Finally My Forever (6 page)

Chapter 7

When Thomas finally let me go, I bent to get my coffee so it wouldn't be so obvious that I was feeling overwhelmed. I had to swallow hard and clear my throat before I could speak. I stood up with my coffee in my hand and a huge smile on my face. Mrs. Bennett and Emily were busy getting the food situated on the table, but Thomas just stood there staring at me.

"You don't look the same," he said. I ran a hand through my hair nervously.

"Well, it's been a few years, hasn't it, Thomas?" Mrs. Bennett chimed in, still distracted by the food on her table. Then, her head came up to regard me. "Have you met Emily?"

"No ma'am," I said. I looked at Emily. "I think you were away at camp the day I met the rest of your family."

"It was when we had that work party getting the house ready," Mrs. Bennett said.

Emily made a regretful face like she had no idea what we were talking about.

"I think it was cheerleading camp," I said.

Emily smiled and nodded even though I was pretty sure she still didn't remember. She stepped towards me, extending her hand. She had on a stylish sweater with leggings and boots. A scarf and several necklaces tied the whole thing together. I looked like a big couch potato compared to her. The thought made me adjust my hair again before I shook her hand.

"Emily," she said smiling.

"Carly," I replied.

Claire glanced our way. "Emily's studying English at San Antonio College."

"That's what I did," Trish said from her spot on the couch.

"No kidding!" Emily said, smiling at her. "Are you done?"

Trish nodded. "I'm teaching at Reagan now."

"That was my high school," Emily said.

Trish smiled. "I took Mrs. Henderson's place."

"That old coot finally retired?" Emily asked laughing.

"Emily Nicole!" Mrs. Bennett scolded, looking up from her food.

"It's okay," Trish said, craning her neck so she could see past me to Mrs. Bennett. "She was like six hundred years old when she retired. She even called herself an old coot."

Emily and Trish both giggled, but my attention was focused on Thomas who was staring at me intently. He almost seemed sad.

"You didn't come to the Happy House for a long time," he said. "Where'd you go?"

"I knowww, I need to come see you guys, don't I?"

"Today?" he asked, in all seriousness.

Emily took her spot at the table across from her mom, but Thomas stood next to me. I stammered, wondering what to say or if he was serious.

"We're not going to be there today, Thomas," Mrs. Bennett said. "Remember?"

"Tomorrow?" Thomas asked. He stared at me, waiting for my answer.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, Thomas. The house is closed," Mrs. Bennett said.

"When are you coming?" he asked, not taking his eyes off me.

"I didn't get to meet you yet," Trish said.

I could tell she was trying to give me some time to figure out a way to gracefully get out of doing whatever Thomas was asking. I was thankful she was nice enough to intervene, but part of me wanted to check out the house and was glad Thomas was excited to have me back.

"My name is Thomas Gabriel Bennett," Thomas said to her, shaking her hand. "Are you friends with Carly?"

"I sure am," Trish said. "We were teachers at the same school last year."

Thomas looked straight at me as Trish sat back onto the couch. "You're a teacher?" he asked.

"Yep."

Mrs. Bennett had a mouth full of food, but she looked up from her table. Using a napkin to cover her mouth when she spoke, she said, "Where do you teach?"

"I teach science at Roosevelt."

"You teach science experience?" Thomas asked.

"It's ex-peri-ments," Emily corrected.

"I teach experience too," I said, winking at Thomas. "They're very similar."

"Can you show me something?" he asked, a look of excitement washing over his face.

"Oh, that's an excellent idea," Mrs. Bennett said. "If you ever wanted to volunteer, I'm sure everyone at the house would love to watch a science experiment."

Thomas began clapping his hands. He was so excited at the thought that there was absolutely no way I could deny him.

"Of course," I said. "I'd love to come by and talk science sometime."

"Today?" Thomas asked. He looked at his mom who was leveling him with a look that said he knew better. "Oh, yeah, not today," he said, smiling.

Mrs. Bennett reached onto the back of her chair and began digging in her purse. She pulled out a business card with the contact information for the Happy House written on it. She handed it to me before quickly changing her mind and asking for it back. She pulled out a pen and wrote something on the back of it. "This is my cell," she said. "Maybe we can set up a time for next week or the one after."

