After that night when he'd been forced to attend the dinner from hell (literally), things smoothed out a great deal. Though it took a few days, Edgar managed to train Nny to put his limbs in the wooden crate Edgar had made for that very purpose. Instead of burying the limbs in the front yard they were now taken down to the curb with the rest of the trash. Edgar continued to perform 'Home improvement episodes' as Nny called them. He was slowly working his way through the ground level of the house. He really wanted to paint the walls, but every time he mentioned it Nny managed to shoot him down with only a look. At least he'd won the battle over whether or not they needed new furniture. Once Edgar had set up the new entertainment system, Nny had withdrawn any arguments he'd produced before. Edgar was sure that one night he would come out into the living room and see Johnny tenderly kissing the fifty seven inch LCD panel TV; he was so attached to the thing.
Edgar was learning to sleep while Todd was at school, so that he would have enough energy for late night freezy trips with Johnny. Over the course of a few weeks they started to realize that Edgar was still getting paid despite his never showing up for work. Nny callously noted one morning at breakfast that it was probably because he was so goddamn invisible to everyone they didn't notice he was gone. In fact, they were a lot happier with his 'work' when it was nonexistent than when he was actually there putting forth effort. Edgar was regularly receiving bonuses, and all of this money flow allowed him to continue on with his home renovation. He was considering adding on a master bathroom. But, as it was, that required 'sniveling dermoid cysts to congregate' around the house and spend a few days building on another room. Needless to say he'd already questioned Nny about the prospect. It hadn't gone well.
Now, Edgar could say that he was…happy. It was weird, almost, to be this happy and not feel guilty about it. Maybe that was a sign of his unhealthy psychological state, to be so weary of joy. But, there he was, pulling into the garage in their new car, Todd in the front seat. He'd just picked up the little bugger from school. It was three months, to that very day, since Edgar 'moved in' with Nny. That probably wasn't the right term. More like, woke up after being allowed to live, and not running for freedom. It was odd, yes, but that single act of not leaving had earned him a happier life where people noticed him. In fact, Edgar was willing to go as far as to say that he now had a family. This family had meals together, went out and did family things like go to the movies. They went and had dinners with their friends, the Diablos: Barbara, Juan, and Pepito. Speaking of them, Edgar had…sort of made peace with Barbara. Okay, he still loathed her, but he didn't show it. Sometimes he even helped her with desert so that Nny had no reason to complain, or bludgeon him over the head.
Edgar wasn't really sure what to say about the Todd and Pepito friendship. He was sure that it wasn't just a mere acquaintanceship. Fore Todd did in fact invite Pepito over for a sleep over once. They'd constructed a pillow fort and camped out in it for the night. Edgar swore that he saw the anti-christ smile more than once throughout the evening. Nny, of course, was thrilled that their 'little Squee' was making friends. Edgar tried his hardest to remind Nny not to stress the plural sense of that word as Todd really only had one friend, Pepito and seemed incapable of making others. For the moment it's still a work in progress. Todd wriggled around and grabbed his backpack from the back seat. Then he turned, threw open the car door and slid off the seat and onto the cool garage floor. Edgar watched as he put his whole weight against the car door to slam it shut before he scurried out of the garage. He chuckled as he climbed out as well. Though he shut his door with notably less force he was just as happy to be home. Home. Applied to this house. Nny had said it a few times lately, as if tasting the words. 'When we get home…' We, when we got home. He said it. Willingly. Though there was some hesitation that didn't really matter.
Edgar stepped out of the garage and reached up to grab the old fashioned non-automatic door. He yanked it down enough that it fell the rest of the way to smack against the cement. Gingerly he squatted down to slip the key on his key ring into the lock holding it shut, locking it. After that he made his way down the drive and across the grassless front yard to the front door. Inside Todd was perched on the edge of the couch facing the television. Both him and Nny were watching some brightly colored cartoon show so intently Edgar felt slightly concerned. He shut the front door and dropped his keys on the end table just around the corner.