Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.”
There was something playful about his smile, about the light in his eyes. But he said nothing as we turned down a side street, then one more.
It was a street full of sweet ranch-style homes, some brick, others various shades of vinyl siding. A few had meticulously dark green front lawns; others gave in to the overly dry and relentless heat at the end of summer.
This was strange.
Did his parents live on this street?
Was he expecting me to meet them without any kind of advanced warning? At the very least, I wanted a chance to brush my hair that had been whipped around from the open car windows.
I was just about to say something before it was too late when Nave suddenly stopped walking in front of a white brick ranch with an overhanging front porch and a front flowerbed bursting with Black-Eyed Susans.
There was still a dumpster in the driveway, and I figured the interior had just been renovated.
“What’s this?” I asked, not letting myself believe the possibility that was whispering in the back of my mind.
“Home,” he told me, giving me a hopeful smile. “If you want it to be. No pressure.”
“Wait… you rented it?”
“I bought it. Well, almost. It’s a process. But I will be signing a mountain of paperwork in another two weeks.”
“You bought a house.”
“For us.”
“You bought a house for us.”
“We needed somewhere just for us. Private. With a shower I can actually fit inside.” A little laugh escaped me at that. “It’s got three bedrooms and two baths. With room out back if we want to expand. An unfinished basement that I could make Spike, Cain, Perish, and the twins turn into more living space if we need it. The kitchen, floors, and bathrooms have all been redone. It’s perfect as it is, but has room for growth. Oh, but we need a fence for Edith.”
“And maybe a doggy sibling for her.”
“She’s really turned into a social butterfly. Yeah, I think she needs a sibling. What kind were you thinking?”
It was really that easy for him. No list of rules, no trying to tell me I didn’t need another dog.
“I guess we can let her decide,” I said.
“Sounds like a plan. You just tell me when. I know some people who always seem to know where there are dogs in need of a home.” He paused, watching me, looking uncharacteristically unsure. “So, what do you think? Are you ready for this step, or do you want more time leaving things how they are?”
“Well, I’m not quite ready yet,” I said, watching his face fall for a split second. “But I think I will be in two weeks.”
His smile threatened to split his face.
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.”
“No doors that you can’t unlock. No cameras,” he assured me.
“Well, maybe a camera out front and out back. You know, for safety.”
“That I can do. I have a lot to protect now,” he said, pulling me into his arms and pressing a sweet kiss to my lips.
Epilogue
Nave - 3 weeks
“Loll?” I called, my voice soft so I didn’t startle her as I walked through the darkened house.
We’d moved in the week before.
It hadn’t been a big affair since neither of us actually owned any furniture of our own.
Lolly had drifted dreamily around the space while I carried in our clothes and Edith’s things, along with a few kitchen supplies we’d picked up so we could at least feed ourselves while we waited for the deliveries of our new furniture.
Only half of it had arrived so far: the whole bedroom set, a couch and loveseat in the living room, and an island for the kitchen. But we were waiting for our dining set, all our end tables and dressers, and the rugs and window treatments.
We weren’t in a rush.
It was nice to slowly settle in and make it our own.
“Loll?” I called again as I saw the light on in the nursery. It was another room without furniture, though that was by design. We were waiting to pick anything out until we knew the gender.
When I moved into the doorway, I found her standing there in her fluffy dog-printed robe that Gracie had bought her when she’d found out about her breaking her wrist. She was staring at the wall, looking at the six paint swatches stuck there.
“What are you doing, babe?”
“Well, I figured that we are going to be seeing this room at two a.m. a lot. I wanted to see what they all looked like at this hour.”
“In that case,” I said, moving back out and coming back with the small table lamp we kept in the hallway, then plugging it in. I flicked off the big light and the lamp offered a golden glow without lighting up the whole room. “I think we will be seeing it in this light, since we wouldn’t want to wake the baby all the way up for a feeding or a change.”