Thomas sighed as if that seemed like an eternity. I couldn't help myself. I reached out to hug him again. It made me feel so good that he was excited to see me, especially after what a long night I had.

Mrs. Bennett gave a little smile at the sight of us hugging, but continued, "We have arts and crafts Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4pm. We always have a good turnout for that. Maybe you could do something right afterwards at around 5. I'm sure a lot of people would stay for a science experience." She winked at Thomas who still had his arm around my shoulder.

"When are you coming?" Thomas asked pulling back to look at me.

"I'm not sure yet, but it'll be soon. I'll call your mom and set up a time."

"You look different," he repeated, staring at me.

I smiled. "You look different too. You got a haircut."

Thomas touched the side of his head. "Yeah, I got a haircut."

"You need to come eat your lunch, Thomas," Mrs. Bennett said. "Emily and I are going to be done before you even start.

"We saw Carly here!" he said, squeezing my shoulder again.

"I'm glad I saw you too, Thomas," I said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You made my day."

He looked at me like he wasn't quite sure what the phrase meant.

"Come eat and let Carly get back to her coffee," Mrs. Bennett reminded him.

He nodded and hugged me again. He held onto me as I pulled back, seeming reluctant to break contact.

"I'll see you soon, I promise," I assured him.

He nodded and went to the table to join his mom and sister. Trish and I settled in on the couch and had a whispered conversation about work and the possibility of me moving in with her until the Bennetts left. I stood up to hug them all again when they said goodbye and promised Thomas that I'd be seeing him soon.

"How'd you know them?" Trish said when they left. They had been sitting close enough that she hadn't dared ask that question earlier.

"I got in trouble the summer before my senior year of high school and my parents made me do a day of community service at this house the Bennetts built. It's a gathering place for people with disabilities—somewhere for them to go to just have fun and hang out. Anyway, they were finishing it up, and they had a volunteer workday. I painted a bedroom and a bathroom. It's called the Happy House. Thomas named it."

"Where is it?" she asked.

"Over in Stone Oak—not too far from Reagan."

"That's cool," she said. "They seem like a nice family."

"They are," I said. I sighed and stared straight ahead, lost in thought my few seconds.

"What?" she asked.

A smile touched my lips. "I had a huge crush on their other son for all of one day."

"A one day crush? That's not very long."

"Yeah, it was just until I found out that he was already taken by a perfect little blonde sorority girl."

"What's his name?" she asked.

I got lost in thought again, remembering how it happened. "Micah," I said wistfully. "The day I had a crush on him was the same day I met Zeke."

"Zeke from the dream?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes at her knowing she knew there was no other Zeke in my life.

"I knew Zeke a little from high school since we both went to Warren, but I didn't really talk to him until the night I went to a bar to watch Micah's band play. I figured out he had a girlfriend, and I started talking to Zeke."

"So Zeke was a rebound?" she asked.

I chuckled. "I don't know if you can call it a rebound since nothing ever existed between me and Micah."

"So let me get this straight. You met Micah when you were punished and had to do community service. You fell in love and went to go see his band play at a bar. That's where the sorority girl showed up, so you forgot about Micah and started dating Zeke."

"That's about right, except for the me falling in love part. Infatuation was more like it. But it was impossible not to be infatuated with him. He was the singer in a band, and his face looked like the definition of perfect."

"So, what's he doing now?" she asked.

I glanced at her like she had lost her mind. "How am I supposed to know that? I never saw him again after that night at the bar. He's probably married with kids by now."

Her brows furrowed. "How old is he?"

I shrugged. "Probably a couple of years older than me," I said, as if details about him weren't etched into my memory.

"I'm sure he's not married," she said.

"It doesn't really matter."

"Sure it does. What if you run into him when you go to teach that class next week?"

"I won't," I said. I knew that wouldn't happen. I had written him off years ago. "Micah Bennett was the furthest thing in my mind when I agreed to volunteer."

Okay, so if I'm being entirely honest, maybe he wasn't the
furthest
thing from my mind. But I knew in my heart it would never amount to anything, so whatever thoughts I had about him didn't really count.

"I like Thomas," I said, honestly. "The only reason I agreed to do the class was for him."

"Yeah, but it might be a bonus if you got to hang out with his big brother a little bit," Trish said, raising her eyebrows.

"Micah's the little brother," I said. "Thomas is older than him."

