91. Chapter 91
Chapter 91
After Paige and Jacob left for the loft with Sputnik in his cat kennel, David checked Paige’s apartment one last time, to make sure nothing had been left behind. After locking up, he went and knocked on Mrs. Harte’s door to say goodbye.
“I’m glad you came by,” she said. “I saw Paige and Jacob before they left, and I wanted to say goodbye to you, as well.”
He kissed her papery cheek, getting a whiff of the flowery perfume she always wore. “Goodbye, Dolly. I know you probably won’t believe this, but I’m going to miss you.”
“Only until next Wednesday.”
“What do you mean?”
“Paige invited me over for dinner at your place.”
“She did?”
“Yes. I’ll be coming over for dinner every few weeks.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“I hope that’s all right with you.”
He quickly regrouped. “Of course. I look forward to it.”
“As do I,” she said with a smile. “Oh, and I like meatloaf, by the way.”
Down at the truck, Evan was making sure the back door was secure. “All set?”
“Yep.”
When they got to the loft, David told Paige, “So, Dolly informed me she’ll be joining us for dinner on the regular … and she apparently likes meatloaf.”
“I know. That’s her favorite.”
“When were you going to share this good news with me? Right after she knocked on our door next week?”
“You knew when you married me that she and I are kind of a package deal.”
“Actually, no I didn’t. And up until about twenty minutes ago, I was thinking I’d probably never see her again.”
She rubbed his cleft. “Well, aren’t you glad that’s not the case?”
He was distracted for a moment, but then muttered, “Totally. But please give me a heads up if you ever start thinking about having Dolly move in with us. You know, before she tells me, or shows up with a suitcase and four thousand books.”
“Will do.”
Since David and Evan had gotten rather proficient at moving stuff, they were able to get the U-Haul truck unloaded by late afternoon, just in time for Evan to have to leave for work. With extra pieces of furniture and boxes everywhere, Paige, David, and Jacob did a little bit of work moving things that needed to be stored in the third floor attic space. After a few hours of that, followed by pizza for dinner, Jacob crashed on the couch.
When Paige suggested David move Jacob to his bedroom, David obliged, then suggested he and Paige should go to bed, too.
“It’s barely past 8 p.m.,” she objected. “We can get a bunch more boxes moved upstairs—”
“We could, but we’re not going to. Because if you think I’m going to expend any more energy on moving boxes instead of having sweaty, needy, mind-blowing sex from behind with my beautiful wife of six days, then you don’t know me very well.”
The next day, Evan joined them again, this time to help switch out some of the existing furniture in the loft with Paige’s furniture, such as her kitchen table and chairs, bed frame, nightstands, and dresser, because they’d been hers and David’s previously. David’s corresponding stuff was then taken up to the attic to deal with later, along with pieces of furniture they simply had no room for, like Paige’s living room set. It created a lot of moving around and work, and took several days.
By the time the weekend rolled around, they still had boxes everywhere, so they began working on at least getting them to their designated rooms—kitchen items in the kitchen, knick-knacks and books in the living room, and clothes in the master bedroom.
On one trip into the master bedroom with a box of her clothes, Paige abruptly stopped at the sight of Jacob sitting in front of a carved wooden chest, with some of the toys and stuffed animals from inside scattered on the floor around him.
Paige wasn’t sure what she was feeling … sadness at seeing the things she’d bought for her baby being handled by another child, or relief that it wasn’t as painful as she’d thought it would be.
“Whoa,” David said, as he came into the room with another box of clothes, and had to step around Paige in order to avoid running into her. After setting the box on the growing stack in the corner of the room, he turned to take in the scene before him, becoming confused by the uncomfortable vibes Paige was giving off as she stared at Jacob, who was playing with some stuffed animals. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a treasure chest,” Jacob said excitedly. Then, holding up a dragon, he asked, “Can I have this?”
David realized the ‘treasure chest’ was actually the one he and Evan had carried in together, not knowing what the contents were. Now that it was open, however, David could see it was full of clothing and toys for a child; his heart dipping, he immediately knew which child.
Shaking off her paralysis and swallowing hard, Paige put down her box and sat down on the floor next to Jacob. “No,” she told him gently. “I’m sorry, but I bought that for someone else.”
“Who?”
She took a deep breath, not sure how to proceed. She’d never really thought about having this discussion with Jacob, and now that it was here, she wasn’t quite ready for it. “For a baby I was going to have, many years ago. He didn’t get a chance to be born, though.”
His eyebrows drew together. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes babies just aren’t healthy, or strong enough, and it keeps them from being born.”
“Oh.”
“It made me really sad, and on what would’ve been his first birthday, I got him a couple of presents. That made me feel a little better, so I kept doing it, year after year. I bought clothes he could’ve worn, and toys he might have wanted to play with—like that dragon,” she said, pointing at it. “And I think about what he’d be like if he were here.”
“Oh.” Jacob looked down at the dragon. “Are you still sad?”
She nodded. “Sometimes.”
He blinked at her with serious hazel eyes before scooting over and climbing onto her lap. “I don’t want you to be sad.”
