Standing By

Saving Assets

(Tim)

My alarm went off much too early in my opinion. I pulled groggy eyes open, groaning at the lump next to me. Chance.

Austin was sitting up, rubbing his face and yawning widely, kicking the afghan aside. "Morning."

"Morning," I mumbled, pushing hands at my own eyes and rubbing them. Ohhh fuck. Sooo tired. "Too early."

"Time is it?" Austin asked, yawning again.

I picked my phone up off the bedside table and squinted at it. "7:50." I tossed it back down. "Need to leave at 8:40."

"I vote for five more minutes," Austin muttered, kicking at a pillow.

I poked the snooze button and let my head drop to the pillow. Naturally, I wasn't any less tired seven minutes later, but this time Chance lifted his head lazily.

"We gotta get up?" he croaked.

"Yeah," I said, yawning. "7:57. Need to leave here at 8:40."

"Coffee," Austin demanded, buried under pillows and blankets.

"Who wants the first shower?" I muttered, not really having the energy to sit up. No one answered me. I just stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to wake up. Arraignment day. My arraignment day. Lord, what would the day have in store for me? Painstakingly, I pulled myself to my feet and padded into the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush and toothpaste and shampoo. I took the first shower myself, then brushed my teeth and put in my contacts. I tested my electric shaver and, seeing it had battery power, wandered back into the bedroom in my towel while I was shaving. Austin was now vertical and we switched places. I started sliding into my clothes, then nudged a motionless Chance again.

He sat up. "I know, I know. I'm awake."

"Need to get a move-on," I told him gently.

"Well, Austin is in the shower," he pointed out. "There another around here?"

"Maybe." I stepped out into the hallway, hearing morning sounds of breakfast and the news on the TV. "John? Rachel? There another shower Chance can use?"

"Master bathroom—he can use that one!" John called upstairs.

"Toast and jelly and eggs down here!" Rachel added.

"Sounds good to me!" I told her, Chance already on his way to the master bathroom. I walked back into the guest room and knocked on our bathroom door. "Hey Austin, Rachel has breakfast ready downstairs. Toast and jelly and eggs."

The door opened and Austin poked his head out. "A cahee ahp?" he garbled around his toothbrush. I blinked at his gibberish and he spat into the sink, washing the goo down. "And coffee too, I hope?"

"Hope so," I remarked.

He tucked a stray strand of hair into his ponytail and shrugged into his shirt, yanking the tag off. "OK, I'm ready."

The two of us went downstairs where breakfast was waiting for us on the table—two pieces of toast apiece with an assortment of jellies and jams set out on the table, scrambled eggs, a sprig of grapes, and coffee.

"Rachel, you are awesome," I told her, setting down in a chair near where Satchmo and King were enjoying bowls of wet dog food. She was going to spoil both of us here. I usually just give him dry food.

"No problem," she said, popping a grape in her mouth. "Big day today. You need to be well-fed."

Austin had zeroed in on his coffee, mixing in creamer and sugar and slurping away on it. Chance came down a few minutes later dressed neatly in my pants and shirt, making appreciative sounds at our breakfast. He sat next to me, dumping sugar in his coffee.