Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. The lyrics are from one of my favourite ever songs, It Feels Like Home by Chantal Krevasiuk
A/N: So I thought I posted this chapter a week ago and was wondering why I received zero reviews, but then I realised I must have forgotten to click post or something. Anyway, here it is, sorry about the delay. Thanks to all my lovely reviewers.
CHAPTER 24: COMING TO AN END
Summer went to the grocery store with Noah held close to her chest in a baby sling. And he was getting heavy too. And of course he wanted to crawl everywhere but it would be a little irresponsible to let a thirteen month old baby crawl around a crowded shopping centre where there was every chance he would get stomped on or get stuck in the suspicious liquid that always seemed to be in aisle 14.
She hated grocery shopping too. It was so different to clothes shopping. Everything was needed and not just wanted. It wasn't fun to fuss over what colour toilet paper you were going to buy like it was to figure out what colour coat to purchase. And it was most definitely not fun to line up for an hour waiting to get to a cash register.
This sort of thing never happened in Newport. There always seemed to be a cash register free in Newport, Summer had noticed over the years.
She had been thinking more and more about Newport lately. And she only thought about the good things; not the superficiality or anything like that, but the relaxed lifestyle and the closeness to relatives and the great memories of her own childhood. She hadn't talked about any of this to Seth of course. She knew how much he hated Newport, and how he wanted to live on the east coast for most of his life. But it was definitely something she thought about a lot.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Honey I'm home and I've been working hard all day. You better have something good cooking for me."
Seth had just walked into the house and yelled a greeting which had become very familiar, probably thinking he was being very hilarious. He walked into the living room and saw Summer sitting on the ground playing with Noah, who was walking around like a mad man, stopping only when Summer stuck out a hand to stop him and pull him into her lap.
"Where's my dinner?"
"Couldn't be bothered. We'll get take out."
"And here I was thinking I'd escaped marrying my mother."
Summer glared at him before turning back to Noah, who could now say 'Mama' with ease and had moved onto harder words such as 'Cohen'.
Seth flopped down on the ground next to Summer and held out his arms for Noah.
"So what was on today?"
"You know, the usual. Grocery shopping that took at least eight hours waiting in the queue. Noah refused to eat his strawberries and threw his plate across the room. I ripped my favourite pants. Just a normal day."
"Lots of fun?"
"Totally. What about you? All corporate high flying and whatnot?"
"It was good. Hunter put my name up for a promotion and we got a really big deal."
"That's great. So you really like working in these New York offices?"
"I guess. Why?"
"No reason."
Truthfully, Summer was sussing out to see whether Seth was happy or not in New York to see whether he would be happier or not in Newport.
The more she had thought about it over the past few weeks, the more she realised that she loved being in Newport, and although New York was great, she didn't want to spend her life there. She wanted to be back in Newport; back home with Seth.
But she wasn't planning on squashing Seth's hopes of living his dream life in the city he had wanted to be in since he was five.
The last time they were in Newport, for Marissa's wedding, was when she really realised that she wanted to move back. She had had such a great time. The parties were so much fun, she knew everyone, everything was so comfortable and familiar, and she always felt like she was missing out on what should rightfully be her life.
Marissa and Ryan were close to the beach and had this great life in their house together. Sandy and Kirsten were happier than ever; and while she and Seth were ridiculously happy, she felt that they would be better off in Newport.
"Oh, and I talked to Kirsten today as well. They got the photos from the wedding printed up, and apparently there's a really cute one of you and Noah jumping in the puddles."
"Is she sending it over?"
"Yep."
"Awesome."
"Hey, did you have fun in Newport?"
"What?" Seth moved closer to Summer and waited for her to rest her head on his shoulder, which of course she did. They linked hands and he continued. "Of course I did. I always have fun in Newport. Why?"
"No reason. I just had a great time."
"OK then, if you insist. I think your stressful day affected your brain. You're not making any sense." He ducked away before she could hurt him for his comments, before ordering dinner.
The rest of the night went uneventfully; Noah decided to eat his food for once, and the walls remained intact. Summer and Seth climbed into bed nice and early and watched a movie, and then turned the lights off. Just as Summer heard Seth's breathing become deeper; a sure sign he was drifting off to sleep, she decided she had to speak. She couldn't pretend not to be feeling how she was, so she had to let Seth know.
