Hemming
It’s nearly three by the time Kae and I get to the truck.
“I had a lot of fun today,” Kae says, buckling her seat belt.
“Surprisingly, me too. There was a local band playing outside Zane’s. That’s what Tanner and I spent most of the day doing.”
“Sometimes the wind would carry the music. They were good!”
“They were,” I agree, looking behind me as I pull the truck out of the parking spot. There are still people coming in, but traffic in and out has mostly slowed down. Main Street is still busy, and I imagine it will be through dinner. I heard rumblings of a surprise fireworks show, so I’m sure people will be milling about for hours yet.
“Oh, I have a new riddle for you.” The smile on Kae’s face is in her words, and like usual, her joy brings a smile to my own face.
“Okay, tell me.”
“All right. So. What begins with E, ends with E, but only has one letter?”
Frowning, my grin still on my face, I glance over at her. “Kae, I told you that riddle this morning.”
Her brows furrow for a second. “Maybe the wine hit me harder than I thought... Oh! I know. What begins with T, ends with T, and only has T inside?”
“A teapot,” I answer quickly.
“Ugh,” Kae sighs. “Did Tripp tell you that one too?”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “No, but that one’s a little easier. I knew that the last T was actually tea, the drink, and then just some quick deduction.”
“I didn’t guess it right away. I was stumped. Do we have plans tomorrow?” She rolls her head on the rest to look at me.
“Just the workout in the morning. You have something you want to do?”
Shaking her head, Kae looks out the front again. “Nope. I thought it might be nice to just veg for the day, before life goes full force on Monday.”
“What makes you think it’s going to go fast?”
“Well, we talk with Landon, and get that ball rolling. The next couple of months will go fast because of that alone, but then there are the holidays coming, and everyone knows that last two months of the year fly by. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Boom, boom, boom. Oh, Paige brought up Kate and Tanner building a house. What are you thinking?”
Kae’s extra chatty this afternoon, and I think it might be a mix of good times and wine. I hold my hand out and she takes it. “I thought maybe we could visit that conversation in the summer.”
“We can visit that conversation now...?” Her eyes are wide with curiosity, but not an iota of anger or confusion is in her words. In fact, I’d probably peg the words as having hope in them, versus any other emotion. “Unless, you know...you’re not sure of the future.”
Oh. I’m very sure of the future.
But instead of telling her that, I bring up a conversation I overheard while walking away from the women.
“You want kids?”
When she was asked the question earlier, I’d barely been out of earshot, and when I looked over my shoulder, I witnessed a look of longing pass over Kae’s features—while she was in the middle of gaping like a fish.
Much like she’s doing right now.
“Oh, I mean... Yes. But...” She shifts in her seat before taking a deep breath.
My mind goes back to the day we parked the truck near her Virginia house and she watched it burn, flames dancing around the structure...
And then the immediate change I saw in her, as she went from scared and unsure, to damn positive she was going to make the future work for her.
I see that again now.
“I want kids, yes. But I also don’t want to bring kids into a home where there’s an end date,” she tells me, her voice sure. “I know no one brings kids in thinking they’ll someday get a divorce but... It’s different in our situation, and I’m okay waiting. I know we’ve both said we want this to be real and nothing you’ve said or done has told me otherwise but... I also think maybe it’s too early to say for certain that we’re going to make it through the end of a year together. It’s only been... weeks, really. No one in their right mind chooses to have babies with someone they’ve only known a few weeks.”
“Okay, well... Imagine we’re in this spot, one year down the road. We made it past the year, you’re positive I’m not lying when I say this is real—”
“I didn’t say you were lying!”
I bring her hand to my lips and kiss the back. “Just listen. One year down the road, leaving the fall festival, I ask if you want kids... What do you say?”
I switch from watching the road to looking at her, and see as she takes a deep breath. “I’d say yes.” Her answer is nearly breathless.
Placing our hands down on my thigh, I go back to watching the road. “How many kids do you want, Kaelyn Johansen?”
“Maybe...two?”
Her hesitation prompts me to ask, “You sure?”
“Well, I think at least two, so they always have someone. So they’re not... You know.”
“Alone.” Like we’d both been.
“Right. But I really love watching the Douglas dynamic, and I haven’t even seen it with everyone, and I wonder what that was like, growing up with that many siblings.”
“So, you want at least two. Not maybe two.”
“How many kids do you want, Hemming?” Kae switches the questioning back to me.
“Six months ago—hell, six weeks ago—I was pretty positive I was going to die alone. After Celeste, I never gave much thought to kids.”
“But now?”
I grin at her in that moment. I love that she’s sure my thought process has changed.
“I’d give you all the babies you wanted.”
“That doesn’t answer the question though, Hemming. Do you want them?”
