✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

130. All Change

Actually moving Spike's possessions into a new house didn't actually take too long. Ffrances drove them both back to Gabby's house, with about as many boxes as her car could hold. It would have been easier with Gabby driving, but Tess had already planned around that. Three boxes of stuff he needed for school would be delivered some time around noon by a next-day parcel service; and they knew that Gabby wouldn't be home at lunch time.

It turned out that the planned date was at a pretty fancy place, and Gabby called to ask if Ffrances could pick her up to drive there. In the circumstances it made sense; Gabby's truck would have looked so out of place at a high-class romantic restaurant. But everything still went smoothly; when Gabby was almost home, Ffrances went outside to meet her as if she'd arrived a little early, while Tess and Spike sat quietly in the spare room hoping that they wouldn't be noticed. Gabby rushed upstairs, and they could hear the nursery door open for some reason, but that was only for a second before Gabby bounded up to her own room, and shortly afterwards she was rushing out of the front door. Ffrances texted them when they were safely away, and then Tess and Spike had the house to themselves until the remaining boxes of stuff appeared.

"Three boxes?" Tess asked, looking at the two that had fitted in Ffrances's car earlier. "This is really all your stuff? I had so much, I needed a proper moving truck. It was almost impossible to get everything in."

"There's not much that I can say is mine. And anything I own gets ruined anyway. No privacy at h– back there." he corrected himself.

After a brief break for lunch, it turned out that 'not much' even meant he didn't have his own bedding or toiletries. Tess was trying to think of a way they could get to the shops and pick up some stuff to make his new home feel more like a home; but he insisted that everything was fine.

"I've got the soap you got me at the hospital," he said. "That's good enough. And I'll pay you back for it. Or if you don't mind sharing, I know there's stuff in the bathroom. Sheets on the bed. Something more personal can come later."

"You sure? I'd think you should have at least something to make the room feel like it's a home. I mean, right now it feels more like a hotel room. A little grey box. I know what it's like waking up here, and it can be a bit depressing some days."

"You sleep in the spare room?"

"I have done. Sometimes my room... You've seen it now, haven't you? All the nursery stuff gets a bit much sometimes. I've been staying in the spare room for the last few days... well, the days before Pine Ridge. Just so I've not got all these reminders of how much Gabby wants me to be a little kid. I prefer the grey sometimes, but I can cope with all the baby stuff if I have to. Don't worry, it's not like having a boring grey room is something I actually need, it just helped me feel a little bit more like myself."

"If you ever need a break from the baby stuff..." he said, and then hesitated. Clearly not wanting to finish saying what had just crossed his mind. Tess couldn't even guess what had been on his mind; and then she understood.

"Were you going to say I could join you in the spare room?" she said with a little grin. "Well... it's your room now. And I know Gabby would be mad at that, but if you meant it, well..." Now she was the one blushing and unable to finish the thought.

"I don't think that's something I'd say," Spike answered. "But I think maybe I'm starting to understand why somebody would. And if I were going to say that to anyone, you'd be my first choice. Actually... I thought... Heck, you're going to think it's so selfish, when I couldn't even manage being a good Daddy for one afternoon."

"That time doesn't matter," Tess told him, and stepped closer on impulse to offer a hug. It was a little more awkward than it might have been, because she had to take extra care not to hurt him again, but his tentative response told him that he was happy to be held now. "It was your first time trying all that stuff, and reality isn't always close to your fantasies. But I hope one thing you took away from that is that I want you to be happy. I will try anything you want to do. Now, I might not be willing to do everything you can think of, but I'll try it once at least. You never know what you'll enjoy until you try it, right? And there are no bad ideas. If something doesn't work out, then at least we know. So... if there's something you wanted to do, anything at all, just say. It's not selfish until we're sure I wouldn't enjoy it too, and even then I'd wonder if we can both ask for something selfish occasionally."