Charlie felt a prickle in the back of his neck and looked up from his spreadsheet. Jenny was frowning at the manuals as though they'd insulted her, her eyes bright with tears.
God, please don't let me screw this up. Please.
He tried to still himself for a moment and receive guidance from God. Upon a gentle inner prompting, he walked over to Jenny and knelt by her chair, taking her hand in his own.
Tears slid down her face quietly as she looked up at him. "Remember when I had that evaluation? They told me I had brain damage, and bipolar disorder. They said I'd end up in some kind of dependent living situation - a group home, or living with Mom for the rest of my life?" She choked back a sob as Charlie nodded, his blue eyes brightly focused on hers.
Jenny gave into temptation and ran her hand through his hair, resting it on the back of his neck. Charlie had changed. Instead of rushing to help her, he was actually listening. "I remember" he murmured. "That's the first time I proposed to you. I told you if you needed someone to take care of you I wanted to do it."
Jenny blinked in shock as the memory came back. Charlie, indignant and furious, telling her he'd love her forever if she'd let him. Her acceptance. The makeout session in the bathroom until they'd been caught.
"Jenny" he continued "That's never mattered to me, any of it. I don't care about the 'disabilities'. I wish I had hurt Carl Smith, and I think I always will; but what he did to you never mattered. You matter - not the things you think are problems." Charlie took a deep, shaking breath as he watched Jenny leaning back in her chair.
"We need to figure something out." she began. "My house is a dump. I found one used mobile home in my budget; and it was worse than the house. I have a $600 mortgage, one job, and an absent husband. I'm going to end up living in a tent if I don't figure something out." It was Jenny's turn to take a deep breath. "I don't want you to 'fix' it, even if you could, even with that." She gestured to his backpack. "I want to go out and fix this on my own, but I can't. " She looked him in the eyes.
"I need help, but I don't want you to take over." She took a deep breath. "Can you do that, Charlie?"
Charlie nodded.
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