Chapter 46: Done

We were awakened, Friday morning, by the ringing of Cheryl’s phone. It had been a short night. We’d stayed up a bit later than usual, and then Cheryl had been wakened partway through the night by cramps, and had gotten out of bed to get some pain meds. I cuddled her back to sleep - my hand on her tummy seemed to provide some warming relief - but the damage had been done in terms of disrupting rest for both of us, and so we slept a bit later than usual. It took several rings before Cheryl could extricate herself from the covers and my limbs, and find her phone, but she managed it.

It was Megan.

Cheryl answered and put it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” Megan sounded much perkier than Cheryl and I did. “How are the lovebirds this morning?”

“We’re good,” Cheryl responded. “But why are you calling me so fucking early?”

“It’s not early!” Megan insisted. “It’s almost 9:00! Up and at ‘em! Also, I wondered if you wanted to meet up for breakfast?”

Cheryl glanced at me. I nodded.

“Alright. Where?”

“Place we went last Friday? Where we went with Ian?”

“Ok. But give us 45 minutes.”

“Deal.”

The line went dead, and Cheryl rolled towards me, I reached out and cupped one of her breasts in my hand.

“Mmm,” she moaned. “You can’t be horny already.”

“Says who?”

She giggled. “Let me rephrase that. I thought your girlfriend did a pretty good job of satisfying your urges last night. And if she didn’t ... well, I guess it sucks to be you. Because we have a breakfast date to keep, and then my pussy’s gonna be messy for a few days.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, hauling myself out of bed. “I’m no more in need of you than I am at any other moment of any day. You’ve created a monster. Two months ago, I was fine without sex. Now...”

“Two months ago you were not fine without sex,” she noted. “I believe you’ve told me that in your previous life, a day without jacking off was like ... a day without sunshine.”

“OK, you’ve got me there. But what I meant was ... I’ll be fine. Let’s go get cleaned up.”

We showered, pulled on some clothes, and headed out into the crisp morning to walk to the restaurant to meet Megan. We’d hurried to get ready, but we were still a few minutes later arriving at the restaurant than we had meant to be. Megan sat at a table near the door, a cup of coffee in front of her, and a carafe of liquid awakening sitting with two empty cups for us. She stood and gave us each a hug, then turned to Cheryl.

“So - did he remember?”

Cheryl laughed. “Nope. Totally clueless.”

“Hey!” I protested. “I resemble that remark!”

We sat and ordered, then devoured huge plates of bacon and eggs with beans and homefries as we talked about the week to come. Cheryl and Megan, both being in the School of Business, had more exams than I did. Most of their courses, in fact, culminated in exams. In this I felt I was better off than they were. I hated exams, and never did as well on them as I did on essays and other assignments, and so it was good for me that the History Department had many courses that ended without exams at all. So while I had only one final exam this term, plus two papers that I still had to get done and in before midnight next Friday night, Cheryl and Megan each had four exams spread over five school days.

While the schedule for the next week sucked, at least neither of them had two exams on the same day, which sometimes happened. That was a killer. My only exam was on Tuesday, and my hope was to mostly finish one paper over the weekend, then turn to studying, and start the second paper as soon as my exam was done. Cheryl had exams on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Megan’s were on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Neither of them had any coursework left to hand in.

Megan wondered if the two of us would be up to hosting an end of term and Christmas party on Saturday night. Cheryl looked at me, and waited for an answer.

“Hey, it’s your apartment, not mine, right?”

Megan nodded.

“For now, yes, though you’re officially moving in with us next fall, right?”

“Only if you say it’s ok, Megan.”

She laughed at me. “Of course it’s ok. But it was sweet of you to make Cheryl ask me. Honestly, I am looking forward to a drop in the rent - though I’m still not sure that’s fair. I think since you two have one bedroom and I have one bedroom, I should just keep on paying what I’ve been paying.”

“And we went over that already, Megan,” Cheryl said, “and it’s not happening. Three people living in the apartment means a three-way split of the rent.”

