Curtain Call (The Jewel Project #7)

22. No Escape for the Guilty

It was weird to finally move out of Sarah's mismatched house and into the one they'd bought the moment she had gotten pregnant.

Just ten minutes of walking distance from any of his brothers' homes, the building had stood fully furnished, just waiting for them to finally pack up their things and make it their own.

It had been an ingenious plan Jimmy had come up with the moment Kyle and Kay returned from their honeymoon, Kay shining like a beacon because she was pregnant, and decided they would be moving out of their apartment. They still needed to stick together for obvious reasons so moving into Sam's neighborhood was only natural.

But, as Jimmy smartly pointed out, they shouldn't be next-door neighbors just in case someone decided to blow one of the houses up. So they'd still be close, but not close enough for chain damage.

And using this pattern, Jerry had bought his own house. It had been hard to move out, however, and as he watched Michael in his crib, in his brand new room, he struggled to remember why. Sarah's house had always been so uncomfortable, so it was mostly nostalgia keeping them there.

"Look at him," Sarah whispered. "He looks so calm and peaceful."

Jerry nodded, a little overtaken by how much their baby had calmed down after they'd brought him into his room. Maybe he really hated sleeping in the kitchen.

"I think we were terrible, keeping him in the old house. He seems to like it a lot more here."

"I don't think it's just that." She leaned over and rubbed the baby's back. "It's me. I didn't expect it, but I feel much better here."

"Me too." He hadn't expected it either, but being in their own place felt lighter. Liberating in some ways.

He'd been afraid to move out because that cramped up house had been where he and Sarah got together, where they'd lived until and after they were married. The place was filled with memories and he'd thought leaving it would bury all the wonderful moments they'd had.

"The thing is," Sarah said as if reading his mind. "That place held some very unhappy memories for me. And even if, every since you came into my life, you turned that around, I could never forget why and how I got that house. But this..." She looked around the room, at the light blue walls. "This is ours. Us."

Yes, that made sense. Sarah's house had been more hers, tainted by an unhappy past. But this one was theirs and they would build wonderful memories in it. If it didn't blow up.

He took her in his arms and laid his chin on top of her head. "I love you, Ria."

"I love you too, Remy, and whatever apocalyptic thought you're thinking, it's not going to happen. We're going to be fine."

"I'm sure you're right." At least he tried to be.

After all, Jimmy was down in the basement finalizing the security system while the rest of his brothers and sisters-in-law were helping with the unpacking downstairs. They were all in this together and they'd figure it out.

"I should go down and finish unpacking," he said.

Sarah nodded, gave him one last squeeze and settled on the rocking chair next to the crib. "He'll be up in a few minutes for his meal, so I'll just stick around."

His heart swelled at her words because it made having a baby even more real. He still had moments in which he thought he was dreaming. So he gave her a quick kiss and headed down the stairs.

It was mayhem. The kids had taken refuge in the living room to watch cartoons while Sam, Tom and Angie unloaded the rest of the books, stuffing them in the library body around the TV. The kids kept moaning that one of the grown-ups was blocking their view or that they were being too loud.