Free Quiet As It's Kept by Monique Miller

Will cleaned their cars himself it didn’t look exactly like a professional had done it, but he had to admit it did look pretty good; so good that he decided that even when he did start working again, he’d probably still clean the cars himself.
    Pleased with the progress of the day’s events, Will sat back in his chair at the computer and smiled. He knew things were going to work out for their good. He glanced at the clock on the computer screen and saw that it was nearly 3:25 P.M. The mailman normally came between 3:30 and 3:45. He gathered the two job applications and a couple of bills that were stamped, and put them in the mailbox to be sent.
    Now that all the work he’d needed to do was done, he had time to fix dinner and spend some quality time with his son. For most of the day, Will had given the baby what would probably be considered “baby busy work,” handing him random toys to keep him occupied so that he could complete all that he needed to do.
    Now he felt guilty because he had been, in essence, ignoring his baby boy. As soon as dinner was started he was going to make it up to his son by giving him his undivided attention. Because Isaiah loved the water so much, and because they couldn’t afford to go to the beach, Will decided to bring the beach to the baby.
    He put a couple of inches of water into the bathtub, and pulled out a set of plastic beach toys he’d purchased from the dollar store. Will also had some CDs with nature sounds, one of which sounded like the ocean and seagulls. He placed the beach sounds CD in the CD player. Once he was done, the only thing missing from his makeshift beach was real sand.
    The lack of sand hadn’t mattered to the baby. He played and splashed just as if he was at a real beach. By the time they were finished, Will felt like he had been in the water too. Isaiah had splashed so much that the front of Will’s pants and shirt were soaked. But he didn’t care, because his baby boy was happy and satisfied.
    In all, the bathroom-turned-beach had only cost about four dollars, since he already owned the nature CDs. He’d saved them a great deal of money, because, had they gone to the beach, he would have spent at the very least $150 for the purchase of gas, food, sun block, beach towels, beach chairs, and an umbrella for shade. Until he did find a job, Will wanted to do as much as possible to alleviate stress from his wife.
    Will pulled the baby out of the water kicking and protesting, not wanting to get out of the tub. Isaiah’s wrinkled hands and feet were pretty good indicators that it was time for him to get out and be dried off. As soon as they returned downstairs, Morgan was pulling into the driveway.
    After placing the baby in his playpen, Will checked on his casserole of chicken, broccoli, cheese, and rice, which was keeping warm in the oven. Steam rose from the oven as he opened it. He couldn’t wait to dig in to it. The recipe was one he’d found on the Internet and he hoped his finished product would end up looking like the picture accompanying the recipe. So far it looked exactly the same.
    Morgan sauntered into the room smiling the same way she had that morning when she’d kissed Will good-bye as she left for work. She gave Will a kiss on his lips, and then kissed the baby on his forehead. “How are my two favorite men doing this evening?”
    â€œGood, and it looks as if you must have had a good day also.”
    â€œIt was.” With a playful look in her eye, she said, “It must have been because of the great start I had this morning.”
    â€œAh, do tell,” Will said.
    â€œOh, sweetheart, a lady never kisses and tells, especially not in front of her little boy.” She gave Will another kiss on his lips, lingering this time. “But maybe we can talk about it a little later in privacy.”
    â€œSounds good to me.” Will grinned.
    â€œWhat’s smelling so good?”