“Ok. But only if you’re both sure,” Megan replied. “But back to the party - Cheryl, is it ok with you? I was thinking we’d invite Sumi and Lexi and Steph and Candice, and tell them to bring their guys or a friend if they want. And I thought we could tell people to dress Christmasy.”

“That works for me,” Cheryl said. “Sounds like a great way to decompress. John, are you sure?”

I pretended to think it over. “Oh, ok,” I agreed. “Actually, I’m totally fine with it. I mean, smoking hot girls in elf outfits? What’s not to like?”

They both hit me, one from either side.

“What about inviting Ian?” Cheryl wondered. “He might like to come.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t think this is his crowd. I mean, no disrespect to your friends. Really. Ok, bit of disrespect to your friends’ boyfriends. Those two dudes you introduced me to at the Halloween party have more in common with Kelly and Ronan from my Russian history class than they do with Ian.”

Cheryl shuddered. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. Maybe we can tell the girls not to bring their boyfriends?”

“No. It’s fine. But I just don’t think it’s a good group to add Ian to.”

We paid the bill, and started to walk towards the girls’ place. As we walked, we continued to talk about the days to come.

“When are folks headed home for the holidays?”

“I’m thinking I’ll go home Tuesday,” I said. “I want a couple of days here after this week is over to do some Christmas shopping - and especially if we’re having a party on Saturday night, I think I would at least need Monday to take care of some of that.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Megan said. “I’ll likely head home late Monday or maybe Tuesday.”

“I could drive you,” Cheryl offered. “I hadn’t made plans yet, and was thinking I’d just head back to Toronto when John left town. That way I get a few days with my folks before they leave on their cruise.”

“That’d be awesome,” Megan said. “You’re the best!”

The big issues of life thus settled, we made small talk for the rest of the walk, then settled in to work. Around mid-morning both girls made trips into the bathroom, and announced when they emerged that their birth control pills had done their work for another month, and no eggs had been fertilized.

For dinner, we thawed a container of the stew Megan had made the weekend before. As we ate, we agreed that we needed to make sure we all ate healthily for the next week, but we couldn’t be quite as ambitious as we’d been the weekend before. We still had a meal of each of the three big things we’d taken turns preparing, so that gave us three more days of one good meal a day, and we decided to save those for later in the week when we were all crazy. Megan offered to make dinner for Saturday, and I said that since both girls had an exam Monday morning, I’d look after feeding us all on Sunday night. Cheryl said that in that case, since Megan and I both had exams Tuesday, she should do supper Monday, and we’d eat the frozen leftovers the next three evenings. Megan and I made plans to do a quick grocery run in the morning, to get stuff for the two dinners but also to restock lunch and breakfast stuff - fruit, veggies, cheese, kielbasa - the kind of thing you could grab and eat without a lot of preplanning or preparation.

We didn’t go for a walk that night. I tidied up the dishes, and we tried to work a bit longer, but ultimately we all decided to call it a night early. There was nothing to be gained by starting the week overtired - there would be plenty of opportunity for that over the next few days. Cheryl and I shared the bathroom, and after we’d cleaned our teeth and she’d changed her tampon, we said goodnight to Megan and climbed into bed. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, followed by Megan sticking her head in.

“Um, can I come in and sleep with you guys? I just feel ... I feel like a cuddle.”

“Sure,” Cheryl said. “Who wants the middle tonight?”

Megan didn’t answer, but I could feel her wanting to.

“C’mon, Megan,” I said. “In you get.” I kissed Cheryl, and slid over to make room for Megan in between us.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to come between you guys...”

“John’s right,” Cheryl said. “Get in.”

Megan slid into the middle, and Cheryl and I snuggled up against her from either side.

“Cramps?” Cheryl asked.

“Yeah. I hate this time of the month.”

Cheryl found my hand, and put it on Megan’s belly, along with her own, and in that position, we drifted off to sleep.

