Chapter 25
They newlyweds spent the next three days and nights in marital paradise. Gary was able spend the much needed time alone with his bride. A few times, he relied on his parents and Chuck for assistance with the paper, but for the most part the paper went easy on him. Gary and Kaitlyn were able to start their new life together in serenity.
After the short honeymoon, Gary got busy with the paper. He joked to Kaitlyn that it was probably payback for their three glorious days together.
Since the wedding was so quick, Gary had little time before the wedding to pack up any of his belongings and move them into the house. After Gary's parents headed back to Hickory, Kaitlyn decided she would go over to the loft and pack up some of Gary's things.
She was there for about an hour, when Gary found her. When he opened the door, she was folding some of his shirts that she had pulled out of the armoire and placing them into a suitcase.
"Marissa told me I'd find my you up here." He said as he walked over to her.
"I thought you were going to be busy all day." Kaitlyn smiled. "I figured you were getting pretty tired of living out of a suitcase."
"I have a few hours, I stopped by to get something to eat. It's a good thing I didn't go home to spend time with my wife, though." Gary joked as he kissed her. "You know, as long as I'm here and you're here, alone, and there is that big comfortable bed, we could fulfill another appetite of mine." Gary said as he continued to kiss her.
"As tempting as that is…," She said as she pulled away. "I came here for a reason, and unfortunately that wasn't it. But, maybe I could fill that appetite for you later." She said with a smile as she turned and headed towards the armoire.
"I'm going to hold you to that." He said. "You don't have to do this."
"I don't mind." Kaitlyn said as she opened the drawer and scooped up Gary's socks. She started to walk over to the suitcase when she heard something like metal hit the hardwood floor. "What was that?" She asked as she tried to look at the floor. She dropped the socks onto the bed.
"I don't know." Gary said as he started to look around.
He saw Kaitlyn bend down and pick something up. She looked at it then handed it to him. It was a gold wedding band, his wedding band from his marriage to Marcia. He looked up at his wife, who had turned her attentions to putting his socks into the suitcase.
"I forgot I had this." He said tentatively. Kaitlyn shrugged, not looking in his direction. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Kaitlyn turned and looked at him.
"I probably should have gotten rid of this a long time ago." Gary conceded as he walked over and dropped the ring into the trashcan.
"It's not the end of the world." Kaitlyn smiled. "Although, is there anything else around here you might want to throw away before I get my hands on it?" She joked.
Gary looked around the loft and spotted what he was looking for. He walked over to the shelf and picked up the model boat, Meridian. Kaitlyn watched as he made a face when the mast fell, then walked over, and dropped it into the trash.
"I don't want that anymore either." Gary said with a sigh. Kaitlyn looked at him like he was a lunatic.
"Whatever." She said as she rolled her eyes and turned her attentions back to packing his clothes.
Over the next hour, Gary and Kaitlyn packed up the belongings he wanted to take with him. They had decided they would leave all of his furniture in the loft. His parents could stay there when they visited.
When Gary came across an old shoebox filled with pictures, he and Kaitlyn sat down and went through them. They were mostly pictures of him as a child and young adult. As Gary looked through the pictures of him and Chuck, Kaitlyn found a stray picture at the bottom of the box. She picked it up. It was Gary and a woman and it looked like they were sitting on a boat.
"She's pretty. Who's this?" Kaitlyn asked as she turned the picture in Gary's direction.
"That's Marcia." Gary said cautiously as he cleared his throat.
Kaitlyn started to put it all together and said, "Hence the throwing away of the boat."
Gary shrugged, taking the picture from her hand and ripping it in half. He then got up, walked over, and threw it into the trashcan. Kaitlyn in the meantime got up and began to pick up the other pictures and return them to the shoebox. Gary walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist.
"I love you." He whispered into her ear then kissed her cheek. She turned in his arms.
"I love you too." She said and then kissed him. "Don't you ever forget that." She joked.
"I won't. I promise." Gary smiled and continued their kiss.