Quiet As It's Kept Read online

  “So, honey, please forgive me for that whole blowup last night. I guess I was a little tired, especially with the extra hours I’ve been working as I try to prepare for the visit from corporate.” Morgan chuckled. “Well, I guess looking at the bright side, the extra hours I’m logging do at least give us a little more in my paycheck.”

  Morgan’s gesture of apologizing reminded him of the many times his father would come home and apologize to his mother and bring peace offerings. Will’s father was a truck driver and often drove up and down the East Coast. Whenever he was gone on trips that took him out of the state, his father would bring back souvenirs. Often he brought back figurines for their mother and little toys displaying the names of the various East Coast states for the kids.

  Will nodded, and pulled his wife down to sit next to him. “Morgan, baby, please stop apologizing. I mean, I do appreciate you apologizing to me for blowing up, but you don’t have to explain. I know you’ve been stressed. That’s why I wanted to make sure you had a good, hot meal waiting for you last night.”

  “Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry. It looked like you cooked your heart out and I just acted like a pure fool, like a baby throwing a tantrum who ended up going to bed without dinner,” Morgan said. “I am sorry I didn’t get to taste dinner.”

  Will pulled her close and kissed her. They kissed for what felt like an eternity, especially since Morgan hadn’t kissed him with more than a peck lately. And when they drew apart, Morgan was speechless.

  “I understand all the stress you’re under. And I promise the situation with my not working will be corrected. I’ve been scouring the Internet like crazy for the last few days. I’m also going to update my résumé. The only thing is, the printer ran out of ink and we need a new cartridge.”

  “You’ve already used up both cartridges?” Morgan asked.

  “Both?” Will asked.

  “Yeah, did you look in the left drawer on the desk?”

  “No, I didn’t think to look there. I just figured we were out and it was going to set us back another forty or fifty dollars.”

  “Well, just check. There should be another one in there. They had a buy-one-get-one-free sale going on when I bought them.”

  Will hugged his wife and whispered a thank you to the Lord, realizing that what he needed was already there, he’d just needed to ask for it. Then he kissed Morgan again, this time even longer than before. This kiss felt better to him than the first time they had ever kissed, and even the kiss they’d exchanged on their wedding day. The euphoria he felt must have been equaled in Morgan’s mind, because they made their way to their bedroom and again consummated their marriage as husband and wife.

  Will loved his wife very much, and wished that they weren’t going through the trials their marriage was undergoing. But now he finally knew what it meant for a husband and wife to make up after a fight, and it had been awesome. And if it were up to him, they would spend the rest of the day in each other’s arms. But before he knew it, Morgan was out of the bed and preparing for work. Isaiah, who had been content with gazing at his mobile, was finally starting to stir more, babbling a little louder to indicate that he wanted some other human presence in the room with him.

  With reluctance, Will also got out of bed, went into the bathroom, and washed his hands and face. Even though he hadn’t had much sleep before, he couldn’t tell that now. He felt refreshed, thinking it was due to the intimate moments he had just spent with his wife. Now he was on cloud nine.

  By noon, Will had successfully tweaked his résumé with three different layouts. He had also printed out the information for seven different jobs, five of which he applied for online with his updated résumé. He sent his résumé out by mail for two other jobs.

  Once he was done with that, Will decided to look at their budget and rework it to see if they could cut back on a few things for a little while. He’d previously looked at services they’d been getting, like the oil changes, and figured that they were things he or Morgan could do themselves, or at least not have professionally done as often.

  Morgan was used to getting her hair and nails done every week. He couldn’t understand why she went so frequently, because she had natural beauty. And each time she went for her next appointment, her hair still looked as if she had just come from the hairdresser. If he could cut those costs in half, they’d be saving at least $150 a month.

  There were other services they could also cut out, like paying to get their cars detailed, and the lawn service. When Will cleaned their cars himself it didn’t look exactly like a professional had done it, but he had to admit it did look pretty good; so good that he decided that even when he did start working again, he’d probably still clean the cars himself.

  Pleased with the progress of the day’s events, Will sat back in his chair at the computer and smiled. He knew things were going to work out for their good. He glanced at the clock on the computer screen and saw that it was nearly 3:25 P.M. The mailman normally came between 3:30 and 3:45. He gathered the two job applications and a couple of bills that were stamped, and put them in the mailbox to be sent.

  Now that all the work he’d needed to do was done, he had time to fix dinner and spend some quality time with his son. For most of the day, Will had given the baby what would probably be considered “baby busy work,” handing him random toys to keep him occupied so that he could complete all that he needed to do.

  Now he felt guilty because he had been, in essence, ignoring his baby boy. As soon as dinner was started he was going to make it up to his son by giving him his undivided attention. Because Isaiah loved the water so much, and because they couldn’t afford to go to the beach, Will decided to bring the beach to the baby.

  He put a couple of inches of water into the bathtub, and pulled out a set of plastic beach toys he’d purchased from the dollar store. Will also had some CDs with nature sounds, one of which sounded like the ocean and seagulls. He placed the beach sounds CD in the CD player. Once he was done, the only thing missing from his makeshift beach was real sand.