I don’t hesitate and give her the clarity she desires. “With you? Yes. I want to get you pregnant and rub your growing belly. I want to hold your hand when you bring our kids into the world. I want to see your expressions on a miniature version of your face. I want to teach our girls to stand up for themselves and to play sports but also bake and read, and our boys to be respectful young men who protect their sisters and love their mom. I think I’d be a pretty great t-ball coach, too. But it’s on your timeline. I know our situation isn’t normal, and I don’t fault you for wanting to take time. I’m not going anywhere, though, Kae.”
“We’d need to move.”
“We could fit a couple kids in our house.”
“Hemming!” She laughs in her seat. “Sure, we could, but it’s tiny. First, what would we do with your gym equipment? It would have to go somewhere. That room would be for the baby. Then, babies come with things. You’re not going to just be tripping on Wilson; you’ll be tripping on bouncy seats and baby pillows.”
“I want you safe—”
“Hemming, I am safe.”
“—even taking away that part of the equation, I want you safe. And we bring kids into this world? Damn straight, I want them safe, too.”
“So we do what Tanner and Kate are doing. Buy land, take our time, and you can secure the entire property the way Tucker’s secured his.”
“And that all costs money, Kae.”
“We’re doing just fine right now with basically one income. The bakery opens, and that’s a second income.”
“I have no doubt the bakery is going to do amazing, but for the bakery to pull in what we’d need in order stay financially comfortable, and that number changes when we add kids to the mix, you’ll be there all the damn time.”
“So, you’re on board with the bakery, but I can’t be there all the time?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.”
“Kae, don’t twist my words.”
That was mistake number one.
Mistake number two, I let go of her hand when I pull onto the compound, so I can lean in order to type in the gate code.
“I think I’ll walk back.”
She’s out of the truck before I can call her name.
“Fuck.” One second, we’re happy and joking about the future, and the next, she’s pissy. Just when I think I know her—
I get an inkling to pull up my calendar.
Because I’m trailing her, the truck is hardly going faster than a crawl. It’s perfectly safe to do this.
The calendar app opens to today’s date, and I pull down the full month, counting back to the day Wyatt died, then back another two days to Friday, because that was the day she was in bed all day. The week prior, we got into our first minor fight.
And I realize my wife has once again been taken over by PMS.
The crazy emotional whiplash suddenly makes sense.
It’s not fun, but it makes sense.
However, if she’s PMSing today, that means...
I look forward to the fifteenth and groan.
Hopefully my surprise for her isn’t ruined by cramps.
I watch my wife walk just ahead of the truck as I consult Doc Google.
“Hey, Siri?” The cab of the truck dings, and I ask, “What are the best ways to relieve period cramps?”
“Here are five ways to get relief from period cramps. Apply heat. Heat can relax the muscles contributing to cramps. Take a pain reliever. Exercise. Takes steps to redu—”
Exercise... Hmm.
“Siri, do orgasms help period cramps?”
“Yes. When you orgasm, the blood rushes to the uterus, helping to relieve cramps. I also found this article from Heathline. 6 Reasons to Masturbate on your period. Would you like to hear it?”
“No, thank you.”
Maybe next weekend won’t be ruined after all.
We’ve hardly made it to Tucker’s house when I roll down the passenger window and pull up beside her. “Kae, get in the truck.”
She shakes her head.
“Kaelyn.”
“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“Then don’t. But let me drive you home.”
“I want to walk.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her she’s being unreasonable, but I’m positive that won’t go over well so I keep the thought to myself.
“I will happily go into debt to build you a house, if it means you get into the truck right now.”
She crosses her arms but doesn’t stop her trek forward.
“I’ll start looking at land this week.”
She shakes her head.
“What else do you want, babe? I’ll give it to you.” I wouldn’t say panic is starting to well up inside but...
Shit, panic is starting to well up inside.
Logically I know this is nothing. I know she’ll work through this tizzy and we’ll be back to normal.
That doesn’t stop me from wondering if there’s any way we can avoid this week in the future, though, because it’s only the second time I’ve experienced it and it’s not fun.
“You need a Snickers? You hangry?” At this point, I’m going to try anything.
Her glare tells me that wasn’t the right thing.
Sighing, I stop the truck and throw it in park, hopping down and moving to meet up with her. Surprisingly, she stopped walking with the truck stopped moving.
Also surprisingly, she lets me pull her into my arms, although she does keep her arms crossed between us.
“You know why you’re pissy?” I ask the top of her head, my lips brushing back and forth over her hair.
“Yes,” she answers stubbornly.
“Then why don’t you get back into the truck, and I’ll set you up with Ben and Jerry’s, and you can watch a rom com, or P.S. I Love You, even though you’ll cry for the next two hours straight?”
The movie was streaming the other night and Kae mentioned she loved the film.
I’d never seen it, so I thought sure, let’s watch it.
Why would someone watch a movie knowing they were going to cry the entire damn time?! But Kae told me sometimes a girl needs a good cry, and that’s her go-to cry movie.
