Love Is Full Of Surprises

Chapter 9

Despite his father, Meryl and Don had a great time in Indiana, they were sure happy to be back in New York. Meryl loved meeting his Grandpa Walker and learned that Don was just like him and nothing like the ass who claimed to be Don's father. Don and Meryl arrived at their SoHo loft in the late afternoon two days after Christmas.

"Ahhh....home." He said walking in. "I sure have missed this place."

"Babe, we were only gone for 4 days." She pointed out as she sat their luggage down and they took off their coats.

"Yeah, but there's no place like home. I think I'm most comfortable here and in my studio. There was a time when I didn't like to come home to the loft and now I can't wait." He said.

"Oh, yeah?" She asked wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. "Is there a reason for that?" 

"There just might be." He smirked as he kissed her head.

"Come on, let's sit and relax on the couch." She said tiredly.

"No, I am going to unpack and make dinner." He said. The truth was after sitting that long on the plane and then in the cab his back was quite sore.

"Hun, that stuff can wait. We just walked in. I thought we could relax." She said.

"Yeah, but I'd rather get started. I'm also going to go down and get the mail. I'll be right back." He said leaving.

Meryl stood there perplexed. Did she do something? Everything was fine on the plane and in the cab. He even said those incredibly sweet things when they got home. She had no idea what happened, but there had to be a reason for him to not want to relax with her. She took their luggage into the bedroom and laid it on the bed, so he didn't have to lift them. She came back out when she heard the door and saw him sifting through the mail.

"Anything exciting?" She asked.

"No, not really. Luckily there are hardly any bills." He said making her laugh.

"Well, that is nice for a change." She said snuggling up to his side.

"I'm gonna go unpack." He said laying the mail on the coffee table and headed into the bedroom.

Meryl's heart sunk, he was definitely avoiding her. But why? She didn't know. "Don, what did I do?" She asked following him into the bedroom.

"What?" He asked. "Why would you think you did anything?" He asked her confused.

"Well, ever since we got home it's like you're avoiding me. You don't want to sit with me, you just want to do household chores. We just got home from a long day of travel, I thought we could relax together." She said hurt.

Don immediately felt bad. He was trying to protect her, but he ended up hurting her. "Come here, babe." He said reaching his hand to her and pulling her to sit on the bed. "I didn't want to relax or cuddle on the couch because I don't want my back pressed against anything."

It made sense. "Why didn't you say something?" She asked. "Have you taken anything?" She asked.

"Yeah, it got bad on the plane so I got some Tylenol out of your purse and took those while you were sleeping. It was just all those hours of sitting that got to me." He said.

Now it all made sense. After the altercation with his father Don didn't stay seated for long. They were always going on walks or doing something. If he was sitting down he slouched or sat up as straight as possible so his back didn't touch the chair or couch or car seat. Whenever they slept he spooned up behind her.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked running her fingers through his hair.

"I didn't want you to worry." He smiled.