It was Sunday afternoon and Roger's up in his room, lying down. Jami's outside, sitting on the porch enjoying the late November weather in New Jersey. She was sitting on the bench, with her arms folded across her chest when the door opened. "Jami, is everything OK?" Mrs. Davis asked handing her a sweatshirt.
"Thanks, um... I'm just... thinking about things." she smiled, putting the sweatshirt on.
"Anything you want to share?" she asked sitting down next to her.
"I was just thinking about Roger playing out here as a kid." she smiled looking over at her.
"He loved playing out here. He'd play football over there with his friends for hours. I used to have to yell at him to come in to eat dinner and get ready for bed." Mrs. Davis smiled at her.
"He... he loves being here." she told her quietly.
"I love having him here. And you too for that matter. This is your home too, you know?"
"I know. I... I like it here too. I feel safe here, you know?" she looked down at her lap.
"So what's wrong?" Mrs. Davis asked looking over at her.
"Am I that transparent?" Jami smirked looking over at her.
"Don't worry. I don't think anyone else notices." she rubbed her hands together for warmth.
"I was thinking about when Roger and I go home."
"Back to your normal life." Mrs. Davis confirmed with a nod.
"Yeah. Something like that." she smiled at her.
"It's OK, sweetie. You and Roger have been through a lot here this weekend. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get things back to normal." she smiled at her.
"I just feel like we need to get back to our life in the city."
"Jami, you know you and Roger are welcome to stay as long as you need to, but it's OK for you to get back to your life."
"Thanks, I... I wasn't sure how you'd react to me wanting to leave." she looked up at her.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Yeah, I kind of have a feeling that it's Roger I should be worrying about anyway. He loves being here." she looked at her.
"Roger will follow you anywhere, sweetheart." she smiled reaching over to take her hand.
"He is kind of pathetic, isn't he?" she smiled at her, thinking about Roger.
"Not pathetic, just... desperately in love with you. There's nothing wrong with that. If you guys are leaving tonight, I'm gonna get started on dinner." she smiled before getting up and going back inside. When she shut the door she noticed Roger standing in the middle of the living room. "Roger, I didn't know you were up. Jami's sitting on the porch."
"I know. I... I heard you guys talking." he looked down at her.
"So you heard that she wants to go home, right?" she asked looking over at him.
"Yeah." Roger said quietly turning to go into the kitchen.
"Roger, you need to follow her lead on this. If she feels like she need to go home, you should go." she followed him into the kitchen.
"I know ma, it's just… there are things there." he looked back at her.
"She can handle it, Roger. She's stronger than you're giving her credit for." she argued looking over at him. "I can't believe I'm arguing with you of all people over this."
"I know how strong my fiance is, ma. She's the strongest woman I know. Besides you." he looked over at her.
"So what's the problem? I don't understand what you're saying." his mother pushed.
"I don't know if I can handle it." he yelled looking over at his mother.
"Oh. I... I guess we've all been so worried about Jami that... I'm so sorry, Roger." she walked over to him.
"No, I'm... I'm sorry, ma. I... I didn't mean to yell." he looked over at her.
"Roger, this is a normal reaction to what you've just been through." she put her hand on his arm.
"But I'm supposed to be holding James together and I can't even keep myself together." he looked down at her.
"You're allowed to break down, Roger. It was your child too. Jami understands that."
"It wasn't a child, ma. It was an egg that could have killed her. Another woman I loved could have died." he told her as a tear escaped from his eye.
"But I didn't. I'm… I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Jami said looking over at him from the doorway of the kitchen.
"But you could have, James. I... I don't think I could handle losing anyone else. Least of all you." he walked towards her.
"I'm not leaving you, Roger Davis. Do you hear me? You're stuck with me for the rest of your life." she insisted taking hold of the front of his shirt.
"You're the only woman I want to be stuck with." he cupped her face in his hands before leaning down to kiss her.
