One Night Standards

Moving Day

Chase's POV:

Delilah was wrapping the last coffee mug in heavy brown paper when I walked into the kitchen after having spent the morning helping her dad and uncle move her heavy furniture into the U-Haul that was waiting out front. Yes, it would have been easier to have hired someone to move her stuff, but letting her pack her own things, seeing where she had been living, had been something that I hadn't been able to turn down.

Glancing around at the kitchen and all the boxes that were labeled fragile, once more I thought about the amount of coffee mugs that Delilah had. I was a simple man. The only reason I had four coffee mugs was because that was what came in the set of dishes that I'd brought on impulse from Cabela's when scrolling social media late one night after having a few too many to drink. I didn't see the logic in having so many when you could only drink from one at the time but they seemed to make Delilah happy. And because they made her so happy and she lit up when she talked about certain ones, I'd make it my life's mission to buy her every funny, whimsical, or vulgar mug that her heart desired if that's what she wanted.

"All the furniture is packed. Well, all but the kitchen table." I said, walking over to her and extending a hand to her to help her up from the spot where she had been sitting in the floor. Unable to help myself, I pulled her to me and tipped her head back by tugging at the pony tail that hung down her back. The flash of desire that Delilah had in her eyes told me that she liked having her hair pulled. Duly noted...

"That was the last of the kitchen cabinet stuff. Still not sure where we are going to put half of this stuff when we get back to Nashville." Said Delilah.

"We will figure it out. I told you, we can get rid of some of my things to make room for yours since my home is now your home. I want the house to look like a woman lives there. I don't want there to be any question about whether I have a woman in my life or not." I said.

"So, you would even be fine with me hanging pink floral curtains in the living room and adding throw pillows that matched to all the couches?" she said teasingly. Inwardly, I cringed at the idea of the floral curtains and throw pillows, but just like the coffee mug obsession, if that was what would make her happy, I was more than willing to oblige her.

"If that's what you wanted, I'm fine with it." I replied.

"Smart man." Said Delilah's dad, Derrick, as he and his brother, Ray, walked into the kitchen. The two of them walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water from it before turning back to Delilah and I.

"I don't have the heart to tell your Aunt Gabby that I hate those damned stripped curtains she hung in the dining room. Damn things remind me of Beetlejuice every time I'm sitting down at the dinner table. I keep waiting for someone to start screaming 'dayyyyyyy-ohhhhhh' when I'm in the middle of eating my meatloaf." said Ray, singing the part from the movie and making all of us laugh uncontrollably.

"Same with your mama. I don't have the heart to tell her that glitter wall in the entryway looks like something that you would find in a 4-year-old child's bedroom. Or better yet, a nursery. And if you ever tell here that, I'll deny it until I'm blue in the face." Said Derrick, pointing a finger as his daughter to get the point across. Delilah couldn't do anything but laugh.

"I mean it Delilah Faith. If you say one word to your mama, I'll never bring you back another one of those quirky coffee mugs that you love so much." Said Derrick.

And there is why she loves coffee mugs so much...

Seeing Delilah and her daddy joking back and forth with one another had me missing my own daddy. I missed him every day but it was on those rare occasions that I saw someone interacting with their father than it hurt the most. There was no doubt in my mind that Daddy would have loved Delilah, would have looked at her as the daughter that he never had. An image of the two of them sitting on the back porch, daddy sipping from his coffee mug while Delilah did the same and joking on something that I had either said or done popped into my head. I can see it just as clear as day, daddy pulling her into his arms hugging her tight, and telling her how much he loved her. That same image them morphed into him holding by boys, beaming at me with tears in his eyes like the proud grandpa that I knew he would have been.