Chapter 83: Welcome Home
Jamie pulls The Chevelle onto the street of his new home to see a bustle of activity with workers unloading moving trucks in the driveway so he parks on the street in front of the house behind Eddie's Porsche to see his wife standing on the porch directing the movers where to go.
He gets out and walks over to her "Hey." she greets "Everything go okay?"
"Yup." Jamie confirms "Derrick's going to give the all clear for the return of our deposit."
"Great." Eddie accepts "Oh put that in the main living room over there please." Eddie instructs two movers carrying her couch.
They nod in understanding as they move past her.
"How's it going here?" Jamie inquires.
"Better now that you're here." Eddie admits as she moves to follow the movers "I can't be out there and inside directing the placement! No over here." She corrects the movers as she points to the specific place she wants it.
"Rosa and Mia here yet?" Jamie inquires as he side steps out of the doorway allowing room for another 2 movers to bring in more furniture "Upstairs, last room on your left." he instructs them.
"Not yet but on their way." Eddie admits to her husband before turning her attention back to the movers "That's good. You can put it down right there."
"Any update from Danny at the storage unit?" Jamie inquires.
"All loaded up and enroute." Eddie replies "Which is why I'm trying to just get this truck unloaded and out of the way before that one arrives!"
"Got it." Jamie accepts.
"DID YOU SAY LAST ROOM ON THE RIGHT OR LEFT?" A mover calls from upstairs.
"RIGHT!" Jamie calls as he makes eye contact with his wife. They exchange a silent "Oi" look before Jamie heads up the stairs to make sure they get it right and Eddie moves back to the doorway to direct their next piece of furniture.
…..
Jamie stands near the front door of the house watching as Eddie, Rosa and Mia all mill around calling back and forth to one another as they try to sort and unpack boxes.
Suddenly Jamie hears the door open behind him. He glances backwards to see Danny enter with two more boxes.
"Where do you want these?" Danny inquires.
"Oh just put them down anywhere." Jamie replies "Eddie or Rosa will just have us move it later anyway."
Danny looks over and watches the two women and the young girl. He leans slightly towards his brother "You sure you know what you're getting yourself into?" he inquires with a chuckle "You're in a house surrounded by women."
"Not true." Jamie rejects as at that moment Reagan crosses their path attempting to sneak away and find some quiet and enclosed place to hide but Jamie reaches out and picks him up "I have Reagan." he defends.
Danny laughs "Just you and the cat huh?"
"Ah you laugh." Jamie counters "But I've discovered this cat is magic."
"Magic?" Danny challenges.
Jamie nods in confirmation "Yup." he confirms "He can diffuse a situation between a pregnant woman and a preteen girl just by entering the room and meowing."
"Really?" Danny laughs.
Jamie again nods "Stick around and when the opportunity presents itself, I'll show you what I mean."
….
Later…
"Ugh." Mia groans out tired "Aren't we done yet?"
Eddie turns to look at Mia with wide eyes "Done?" She questions in disbelief as she gestures to all the unopened boxes still around them "Does this look done to you?"
"Who knew moving would be such a drag." Mia whines "Can't I go play in my treehouse?"
Seeing the potential for a face off, Jamie's eyes scan the boxes and land on the box marked 'Cat'. "Hey." he lowly calls to his brother not that far away from him to get his attention.
Danny looks over.
"Watch this." Jamie tells him before he makes a beeline for the cat box. He slits the tape, opens it up, rummages around then pulls out a treat bag. He shakes it.
Like lightening, Reagan appears out of nowhere.
Jamie opens the bag and tosses a couple of treats in the direction of Eddie and Mia.
Reagan races after them to eat them.
Mia looks down at her cat and giggles "Good job Reagan!" she praises before picking him up.
Eddie smiles at the cat and comes over to scratch his head "Reagan look what I have." Eddie announces as she pulls Reagan's silver ball out of her pocket.
Glancing over at Eddie as she finishes emptying a box, Rosa smiles and tips the now empty box sideways and puts it on the floor.
Eddie grins and tosses the ball in the direction of the box.
Reagan leaps out of Mia's arms and chases the ball around rolling it right into the box where he begins to have an absolute blast as he continually swats the ball around.
"See." Jamie quietly states as he leans towards his brother as both men watch Eddie, Rosa and Mia all stand there happily watching the cat play "Magic."
"Huh." Danny mutters out is awe.
