Page 45 of Sugarplum Dreams
“I think that’s a good idea. To make kids learn to play an instrument. Just like we make them go to school. There are far worse things they could learn, and probably are learning, in school than to have to sit in a music class for half an hour a day practicing an instrument. In fact, I would say there aren’t too many better things that they could be doing with their time.”
“Can’t say that I disagree with you on that one, and I kind of wish that’s the way it would have been when I was going to school. But that ship has sailed for me.”
“For me, too. But we can make the kids learn to play instruments if you want to.”
They had carried the last load of groceries in and stood at the table, facing each other as he said that last statement, and she realized he was serious.
“Who would give the lessons?” And then she looked around. “I don’t even have a piano.”
“I have my grandmother’s piano in here. So don’t let that stop you.” He ran a hand over his hair. “I don’t know if I should be suggesting it though, when I didn’t do it as a child even though I had the opportunity.”
“I can’t imagine a kid not wanting to learn to play the piano. I would have jumped on that with both hands if I would have had someone offering to give me lessons.”
“I guess it’s just different interests. Although, every once in a while, I regret not learning.”
“So… Do you think it’s worthwhile to make our kids do it?”
“I know that some people would say that you should allow the child to guide you and let them do what they’re interested in, but there is a certain amount of discipline that it takes to learn to play, and it develops your character. I guess… If you’re for it,I’m down for it too. Although, I’m not sure I’m down for all five of them learning at one time.”
“That’s two and a half hours of practicing each day. Two and a half hours of constant piano noise in the background.”
Some days, it was all she could stand to listen to the kids chattering in the background, and by the time they went to bed, she was so ready for the peace and quiet she could hardly stand it.
“You’re going to be the one who has to listen to it. Are you going to be okay with it?”
She couldn’t believe that he was giving her the option. Just like he had given her his wallet.
“Oh! Here, before I forget.” She took his wallet out of her pocket and handed it over.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to see that again or not.”
“Really?” she asked, and they grinned at each other.
“It’s yours anytime you want it. I guess we should talk about a budget and our expenses and that kind of thing, because I do kinda try to watch, but… It’s not like we have to pinch pennies, because we don’t.”
“Well, if you tell me what the budget is and the expenses that we have, I am perfectly okay with it. I shouldn’t have much of anything, since my car is paid for, and… The house is not, but if we sell it, then that’s out of the picture, and there’s nothing else other than insurance and the phone bill.”
“We’ll have two bills until we sell the house too, but yeah. We’ll sit down sometime and talk about it. I didn’t want to overwhelm you when we were first married. There are a lot of things for both of us to get used to. Combining a family isn’t easy.”
“You are the one who had to make the most adjustments. I was used to the constant noise and chaos of five children. It was probably a bit of a wake-up call for you.”
“It just took me back to my childhood.” He looked around the kitchen. “I think it’s going to be really nice having that kind of noise in this old house. I got a little lonely, and it definitely seemed quiet at times.”
“Sometimes I crave quiet,” she admitted. And then figured she probably shouldn’t, because it was going to be a long time until her life had any semblance of quietness in it again. A long time.
“I get that. I guess I’m more of an extrovert. But I think Terry especially sometimes was overwhelmed with all the noise in our house, because she’s more of an introvert.” He paused for a moment and then looked at the stuff on the table. “How about I show you where all this stuff goes? And then, you can rearrange the kitchen at your convenience. Actually, you can rearrange anything in the house if you want to. It’s ours, not mine.”
“I don’t want to come in and upend everything that you’ve done.”
“I want you to feel at home. And if that means that you need to rearrange some things, then that’s the way it needs to be. I don’t have anything that’s so precious that it can’t be moved. You’re more important than anything I own.”
He said it so casually as he grabbed some of the dry goods and started talking about where he put them in the cupboard. She followed along, listening, figuring that she probably wouldn’t move anything to begin with and just try to get used to his system. But she appreciated his consideration, the fact that he made sure that she knew that she was more important, and while she supposed that some people might have just been saying that to sound good, she knew that Wilson actually meant it.
She thought again about what his mother had said about him being the golden child, the one that everything always came easily for, and who never really had to work for anything.Sometimes that could make a person spoiled, inconsiderate, assuming that everyone else should be as good as they were or there was some merit of their own which gave them their ability to turn things from nothing into a success. But Wilson seemed to have remained humble despite it all. Maybe it was whatever had gone down with his dad. She heard different people saying that that had been hard, and maybe that was what had forged his character into the strong, upright person he was today.
Whatever it was, she appreciated it and felt like she was benefiting more than she should have, as she usually did when she spent time with Wilson.
Would she ever feel like she deserved him? And better yet, would she ever feel like he wanted her as much as she wanted him?
