Seer
Chapter 22

Laura

I’m just hanging around at Ron’s house, talking to him and Brenda. I was very glad to finally get the chance to hear all about their desert trip. I spent Thanksgiving dinner with them at Brenda’s place, but the kids were around so this is the first time we’ve really had the chance to talk. It sounds like it was so romantic! I’m very impressed with Ron for setting it all up. He must have planned out every single part of it.

And they are so, so happy now. Like blissful. They were happy before, but I think neither one of them was completely sure how the other was feeling, so there was always just a little bit of tension. That’s gone now.

“So, have you started planning a wedding yet?”

Brenda chuckles. “Only a little. When I told my Mom about it, she was so excited. She started talking about having another gigantic wedding and inviting everybody in the world. We were more inclined to just have a very small thing, maybe just down at the courthouse with only the two of us. But now that my Mom is involved, I think we might end up compromising and doing it in Albuquerque, to make her happy. We could do it in her church, that’s where we got married the first time. But we’ll still keep it really small, just family probably.”

“Any thoughts on when?”

“Well, we’re considering doing it over spring break next year. That’s the last week in March. It’ll be nice to take the kids back for a family trip to New Mexico. Show them the sights, where we used to live and stuff.”

Ron is just sitting there glowing silently. He hasn’t said much about it. “So, Ron,” I ask him, “Do you have any preferences?”

He grins. “None at all. This is all Brenda. I will go along with absolutely anything she wants to do. Once I got that ring on her finger, my part was done.”

We all laugh.

“In the meantime,” Brenda says, “is Mike’s ship still coming in?”

“Yeah,” I say, “as far as I know the schedule is still set for it to get back on December 5. I can’t believe it’s really happening. After September 11, I was afraid he’d be gone for another year. But they’ve already been deployed since June, so I guess they figured that’s long enough for this time.”

Ron asks, “Is Timothy excited to see his Dad again?”

I sigh. “To be honest, not really. I think Timothy likes the house just to be quiet, with just the two of us. Or with Natalie over, of course. He and Mike never really seem to be able to see eye to eye.”

I’ve been worried about it. I love Michael so much, and I know he loves Timothy, but he’s never been able to feel comfortable with our son. Timothy is just so different from what Michael had envisioned having a son would be like. There’s no throwing baseballs together or riding bikes or wrestling. Timothy is a cerebral creature, not an athletic one. So when Michael is home, I often feel myself trying to mediate between the two of them, trying to isolate them from each other where possible. It’s difficult.

Brenda looks at me sympathetically. She knows exactly what I’m thinking. She and I have talked about this ad infinitum.

Ron looks like he regrets bringing it up. “Well,” he says somewhat awkwardly, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He shrugs and smiles hopefully.

Brenda and I look at each other and laugh. Oh my gosh. We might love our husbands, but men will never understand things the way women do. Maybe it’s because women talk about every little thing in excruciating detail with each other. I doubt men do that.

Although, Ron did attend to every excruciating detail of the camping trip. Maybe we’re not so different after all.

Stefanie

The kids are out playing in the yard. Brad had to go in to work. The weekend after Thanksgiving is always a really busy time at the store, for some reason. So I have a quiet moment inside by myself.

I take a look at the ultrasound picture that I got from the doctor at my last appointment. It just looks like a peanut. A cute little peanut. Everything seems to be going along just fine. I’m wrapping up the first trimester in a few days, and the morning sickness seems to have gone. We won’t know the gender for a while. I kind of feel like it’s a girl, though. Maybe, I have to admit to myself, I just hope it’s a girl. It’d be nice to have one of each. Otherwise I’d be so outnumbered around here.

Well, that’s not for a while. I have to try not to get ahead of myself. I have so much to do now. I’m glad that I should be finished with school by the time the baby is born. Assuming, that is, that the due date is accurate.

I’m not going to have much leisure time for the next three weeks. Two weeks before finals, and I still have a couple of projects to work on this weekend. Then in January I start my last semester, and my internship. I’m so glad that I’m feeling better. Wanting to barf constantly during class made it hard to concentrate, I’ll say that much. I hope that the rest of my pregnancy is easy enough to not be distracting while I am so busy next semester.

I look out the window at Jonathan and Gabe. They seem to be doing ok, and it’s an hour or so before I need to make lunch. So I guess I should take advantage of the opportunity to get a little studying done.

I pull out my textbook and a highlighter, and start reading my assignment.

Brad

“I’m home!”

I kick my shoes off and head into the kitchen. I’m home a little earlier than I expected to be today. The store was quieter than we thought it would be, so I got off by the mid-afternoon.

Stefanie is sitting at the table studying. She looks up and gives me a smile. I see through the window that Jonathan has Gabe over, and they’re out playing tetherball in the back.

I come over to Stef and lean down to give her a kiss. “Hi darlin’, how you doing?”

“Good,” she says. “The boys have been playing out back most of the day, so I’ve been able to get some studying done.”

I sit down at the table across from her. “While they’re still out there, there’s something I want to ask you. I was talking to my manager at work, and she gave me a really good idea. Or I think it might be a really good idea.”

“Yeah?” she says. “What is it?”

“Well, you know how we were wondering how Jonathan is going to react to being a big brother?”

“Yeah,” she says, looking perplexed at where I could be going with this.

“So, one of the things I have wondered about is whether he’s gotten so used to being an only child that it’ll be hard for him to do stuff like share. He’s never had to do anything for anyone other than himself.”

“Um, yeah,” she says, one eyebrow raised. I can tell she wants me to get to the point.

“Well, my manager gave me an idea. A way to help Jonathan learn how to take care of something, maybe get outside himself a little.”

She just looks at me and waves her hand, to tell me to go on.

“How about getting him a dog?”

She sits back, looking somewhat alarmed.

“Before you think you’re going to end up having to do a lot to take care of it, I promise you that me and Jonathan can do everything. All the walks and feedings and baths and whatever. I know you have a ton on your plate, so I’m not planning for this to be a new chore for you. I just think it might really help Jonathan get used to helping out, and learning how to take care of something. Before he becomes a big brother.”

Stef is silent, a thoughtful look on her face. “Hm. I don’t know.” She looks out the window at the kids playing in the back. “I think he’d like to have a dog. And yeah, you’re right that he could probably use some lessons in responsibility. We’ve never really required much of him.”

I smile at her and grab her hand. I can see her processing this, mulling it over in her mind. I wait.

“Well, maybe?” she says. “Like, what kind of dog? Where would we get it?”

I think she’s sold. It should be downhill from here. “I think we should take Jonathan to the pound, and let him pick out whatever rescue dog he wants. That way he’ll be really invested in it, and be more inclined to participate in taking care of it.”

She squeezes my hand. “Wow, Brad, you’ve really given this a lot of thought, haven’t you? And I think you’re right, letting him pick it out would be the way to get Jonathan to feel like it’s his responsibility. Maybe you should be the one studying psychology!”

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