"Hey Cohen?"
Summer turned round and faced Seth, who had his eyes closed and did not look happy that he was being disturbed. She turned the light on to make sure he didn't go back to sleep and then waited for him to stir.
"What do you want woman? I've got stuff to do tomorrow."
"Cohen, open your eyes now." The stern voice was enough to get him to pay attention.
"Alright, alright, I'm up. What do you want?"
"I want to move back to Newport."
That really had Seth's attention, and he sat up rather quickly. "What?"
"I've been thinking about it a lot, and I want to move to Newport. And I know you love your life and your job and there's no way you would want to go back to the place you hated, but its how I feel and I thought you should know."
Seth sat silently for a minute, trying to comprehend the enormity of what she was saying. Not only that, but the speed at which she spoke. He thought only Cohens talked like that, and in a way felt oddly proud that Summer was following in his rambling ways. But on to more important things; she had just admitted to hating their life. Not really, but she had just said something huge.
Eventually, Seth spoke up.
"How long have you been thinking this?"
"A long time. But, I mean, I really thought about it since Coop's wedding. Second wedding."
"So you've thought about it for four weeks without telling me? Why?"
"Because I know you love New York so much, and I knew you were busy, and I didn't want to impose on that."
Seth cupped his hands around Summer's face and spoke. "You know that you can tell me whatever you want. It's not imposing on me, or burdening me or whatever else you think. It's what I'm here for; it's why you married me. A 24 hour counselling service and advice centre all rolled into one. You didn't just marry me for my looks."
"So what do you think?"
"I don't know. It's huge. To be completely honest, I had no idea you were thinking that. You'll have to give me a bit of time. OK?"
"OK."
"But you can tell me whatever else you're feeling. OK?"
"OK."
"Now let's go to sleep. I'm tired."
He kissed Summer's hair and pulled her close to him, and they fell asleep together, with the façade of happy dreams but secretly thinking much more serious and important thoughts.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"I'm off to work."
Seth stepped out of the bedroom wearing a slick grey suit and green tie, holding a briefcase in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other.
"Bye Cohen."
Summer looked up from the difficult job of feeding Noah his breakfast and gave Seth a knowing look. "Have you thought about what I said last night?"
"Yes, but I don't have anything to say yet."
"OK." She kissed him on his way out and was left to her daily duties, with plenty of time to think about the conversation between herself and Seth the previous night, and the possible consequences.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Seth had spent the last four hours sitting at his office mulling over paperwork from the deals made the day before. More accurately, he was looking at the papers but was not taking anything in. All he could think about was Summer; she wasn't happy in New York. Or she was happy, but not as happy as if she were in Newport.
He gazed out of his office window, taking in the view of the magnificent, beautiful, busy city of New York. The long commute into work each day was worth it to feel the buzz of the city. But then again, he felt that same buzz when he stepped out of his parents house and saw the ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. And if he could feel that buzz when he was in Newport, closer to his family and friends, than was that a better option?
He truly loved New York, and the last eighteen months they had spent there together were some of the happiest of his life. All the exciting changes they experienced together were amazing.
He looked over at the photo that occupied his desk and so many hours of his time when he was bored or stressed. It was Summer, sitting on the ground in their living room, with Noah sitting on her lap. It had been taken a month or so ago, and Noah had food all over his face. They were both smiling widely, as if they were playing a fun little game that no one else knew about. When Seth saw that as he came home one night, he had to take a photo because it was so great. And all of a sudden, he knew just what he had to do.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
When Seth got home, dinner was ready. Summer, having felt bad about not cooking the day before, had prepared something nice for him to be ready when he got home, and they ate mostly in silence.
Once Noah was fast asleep, Seth decided to drop the information he had been holding in all night.
"Summ, I have something to tell you."
"Yeah?" She just knew it would be about Newport, but was nervous about what he had to say.
"I quit my job this afternoon. I gave them my two weeks notice."
"What?!" She was most definitely not expecting that. "Why?"
"I thought about what you said. And I agree. We should move back to Newport. Its home."
"I thought we were going to talk about it."
"We did. Last night. I told you I'd think about it, and I've thought about it. I thought you would be over the moon."
Summer was dumbstruck. "When I said we'd talk about it, I meant we'd talk practical stuff. We're adults now; we have to make responsible decisions."