  The lack of sand hadn’t mattered to the baby. He played and splashed just as if he was at a real beach. By the time they were finished, Will felt like he had been in the water too. Isaiah had splashed so much that the front of Will’s pants and shirt were soaked. But he didn’t care, because his baby boy was happy and satisfied.

  In all, the bathroom-turned-beach had only cost about four dollars, since he already owned the nature CDs. He’d saved them a great deal of money, because, had they gone to the beach, he would have spent at the very least $150 for the purchase of gas, food, sun block, beach towels, beach chairs, and an umbrella for shade. Until he did find a job, Will wanted to do as much as possible to alleviate stress from his wife.

  Will pulled the baby out of the water kicking and protesting, not wanting to get out of the tub. Isaiah’s wrinkled hands and feet were pretty good indicators that it was time for him to get out and be dried off. As soon as they returned downstairs, Morgan was pulling into the driveway.

  After placing the baby in his playpen, Will checked on his casserole of chicken, broccoli, cheese, and rice, which was keeping warm in the oven. Steam rose from the oven as he opened it. He couldn’t wait to dig in to it. The recipe was one he’d found on the Internet and he hoped his finished product would end up looking like the picture accompanying the recipe. So far it looked exactly the same.

  Morgan sauntered into the room smiling the same way she had that morning when she’d kissed Will good-bye as she left for work. She gave Will a kiss on his lips, and then kissed the baby on his forehead. “How are my two favorite men doing this evening?”

  “Good, and it looks as if you must have had a good day also.”

  “It was.” With a playful look in her eye, she said, “It must have been because of the great start I had this morning.”

  “Ah, do tell,” Will said.

  “Oh, sweetheart, a lady never kisses and tells, especially not in front of her little b
oy.” She gave Will another kiss on his lips, lingering this time. “But maybe we can talk about it a little later in privacy.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Will grinned.

  “What’s smelling so good?” Morgan closed her eyes and sniffed the air.

  “Oh, just a casserole I baked.”

  Morgan’s eyebrows rose in question. “You know how to bake casseroles now?”

  “Yep.” Will nodded like a child who had just mastered the art of tying his shoes.

  “What kind?”

  “A chicken, broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole.”

  “Man, it smells good. And that spaghetti you packed me for lunch today was absolutely scrumptious. I’m just sorry I didn’t get a chance to find that out last night,” Morgan said.

  Gingerly, Will placed his hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “Honey, don’t bring all of that up. We’ve already kissed and made up. Besides, some people say spaghetti tastes better the second day anyway.”

  “All I know is it was good. And it looks like I won’t miss the treat you’ve made for us tonight.”

  “Nope, you sure won’t.”

  “Okay, I am going to slip out of these clothes and wash my face and hands, and I’ll be back down in a moment.”

  “Good, that will give me a chance to set the table.”

  “Man, my stomach is growling,” Morgan said.

  “I’ll second that. I don’t believe I’ve eaten since this morning.”

  Isaiah banged on his high chair and screamed something that sounded close to the word, “Yeah.”

  “Okay, I guess that is a third, so that makes it unanimous,” Will said.

  “Set the table, I’ll be right back down.” Morgan turned and left for their bedroom.

  Will nodded. He couldn’t have asked for the day to turn out any better than it had. And, from the looks of things, they were only continuing to get better. He looked forward to dinner, and also to the private session with his wife later on that evening. And while he still wasn’t sure exactly what kind of lesson he was supposed to learn from the test he was being put to, he was learning not to take the small things in life for granted. He never would have thought that just seeing a happy look on his wife’s face or looking forward to private, intimate time would cause him so much joy.

  He hated that he and Morgan had fought the night before, but as a result of the fight they had made up and it sounded like Morgan wanted to continue with round two of their session later on that night.

  After setting the table, Will pulled Isaiah’s high chair over into the dining room. The baby had shaken his bottle filled with formula so much that puddles of milk pooled on the surface of his high chair. Will got a paper towel and wiped up the spill. When he placed the paper towel in the trash can, he saw that it was full to the point that it was about to overflow. Before the job loss, he normally emptied the trash every other day or so on his way to work. But now he tried to make sure that it was as full as possible before taking it out, so as not to waste more money on trash bags.

  He stepped through his garage to throw the bag in the outside trash can. As he opened the door to return into the garage, a bird flew in. The bird flew to the corner and landed on a shelf. It then flew to the other side of the garage and landed on top of Morgan’s car.

  Will opened the garage and the bird flew out. He shook his head with an uneasy feeling about the bird coming into their house, as he remembered an old wives’ tale that his grandmother used to say. He knew it had something to do with birds flying into a person’s home and bad luck. He tried to shake off the feeling, thinking it was silly to put any credence into an old tale.

  After closing the garage, he returned to the kitchen, washed his hands, and joined Morgan, who had picked up the casserole and carried it to the dining room table. It was a lot like old times as he watched his wife move as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Will picked up from the counter Isaiah’s plate, which consisted of stage three baby foods, and carried it to the table also.

