Not that there was a whole lot to pack; we didn't buy a whole lot we intended to keep that first year because we were kind of broke and didn't see a whole lot of point in buying stuff we'd just be leaving behind, and since then, most of what Katey has bought for herself was clothes and any bigger purchases between the three of us would just stay in the apartment for me and Dad and whoever takes the empty room. That kind of threw Dad, because I guess when she moved before, there were always boxes of books and records and videotapes, but Katey and I don't have a lot of physical media despite her and Jonah saying we'll regret that someday.
I was kind of surprised just how many outfits Katey had picked up over the last year and a half, though. She's not some never-wear the-same-thing-twice girl, but she does hands a tendency to buy one or two new things before she and Omar go on vacation, and I guess they add up, and they've gotten nicer, enough that she put a bunch of them in cardboard closets so that they wouldn't get wrinkled rather than folding them up, and those looked like kind of a pain to move around, in part because she would take one side and Dad the other, but they're not the same height so Dad lifting her end would tilt it so it bonked Katey on the head, and then she'd jerk her end up so Dad could see how it felt.
One we got everything down to street level and Omar and his friends arrived with the moving van, Katey shifted to basically directing traffic to let the boys do most of the lifting. Dad apparently thought that included her and me, and while I did okay - all that time in the gym does pay off, and most of them have already struck out with me enough that wearing the same lycra I jog in didn't draw much comment, especially once they were sweating a bit themselves - she kind of overestimated herself, and looked worn out by the time the truck was empty. We work out quite a bit together, but it's mostly yoga and the like for these days, and I think she mostly does that to hang out with me. Even with a good sport top, she really doesn't like running, and weights frustrate her.
Of course, we were all kind of tired at the end of the day, not surprised that Katey and Omar just wanted to stay in, get the bedroom set up, and pass out. One of Omar's friends nudged me when Dad hugged Katey tight and said to call her if she needs absolutely anything, asking if they'd ever been more than just friends or roommates, and I said it was hard to explain. She did pull me in close as we left and took the train back to Brooklyn.
I'd been downing a lot of Monsters over the day, so I sprinted for the bathroom when I got home, and when I got back out to the living room, Dad had taken off her white T-shirt and was lying down on the couch in her bra, a bag of ice on top of one of her breasts and a beer in her hand. "You okay, Dad?"
She chuckled. "Not entirely sure I'm an 'okay dad' right now. I spent the whole day kind of pretending that I was moving Kutter into college, figuring that would help make me a little more okay with it, but it's like every corner of a box, everything poking out of a box, and every countertop at an odd height decided to punch my right tit, just to remind me that you guys don't need my help and are better at all of this than me. I can haul piles of books and boxes of beer bottles around at work without bruising myself, but it's like I kept forgetting I was Emilia and had these things today." She took a drink and sighed. "I was kind of worried about you doing this first, you know? You're so outgoing and impulsive and seemed to really get into being Monica before either Katey or I did, I figured you'd be leaving us behind."
"Ah, it's not like Katey's leaving us behind - we're going to see her at trivia tomorrow, even!" Still a little wired, I started moving around the apartment before stopping at Katey's door. "What should we do with Katey's stuff? Like, the original Katey's?"
Dad got up and left the ice on the couch, walking over to have a look over my shoulder. There was a fair amount still in there, stuff Katey had inherited but didn't care enough about to bring with her. "Man, I dunno. Doesn't seem right to throw it away or put it on Marketplace, but you'd think they'd have come back or sent some word if any was important to them." She stretched and yawned. "Well, I'm beat. Am I still Dad enough to tell you not to stay up too late?"
"You can say it, but I have got a lot of caffeine in me." She laughed, and as I turned around, I hugged her from behind. "I'm glad you're not moving in with your boyfriend yet."
She reached up and mussed my hair. "Oh, Jonah and I are a while from that, Rusty. But don't worry, by the time we are, I'm sure you'll be ready to be on your own!"
And maybe she's right, if only because she was in the shower forever this morning even though she doesn't have to be at work until 2pm! On that level, it's kind of a shame we probably can't afford this place on our own for very long!
-Rusty/Monica
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