Chapter 86

A week later, Sidney and Lauren moved into their new house.  Most of the furniture had been delivered and they had been gradually packing up their personal belongings from their houses.  When Sidney had a few days off in a row, they packed up and with the help of Marc, Vero, Jordan, Max, Liz and both Lauren and Sidney’s families, they got their stuff moved in and most of it unpacked.  After Lauren and Sidney thanked them profusely, their families and friends went home and Sidney and Lauren sat down on the couch.  Sidney pulled Lauren close to his body and she rested her head on his shoulder. 

          “Hey Lauren?”

          “Hmm?” 

          “Welcome home.”

          She grinned and lifted her head to see his face.  “You too, darlin’.” 

          They sat in silence for a moment, each of them taking in their new surroundings.

          “Well, we don’t have cable yet, and we don’t have internet yet, and we forgot the DVD player in your room, so we’re kind of limited on things to do this evening.”  Lauren remarked.

          “Good, because I was hoping we could just go straight to bed.”  Sidney answered.

          Lauren raised an eyebrow at him.  “Oh, really?” she said with a smirk.

          He wiggled his eyebrows up and down at her.  “Yeah.”  He said in a husky voice.  “Because…I’m completely exhausted.”  He finished.

          She laughed.  “Oh, good.  I didn’t know how much longer I could keep my eyes open.” 

          They went upstairs to their bedroom and found some pajamas to change into.  As they were curled up in bed, they whispered quietly back and forth to each other. 

Neither could explain why they always whispered, especially know that no one else was even in the house to hear them, but they liked to whisper to each other, as if they were telling important secrets.  Eventually, their whispering died off as they both fell asleep. 

          They woke up in the morning to the sun blaring at them through the large bay window.  “First thing on the agenda today is to get some curtains for that bloody window.”  Sidney groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. 

          “Agreed.” Lauren groaned in response, burying her face against the side of Sidney’s body. 

          “So how did you sleep during our first night in the new house?”  Sidney asked.

          “Mmm wonderfully.  But that’s kind of a silly question.  I always sleep well when you’re next to me.  It’s when you’re gone that I toss and turn.”

          “I always feel like I’m forgetting something when I climb into a strange hotel bed alone.  Then I just start missing you even more.  A year and a half ago, if you had said I’d be so dependent on someone else, I’d have laughed at you.  But now I hate being away from you.”

          “I know exactly what you mean.  But somehow you’re going to have to manage without me for a few hours today.” Lauren said.

          Sidney turned on his side so he could face her.  “What do you mean?” he pouted.

          “I have to go out for a few hours with Liz.”

          “Do you have to go?”

          Lauren smiled and ruffled his hair.  “Yes, I have to go." she said, mimicking him, "We have things to do and besides, I have a surprise for you.”

          “What is it?” He demanded.

          “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”  She smirked.

          “You’re not playing nice.” 

          “You’re always surprising me.  Can’t I surprise you? Just this once? Please?”

          “I hate it when you do that.  You know you always win.” Sidney sighed, but he had a smile on his face.

          “I know.  That’s why I save this pouty face for special occasions.” She said, satisfied with her victory.  “Besides, be good today and I’ll let you win later.”

          “Promise?”

          “Promise.” She confirmed, kissing his lips before climbing out of bed and heading toward the shower.

          An hour later, Lauren grabbed her purse off the table and called out to Sidney that she was leaving.

          “Bye! I love you!” she called, not realizing he was just around the corner.

          “When will you be back?”

          “Probably around dinner time.  How about I come home and pick you up and we’ll go out somewhere?”

          “Okay.  Have fun today.  I love you.”  He said, kissing her cheek before retreating to the living room.

          Lauren met Liz at a café for lunch.  “So how was the first night in the new house?”  Liz asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

          Lauren laughed.  “We collapsed on the couch as soon as you guys left.  We were asleep in bed about an hour later.”

          “No worries – you have a lifetime to break that house in.”

          “Is that all you think about? You’ve been spending too much time around the boys.”  Lauren chuckled.  “Speaking of boys, what did you and Jordy-poo do last night after you left?”

          “Sat around at my house playing with Sam.  I’m going to miss him.  Are you sure I have to give him back to Sidney?”

          Lauren laughed.  “You can come visit him anytime you want.  But yes, I think Sidney will want his dog back.  He loves him.”

          After they finished lunch, they settled the bill and stepped out into the sunlight.  “Ready to shop?”

          “Of course!”

          They spent the afternoon picking up supplies for the dog and odds and ends for the house.  Around four o’clock, Lauren and Liz were relaxing in a coffee shop when Sidney called.

          “Hey babe.  When are you coming home?” he asked.

          “A little anxious for your surprise, are we?” 

          “Well, I have a surprise of my own.  Actually, Jordan and I have a surprise for both of you.” 

          Lauren looked over at Liz with a confused expression and Liz looked just as confused.

          “Uh oh.  You two are trouble.”

          “You’ll like it…I hope.  But I gotta go get things ready.  What time do you think you’ll be here?”

          “Is five-thirty okay?” 

          “Sounds perfect.  See you then.  Love you.”

