Feel Like Makin' Love (Rock and Roll Trilogy #3) (15 page)

~ ~ ~

“I don’t know why we have to look really; it’s just like Matt and Carlee’s, but I guess we gotta check it out for cosmetic stuff and make sure it’s OK. I know the price is right. I called my attorney and had him look into it,” Andy rambled.

“
I have money too, you know," Geni said when they were on the way.

“Yeah, but if
we buy it together you’re stuck with me,” he laughed.

“You’d be stuck with me too,” she said apprehensively.

“I think that’d be a good thing.” He looked her way and smiled. She made him happy. He hadn’t felt that kind of happy in a long time. He was thinking about the conversations he’d had with Marco and how he’d called him a ‘chicken-shit,’ and he said a quick prayer for guidance.

They
arrived and looked around the flat. They liked what they saw - it was a reverse floor plan of Carlee and Matt’s on the ground floor. Together they made a cash offer. The owners accepted, and the fact that he was ‘Andy Stevens’ helped with their desire to close the deal quickly.

~ ~ ~

When they returned to the hospital, Tamara was in the room. “We were just discussing discharge plans. I decided to wait until Saturday,” she said. “She’s doing extremely well, but this will give us a chance to complete the preliminary things we need in order to start the radiotherapy. And,” she added, “it will give you about two weeks of good rest,” she said to Carlee.

“We’ll start radiation the first week in January,” she explained to the others. “That will give her a chance to enjoy Christmas.
 We are working on a schedule but having a little snarl with appointment timing,” she said looking at Matthew.

“Dan will cover my classes, I’ve already talked to him,” Matthew said.

“No,” Andy said, firmly. “We’re sticking around, going to White’s tomorrow. We can all work together to make this happen. Tamara, do what’s best for Carlee, and we’ll work it out.”

“You guys need to go home,” Matthew protested.

“You,” Geni said, emphatically, Mama Bear mode taking over, “need to work. We’re a family, and this will be a family project. We need to get back to as normal as possible,” she said.

After the doctor left
, Geni handed Carlee the bag. She pulled the pajamas out of the bag, happy with the contents. Andy scooted a chair close to Carlee and whispered in her ear, “You’re getting new neighbors.”

“
Where?” Carlee asked.

“The next building down on the ground floor,” Andy said.

“How do you know?” Carlee asked.

“Because we bought it,” Geni said.

“We?” Carlee said.

“Figured it
’d be cheaper than White’s in the long haul, and it’s a place to stay when we come to visit after this is over,” Andy said.

“We?” Carlee repeated.

“Do they have to draw you a picture, Carlee?” Matthew laughed.

“You knew Andy wouldn
’t leave. I want to help. And,” she looked at Andy, “I don’t want to leave either.”

~ ~ ~

“Geni, you said something yesterday that I want to make sure we’re on the same page about,” he told her as they lay in bed that night. She turned to face him, waiting for what would follow.

“What’d I say?” she asked.

He pulled her closer; lifting her hair he nuzzled the back of her neck, heard her breath hitch, and whispered in her ear. “We aren’t ‘shacking up’ when we move to the flat.”

She looked at him, anxiously waiting.

“We’re building a relationship.”

“We are?” she asked.

“I hope so. Geni, this means something to me. I’m ready for the next step in our relationship.”

“What does that mean, Andy?”

“It means I have feelings for you and I want to move forward, as a couple.”

“What kind of feelings
?” she asked.

He pushed back to look at her with a big smile. “You aren’t going to make this easy are you?”

“What kind of feelings?” she asked once more.

“The road goes to and from,” he said, still smiling. “Where do you see this going?”

“You started this conversation, Andy Stevens; you finish it, and I’ll initiate my own.”

“I want to explore what comes next.”

“Why?”

“Geez, you aren’t going to cut me one ounce of slack, are you?” he chuckled.

“I don’t think so,” she replied. “There’s too much that’s important that we need to be clear on.”

“OK, Geni Davis, I love you.”

Before he had the last word out of his mouth, she rolled closer in his arms. “I needed to hear you say it because I was scared. All I could think about while I was gone was that I hated the days without you. And then I realized that I didn’t want to be without you. Ever. This situation with Carlee, being with you, sleeping in your arms… it’s all made me realize that I want to be with you.”

