Good Neighbors Ch. 177

If there's one thing I had learned over the last nine months, it's that my fiancée was usually right. By usually of course, I mean always. I woke up the next morning before noticing my fiancée was already up. She was already in a tank top and a tight pair of her stonewashed jeans trying to push me out of the bed, literally. I fell out to hear her laugh before I stood looking at her totally naked.

"As much as I am enjoying the view, Romeo," she started. "We should get the bed stripped before the mattress gets delivered."

I hesitantly grabbed a pair of sweatpants and headed into the bathroom to use the facilities before coming out shirtless. By this time, my fiancée found one of my clean t-shirts and threw it at my head. I looked at her smiling before I slipped it on. I grabbed my pillow and shed it of its case before assisting my fiancée in stripping the rest of the bed. We took the bedding and put it in the washer before starting some coffee and making some breakfast.

"I already left a message with Aubrey. She said she could come over around noon. Were you planning on going into the office today, Leo?"

"Matt is letting me cash in some vacation time for the next few weeks. Apparently, there is still a huge balance I never used."

"You do seem to have a difficult time relaxing sometimes, Leo," she said before she smiled and started laughing.

She was being funny, of course. The truth was before Missy fell ill; I was a die-hard workaholic. Missy's cancer slowed me down somewhat. Her passing brought me to a dead stop, no pun intended. Being there for my neighbor helped somewhat. Everything after that helped me to realize that life was short, and I could balance both my work life and my home life.

As I was dwelling on my thoughts, I felt a presence stealing a bite of my waffle. I looked at my fiancée and her smiling face.

"You looked too deep in thought, Romeo."

I smiled.

A few hours later, Aubrey arrived. She gave me a quick hug before they sat at the table and started to work on the rest of the arrangements. I quickly took the hint that they were giving before going outside. I looked over at my yard and saw a couple of chairs. I started to walk over before I saw my tech guy with a few strangers. It was as I edged closer that I recognized a few of his coworkers. One saw me and froze before Wesley spoke up.

"We're alright, guys. This is his house."

They looked at me a bit more scared before I smiled.

"What are you guys up to?"

"We're looking at the sound system set up for the party on Saturday," one of the other techs said. "Wesley had an idea how to make it sound more killer than it was."

There was a pause. I looked at Wesley.

"Translate please?"

Wesley smiled.

"We found a way to make the prototype sound better."

I saw the techs breathe a sigh of relief.

"Anything I can do to help?"

They held their breaths again. Wesley smiled.

"I'm sure you can. You did pretty well setting it up the first time."

"Wait, you gave Mr. Mercer the original prototype?"

I looked at the lady asking. It was then I recognized her as one of the folks who barged in asking for a raise. I started to remember that she was probably a bit more tech savvy than she let on.

"I was the guinea pig. Then we set it up in my office for the party for New Year's."

There was a breath of relief again.

"Sorry about that Mr. Mercer. It was just..."

"No worries. May I ask a favor?"

"Sure."

"Can you guys please call me Leo? I mean, we're off work. At least I am."

"Is that okay?"

Wesley smiled.

"Guys, Leo saved my ass from Aubrey's ex. It's cool. Just don't get too crazy."

I could tell it helped the techs feel more at ease. We spent a couple of hours working on the set-up before Sal arrived with a couple pizzas. When I looked at him, he smiled and pointed to the house next door where both Aubrey and my fiancée were smiling. A few moments later, the girls joined us, and we had a quick lunch. It was during this time that I received a text from the mattress company double checking the address. My fiancée and I bid our goodbyes and met the delivery drivers at the door. As the old mattress was taken away, I could only imagine the smile on my fiancée's face before I turned. Instead, I saw her tear up.

My first instincts were to hold her, which I did. I kind of understood what she was feeling luckily. As they brought in the new one and set it up, I kept holding her until they had me sign for it. Then the delivery drivers left, and I let her go.

"We could go ahead and dress it if you like," I suggested.

We went in and started to put the sheets on before she looked at me.

"Do you still have your sheets next door?"

"I bought new ones when I changed my mattress. Are those what you want?"

"No, I want to go find some new bedding."

"As you wish."

"You could say no."

"Why?"

There was a pause before she spoke.

"Leo, I don't want you to think that every time there's a problem that throwing money at it will help."

"And I don't want you to think that it's wrong to spend money either. It's just sheets. I mean, we just bought a new mattress. It only makes sense to adorn it with new sheets and stuff to make it ours."

It was the last word that caused a pause again. She looked at me with that cute look in her eyes. It's the look that says either I am a total fool or a total genius. There was only one way to find out.

"Sweetheart, I..."

She ran over and wrapped her arms around me super tightly before kissing me full on the lips. It was a good few moments before the necessity of air forced us to let go. She then looked at me and smiled.

"How did you..."

"Experience. When I bought the new mattress for me a while ago, it felt wrong in a way. It was our bed. It felt like I was letting Missy go another piece at a time. The new sheets and blankets were another piece. I just didn't see the point of a new mattress if I was going to cover it with sheets that she picked out. It was like dating another woman just like Missy."

My fiancée looked at me with that look again. This time, I felt foolish.

"I'm sorry. I..."

"It's alright, Leo. I think this was the first time I heard you say I wasn't like Missy. And you're right. I was trying foolishly to be just like her in the kink department. It's just when there was more romance than kink, it felt better. I think kink is okay occasionally, but like you always said it's used to augment what is already there."

It was then I noticed the choker around her neck. It made the most sense at that point. With Missy, we started exploring things after our marriage. With my fiancée, it was at the beginning. I started feeling better before she leaned in and kissed me tenderly once again.

"The sooner we get the sheets, the sooner we can break it in."

It was with that thought that we headed to her car to go shopping. It was a full day by that point, but the one thing I learned about my fiancée is that she was usually right.