Coda 01 - Promises

you that my life got a lot easier after that. Then, I decided that your friendship was more important to me than what my coworkers were saying. And that turned out to be a good decision. And then when Cherie died, I decided to accept the fact that I wanted to fuck your brains out.”
    “And that ,” I interjected, “was a very wise decision.”
    He smiled and winked at me. “It was.” His face grew serious again. “So we were all sitting there at the table, and he was screaming. And I was thinking about all of those decisions and how they had brought me to this place in my life where I was really, truly happy for the first time ever. So I asked myself, what’s the worst he can do to me? And I knew the answer right away—he could disown me. And I wasn’t really sure anymore why that seemed like a bad thing. It was like the solution was right there in front of me, and I was just being too fucking stupid to see it.” He was looking down at where our hands were clasped together on the bed by my side. “It’s actually a relief. I don’t have to waste another second of my life trying to make him happy.”
    “What about your mom?”
    He brightened a little. “Once she calmed down, she told me that she had suspected all along.” Funny how that works, I thought, remembering my conversation with Brian so many years ago. “I can’t really say that she’s happy about it, but she knows I’m happy. And that means something to her, I think.”
    “I thought she was here.”
“She was. She delayed her flight and spent a couple of days here. Turns out with Dad gone, she and Lizzy and your mom are like three peas in a pod.”
    “She’s gone now?”
    “She is, but she’ll be back.” His eyes tightened a little, and he frowned. “She’s leaving him. She went home to get her things in order. Lizzy offered to let her live with them for a while. She said she could use help with James anyway.”
    “Like a nanny,” I said quietly to myself, as one piece fell into place.
    “Yes.” He was smiling again. “She’s so excited to have a surrogate grandchild; I think she would leave my dad for James alone.”
    We were quiet again as I thought about all that he had said. “Matt, I’m so sorry. You lost your family, all because of me.”
    He looked at me with alarm. “What? No! You’ve got it all wrong.” He leaned forward on the bed and put his hand on my cheek. “I didn’t lose my family because of you. I have a family because of you.”
    I leaned into his touch. “I want to go home. When are they letting me go?”

    “Tuesday afternoon. I work the two to ten that day, but I’ll get it off.”
    “Don’t. Mom or Brian or Lizzy will give me a ride.” “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.” “Will you be naked?” he asked with a wicked grin. I laughed and pushed him off the bed. “Just wait and see.”

    I T TURNED out to be mom who took me home from the hospital. I was surprised to see that the large front window was covered by plywood. I had forgotten that, prior to showing up at Lizzy and Brian’s, Dan had ransacked our house.
    “They’ve ordered the glass,” Mom told me. “I think Matt said it would be installed next week. We cleaned up inside as well as we could, but you’ll probably need to have the carpet in the living room replaced.”
    When I got inside, I found that the damage wasn’t bad at all. I also found that Matt’s bookshelf was now in the bedroom and his home gym was taking up most of the dining room. He had apparently moved the last of his stuff into my house while I was in the hospital.
    I went to bed early, settled happily into sheets that smelled like him. I was asleep when he got home. I woke up to him sliding into bed behind me. He carefully cuddled up to my back and wrapped himself around me, making sure not to touch the bandage on my side. I settled back against him with a sigh.
    “I’m glad you’re home,” I told him.
    “I’m glad you’re home. I missed this. The whole week my parents were here, I was sleeping at my apartment. And then this past week, you weren’t here. This bed seemed awfully big and empty.” His hands were wandering, and he started kissing the back of my neck. “Did the doctors say you’re healthy enough to resume all activities?”
    “They said no sex for six months.”

    He froze until I started laughing. Then, as his lips brushed my neck again, he said, “That’s not