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How silly would it be to cry about a pile of laundry?
At the moment, you couldn’t exactly rationalize yourself out of it — the laundry in a heap on your couch, plus the dishes in the sink and the vacuum that taunted you from the corner of the room, seemed as likely a reason for a tearful outburst as anything else. You had about two hours worth of manic organizing and cleaning under your belt, and it had finally crashed into despair and frustration at the reality that it wasn’t amounting to much. Your house still looked as messy as before; perhaps more so, as your frenzied “cleaning” had put much of the house in disarray in your attempts to organize.
You heard the front door open, and you realized with a slash of guilt and panic that your boyfriend was coming home to nothing short of a disaster. You looked around the living room for something to put away to make it marginally less horrible, but one look at the place had you close to tears again.
“Baby, I’m home.” His cheerful voice had you tangled up in knots, and you couldn’t do anything but stand in the middle of the chaos and let it play out.
He came into the living room, and for a moment, he only had eyes for you.
“Hi honey,” he said with a sweet smile. “What’s — ” The state of the room caught his attention then. “Woah, what happened in here?”
Your face felt hot. “Um... cleaning?”
He didn’t say anything, but the quirk of his expressive brow told you all you needed to know.
“Okay,” he said evenly. His gaze lit on the books taken off the shelf and piled on the floor in alphabetical order, the knick-knacks that had been painstakingly dusted but not put back where they went, and the accursed pile of laundry that was all clean but still in a warm, fresh-scented heap.
“I’m sorry,” you said quickly. “I didn’t mean for you to come home to all this. I just got in the middle of it, and I forgot you were coming home soon.”
“It’s alright, baby,” he said kindly. “Can I help?”
“But you just got home,” you said weakly.
He shrugged. “I don’t mind.” He picked up a stack of books, putting them back on the shelf without knowing how you had been trying to sort them, and you made a little noise of discontent.
“What?” he asked. He looked at you over the cover of The Fellowship of the Ring. “You’re putting these somewhere else?”
“No, I just...” You hid behind your hands. “I was trying to organize them. I don’t know. It’s stupid.”
You heard him put the books down and come over to you; a moment later, you felt his hands on yours, drawing them down to see your face.
“Hey, my love,” he said gently. “Talk to me.”
You could hardly meet his gaze. “I’m sorry the house is a wreck, Josh.”
“So you said. I forgive you.” His smile was lopsided and sweet. “I feel like this is about more than just organizing books, yeah?”
Your head landed on his chest with a soft thump. “Yeah.”
He hugged you and ran his hands up and down your back. “You know, I’ve heard that if someone starts to clean out of the blue, it’s probably because they have something going on in their head that feels messy and disorganized.”
“That makes sense,” you said pitifully.
“So what’s going on that feels messy?” he asked. “Is it something I can help with?”
You wrapped your arms around his waist and pressed close to him. “You always help, Josh.”
“Well, that’s sweet of you to say,” he said sincerely. “I try my best. I’m glad you think so.”
He gently combed his fingers through your hair. “I’m sorry things feel messy for you right now,” he said gently. “Did it help to work on the house?”
“A little,” you said. “But now it’s all halfway done, and...”
“And you’re all out of energy,” he guessed. “That’s okay. Why don’t you go have a rest? Take a shower or a nap or something. I think a little recharge would help.”
You lifted your head. “I don’t want you to clean everything, Josh.”
“I’ll leave out the stuff you’re wanting to sort through,” he promised.
“That’s not what I meant,” you said. “I ought to clean up since I’m the one who destroyed the whole house.”
He looked a little unsure then, but still as kind and patient as ever. “Is the rest of the house, uh... partly organized too?”
You put your head back on his chest in answer, and he chuckled as he held you close.
“Should I make some tea?” he asked.
“Don’t go in the kitchen,” you said miserably. “It’s worse than in here.”
He laughed. “What do you mean? What did you do to our perfectly nice kitchen, baby?”
“I was trying to clean out the fridge,” you said, your voice muffled against his shirt. “And I did, but now there’s a sink full of dishes, and...” A few tears did fall then, guilt and frustration welling up to a breaking point. “Maybe you should go live at Sam and Danny’s until I get finished.”
“Baby,” he said, sympathetic and affectionate. He brushed the tears from your face.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he said. “You picked a lot of big things to tackle and just got overwhelmed, that’s all. I’d really like to help if you tell me what needs doing.”
“Everything needs doing.”
He kissed your forehead. “Well, then everything is what we’ll do.” He squeezed you tight and let you go, gently steering you towards the bedroom. “But for right now, I think you should go take a break.”