"Good, because I'm not going anywhere."
"I don't know if I'm ready to go home yet." he explained looking over at her.
"I understand that, Roger. But we can't keep hiding here. We need to get back to our real life. I... I need to get back to my film." she looked up at him.
"My mom said that we're welcome to stay as long as we want." he looked down into her eyes.
"We can't stay here forever. We have to get home. I have to continue planning the wedding, you have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. We have things we..." she started before cutting herself short. "Are you avoiding the doctor?" she asked walking away from him, sitting heavily on the chair.
"No, James. I'm not avoiding the doctor. I just... I like being here with you, that's all." he avoided her gaze.
"You can be with me at home too." she smiled up at him.
"OK Baby. If you want to go home, we can go home. I'll get everything packed? Maybe I can have Doug take us to the train station or something." he suggested looking down at her.
"You… don't have to go right away, do you? Can't you wait until after dinner? Douglas can drive you into the city." Mrs. Davis looked over at them.
"I'd like that." Jami smiled over at her.
"Sure ma." he smiled before going upstairs to Jami.
At dinner, Mrs. Davis, Jami, Heather and Mrs. Barnett talked about the wedding. Roger seemed to be paying attention, but Doug, Chris and Collins were clearly bored. They just smiled and nodded as if they were listening, but took turns exchanging looks to one another and laughing afterwards. Mrs. Davis took the hint and got up to put on some music. She kept the station tuned to an oldies station which played songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's. "Do you kids remember when you were little? We always used to listen to music when we ate dinner." Mrs. Davis smiled at Roger and her other children.
"Yeah and you and dad used to get up and dance, leaving us to clean up." Chris griped looking over at his mother.
"It gave you good practice for when you were on your own." she smiled at him.
"Except in Chris' case. He lives in a sty." Heather teased looking at her oldest brother.
"Bite me, shorty." he groaned looking over at her as she laughed.
"No way. Who knows when the last time was when you did your laundry? I might get a terminal disease." she snapped back as he stuck his tongue out at her.
"Mom did my laundry the other day, so there."
"You are so pathetic, man. Ma still does your laundry?" Roger laughed at his brother.
"Really, pretty boy? Like I'm not supposed to know that Jami does your laundry." he teased back.
"He got you there, Baby." Jami laughed looking up at him.
"Hey, who's side are you on anyway?" he whined looking down at his fiance.
"Usually yours, but Chris is on the winning team this time." she laughed looking over at Chris.
"Hope you're happy man, you got my girl against me now." Roger laughed looking at his brother.
"I have a feeling you'll deal with it." Chris smiled shoving another fork full of food in his mouth. They all continued eating their dinner when the Elvis song 'I Can't Help Falling in Love with You' came on.
"I love this song. Do you remember this song, mama?" Jami smiled looking at her mother.
"Yes Jami, I remember." she smiled as Jami looked up at Roger.
"Mama and papa used to dance to it all the time when we were growing up." she smiled looking up at Roger.
"So let's dance." he smiled putting his fork down and taking her hand gently.
"Dance? Are you serious? Roger, I can barely walk without falling down." she laughed looking up at him.
"Don't worry. Just hold on to me and I'll take care of the rest." he smiled as they got up. They went into the living room and started slow dancing in the middle of the room.
"You do realize that I'm not coordinated enough for this, right?" she laughed holding on to him.
"I won't let you fall, James. I never will." he smiled charismatically at her. She melted as he smiled down at her.
"You're amazing, Roger Davis." she smiled up at him as he held her tight in his strong, loving arms.
"Well I guess all those years of watching dad sweep mom off her feet right here in this very room must have rubbed off on me." he smiled swaying back and forth to the music, taking her slender body with him.
"I am so in love with you, Roger. Don't ever doubt that." she looked up into his green eyes, intensely.
"Don't worry, James. I never could." he smiled leaning down to kiss her soft lips.