Paige put her arms around him and pulled him against her chest. “Being sad isn’t always a bad thing. For me, it means I loved my baby a lot, that he owns a piece of my heart and I miss him. But you know who else I love?” she asked, looking down at him.
After a pause, Jacob said, “Me?”
“That’s right. My own personal Stinker.” She kissed the top of his head, then rested her chin on it, his buzzed hair tickling. “And I love your dad, and your grandma Valerie. My friend, Jules. Dolly. Oh, and Evan, too. So, I have a lot of people to love, people who own pieces of my heart, and that makes me happy.”
The two of them sat like that for several moments, until David crouched down next to them. “Little Man,” he said to Jacob, “why don’t you go check on the cats and see if they’re all getting along? Maybe play with them for a little bit, too?”
“Okay.”
Once Jacob was gone, David lowered himself to the floor next to Paige. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
Silently, he began picking up and examining each stuffed animal and toy scattered around, before moving on to the remaining items in the chest. His expression was bittersweet as he gently handled all of the baby clothes, from tiny onesies, up to the most recent outfit for a seven-year-old. “You went out last month … without me,” he said, when he was done.
She could see how hurt he was by that. “Yes. I’m sorry. Jules doesn’t even know I do this …” she trailed off. “It’s just something I’ve always done by myself.”
After a beat, he asked, “Were you ever going to tell me about this?”
“Eventually, yes.”
He reached over and took her hand. “I’d like to go with you the next time, if that’s okay.”
She smiled, the thought of him being with her making her heart a little lighter. “I’d really like that.”
“You know what I’d really like?” Evan asked from the doorway, hands on his hips. “If I wasn’t the only one working my ass off around here.”
The sarcastic complaints, delivered with the perfect amount of blandness, made David and Paige both chuckle, lightening the mood. David got to his feet, pulling Paige up with him. “I guess it’s time to get back to work.”
“I guess so,” she agreed.
“But first … this,” he said, then reeled her in for a kiss that lasted long enough to make Evan pull them apart by grabbing David’s arm.
“You can do that later,” Evan said. “Right now, I need your help.”
“With what?”
“With something up in the attic.”
“All right.”
“You two have fun.” Paige gave the men a little wave as they headed out of the bedroom, then bent to pick up the box she’d brought into the bedroom and stacked it in the corner. “I’m going to grab the rest of my boxes, then start unpacking my clothes.”
“Jesus, Cat Lady’s got a lot of clothes,” Evan murmured, once they were ascending the stairs to the attic and Paige was no longer in earshot. “You know that, right?”
“Yeah. I know. What’s your point?”
“Just that she has a lot of clothes … so, say goodbye to your closet.”
Rolling his eyes, David followed Evan over to where two boxes had been placed, one with PICTURES written on it, the other one, MASTER BEDROOM LAMPS. “So, what do you need help with?” he asked.
“Okay, so as you know, I’ve been opening every box to make sure what’s written on the box is actually what’s in the box, because I only want to move boxes once. Anyway, the box that says it has pictures in it, does have pictures in it, but all of them are pictures of you and Paige from your previous life together, so I brought it up here, figuring you wouldn’t want Jacob to accidentally see any of them when you or Paige opened the box to go through it.”
“Oh, shit. Yeah, good call.” David rubbed his face, still not used to it being naked. “Mine have been packed away for so long … I totally forgot about all the pictures she had. Thanks. The last thing we need is another uncomfortable conversation we’re not exactly ready for.”
“What do you mean?”
David told him about Jacob getting into the wooden chest, which led to Paige telling him about the baby she’d lost, while leaving David out of it for now.
“Well, in Little Man’s defense, it does look like a treasure chest. It was only a matter of time before he was getting into it.” Evan paused before adding, “You better make sure your sex toys are hidden in a good spot, because those will be harder to explain.”
Not overly concerned, since he didn’t have any real sex toys, per se, David still made a note to find a better hiding place for his handcuffs … and to make sure Paige had the equivalent of a safe to lock her vibrators in.
“As for this box,” Evan continued, going to the one labeled MASTER BEDROOM LAMPS, then squatting down beside it and opening the top flaps, “I wasn’t surprised to find lamps inside, but let’s just say I was surprised the lamps had tits.” Reaching in, he grabbed one of the mermaid lamps and lifted it out of the box. “Now, to each their own, and all that, but I’m having a hell of a time picturing Cat Lady buying these. I seriously mis-judged her the night we met.”
Unable to stop himself, David laughed out loud. “I actually bought those for her.”
“You did?” Evan blinked at him. “Why?”
David quickly relayed the story of the ugly antique lamps he and Paige had gotten as a wedding gift, and after they’d both been broken, David had looked for an equally ugly pair of lamps to replace them with, but bought the mermaid lamps, instead, to mess with Paige.
“You really can buy anything on Amazon,” Evan said, shaking his head with amusement.
“You really can … and get it shipped for free.”
“So, I’m guessing you won’t be swapping these out with the ones already in your bedroom, and they’ll be staying up here?”