By Saturday morning, we were all feeling rested, and both girls seemed to be feeling a little better. As soon as we were both cleaned up and dressed and had eaten some toast, Megan and I headed out to the grocery store, hoping to avoid the Saturday morning rush. We stocked up on basics as well as getting what we needed for dinners for the next couple of nights. Megan got makings for some big dinner salads, and some chicken breasts to cook up to go on top of them, and I got stuff to make mac and cheese.

When we got back to the apartment, Cheryl was looking a bit down.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Dad called while you were out,” she said. “He’s really swamped at work, and trying to get a bunch of stuff done so he can be ready to go away on their cruise. He asked if I could come and work with him all of next week.”

“And?”

“I don’t want to leave before you go home, John. But I think I have to. Dad’ll pay me, of course, so it’s not all bad. But I was looking forward to a couple of days here with you after the chaos ended to do some gift shopping, and just hang out together. And that means I can’t drive you home, Megan, unless you go earlier than you planned on.”

“That sucks,” Megan said. “Not the part about you not driving me home. I’m fine with the train. But it sucks that you guys won’t get that time together. And I guess that means no Christmas party, either.”

Cheryl shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. We can still do that on Saturday night. I don’t have to leave until Sunday. Dad wants me to come in to work with him for Monday morning. So the party is fine. But the rest of it...”

“It’s ok,” I said. “You’ll be coming to see me soon. And besides, it’ll feel good knowing you’ve helped your dad get enough done so that he can go away with your mom and relax.”

She stood and hugged me. “You always say the right thing,” she said. “Of course. I was just thinking of what I was missing out on - not what he would gain from it.”

She perked up, after that, and the three of us settled down to work, studying and writing. Saturday passed, all too quickly - and with not quite enough done. But as I fell asleep in Cheryl’s arms, I reflected that tomorrow was another day.

Sunday was much like Saturday: we worked, together, but separately, all day. I stopped writing a bit after 4:00, and made a pot of macaroni and cheese. There was some lettuce and other vegetables left over from supper the night before, so I threw together a nice salad to go along with it. The girls offered to do the dinner dishes, but they both had an exam on Monday, so I sent them back to studying, and I did the washing up and stuck the leftovers in the fridge. Then I did what I thought was a final edit on the paper I was trying to finish, and set it aside. I’d take another quick look at it at the end of the week, just before I handed it in. There was always more I could do - but I had make sure I had enough time to prepare for the exam on Tuesday, and for the second paper that I had to write before Friday.

The girls studied until just after 10:00, quizzing each other on the material that they had been learning for the past few months, and then we all bundled up and went for a walk. It was the first time any of us had been outside all day, and the first time Cheryl had been outside since Friday morning. It had been bitterly cold all weekend, but was starting to warm up slightly now.

Monday morning, I made sure I was up and got the coffee started, then cut up some fruit and put it out for the girls with some cereal and milk. They got showered and dressed, then both kissed me goodbye and went to write their exam. Once they were gone, I showered, and started studying for my exam on Tuesday.

Cheryl and Megan got home just before 1:00, tired but feeling like they’d both done reasonably well. I’d made some sandwiches, so we ate those, then Megan took a quick bath to clear her head before she started in on final prep for her exam the next afternoon. I went back to studying for my exam, and Cheryl washed up the dishes, then headed out for groceries. She made us spaghetti and meatballs for dinner - comfort food, she said - then insisted on doing the cleaning up so that Megan and I could both get right back to work.

Cheryl and I did go for a quick walk before bed on Monday. Megan didn’t join us, saying she was just feeling too unprepared for her exam the next day. She was still up, cramming furiously, when Cheryl and I turned in for the night.

Tuesday morning, I slipped out of bed around 5:00 a.m., without waking Cheryl, and after making a pot of coffee, I sat down on the couch and reviewed my list of dates and names and places that were key in helping to understand twentieth century Russian history. I knew that the exam I had that day was going to include a list such things, and we would be expected to write two or three sentences explaining the significance of each. Megan emerged around 8:00 - she’d stayed up far later than I had - and Cheryl appeared soon after Megan. Cheryl came and kissed me, and refilled my coffee, then silently went into the kitchen, coming back out a few minutes later with a fried egg sandwich for each of us.