© 2012, by Susan J. Charles. All rights reserved
Edited by Holly H. Hart

The following day was Deanna’s homecoming from the Clinic. I’d tried to work late the night before to make up for taking the day off, but Karen would have none of it.

“You got yourself in a heap of trouble trying to work too much,” she said. “I won’t have that happen to you again. We’ve got plenty of time to get this project done.”

Karen had been scheduling things so that I had time for a life, and then some. She, like Cindy, was a very, very dear friend and would remain so for the rest of my life. But I still felt a little guilty taking time off, but finally got rid of it by realizing that I was lapsing into Mark-think.

Arriving at the house early, I let myself in with the key Ken had given me. Sarah and Millie were at preschool and kindergarten, so I had the house to myself.

I brought in the food and set up to be ready when I had to start cooking. The roast went in a slow cooker so it would stay tender and juicy. Then came the house, the bathrooms first. Things weren’t in the best of shape. Ken had his hands full with Sarah and Millie at home and seeing Deanna at the Clinic

As far as cleaning went, there was evidence of a lick and a promise. So the bathrooms got a through scrubbing. The towels and washcloths went in the clothes washer with bleach to be sure they were disinfected.

Then came the bedrooms. I stripped the beds and piled the sheets in front of the washer. There were toys everywhere in the girls’ room. To save time, I pushed them into a pile and dusted and swept the rooms. I couldn’t tell which clothes on the floor were clean and which were dirty, so they went into another pile. Sarah and Millie were going to have some work to do when they came home.

I repeated the process in Deanna’s and Ken’s rooms. Of course, Deanna’s room hadn’t been touched for a long time, and dust was everywhere. I noticed that Ken still hadn’t done anything about his late wife’s clothes in the closet, but the vanity and dresser were clear of makeup and jewelry. I dusted and swept, but didn’t touch anything else. That would be Ken’s job when he was ready.

The downstairs was a little easier. It was obvious Ken had made an effort in the living room. The dining room looked like it hadn’t been used in some time. Obviously they’d been having their meals in the kitchen breakfast table.

I dusted and swept the living, dining and family rooms. All the dirty dishes went into the dishwasher. By that time, the bathroom things were ready for the dryer and the sheets and blankets went in the washer.

By then, when I glanced out the front door, I spotted the girls coming down the street. As they came in the door, I gave them a big hug.

“Hi girls! Isn’t this an exciting day?”

They jumped up and down, took off their jackets and threw them on the floor as they headed for a snack in the kitchen. “Sarah and Millie,” I said in a stern voice, “aren’t you forgetting something?”

They looked puzzled.

“These jackets have a place and it isn’t on the floor. Come hang them up.”

“Awww, we’ll get to them,” Millie said.

“Now!” I said. “It’s obvious that you’ve been lax in some things, like hanging up jackets and clothes and putting away your toys. That has to stop right now. We can’t have Deanna tripping over something you left on the floor.”

Reluctantly they came back and picked up their jackets and hung them up.

“Thank you girls,” I said. “Now let’s get a snack. A little later, you’re going to have to help me in your bedroom. I didn’t know where your toys go and, I don’t know where your clothes go.”

I could tell they were going to protest, but I cut them off.

“Then you can help me make up the beds with clean sheets. After that, we’ll have some fun making dinner.”

They perked up at that. While they were having their snacks, I pulled the bathroom things out of the dryer and put the bedclothes in. Then, I added the snack plates to the dishwasher, and started it.

Sarah and Millie had turned on the television while I was busy with the dryer. I went into the family room and turned the TV off. “We don’t have time for TV this afternoon,” I said. “Too much to do. Besides fixing dinner, I want us to decorate the house to surprise Deanna.”

I showed the girls the streamers I’d bought along with the “Welcome Home Deanna” banner I’d had printed up. They were excited by the decorations and wanted to hang them immediately, but I made them go up to their bedroom first.

“First we do work, then we have fun,” I told them. With my prodding, they put their toys away and sorted the clean from the dirty clothes. Clean went into drawers, dirty into the hamper.

