Page 16 of Trevor

“I agree.I’ve been working, too, and every time I go there, I find myself napping at my desk for a few minutes.The computer is usually asleep when I wake but I keep telling myself that it’s because it just turned off.For all I know, I could be napping for an hour.”They both laughed, and he kissed her on her mouth.“I would love to sleep with you.And I’m just too tired enough that there will be no getting frisky, at least on the first few nights.I want a nice big bed and you to warm me up.”

Thanksgiving was tomorrow, and he was happy that his mom had told him not to make anything like the others were doing.Just getting back and forth and through the day was taking up most of his time.Cooking a side dish sounded like it was too much.But when he’d been home this afternoon after work, May, their cook, said that she’d talked to his mom, and she was going to make some macaroni and cheese for him to take over.It was the best news he’d heard all day besides getting to sleep with his favorite roommate.

That’s why he was glad that he was going to be going home after getting Henry and Anna setup.They’d hired a cook for them as well so that they didn’t have to work around that chore.Henry was nearly asleep before he was put in his bed, and Anna was out.He noticed that she was a heavy sleeper, and nothing could wake her up if they needed her.But the little bitty sound of the alarm on her phone could bring her right up out of the bed like she’d been tossed from it.It was the funniest thing for him to know.

“I’m exhausted.I don’t know that I can eat anything.”Trevor told Henrie that she’d better eat something, even if it was just a yogurt, or her body would wake her up before she was rested, and that wouldn’t do her the least amount of good.

So, the two of them ate a small sandwich and finished it off with a vanilla yogurt.Dragging themselves up the stairs to the master suite, he was happy that his house was finished and that they didn’t have to make their beds in order to get into it.

All he did was pull off his pants.They were dusty anyway and he didn’t want to get the bed dusty too.His tee shirt was on the floor near his pants.Toeing off his socks and shoes, he was crawling into the bed even as Henrie was coming out of the bathroom.Laying his head down on the fluffy pillow, he was closing his eyes even as his body began to shut down.Exhaustion reached up and slapped him unconscious.

He woke up once and was startled because he didn’t know where he was.As soon as Henrie rolled into his body, he closed his eyes and was out again.He’d had a thought to get up and go to the bathroom, but once he closed his eyes, he didn’t think it was worth getting all worked up about and went to sleep.

Trevor was alone in the bed when he woke up the next time.Henrie’s side of the bed was cold, so he knew she’d been up for a while.Also, he didn’t see the light on in the bathroom and got himself up and moving.Stretching, something that he loved to do when he got up, Trevor felt better than he had in a while.It wasn’t just the sleep, but the bed had helped as well.A new mattress could make all the difference when you were tired.

After taking a long hot shower, he dressed and went downstairs.The house was quiet, and while that didn’t bother him, it did make him wonder how much longer he’d been asleep than Henrie.As he was leaving the kitchen, looking for someone, he found an envelope with his name on it in the dining room.

“Hello, love.”He liked the sound of that and sat down to read the rest of the note.“Grandda wanted to get up and around today, so I went over to help him.I hope that now that he’s home, he doesn’t overdo it.I’m just there for moral support, not lifting him out of the bed.”She drew him several little hearts before she continued.“I love you, Trevor.I wanted to say that first.If I had gotten up and you weren’t home, I’d be nuts trying to find you.But I do love you.I’ll be home as soon as I can, or you can come over to the house and help grandda around.I think he just needs to feel like himself again.”Then she wrote, “Love you, H.”

Making his way to their home, he was excited about the snow that was coming down.Glad that he didn’t need to drive anywhere, he was happy to be able to walk to his parents’ home for dinner.As soon as he knocked on the door, he was happy that Henrie answered it.Kissing her on the mouth, then a second time just to make sure that she was happy, he went into the room and looked at the mess that had been strewn all around the living room since yesterday.It was everything that Henry had brought home, flowers and cards, a breathing machine to help him recover.There were blankets, too, that had been brought to Henry from home that needed to be washed up before being put away again.He picked up one of the larger boxes of plants and began distributing them all around the room.Just doing that took care of some of the things just lying about.

“Just leave those, Trevor.I’ll get to them later.”He told her that the flowers and such needed to be out of the boxes so they’d not die.“I never thought of that.To be honest, I can’t believe that so many people sent flowers and planters to the hospital for him.My goodness, I don’t know what I’m going to do with them all.”

“You could call my mom.She usually organizes things like this to take to shut-ins that don’t getpretty things like this.And planters can be broken down by her ladies’ committee and made into much easier things to care for.”She asked if he knew if she was busy.“Yes, today.It’s Thanksgiving.”

“Oh my, I completely forgot.Oh, I’m so sorry, Trevor.I don’t know that we’re going to make it.”Henry came out of the bedroom then and asked what they weren’t going to make.“Thanksgiving at the Strong house.I completely forgot about it.We’ll have to cancel.”

