A/N: This chapter references happenings from Chapter 109: Housewarming of TMCC.
Chapter 29: Heat Rising
Sitting at the kitchen table with his computer on Jamie is going through and paying the monthly bills. He picks up and opens the heating bill for the house and his mouth falls open "EDDDD-DIEEEEEE!" He urgently calls.
Eddie comes running from the direction of the bedrooms in a panic "What? What's wrong?"
Cool, calm and collected Jamie looks like he's about to explode "THIS!" he states as he frantically waves the paper in his hand around before thrusting it at her.
Quickly grabbing it, Eddie holds it out to look it over and a second later her eyes go wide in alarm when they land on the total amount due "What? How is this so high?"
"High? That's not high!" Jamie rejects "That's through the roof!"
"How?" Eddie wonders in bewilderment "Nobody even lives there!"
"I don't know!" Jamie exclaims as he snatches the bill back to scrutinize it more closely.
"It's got to be a mistake." Eddie insists "There is absolutely no way…"
Suddenly Jamie looks up in realization "Eddie…" He slowly questions as he looks over at his wife "You… you did turn the heat down right? When we were out there replacing the signal light?"
Eddie thinks back "Me? ….No." She slowly replies "I thought you did that."
"Well, I did in the garage, but not in the house!"
"What?" Eddie counters in disbelief "Ah crap." she then mutters.
Jamie simply props his elbows on the table and for a moment closes his eyes and just covers his face with both hands in frustration before looking back up "Okay well I guess we need to head back out there and turn the heat down or next month will be even worse."
"Damn." Eddie mutters "I had no idea heating that house was so expensive."
"I did say that from the start." Jamie points out "Utilities would be expensive."
"Yeah I know." Eddie sighs in defeat. "Well I guess that just sealed it for us. Even if we wanted to keep that house, we can't afford that!"
Suddenly Jamie gets up "Are you coming?" He asks as he moves to grab his jacket.
"What now?" Eddie questions in surprise.
"Every minute that heat is turned up we are burning money." Jamie reasons.
"Okay." Eddie accepts "Just let me go change."
…..
Thirty minutes later Jamie is still waiting by the front door for Eddie now looking like a caged animal pacing back and forth in frustration.
Suddenly Eddie appears through the archway and the second Jamie sees her, he just swings the door open and exits the apartment.
"Okay." Eddie notes slightly taken aback by his actions as she grabs for her purse and keys "Guess I'll lock up."
…..
Eddie gets out into the parking lot to see Jamie leaning against the Porsche waiting for her. The second he sees her, he opens the Porsche's driver's door and gets in.
Slightly confused, Eddie walks to the passenger's side, opens her door and get in "We're taking the Porsche?"
"It's officially proven to be faster." Jamie mumbles out.
"Okay." Eddie notes as she reaches for her seatbelt but she is not prepared when Jamie throws the car in reverse, backs out of the spot, throws the car into drive and gives her more gas then she is used to him doing.
"You want to maybe ease up there and not get us into an accident?" She prompts.
Jamie shoots her a look before concentrating on the road "Like you've never driven like this?"
"Yes but that's me…" Eddie counters "…not you."
"Well maybe it you didn't take an hour changing clothes." Jamie bites back.
"EXCUSE ME?" Eddie growls "It was not an hour! And I'm sorry if your child making me lightheaded didn't fit in with your timetable!"
At hearing that Jamie cringes and an awkward, tense silence fills the air before suddenly Jamie eases slightly off the gas "Sorry." He mutters "I'm just frustrated."
Eddie sighs "I know."
"We just blew through a small fortune on nothing." Jamie grumbles out "We might as well of taken a match and lit the money on fire ourselves."
Once again Eddie sighs "I know."
…...
Jamie screeches the Porsche to a stop in the driveway and barely turns her off before he's got the door open and he's exiting the car.
"I really don't think another 10 seconds is going to make THAT much difference." Eddie mutters to herself "But whatever." she adds as she undoes her seatbelt while watching her husband practically run up the steps to the front door.
Whipping the front door of the house open, Jamie makes a beeline for the thermostat. He sees its set to a few degrees above room temperature and groans in agitation. He immediately turns it down to about 10 degrees above freezing before finally letting his body relax "There that should do it. Just enough to keep the pipes from freezing."
Walking in a moment later, Eddie takes in the temperature of the air in the room around her "Oooh yeah, it's warm in here."
In a flash Jamie's body tenses again at the obvious and he turns to glare at her "It was set to ABOVE room temperature!"
At seeing her husband's look, something in Eddie snaps "Oh so you're mad at me is that it? You know you could have turned it down too!"
"I didn't turn it up!" Jamie shoots back "I turned the heat on in the garage - and then turned it off! You turned this one up, you should have turned it down!"
"Right, blame me!" Eddie tosses back irritated "You know maybe if your brother didn't spring your entire family on us while I was trying not to toss my cookies and still keep it a secret I was pregnant, I WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED!"
"Wow. Really Eddie?" Jamie counters annoyed "So you're going to blame Danny for this?"
"Because you didn't just blame him for me getting kidnapped?" Eddie spits back.
Jamie glares at his wife.
"You know while we're here…" Eddie rants on "…maybe you should walk around checking all the doors and lights. Maybe I left one of those open or on or I know! MAYBE I LEFT A TAP RUNNING! Better check all the facets before we get the water bill!"
"MAYBE I WILL!"
Silence.
"You know I don't even know why I came." Eddie unhappily mutters out before turning to walk up the stairs "You should have just come yourself."
"And where are you going?" Jamie tosses back.
"Up the stairs." Eddie growls out.
Jamie throws his hands up "No really? Like I couldn't figure that part out." He sarcastically throws at her before moving to follow "Eddie!" he calls as he takes a step up the stairs.
