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“You leave in a few weeks, correct? I guess we could go to the justice of the peace.”
“You don’t sound convinced,” he said, turning her face to his.
“Mike, I love you. But I’m not sure I want to start out marriage this way. I have to take state boards soon, and I’m already worried about passing. Why don’t you just move in with me? I hate the back and forth anyway.”
“Living together isn’t going to protect you if I’m killed,” he said.
“There you go again with the scary talk,” she said, sliding off his lap. “Mike, when we get married, I want it to be because we are so madly in love with each other that we can’t bear to be apart. Not because I’ll be able to collect your benefits if you fall off a mountain.
“No. We both have too much going on. You just started a job, and I need to pass the boards. Let’s set a date and plan a wedding. In the meantime, I’m inviting you to move into my home.”
“Okay, well, that was a lot coming from you,” he said, chuckling. “I have to ease into moving in with you. Big Mike and Roberta might have a stroke.”
“I really appreciate that you care about what they think, but it might be time to cut the apron strings.”
Mike roared laughing. “You mean it’s time to grow up?”
“Exactly. But I mean that only in the nicest way. Give it some thought.”
“I’ll move in. I’m being a big baby because living down here will double my commute time.”
“Oh yikes, I never even thought of that. Yes. Ugh.”
Later when Mike told Devon about Aisling’s invitation to move in, Devon admonished him.
“Your commute will go from fifteen minutes to thirty. It’s not a big deal, buddy. You should probably level with her about that. You have an adorable girl who is obviously in love with you, asking you to move in, and you tell her you don’t want to move out of your childhood bedroom? No way.”
Flushing, Mike roared laughing. “Yeah, it does sound pretty bad the way you retell it,” he said. “Thanks a lot, buddy.”
“I only speak the truth,” Devon said, amused.
So with Devon’s encouragement, when Mike finished up his two-week training for the year, he decided to move in with Aisling.
“What I like is that we’re both clean freaks,” Mike said. “You don’t keep clutter around, and you know I won’t.”
“We’ll be good roommates,” Aisling said. “Now we just have to ease my father into it. Fortunately, they never visit, so we don’t have to make any announcements right away.”
Taken aback, Mike didn’t know what to think about this new twist. “I guess when you asked me to move in with you, I thought it would be with his blessing.”
“Well, not exactly,” she said. “He’s kind of old country about stuff like sex and his daughters. Since I have two bedrooms, I thought I’d fix up one like it was yours.”
“Would he believe it?”
“Probably not, but that’s okay. Appearances are everything. Plus you’re a firefighter. He’s already impressed with that.”
“Right, because he’s an Irish cop in San Diego. We are really sounding more and more cliché.”
“Oh, so what?” she replied, laughing. “I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
“Except your dad.”
“Right, except my father.”
“So what’s next?”
“Bring your stuff,” she said.
They spent the following weekend organizing her spare room to be Mike’s special den. He’d have his own TV and bookshelves and closet and his old dorm fridge for beer. When they had company or were together, they watched TV in the living room or the bedroom, but when she was at work during the day, he and Ralph the dog would chill out in Mike’s den.
