Dear Readers, Sorry about this...I posted Chapter 20 before 19, so those who have already read Chapter 20, sorry!

Chapter 19

What She Doesn't Know

"She threw out my shirts."

I yelled to Uncle Jimmy from the back seat, "She only threw out three and they had buttons missing and ratty collars. She bought him three new, nice ones…that don't wrinkle!"

"She cooks nothing but vegetables."

I leaned forward, "It's not true Uncle Jimmy. She makes meals that have vegetables in them. They aren't all vegetables."

My Dad looked in the rear view mirror and squinted, "She makes us change our sheets all the time!"

I drew in a long breath and shook my head, "She helps us change our sheets once a week."

Uncle Jimmy laughed. He was sitting in the passenger seat trying to punch in numbers into the GPS as my Dad drove along. "Heaven forbid you show up to work in decent clothes, eat right and don't live in squalor. I say boot her out the door as soon as possible."

My Dad pouted.

I was mad at him for complaining about Auri to Uncle Jimmy, especially when I knew that he really liked having her around; he just had to moan about it. I mumbled rather loudly, "Well, at least you like the sex."

Uncle Jimmy snapped his head back to look at me.

My Dad looked at Uncle Jimmy and then at me in the rear view mirror, "Have you been in my mind?"

I didn't say anything at first, "Maybe. But it doesn't take a genius when you start hearing, 'Oh yeah baby, take me home, oh yeah, I like it like that. That feels so good, wait until your turn.' from down the hall at night."

Uncle Jimmy gave my Dad a dirty look. My Dad shrugged, "Didn't know the walls were that thin."

"House, you have to be careful."

"Yeah, yeah."

"It seems as if she's the best thing to happen to you two in a long time. She cooks, cleans, performs certain necessary functions, does the laundry and takes bullets for your son. Sounds like my kind of woman." He held up the GPS, "Okay, it should work now. I just plugged in your house for you."

Dad sneered, "I know how to get to my house!"

Uncle Jimmy didn't respond. A minute later he pointed at a flower stand by the side of the road, "Pull over."

My Dad pulled over and Uncle Jimmy got out and pointed at a bouquet of flowers. My Dad and I got out of the car too. The florist was wrapping the bouquet of roses, peonies, violets, and little white flowers up into a piece of paper.

My Dad frowned, "What are those for?"

"My wife!" Uncle Jimmy said firmly.

My Dad said with an attitude, "Are you having an affair?"

"No, I'm just taking them home to her to say…to say how much I care."

My Dad thought for a minute, then pulled out his wallet, pointed at a bouquet, "We'll take those."

She wrapped up another bouquet and Dad paid for them, He pushed them into my arms, "You can give them to Auri."

We got into the car and drove Uncle Jimmy home and the back to our house. I walked in and ran to Auri, who was cooking dinner. Dad was following behind.

"Auri, look what Dad bought you!"

My Dad got flustered, "They're from Furey."

"Nah-ah. He picked them out and paid for them."

My Dad rolled his eyes, "Okay, they're from both of us."

She was grinning at my Dad. Walking over to me she gave me a peck on my cheek. "Thank you Furey." Then she walked over to my Dad, gave him a longer kiss on his lips and whispered loud enough that I heard, "I'll thank you properly tonight."

My Dad smiled and then caught me staring at him. He narrowed his eyes and growled. Auri cut the tips off the stems and put the flowers in the vase.

Auri had to go back to San Diego in eight days and I was getting anxious. I didn't want her to go, especially thinking she was married to my Dad. I didn't know how to tell her, but it just never came up…or at least it didn't come up in ways that I could break the news to her.

I was going to miss her; she made sure the shirts got hung up right out of the dryer and that the house smelled like flowers when you walked inside the door. She cooked really well and made things that were good for us. I always had a packed lunch in the mornings with a sandwich, fruit and celery or tomato slices or something like that. She always smelled nice. We played games and did homework together no matter how tired or how much work she had to do around the house. Best of all, she hugged me all the time. It felt like I had the best of both worlds. I felt like I had all the things I liked at Uncle Jimmy's right here at home…except for the friends next door to play with. I was doing great in class and the only thing that worried me was Auri finding out that she wasn't married. So, whenever my Dad would say, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Dad would never admit it, but he was sleeping better than ever. His leg pain wasn't as bad and because Auri made us go out and play, his leg was getting stronger. He was easier to get along with at home and I suspect at work too. I heard Uncle Jimmy thoughts and he confirmed it.

Now that he's getting laid on a regular basis, House is actually fun to be around again.

My Dad was teaching me the piano again and we were jamming together more often. It just felt like a home over the last five weeks. I was going to miss Auri a lot.

It was a Friday night and we all ended up on Dad's bed watching Sean of the Dead, one of our favorite movies. Dad turned to Auri, "Saturday, we're going out. I have to make an appearance at the Resident's Awards Gala, because the residents are giving me an award. I suspect it's for Butthole of the Year, but Cuddy has demanded I make an appearance. I'm afraid it's black tie. So you need a dress, shoes, you know—the full battle gear."

Auri looked absolutely stunned. "Thanks for giving me plenty of time." She said it sarcastically. Then she asked, "Who's going to watch Furey?"

"FBI."

I jumped up on the bed, "Really? Too cool." I liked the guys who watched my school, they were really cool. If it was one of them, I was going to have a blast.

Dad gave me a look of disdain, "No way the government is going to spend hundreds of dollars to babysit you for a night. No, I've got Linda coming over."

"Oh. Well, that's cool too. I like Linda." Linda was Aunt Jen's seventeen year old niece and, according to Uncle Jimmy's thoughts, is 'smokin'' for a seventeen year old.

Auri was concerned, "Who is she?"

"It's okay Auri, she's been babysitting me for the last two years. She's really fun, but responsible."

I could feel that Auri was less worried. For some reason, I could pick up feelings from Auri, but no thoughts unless we were thinking to each other. It sounded like gibberish if I tried to listen in which meant she was still having trouble with her talents, which also meant that she still believed that she and Dad were married. I couldn't help but feel I was on a head on collision course with a really bad future.