Pushing Forward (Sequel to An Unlikely Duo)

Epilogue

SIX YEARS LATER

I brushed a spider web out of my hair before shining my flashlight around the dark elevated storage space in front of me.  The old creaky ladder I was precariously standing on groaned in protest as I leaned forward to push one of the many cardboard boxes aside.

Twenty eight years old and dark musty areas still gave me the chills.  Granted ten o' clock at night probably wasn't the best time for this, but free daylight hours were short and rare. 

I was in the third year out of my surgical residency and the permanent bags under my eyes were a clear sign of how it was going.  I loved my work, I did, and I loved the people I worked with, but it was all so draining.  Even if I wasn't working the night shift I still rarely got home before seven or eight.  That was when the rest of my life began.

I had finally spotted the box I was looking for when I heard my name being called from upstairs. 

"I'm coming Marcus, just give me one second.  I'll be right up" I called up as I carefully stepped down from the old ladder. 

We'd been living in this house for almost two years and still had yet to unpack all of our things.  The essentials were obviously unpacked and carefully organized, this was partially my house we were talking about after all. 

It was all the nonessentials that had yet to emerge from the copious number of cardboard boxes shoved haphazardly into the basement crawlspace.  Photo albums, scrapbooks, souvenirs from our rare vacations when I was lucky enough to steal myself away from the hospital.  The things that would finally make this feel like home, those were what I was looking for.

We both knew that my job forced me to spend as much time at the hospital as I did at home, but I was lucky to have found a guy that understood and helped me balance my career and home life.

"Marcus what's wrong?" I asked when I climbed up the steps, walked down the hallway, and through a doorway and saw him standing there just staring at me.  It was one of those moments that hit me and had me wondering how it was possible to love someone so much. 

A part of me ached seeing the unhappiness on his face.  Loving someone that much meant that their happiness and pain were linked to yours. 

The worry lines returned to my forehead again, as they did with more and more frequency lately.

I began to spin my wedding ring around my finger, a nervous habit I'd had since the wedding three years ago. 

I pulled Marcus into a hug and waited for him to tell me what had him in such a state.

"I miss Daddy" Marcus cried as he wrapped his arms around my neck, being sure not to drop his blanket in the process.  The railing that lined his crib stood in between us.

"Buddy it's way past your bedtime.  I told you, Daddy won't be back from his business trip until very late.  He'll be here to see you in the morning I promise" I unwrapped my little one year old son's hands from around my neck and laid him back down in his crib.  I grabbed the baby monitor I had forgotten earlier, thankful that I had heard his cry from all the way down in the basement.

"Night Momma" he mumbled around his pacifier as his eyes drifted shut.

"Night buddy" I carefully closed his door and returned to the musty crawl space in the basement.

When I finally found the box I was looking for, I took it up to our small family room.  I sat on the floor with my legs tucked under me and a glass of wine on the table next to me before opening the box.

I felt a hand shaking my shoulder a few hours later.  Startled, I jolted to a sitting position, hand clutching my chest.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" he chuckled at my appearance.  Hair everywhere, I must have fallen asleep in the middle of sorting through the box because there was a picture stuck to my face.