Coming Home

Chapter 13

An hour or so later, the crowd started coming back to David's place. They had brought a lot of the stuff inside in the morning, then took the afternoon to actually place stuff in its proper places as David finally decided where he wanted to place stuff.

"Hey David, where do you want this box?" Jen asked as she noticed a black cardboard box and picked it up. David looked toward her, saw the box she was holding and pointed upstairs. "Up in my bedroom in the closet, if you don't mind." He said with a smile. Jen blushed lightly and nodded before following his instructions.

David's room was probably one of the few rooms in the house that had a warmer vibe to it with a light blue paint. Besides the bedroom set that just arrived and a chandelier, the room was pretty barren. They were still waiting on the mattress to arrive - that somehow got delayed - so the room wasn't fully considered livable yet.

Jen walked over to the closet, then looked down at the box.

She was pretty certain she knew what was in the box. The other 5 had a box similar to this one with mementos from the show they loved. She felt curious to know what he had kept, surely he wouldn't mind if she had a little peek. So she gently lifted the cover and looked inside.

Sure enough, it was filled with an old script, pictures, what seemed to be letters, etc.

One picture in particular caught her eye. She took the photo from the box, and looked at it, she sighed sadly. "Why would he keep THIS photo of all photos?" she wondered outloud.

It was a photo of her and David from the final week. They were in their 'Ross and Rachel outfits' on the airport set, holding each other, looking at the camera and looking very upset.

"God, we've come so far." Jen said with a laugh.

She wasn't sure why, but she suddenly turned the photo over to see if it was dated. When she looked at the back, her eyes widened, a gasp escaping her lips.

"Last week with the love of my life and greatest work wife. I'll love this one forever"

Jen put the picture back in the box, then felt tears streaming down her cheeks.

She still could not believe they wasted all of this time apart. She knew shit happened for a reason, but man was she glad they were in the here and the now. Happily together, more than friends, with no secrets or barriers stopping them anymore.

She took a minute to collect herself before she headed back downstairs to join the rest of the crowd.

When she got back down there, she noticed David, Matt, and Arthur carrying another burrow. She got out of the way as quickly as she could, David looked at her quickly and smiled "Cleo's set got here. Should have the mattresses in a couple of days." He announced happily before the three men began ascending the stairs.

Cleo was talking to Courteney, but looked over at Jen and noticed something seemed off. She excused herself from Courteney to go talk to Jen

"Are you ok, momma Jen?" The child asked curiously. Jen thought for a second. "Yeah, I'm good. Don't tell your dad, but I just opened his box and was slapped in the face with emotion. I'm ok, though. The bad memories worked out and got us where we are now, so I'm ok." Cleo rubbed Jen's back, giving her a warm smile in the process.

Jen's face then lit up as an idea crossed her mind:

"Cleo, I know you have clothes back in NY to bring up here eventually, but can I take you clothes shopping tomorrow? I think it'll be fun to go shopping with you and your dad. We might be hiding our relationship, but it would just be nice to go out and hang out with two of my favorite people." Jen suggested, her smile growing.