"Really?" she asked.

I nodded.

"He's definitely not married with kids," she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

I laughed. "Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting like something could happen. You're just gonna make me get my hopes up and he's an untouchable."

"What's that mean?"

"It means, he's untouchable, just like it sounds. He's like Liam Hemsworth, Channing Tatum, Ryan Gossling, Chris Evans… you get the picture."

"Do they need someone to volunteer to teach an English class at this house?" she asked with wide eyes.

I giggled and slapped her leg.

"I think you should get dressed for the occasion just in case he's there," she said. "You haven't gone out with anyone since I've known you. It's about time you start dating."

I let out a defeated sigh and shook my head. I thought about all the baggage I was stuck carrying around with me thanks to Zeke.

"Don’t start with the poor me crap," she said, seeing me looking hopeless.

"What? Nobody should have to see what I saw."

"You're absolutely right, Carly. Nobody should have to see that. It sucks. What he did was selfish, and now you're stuck with the repercussions of it. But you know what? Get over it. Everybody has seen some crappy stuff in their life. Imagine cops who have to see that stuff all the time."

"Yeah, but it's not their boyfriend."

"Maybe sometimes it is. You think you're the only one who's ever found someone they loved who committed suicide? There's probably a whole support group online for people like you."

"I'm not trying to be dramatic or complain," I said feeling somewhat ashamed. "It's just fresh in my mind since I had the dream and everything."

"I'm not saying it doesn't suck. I'm sure it does. I hate it for you that you had to see that, and it's terrible that it sticks with you for so long. I just don't want to see you pass up the opportunity to meet someone new."

"I'll just start with teaching the class," I said. "If Thomas' ultra hot, untouchable baby brother happens to be there, then great. If not, then that's great too."

"That's right," she said. "But it won't hurt to put on a little lip-gloss just in case."

Chapter 8

I made arrangements with Mrs. Bennett to go to the Happy House the following Wednesday afternoon at 5. She made sure to tell me not to stress about bringing complicated materials. She said they'd enjoy just about anything, even something on an elementary level.

I asked her if Thomas had ever seen the Mentos and Coke experiment, and she said he hadn't, so that's what I decided to bring. She asked if she could bring anything to help me out and I told her a couple of sawhorses and a long piece of wood might come in handy, but it wasn't necessary. She said she would see what Jesse could dig up in the garage.

I had a tarp and safety goggles in my classroom, so all I needed to buy was the soda and Mentos. I was excited about doing it. It was a crowd-pleasing experiment, and I had a feeling Thomas would really get a kick out of it.

It was ten till five when I pulled up that Wednesday afternoon. I barely recognized the house. It was amazing what five years of life could change. The landscaping was filled in with beautiful flowers and there was a nice stone sign in the yard with the name of the place and a picture of Thomas' house design etched into it.

I had 6 two-liter bottles of soda in my trunk, but I decided to leave them in there until I knew they were ready for me. Jesse Bennett was standing on the porch. I hadn't seen him at first, and he kind of startled me. "Oh, hi Mr. Bennett," I said, holding a hand to my chest.

He chuckled a little. "Hey Carly, how are you?"

"I'm good," I said. I reached out to shake his hand and he pulled me in for a hug.

He looked exactly the same, other than maybe a few extra gray hairs. He had the same smiling eyes that made me feel right at home.

"Thanks for coming today," he said. "Thomas is fit to be tied in there."

"Aw, is he excited?"

Mr. Bennett shook his head and laughed a little. "He's been asking for days if it's Wednesday yet."

I smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that. I'm excited too."

He put his hand on my shoulder and looked down at me appraisingly. "So you went and became a science teacher, huh?"

"Yes sir. I'm in my first year at Roosevelt."

"We'll have to see if we can get you on at Reagan," he said. "Go Rattlers!"

I laughed. "I'd love to get on at Reagan. I have a good friend who teaches English there, and next month I'll be moving into a house close by."

"Oh, you got a house in the neighborhood?" he asked.

"I'm just renting," I said. "I'll be roommates with the girl I was just talking about, my teacher friend."

He patted my shoulder. "Well that sounds good. You'll be close by. Maybe you can come by here more often. I know Thomas would love it."

"Maybe so," I said.