Now it was Seth's turn to be shocked. "But this was what you wanted. You wanted to move back to Newport."
"When it was the right time. When there were arrangements in place. When we knew we would have somewhere to go when we got back to Newport and things were taken care of. Do you want us to sleep on the street?"
"First of all, we have my parents. And second, you said you wanted to move. I do something so we can and you're angry? Don't you think you're the one who's being impractical?"
Summer stormed off to the bedroom, leaving them both confused over what had happened.
Seth thought Summer would be overjoyed when she heard he had quit his job. It would mean she could move back to Newport. Instead, she seemed angry. Did he make a big mistake? When he went upstairs and saw his pyjamas and pillow sitting outside the closed door, he knew he would be sleeping in the guest room. Again.
Summer was being very pensive as she sat on the bed staring at the wall. Seth had just done something incredibly stupid. But it was also incredibly sensitive and thoughtful. Quit his job and resigned his life in New York so Summer could be the happiest possible. Why had she gotten angry instead of happy? After a while, she decided to go see Seth. She could never go more than a few hours of being angry anyway.
She knocked on the door and found him rearranging the pillows so they were all under his head, just the way he liked it.
"Hey Cohen."
"Hey."
He sat on the bed and Summer sat down beside him and took his hand, which he surprisingly let happen and did not pull away as she would have done in the same situation.
"Sorry about before."
"Why are you angry about it? I thought you'd be happy."
"I honestly don't know." He smiled his quirky smile at her and she continued. "I guess I was stressing out a bit about how you'd react, and it came as a bit of a shock when you actually agreed."
"So your natural reaction was anger?"
"It's in my blood Cohen. Remember the rage blackouts?"
With that he laughed and hugged her tightly. "So what do you think now you've gotten used to the idea I'm agreeing with you?"
"Let's do it. The sooner the better."
"OK, let's do it."
"Really?"
"Really." She kissed him with all the passion she could muster, and then asked; "Are you sure you're OK leaving New York? I know how much you love it."
"I love you more. And if you're not happy here, then neither am I. You're my home Summ."
"You're so cheesy."
"I know."
They stayed up for most of the night planning what they would do for the next couple of weeks and what they would do in the longer term. And before they knew it, it was morning and they had to get on with the rest of their lives.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Cohen, are we all packed?"
"Is that a trick question?" Seth looked out over their now empty house, all the boxes having left in a truck the day before. It was just over a month since their big decision, and everything was now waiting for them in Newport. A new three bedroom home close to the beach, and although Seth didn't have a job, there was an offer and he was waiting to suss it out when they arrived. Summer was also planning on getting a job, now Noah was old enough that she felt she could leave him in day care without having to call five times a day to check on him.
"Just checking." He squeezed her hand and they walked off to the taxi, Noah fast asleep in Seth's arms. As the taxi was driving away, Summer caught one last glimpse at their home for the past year and a half.
It was beautiful, there was no denying that. But as she looked at Seth and Noah, she realised that they were so much more important. And she would love being in Newport, but she would settle for being with them any day of the week. Because – even though this may sound incredibly cheesy, like a line from a B grade daytime soap – with them, it felt like home.
Something
in your eyes
Makes me want to lose myself
Makes me want to
lose myself
In your arms
There's something in your voice
Makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
The rest
of my life
If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how
long I've felt so low
If you knew how I wanted someone to come
along
And change my life the way you've done
Feels
like home to me A window breaks down a long dark street If you knew
how much this moment means to me Feels like I'm all the way
back where I belong
Feels like home to me
Feels like I'm all the
way back where
I come from
Feels like home to me
Feels
like home to me
Feels like I'm all the way back where I belong
And a siren wails
in the night
But I'm alright 'cause I have you here with me
And
I can almost see through the dark there's light
And how long I've waited for
your touch
If you knew how happy you are making me
I've never
thought I'd love anyone so much
A/N: So this story just has a short epilogue which I've already finished. I know that there isn't much enthusiasm for this story anymore (I'm sick of writing it too) but I'd LOVE it if this story went out with a bang with lots and lots of reviews. If I do get lots of reviews, I'm quite happy to post the epilogue tomorrow.
Also, I have a few ideas for stories that I'm in the process of writing – I hope everyone wants to read them because I'm excited about them.
I love you guys!