“Why?” he asked and smiled.

“Because I realized several days before I left that I was falling in love with you. When I got home I realized that it was past ‘falling;’ I was drowning in it.”

“And?” he grinned.

“I love you.”

~ ~ ~

Saturday morning after she’d had breakfast, Carlee asked Matthew to help her into the pajama pants that went with the shirt she was wearing. Hatchet came in and saw her dressed.

“Can I go see Kyliejo?”
she asked.

“Sure! Let’s get you in the chair; Ross said he’d be down later to take you for a walk.
” Hatchet and Matthew helped her into the chair, and Matthew rolled her down the hall. He knocked lightly and eased the door to Kyliejo’s room open a bit. “Come in,” Johanna Smithson told them. Kyliejo immediately saw the bag with a Christmas angel on it and sat up, bright-eyed.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Carlee said. “I was bored the other day and I went shopping…”

“You got to leave?” Kyliejo interrupted.

“Are you kidding?” Carlee laughed. “I shopped from my bed!” She handed the bag to Kyliejo
, and she tore through the paper, whipping the pajamas out, casting the bag aside in a flash.

“
They’re so pretty! I love them!”

“Yellow is my favorite
color – it always makes me think of sunshine!” Carlee replied. “They’re like the pink ones you had on the other day. I found yours on the internet, and these were pictured beside them. I think I got the size right; you aren’t much smaller than me!”

“Mum?”

Carlee understood what was about to happen and motioned for Matthew, asking him to step out a moment. As soon as he was out the door, Johanna helped her into the new pajamas.

“I just had a bath
, and I want these on!” Kyliejo said excitedly.

Once they were on, Kyliejo
yelled, “Matthew you can come back in!” The nurse followed him in room.

“What’s this yelling?” she smiled.

“Look!” she replied motioning to the pajamas.

“Cute
!” the nurse replied.

“I want to look in the mirror!”

“You have Ross’s OK to get out of the bed. You know what you need to do,” Johanna said.

A few minutes later, she was standing in the bathroom peering into the mirror. “Cute!” she yelled as she stepped out. She threw her arms wide and posed with the brightest smile Carlee had ever seen.

“Wait! Don’t move!” Matthew said. “Can I take a picture?”

“Of course!” the little girl said sarcastically, followed by a giggle. “I’m like a supermodel!”

“Well, I’m a photographer, miss supermodel, so work it!” They all laughed as she posed and Matthew snapped off several pictures with his phone.

“She’s going home tomorrow,”
Johanna told Carlee.

“I’m hoping the same for me.
It’s been two weeks; I’m ready to sleep in my own bed!” She winked when Matthew turned to give her a smile. “Do you have something to take my number down?”

“Like she’d allow us to leave without it,”
Johanna laughed motioning to Kyliejo who was heading back to the bed.

“I can call and check on you and make sure you are doing OK, right?”
she asked.

“Of cours
e you can! We’re friends, right?”

Kyliejo went to
Carlee and wrapped her arms around her neck in a hug. “Best friends! Thanks for the jammies, I love them!”

“You are so welcome. I love them too!”

“We should go,” Matthew said.

~ ~ ~

As they headed back to her room, Carlee looked up, and Ross was headed toward them. He held his hand out in front of him and motioned for them to stop.

“Outta the chair! I just got word that you will be going home tomorrow
, and we’ve got some more steps to get in before I can sign you off!”

“My pleasure!”
she squealed as Ross helped her up.

“Let’s walk with you pushing the chair for a few minutes to make sure you are steady.
”

They did a lap around the floor and then Ross motioned for Matthew. “Take her hand and go slow
ly, but let’s get another lap in.”

“I love holding her hand,” Matthew said with a big smile. She leaned into him
, and he gave her hand a squeeze.

As they made their lap, they passed Andy and Geni
. They’d been gone all day, and Carlee was excited for Andy to see her.

“Home. Tomorrow! So thrilled
!” she said.