He looked at my car. "Can I help you with your supplies? I brought the sawhorses you asked for. I didn't know what kind of board you needed, so I brought a few options."

"I just need a long board to line up the sodas," I said. "Like 10 or 12 inches by 6 feet or so would be great, but anything will work, really. I can do it on the ground if I need to."

He smiled. "No, I have something that'll work."

We took the next five minutes to set up the experiment in the backyard. I put a tarp on the ground and we placed a board on top two sawhorses. I put a second tarp over his board since I didn't want to get it sticky. He helped me carry the two-liter bottles to the backyard, and I lined them up on the board. "That's all," I said once I had them situated.

He gave me a look of surprise. "That's it?"

"Yes sir. Thanks for all the help."

"Hey, thanks for coming." He gestured across the patio to the back door—it was the place I was standing the first time I laid eyes on Micah. I couldn't help but remember the scene when I looked at the big stones that made up the patio. "You won't have any trouble finding Claire and Thomas in the house," he said. He tossed his head toward the left. "I'm going to head on home and get dinner in the oven. Just leave the board and sawhorses where they are. I'll pick them up tomorrow." He put his hand on my shoulder again. "Thanks again for coming, Carly. It was good seeing you."

"It was good seeing you too," I said.

Claire happened to be standing in the kitchen when I came in through the back door. She didn't realize I'd be coming in that way, and she shot me a look of surprise but reached out to hug me the instant she realized who I was.

"Well hey Carly!" She held me at arm's length. "You look so beautiful!"

I'd gone home straight after work, taken a shower, and put on a fresh application of makeup just in case.

"Thank you," I said. "You do too." It was the truth. She was well put together every time I saw her.

"Thomas is
so
excited," she said.

"That's what Mr. Bennett said. I'm glad he's looking forward to it."

"Do you need help with your things?"

"Mr. Bennett helped me already. I'm all set up outside."

"Jesse, please. And call me Claire. You don't have to work outside. There's plenty of space in the arts and crafts room."

I shook my head. "Thanks, but we can't today. This one makes a mess. It's definitely an outside experiment." I glanced at her with a curious expression. "How many students do we have?"

"There are ten at art class, but a couple of them weren't sure if they could stay. Would you like to walk back there and see what they're doing?" She glanced at the clock. "They should be wrapping it up."

I nodded. "Sure."

I followed her down the hallway toward the art room. The house was familiar but entirely different at the same time. The living room was furnished with comfortable leather couches, and there was a huge entertainment system with a big screen TV and videogames. Built-in bookshelves were covered with books and all sorts of games. It was a fun, welcoming environment, one totally suited for a name like Happy House.

"This is really beautiful," I whispered as we made our way down the hall.

She looked back at me with a smile. "Thank you so much. We love it! I can't be here all the time so we have a lady from our church running it. She's great. Her name is Joan McClellan."

"I know Ms. Joan," I said.

"You do?"

"I think so… if it's the same lady who was painting with me that day."

Claire gave me a big smile and nod. "I'm sure it was. I believe Joan was here that day."

We came to stand in the door of the art room. Seeing the familiar gray color on the walls made me smile internally. The site of Thomas when he looked up and saw me made me smile for real.

"Carlyyyyyy!" he called, standing up and heading my way immediately.

The room was full of people. The students were sitting at tables that were arranged in a U-shaped formation, and the person I assumed was the art teacher was standing in the middle. There were people standing around the perimeter of the room. I figured they were the friends and loved ones of the students. Everyone looked my way as Thomas shouted my name and begin walking toward me. I smiled and held my arms out to hug him.

"Everyone, this is Ms. Carly," Claire said as Thomas hugged me tightly. "She's the one who came to do a science experiment with you guys."

"I know about science!" someone shouted.

"Hi Ms. Carly!" two others shouted.

"I'm staying for the science class!" someone said.

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

"Why don't you guys finish up what you're doing here, and Carly will be ready for you when you're done," Claire said.

"We're done," the art teacher said smiling. "We were just packing up our things."

All of the students stood and began taking off their smocks and packing up their brushes, and their caretakers moved forward to help them.

"Come see what I painted," Thomas said, dragging me to the area where he'd been sitting.

I looked at his mom for permission, and she smiled and gave me a little nod, so I followed him. He retrieved his picture from the table and handed it to me.

"I painted a treasure chest!"