“Are you sure?” you asked.
He nodded. “I’m completely sure. Just don’t try to organize anything in there.”
You gave a watery laugh, and he gave you a sweet, gentle kiss.
“I love you, baby,” he said. “Even when you do destroy the house.”
You hugged him again. “I love you too, Josh.”
You went to take a shower, and like Josh had known it would be, it was a good reset for you and got you in a better headspace. You came out to the living room to hear the sounds of dishes being done and a Marvin Gaye song on the speaker, and when you came to the kitchen doorway, you couldn’t help but smile.
“But you brightened up all my days,” Josh sang, using a soapy spoon as a microphone. “With a love so sweet in so many ways.”
He caught sight of you, and he came over to you and took your hand. “Dance with me, baby.”
You let yourself be pulled into his dance, falling easily into the tangible joy and comfort Josh took with him where he went. He pressed close with one hand on the small of your back, swaying you back and forth; he kissed you as he tossed the spoon into the sink, happy and careless with you so close.
“I wanna stop and thank you baby,” he sang.
“Thank me for giving you more work?” you teased.
He grinned. “Thank you for giving me an excuse to dance in the kitchen.” He spun you around and put his hands on your hips when you were face to face again. “Feeling better?”
You nodded and kissed him again. “Much better. Thank you for doing the dishes.”
“You’re welcome, baby.” He nodded to the kettle on the stove. “There’s water for tea, and I thought we could put on our movie while we fold laundry.”
You put your arms around his neck. “Why do you take such good care of me?”
“I don’t think you need to ask that, sweetheart,” he said, showering your face with kisses. “You know the answer already.”
You did, and you were so thankful for his selfless love.
“You were better to me than I've been to myself,” you sang along, brushing his curls back from his face. “For me, there's you and nobody else.”
His smile lit up his face. “Aw, baby. You’re so sweet, you know that?”
You blushed. “Marvin Gaye’s the sweet one.”
He laughed, and you loved the sound of it. “Maybe, but I like your voice even better than I like his.”
You put the clean dishes away as he finished washing them, and when the kitchen was set to rights and both of you had mug of tea in hand, you went to tackle the living room. With Josh’s help, things were tidied and put back in short order and both of you sat on the floor to start folding the laundry. He put on Dirty Dancing and gave you the towels to fold.
“You’re giving me the easy stuff,” you protested.
“I hate folding towels,” he said. “Let me do the clothes and you’ll be doing me a favor.”
You smiled to yourself and did as he said, and the work was easy and even fun with Josh by your side giving his running commentary on the movie you’d heard a million times but would never tire of hearing.
Halfway through, you paused the movie to put all the folded laundry away and order takeout. Josh generously shared his orange chicken even after you’d mistakenly said you wouldn’t want any, and he cleared everything away when you were finished.
He came back to the couch and sprawled across it, tired and content. You turned to face him, and he propped himself up on his arm.
“Hey, Josh?”
He tucked your hair behind your ear. “Yes, my love.”
You leaned into his touch. “What can I do for you?”
“What do you mean?” He brushed his thumb over your cheek. “You don’t owe me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I helped you because I love you. Because taking care of you is my job.”
Your smile was a little rueful. “Most jobs give you some kind of compensation.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short,” he teased, giving you a kiss.
“Compensation,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re crazy, girl. If you made me miserable every day of my life I’d still clean your kitchen and fold your laundry.”
“That’s so stupid,” you laughed. “Promise me you won’t do that.”
“No way,” he said. He was a little lost in kissing you, and you came up to lay with him on the couch so it was easier for him.
“I know what you can do for me,” he said.
“Oh yeah?” You were a little dreamy yourself as he hovered over you, his pendant necklace swinging gently, the warm scent of his cologne enveloping you in the comfort and safety you always felt with him.
“Mmhm.” He kissed your nose, your cheeks, your jaw. “Stay right here with me and let me kiss you all night.”
You giggled. “Okay.”
He kissed you while the movie played, and you relaxed completely under his attention and affection. He was so gentle and patient, showing you how much he loved you, and you melted against him.
You gently tangled your fingers in his hair. “Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you for everything you do for me. I don’t deserve you.”
He smiled and hugged you tighter.
“It’s me who doesn’t deserve you,” he said. “I’m so lucky you let me come along with you, baby. Even when there’s dishes and laundry and alphabetized books everywhere.”
You gave a soft laugh and kissed him. “I love you, Josh. Do you know that?”
“Of course I know that, baby.” He held you close and made everything right in the world. “I love you too.”