor Martin Strong.” His mom laughed when she said that. “You can be so crude when you want to be, I believe. But I can see your point. It would be difficult for you to wait that long since the two of you are already sharing a house.”

“He’s not getting frisky with me yet because of all the things that have been going on.” She looked at her grandda. “Do you think you can stay healthy for a few months and walk me down the aisle? I’m counting on the two of you. Grandma? You’ll have to be my matron of honor when we do this thing. If we do this thing.”

“What do you mean if?” Henrie told her that she just wanted to start her life with Trevor and have children that they could watch grow up. “And you won’t get married if you have to wait until summer? My goodness, child, you’d do that without the benefit of marriage?”

“Grandma, you’re living in the past. People don’t have to—I want to be his wife, but I can’t wait that long. I want to have children as soon as possible. I want to be large with child and feel it moving within me. Grandma, I want to be everything that you were to me when I came into this world. Grandda being ill scared me into thinking that there isn’t as much time as one hopes they can have. We’re all going to die, and I want people to say that I was a hell of a person and not who the hell was Henrie Strong anyway? Do you understand?” She nodded and wiped at the tears. “Don’t cry, Grandma. I want this to be the best life that I can have, and I want it to start as soon as possible.”

“I understand, and I should have thought about not having all that much time left to live. It scared me too, thinking that I was going to lose your grandda. Scared me…I was thinking the same thing, that if I could have some more time, I’d make it so that I left this world a better place than when I came into it. Yes, I understand.” Anna hugged Henrie then she hugged him. “You’ll be a good husband to her, won’t you, Trevor? Take care of our darling little girl for us?”

“I will make it my life’s work to make her happier every hour of every day. I’ll shower her with love and make sure she knows that I will love her more every day that we have together.” He got down on one knee after sliding to the floor and took Henrie’s hand into his. “I love you so much, Henrie. And I will forever and beyond. Will you be my wife so that we can start out life together now on this day?”

“Yes. Will you please be my husband, too? And let me pamper you in any way that you’ll let me and have lots of children with me? I love you so much, Trevor.” She kissed him when he slid the ring on her finger. “Oh, how beautiful. Where did you get this? It looks old.”

“It was my grandmother’s on my mom’s side. Mom got it all being an only child and she let each of us pick out what we wanted of the jewelry. She wasn’t a nice person and didn’t like us kids all that much, but we tolerated her over the years and that was about all I can tell you about her. Just a bitter old woman.” He pulled her up from the floor and held her to him. He winked at her. “We can arrange a marriage as soon as the day after tomorrow. If that’s all right with you.”

“Yes, perfect.” She kissed him this time, right on his mouth. “I love you so much, and I can’t wait to have your children and live out what I hope to be a long life with you.”

~*~

Dinner was better than she ever could have imagined. There were plenty of leftovers for sandwiches later, and she was enjoying the football games on the largest television she’d ever seen in their living room.

Henrie had to laugh when she saw that her grandda had fallen asleep with a piece of pie in his hands. Grandma was watching the game and eating some of the vegetables that had been on a large platter. Henrie thought for sure that she wasn’t going to be able to eat for a week or so.

At around six-thirty, the doorbell rang. Instead of getting up to see who it was, Trevor’s parents let him open the door. He didn’t know the man, it seemed, but Jade and Jenson did. He was the sitting judge in their town. He was there to marry them.

“So I called in a favor, and he agreed to come here to do it.” Trevor was still laughing when he asked his brothers to stand up with him. His dad was his man of honor, and his mom sat with the other women in the living room.

It was nearly over as soon as it started, the judge took home an apple pie that hadn’t been cut into yet. After kissing Jade on the cheek, he was gone. It was the most surreal thing that had ever happened to her. I suppose she should be happy that it was halftime of the game, or there might not have been much in the way of witnesses.

Fifteen minutes later, Grandda said that he was ready to go home, and her grandma hugged her tightly before they both left. All the carbs were making them both tired and Grandda needed to check his sugar levels. Trevor was taking them back to their home, and she was glad to be able to help with the cleanup that was made in the kitchen.

“Don’t you want to go home too?” She looked at Lisa, confused. Then, when it hit her, she felt her face heat up. “You’re a good girl, honey but if you’re going to be having babies, you need to go home and start on that.”

Never in her life had she been so embarrassed. Of course, she needed to get started on the babies but to have it pointed out to her by her mother-in-law was a bit more than she wanted today. When Trevor called her to tell her that her grandparents were home and safe, she told him not to get out of the car and that they were going home as well. Then she told him that his mom told her that they needed to start on the babies.

“You nearly made me drive off the road.” She told him to be careful that she needed him and he laughed. “All right. I’ll toot the horn and you come running out. That should give my family something to tease us about for weeks, if not years to come. I love you, babe. I’ll be waiting for you to come out of the house in about five minutes.”

Watching him pull into the driveway, she kissed Lisa and told her that she’d see her in a couple of days. That was funny to the other woman, and she told her to have fun. Henrie told her that she was planning on having a great deal of fun but not to call unless it was an emergency.