          “Love you too.”

          The girls finished their shopping and picked up Sam at Liz’s apartment and then it was time to head back to the house.

          “So you have no idea what this surprise is either?”  Lauren asked as they pulled in the driveway.

          “I have no clue.  I didn’t even know Jordan was over here.”

          “Okay, can you go in and ask them to come out?  Make up a reason.”  Lauren said.

          When Liz got to the front door, there was a note attached to it.

          Beautiful ladies,

          Please knock before you come in. Thanks!

          Love, your handsome men 

          Liz laughed and knocked loudly on the door.  A moment later, the door opened a little bit and Sidney peaked his head around the corner.

          “Where’s Lauren?”  Sidney asked.

          “She’s around in the driveway.  Can you guys come help us bring some stuff in from the car?”

          “Uhh, yeah.  Just give us like two minutes.”  Sidney said, and promptly closed the door in her face.

          “Ooookay…”  Liz chuckled to herself and went back around to the driveway where Lauren was waiting with Sam. 

          A few minutes later, they heard the boys coming around the corner and Lauren straightened the bow around Sam’s neck. 

          Sidney froze in his steps when he saw his dog and Sam immediately took off running towards him.  

          “SAM! Hey buddy! What are you doing here?” Sidney said, wrestling Sam to the ground and hugging him.  Sidney looked up and saw Lauren smiling down at him.  

          “I thought since we have our own house here now that you’d want your ol' pal here with you too.” 

          “How did you get him here?”  Sidney asked in disbelief.

          “Your parents brought him down when they came down last week.  He’s been at Liz’s.”

          “He’s a great dog, Sid.  I loved having him around.”  Liz spoke up, and Jordan shook his head in agreement.

          “You knew about this?” Sidney exclaimed, looking at Jordan.

          “Well, yeah.  Why do you think I was spending so much time at Liz’s?”

          “I thought it was because you wanted to spend time with her!”

          “Well, of course,” Jordan said, blushing shyly at Liz, “but we could’ve hung out together at my place too.”

          Sidney stood up and brushed himself off and threw a stick for Sam to retrieve.  “You are incredible.  Thank you so much for doing this.” He said, pulling Lauren into his arms and kissing her passionately, not caring that Jordan and Liz were standing right there.

          “So is this is an acceptable surprise then?” Lauren said, kissing the tip of his nose. 

          “It’s perfect.  I got my girl here, my dog here, what more could a man want?”

          “How about some dinner?  I’m starving.”  Lauren grinned.

          “DINNER! CRAP!” Jordan and Sidney both said in unison, running back into the house.

          Liz and Lauren exchanged a look and laughed at the two boys.  Lauren called for Sam and went inside.  As soon as they opened the door, they could hear the smoke alarm going off.  Panicked, they ran into the kitchen to find Jordan and Sidney pulling something burnt out of the oven.

          “Dude, I think it’s done.”  Jordan said, waving his hand through the smoke over the pan.

          “Yeah, I certainly think so too.”  Sidney groaned.

          “Babe?” Lauren said, trying not to smile.

          Sidney looked at her with a sullen expression on his face.

          “Some surprise…” he mumbled with a heavy sigh.

          “What is it?  Or rather, what was it?” Liz asked, earning a glare from Jordan.        

          “It was homemade stuffed shells.  We were going to surprise you with dinner that we made all by ourselves.  But now it’s ruined.” Sidney said, sulking down in the chair.

          Lauren walked over and sat down in his lap.  “I love you, you know that? This was so thoughtful of you.”

          “Yeah, burning your dinner is just so thoughtful.”

          Lauren laughed and Sidney scowled at her.  “Baby, this place wouldn’t feel like home until there was at least one dinner ruined.  So you made this place feel even more like home.  Home sweet home.”

          “Yeah, I guess.” Sidney said, still sulking.

          “I’m proud of you.  And this was really thoughtful and I am very touched that you two worked so hard to do this for us.  And unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, it looks like there is still a delicious looking cake sitting over there on the counter.  Is that chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting?”  Lauren said, smiling at him.

          Sidney nodded, looking very much like a little boy.  “Your favorite.” He said quietly.

          Lauren kissed him.  “You’re my favorite.  But yes, that is my favorite cake.  And the fact that you and Jordy made it makes it even that much more special.  Thank you.”

          “You’re welcome.”  Sidney said, finally smiling.  “But now what the heck are we going to do about dinner?”

          “Well, we’re all adults, right?”  Lauren looked around at each of them, and they nodded in agreement.  “And adults get to make their own decisions about what they do, and what they eat for dinner, right?”  More head nods.  “In that case, I say we have cake for dinner.”

          “You’re a crazy woman.”  Jordan said as Lauren put the cake in the middle of the table and handed each of them a fork.

          “Maybe,” she grinned.  “But are you telling me that you aren’t going to eat this beautiful looking cake too?”

          “Well, of course I’m going to eat it!” he exclaimed, digging his fork in and stuffing a huge bite of cake into his mouth.  Sidney, Liz, and Lauren all laughed and dug their own forks into the cake.