Hello, I was very pleased with the positive reactions to yesterdays chapter. I didn't spend nearly as long perfecting this one but still think it's pretty good. Enjoy :D
Erin set the salad bowl on the table then took a step back to inspect her efforts. She had spent the afternoon in the kitchen, the mess revealed just how over ambitious she had been. Every time she looked at the perfect pictures in the cook book she couldn't budge the feeling that she was simply playing house. Masquerading as a competent home maker, working and raising a child suddenly wasn't good enough, she felt the need to prove that she could perform domestic tasks as well. Moving into a house had made life easier, with more space came less clutter. Shay had spent the afternoon playing in her bouncy chair, enjoying her mothers humming and laughing at frustrated growls. Erin had decided to cook a proper three course meal earlier in the afternoon settling on the recipes with the fewest ingredients, less opportunity to stuff it up. When Erin had finally finished cooking the kitchen was a disaster zone. After doing her best to minimise the damage she turned her attention to presenting everything neatly on the table. Now finally satisfied everything was presented as neatly as possible she retrieved Shay and checked her phone. Kelly hadn't called to say he was running late so she expected him home any second. The longer she looked at the table the more faults she spotted. Turning her attention to Shay she straightened her small pink shirt and flower headband before checking her phone again. Kelly had no idea that she'd planned such an elaborate dinner so she could forgive him for being a few minutes late.
"I'm home" He called as he stepped through the front door.
"How was your day?" Erin asked moving to the hall so that she could see him, he looked exhausted.
"Long" Kelly replied. "Have you been cooking?" He asked hanging his coat on its hook.
"Yeah, I made dinner" She answered leading him through to the dining room.
"Wow, looks amazing" He commented concerned he had forgotten a special occasion.
"I just felt like doing something nice" She revealed not missing the sigh of relief he let out upon realising he hadn't forgotten something.
"Thank you" He responded watching Erin secure Shay in her brand new high chair. They hadn't had space for one in the apartment, and Shay had a habit of sleeping through meals, it was nice to have her at the table with them. Conversations with Shay were rather one sided, shortly after picking up 'papa' she had moved on to 'ma-da' a combined term she used to gain attention.
"Antonio reckons she's saying murder" Erin commented as Shay expressed her disgust at being second priority to food.
"It does kinda sound like it" He laughed feeling especially spoiled.
"I'm a little worried about the words she's going to pick up if she keeps coming to work with me" She replied.
"That could be a problem" He agreed. "This is amazing by the way."
"I wasn't sure it would be edible, the cook book may as well have been written in another language" She said before realising this was one of the instances where her habit of turning down praise could be seen as rude.
"It's great, you just have to trust yourself" Kelly assured eating with vigour to evidence just how great it tasted. Not trusting herself not to accept the praise she didn't reply simply giving him a smile in response. "The guys want to know when the house warming party is" He said after a few moments of comfortable silence.
"Oh, I hadn't even thought about it, we could do something on the weekend though, you aren't working Saturday" Erin answered not sure exactly how complicated hosting a party could be.
"It doesn't have to be big" He said feeling as if he shouldn't have brought it up, she'd worked so hard to make a nice dinner and now he wanted her to organise and host a party.
"Yeah, it's a good idea though, we don't really get together with everyone very often" She replied not at all worried by the idea, all of their friends were fairly laid back.
"We'll organise it together" He added.
"Of course. Now about Shay and work, she's getting bigger..." Erin started not exactly sure where she wanted the discussion to go.
"We'll look into daycare, it'll only ever be few days a week because I'll still look after her on my days off" He filled in for her.
"But then I only get to see her before and after work and on weekends" She replied revealing the real issue behind her hesitation.
"I'm sorry, I wish there was something I could do to change it but you can't have everything" He said wisely.
"I know, I just don't want to miss anything" She answered though there was no other solution she could think of.
"You won't. The only difference will be that you won't have to look after her at work, you'll be too busy out on the streets chasing down criminals to worry about her" He reasoned. It was easy enough to talk about the danger her job entailed, it was actually sending her off to work knowing she might not come home that was the difficult part.
"Alright, I'll ask around and do some research" She agreed just as the oven timer sounded, desert was ready. Of all the things she had ever cooked the Chocolate Lava Cakes turned out the best, perfectly baked outsides and gooey centered as well. Kelly refused to let Erin clean up and instead sent her upstairs to bathe Shay. Once Shay was asleep in bed they started the preliminary planning for their house warming party.