“That didn’t take long, did it?” I asked. They reluctantly agreed it hadn’t. I took a minute to reemphasize that they absolutely had to keep things off the floors with Deanna home.

“She’s a lot better with walking than she was,” I pointed out, “but we need to do all we can to help her, so we can’t leave anything around for her to stumble on."

Both girls agreed they didn't want Deanna to get hurt again. Then we checked the dryer and found the blankets were taking longer to dry than I'd planned on. So I went to Plan B.

“Come on girls, let’s have some fun!”

We went into the kitchen and got dinner going. I’d decided on a Baked Alaska for dessert, so I set the girls to beating egg whites, while I prepared the veggies. Once the egg whites were done, I set the girls to work beating on the potatoes. They really got into the beating and we soon had well-mashed potatoes. I showed them how to make dough for rolls and then let them roll the dough into little balls. We put the balls into the roll pan and put it in the oven.

Then we hung streamers in the living and dining rooms. Next, we hung the banner outside over the front door.

By that time, dinner was about ready. I suggested the girls that might want to get dressed up in party dresses, telling them I was going to do the same. I used the bathroom to change into a blue halter dress with full skirt that I thought looked festive. I added an apron to protect it as I finished getting the food onto the dining room table. The girls set the table and I gently made corrections as they did so. Then we had a big group hug and I thanked them for all their hard work and help.

As if on cue, Ken pulled into the driveway with Deanna. Sarah and Millie went running out and pulled open Deanna’s door. Carefully they helped her out of the car. Tears came to my eyes as I watched Deanna walk from the car to the house on her own, Sarah and Millie walking beside her to help if necessary. Ken came around with Deanna’s suitcase. He handed it to me and pulled her wheelchair out of the back of the car.

“Come on in,” I called. Dinner is ready!”

Deanna paused and took in the banner. She clapped in delight as she walked inside and saw our decorations.

“I’m home, at last,” she said.

Sarah and Millie were both trying to talk at once and show Deanna everything. “One at a time,” I said, putting down the suitcase. “There’s plenty of time for everything.”

Ken came in, looked around and smiled. “This looks great!” he said.

“Well, there’s still a little to do,” I said. “We’ve got to get sheets and blankets back on the beds before bedtime. But in the meantime, dinner is ready.”

We all sat down in the dining room. Before Ken could start carving the roast, I felt that something was missing. Then it came. “I’ve not been the most religious person in the world,” I said. “But could we all join hands and could you say something, Ken?”

Ken looked a little startled, but nodded his head. We joined hands and I motioned the girls to bow their heads.

“We welcome Deanna home at last,” Ken said. “We are thankful that she is well on the road to recovery and hope that the rest of the way is swift and complete. And we thank our very special friend Jessica for doing so much for us. Thank you.”

We all squeezed hands and began to pass dishes around. Sarah and Millie told Ken and Deanna all that they had done to help today and Ken smiled at me. Near the end of the meal, I went into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dessert. Everyone was amazed and thrilled at the Baked Alaska and the girls told Ken and Deanna how they had done the egg whites. It tasted as good as the recipe promised.

After that, I sat back and watched the rhythms and flows of a family coming back together. It was a warm feeling and I was happy to share in it a little.

Once the dishes were done and put away, we put the sheets and blankets back on the beds and the girls got ready for bed. I said goodnight to each of them and went back downstairs to get ready to leave. I’d already volunteered to take Deanna back to the Clinic each week, and Ken had somewhat reluctantly agreed.

As I gathered up my things, he came up to me and took my hands. “Thank you so much for everything. As I said at dinner, you’ve been a very special friend.”

He leaned forward and gently kissed my on the cheek. I felt a spark. I’d been denying to myself that I was starting to have feelings for this man. It was still too soon. There was the matter of his wife’s clothes still in the bedroom closet. I hadn’t looked, but I was sure there were still things in drawers. These would all need to be sorted and moved into their proper places before I would let myself look closely at what I was feeling for this man and his family.