"We
all
painted a treasure chest," his neighbor said, turning to face us. He had an ornery expression on his face, which made me want to take up for Thomas, even though I knew better since he had disabilities too. Thomas ignored him and looked at me with a smile.

"The Bible says to store up for yourself treasures in heaven where no one can steal them, and I'm gonna have lots of treasure in heaven."

"I'm gonna have pirate treasure in heaven," his neighbor said. "And I'm gonna have it on earth when I go to the beach next summer. My mom said Galveston has treasure."

"I'm not talking about Galveston anyway, Benji," Thomas said, rolling his eyes a little. I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. I enjoyed seeing Thomas taking up for himself. "I'm not talking about pirate treasure either. In heaven there's other treasures. Like in heaven I'll probably look like my brother Micah and sing and play guitar."

The mention of his brother hit me for a second, but only until I realized that Thomas was saying he would be "normal" in heaven. That statement had an even greater impact on me then hearing Micah's name.

"And I'm gonna have my own mansion," Thomas added, staring at Benji daring him to say something back. "And I'm finally gonna get to see Jesu—"

Thomas stopped short of saying the name Jesus and I watched as he sank his face into his hand, pinching his nose and making a scrunched up expression. Then, all of a sudden, that high-pitched wheezing sound started.

"He's crying about Jesus again," Benji said in a frustrated tone to the art teacher as if he was tattling on Thomas.

"Thomas loves Jesus," she said patiently.

"Yes I do," Thomas said. "He's the one who died for me so I can go to heaven." He blinked extremely hard a few times and I could tell he was struggling to hold back another crying fit. "That's why you should love him too, because He died for you too."

I was touched by how emotional Thomas was. The amazing part was that it wasn't the thought of being normal in heaven that made him cry, it was simply the thought of seeing Jesus. There was peace and beauty in the simplicity of it, and I couldn't take my eyes off of Thomas. I didn't know much about Jesus, but my heart told me Thomas was onto something.

Benji just shook his head as if he didn't understand where Thomas was coming from. "So when are we doing science?" he said in a matter of fact tone. He looked across the room. "Can I go to science class?" he asked the lady I assumed was his mom.

She nodded.

"How many do we have staying for science class?" the art teacher asked, loud enough to cut through the chatter. All of the students raised their hands.

I put a hand on Thomas' back. " I'm all set up in the backyard so I'll meet you guys out there." I motioned to his painting. "I love your treasure chest by the way. I think it's beautiful that you're storing treasures in Heaven." He handed it to me. "You can have it if you want."

He was so sweet that I had to struggle not to cry. I smiled and took it from him saying I'd be proud to own it, and would probably frame it for my new house.

I went outside to wait for them, and Claire promised she would walk everyone out to me as soon as they finished up. There were 10 students watching the experiment, and I instructed them all to stand in a line several feet away from my set-up where they could see what was going on.

Everyone else, including Claire, stood behind them to watch, seeming just as curious as the students.

"Okay, guys this is a super fun experiment because we get to watch things bubble up and explode."

"Like a bomb?" one of them asked, laughing.

"Not quite like a bomb. It's safer than that, but it's still fun. Have any of you ever seen the Mentos and Coke experiment before?"

All of them looked around to see if anyone would raise her hand, but no one did.

"Okay good. You're in for a treat. I want everybody to pay attention because the soda you see in front of you is going to bubble up and fly out of the bottle as soon as I add this candy to it."

I got ooh's and ahh's as a reaction from the students, which made me smile.

"So scientifically, it's a physical reaction that's happening. You know how when you take a sip of soda you can feel it bubbling in your mouth?"

Some of them looked confused, but most of them nodded and agreed.

"Well that's called carbonation. And carbonation reacts to the type of candy I'll be dropping into the soda. This certain type of candy makes it produce more and more bubbles really fast and all of a sudden, it will spray out of the container."

They murmured and looked at each other excitedly.

"Now I've done this experiment lots of times, so I already know what's going to happen."

I went behind the makeshift table and grabbed hold of one of the bottles. "I'm going to drop five pieces of candy into each bottle. Some of them will spray up this high." I demonstrated with my hand about 5 inches above the bottle. "And some of them will spray up this high." I stood on my toes and stretched my hand as high as I could to show a height of about 4 feet above the bottle."