Hello October

 

It had been a lot of work, but hopefully it was worth it. Boone's adoptive mother assured Tammy. Yes, they all got together and moved everything from Boone and Maddie's apartment to the house they could now call home.

"I don't know, he might be furious," Tammy practically wailed.

"Well, we can't move it back now," Joe chuckled with a smile.

"It'll be fine," Janine (Boone's adopted mom) said.

Suddenly, Tammy felt she would be the one that everyone was mad at. Of course, Joe brought her a glass of red wine.

Boone's father did a little of the light lifting but left early. He was his reserved self. Tammy didn't ask Janine about that. It was his usual manner. Tammy was glad the boys didn't take after him, after all.

Oh, how her mind could wander and still be in all the wonder of it all. 

"If you say so," she sighed. 

Janine finished filling the pantry and the fridge with food she'd brought. And she'd even brought a rotisserie chicken with all the trimmings. 

Joe reported that the bed had been put up and the bedding taken care of. Tammy looked around. It certainly looked like a home for the two of them to come home to.

They had done their best not to look at anything personal. Naoki and Tyra had been there earlier to help move stuff around. It hadn't been much, but enough to fill a U-Haul truck.  Now they could sit down to a meal. Although Janine was going to make sure they didn't make a mess.

"If I weren't here, you know who might be here," Tammy said after a forkful of mashed potatoes.

Janine shook with laughter. "He does have a name, you know?"

"Who are we talking about?" Joe had practically cleaned his plate and was going for seconds on the chicken breast and the other drumstick.

Tammy winced as if Joe was supposed to shut up and just eat.

"Al has stopped drinking," Janine told them.

Tammy sighed. She didn't know. But then he acted as if she wasn't there, anyway.

"He's very reserved," Janine went on to say. 

"Yes, he's very reserved." Tammy nodded. Thinking of him going off in another room when he didn't want to be around anyone. It had been hard to accept.

"How? How do you do it?" Tammy's eyes grew large as she stared at Janine.

"He's good to me. We are friends. And we do have some good days. But not every day. And having the past come back to haunt him has left him...We'll, he likes some time alone. And we all need our space." Janine told her.

Tammy did her best to smile. She took a sip of wine. There was no need to lose her appetite over Al. She tore a piece of chicken and ate it with her mashed potatoes along with a few green beans.