"I HAVE TO PEE!" Eddie tosses back in frustration.
"Oh." Jamie mutters as he stops walking, turns and just sits down on the steps to wait.
More silence as Jamie just waits.
…and waits.
Finally getting up, Jamie absently walks over to the bay window, moves the curtain slightly aside then stuffs his hands in his pockets to just look out the window to pass the time and as he does, he finds himself truly and maybe for the first time really taking in the actual neighborhood. He sees kids playing in a yard across the street making a snowman. He sees a couple out for a stroll with their dog and as a jogger passes by, they all wave to one another and he can't help but huff out a little laugh. It looked like some fictitious stereotypical all American neighborhood from some movie but yet here he was standing there for real watching and for a moment he let's himself believe that this could actually be HIS neighborhood. His and Eddies - and that he could be standing here watching his kid play outside in the yard - or it be him and Eddie out for a stroll with a dog - or him jogging down the sidewalk.
"What are you smiling at?" Eddie's voice sounds breaking into his thoughts.
Turning, Jamie sees his wife coming down the stairs.
To reply, Jamie simply gestures and turns his attention back out the window "Just actually noticing the neighborhood and how friendly everyone seems with one another."
"Oh." Eddie accepts as she walks up to his side to look herself "It always was a pretty great neighborhood."
Jamie silently nods "Sorry about earlier." He finally apologizes.
"Me too." Eddie sighs as they both continue to just watch and Eddie's eyes drift over to the for sale sign on the lawn and she finds herself frowning.
No. she reminds herself She didn't want to live in her parent's room… But… she waivers …no... she firmly reiterates to herself Even if she wanted to, they can't. They can't afford to live here. Period.
Eddie heavily sighs.
"What?" Jamie prompts.
"Nothing." Eddie deflects.
Silence.
"We should go." Jamie finally prompts as he reaches up to move the curtain back into place.
Nodding in agreement, Eddie starts for the door "Did you want to run upstairs and make sure I turned off the lights and the water?" she challenges.
"Should I?" Jamie counters.
"Not if you want to see this child being born."
"Didn't think so." Jamie accepts as he and his wife walk out the front door but a second later Jamie spins around and re-enters the house "Sorry, its just practical. We are all the way out here already. To leave without checking everything would just be irresponsible!" he rambles as he bolts up the stairs "I mean what if a pipe really did bust somewhere or a window got broken!" he calls back to her.
Shaking her head as she walks back inside the house, Eddie shuts the door "I'm surprised he made it that long before giving in." She notes impressed before just moving to sit down on the stairs and wait. She places her elbows on her knees and rests her chin in the palms of her hands.
A minute or so later Jamie comes jogging back down the stairs "Okay upstairs is good. I'm just going to check the basement, garage, kitchen…"
"Yeah, yeah just check." Eddie dismissively sighs as she waves him on "I'll be here." She adds before just chuckling and again lifting her eyes to look around the house. A moment later she gets up and heads to the left of the stairs into a part of the house that even when she lived here rarely got used – it was the formal living room that connected to the formal dining room that looped back around and connected to the kitchen.
Walking through the empty rooms Eddie stops in the entrance way to the dining room and suddenly envisions the room full of life, laughter and yes, arguing at a Reagan Sunday Dinner scene and she smiles.
"EDDIE!" Jamie's voice calls pulling her from her thoughts.
"IN HERE!" she calls back.
Following the sound of her voice, Jamie walks into the room and up beside her "What are you doing?"
Eddie sighs "Don't laugh?"
"Okay…"
"I'm picturing Sunday Dinner here."
"Oh." Jamie notes "Why would I laugh at that?"
Eddie shrugs "Because it will never happen. We both know that."
Silence.
"You know even when I lived here we never used these rooms." Eddie reveals "They were like museums – just for show. With us - I can actually see us using them…"
"The dining room, yes." Jamie agrees "But not the formal living room."
Eddie nods.
"Your parents really didn't throw parties?" Jamie can't help but ask "Because I've always kind of pictured your parents being quite…"
"Schmoozy?" Eddie finishes with a laugh "Yeah they were but they just preferred to go out and do that at fancy restaurants and have others do the catering for them so they could…"
"Schmooze." Jamie deduces.
"Yeah." Eddie confirms "Now the basement! That was more my style! They don't call it a rec room for nothing!"
Jamie's face scrunches up "Do I want to know what you did down there?"
"Well I did one of those things with you." Eddie suggestively reminds him "So just focus on that."
"Trying." Jamie counters.
Silence.
"It's like a whole other house down there." Jamie admits in awe "Bathroom, living room, bedroom, even a little kitchen…"
"That's the bar Jamie." Eddie laughs.
"I was trying to make it sound more family friendly." Jamie counters back.
"Cute." Eddie muses "But the basement also had the game room, and the gym." Eddie adds.
"I knew it." Jamie huffs out with a pout "I knew there must have been a gym!"
Eddie can't help but chuckle "I know the boxing bag would have its very own room!"
"Oh no." Jamie playfully protests "I'd get it some friends." he cheekily promises "Free weights, a treadmill, maybe a stationary bike…"
"Oh fancy!" Eddie quips back before yet another silence befalls the couple as they both think about what they could, but yet can't have…
"We should go." Jamie decides with a heavy sigh.
"Yeah." Eddie agrees in defeat as they both turn and walk to exit their house.
Jamie locks the door and they both walk back to the car in silence. They open their doors to get in but neither one can stop themselves from stealing glances back at the house and wondering 'what if…'
...
A/N: Let's all remember this is Jamie and Eddie – they have a tendency to think they can deny themselves the inevitable LOL
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