My LOVE is Forever (Book 4-1st Alternate Ending)

Part 32

After my emotional closure at Paisley Park yesterday, Tyka and Kirk were understanding when I just wanted to be dropped off at the house.  I went straight to bed as soon as I got home, and slept for almost 12 hours.  I wake not knowing if I should feel good about sleeping for that long or not. I blame it on emotional exhaustion coupled with pregnancy and blow it off, it's not something I do regularly.  

I'm up and dressed in time for Ray's food delivery, as he trades full containers for empty ones, I say to him, "I know, you said not to thank you, but I'm going to anyway.  Thank you." He smiles and shakes his head.  "Ray, tomorrow is probably going to be my last day here, so you don't have to bring any..."

He doesn't let me finish as he flashes a smile and turns on the stoop, "Same time, same place," he laughs, jogging back to the van.   These are good people, I think as I take my meals into the kitchen.

I take my breakfast container and a coffee out into the backyard to eat, I have only taken a few bites when Tyka calls.

"Hey, Honey, I got ahold of the keys to the two houses near me, one is newly remodeled, and another one that's about halfway between here and there, that one is furnished."

"That's great, what time do you want me to come over?" I say between bites.  

"Whenever you want, take your time."

I hang up, finish my breakfast and drive to Tyka's house, she meets me at the car, "You ready?"

"Sure, where's the first one?"

"About three blocks away," she grins, "I think you'll love this one."

We get there in a matter of minutes and only three turns, it's cute and I already feel it calling to me.   As we go up the walk, she fills me in on the details: 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1325 sqft.  It's a small lot, but it has a deep, fenced backyard, and once inside, I could see me being comfortable here.  "Tyka, this may be it," I tell her and a huge smile crosses her face.

"I would like that," she says, "it's the closest, but let's look at the others, just in case."

The other two are nice, but there's something about the first one that speaks to me, maybe its because it's just so close to hers.   The one that is furnished is further away and bigger than the first two, again I feel it's too much house for just the two of us.  Plus it's not like we're going to be living there, just somewhere homey to stay when we do visit.   "The first one," I tell her.  

Tyka hugs me, "Are you sure?"  When I nod, there are tears in her eyes.

"Now, I'm not moving here, and I don't know how often I'll be up," I explain to her.

"I know," she grins, "I'll have to talk with my lawyer and see what we have to do to put the other house on the market, if you're sure you're sure?"

"I'm sure.  I'll make sure I remove anything personal before I go, selling it furnished may be extra appealing."  I remember the money, and look at her seriously, "Tyka, Prince kept money in his office..."

She frowns, "Oh, no, is it missing?"

"No.  No, it's not missing, but he had been adding to it..."

She cuts me off again, shaking her head and waving her hands. "Then it's there for a reason, I don't need to know anything about it.  Nobody needs to know anything about it," she gives me a matter of factual look. 

"I thought, maybe, since you're helping me..." she stops me with a head shake.

"Honey, Prince has taken care of everything, I'm more than fine.  He wanted you taken care of as well, don't worry about it.  Everything is good," she winks,    "That money is yours."

I nod quietly, "I guess I better get back and finish up a few things, I was hoping to leave tomorrow."

"Oh, please stay another day," Tyka places her hands on my arms, "Let me see what I can get accomplished house-wise, and we can go furniture shopping tomorrow," she says with an excited grin. 

Her expression is so lit up, I can't bear to tell her no, "What about deliveries?  I really can't stay much longer, it's a two day drive," I remind her. 

"I can handle deliveries, it's right around the corner," she laughs.

"True.  Okay, keep me posted, I have to get back and go room to room in that house." 

Tyka nods and we get back into the car.  On the way to drop her off, I drive to the first house she showed me and stop by the curb.  "Do you want to see it again?" 

"No, it's the one," I smile as I pull back out into the street, not three minutes later we are at her door. 

"I'll call you in the morning and let you know if we can go shopping," she's really excited.

We exchange thank you's and goodbye's and I head back to deal with the final comb through of our house.  

Back at the house, I pause long enough to eat, then I get started combing through each item in the house to make sure all of our personal belongings are gone.  I decide that Prince's computer needs to come home with me as well, so it gets disconnected and carefully packed into a tote.  I also pull his phone book from the drawer as well as the pile of cash that was tucked away.  I put $5,000 into my purse, which doesn't even make a dent in the stack, I don't count the rest, I just tuck it in between items I'm packing in hopes it will be safe.  

When all is said and done, I get the totes and the boxes into the garage to wait until tomorrow night to load up.  I shake my head at the quantity of stuff coming back home with me, I had even taken the paintings from his office walls and several stacks of books. With some strategic placement, I should have no trouble getting everything to fit inside my Outback's generous cargo area.  

I long to soak in a hot bath, probably the most difficult luxury I've had to give up since discovering I was pregnant.  The rest of my evening is pretty uneventful, as I just take my usual shower and watch television until I'm ready to doze.