“Actually, I was planning on swapping them out.”
“Are you sure about that?” Evan pursed his lips and pointed to the up-thrust breasts. “I mean, what about Little Man? These might be too much for him to see, don’t you think?”
David stared at Evan, realizing what he’d said was true. “Damn, you’re right.”
“Sorry, man. I can see how much you love them.”
“I do. As does Paige.”
Evan coughed. “Of course.”
David’s eyes roamed over the lamp once more, as Evan placed it back into the box. David really was going to miss those lamps, especially the part where Paige had to pretend to like them, because that was just funny stuff. Having to lock them away sort of broke his heart a little, because the beauties deserved a better home than his attic …
“Wait,” he told Evan. “I have a proposition for you.”
“What kind of proposition?”
“How about, rather than just buying you an expensive steak dinner for helping Paige and me move—which, let’s face it, isn’t close to what you deserve—”
“Thank you for that.”
“—I also gift you those lamps?”
Evan blinked at David for several moments before answering. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. So, what do you say?”
“I say … they’re going to look fucking great in my living room.”
Later, when David returned to the master bedroom to ask Paige what she wanted for dinner, the space looked like a tornado had passed through it, with clothing everywhere. Specifically, his clothing. “What’s going on in here?” he asked in shock.
“I’m doing a little re-organizing. To make room for some of my stuff.”
“That’s what this is? Re-organizing?”
She gave him a look full of reproach. “This is how re-organizing works. It always looks really bad before it looks better.”
He pointed to the bed, where a large pile of clothes had been dumped. “Are those all my clothes from the closet?”
“Yes.”
“Why are they no longer hanging in the closet?”
“Because my clothes are now hanging in there.”
Jesus, Evan had been right about saying goodbye to his closet. “So … none of my clothes are in the closet, anymore?”
“No.” She cleared her throat. “See, I needed the space, so I made an executive decision to—”
“Basically steal the entire closet without asking if that was okay?”
Paige’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t like the word ‘steal’.”
“Well, I don’t like that you stole the entire closet behind my back,” he countered blandly. He gestured toward the dresser they’d moved in yesterday, along with the rest of his and Paige’s original bedroom furniture, after moving out David’s old furniture. It’d been a real bitch, because it was a massive piece and heavy as fuck, but with fifteen drawers, it was double the size of David’s dresser. “Okay, so now I guess it’s my turn to make an executive decision and declare that dresser to be mine, to include the drawers which were going to be yours, for all of my—” he broke off at the sight of her biting her lip and shaking her head. “What? That look better not mean—” he broke off again, this time to go to the dresser and start opening drawers. To his disbelief, the clothes he’d transferred from his old dresser drawers were no longer there, having been replaced with Paige’s clothes.
Every. Single. Drawer.
Turning to her, he asked, “Where did all these clothes come from? I mean, I know you have a lot, but you didn’t have this many at your apartment.”
“Yes, I did. I just had two closets to put them in—the one in my bedroom, and the one in the guest bedroom.”
“Jesus. Well, that explains it,” he muttered, before waving a hand in the direction of the dresser. “So, where are my clothes that were in there?”
Unbelievably, she was trying to hide a smile as she pointed to a couple of boxes off to the side. “In those.”
“My clothes are in boxes? I’m supposed to live out of boxes?”
“Only until I can figure out where to put them,” she quickly said.
“You mean besides in the closet and the dresser?”
“Yes.”
“And how long do you think it will take you to ‘figure’ it out?”
“Not long, I’m sure. Like I said, I’m re-organizing, and—”
He held up a hand, stopping her; he knew all about her organization skills. “Are you going to be able to re-organize away half of your clothes?”
She didn’t say anything.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Which means we have a bit of a problem,” he said, looking at his pile of clothes on the bed once again, then at the clothes in boxes. “Or, rather, I have a problem.”
She tilted her head. “Well, why don’t we move your old dresser back down here and you can put some of your clothes in that?”
David tilted his head as well. “The one we moved up to the attic yesterday?”
“That’s the one.”
He knew it would only be a half-measure solution at best, but would be better than having all of his shit in boxes for God knew how long. “Hmm, well, I’m going to let you break the news to Dick that he needs to help me move the dresser we moved up to the attic, back down to our bedroom.”
Just then, Evan stepped into the room and glared at them. “Dick isn’t helping you move any more shit—I mean Evan. Evan isn’t helping you move any more shit because Evan quits.”
“Please?” Paige beseeched him, going and giving him a side-hug. “Pretty please? It’ll be the last thing, I promise.”
Evan took several deep breaths, before relenting. “Fine,” he groaned, as if in pain. “But does it have to be today? I’m totally wrecked.”
“No, it doesn’t have to be today,” David said. “But … soon. Because until we do, all of my clothes are going to be in boxes.”
Evan glanced around the room, for the first time really taking note of the situation, especially the pile of David’s clothes on the bed, all on hangers and obviously having been removed from the closet. Evan gave David a knowing smile before mouthing, I told you so.