Chapter twenty nine & thirty
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Chapter twenty-nine
Four weeks of the haunted house drove Rodney’ s words home.“ There are going to be weeks when you wonder why you are getting a paycheck. Then there will be weeks when you ask yourself if you are being paid enough.” The pace and the hours pushed Eddie to the limit. He could not remember the last time he slept with his wife, or saw his children. The show was his life for the entire month of October. Sam’ s husband died and Eddie could not make it to the funeral. That was the day the hydraulics chose to stop working. He spent the morning under the floor with the technicians trying to find the source of the malfunction. Tanya made his excuses and handled everything on the home front. The first week in November, the Fear Factory shrieked desolation. The doors were closed and shuttered and the curtains pulled.
“ You’ re back,” Tanya proclaimed, as he stumbled through the door. Eddie heard it as a question and a statement.“ I’ m back and I love you,” he said. She kissed him and hugged him.“ Are the kids home?”“ It’ s Monday. They are in school,” Tanya said.“ Why aren’ t you in school?” Eddie sounded dazed.“ I called in sick. I knew you would be home today. Eddie you look exhausted,” Tanya comforted and headed up the steps to the master bath.“ I got all the bugs worked out. Next year should be a snap.”“ Why didn’ t you ask for help?”“ It was my baby,” Eddie stated. Tanya understood that statement having had a couple. The first few months you wonder if if you are going to make it. But you do because you have too. Eddie loved his baby. The idea of leaving it in the hands of anyone, no matter how trustworthy, was absurd.
“ I am going to run you a bath, bring you a good cup of coffee and some real food,” Tanya said, as Eddie picked up his small suitcase and headed up the stairs too. Soaking in the tub he sipped his coffee from a real mug for the first time in a long time. The plate held deviled eggs, crisp bacon strips and freshly sliced pineapple. Tanya joined him in the bathtub and washed his back while he ate the finger food. Tanya moved to face him in the big bath tub. The plate was empty. Eddie leaned back and sipped his coffee.“ It is good to be home,” he sighed.“ It is great to have you back Eddie,” Tanya beamed as the warm water flowed over his neck and shoulders.“ You are my hero. I am so proud of you. Everywhere I go I see the t-shirts you designed. Those bright green claw marks on the shoulders stand out like crazy. I asked a few kids how they liked the haunted house. They all loved it. One of the kids said he didn’ t go through, he just wanted the shirt so he paid the admission anyway.”“ You’ re kidding?” Eddie said.“ Your shirts are some kind of status symbol among the kids. How many did you go through?”“ I don’ t have any idea. Frank took care of that aspect, thank God,” Eddie said.“ There is something I can take care of for my hero,” Tanya said, as her toes searched beneath the white bubbles.
Eddie smiled and knew where her search would end. She felt him stir and informed him he could just lay back and relax. She was happy to just have him home. She led her exhausted husband to bed and offered a sleeping potion that curled his toes and left him with a very peaceful look on his now sleeping face.