The next morning, Paul was in the shower washing his hair when he heard the bathroom door swing open, "hello?"

"Hi." It was Stephanie, she slammed the door behind her and crossed her arms, "I want to talk to you."

"Right now?" He pulled the curtain over and poked his shampooed head out, "I'm in the shower. This can't wait a minute or two?"

"No, I need to talk to you right now." She sat on the toilet seat and cleared her throat, "your mom just called."

"And?" He rinsed out his hair, "I will be out of the shower in a minute. Go wait outside." He felt awkward knowing she was just outside of the curtain, "Stephanie, get out of my bathroom."

She waited until the water shut off, then stood up and threw his towel in with him, "put this around you."

"Get out!" He quickly wrapped himself up in the towel as he knew what was gonna happen next, "Stephanie, come on."

She ripped the curtain open and tried to keep her eyes on his, "she called to announce when she was going to come and stay with us. In just a few days."

"Wait, what? She's coming over? No, she can't, where's she gonna stay, she can't stay here, you have the second bedroom."

"Paul, she's coming on Friday." She chewed her fingernail, "I tried to tell her we had plans, I really tried, I said we had plans with friends, all she said back is that she would stay here with Madison. I couldn't get her to listen to me."

"She hates you, that's why she wouldn't listen to you." He tried to put his boxers on under his towel, "not trying to be mean, but, yeah, it's the truth."

She nodded, "I know, but I'm trying to be nice to her. We can't have her sleep on the couch, she has to sleep in my room. And neither one of us can sleep on the couch, she'll think something of that. I don't know what to do. She says she wants to stay for a couple weeks while your dad is away at his uncle's house."

"You'll have to sleep in my bed, with me." He wanted to shudder at the thought, but kept it together for she was standing right there, "I have a king size bed, it should be fine."

"What about Madison? Where's she going to sleep?" Her breath got caught up in her throat as he pulled the towel off and stood in front of her in nothing but his boxers, "I could always put the portable crib in our room. That would be fine right?"

"Sure." He reached behind her and opened the door, "by the way, thanks for making my shower awkward." He slid past her and opened his closet door, "we have to make room in here for your stuff, you can't be going in 'her' room to get clothes and stuff." He moves stuff over, "I'll try and make room for you."

"Paul, I really don't feel comfortable with this. How are you just okay with this?" She whined, reminding herself of how she treated him at work, "I don't want to sleep in your bed."

"Too bad. I know I can't just tell my mom she can't come over, she's not gonna buy that. Just get over it and we'll be done. She'll come over and be gone before we even know it. You married me, you're gonna have to put up with some of the consequences you know." He was in his walk-in closet opening and closing dresser drawers, "say she stays two weeks, I sleep on my side of the bed, you sleep on yours. It's simple really."

Sleeping in his bed with him wasn't the part that bothered her. The part that bothered her was the fact that she felt like she didn't mind. It seemed as if she'd started to enjoy being married to him, almost like she'd started to like him, "fine," she sat on his bed and laid back, noticing his bed was actually really comfortable, "what if she wants to stay longer than that? Two weeks means 13 nights in your bed. If you think about it, that's a pretty long time."

"Yeah, but it'll go by like nothing. And then, before you know it, you'll be back in your room on that couch bed." He came out and looked at her, "what are you doing? Trying to get used to it already huh?" He pulled a T-shirt over his head, "comfortable?"

She smiled and nodded, "yeah, it is. Way more comfortable than the couch bed." She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "why are we even arguing? I don't want to argue."

"I don't either," he buttoned his jeans, "so it's Monday, we have about four days before she gets here. That's enough time right?" He sat next to her on the bed and pulled socks on, "I hope so. But I know there's no preparing for when my mom comes."

"Oh, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Last week, when Laurie and the kids were here, her and I were talking about you, and your mom. Can't you see how bad your mom wants grandchildren from you? You see it right?"

He was silent. He didn't even look at her and he tied his tennis shoes, "I'm not talking about this with you. Leave it at that." He started to get up but she grabbed onto his arm, "what?"

"Don't run away from this. We should be able to talk about stuff without one of us getting all upset at the other, like you're doing right now. Just talk to me, do you really not want kids, or is it something else."

"Didn't we have this conversation the other day? It's too late for me to have kids." He rolled his eyes, "quit asking me about kids, its creeping me out."

"Well don't you know your mom's pretty upset with you about that? Laurie told me." She was still holding onto his arm and leaning over on his shoulder, he smelled good and she felt overly relaxed around him, "Paul?"

"I think the last time I went on a date was like, the beginning of August, like two months ago. And guess who ruined that for me? My phone rang, and there you were, screaming at me on the other line. I tried to say it was my boss, but she left me sitting there after she screamed at me for cheating on my wife."

"I wasn't your wife two months ago." She gulped, "I'm sorry for ruining that for you. You deserve to be happy too you know."

He nodded, "I know, and now, I'm a little but happier actually, my family is happy with me, and everything's okay. My parents are no longer pressuring me about getting older and being alone. You're helping me out a little too you know."

"That's good to know." She smiled, still leaning on him, "your sister said you looked really happy the other day. And that we look like we love each other."

He was silent as he thought to himself, why would she say that to him right now? She seemed to be making things kind of awkward between them lately, "Laurie said that?" He got up and pretended to act like he was surprised, "we ought to go grocery shopping so we have a kitchen full of food when my mom gets here. If she knew we don't cook and go out for dinner all the time, she'd probably stay longer just to cook for us."

"Well, you and I are going out to dinner on Saturday." She bit her lip, "that was supposed to be our excuse, but your mom just said she wants to watch Madison for us while we're out."

"Is that all you said? Cause with that excuse, I would invite myself over too." He put his wallet in his back pocket, "you coming with me to the grocery store?"

"No, I'm gonna stay here. I don't feel like getting ready, and then having to get all of Madison's stuff ready, its all too much work." She fell back on his bed again, "don't worry, I won't do anything to your house, besides sleep." She closed her eyes, "you trust me right?"

"Sure," he put his phone in another pocket, "I'll be back, all I ask is that my house is still standing when it get back," he paused to think, "actually, I don't see that as a problem considering you don't cook."

She sarcastically laughed, "you're totally right, I don't cook." She smiled and listened as he walked out of the room and left out the garage door. Once she heard him drive away in his truck, she sat up and looked around his bedroom, seeing a couple more pictures on the dresser next to the TV. Mostly pictures of kids, probably Laurie's, but in the corner of the bigger frame, there was a baby, and the closer she looked at it, the clearer she could tell it was Madison. The picture was cut out of the announcement card she sent to people when Madison was just born, "he kept this?" She held it for a second before sitting back on the bed, holding her face in her hands, "I can't believe I've been such a bitch to him, and all he's been is a nice, caring guy."