I stifled a giggle and pulled myself to my feet, feeling a little burst of energy. I could at least start packing up the bathroom. As I strode through the bedroom, I felt a little tinge of sadness that we were leaving this place I had only called home for a short while. This was where he brought me after my hospital scare, never leaving my side unless it was to get me a late-night craving from the corner store. This was where I said, “I love you.”
It was bittersweet to leave this tower, but I knew it had served its purpose. It had been our first home together, and now we were about to create a new one that would be where we brought our daughter home for the first time. I placed my hand on my belly tenderly, hoping she could feel my love in that moment, and always.
The next morning, after a sleepless night of tossing and turning, partly because I struggled to get comfortable, the movers arrived at 6 a.m. I yawned as I sleepily opened the door for them, Chandler behind me at the ready with a clipboard to ensure everything went smoothly. I laughed at him last night as he wrote out his list. Always the CEO, even when it came to moving. I pointed the movers in Chandler’s direction, where he began assigning tasks to these men who had probably been doing this for years.
Eventually, I pulled him and his clipboard away so the men could get to work on bringing the boxes down and packing the furniture. With an elevator and being on the top floor, it was going to be a long day. I plopped down on the couch with a mug of tea and rubbed my eyes sleepily.
“I miss coffee,” I grumbled.
“Couldn’t sleep?” asked Chandler, guiltily pouring himself a steaming mug of coffee.
“Nope.” I shook my head defeatedly. Even though Chandler had bought me practically every pregnancy pillow on the market. A donut. A worm. A U-shape. I still couldn’t sleep well. My legs were as restless as my mind, and I’d often get up to pace the apartment so as not to bother Chandler as he slept peacefully.
“Maybe we should try this new pillow. My mother saw it on the shopping network.”
“No more pillows, please.” I held my hand up and laughed. “We’ll be drowning in them. Plus, she will be here before you know it.”
“For more sleepless nights…” said Chandler warily.
I groaned. Chandler strode over and ran his hand through my tangled hair from all the tossing and turning. “You’ve got this, sweetie. I wish I could sleepforyou. When she’s here, I’ll get up and feed her and change her. Whatever you need.”
I looked up at him gratefully, wondering how I had found this man, and remembering how different he was when I first met him. It was almost laughable where we were now. This was the guy who left me to fend for myself, drenched in coffee on a busy street in Manhattan. Now, here he was telling me everything I wanted to hear and meaning it.
“Thanks, honey.”
“I better go check on the movers,” he said, picking up his clipboard from the coffee table and heading for the elevator where they had embarked to the parking garage just a few minutes before.
I spent the rest of the day packing up smaller items, while Chandler oversaw the movers and bigger items. It was exhausting just watching everyone, and I felt guilty for not contributing more. The movers and Chandler had insisted I post up on the couch, so I did for some time, just watching them move around me in a blur. Around lunchtime, we ordered two large pizzas for them to share and give them fuel to finish the rest of the apartment.
They finally wrapped up around 6 p.m., leaving Chandler and me in the empty apartment with the night sky as our backdrop through the large windows. I would miss the view the most. We stood in the middle of the living room, hand in hand, looking around the large, vacant room. It felt strange seeing it emptied out, and even the softest words echoed off the walls.
“Whatcha thinking?” asked Chandler, giving my hand a squeeze.
“How I’ll miss this place…”
“Really?” he asked in surprise.
“I know I wasn’t here very long, but…” I shrugged.
“We still made memories here,” he said, finishing my sentence.
“Mhmm.”
“It feels cold in here now.” I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, even though it really didn’t have anything to do with the temperature.
“Cold and empty.” He nodded.
“Kind of like you when I met you,” I joked, a smirk crossing my lips as I felt his gaze dart to me. He playfully poked me in the side, making me cry out.
“You didnotjust say that!”
I swatted his hand away and laughed loudly.
“It’s kind of true.” I shrugged.
“Well, you weren’t exactly a ray of sunshine either,” he muttered as he rolled his eyes.
“Look at us now,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder.
