Both Ella and Joe looked at each other when Caleb announced he was going out. It had been two weeks since his falling out with Gaby.
Joe recovered. "Home by eleven and no drinking or anything else illegal."
"Yeah, yeah." Caleb walked out the door.
Ella smiled, because a few hours without Caleb sounded good to her. Joe was always shushing her in bed, since Caleb's room was on the other side of the wall. She wasn't completely selfish, she was also glad Caleb wasn't sad. He had been happier after school. Still, he and Gaby weren't talking in her class.
Joe was more interested on tracking his brother than on Ella's attempts to seduce him.
"He's walking."
"Come on," she cooed.
Joe stopped looking at his phone long enough to kiss her. She felt her body come alive, but the flame died when he went back to his phone.
Sighing loudly. she picked her own phone and texted Ava.
🗨E: How was your last day?
🗨A: Ok. Sad. I'm packing
🗨E: Can't believe you'll be home for good?
Ava had been in Boston, since she started college. As a student she came home during the summer and other vacations, but since she'd been working she would only pop home for Saturday night and Sunday.
Ella was scrolling through Snapchat, when Joe exclaimed, "He's back at Gaby's house!"
"Good. Now put your phone down, I'm feeling lonely."
Thankfully, Joe did just what she asked. She was too comfortable to get up when Caleb came home. Joe had watched him walk back, as his post-coital entertainment.
Joe took eyes off his screen. "What are you laughing at?"
She hadn't realized she had laughed out loud.
"Joe, our kids aren't going to be able to move, if you're this overprotective."
"El, our kids aren't going to almost be arrested and defiant. They're going to feel loved from the moment they're conceived. I think my mother knew her mistake after Leah. I'm not sure she wanted another child with that man..."
"Poor Caleb, she loved him, didn't she?"
"Yeah, but she was too worn down to put any effort into mothering. My family was so opposite yours. We're going to do it right."
"Just don't leave me."
The words slipped out, but they represented her biggest fear and they lingered below the surface. She saw sadness pass over Joe.
"I could never. It would kill me. I hate being away from you a few nights."
She didn't have any gigs, but she had to go welcome Ava home. She would stay the night and return on Sunday night which was her routine. She hated not spending her full weekends with Joe.
She heard Joe attempted to find out about Caleb's night, but the kid told him to go back to his woman. Ella smiled, because he usually referred to her as his teacher.
Ella was concerned things would change with Ava home. Would her sister want to see her on Friday nights? Would she hone in on her dinners with Tony? Ava was quick to remind Ella she was friends with Tony, but Ella wanted their dinners to remain special just for her and Tony.
Tony had mentioned he had to go back to California in a few weeks and Ella had asked if he was bringing his girlfriend.
"No. Why would I do that?"
"To meet your family, to see if she likes it in case you have to go back."
"I would never ask her to move away from her family. Just like you would never."
"Not true. I should have gone to Massachusetts. That is by far the biggest mistake of my life."
Tony comforted her with his hand on her arm. "You seem less sad and angry."
Ella didn't respond. She could tell him about granny's advice on forgiveness or Joe was back. She chose not to say any of those things.
"Are we still going to have our Tuesday nights, just the two of us?"
Tony looked surprised. "Why wouldn't we?"
"Well, you know with Ava back, she may try to come too."
"No... no this is our deal."
Tony assured her and she felt better. She just hoped that Ava understood.
By the time Caleb woke, both Joe and Ella were on their laptops. They weren't very exciting, as they were both doing work. These were the moments Ella had missed most. When she had worked from home, she always thought of Joe and wondered if he was grading papers. Joe would make comments to her while he read through his students' work. He kept count of the use of certain words like gonna, cool and stuff, but it was the confusion over there, their and they're, which frustrated him the most. Ella was extra vigilant to make sure she got them right herself.
Caleb looked at them and shook his head. Ella smiled at him. "What are we too boring for you?"
"Something like that. Were you both nerds in high school or just Joe?"
Ella laughed. "I was not a nerd. My sister was."
Since neither she nor Joe had bothered to put their contacts in they were both wearing their glasses. She personally thought Joe looked sexy with his glasses on, as she felt a stirring within. Their poor kids wouldn't stand a chance in the eyesight department, she frowned.
"So when do I get to meet this nerdy sister of yours?" As Ella frowned, he added, "It's odd how Joe is always in my business, but my teacher is keeping secrets from her parents. Not a very good role model."
"Caleb, you're right. I need to tell them soon that Joe is back. I just want to get through my sister's homecoming before I ruin everything."
"I think I'll like these people if they hate him." Caleb smiled a wicked smile.
Joe said, "I am sitting right here. Cay, the problem is they friggin loved me and then I did what I did. So yeah, they do hate me now."
'You were an idiot." Caleb loved to remind Joe. He looked around the kitchen. "Cereal again?"
"There are some bagels too. Fix what you want," Joe replied.
As difficult as he tried to be, Ella loved the boy. She stood and put her arms around Joe's neck and whispered, "You are a very cute and sexy nerd." Then she said, "I'm going to shower."
"I better not see you in a towel!" Caleb whined.
Ella just laughed.
Being with Joe was easy but leaving was hard. The minute she arrived at her parents her mother was full of questions. The better she looked compared to the months of misery. The more attention she received made it harder to explain the change without mentioning Joe. When asked about friends at her new school aside from Christa she wanted to mention the English department but didn't. Ever since Joe started having lunch with them, Karen and Greg went out of their way to be nice to her. Joe had been too vague with them and Ella suspected they were trying to win Ella back for Joe. It was all rather amusing, but she really did enjoy their efforts. Once she became a regular at his apartment, she and Joe saw less of each other in school. Joe would occasionally stop in on his free block, but not every day. They had work to do, so it was foolish to waste time during the school day.
Ava arrived with a car full of belongings needing to be carried into the house. It surprised Ella when Tony arrived with his car full. Apparently, Ava had recruited him to help her move.
"I left my furniture behind. It was all junky anyway."
"How long are you planning to live at Mom and Dad's?" Ella asked.
"I'm not quite sure. At least for now."
Ella knew where she wanted her next move to be. Meanwhile, Joe and Caleb were visiting with Owen and part of her wanted to go join them knowing they were in town.
At dinner, Granny said, "I met a very nice young man with Owen today down by the beach."
Ava said, "Owen doesn't strike me as the type to hang out with a student. Did he look like he needed extra attention?"
"Extra attention! Ave really?" Ella wanted to say he had more attention than he wanted.
Ava scrambled to clarify. "You know a big brother figure."
Again, Ella thought, he had his own big brother who loved him.
"He was a polite young man dress the way that kids do in black. He acted pleased to meet me. In fact, he had a smirk on his face. Do you think they think I'm the eccentric next door?"
"No Granny!" Ella exclaimed.
Caleb was definitely thrilled to be meeting her gran. She was thankful Joe had enough sense to stay in the house.
"He was impressed with the beach and I told him he would have to come back in the summer. He liked the idea."
Ella liked the idea but wanted him as her guest, not Owen's. Score one for Caleb, because he had won over granny. Ella felt proud of him almost like he was part of her, not just Joe.