Having heard the guy's exchange, Rosa glances in their direction then moves towards them "Yeah, just wait until you have to clean up his throw up." She tells Jamie "Because it's either you or me. Mia won't do it and Eddie shouldn't – not while pregnant."
"Ah." Danny dismisses in amusement "It will be good practise for him for when his own kid spits up!"
Rosa snickers a bit before looking just past Danny at the boxes he brought in earlier "Oh those go upstairs in Mia's room please."
"On it." Danny accepts.
"Okay Mia can you take this into the kitchen please?" Eddie asks her god daughter as she holds a basket out to her.
"Sure." Mia accepts as she grabs the item and heads off.
Jamie smiles.
…..
Eddie is in her new bedroom unpacking boxes when Mia walks into the would be nursery across the hall carrying the mini Miss Minnie. She looks at the still completely empty room in slight confusion then turns and walks into the master bedroom.
"Where do you want her?" the young girl inquires of her Aunt "I was going to put her in the nursery but there is nothing in that room."
"Oh yeah right." Eddie absently states as she continues to try to unpack "We haven't figured how we are setting that room up yet just um…" Eddie hesitates as she looks up and scans the room. Her eyes land on an open but still not unpacked box marked 'Keepsakes' "Put her in that box." Eddie instructs with a point of her finger.
Mia looks over and frowns causing Eddie to sigh.
"It's a box of keepsakes Mia." Eddie points out "Trust me. Nothing in that box is getting lost."
"Fine." Mia relents as she walks over. She opens the box lid to see Eddie's yellow sunhat on top so like a kid, she takes it out and plops it on her head.
It falls down and covers her eyes "Yours is bigger then mine." the young girl announces from under the brim.
Eddie looks over and smiles "Yes it is." She confirms before going back to unpacking.
Mia takes off the hat and sets it aside but her eyes drift back to the box where inside the box she sees a smaller yellow box. Now curious, she opens the lid to see Eddie's pink 'I Kick Ass' Tshirt.
Mia giggles as she pulls it out and opens it up to look at it "How come I've never seen you wear this!"
Again, Eddie looks over and for a moment just looks at her god daughter "Are you having fun going through my stuff?"
"Yes!" Mia flat out admits in amusement.
Eddie shakes her head at the young girl "Your Uncle gave that to me." She explains.
"Why?" Mia questions.
"Because your Aunt kicks ass." Jamie explains as he walks in the room with another box "Where do you want this?" he asks his wife.
Eddie looks at the label on the box "Well it says master bedroom bathroom." She points out "So…"
Jamie rolls his eyes and heads to the bathroom as Mia, accepting her Uncle's answer sets the shirt down and turns her attention back to the box. Her eyes notice a book was under the tshirt in the yellow box so she reaches in to pick it up. She tries to read the title but she can't quite grasp the words so she begins to try to sound it out "Kam... Kama Sue…"
In an instant Eddie's eyes go wide in a panic and Jamie is bolting out of the bathroom and leaping over and around boxes in the room to snatch the book out of the innocent young girl's hands.
"Hey!" Mia protests "I was trying to read that!"
"Are you finished unpacking your own room?" Jamie challenges instead.
"No." Mia admits.
"Then quit stalling and go." Jamie orders as he just starts ushering Mia out the door.
"Alright, fine." Mia mumbles as she has no choice but to turn and head down the hall and the second she is clear, Jamie shuts the bedroom door then falls back against it and blows out a breath of air.
"Well that was close!" Eddie admits with a slight laugh of relief.
"Haven't even spent one night here yet." Jamie states as he pushes himself off the door "And we were about to traumatize her already." he adds as he looks at the book "Thank god she didn't open it up!" he states as he starts to fan the pages.
Suddenly a small piece of paper flutters out and to the ground so he leans down to pick it up and as he stands back up, he flips the paper over to read it and an amused smile graces his face "You kept my honey do list?" he inquires of his wife.
Eddie looks over and sees her husband holding up the paper to show her just like he did on the street a few years ago and she shrugs in deflection "I needed a bookmark."
"Right." Jamie agrees not really believing that's the reason "Number 1…" he begins to read "Have better days. Number 2: Hug each other more…" He adds before looking up at his wife "What kind of sap wrote this?" he tosses out.
"My kind of sap." Eddie confirms as she walks over to her husband and circles her arms around his waist as he circles his arms around her waist "Number 3…" Eddie continues without even needing to look at the list as she focuses all her attention on her husband "Explore Kama Sutra."
