Part Three
"Well?" I asked. Looking up, Daniel grinned at me displaying the contents in his mouth of what looked like Lucky Charms cereal.
"You sicko." I laughed and toussled his hair on the way to the refrigerator again. "Ah, we need food. Good food, like milk and eggs, and..."
"...and M&M's, chocolate, more Pepsi, chips too!" He interrupted.
Coming up from behind I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Don't know anything else but love me." He answered as the door rang. "Oh, can you get that dear. I have yet to finish my breakfast." He asked in an old fashioned gentelmen's voice.
I walked down the hallway and called back to him. "You are such a twit Daniel. Imagine having kids with you, what they would be like."
"Is that an invitation?" He asked laughing at the kitchen door.
"NO!" I yelled laughing. At the door I pulled it open to a stern faced suit in his early twenties. He looked at me and his eyes widened a little. Realizing I was only wearing a oversized men's shirt I stepped behind the door a little more to hide myself.
"Hello, can I help you?" I asked.
"Yes, is Daniel here?" He said, shifting his weight and looking confused.
"Uh, yea. I mean yes. Hold on a sec." I closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. I found Daniel at the sink. "Hey, there is a guy in a suit out there who wants to see you. He looks sorta confused."
"Oh," he said drying his hands, "the papers. For the house."
He hurried to the door and invited him in. "Hey, Mr. Stevens. Nice to see you again." They shook hands.
"You too. I see you've got a friend here." He said motioning towards me.
"Yes. Tara this is Mr. Stevens. Mr. Stevens, Tara."
"Phil." He said shaking my hand as well.
"Nice to meet you. Well, I'll just leave you two so I can go get dressed. Excuse me." I turned to Daniel and squeezed his hand before leaving.
Inside our room I finished dressing and picked up my hair brush, running it through my hair. I caught a glimpse of myself in thewall mirror, a small smile on my face. Pure happiness. This house was about to be Daniel's and I was going to be with him.
"I better not wake up anytime soon." I whispered to my reflection.
Putting down the brush I pushed my hair back and walked out to the kitchen. As I came in they both looked up. A low whistel came from Mr. Stevens. "I must be getting old," he whispered. Daniel looked up with teasing eyes. I gave him a slap on the head as I walked by.
"So, what's going on?" I asked sitting.
"Well, Phile here just gave me the papers to sign and now he just needs the original owner's signature. You know to make sure that they know I'm living here and that they agreed and all."
"Who else owned the house?" I asked slightly confused.
"No one. It was my father who bought it first. But now since he's gone it went to my mother. I need her to sign it now."
Ouch.
"But I was telling him that I have no clue on where she is..." He was interrupted by the phone ringing. "I'll get it."
I was left alone with Phil Stevens. I tried to think of something conversational to say, but nothing came to mind. So we just sat in silence.
"So how long have you been with Daniel?"
I looked up at Phil. "Oh, uh...off and on for a while. We had a rough beginning, but things are better now. What about you? A wife, kids?"
"Two kids, both girls. Cutest little things. They're with my wife in Arizona. We're divorced."
"I'm sorry."
He looked up and smiled. "No, it's all right. It was for the best anyway." His eyes wavered and I realized he was looking at something behind me. I turned around and saw Daniel shaking and holding on to the door frame for support.
"Jesus Daniel. What happened?" I got up and went over to him. "Who was on the phone?"
"My mother can't sign those papers Mr. Stevens," he said quietly, his face white, "she's...she's dead."
* * * *
The funeral was held a week later. I went with Daniel for support but he really didn't need any. Not once did he cry the whole time. Not when the call came, at the funeral or when we sat at home afterwards. He seemed more worried than upset.
We sat silently on the couch that afternoon. He leaned forward and cradled his head in his hands. "What am I going to do about this house?" He whispered.
I brought my head up. "You mean what are we going to do. We'll just find another way, that's all."
"But there is no other way. I mean, who can sign it now? Both of my parents are gone and there's no one else I can think of. I just don't know what else there is to do."
The wheels in my head began to turn as I remembered something I had learned a while back in some legal class I took. "Daniel, maybe you don't need to sign. The house could already be yours."
He looked up confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I jsut remembered something I learned in that Legal Systems class or something like that. It's a type of agreement where the person who signs for it leaves it to someone in case he or she dies. They must also choose a second person though, in case the first is unable to. Your father signed for it first and most likely left it to your mother. Or so you said. So he had to choose a second person and I'm guessing it would most likely be you since your the oldest! Where are the papers?"
"Phil has them."
"Well, let's go!"
"You're a very smart girl for figuring that out Dana, and you're correct. It's right in here. The house is Daniel's after he signs on the dotted line." Phil said smiling.
"YES!" I cried out jumping up. Daniel got up also and we danced around Phil's office like maniacs. I grabbed Daniel and planted a kiss on him and hugged him tight as he kept whispering, "Thank you, thank you."
"But hey," Mr. Stevens yelled laughing, "you still have to sign first!"
* * * *
"So," I asked later that day at home, "what exciting thing are we doing tomorrow?"
"Good question." Daniel answered letting go of my hand and getting up. Sighing I leaned my head back against the top of the couch and played with the ring on my finger. Daniel gave it to me a while ago, but when he left I put it away. Now that he was here and we were together, it never came off.
"Well," I said sitting forward, "we could always..."
"Do you realy love me?"
The question came so suddenly that I wasn't sure I heard him right. Do I really love him? I looked up at him curiously. He stared back at me not blinking. I waited for him to say something else, to explain why he was asking me this. After all, he was the one who had left me in a mess then decided to come back and 'fix' it all. But he didn't.
"Of course I do. Wht kind of qestion is that? If I didn't I wouldn't be here now would I?" I answered smiling.
He sat then looking upset and put his hands together. "This isn't funny. I'm not beig funny Tara. I need to know. This...you, us...it feels good, perfect. Too perfect and I want to make sure that it's going to last. I don't want it to be some dream that will end the second I wake up."
I grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes, turning serious. "You have nothing to worry about. I do love you, more than anything and that scares me to be honest. I have let in so many people only to be hurt, but you...you at least came back to fix it all and I love you so for that and that will never change." He looked over at me. "Never."
He smiled.
I glanced at the clock as the numbers slowly blinked 10:30. Finally. Looking over my shoulder I heard the heavy breathing of Daniel beside me. I leaned over and kissed his forehead before easing out of the bed and getting dressed quickly.
Outside in the car I pulled out of the driveway and headed to the all night grocery store down the street. I wanted to surprise Daniel with breakfast in bed tomorrow. I wanted to make him happy, at least for a while. He had had so many ups and downs lately...I was surprised he hadn't broken down from it all.
The parking lot was empty so finding a spot wasn't hard. The store was even more barren. It's 10:30 at night Tara, everyone is asleep. I walked up and down the aisles pulling things off shelves and throwing them in. After checking to make sure I had enough cash I headed to the register.
"That all?" the cashier asked grumpily. "18.53 please."
"Here you go.Thank you." I grabbed the bags.
"Yea, night."
The bags were full and very heavy so I fumbled with them to the door. Opening it was going to be hard. I reached for the handle but it opened from the outside and my keys slipped. I bent down to pick them up but a hand got there first. "Thanks." I said gratefully straightening up and getting a good look at the owner of the hand. I froze and so did he, then he smiled. "Tara?"
My face fell. "...David."
* * * *
