"Wow, this is great," Scott said as he knelt to examine the side of the china cabinet. He traced a finger over the notches that had been chiseled into the side. He looked up at Susan and smiled.
"You were this tall when you were two?" She nodded as she wrapped another of her Grandmother's china plates in a sheet of plastic bubble wrap and stacked it in the packing box.
"Yeah, Cookie decided that if we ever moved the hutch would go with us so she used that instead of a door frame or door," she sighed. "My Grandmother was so pissed." Scott chuckled and stood up. He frowned when he saw the small blue sticky note attached to the open glass door of the hutch. Things she was keeping had yellow notes stuck to them.
"You're getting rid of this?" He was frowning as he rubbed his hand over the worn, warm wood. Susan sighed again.
"Well, I don't have any place that it would fit at the duplex and I can't really sell it with all those marks on the side," she said. "They kind of negate the value for anyone else."
"You could put it in storage somewhere," he said. "I mean you aren't going to be living there forever, right?"
"I'm not?" Susan frowned as she slipped another wrapped plate into the box. "We like it there." Scott studied the hutch thoughtfully again.
"Can I have it?" he asked. Susan laughed and then frowned.
"And where would you put it?" she asked as she wrapped a delicate tea cup from a shelf in bubble wrap. Scott shrugged.
"In my dining room," he said. "I have been thinking of getting rid of that white French provincial stuff anyway. I've never liked it."
"You probably should get something new and let the girls help you pick it out," she said absently as she continued packing.
"They will love this," Scott said firmly as he ran his hand over the carved wood at the top. "And I can have the side refinished if it bothers you." Susan shrugged and nodded. Scott grinned.
Refinished like hell. She might not be thinking along the same lines yet but Henry knew. Next to the newest scratches for Cosmo, Susie and Lauren were two marked 'Molly' and 'Casey'. And Susan hadn't seen them.
Susie came through the hall dragging two big plastic bags behind her.
"Here's the bedding and towels and stuff," she said.
"All destined for Sanctuary House," Susan said. Scott nodded and lifted the bags into a pile of bags and boxes near the door.
"And look what I found in the back of Grandpa's closet," Susie said and held up a worn, brown leather jacket. "Can I keep it?" Susan's eyes widened and she reached for the coat.
"His A-2 bomber jacket," she gasped as she held it out to look at it. "I wore this when I was in high school!" Susan hugged it affectionately for a moment.
"Of course you can keep it!" she laughed when she saw the worried look on Susie's face. She handed the jacket back to her. "We'll get it cleaned and see if it needs any repair this summer. It will be perfect to keep you warm crossing that college campus this winter." Susie nodded and caressed the leather a second before laying it on top of a box of photographs.
"Are you sure about all of the furniture?" Scott asked. Susan nodded.
"We took my old bedroom set and put it in Susie's room when we moved here from Iowa," she said thoughtfully as she looked around. "He gave us some other things then too. Most of this is ...I don't know." Her eyes came to rest on the leather Barco Lounger for a moment. She took a deep breath and sighed.
"I am keeping my Grandmother's china and silver for Susie and Cosmo," she said. "There is a box of jewelry and stuff. We'll go through all of the pictures and mementos some other time so those boxes can go in my basement."
"And I get this," Scott said with a grin as he ran his hand on the china hutch. Susan grimaced and shook her head a little.
"And I am not sure why you want it," she said as she reached for another delicate tea cup. Scott's eyes met Susie's and she rolled her eyes.
"If we can get the house cleared out we can put it on the market as soon as the will is taken care of," Susan said with a determined shrug. "And I would kind of like everything done and over this week so we can just concentrate on graduation next weekend."
"Don't let that worry you," Susie said as she dropped onto the worn sofa. "I don't think I am going to go." Susan's shoulders sagged and she turned to look at the girl in dismay.
"What?" she gasped with a confused smile.
"It's kind of stupid when you think about it," Susie sighed and tugged absently at a loose thread in the worn knee of her jeans. "I take most of my classes at U of C. Why do I need to go sit in a hot auditorium to get a piece of paper that doesn't really mean anything?"
"To be there with your friends…." Susan drawled and then she frowned. "What do you mean it doesn't mean anything?" Susie rolled her eyes.
"It's not like I need the diploma to get into college or anything," she said. "Hello? I'm there." She reached into her pocket as her cell phone rang and checked the caller identification window.
"It's Brett," she said as she stood up. "He's probably calling about when they can pick up Grandpa's television." Susan watched as the girl answered her phone and made her way around the bags and boxes in the living room toward the open front door and porch. Susan frowned and then turned her gaze to Scott.
"What do you make of that?" she asked. Scott shrugged.
