Chapter 20
Monday morning dawned, clear, bright, and cool. Isadora told Amy she was going back to their mom’s house, because of Amy’s upcoming nuptials, knowing that they were probably going to live in Amy’s house, which was correct.
Her mom had promised that she would watch the children, and Isadora could have as much time to herself as she needed, although Amy could see the worry in her mother’s eyes when she said that.
Still, Amy couldn’t deny that she did appreciate it, since she’d spent Saturday night on her mom’s couch, and it was nice to be back in her own bed.
She took the sheets off when she got up and threw them in the washer before putting her clothes on and going outside.
Jones was already at work feeding the dogs.
It wasn’t unusual, exactly, for him to get there before her, but she wondered if maybe he was a little nervous.
She saw a steaming coffee cup sitting on the nearest post to the house, and she grabbed it as she walked around the kennel, petting some wet noses and taking a sip of the strong coffee which warmed her the whole way to her stomach and back.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling at Jones as he carried the bucket down the aisle, putting the correct amount of dog food in each automatic feeder.
“Hey there, beautiful. It’s your wedding day. ”
“I know. And the groom isn’t supposed to see the bride on their wedding day, is he?”
“If you believe that, you should have stayed inside when you saw my truck out here.”
“And let you do all the work? That sounds like more bad luck than you seeing me.” She didn’t believe in luck at all, but if she did, she certainly would think it would be more important to help him than to stay hidden somewhere.
“Well, I have to say I appreciate the fact that you think that way. Since that’ll make this morning a little easier for me.”
“No doubt,” she agreed, grabbing her own scoop, going down, and giving him a hand with every other dog.
“You know, it’s occurred to me that maybe we do this backward. Perhaps you should think about cleaning their pens before you feed them.”
“I used to do it that way. But I found that if I feed them first, they’re more likely to poop on their walk, and it saves me a little bit of work in cleaning things up. Plus, it gives them a new place to mark as their territory, or whatever they do,” she said.
He nodded. Then she figured he was making conversation because he really was nervous. She wasn’t quite sure what to do about that though. She was nervous too.
“You know, we really didn’t talk about where we were going to stay after our wedding, and it’s okay with me if I don’t even move in.” He didn’t look at her while he was talking, and she wondered if maybe he was changing his mind about something.
“Do you want to move in?” she asked, pausing with the scoop in her hands, hoping that that wasn’t the wrong question, and hoping that it was a question that she could ask and expect an honest answer to. He’d always been very forthright with her, and she didn’t think that he had changed, but maybe she was wrong.
“I want to,” he said quickly, before she could think of too much else. “But I just thought that maybe you were uncomfortable. ”
“I’m uncomfortable. But you’re right, we haven’t really talked about it. Because if you move in... I only have one bedroom.”
“Right. And your couch is not even big enough for you to sleep on. So, I didn’t want to do anything that was going to make you uncomfortable. I mean, this is all kind of new, and I don’t know that we’re ready to take that next step yet.”
He was right. It wasn’t really a next step. It was more like an impossible leap.
“Why can’t we just put pillows or something down the middle of the bed, and you sleep on one side, and I’ll sleep on the other, and I don’t think it will be that big of a deal. I mean, we can keep it from being that big of a deal. Can’t we?”
After she said that, she felt like they were in charge. They didn’t have to go with what someone else said, and they didn’t have to go with their feelings either. They could make the decisions using logic and compassion.
“Are you sure about that? That won’t make you uncomfortable or anything?” He paused. “We’d be sharing the bathroom.”
“But it has a door on it. I mean, I think eventually we’ll be perfectly comfortable with each other, but there’s no point in getting all hurried and crazy. We can just take it naturally,” she said. Not sure exactly what naturally was, but knowing that eventually they would be comfortable enough with each other that it wouldn’t matter whether there was a door in the bathroom or not. She hoped so. That was the way most married couples were, wasn’t it?
It wasn’t something she went around asking people, and she figured that maybe married couples each had their own thing. Maybe some did, some didn’t, they just did what worked for them.
“You think you’d be comfortable enough with me to share the bathroom at some point?” he asked, like he could read her thoughts.
“Well, I was just thinking about that, and it occurred to me that if we’re going to have children, and I assume we are at some point,” she was proud of herself for not even blushing over that one, “you’re probably going to want to see our baby be born. And if I can’t share the bathroom with you, that might be awkward. So... Yeah. And it’s not just me. You too.”
“I see. So you’re not scared?”
“Should I be?” Then she laughed. “Never mind. I’ve been around when you’re going to the bathroom before, and you’re right. I probably ought to be scared. Maybe that might be taking it a bit too far.”
It was his turn to laugh, and he knew she was joking.
For her, marriage meant everything. Not just the things that made a person comfortable.
But because they were doing this in an uncommonly fast way, they didn’t have to do everything right away.
“All right. Then I suppose I ought to pack my shaving kit and some clothes and the stuff that I’d need if I were going to be gone for a few days, and put them in my truck, and bring them here after the wedding.”
“Or I can do it. You have to go to work, and I have a few errands to run, more dog food to get, but I can definitely go to your house. Plus, I don’t think you want that stuff sitting in your car all day, because the temperatures are supposed to drop pretty sharply.”
“Yeah. I saw they are supposed to get below freezing.”
“Wilson said that he would come out and feed the dogs in the morning so that we can sleep in if you want to. But I figured if you’re going to go to work, I might as well get up and feed the dogs, but I thought I would talk to you about it before I replied to his text.”
“Let him come. I’m going to have Cheryl, my secretary, call and cancel all appointments tomorrow. Whether we get stormy weather or we don’t, you are right. How can I think of canceling for a storm when I wouldn’t cancel for my marriage? ”
“I was kidding,” she said as they walked back to fill their buckets full of dog food again.
“I know. But it just made me think. Also, we need to take a honeymoon. So pick your dates, and I’ll clear my calendar.”
“I don’t need a honeymoon,” she said.
“If we’re getting the ten million dollars, we might as well spend it on something good.”
“A clinic for you,” she said emphatically.
“And dog kennels for you,” he said, making sure she wasn’t going to leave herself out of the equation.
“And if we’re going to have children, we should probably add on to the house or build one.” She paused. “But nothing fancy.”
“You got me with the nothing fancy. I’m totally fine with that.”
They finished feeding the dogs, chatting about that evening, and the fact that they needed to go get a license over his lunch break, and nothing else urgent, until it was time for him to go.
She watched him drive away, knowing that she would see him again in a few hours, when they went to get their license. They had been going to drive along with Terry and Judd, but both of them needed to get back to their clinics, and their lunch breaks were half an hour different, so they didn’t want to take a chance of one of them not making it.
Amy walked back to the house, unable to believe that today was her wedding day.