To Everything, There Is A Season

Chapter 38

Meryl woke up in the middle of the night and turned to her husband to snuggle up to him and was surprised to find that not only was he not in bed with her, but the sheets were cold where his warm body should be. She reached for her glasses and looked at the clock on his bedside table seeing it was barely 2 am. She hoped he wasn't sick. She was pretty sure that if Henry would have woken up, then she would have heard him. She grabbed a pair of his boxers to put on under his t-shirt she had been sleeping in and went to look for her husband. As she walked down the hall she was surprised to see the light on in the office and to see him sitting on the couch looking at the newspaper, circling something. "Don Man?"

"Hey, baby." Don smiled softly at his wife, as he put the marker and paper down on the end table. "I hope I didn't wake you up."

Meryl shook her head as she went to sit on the couch next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I woke up and you were gone. I was worried about you. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just a little anxious." Don said with a kiss to her head. "You need to be resting and in bed after all your body has gone through. Come on, let's go back to bed."

Meryl shook her head as she turned to him and ran her fingers through his curly hair. "I wanna talk. Baby, why are you anxious? What were you doing?"

"Apartment hunting." Don said holding up the paper and showing her the listings he circled. "I want to find you your dream place as soon as possible. The sooner we find a place then the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

Meryl sighed as she kissed his forehead. "Sweetheart, I meant what I said, I want us to take our time. There is no hurry. Baby, you are still healing as well and I don't want you to put so much pressure on yourself. We have time. You certainly don't need to be looking at listings at 2 am."

"I want us to start this new chapter as soon as possible." Don decided to be completely honest. "I am terrified of leaving you alone here because whenever I do, I come home and..."

At that moment Meryl felt like she had been selfish in saying that they needed to stay in the apartment until they found someplace new; after all, Don had been traumatized as well. "Baby, if you want to pack up and stay in a hotel, we will. This isn't all about Henry and me, it is about you as well."

"I agree that we need to stay until we find someplace new." Don told her. "I just want us to do that as soon as possible. Baby, you really need your rest. I just wanted to look at the listings so I feel like I'm doing something; you can go back to bed."

Meryl shook her head as she held her hand out. "We're in this together. I want to look with you. What have you found?"

"I have found lots of great places with 4 bedrooms and a 24-hour doorman and security." Don said as she nodded; he had told her that he wanted round the clock building security now after everything they had gone through. "If I want a space for my studio in our apartment then we're talking another half million."

Meryl could tell he was frustrated by that, and as she looked at the listings she could see what he was talking about. "Baby, we can always take out a loan. I mean, who doesn't have a mortgage?"

"We are doing so well financially that I really don't want to do that." Don decided to tell her what he had been thinking. "I love having my studio in the apartment so I can help out with Henry, and our future babies, but I don't know if that's the best investment. Taking out a loan just so I have a studio in the apartment."

Meryl could tell he had been thinking about this for a while. "Okay, what are you thinking?"

"I really do love having my studio in the apartment with you and Henry." Don said again as Meryl nodded her head. "What do you think of me buying a studio apartment in the same building for my studio. That way the two would be separate and yet I will be in the same building for when you need to work or need a break or something. We can easily afford a beautiful place with a bedroom for us, one for Hen, a nursery, spare bedroom, and office and then a studio; however, to get a space for my studio in our apartment is just ridiculously expensive."