"She's got a lot going on in her head right now," he said. "It might be best to just leave it alone for a couple of days." Susan nodded thoughtfully and sighed again. Scott glanced at his watch.
"I've got to meet Matt for dinner tonight," he said. "He'd like you to come but understands if you don't want to." Susan's chin dropped to her chest.
"I've been so caught up," she said. "I haven't even thought about your court case. Why does he want me to come?" She closed the glass doors of the china hutch. Scott shrugged as he leaned against the side.
"He likes you?" he shrugged. "And if you're there it's a social thing. Maybe he won't bill me." Susan laughed.
"Yeah, right," she chortled and slipped into his arms. Scott chuckled and held her close as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Brett and his dad are coming to pick up the television," Susie said as she came in the front door. "His mom wants to know if we want to come to their house for dinner." Susan looked up and then shook her head.
"Aw, honey, that's sweet of her," she said. "I have to go to the lawyer's with Scott. But that would work out for you if you want to go. Cosmo is staying with Cameron again tonight." Susie nodded and went back out onto the porch with her cell phone. Susan lifted her eyes to meet Scott's and grinned.
"I'm ready to leave when you are," she said. "We should probably go home and shower and change before meeting Matt." Scott's eyebrows rose and he glanced toward the front door where Susie stood, still talking on her phone.
"Shower?" he mused playfully. Susan chuckled again and pulled away from him.
"Good lord," she groused quietly with a smile. "You have a one track mind."
"I know," Scott grinned. "Isn't it fun?" Susan laughed and leaned forward to kiss him. Her heart swelled in her chest. After all of the sadness and the busy-ness of the last week, it felt good to be wanted. To be cared for. To be back in some semblance of…normalcy….again.
Normalcy. What was normal any more? She tried to think back to when things had ever been….normal. Was it back in Iowa? Before Susie came or after? Maybe 'normal' had been Chicago, when they moved into the duplex. Their family of three and Abby's family. But was that even normal?
Susan looked up and shook her head a bit as Scott's hand squeezed hers under the table.
"I'm sorry," she said. "What were you saying?" Matt's wife smiled sympathetically across the dinner table.
"My husband told me the two of you met at Disney World," Kate said again.
"It was the plane to Florida, actually," Susan clarified. "My Dad was sitting with the little kids so that I could read the medical journals I'd fallen behind on. Scott was the passenger next to me."
"We didn't get much reading done, did we?" Scott chuckled as he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingers.
"I'd say we pretty much laughed our way to warmer weather on that flight," she grinned. Kate and Matt exchanged amused glances.
"And you have two children of your own?"
"One," Susan said as she leaned back a little as a waiter set a salad in front of her. "Cosmo is eight and my niece lives with us. She is seventeen."
"And amazing," Scott added.
"Yeah, she is," Susan agreed as she took a deep breath and surveyed the food in front of her. "She is headed for the University of Michigan in the fall."
"I graduated from U of M," Matt gasped with a laugh. "It's a tough school to get into. Good for her."
"Well, it's been part of her life plan since she was thirteen," Susan said as she toyed with her salad fork. "Her advisor there wanted her to start last fall but she delayed entry until her best friend was able to go too."
"They wanted her to start before she had even graduated?" Kate asked. Susan nodded.
"Susie is a very good student academically and a little…different…because of it. She moved in with us when she was twelve," she explained. "The school district had to put her in a great parochial school to meet her needs in Iowa. I think she finally found her niche there, you know? Then when we moved to Chicago she went back into the public school and kind of ran rings around her Teachers. She has been taking most of her classes at U of C this year." She looked at Scott with a surprised smile.
"I guess I can see why she does not want us to make a fuss about graduation after all," she said. Scott reached for her hand and squeezed it.
"There will be other graduations," he said. "College, med school…" Susan nodded.
"She wants to be a doctor?" Matt asked. Susan laughed quietly.
"Susie wants to be 'Dr. Phil'," she said.
"And she can do it," Scott chuckled. "This kid has a knack for figuring people out. Rachel hates her."
"Which could explain a lot of things," Matt chuckled.
"Rachel has only met her once," Susan frowned slightly. "They were backstage at the dance recital."
"My girls have talked," Scott shrugged. "Susie has given them some sound advice on how to handle things with their grandparents."
"Advice their grandparents are not especially happy with?" Susan asked. Scott shrugged again.
"They have requested for another delay, you know," Matt interjected. Susan's shoulders sagged.
"It's a common tactic when they know they are fighting a losing battle," the lawyer said as he lifted his wine glass to his lips.
"It shouldn't be a battle at all," Susan said quietly. "They don't seem to know how lucky they are." Her eyes met Scott's and he lifted his wine glass to her. She sighed and looked back down at her salad. She picked up her fork again.
He was so right. There would be other graduations.