A/N: You guys I am so so sorry about my lack of posting. The writer's block is bad, and then it breaks and gives me something decent but never an ending. So frustrating. I hope this chapter is a good gift in response to your wait!
In hindsight, hitting the home improvement store on the first nice Saturday of the season was not an entirely good idea. Though Adam had a lot on his plate, he'd once again put himself last and decided that the basement needed to be finished and made into a guest room, mostly so Hannah could move in with them and finish school without reverting back to her old ways. Adding that large project to his continuing work on his PhD, the new responsibilities at the lab, and the regular duties of father and husband, and he was stretched thinner than he ever had been before. He was stressed out, unsure where to put all his time, and while Lindsay had often suggested taking out a small home improvement loan and hiring professionals to work on the basement, he'd refused, saying they were past the hard part now anyway, the rest would be smooth sailing. As they stood in the flooring department, he was beginning to rethink that statement.
"I know linoleum is cheaper," Lindsay sighed. "But it's also tacky and I don't want this room to look like an extension of the kitchen."
"If the basement floods we're going to have to rip up that carpet you want."
"Adam, we've lived there almost eight years, the basement has never flooded, plus we put down the vapor barrier."
"I know that, but there's also water from above, if the kitchen sink leaks-"
"We can't plan for everything. I am not putting linoleum down in that room, end of discussion."
"I knew we should have talked about this two months ago."
"Yeah well we didn't."
He sighed and turned back to the wall of samples, shuffling through them while she stewed behind him. This was the first real argument they'd had in a long time, and they both hated that it was in public, and that they weren't doing a very good job of talking through it.
"Can I help you folks today?"
Grateful for the distraction, Adam turned and nodded at the man, but couldn't get a word out before Avery piped up from the cart, where she'd been silently sitting for the last half hour.
"We are making a room for my Auntie Hannah, in our scary basement. I love her but I telled her I would not come to visit for it frightens me most. And mama and daddy are arguing because they do not know what kind of floor to put in such a terrifying place."
The man bit back a laugh and Lindsay's face colored while Adam stared down at Avery, mouth agape.
"Yes sir," she continued. "We may need some assistance."
Adam cleared his throat and explained the project, asking what he recommended. They discussed all the available options and in the end decided on carpet tiles, which could be pulled up quickly if moisture was found, but were still more welcoming than linoleum or tile. Satisfied with their decision but still irritated with each other, they took the rest of their purchases to the check out line, stealing glances at each other while Avery curled up in the new dog bed they'd gotten for Thomas.
"Hey," Lindsay whispered after a moment, reaching over for Adam's hand. "I'm sorry."
"Me too. I'm just stressed out, I didn't mean to be so snippy."
"Me neither. Why don't you take the rest of the night and do something else? Don't worry about this, we'll get it done eventually."
"I know, but I've got other things to do too."
"One night off isn't going to ruin everything. Get out of the house and do something fun. The boys are at sleepovers, Avery and I can go check up on Jo, and you'll be much happier when you come back."
"I guess… yeah, alright."
She stepped into his arms, leaning up to kiss him despite the public place. It was moments like these when they were both reminded how they had been at the beginning and how far they'd come, and the fact that the little hiccups never lasted.
"Mama and daddy, the line is moving! You are so embarrassing."
"Sorry Averylin."
"Yeah, sorry."
"It is okay, but maybe next time you are kissing in a place like this, you should keep one eye open."
"We'll take that into consideration."
"Hello mine Jo," Avery whispered loudly, climbing up onto the couch. "Are you in agony from your surgical procedure?"
Jo chuckled and held her arms out for a hug.
"No, just a little sore. These old bones of mine are pretty tired."
"I do not want you to have old bones. That means you are a skeleton inside and skeletons are what dead is made of."
"Well I can assure you that I am not anywhere near dying. No way, do you think I would want to die and leave all you crazy kiddos?"
"No, that would be a dumb idea," Avery laughed, observing the large boot Jo was wearing on her right foot. "Now tell me how you walk in that big ol' thing. It is ginormous!"
"Well, I have to use crutches or Mac has to help me for now, but in a few weeks I'll be almost back to normal."
"You are not normal."
"Thanks kiddo. Where's your mama?"
"She is talking with Mac in the kitchen. She is asking him if we could use that painting gun he gots. And if he says yes, then I will ask if I could use it because that would be a riot!"
"I guess so."
"Now, what would you like to talk about?"
"Oh I don't know. What would you like to tell me about?"
"So many things! First of all, I am done with the first grade! We maked it official yesterday, and I went and I took a most long test and they said that I am doing well and I am ready for the second grade. I called my friend Nicholas, you remember that guy? Well he did not move around grades like I did, and we will be in second grade together! I can't wait! Now I just get to relax and learn piano for a while. And we have the whole summer to be kids. Won't that be great? Auntie Hannah will be moving into our home soon, and that means we are even Steven on boys and girls in our house, even counting the animals. Let's see, what else? Oh yes. Daddy is still doing his own school of course. He does not sleep much and his face is matching his hair."
"What do you mean?"
"His hair is getting gray a little you know, and that is old, plus his face is looking oldish now too. He wants it to not be gray but then mama said he looked real good and whispered something in his ear and his face got all red and happy so I think he's okay with the situation."
Jo smothered a laugh.
"That's good. Your daddy sure works hard."
"Yep! Now tell me about what them doctors did to your foot! I've been wondering for a while and though Coley would like to be a doctor, he could not tell me 'zactly what they done."
