Chapter 8

When House heard Karen at the door, he felt a little thrill.

Well, he thought, that was silly. What was he a teenager? But knowing that she was going to be a part of his life from now on was more exciting than anything he'd known in a really long time.

He greeted her and she fell into his arms, holding him as close to her body as she could.

"Hey," he said, "what's this?"

"I'm just really happy to be here at last. And to know that I'm not going to leave you."

He pulled her close to him. "Yeah, I know."

They stood there, just holding each other, their bodies saying what their words couldn't.

Finally, they broke apart and she moved into the apartment, then stopped in shock as she looked around.

"Oh my God, Greg!"

"What?"

"You packed!"

He smiled, lifting the corner of his mouth as he did. He had indeed packed. The books were gone from the shelves, the pictures and instruments were off the walls. The only things remaining were the furniture and the piano. Everything else was – presumably – in the boxes piled against the walls.

He'd been reluctant to pack, more out of laziness than anything else, until she'd been accosted that night and he'd thought about the possibility of losing her. Suddenly he knew how important she was to him and how important their life together was. He wanted it and he was willing to do whatever he had to for that.

Even if that meant physical labor.

Besides, he'd missed her so much in these last two weeks, that it at least kept him busy and helped the time to pass.

She was smiling at him with that amazing smile of hers and he felt all gooey inside. But he couldn't have that!

So he just shrugged and said, "No big deal. You asked me to pack, I packed."

"But this is so wonderful! You're all finished! All we have to do is direct the movers. Thank you, Greg!"

She was so ecstatically happy, he just couldn't help that warm and gooey feeling, despite himself. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her.

"So, since I've been a good boy, do I get a reward?"

"I think that can be arranged."

"But first, I was thinking of something else."

He smiled at her and pulled out his phone – since the stereo was packed - and scrolled through the music on it until he found what he wanted.

In seconds, the Beatles started singing:

Something in the way she moves

Attracts me like no other lover…

He pulled her into his arms and moved slowly around the room with her. She rested her head on his shoulder as they swayed. As the song ended, he pulled back and looked into her eyes, then kissed her.

They headed for the bedroom, which was also empty and with stacked boxes. She just smiled and sighed and pulled him to the bed.

He never knew that a little packing could get him such rewards.

Karen was up early the next day, even though House was still asleep. She had assumed that he wouldn't do anything and she'd have to spend her evening packing. But since he'd done all the work, she was free to enjoy him.

Now, however, there was work to be done. She let him sleep a little longer as she ran out to the local coffee shop for coffee and pastries for breakfast. But as soon as she returned, she brought the food to the bedroom and woke him up, making sure to stand a distance away from the bed. Otherwise he would entice her back into it.

"What?" he grumbled. "What time is it?"

"Seven o'clock. Time to get up."

"The only thing I would even consider doing at seven o'clock does not involve me getting out of this bed. But it does involve you getting back into it."

"Nope. Plenty of other days for that. We have things to do."

He groaned and opened his eyes to see her standing there and looking at something she was holding.

"What the hell is that?"

"What?" she asked, turning around.

"That thing in your hand?"

"Are you telling me you've never seen a clipboard before?"

"I've seen them. I just don't know why you have one."

"I've written down everything I need to do. I've been making notes on it all week. And I can jot down anything else that I think of."

"Oh, god."

"Now, when are we getting the keys?"

He sighed. He knew that going back to sleep would be almost impossible. "Ed is dropping them off on his way to work. They're probably here already."

"You signed all the papers yesterday?"

"Yep."

She nodded and checked something off on her clipboard.

He glared at her. "How long are you going to carry that thing around with you?"

"Until everything is done."

"Oh, god."

"Now, what time are the piano movers coming?"

"Eleven."

She nodded. "Okay, I can work with that. The regular movers will be here at ten. We can have them get everything from the living room first so they won't be tripping over each other."

She made a note on the clipboard as she spoke.

"Will you stop doing that?" he said.

"Doing what?"

"Writing things on that stupid board. We're adults. We know what we have to do. We don't have to make notes along the way."

"I need to be sure I remember everything. I need to keep track of what's done and what isn't. I need to – to- "

"To feel in control?"

She nodded.

"That guy really threw you for a loop, didn't he?"

She shrugged. "I'm okay. But I was feeling a little out of it last weekend. Then I found the clipboard and started making notes and it made me feel better."

He nodded. "Okay. If it makes you feel better. Just, please, don't ask me to check it."

She smiled. "I won't." And she leaned down to kiss him. He tried to pull her into the bed, but she broke away. "No. Not now. We have things to do."

"What do we have to do? The movers aren't coming until ten. I told Ed to just throw the keys in the mail slot, 'cause I figured we'd be busy."

"As soon as I have the keys, I have to go to the house and clean it."

"Clean it? Why?"

"Do you want to move in to someone else's dirt?"

"The house has been empty. They cleaned it before they put it on the market."

"People have been traipsing through it since then. I'm going to go and clean it. You can either come and help me or stay here and wait for the movers."

If she wasn't here, he could get another two plus hours sleep until the movers came. "I'll stay here."

She smiled at him. "Okay, I should be back before the movers get here." She started to leave, then turned back to him. "But just in case, you'd better set your alarm."

He looked at her.

"I don't want you to still be asleep when they arrive." And she left the room.

He smiled, then lay back on the bed and closed his eyes. A second later, he opened them, sat up, set the alarm and lay back down.

Karen drove to the house and let herself in. It was totally empty, of course, and completely quiet. She knew that once the four of them were moved in, it would seldom be quiet again, so she relished the silence.

Then she walked around and just reveled in her new home. This was where she would be spending her life now. With her children. And the man she loved. She hugged herself and smiled. Then she went out to her car to bring in the cleaning supplies.

Nearly two hours later, House dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. Just in time, as it turned out, because as he was limping out of the bathroom, he heard knocking on the door.

He let the movers in and, remembering Karen's instructions and not wanting to be a red mark on her clipboard, told them to start with the living room so that they wouldn't be in the way of the piano movers.

He watched some TV while the men took out the living room furniture. By the time the piano movers arrived, the living room was cleaned out and the movers were starting on the bedroom.

He supervised what the piano guys did, making sure they didn't mishandle the instrument. But once it was on the truck, he found a corner to sit in until the movers had taken everything out of the apartment and headed towards the house.

Then he just sat there for a bit, staring at the empty apartment. With luck, he would never live here again, even though he wasn't giving it up. He knew with his track record, he had to have an insurance policy, a place to live if Karen couldn't stand him any more.

She was pretty patient, but he wasn't easy to love. Maybe that's why she had never said she loved him. And that was why he was reluctant to repeat what he had said to her while she was asleep.

Still, he was willing to give this his best effort, whatever the hell that was. He rose slowly from the floor, picked up his cane, took one more look at the empty apartment and left.