“We will not cancel, Anna.I’m not going to die anytime soon, and since I thought I was, I’ve decided that I’m going to be grabbing life with both hands and doing anything I can to become a vital part of the world.Even if it’s stuffing my gullet with food this time of year.”Henry looked at him.“You think your parents will be upset if we show up a little less formal?I might be too tired to get into my—never mind.I’m going to dress to the nines.Yes, sir.I’m grabbing all I can from the world and family while I’m still around to do it.Come on, Anna, let’s get ourselves all dolled up and have some fun.Trevor, you’ll help me, won’t you?Might need some help tucking me into my suit if it still fits.”

Henry lost some much-needed weight while in the hospital.The man was tall, so he could handle a few extra pounds, but today, he looked to him like an old man who had been through hell and back.Yes, he’d help him, and he was happy to hear that he was going to live his life with gusto, too.

They were a little early to his parents’ home.Mom nor Dad seemed to mind as he took the dish that he’d brought over to the kitchen.Setting it down on the counter to be cooked when it was time, he snagged himself some veggies off the platter that had a dip as well and went into the living room where his family was meeting.After hugging both his parents, he sat down next to Henrie.She was talking to her mom.

“You don’t have to do that.In fact, I’d rather you didn’t think of renting the place we wanted to give to you at all.I wanted you both close, and this is the best way for all of us.”Anna said that they might need it for a rainy day.“Grandma, I have enough money for several years of rainy days without you paying rent.Just enjoy being there so that when we have babies, I’ll know that I have you to depend on.Why don’t you think of it as free babysitting money for me?This way, I can know and depend on the two of you when I need a break.”

“Well, I’m going to put the money aside and give it to your children when they come along.I don’t suppose the two of you have popped any questions of late?I mean, it’s nearly the new year, and it would be nice to have something to plan for the summer months.”She said she thought they might get married at the courthouse.“No.Now, you’ll have a large wedding to celebrate life.I want you to send out hundreds of invitations, plan the food, and pick out a cake.And just so you remember, I have your mom’s wedding dress—no, that won’t do.You need your own style and dress.Yes, that’ll be the ticket.”

“How about we get married now in the courthouse and plan a large reception for when the warmer weather comes around.”Anna didn’t look like she was going to agree with that either, so he smiled at her.“If you make me wait until summer to sleep with your granddaughter, we’re going to be carrying our child in our arms when we go down the aisle.”

“Trevor Martin Strong.”His mom laughed when she said that.“You can be so crude when you want to be, I believe.But I can see your point.It would be difficult for you to wait that long since the two of you are already sharing a house.”

“He’s not getting frisky with me yet because of all the things that have been going on.”She looked at her grandda.“Do you think you can stay healthy for a few months and walk me down the aisle?I’m counting on the two of you.Grandma?You’ll have to be my matron of honor when we do this thing.If we do this thing.”

“What do you mean if?”Henrie told her that she just wanted to start her life with Trevor and have children that they could watch grow up.“And you won’t get married if you have to wait until summer?My goodness, child, you’d do that without the benefit of marriage?”

“Grandma, you’re living in the past.People don’t have to—I want to be his wife, but I can’t wait that long.I want to have children as soon as possible.I want to be large with child and feel it moving within me.Grandma, I want to be everything that you were to me when I came into thisworld.Grandda being ill scared me into thinking that there isn’t as much time as one hopes they can have.We’re all going to die, and I want people to say that I was a hell of a person and not who the hell was Henrie Strong anyway?Do you understand?”She nodded and wiped at the tears.“Don’t cry, Grandma.I want this to be the best life that I can have, and I want it to start as soon as possible.”

“I understand, and I should have thought about not having all that much time left to live.It scared me too, thinking that I was going to lose your grandda.Scared me…I was thinking the same thing, that if I could have some more time, I’d make it so that I left this world a better place than when I came into it.Yes, I understand.”Anna hugged Henrie then she hugged him.“You’ll be a good husband to her, won’t you, Trevor?Take care of our darling little girl for us?”

“I will make it my life’s work to make her happier every hour of every day.I’ll shower her with love and make sure she knows that I will love her more every day that we have together.”He got down on one knee after sliding to the floor and took Henrie’s hand into his.“I love you so much, Henrie.And I will forever and beyond.Will you be my wife so that we can start out life together now on this day?”

“Yes.Will you please be my husband, too?And let me pamper you in any way that you’ll let me and have lots of children with me?I love you so much, Trevor.”She kissed him when he slid the ring on her finger.“Oh, how beautiful.Where did you get this?It looks old.”

“It was my grandmother’s on my mom’s side.Mom got it all being an only child and she let each of us pick out what we wanted of the jewelry.She wasn’t a nice person and didn’t like us kids all that much, but we tolerated her over the years and that was about all I can tell you about her.Just a bitter old woman.”He pulled her up from the floor and held her to him.He winked at her.“We can arrange a marriage as soon as the day after tomorrow.If that’s all right with you.”

“Yes, perfect.”She kissed him this time, right on his mouth.“I love you so much, and I can’t wait to have your children and live out what I hope to be a long life with you.”

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