~ ~ ~

He and Geni had been at the flat all day, cleaning and preparing for Carlee’s return. Geni washed sheets and towels so they were fresh. She dusted and cleaned everything in sight. And she packed their things. Andy had a reservation at White’s so they could allow Carlee and Matthew to be home alone for her first night back. They, too, would be alone, and Geni was anxious.

Andy went through
the flat, finding and fixing anything that would make it easier for Carlee. He made several trips to ASDA to change out the showerhead to a handheld, and he installed hand holds in the shower. Matthew called Deb and Michael, and for the second year in a row, he enlisted their help to surprise Carlee with a Christmas tree. Matthew told Andy where her family ornaments were stored, and Deb and Michael got busy.

~ ~ ~

Sunday, when she was packed, ready to leave the hospital, Hatchet came to push the wheelchair to the front of the building, where they met Matthew.

“I know it wasn’t
a pleasure for you, but in spite of all of this,” she said. “It has been a pleasure caring for you the past two weeks.”

Carlee
was hugging her as Matthew came around to open her door. She noticed tears in Danni Matchett’s eyes. “Stop that! You aren’t getting rid of me; I’m just going home. I have your number. Better circumstance would have been my choice, but I couldn’t have asked for a better caregiver. ‘Cept for maybe this fine hunk,” she said, and Matthew blushed.

“Danni Matchett,
I love you,” Carlee said, working hard to keep her own emotions under control as she hugged her good-bye.

“Wait, wait, wait,” she said in
a sarcastic reply. “Did you just call me by my name?”

“I did,” Carlee laughed. “Hatchet was only when you were the nurse
. Now you’re my friend…” She felt tears rushing to her eyes and turned to Matthew and said, “Let’s go home before I start blubbering!”

She looked at Hatchet, who replied with tears in her eyes, “Too late
for me.”

Chapter Ten

When they arrived at the flat, everything was neat and clean, and there was a room full of people Carlee loved. She took a moment to take it all in. Michael and Deb were there with a Christmas tree, decorated and waiting. Andy’s Christmas music played in the background. Cook and Adrian were there and had prepared meals to fill the freezer. She was home, and she couldn’t be happier. She’d been away for too long. 

December 16,
9 days ‘til Christmas, and I am finally here.

“
One of these days I’ll get to decorate a tree of my own,” she laughed. “Oh, my gosh - I’m so happy!”

~ ~ ~

That evening, Andy and Geni went to White’s, and Carlee and Matthew were alone for the first time in a while. “Matthew,” she said.

“Yes, my love?”

“Can I tell you that home is the best place I can imagine to be in the whole world?” she said as he wrapped her in is arms. 

Tamara
had given the OK for a shower and a shampoo, and after everyone was gone, Matthew got everything ready. Their bathroom had a walk-in shower, and Andy had bought a shower chair for her and a hand-held shower nozzle. After she was settled in the chair, Matthew stepped in to join her. She sat while he gently, lovingly, shampooed her hair, careful to avoid the surgery site. He got the washcloth soapy with her favorite gel and started washing her body. As his hands roamed, her breath hitched.

“This is nice,” Carlee told him and he
leaned to kiss her – a kiss that was full of passion.

“I liked that shower in the hospital so much,” he laughed. “This is even better. I’ve missed this – missed us,” Matthew said, and she smiled.
He turned the water off and dried her body, and then she went and crawled onto the bed. She sat with her legs crossed in the middle of the bed, naked. Matthew got the hair dryer, and as she dried her hair she watched as he got pajamas for her.

“Matthew, she said. “I love you.”

“I love you, right back,” he said, using one of her expressions. She wore nothing but the pajama top, and it wasn’t buttoned. It fell open as he eased her back and stretched out beside her, allowing his hand to lightly brush her stomach.

“
Tamara said it was OK. I asked her,” she smiled, pulling him closer. “Who knows how I’ll feel as the treatments progress.”

“
I asked too,” he said with a big smile. “She gave me one rule.”

She laughed as he flipped a condom out of the drawer beside the bed. “Birth control or not, we have to use this. ‘No chances, not now,’ she told me.”