Getting into the car with Trevor, she pulled him to her with a long, and she hoped a very telling kiss. As soon as they parted, she sat on her side of the car and tried not to fidget. All she could think about was getting naked with him and making him know how much she loved him. Trevor was her world, and she wanted him to know that beyond anything else.

It seemed to take forever to get home. The roads were slick, the snow that they’d gotten today was heavy, and she was scared every time they spun out. Even the couple of times that they would slide on the streets, she was terrified that she was going to have to end up in the hospital because they had crashed. When they finally pulled in, she was drenched in sweat, and her nerves were shot.

Putting her head between her legs, Trevor rubbed her back. She could tell that he was nervous as well, but he was handling it better than she was. As soon as she felt like she could get out of the car, they walked hand in hand to the front door, and finally, she felt safe.

She thought that she’d be better off driving her rig in this weather than in a car. At least with her rig, she did have a bit more weight in the thing and she was driving. Not that Trevor wasn’t a good driver, but she needed control over the situation and that would have made her feel so much better.

The house was nice and warm. She realized that she’d forgotten the leftovers that were their share and decided that someone would take them home over going back. In the fridge, there were things that they could make a meal with, but neither of them were hungry.

Trevor went to the living room and turned on the game. She was so disappointed that she wanted to find something heavy and hit him in the head with it. Instead, she went into the living room and sat on the opposite couch. He grinned at her when she huffed.

“I need to unwind after that drive. I would be able to make love to you, but I feel like it wouldn’t be the best I want you to have. I’m not sure how you feel, but that’s it for me. I might not have mentioned this before, but I hate driving in the snow. It stressed me out enough that I’d need a drink after it. I really hate driving in terrible weather.” She asked him if he was going to get a bigger car, one with four-wheel drive. “I never thought of it before, to be honest. If I had to be somewhere, I would just walk. But I doubt very much you’d get very far in those pretty heels. So driving is what we needed. How about tomorrow, we go and get us both a new car, one that I’d feel safe driving in this Ohio weather in with you beside me?”

“That sounds like a plan, but not too early tomorrow. I have plans.” He nodded and winked at her again. “Did you know that your winks make me wet?”

Getting up and leaving him there, she made her way to the kitchen again. Fixing them both some sandwiches that she had plans to put in their room for later made her feel pretty good. He seemed to have the upper hand in most things going on between them, and this time she’d done it. Laughing at the expression on his face when he came into the kitchen with her, she asked him if he was all right.

“No. Yes. Did you mean that?” She nodded, pulling out the box of individual chips to take up, too. “You’re driving me crazy, you know that, don’t you?”

“Of course, it’s what I live for. Teasing you after you’ve been doing the same to me it feels pretty good.” He chased her around the table in the kitchen and into the dining room. As soon as he caught up with her, she giggled like a kid. It was a great deal of fun having a husband—Christ, she thought, she had a husband. He asked her what was wrong when she stared up at him.

“We’re married.” He nodded and asked her if that was all right. “Yes. I’ve never had a husband before. I just realized that we’re married. Isn’t that strange?”

“Strange? I guess so if you think about the fact that we’ve only known one another for about a month. I still love you. Perhaps more now that you’re my wife.” He smiled at her. “I have a wife. I’ve never said those words before. It’s kind of nice, don’t you think?”

“Yes. I can’t think of a better person to be married to than you. I only hope that if you get sick of me, you let me know.” Trevor said that he could never be tired of her. She was his world. “You say that now. When it’s all still fresh.”

“I’ll be saying it when I’m as old as your grandparents and meaning it even more so. I love you, Henrie Strong, with all my being. My heart only belongs to you. Well, my family, too, but you have the biggest part of it. And when we ever have children, and we can have as many as you wish, I will be bursting with love and happiness because you said yes to me.” Holding her in his arms, Henrie felt like she had won the lottery and had everything she’d ever wanted at the same time. “Are you ready to hit the hay? You know, just being around you makes me feel like I could live forever if every day you’re there with me.”

They walked up the staircase holding hands. They stopped every few steps and touched one another and kissed. Before they were even to the bedroom, her blouse was off, and his shoes were on the steps. Once she kicked her heels off, she felt like she could use a massage.

Standing outside the room, their room, Henrie decided that it didn’t matter to her what others thought of their unconventional marriage, the two of them owning a house before they’d been married.

It was just the fact that the two of them were together right now that made her heart skip a few beats. She never knew that love could be so consuming and not enough at the same time. She really did love this man and she knew that he would be hers for as long as he wished. Then he picked her up in his arms and carried her into the room. Again, it was their room and the one that they would share forever.

“I want to undress you.” She nodded at him, her breath caught in her throat. “Then, when you’re naked, I want to touch every part of you, tasting you as I go. Are you all right with that?”

Her answer was breathless and she was glad that the bed was close so that she could hold onto the posters on it. It was a beautiful bed. The mattress on it was large enough to hold them both without them having to be crowded. Right now, she wanted to be crowded everywhere with him. She wanted to touch him as well, but today, she was going to allow him to take charge and make love to her. She did so love Trevor and hoped that she could show him in the way that she loved him right back.