(Keeping up the muse during life’s craziness. Permission to write brief lines of Octavia was given. ❤️ Hope everyone is staying happy and well.)

After all the chaos of the last few months, Caleb had eagerly awaited the joining of his household with Octavia’s. Packing boxes together had led to some carefree moments and genuine laughter. There had been multiple nights spent on either of their beds, warm, snuggled together, while he whispered sweet words in her ear until they drifted off to sleep. Before long, the boxes had started to fill the tiny house that he had called home for the past four years. It didn’t seem that he had acquired that many belongings since his trip across the sea, but things like warm jackets, dog toys, and mismatch socks had slowly filled the space.

There hasn’t been much on the agenda apart from a slow, but purposeful move in the same direction and a plan to eventually take a plane across the ocean over the summer to meet his family. Caleb liked things that way. He liked things planned.

He liked being prepared for the unknown and there were so many unknowns; but all he knew for sure was that every time he looked at her time stopped. He knew every spot to tickle that made her squirm and just how much a dirty dish really did drive her crazy. He’d even begun doing the dishes while he cooked. But his favorite moments were in the early morning, long before Octavia awoke that he could just lie with his body pressed against hers and truly feel relaxed. Relaxation had hardly been a part of his vocabulary of the past few years. Certainly not in the arms of another person.

But this? It was gravitational, almost ethereal. Every moment with her continued to lift the burden of his heart.The boxes were nearly packed, the summer had come and gone. Spring was just beginning to sprout beneath the willows nearby. Caleb was loading the last of the boxes into his truck when his phone buzzed in his back pocket.

His phone rarely rang. Who called anymore? Even his Great-Aunt had learned to text. The number was unknown. His brows furrowed. Normally, people left a message if it was serious. Determined to go about his day, he tied the box down, ignored the call, and skipped back into the house. His golden retriever lapped back beside him.

Chasse had grown quite fond of Octavia. He lay down on the floor where one of her sweaters had been left in a hurry. Caleb crouched down and scratched his years. “I know. I miss her too.”

The human flopped down on the grey couch, staring out the window. The phone buzzed again, next to him this time. The same unknown number.

Very few people had his number. Especially considering it was international.

He pursed his lips and pressed accept. It was a narrator. He turned on speaker.

“Press one to accept an international call from…The American Hospital of Paris.”

His blue eyes sharpened. Caleb pressed the key.

“Caleb?” The following sentences were full French. He recognized the voice of his second-cousin Sylvia, but it took a moment for the urgent tone in her voice to register.

“What has happened? Please, please slow down.” He rubbed his temples.

“Merde, Caleb. You sound American.” Sylvie took a deep breath. “It is Mama. She isn’t…”

He understood. His Aunt Luna had denied her heart condition for years.

“You know that she considers you to be her son. Please come home. Please.”

Home.

That word hit differently. Caleb felt his lungs contracting. “I…”

“Say something. Say anything.” Sylvie pleaded. “Caleb, please. She wants you here more than she wants me. It is literally all she will talk about.”

The young man ran his fingers through his hair and let out an incredibly stressed sigh. He tended to run completely out of words during moments like this and it was already frustrating his cousin.

“It will break her heart if you say no.” Her voice had reached a stern, almost cold tone. He had never been particularly close with his cousins. They had been grown by the time he moved in at the age of twelve.

Caleb said nothing, running every scenario through his mind. “Oui. Um. I will get on the first plane tomorrow.” 

The words plane stuck to his tongue. He had not approached the topic of flying in a very long time. For very good reasons. The dial tone seemed to echo into the silence. Chasse sensed his owner’s tension and padded over, placing his paw on Caleb’s knee. Caleb barely felt it.

The room was buzzing and all he could do was stare at the wall. The dog nudged him again and got very little response. With a sad whine, the dog actively sniffed Octavia’s sweater, grabbed it in his mouth, and left the cracked door of the house. He knew the way to her place by now. For a big dog, it was a nice little run. Regrettably, the sweater did take a bit of a hit on the fastest path through the woods. Still, Chasse came and stood outside the door, pawing at it. He dropped the piece of clothing politely. A short series of three barks seemed like something she’d recognize. Now, he sat down under the front porch light of the dusky sky and waited.

Little did the dog know that his human wasn’t far behind him. Caleb’s steps would have been imperceptible to almost anyone; and he was often told that he had the silence of cat feet, but his dog’s ears immediately sharpened and he blinded backwards to guard his owner. Alert, at the ready - two things that Caleb couldn’t be for himself right now. He walked with his head low and his hands buried deep in his pockets; not necessarily sad, but deeply lost in thought.

He knew he didn’t have to knock anymore. Now, a mi casa su casa relationship had been developed. It was true. No matter where he was physically, Octavia felt like home. He didn’t particularly ever remember understanding that; but it lately has brought him back to distant memories of a warm childhood, laughter, and a safe place.

He still knocked before he opened the door. It was a force of habit. The same way that his manners were. They’d been deeply instilled in him.

Quietly, the human left his shoes at the front door and ventured into the apartment. Most of the lights were low. Chasse bound into the living room more quickly than he had the energy to manage and before long he recognized the surprised chuckle that could only have come from the woman he loved.

Caleb rounded the corner to see that his dog had already taken up the other two seats on the couch with a very proud look on his face. Despite that it should have made him laugh, only a tired smile managed to cross his lips. He let his favorite pet have a moment and then shooed him off to the blanket in the corner where he so often rested when the two of them were here.

Caleb said nothing and just lay down on his side, placing his head on her legs. It wasn’t uncommon for either of them to find the other engrossed in a good book with a cup of tea. 

He closed his eyes. Her soft fingers resting on his shoulders and gently moving against his hair helped the stress seem to melt away. “I’m sorry. I should have called.”

He rolled over, so that he could look up at her. It was clear that these were the brief moments before bed. Her makeup was off and her long blonde hair was straight against her shoulders. It was one of his favorite ways to see her. Just as she was.

His blue eyes were tired. More so heavy. There was some emotion that was keeping him from his own slumber. But that mattered little. There were drawers both here and there. Two toothbrushes. Stray socks. A small world which they had begun to share.

“What happened?” Her touch lingered by his eyes — gently stroking.

His lashes fluttered. That was so relieving. Stress often stole sixty percent of his vocabulary, so it took him a moment and each word was painfully slow. “I got a call. Phone call. Cousin. Hospital. My Aunt Luna. Bad…um, heart stuff. I have got to…plane.”

The final word came out and everything came together. Caleb hated planes more than he hated anything else and hospitals were a close second. She had seen his shoulders tense briefly even as one flew over the sky. Preparing to travel together had been incredibly nerve wracking. It had been pushed back weeks more than once, after the panic attacks had returned.

Finally, his doctor had given him a small dose of Valium ever evening and it seemed like the Caleb that she loved so dearly was returning. It was obvious that he’d already taken it now: the sleep set it on not long afterwards.

“Hey Cal?” Octavia whispered.

“Mmm?” The human blinked, adjusting them both on the couch so that the embrace was wrapped firmly around him. Like an anchor amid a deep wave.

“It’ll be okay.” Octavia continued stroking his hair and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

His eyelids were closing. The human swallowed feeling a comforting darkness rope him in, but not beyond her reach. “Love you.” It was a sleepy whisper; but he’d never meant it more.

He could finally see it. This love wasn’t going anywhere. He could breathe. No matter what happened or what was thrown at them, whenever he was with her there was a spot of calm in every storm.