Chapter 5
The graduation ceremony is a long three hours and as proud as I am of Tyler for earning his Master’s degree, I’ve been worrying about him the entire morning. The past couple days he’d woken up with an upset stomach, but today, whatever bug he was dealing with finally hit him full force. Jolting out of bed at about six a.m., Ty spent about thirty minutes hovering near or over the toilet. I did everything I could to help. The wave of nausea seemed to pass after a couple hours and he finally managed to keep down a few crackers and a bit of water.
When his name is finally called about forty-five minutes in, I stand and cheer, as does the rest of our family and friends. He looks over at us and beams. About ten minutes before the ceremony is due to end, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and see a text from Rachel.
Rachel: They accepted your offer. You got the house!
I can’t contain my smile. I was hopeful we would considering how much over asking price we offered. But with multiple offers from other buyers already submitted, I couldn’t risk not getting that house for Ty. That’s two good things so far today, the first being Ty graduating.
My phone buzzes again.
Rachel: I’ll get the paperwork going and be in touch. If all goes well, you should have the keys in about thirty days.
Me: Awesome. Thanks Rachel.
Rachel: My pleasure.
The ceremony wraps up and all the graduates are released. Ty spots me through the crowd and jogs toward me. I wrap him in a hug and kiss him before anyone else can get to him. “I love you, and I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks,” he beams. “I love you too.”
Tyler makes the rounds, hugging his mom, then my dad, and then the rest of our small group of family and friends. When he’s done, Ty circles back to me.
“You seem to be feeling better.”
“Right now, I feel fine. Matter of fact, I’m starving.”
“What do you want?”
“Honestly, I could go for enchiladas.”
“You got it. We’ll swing by Lito’s on the way home. Also, I have more good news.”
“What’s that?” he asks.
“We got the house,” I croon.
“We did?”
“Yep. Just got the text from Rachel a few minutes ago. Thirty days.”
Ty presses a kiss to my lips. “This day just keeps getting better.”
***
Tyler plops down on a barstool at the kitchen island and flips open the foam container filled with a double order of red cheese enchiladas. With the plastic fork and knife already in his hands, he slices in and takes a bite. “Mmm. So good.”
“You seem to be feeling better,” Lydia says as she washes up the remaining dishes from breakfast.
“That’s what I said earlier.” I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and twist off the cap.
“Tons better,” Ty mumbles, covering his mouthful of food. He swallows the bite in his mouth. “It’s just the mornings lately. Today was the worst though.”
“Mornings, huh?” Dad says, a weird smirk on his face as he carries a small bag of raw potatoes to the sink. “Seems odd, wouldn’t you say, hon?”
Dad cuts the bag open and grabs the peeler from the drawer. He grabs a used plastic grocery bag from the pantry and spreads it open in the sink then proceeds to skin the potatoes.
“Sounds like morning sickness to me,” Lydia says.