Saturday arrived before doubt had a chance to set in. From the very beginning Erin had been eager to be a good host and Kelly had continually had to tone down her plans. With only half an hour left until guests started arriving she allowed herself a moment of panic, there was still so much to be done. The fact that Kelly had just installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs didn't help. The mechanism on the safety device was stiff and unyielding delaying any trip up or down the stairs considerably. Erin tried desperately to keep her cool but snapped slightly when she tried to descend the stairs with both hands full, beyond frustrated she instructed him to remove the gate, it wasn't as if Shay was even mobile yet. Kelly argued that it had taken him almost an hour to install then volunteered to get anything she needed, she accepted the offer and made the most of it hurrying to get everything looking presentable in time. Using a table cloth she covered the two remaining unpacked boxes, both full of books, to turn them into impromptu tables. Erin learned quickly that the worst part of being a host was the delay between finishing setting up and when people started arriving. As always the Herrmann's were the first to arrive, Chris joked that if they weren't the first they'd be the last. Erin loved the way Cindy managed her brood, keeping the peace from a distance. Kelly took door duty while Erin chatted away with Cindy then snuck upstairs to show her Shay's beautiful room. Along the way Cindy taught her some tricks of the trade regarding the baby gate and Erin's loathing for the device quickly dissipated now that she could actually get it open.
"I'm going to change her, keep an ear out for the door" Kelly said holding Shay at arms length the way he always did when she soiled her diaper.
"Okay" She replied checking to see the living room occupied by happy guests. It didn't take long for the doorbell to ring. "What on earth?" Erin demanded stepping aside quickly to let Hank and Alvin through, between them they carried a large cardboard box.
"It's your present" Hank winked trying to avoid the door frame as he moved into the living room.
"What is it?" She questioned scanning the plain cardboard box for clues.
"Well the other night at dinner you complained that you needed bookshelves" Hank explained.
"Yeah" Erin replied finally understanding the box.
"Well you see I bought this at IKEA a while back but then I moved back into the house. They've just been sitting in the garage unopened, it's fine if you don't like them" Alvin continued.
"Thank you, that's great" She said knowing she would easily find a place for them no matter what they looked like. The house still seemed bare in places, her furniture looked great in an apartment but the sheer size of the house dwarfed it.
"We'll just leave it here for now" Hank said placing down the box along the far wall, out of the way of guests. Erin hadn't noticed that her improvised moving box table now covered in presents of various shapes, sizes and wrappings.
"I didn't know we'd get presents" Erin whispered to Kelly when he returned and handed Shay over.
"Of course" He winked stopping beside her to watch their friends mingle.
"We should have parties like this more often" She joked.
"I don't plan on moving again any time soon so enjoy it while it lasts" He replied kissing her forehead quickly before heading to the kitchen for a beer. Erin joined in a conversation and took the chance to enjoy the moment. Their new house was filled with all the people they held near and dear, the atmosphere fun and relaxed. After everyone had finished eating they opened presents, two creatively wrapped potted plants amongst other useful and thoughtful household items.
"You can look after a baby but I'm not sure you won't kill that" Jay teased as Erin placed the pot plant in the empty corner of the living room.
"I bet you looked for the most complicated one" She responded catching his cheeky grin before turning to read the label. It wasn't particularly tricky, keep out of direct sunlight and water regularly, surely she could do that.
"I hope you don't mind, it's a lame present but I had no idea what else to get" Jay said finally.
"I really like it actually, nice and green" Erin said turning the pot so the best foliage was at the front. "For now anyway" She muttered not even trusting her own ability to care for the plant. They talked for a while until Kelly requested Erin, one of four sober people in the house, drive his friends home. It took a few minutes for him to explain the directions but soon enough she felt like the typical suburban mother, taxiing people around.
"That wasn't so bad was it?" He asked when she returned to the nearly empty house.
"The party or being in a car with your squad? I have a slightly better appreciation of what happens in the squad truck now" She answered.
"They weren't too bad were they?" He questioned wondering who he would need to discipline.
"They were fine and the party was great too" She answered before turning her attention to ushering the last few people out. After a very quick clean up they headed up to get Shay ready for bed already dreading the effect the late night would have on her mood the next day.
"Bed time?" He questioned watching Erin settle Shay into her crib.
"I'll be there in a sec" She confirmed in essence giving him permission to leave her with Shay. It took slightly longer than she anticipated with Shay still to excited from the various guests to go to sleep. When she finally made it to the bedroom she was fighting to stop herself yawning constantly. She knew that if she didn't laugh she'd cry as Kelly's snores filled the room sentencing her to a less than ideal nights sleep.
So I wanted them to have another opportunity to get together with everyone. I only write the interesting parts but in reality their lives, with such tight work schedules, leave little time for socialisation. Couldn't help but throw some IKEA furniture in there...might have to write about the assembly for a bit of a laugh next chapter! If Erin was that frustrated by a baby gate I can't imagine her trying to decipher IKEA instructions. I plan on getting a Christmas themed chapter up tomorrow but then I'll be taking a few days off to spend time with my family. If you don't get the chance to read the Christmas chapter between now and the day (it's a hectic time of year for most) I hope you have a great Christmas/Holiday :D