Never To Late For Love

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Alex

The realtor is showing us the first house on the list that Mae and I set up. This was Mae's favorite that we saw in the pictures, so I'm hoping that she likes it just as much in person. The neighborhood is one that she loves, and I like that it is just a few blocks from her job. I want to get us settled as soon as possible to try and keep as much stress off Mae as possible.

"All the appliances are going to be sold with the house as they have been custom-built into the cabinets. The appliances are less than a year old and still have warranties." The realtor tells Mae as they walk around the kitchen.

Mae's eyes are the brightest that I have seen in a while. She is excited, and I love watching her like this. As we tour the rest of the house, I have made up my mind that if she likes this house then we will take it.

We make our way up to the master bedroom, and the realtor says she will give us some time to ourselves. I walk around the room watching Mae's every movement. She looks like she is floating on air.

"Well, Baby, what do you think?" I ask. She turns and faces me with a huge smile on her face.

"I love it. To be honest, I don't think I want to look at the other houses." She squeals.

"Then we'll take it. I already made up my mind, and I love it too."

I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her. At this moment I couldn't be happier. I talk everything over with the realtor, and we set up an expedited closing so that Mae and I can get into the house next week. We make it back to the hotel, and my phone goes off. I take the call, and it is one of the detectives from the incident the night before the wedding.

The trial is going to start for Stephanie in a week's time. They wanted to let us know when it is so that we will be ready to testify. This is something that I think we both desperately need. Getting closure from that experience will help us move forward.

"That was the detective letting us know when the trial will start," I tell her softly.

"Wow, that's faster than I thought. Are they wanting us to testify?" She asks in her normal voice.

I was expecting her to be a little upset at the thought of being in the same room with Stephanie again. But she is sitting here like nothing is wrong and it's completely normal to be having this conversation. I can't help but wonder if this is a good thing.

"You're not upset by the thoughts of being around her again?"

"Of course I am." She sighs and looks me in the eye. "The thing is I know that you're there and there are going to be plenty of people there to keep her from getting near me. I know that I should be more upset by all of this, but I'm trying to stay calm for the baby."

She looks at me and I can tell she is fighting to stay strong. I walk over to her and pull her into my arms. Holding her close and running my hand through her hair is my way of calming her.

"I don't want to live my life in fear. I want our son to know that his mon is a badass who protected him from a crazy woman." She chuckles. "I may need to get some therapy if I can't work through this. I think the trial will help me get over it. Knowing she is n=in jail and can't hurt you or Max will make it so much better."

"Wait is that what you're worried about? You are more concerned for me and Max than yourself?" I'm shocked at what I'm hearing.

"Of course I am. The last thing that I want is the love of my life or my best friend hurt by that psycho." Her eyes are wide and angry.

"Baby, I love you." I pull her to me and plant my lips on hers.

The day of the closing comes faster than we imagined. As soon as we close we head to the new house where movers were waiting to start unloading things for our old house. Mae wanted to keep a lot of the things that we had from before so we went through and kept what we wanted and sold the rest.

The old house is now on the market and we are ready to never have to deal with it again. This week Mae spent a lot of time looking at new furniture and things that she wanted to use in the new house. We have deliveries set up all week.

We have to go to court in the morning and Mae is getting a little nervous. She's more scared of talking in front of a lot of people than she is seeing Stephanie. We have practiced several times on what questions may be asked and how to handle the stress. The DA is looking to have Stephanie committed to getting help with her mental issues.

Mae has been insisting that Stephanie needs help more than she needs to go to jail. Max has been constantly apologizing and Mae has told him if he does that one more time she was going to punch him in the "Man meat". His pale face was answer enough to know that he wouldn't be apologizing again.

"Alex, Xavier, and Chelsea are coming over to help us get some stuff unpacked." She yells from across the house. " Oh, and there may be more people coming."

Just as she finishes, our front door opens and all of our finds come pouring into the house. As soon as I think it is finished, our families pile in. I look around and see they all have different kinds of take-out and are making themselves at home. Mae comes into the room and starts hugging everyone.

"Chelsea and Xavier sure did morph into a lot of people," I say looking at my cute wife.

She smiles and walks over and gives me a peck on the cheek. before I know it boxes are being opened and furniture is being put into place. With the exception of the few pieces that Mae has ordered to come later in the week, our house is shaping up. Mae is running around answering questions on what goes where and I stand there in shock.

"Dude! A little help?" I hear Declan yell. I walk over to help him in mounting the television in the living room.

"Did she plan all this?" I ask him looking over at my wife.

"No, actually it was Chelsea and Erica. Mae just agreed to let us into the house." He chuckles as he finishes. "We just want her to be as relaxed as possible before tomorrow. Everyone loves her man. Probably more than you."

I punch his shoulder as he laughed at my face. The evening goes by in laughter and lots of empty boxes. The ladies have worked together to get a grocery order put in and delivered, all while setting the kitchen up and getting all the laundry washed and put away.

The guys and I have gotten all the furniture in place and have hung every picture and decoration in place. All of the food has been eaten and right now all the girls are upstairs setting up the nursery. I can hear the laughter all the way downstairs in the man-cave.

All the guys are sitting around watching an old game of football and enjoying a beer. I look around the room and see that my family has grown so much since I met Mae. We are beyond blessed to have these people in our lives and I don't know what we would have done without all of them.

The night ends with everyone saying goodbye and letting us know that they all plan to be there tomorrow for the trial. They want to be there to support us when we need it. Mae is beyond happy to be settled into her dream home.

"Thank you for everything Alex," Mae says as we settle into bed for the first time here.

"You don't have to thank me for a thing. I would do anything for you. You're my girl." I kiss her forehead and she giggles.

"I know that dork. I just never want to take things for granted. I always want you to know how much I appreciate all that you do. Besides you do the same thing to me. It's one of the things that I love about our relationship. We make sure to tell each other thank you."

We fall asleep in peace and comfort in our new home. Hopefully, the trial will go fast and smoothly so that we can get on with our lives.