“Mmm,” she purrs into the mattress. “That’s it, let those brain cells out.”

I drop over her body and laugh. “Soph,” I breathe in sharply, still shooting cum. “Goddamn,” my body shakes and my feet straighten. “Uh, that’s good,” I exhale. “That’s so good, beautiful.”

She snickers jokingly and waits for my breathing to slow before she rolls out, leaving me face down with a smack on my ass.

“That’s not a sexy thing to say when I’m firing my load,” I mumble into the bed.

“But it made you laugh.”

“That it did,” I grin and turn over with my hand under my head. “What a day.”

“No shit.” She disappears into the bathroom leaving me to I stare at the ceiling, thinking about how lucky we all are. David’s gone, Mark won’t be doing any harm, and now that my eyes are open, I can help Haverty. And boy, do I have a plan.

Sophia returns and drags her suitcase further into the dimly lit room as I rest my head on my elbow and watch her naked body kneel before it. It’s a vintage 50s style case, dark red, with a hard exterior and brass hardware. She opens the top and the inside has a plaid lining with its contents hidden underneath a child size blanket.

“What is it, Dove?”

“It’s sad that it all fits in this tiny little case,” she whispers.

“What?”

“My life. What’s left of it, that is. My brother found it with his things when he was visiting my mother. Shit, Cove. I didn’t even know he had moved to another state.”

“It happens. Some families aren’t close.”

She nods and uncovers the contents. Toys, dolls, jewelry, and a small diary with a miniature silver lock are inside.

“I had this thing packed for years just in case I decided to run away. It was set for my big escape. But I never left.”

“Why?” I ask.

She pats the floor signaling that she wants me by her side. I roll off the bed and crawl over, kissing the back of her neck as she unpacks her childhood. “Too much of a wuss, I guess. I didn’t have anywhere to run off to until I left for college. Then I never looked back.” She takes out a teddy bear and two dolls, with a huge smile on her face. “I’ve had Elmer, Lucy, and Fran since I was a baby.”

This has to be comforting for her.

“And look, it’s my paper fortune teller. I can’t believe it survived being in this suitcase for all these years... and my drawing of Cinderella... a letter to the tooth fairy requesting a dollar. Boy, I was hard up for money. How much do you think kids get nowadays for their teeth?”

“I used to get twenty bucks.”

“No shit?” she looks back with a raised brow. “I guess I can picture your mother doing that.”

“Is that a photo album? I’ve never seen any pictures of you as a child.”

“Well, it’s your lucky day,” she says, opening the cover. We flip through the pages together and she points out her mother, then Mark as a child, her grandparents, their home, pets and friends, and a beautiful photo of herself as a teenager.

“What are you doing?” she asks as I take the photo out of the album.

“You better believe I’m keeping this one. I need a photo of you in my wallet, like all those cheesy ass couples have of one another... Whoa, Soph, what the hell are those?”

“My eyeball collection!”

“What? I should’ve known this was going to get weird. I take it back that you’re the normal one,” I say jokingly.

“No, this isn’t weird, Cove. People collect things.”

“Yeah, swizzle sticks and bottle caps, not eyeballs.”

“They’re for toys, so chill out. I’d sew them onto socks in order to make puppets; it’s called creativity. Something your mother would understand.”

“I’m sure she would. I bet if you ask her, she probably has some of her own.” My wife nods in agreement, even though I wasn’t being serious.

“Wait, this isn’t mine.” She takes a book out of the suitcase and opens it to a page with two rabbits running through a field. “Must be Mark’s.”

“He put it in there for me,” I whisper. “Watership Down.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just know.”

She hands me the book with a content smile. “I always loved the ending to that story.”

“Really? But the main character dies.”

“No,” she shakes her head. “The story doesn’t end there. The primroses bloom and the rabbits have a new home where they can be at peace. It’s called a happy ending, Cove.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

It’s moving day.

Two months have passed since that week from hell. It’s how we refer to it now in conversation, and Sophia often remarks that we’ve both matured a great deal as a result of the events of that week. A rape, a suicide, a new sister and a mental collapse, revelations about family and friends, plus a disappearance, a death, and a pregnancy thrown into the mix. Hell, there was a whole lot of other shit that happened too.

My wife said after everything we’ve been through, she now understands the secret to happiness is acceptance of the past... and she’s right, smartass that she is. The source of my frustration, my anger, drinking, and depression is a result of allowing my head to reside in Jameson Industries. And, as we stand in front of our new home, hand in hand, we both live in the present moment and often wonder about the future, but never go back to the past. My parents said we’re ahead of ourselves, that most people don’t become this self-reflective until they’re in their fifties. But then again, most people haven’t experienced a tenth of what we have. And now... shit, I’ve been waiting for this day for so long. I can’t wait to see their faces.

“What’s taking them so long?” Sophia asks as we wait impatiently. “They’re driving, right? Not walking?”

“They’ll be here. Haverty said he wouldn’t miss it for the world. He and Alyssa will be the first to step inside the new place, even before my parents, and they’re just as excited as we are. God, I’m so happy we did this. I mean, look at it, Soph. It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, we did the right thing. I love it, and Lafayette Square is just outside our front door. Oh I can’t wait!” She spins in a circle and her grey dress flares away from her knees. “I’m actually glad we kept some of that inheritance for ourselves after the donation was made to the breast cancer foundation in honor of Haverty’s mother. What we did was smart and I don’t find it selfish in any way.”

“I agree.”

“You smell good, like rum cake.”

“Soph, you just switched from talking about millions of dollars and a donation, to rum cake, which, by the way, I really don’t want to think about right now. My hands are still twitching for a drink.”

“Six weeks and going strong. Keep it up, Babe, for me, and our child,” she smiles and takes my hand. “Oh look! Here they come!” she points and dances around. Damn she turns my heart to mush, acting more and more feminine, turning into a girly girl with each passing day. Maybe it’s because she’s happy, who knows, but I won’t complain.

Haverty parallel parks and he and Alyssa look in high spirits and energetic as they step outside of the vehicle. They’re still in that decrepit house, although Sophia and I had a few companies make repairs to the roof and windows, and had their electricity turned backed on. They didn’t want to stay with us for long because of the dogs, and I’m sure for other reasons as well. But we’ve done what we can to keep them comfortable as they get back on their feet.

“Hey tit nugget, this it?” Haverty laughs and looks up at the home.

“Yes, dickhead.”

Sophia sighs as Alyssa smacks Hav up the backside of his head. “Don’t you call him a titty muncher,” she says.

“Tit nug... oh never mind,” he rolls his sleeves and shakes my hand. “Congratulations. This home’s huge. How many bedrooms?”