Once again the North family was waiting with broad smiles painted on their faces as I stepped off the plane. After kisses and greetings, Karen repeated her telephone question.
"When's the wedding going to take place?"
I raised a calming hand. "I want to hear the results of your week of serious discussions over this enormous life-changing decision. Start talking."
Karen looked to her father. "We talked about it, didn't we, Dad?"
"It was all we talked about," Paul said as he grasped my hand and led us to the car.
"You discussed all the pros and cons?" I asked.
Karen answered. "Mostly pros, I'd say."
"And how long were these discussions? About five minutes?"
"Not that long," Timmy answered as he skipped along by our side.
"So when's the wedding?" Karen asked again.
"As soon as we have a house, but not before. First things first." There was a collective cheer.
"I'll set the alarm for tomorrow morning," Karen said. "We're all going to Summerside."
Paul and I managed to spend four wonderful hours together in my hotel room after shuffling off the children to an early bed with the excuse of our morning house hunt. It was the first unhurried love making since Vermont and it felt perfect. We even managed to settle on a few details in between copulations. We would marry in the Catholic Church, although planning that naked in bed, smelling of frantic sex, seemed incredibly sacrilegious. Both of us were raised in the Catholic faith and in spite of my relapse I was perfectly willing to return to the religion the children now practiced far better than I had. My mother would be exultant with the news I was returning to the fold. I hoped she would be able to mentally comprehend. What belongings I possessed in Virginia would fit in the trunk of my car. I endured a pang of guilt bringing so little to this marriage while demanding so much.
"What of the furnishings in Newton do you want?" Paul asked. "I can hire movers or, do you want, buy everything new?" Paul said there was little or nothing he personally wanted to take but as he put it, there was plenty of stuff to choose from. I told him I wanted to discuss the matter with the children.
"Why do we need movers?" Karen asked the next morning as we began our drive to Summerside. "We don't want the stuff and it wouldn't fit in our new house anyway." She removed a pad and pencil from her purse and began checking her notes. "Tell me what we need. I'll write it down." While I loved the idea of an all-new fresh start, the tightwad in me knew the Newton home was loaded ten-fold with everything needed. I opted to wait until more pressing matters were settled.