Elijah
“Keep her busy,” I said as I lifted the mattress, still attempting to hold my cell firmly to my ear using my shoulder. “We just need like thirty minutes to finish up.”
“What would you suggest I do?” I closed my eyes tight, fighting off my frustrations. The delivery men were late bringing the furniture, which in turn threw us behind on setup. Now here I was begging Marcus to occupy my girl before she came home from work to find her room in shambles.
“Take her for ice cream, buy her a fucking horse. I don’t know, Marcus, just please stall.”
“You’re feisty, Red,” he said with a chuckle. “I like that.”
Dude was insane.
“You owe me,” he added and frankly I was seriously scared of what that meant but I’d deal with the consequences later.
I ended the call and started directing everyone that we needed to hurry. Clayton, Corbin, Xavier, and I were moving around the room while Aunt Meg and Morgan worked on the decorations, as they called them. Pictures on the walls and a curtain on the one window Blake had in her room. I let them choose the theme because I wasn’t good at that shit, and just paid the bill when they were done.
I’d saved up the money I’d earned when helping Uncle Miles on a few side jobs he had. I was happy to drop nearly half of it on this for Blake.
They’d finally gotten the three-bedroom apartment, which now meant she wouldn’t be sleeping on the couch. But when I walked in to find she had just moved to an air mattress in the middle of a big ass room I felt like shit. Knowing that I’d be at home sleeping in a bed with a big warm comforter and sheets while she was here sleeping on that was something I couldn’t have.
Now she’d show up to find a full-size bed, matching dresser, and a nightstand. I was prepared for her to complain, but I was also prepared to tell her that I loved her and this was me taking care of her.
I wasn’t blind; I’d noticed how she melted whenever I told her I loved her. It was something she hadn’t heard over the last eight or nine years, not since she lost her father. It was gratifying enough to know that I gave her that peace with the three simple words she’d been missing.
Twenty minutes later we all stood back and took in the room.
Blake loved the color blue, ocean blue to be specific, so that was the tone the ladies went with. Morgan threw in a few splashes of pale purple and silver, to give it a pop. Those were her words, not mine.
Now that I stood back observing it all I had to agree, it was perfect.
My uncle had a bookshelf he had built for one of his clients but it ended up too tall, so instead he brought it here for Blake. It sat back in a corner with a large fluffy chair my aunt had delivered as a surprise, as well as a tall spider lamp that came out and over, providing her with a little reading nook.
I was so glad I had the ladies here to help me, otherwise it wouldn’t have turned out so well. I reached out to my sides, hooking them both over their shoulders and pulling them in close for a hug. “Thank you both.”
“Our pleasure.” Aunt Meg hugged me back. “This right here just confirms what I’ve always known.”
“What’s that?”
“You are a good man, Elijah Ray.” Tears pooled in her eyes and I ignored the use of my middle name for her benefit. “A very good man.”
“I owe it all to the two people who raised me, because they are two of the kindest, most generous people. They helped me become the man I am.”
“Quite frankly, Red, you’ve surprised me.” I looked over at Morgan, who managed to break the deep moment and I was glad. “I never imagined you being all gooey gooey over a girl.”
She poked at my side and suddenly she was whisked away by Xavier. “Leave the man alone,” he told her. “When you find the one, you can’t help getting all soft.”
“I’m not soft,” I announced loud enough to gain everyone’s attention and almost in unison they all sang, “yes you are.”
The sound of Marcus shouting, “Honey, I’m home,” had my heart rate spiking. Suddenly we were all moving around, the guys rushing from the room and Aunt Meg spinning in circles. “Slow down, woman,” I said through laughter. “You’re gonna fall and break a hip.”
“Always the smart ass.” She shook her finger at me. “I want to know her reaction, but I don’t want to be here when she tackles you and things get hot.”
Morgan laughed.
“What?” She shrugged. “If I came home to find a gorgeous man standing in my room after he spent the evening redecorating it into this masterpiece you better bet I’d be breaking in the mattress.”
Just then Blake appeared in the doorway and we all froze. Her eyes roamed over the room, her mouth gaping open slightly.
“Hey babe,” I offered and she looked over at me. I immediately noticed the glistening look in her eyes and for a moment wondered if she didn’t like it.
“Did you do this?”
I nodded. “I had a little help, but yeah, it was my idea.”
She remained in place, staring at me, and with each passing second I felt my stomach growing hollow as my nerves kicked into high gear.
“I can’t believe you did this for me,” she mumbled as her lower lip trembled. I could sense she was fighting her reaction as she quickly looked at my aunt, then to Morgan before looking back at me.
I saw out of the corner of my eye as Morgan slowly slipped from the room without a word. I think she sensed that Blake needed a moment. My aunt stepped forward and without a second thought wrapped Blake in her arms, which only triggered a crazy reaction inside me. I’d never felt so raw before.
“You are such a special girl,” Meg assured her and I couldn’t have agreed more. Suddenly she stepped back, releasing my girl before she too left the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
“Do you like it?”
Tears rolled along Blake’s cheeks as she nodded. “I’ve never had anyone do anything like this for me before.” I didn’t move toward her, only allowed her to move around the room taking in every detail. “It’s perfect, actually better than perfect.”
“I wanted you to have a place to call your own, one that makes you feel safe.” I stepped up behind her as she stood near her bookshelf, now filled with books. “I know things haven’t been easy for you, but that’s over. I love you, Blake, I just want you to be happy.”
“I am.” She nodded, turning around to face me. Lifting her hands, she cupped my face. “Just being with you alone makes me feel all of those things. I’ve never been happier and I’ve never felt safer.”
I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers.
“So what do you say we break in that gorgeous bed over there?” She laughed as she tucked her head against my chest. It was what I did, who I was when I was with her. Take a moment, whether it was sad or tense, and make it happy and memorable. Her tears killed me, because in my opinion she had shed enough of them in her lifetime. I wanted her smiles every fucking day.
“We can most definitely break in that bed.”
The best part about it was that she was the same way. She found my humor uplifting in times of sadness.
We were perfect for each other, there was no doubt in my mind.