Gently, his hands roamed. His touch was soft as he appreciated her body, loving that she was home, not away in a hospital bed. He raised her body above his and they made love…

~ ~ ~

Andy and Geni checked into White’s and settled in. He poured them a glass of wine and joined her on the sofa. Quiet time passed; they both had things on their minds – Carlee, the decision to buy the flat, and each other. That night they shared a bed, but they only slept. Andy held Geni in his arms and whispered in her ear. “I don’t want the first time we make love to be in some cheap hotel,” he said and Geni laughed. “I want to wait until it’s our bed, but I gotta tell ya, I’m ready; I can’t wait.”

“Me too,” she said and curled tighter in his arms.

~ ~ ~

In the next few days, Andy found a car to purchase and returned the rental.
 He and Geni shopped for the basic necessities they needed to get a start on their place while they waited for move-in day. They picked out what they needed: a bed and basic household items, a dining room table, but no furniture for the living room until they had a chance to really shop. They were at Matthew and Carlee’s most of the time anyway. But mostly, they gave Carlee and Matthew the space and time they needed to prepare and adjust. 

Finally, on December 22, with what they needed in place, they left White’s. That night with the things they’d purchased delivered and
arranged, Geni was putting the sheets on the bed.

Andy stood, lean
ing against the doorframe watching her as she fussed. He watched as she worked to get the sheet corners just so, and he smiled. She was nervous.

Finally, she turned and saw him watching her. “Just getting the bed ready,” she said nervously.

“What about you?” Andy asked.

“Me?”

“Are you ready?” he asked in a low voice and saw her shiver. He smiled at her nervousness.

“Ready?” she repeated, more a question than a reply. “I guess this is ‘soon
,’” she said.

“I hope so,” he replied. Detecting that she was more nervous than he’d anticipated, he lay on the bed without undressing and patted the place beside him.

She lay beside him, and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head.

“There is no time-table, Geni. ‘Soon
’ is when you’re ready.”

“I’m ready, it’s just that
…” she paused, and he saw her trying to gather her thoughts. “It’s just that it’s been a really long time, and I’m nervous.”

“Then let’s just see what happens.” He pulled her closer and held her in his arms. His hands found their way around her body with a feathery touch. He kissed and caressed, and Geni did the same.

Finally, Geni leaned back to look at him, and like an out-of-body experience, her trembling fingers opened the buttons on his shirt and pushed it away. “I’m ready,” she said, in a soft whisper of a voice.  The two of them found each other in a common place, and they made love.

When Geni finally fell asleep, Andy held her, thinking that it was time, their time
, to move on – together.

~ ~ ~

The next morning when Andy woke, Geni was already out of the bed. Coffee was made, and she’d been putting things away that they had purchased. She was nesting, and Andy loved seeing it.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Yes, it is,” she said as he pulled her to him in a hug.

“Thank you,” he said and she looked at him in question. “For being here, with me,” he added.

“At this moment, I can’t imagine anywhere else in the world that I could possibly feel this happy.”

He looked at his watch; “Is it too early to call and see how she’s feeling?”

It was 7:30. “Just a little,” Geni laughed.

“Then come with me,” Andy said, and led her back to the bed.

~ ~ ~

Christmas morning Andy and Geni went to Matthew and Carlee’s. Carlee felt excited – proud as a peacock standing in the kitchen. “Good morning! Merry Christmas!” she said as they entered.

“Wow, something smells good!” Andy said wrapping her in his arms.

“It’s eggs, and bacon, and sausage, and cheddar cheese, and gruyere cheese, and sourdough bread!” she said in a happy voice, ticking the recipe items off in her head.

“That’s a lot of ‘ands,
’” he laughed.

“
We went to the grocery yesterday, and I put it all together last night. You let it sit overnight and then bake it – something I knew my papa would like. Oh, and as Hatchet would say, ‘the hubs too,’” she laughed, and Andy thought the sound was glorious.

