Swollen Feet

The Thing

That's when Paul said what Meryl had been dreading, and Eddie can tell by the way she tensed when the words were spoken. "Meryl, I think it's about time you went to get the thing."
"The...... The... BIRTH certificate?"
"Yes, the one that he came for. The one you made sure to put on the desk so you would know where it was."
She played with the ends of her hair on comfortably. "Um... well... um..."
"Go on!" Paul commanded his wife.
"Okay," she said quietly, and slowly, uncertainly, went up the staircase to the office and what's the desk resided.
Time passed slowly. The only exchange they had was when Eddie said, "You could at least try."
Paul replied, "So could you."
After that, Paul said not a word, and the silence was returned. If Eddie said something, that would get Paul going again, and Meryl tried so hard to help them get along. But a good ten minutes had passed, and Meryl had not come down yet.
"What in the world is taking so long?" Eddie wondered out loud.
Paul shouted up the stairs, "YOU PUT IT ON THE DESK!!!"
There was no response from upstairs. Paul sighed and shook his head.
"The desk is still in the same place it was when I left, isn't it?" Eddie asked.
That provoked another glare from Paul, and Eddie was already sorry had asked anything. But Paul simply replied, "Yes, it is."
Eddie shrugged, thankful that he at least could take some liberty. "Then even I know where it is." There was a pause. "Maybe she stopped to do her hair or something."
This is when Paul finally smiled at Eddie. Through a chuckle, he said, "She would." Then he immediately cleared his throat to rid himself of the amusement and shouted, "MERYL!! ARE YOU GOING TO COME BACK DOWN?"
"Yes, Dear," She had been standing at the top of the stairs. Now she finally came down, clutching the birth certificate to her chest and smiling uncomfortably.
"About time," Paul said. "What took you so long?"
"I... um..." she was trying to think of what to say. Then she smirked and said sarcastically, "I stopped to fix my hair."
If it was her intention to lighten the moment and get the attention off the piece of paper in her hand, she succeeded for a moment. "How long were you listening?" Eddie knew all too well of Meryl's snooping habits.
She wasn't going to satisfy his curiosity. "Long enough," was all he got.
"Well, give the boy his thing so we don't have to worry about it anymore."
Paul's words made Meryl tense up again. She looked at Paul with her "do I have to?" expression, glanced down at the certificate, back toward Eddie, then back to Paul. "Really?"
"Meryl, the boy knows we're not his real parents."
"And it's not like I really care about my real parents, anyway. I've told you that."
"That's not what I'm concerned about, and you know it." Meryl snapped at Paul.
Eddie held out his hand to receive Meryl's treasure. "Meryl..."
She sighed and cautiously handed him the paper. "I'm sorry, Eddie."