Page 7 of A New Chapter
Rom never claimed to be perfect, and getting the thought out of his head now was better than letting it sit there and fester, for sure.
Resentment and anger, however, were rapidly building. Not at Clayton, but at the brothers’ parents.
Once they sign that damn paperwork, I’m giving them a piece of my mind.
Chapter Three
Rom reached inside the second bedroom and flipped the light on while Chad balanced the mattress. As Rom looked around, he realized there’d be more to do than just shuffling stuff to make room.
“We’ll need to move those shelves to our bedroom. And my dresser.”
“I’d just add shelves to your bedroom. He’ll need shelves in here. Or even make an IKEA run for some shelves.”
“True.”
After leaning the mattress against the doorway, Chad walked over to study the ceramics pieces on the shelves. “Did Colt make these?”
“No. Most of those Grammy made. He put them up here to keep them safe.”
Chad had been reaching to touch one and jerked his hand back. “Yikes. I’ll let you guys move those. I don’t want to butterfingers them. I’d feel horrible.”
“If we can move the file cabinet and desk out right now, and my dresser, that’d be great.”
While Colton and Ina sat and talked with Clayton, Chad helped Rom move the items around, including moving the big dresser in the master bedroom so they could fit Rom’s dresser next to it. Rom saw they’d need to completely rearrange the living room and move the TV and couch to give Colton an office area, but he and Colt could do that later.
After running the vacuum in the second bedroom to pick up dust bunnies that had hidden under the desk and file cabinet, Chad helped him move the mattress in.
“That’s perfect,” Rom said. “Thanks.”
“Why don’t you let me help you move the bed frame up here?” Chad asked.
“Because we still need to move other stuff around first. It’ll be easier to do that without the frame in the way.”
“Stubborn,” Chad muttered with a smile.
“You should know.”
They returned to the living room, where Rom knew Chad would have a hard time prying Ina out of there.
“Why don’t you guys come over for dinner?” Ina offered. “He can meet the boys.”
“Because I think we need to talk to him and let him get settled in,Mom,” Rom teased. “He probably wants to take a shower and needs a nap.” The poor kid looked like he was about to drop.
It took another hour, but with Chad’s help, Rom finally got her to leave.
Yeah, Rom could see Ina wanted to try to talk him and Colton into letting her have Clayton, but the boy wasn’t a puppy. Sure, her heart was absolutely in the right place, but Rom was going to be firm about this point. Weekend visits, absolutely, butlivingwith them?
No, Clayton was going to livehere, withthem.
“You go get your shower,” Rom told him. “There’s towels in the cabinet, and there’s shampoo and stuff under the sink. We’ll add whatever you need to the shopping list and go out later.”
“Thank you.”
Once he was in the bathroom and they heard the water running, Rom had Colton help him start moving the vases and other fragile items from the office. For now, they could stay on their two dressers.
“We need to go shopping,” Rom said as he stared at the room. “He’s going to need a desk, and a dresser of his own.” Rom still wasn’t sure what he’d do with his own clothes that were hanging in the closet in there, but they could stay there for another day or so. “He needs his own space.”
“There’s that thrift shop two blocks over. I know they’re still open.”