Jamie grins and holds up the book as evidence "I should have made that number 1."
Eddie nods "We did spend a LOT of time on that one." She agrees "What was number 4 again?"
Jamie switches hands around his wife's waist so he can lift the list up just off to the side between them so they can both read "Snuggle more." he announces.
"Okay." Eddie accepts as she snuggles into him and Jamie tightens the hold his one arm still around his wife has.
"And finally number 5…" Jamie continues "Spend more time together."
"See now I remember why I kept that list." Eddie admits as she pulls back slightly to look up at her husband "Can't throw out a list with items on it that aren't crossed out."
"Oh?" Jamie simply inquires.
Eddie nods her head in confirmation "Uh huh. See all those items need to be repeated often so throwing the list out would not be practical. I mean if I did, you would just have to constantly be rewriting the list."
Jamie looks at his wife impressed "Are you saying we are never going to compete my list?"
"Oh, it's a definite work in progress." Eddie promises "Again, one we are constantly working on, but no." She admits.
Jamie looks down at his wife and offers her that smile reserved only for her "I can more then live with that." He quietly promises in return before closing the distance between them and capturing her lips in a sweet kiss.
"You know…" Jamie states as they pull apart "Maybe we should review that Kama Sutra while pregnant section. We kind of skipped over that last time."
Eddie laughs at her husband "No we didn't." She counters.
"We didn't?" Jamie innocently inquires "Huh. Well, like you said repetition, repetition, repetition. We'll need to do it again." He decides with playful, dancing eyes causing Eddie to momentarily drop her head onto his chest while huffing out a good "Oh my god." before lifting her head and looking up at her husband again this time a bit more seriously.
"Could we maybe unpack the sheets, pillows and the comforter and make the bed though first?" Eddie inquires "I wouldn't mind being able to find my toothbrush and take a shower too…"
Jamie sighs in defeat as reality hits him of everything the still need to accomplish "Right." He accepts as he pulls away from his wife while lifting his hand and looking at the book again "Also need to figure out where to put this thing so curious little hands don't get a hold of it."
"Well there is always the safe!" Eddie laughs out.
Jamie looks up in thought at her words then just turns, heads for the door, swings it open, walks out of the room and down the stairs to the study…
Eddie moves to the doorway to look after her husband "SERIOUSLY?" She calls.
"SERIOUSLY!" Jamie calls back causing Rosa to come out of her room and look back and forth up and down the hall between the couple before settling her gaze on Eddie.
"Did I miss something?" Rosa inquires in confusion.
"Nah." Eddie dismisses "Jamie's just being Jamie."
Again, Rosa looks at Eddie "Yeah I don't know what that means."
Eddie takes a deep breath and plasters a smile on her face "It's all good." She promises.
"Okay." Rosa accepts before just turning and heading back into her own room.
Eddie huffs out a breath of air – this might not be as easy as she thought it would be… she thinks as she turns and heads back into her own room 'No.' she silently tells herself a moment later 'It will be fine.' she decides before going back to unpacking.
….
Eddie is just finishing adjusting the comforter on the bed "There." She states in relief as she just turns and lays down on the bed in exhaustion and closes her eyes to rest.
A moment later Jamie walks in "Hey…" He begins but when he sees his wife he stops and a quiet "Oh." escapes his lips.
"I'm not asleep." Eddie states as she keeps her eyes closed "Just resting."
"You made the bed." Jamie notes as he walks over.
"I did." Eddie confirms.
"I thought you were going to wait for me." Jamie points out as he sits and then lays down on the bed next to his wife to also get off his feet.
"Then we'd still be on our feet and not resting right now." Eddie points out as Jamie also closes his eyes.
"True enough." Jamie accepts before a silence befalls the pair as they both just rest.
Suddenly Eddie pops her eyes open and looks around "Huh."
Jamie opens his eyes and looks at his wife "What?"
"It truly doesn't feel like my parent's old room." Eddie reveals "Sean and Henry did good!"
Jamie smiles at his wife "Good because even if it did, we are too far into this – you'd just have to live with it."
"Gee thanks." Eddie flatly tosses back.
Jamie shrugs.
More silence.
"We did it Jamie." Eddie suddenly states "We moved into a house."
"Yup." Jamie agrees.
More silence.
"Hey Jamie?"
"Yeah?"
"Welcome home."
Jamie smiles then leans over and places kiss on his wife's head "Welcome home Babe."
...