He looked closely at her - always a beauty in his eyes –
but this morning there was something different. She’d swept her hair deeper to the side to cover the surgical site and held in place with a rhinestone clip, but that wasn’t it. She was wearing make-up for the first time in weeks, and she looked flawless, but he didn’t think that was it either. She wore slim black slacks and a shirt of azure that seemed to be made just for her. She was getting breakfast ready for them, but she was wearing the cuff bracelet that Matthew had given her for her birthday, along with the earrings she’d worn at the wedding. And then he looked at her feet and smiled – she was wearing a pair of yellow fuzzy slippers that she’d had forever. He watched her a moment more and realized that she was just happy, and it made her glow. He saw Matthew watching him out of the corner of his eye and turned to him with a smile.

Matthew knew his thoughts
, because as many times as he had looked at her in their time together he could only remember once when she looked more beautiful… their wedding.

Geni had the ingredients for mimosas and looked to Matthew for guidance.

“She’s on no meds through the holiday; Tamara said to let her celebrate!”

Andy popped the cork on the champagne
, and Geni found a pitcher and mixed. Andy took out crystal glasses from the hutch, and Geni rinsed them and filled the glasses while Matthew removed the casserole from the oven and carried it to the table. Finally, they sat down to eat.

Andy raised his glass and said, “To health and happiness.”

Matthew raised his and said, “To my beautiful wife being home.”

Carlee took her turn and said, “To love and all that it means.”

Geni simply said, “To life.”

“Here, here
!” they all said.

Andy took a bite of the casserole and made one big yummy noise
, and Carlee laughed.

~ ~ ~

Later they moved to the living room, and Matthew helped her get settled on the sofa. They all noticed that she moved slowly and tired easily, so getting her in a comfortable spot was key. They began to open gifts. Geni gave Carlee a box full of scarves meant to cover the place they’d shaved on her head.

“I love them,
” she said when she found a variety of colors and designs inside the box. “I’ve had a time trying to cover it, and after a while, the clips give me a tad of a headache.” She took a scarf that had the same blue as her shirt in it and removed the clip from her hair, tying the scarf around her head like a headband.

“Beautiful!” Matthew said.

Andy took Carlee a small jewelry box to her to open. The label read,
To Matthew and Carlee
. She opened the box, and Andy noticed the trembling fingers that removed the contents.

“Papa,” she said with a voice that matched the fingers that trembled as she spoke. “The mizpah charms.”

He looked at her, and the smile on his face was bittersweet.  Carlee began to cry. Geni looked on and saw the chain Andy had worn since she’d known him, the necklace she’d seen dangle from his neck as they’d made love the first time and then noticed it missing the next time.

“I thought it was something that would mean something to you, a sentiment to share with Matthew
; I should have given it to you when you were in the hospital,” he said and shot a glance Geni’s way. “But since Matthew never left, it seemed to be a misplaced thought.”

Carlee sat quietly, having her own bittersweet moment. She knew how special th
is gift was, but she also knew that it meant he was ready to move on. She didn’t think it meant that he was leaving her mama behind, just that he was ready to move forward.
Finally,
she thought.

She looked deeper;
there was a more delicate chain in a small bag. She took the heavier chain and slipped one of the halves of the charm off the heavy chain. She turned to place the heavier one around Matthew’s neck. “I love you, forever,” she whispered in his ear as she hugged him. She handed him the one meant for her, and he slipped it around her neck and said, “I love you right back.”

She
rose and went to where Andy was sitting and dropped into his lap, her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer. “Sweet girl,” he said and paused, “Woman…” he nuzzled her neck, and they held each other a moment. Andy felt her giving him permission to love again.

“I love you
, Papa.”

~ ~ ~

Matthew seemed anxious for her to open his gift. As she watched him, she remembered the Butterfly Camp book from their first Christmas. Finally, he went behind the tree and pulled out a large flat package. She watched him and noticed that it seemed heavy.
A picture
, she thought.

He
placed it in front of her, and she looked up at him. “Well, pull the paper off so you can see what it is,” he smiled.

She began ripping paper
, and suddenly a soft gasp escaped her lips. “Oh my goodness…” She sat a moment, her hand over her mouth, just gazing at the image before her. Andy and Geni were curious to see what it was that left her speechless, but they waited for her to share. It was something special, and they both knew it.

Matthew leaned to kiss her and
, with a big smile, whispered in her ear, “Are you going to share?”

Finally, she
nodded, and Matthew turned the picture around for them to see.