Chapter 42

Ed rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. He made a few incoherent noises that didn’t sound like any recognizable words, but seemed to convey a general notion of “what the hell?”

“Well, anyway,” Eliza continued, “you guys have been out for eight hours, and Mom’s casserole just came out of the oven. You ready to eat, or do you want to go back to sleep?”

“Eat,” Ed muttered. “We should get up so we can sleep tonight.”

“Yeah,” Joe added. “We’ll be down in a couple minutes.”

“Good. We’ll see you in a few and get you up to speed on what’s been done.” With that, she turned, and her footsteps faded down the stairs.

“So we’re getting married, are we?” Ed muttered.

Joe shrugged. “We can if you want.” It made sense. They owned property together now, and more importantly, he couldn’t imagine life without Ed. They weren’t hiding their relationship, so why notformalize it?

“You serious?”

“Think of the tax benefits. Rights to make medical decisions for each other, that kind of thing.”