  Once the food was blessed, all three ate. The conversation was light. Will told Morgan about the indoor day at the beach he’d treated Isaiah to. And Morgan talked about how well her visit from the corporate office had turned out.

  Once they were full, Morgan laid Isaiah down for bed while Will took care of the dishes. Afterward, Will and Morgan continued with round two from that morning. Will knew that life couldn’t get much better than the feelings he was having right then and there.

  Will had ascended the stairs two at a time in anticipation, with two thoughts in particular nagging in the back of his mind. First, it bothered him that Morgan had been calling him some of the same names his father had called him as a child. Morgan knew about his childhood traumas. Will had told her about them about a month after they’d started dating. She’d listened to his stories and consoled him when the memories had gotten too vivid for him. She’d been so understanding, and her understanding nature was another thing that he’d loved about her. He wondered why she would say some of the same things now.

  The other thing that nagged at him in the back of his mind was his wife’s moody behavior. He hoped that by the time he opened his bedroom door his wife would still be in the loving mood she had been in earlier. And in just a moment he would see who was lying in his bed—Dr. Jekyll or Mrs. Hyde.

  Chapter 7

  Will awoke from the best night of sleep he’d had since before he got laid off. Not only had he slept well, but his dreams were filled with replays of the hours he and Morgan had intimately spent together before falling to sleep with exhaustion. She had been in one of her best moods in months. It was as if he could finally exhale with relief. She was the Morgan he’d known before the mood swings she’d been having because of the pregnancy hormones. She was the Morgan he’d known before the stress she’d been under of having to take care of their family financially.

  He turned over on his side to face his wife, but found she had already gotten up. Once he looked at the clock he realized that he’d overslept.

  He listened for sounds that may have been coming from the baby monitor, but he heard none. He also listened for other sounds of movement from Morgan around the house, but didn’t hear anything. With reluctance, he sat up and then got out of bed, heading to the bathroom. He washed his hands and face, then checked on the baby, who wasn’t in his crib.

  Next, he descended the stairs, and upon entering the great room he saw Isaiah playing with a toy in his playpen. The baby dropped the toy as soon as he saw his father, and pulled himself up in to a standing position.

  “Hey, my little man.” Will walked to the playpen and picked up the baby. He nuzzled Isaiah’s nose. The baby giggled.

  “Oh, Will,” Morgan said in a slightly singsong voice. She sounded like she was in the kitchen.

  “Yes, my darling,” Will replied in a similarly singsong voice. He walked into the kitchen to find his wife.

  She was leaning on the island in the kitchen. He took a second to admire the woman God had blessed him with, especially as he thought about the night before. Will had been a virgin before marrying his wife, and he was glad to know that there were still women in the world who saved themselves for their husbands as Morgan had.

  But Will had not been a saint, in that he had seen his share of movies about women who were on the promiscuous side. Some of the moves his wife had put on him the night before reminded him of the strippers in the movie The Players Club. He admired his wife for her natural beauty and God-given talents, but if he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that his wife had not been a virgin before they married—but Will did know better.

  He walked up behind her, gave her a hug with his free arm, and kissed her on the back of her neck. She immediately stiffened. Will pulled back, wondering what was wrong.

  She turned around in one fluid motion and said, “What is this?” Anything singsong in her voice was now gone.

  “Uh, what?” His forehead wrinkled in question.

&nbs
p; She held papers up in his face. Will had to back up in order to see what they were. Then he realized they were from a copy of the budget he’d put together the day before.

  “Oh, that.” He smiled. “I was going to talk to you about it, but we didn’t get a chance last night.” He took the papers from her hand and looked at the clock on the microwave. Morgan would need to leave for work soon. “But don’t worry, we can talk about it when you get home this evening.”

  Morgan frowned. “No, why don’t we talk about it now.” She crossed her arms and rolled her neck.

  Will did a double take, and his body tensed as he wondered why she was acting so hostile all of a sudden. “Don’t you need to go to work?”

  “I know what I need to do, Will,” she said, rolling her neck again. She had put an emphasis on the word “I” like she was trying to be sarcastic with him.

  He wondered if she was trying to imply that he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing. “Whoa, maybe I missed something. What’s up with you? Why are you acting so hostile?”

  “Oh, I’m being hostile, am I?” Morgan asked.

  “Ah, yeah,” Will said.

  “Well why do you think that is?”

  “I don’t know, Morgan. That is why I am asking you.”

  Isaiah started to squirm in Will’s arm. He stepped over to the playpen and sat him down in it. As soon as he stepped away, the baby started to cry. Isaiah wasn’t a whiny baby, but Will had noticed lately that whenever things got tense between him and Morgan, Isaiah could sense it. It was as if history was repeating itself; like when Nicole often sensed the tension between their parents when they fought.

  This was not the way Will had envisioned his day starting. Morgan seemed to be having another mood swing and Will didn’t want to deal with it, especially so early in the morning, and especially not after the great night they’d had together. Now he wondered if the previous day had even happened at all.

  “I’m waiting,” Morgan said.

  Will took a deep breath and tried to speak in a calm voice. “Morgan, we can talk about it later on. I want to sit down with you to talk about it in detail, so that I can show you how I came up with everything.”