I’d asked why she needed to cry that day and she said she didn’t, she just wanted to watch the movie.
“I’m sorry I’m a bitch.” Her voice cracks and when I pull back to look at her, I see she’s three seconds from crying.
Grinning, I take her face in my hands. “Not a bitch. Just overtaken by hormones. They really do a fucking number on you.”
“It wasn’t this severe when I was on birth control,” she hiccups, her eyes trained on my nose.
Even though it goes against our earlier conversation and my desire to knock her up as soon as possible, I ask, “Did you schedule that appointment?” If it helps her hormonal swings, then it helps her hormonal swings. I’d rather her be happy then force the kid thing on her right now.
“Not yet.”
“You probably should.”
“I probably should...”
But... A man’s gotta shoot his shot. “Unless you want a baby.”
Her watery, dual-colored eyes meet mine then. “You really want to deal with this and me for the rest of your life? Because even if we divorce...we have a kid, and I’m always that kid’s mom and you’re always their dad.”
Wrapping an arm around her neck, I pull her in for a closer hug. She finally unwinds her arms and wraps them around me, instead. “I really do. Couldn’t imagine anything better.”
Kaelyn got her good cry in, while I plied her with ice cream and potato chips. I still don’t get why someone would watch a movie they know makes them cry like their world is falling apart—let alone a few days after the last time the movie ripped her apart—but Kae was in a better mood after.
When the movie ended, I sent her to bed and cleaned up the house, but upon getting undressed for bed, saw Wilson took my pillow.
“Sorry, dude,” I whispered, not wanting to wake my sleeping wife, “that’s my spot, and you know it.”
Wilson gave me a slow blink, clearly contemplating if he was going to move or not. Thankfully, he does, moving to lay at the end of the bed.
I slip in between the covers. I transitioned back to sleeping naked although Kae opts to wear one of my shirts to bed. Before pulling her to me, I gently run a finger over her cheeks. Her eyes are still puffy from crying and even though I know the tears were thanks to a fictional story, my chest aches in memory of her crying.
Finally, I pull her close, and close my own eyes.
Sleep comes fast, but even faster, comes Kae’s startling scream that sends me out of bed quickly.
“Fuck. Where? What...?”
I look around and realize she’s not in the bedroom or bathroom.
“Kae? Where are you?”
“L-laundry.”
“You okay?” I ask, even though I’m making my way to her. She stands against the wall, the laundry closet doors fully open.
“There’s a... Eek!” She jumps back against the wall and when I look to where she points, I see a giant assed spider.
This is no daddy long leg.
“You’ve gotta kill it,” she tells me. She’s visibly shaking, her arms wrapped tight around her. “I can’t... I don’t... I don’t do spiders.” On “do” her entire body convulses in a full-body shiver.
“Probably a bad time to tell you, I don’t do spiders either,” I inform her, my eyes now locked on the quickly moving arachnid.
“Hemming! I can’t... I’m stuck here. It’s going... Oh no, it’s going to go in the dryer! My clothes!”
But instead of dropping into the dryer, the spider drops to the floor and scurries toward the front door—which is where Kae is standing.
She shrieks again, going up on tippy toes and dancing around.
“Open the door, Kae!”
“I can’t... I... But you’re naked!”
“No one will see. Open the door!”
Still dancing around on tiptoes, she does but of course the spider doesn’t take the hint.
“Shit,” I mumble, looking around. The Swiffer is in the laundry closet, so I quickly grab the silver and green device to try and usher the spider out.
As I do, Kae jumps behind me, leaving me to deal with the intruder.
Instead of allowing me to push it out, the spider crawls up onto the green base. Holding my breath, I reach as far as I can to get the Swiffer outside, then knock the end against the ground. When that doesn’t work, I knock the Swiffer against the wall until finally, the spider falls.
And I promptly slam the door shut.
I stare at the door for a few seconds, my body heaving, until Kae starts giggling behind me.
Her giggles become bigger laughs, and when I turn to face her, she’s damn near bent in half as she laughs her ass off.
“That’s funny to you?” I try to ask seriously, but now that the event is over, I can feel laughter bubbling up in me, too.
“You’re naked, Hemming. And you just...” She stands up and swings her arm wide, “opened the door. Anyone could have been walking the drive and seen your junk. Just... Wide open.” She’s nearly wheezing while laughing now.
“Hate to break it to you, babe, but Chance and Tucker have seen the junk before.”
“Ooo.” Kae’s no longer laughing, but she is grinning, with her brows up and chin dropped.
“Shit, not like that,” I chuckle. “Just like... Boot camp and guy things.” When she wiggles her eyebrows, I shake my head. “Get your clothes, woman. I’m jumping in the shower.”
“Maybe I’ll join you!” she calls out as I walk away.
“Maybe I’ll leave room for you.”