"Would you believe me if I told you that they drilled a screw into my ankle?"
"EW! That is very gross! Is that what they really did?"
"Yes it is."
"How will this affect your life?"
"Oh after I recover I won't have pain when I walk anymore," Jo said, trying to simplify it a little. "It's really not so bad."
"Well that's really not so good neither. I hope I never have to have surgery. It would be awful, and that big shoe looks heavy."
"It's alright. Mostly I make Mac help me everywhere."
"So it's no skin off your nose?"
"Right."
Avery nodded and snuggled into Jo's side.
"Know what Jo? I am so very, very happy. My life is so wonderful. I have great brothers, mama and daddy are very in love and they are best friends. And I have lots of people like you and Mac that love me. I have friends and I have Thomas. I am happy, so mosty most."
"That's the best thing I've heard in a long time."
"Good! I was thinking this the other night, after daddy had come home from a very long day. And he was trying to explain to me why people do bad things, but he could not. I think I know it. I think people do bad things because it starts from sadness. They do not have much love, you know? Or they lost love or something. And the sadness turns into all the other bad emotions humans face. Sometime I am not happy and it turns into yelling and crying, but there is always someone there to help me, even if it is just Thomas. I think bad people, they do not have that. So they are bad because they hurt inside. This is why I come to this idea. I think that bad people, when they go to jail, they should be able to have pets. If they have something to love, it will change their hearts to loving. Then they will find people they could love, and because they now give so much love, they cannot do the bad stuff. So this is a very good option and I would like it if you would pass it along to the president."
Jo smiled and pulled the little girl into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head.
"Sweetie, you just reminded me why all of us do the job we do."
"Why?"
"Because you kids are so precious, and you deserve to grow up in a better world. I think in your lifetime, you'll get to see mountains moved."
"Which ones? The Rockies?"
"No sweetie, I just mean you will get to see a lot of things change. You just keep being who you are and helping those around you."
"Oh, okay! Coley says we cannot change the whole world, but we could start to change our little part of it and maybe it will spread. Ben asked if it would spread like the flu, then Coley did a big breath. But we talk about this a lot, me and the boys. So I know they are on board."
"That's good."
"I think that now I know why daddy and mama do their job, it is not so sad when I miss them when they are gone. Thank you for sharing that part with me Jo."
"You're welcome, sweet girl."
"I will tell all this to my auntie Hannah when she comes here to live. You know, she had some hard stuff in her life, that is why she moved back to Arizona for a bit, and it is why she is moving into our house now, because she needs family. I will tell her all we talked about, because it will help her. I just will not go in the scary basement to do it, that's all."
It was after the fourth toss and turn in ten minutes that Lindsay finally sat up, clicking on the bedside lamp and looking over at Adam, who was blinking against the brightness.
"Okay," she started. "Out with it."
His answer surprisingly came with no hesitation, save for a long sigh and yet another roll over to face her.
"I just keep wondering if Hannah moving in with us is the best thing for her."
"We discussed this, Adam."
"I know that. I just worry that we won't be able to give her the help she needs."
"It's not help that she really needs, babe," she reminded him. "She's done the hard part and we need to be there for her but right now she needs a safe place to get away from the things she doesn't want to be doing anymore."
"I worry about her."
"So do I. But she's doing so much better. She's stronger than she was, she's not in mourning anymore. She's dealt with a lot of those emotions, she's healthy, she's happy, and she's ready to move on with her life. You've talked to her, doesn't she seem like the old Hannah again?"
"She does."
"She's going to be fine, Adam. She needs to come back out of her comfort zone and prove to herself that she can do this. It's important that she comes back here and sees that she can cope properly, that she doesn't have to rely on drugs and alcohol to make the pain go away. It's so much safer if she's with us because we'll be able to see if something isn't right."
"I know. I guess it's not her moving in here that worries me really. It's… she's so ashamed of what happened, I don't want her to think that we're looking at her through that all the time. I want her to know that we see all of her, not just the bad decisions."
"It might take time, but she'll know. We need to give it a while, let everyone fall into a rhythm and you'll see. It will all be fine."
"You're so optimistic."
"I believe in her, Adam. And I know you do too. You're just a wee bit over-occupied with everything else going on right now that you can't turn off problem-solving mode."
He chuckled and slung his arm around her waist, pulling until she lay down next to him.
"You're probably right. Thanks for making me take a break tonight."
"Of course. What did you do?"
"Hit the arcade. Wasn't as much fun without the boys, but it was nice to turn the old brain off for a little while."
"I think you should go ahead and turn it off for the rest of the night. Get some sleep and tomorrow when you go to work, I don't want you to think about anything but the case."
"That's it?"
"Well, of course you can think about me, but not too long or that old brain is going to start undressing me and then you won't get anything done."
"You're pretty confident, aren't you?"
"Do I have reason not to be?"
"Not at all."
She smiled and reached over to turn off the light, then leaned in to kiss him.
"I love you, Adam. I'm so proud of you for all you're taking on right now. I think anyone else would have become a very unpleasant person."
"At one point in my life I would have, but you make me better."
"I don't make you better. You've always been better, I just made you see that."
"I love you Linds," he whispered, voice husky from the unexpected words. "So much."
"Love you too."
He sighed and buried his face in her neck while she gently stroked at his back, trying to nudge away some of the tension he held there.
"Go to sleep. I'll stay up and worry about things if you want."
"You're the best wife ever. But don't stay up. I think we both deserve to settle for the night."
She nodded and cuddled into him, thankful that they still had each other to lean on.