Chapter 11
It was dark when I finally woke up, the clock on the bedside stand let
me know that it was 11:00 pm. I nudged Nick gently and he curled up closer to
me and opened his eyes. He smiled up at me and I could feel my heart beat
faster within my chest. I kissed him and smiled back. It felt so good to have
him back home.
"Did everyone leave?" I asked standing slowly up out of bed
and walking into the bathroom.
"I guess." he called back to me as he sat up and stretched
his arms over his head. "I fell asleep too. I wonder why they didn't wake
us up for dinner."
"No kidding," I replied flushing the toilet and washing my
hands. I walked out of the bathroom to where he sat and pulled him up off the
bed. "I'm absolutely starved. Let's go downstairs and see if they left any
food."
We walked to the doorway and Nick flipped on the light pulling a piece
of paper from the wooden bedroom door. "Looks like they left a note,"
he said as he read it out loud.
-- Hey sleepyheads, We didn't want to wake you up for dinner so we ate
and ran. Hope you both get some much needed rest. There are leftovers in the
fridge, and Nick, there's plenty of Ale-8 in the cooler on the deck. *wink*
We'll lock up on our way out. Talk to you soon!
Love you guys,
Kevin.
I watched Nick smile as he read the note. If anyone knew how to take
care of us it was Kevin.
We walked downstairs and flipped on the lights in the living room and
kitchen. The one downfall to living out in the country was that it was so dark
at night. I went into the kitchen and pulled the burgers and potato salad out
of the fridge. I popped the burgers in the microwave and grabbed a couple of
water bottles from the pantry.
"Hey Nick!" I hollered out to the living room as I grabbed
the plate out of the microwave and took our food out to where I'd left him,
"where'd you go?"
He was standing in the middle of the room looking around at all of the
new decor. I had moved most all of our belongings in now so it felt more like
home. I had wanted to wait until he got back to put the finishing touches on
the house but the longer I had stayed there by myself the more stir crazy I'd
become. I couldn't stand living in a house that was littered with moving boxes.
It didn't feel cozy, so I'd started unpacking and I hadn't stopped.
"Do you like it?" I asked moving around to sit on the couch I
placed our food on the coffee table in front of me.
"Wow Grace... it's beautiful. I mean, I knew you were great at
this stuff, but you really outdid yourself." He sat down on the couch beside
me and put his hand on my leg. "I don't know how you did all of this,
especially with the chemo... you amaze me."
"Well, it was nothing really," I said blushing. "It's
mostly all of the stuff from my old apartment. Kevin helped me paint and Kelly
and Kristin helped with the rest. I've spent a lot of time shopping online
since I wasn't allowed to go to the mall. Anything you don't like we can
change..."
"No! I love it all babe, really this is awesome."
He leaned back into the comfort of the couch and rubbed my cheek with
the back of his hand. It felt so good to have a home to call their own. He
reached over and flipped on the tv, "I wonder if there's anything good on
this time of night."
"Scrubs is on channel 11," I said grabbing the remote control
and flipping the channel to my favorite show.
He laughed, "You still watch this show?"
"Uh... um... Zach Braff, Of COURSE!" He knew I'd always had a
small crush on Zach Braff so he rolled his eyes and let it slide.
We sat there together and ate our burgers and then curled up together
for a while on the couch and watched tv. When the second episode had ended I
yawned and looked over at him. He was half asleep.
"You ready for bed sexy?" I said standing up and taking him
by the hand as I bent down and kissed him on the forehead.
He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly and I nodded. He took me by
the hand and led me up the stairs to our master bedroom. I opened the door and
he let out a small gasp. This was the one room in our new home that I'd truly
put my heart and soul into. Kristin and I had picked out a new king sized bed
with a quilt top mattress and I'd bought a gorgeous new bedding set. Joey and
Kevin had painted the room a mocha color and it was probably the most serene
and earthy room in the entire house. I hadn't slept there yet but I spent many
days and evenings out on our balcony reading or writing in my journal after my
treatments. It was by far my favorite spot.
"Wow." I heard him say beside me.
"I know... I love this room the most."
He picked me up and carried me into the room setting me gently on the
bed. He walked over to our dresser and pulled out a fresh nightgown for me and
then went into the bathroom himself and changed as I changed into my gown. He
came out and climbed into the bed with me laying there beside me looking deep
into my eyes as he took me into a kiss.
We spent that night together, our first night in our home in our bed
making love to one another. It was something we hadn't done since I'd been
diagnosed with cancer. It was something that for a long, long time I'd been
afraid of. On this night however, it just felt right.
We fell asleep once again in each others arms.
Home at last. Home together.
***
