“I’ll be here,” I promise her. “We’ll all be here.”
Julia already has her cell phone’s camera pulled up by the time that the three of them reach us. We spend at least ten minutes taking a number of different photos, more than we’ll ever be able to do anything with, before we finally start the long trek out of the building and off of campus.
There are already several cars lined up in front of their house when we stop to drop them off. I’m not sure why that makes me feel so proud, too, but it does.
We’re not back inside our rental for more than twenty seconds before Tripp is half naked and kicking off his shoes. Mine follow after, resting neatly next to them. I’m more careful with my clothes, though, choosing to drape my jacket over the arm of the pillowed sofa in the common room rather than tossing it onto the floor wheresomeone’soxford now sits.
After changing into comfortable clothing of her own, Julia cooks us dinner – and by that, I mean that she throws three TV dinners into the microwave and Tripp and I pull them out when they’re finished, because she’s afraid she’ll burn her hands.
While we eat, my hand finds its way to my chest to press into the space above my heart.
Steady.
I don’t remember the last time there was a steady beat in my chest. Before my parents died, maybe.
It’s nice. It’s…quiet.
As our evening winds down and we ready ourselves to pack into the full-sized bed together, I offer a glance to the small grey device attached to the wall, my fingers flexing with the need to inspect. I shove the thought away, offering a smile to answer Tripp’s concerned expression.
“You can,” he tells me quietly, but I wave away his offer.
“No.” I throw one more glance to the device before looking back to him. “I need to…try not to. We’re okay.”
His hand finds its way to my hair to muss the strands that Julia spent too long neatly styling into place this afternoon. Light from the bedroom dims as the decorative lamp on Julia’s side of the bed is clicked off, leaving us bathed in a soft glow from the remaining light on the opposite side of the bed.
The corner of Tripp’s mouth pulls up, challenge meeting his eyes as he flicks them toward the open door ahead of us and back to me.
“I call middle, then,” he says.
Like a bolt, he shoots ahead of me before I can grab him. His launch onto the mattress is announced by athunkof its frame and a squealing giggle that rockets out of our wife’s chest. They’re barely settled when I finally step into the room, their bodies curling together, ignoring the bedding now balled at their feet.
Climbing into bed with them, I offer a squeeze to Julia’s hip before sliding my arm between their bodies, wrapping it tightly around Tripp’s chest.
I’m warm.
With them, I’m always warm.
Chapter 40
TRIPP
The opening and closing of a door forces my eyes to open.
The space where Julia was sleeping is empty. I reach for my phone to check the time, wincing against the screen’s glare before clicking off the power and letting my eyes close again.
It’s only a matter of minutes before another clicking sound pulls me out of the bed, where Connor is sleeping soundly and completely unaware. I’m pretty certain that, unless his alarm went off in the middle of it, the man could easily sleep through the next hurricane season.
My surroundings are still unfamiliar as I trek through the rental, the smell of fresh-brewed coffee permeating my senses, but I make my way out to the deck and push open the back door to find my wife sitting with her back to me.
Her hair is pulled lazily into one of those massive plastic clips that she always leaves laying around the house. When she pulls her knee up toward her body, I’m almost certain that I recognize the pattern of the extra pair of sleep pants that Connor packed.
“It’s three in the morning,” I comment, my voice thick with sleep as I carefully pull the door closed behind me.
“You’re up, too,” she teases.
Reaching forward, she pulls a ceramic mug from the table in front of her, taking a sip from it. I take it when she offers as I round the side of the loveseat, pulling in a drink of the nutty brew inside before handing it back to her.
My brow pinches when the soft glow of the moonlight offers sight of a red-tipped nose and glass-coated eyes.
