Chapter 37

They were all happy to be moving into the new house. Casey took Tiffany with her to search for furniture, curtains, etc. The girl started to get as excited as her aunt was. And once she realized that they would be living in the new house, she began to think clearer about her childhood home.

She finally told her aunt, "I think I want to sell it."

"Honey, are you sure? You don't have to."

"I know. But it's really not the same living there without my parents and Bruce and Todd. Remember how I thought it was Mom and Dad in bed when you and Uncle Greg were?"

Casey nodded.

"It's always like that. I would come home from school and think Mom was in the kitchen even if it was you. Or I'd walk by Bruce and Todd's room and think I'd hear them laughing or their music. It was better when Uncle Greg was there, 'cause he was never there with my family."

She paused, remembering. "I still love them all a lot, but I don't think I want to live with their ghosts everywhere."

Casey smiled at her. "You're a very wise young lady. And I'm very proud of you."

Tif smiled back. "But can we go there first and take what we want from it?"

"Absolutely."

So a few days later the three of them went to the house and started walking through, with Casey making lists of what they would take, what they would sell and what Tiffany wanted to store for the future.

TV's and stereos would go to the new house. Rick Landers had purchased a flat screen, high def set for the family room a few months before he died. House was itching to get that into the new house.

There was also a nice stereo system, a computer, video games and a good collection of movies. All of those would go with them.

House and Casey wanted to pick out their own furniture for the new house, so they didn't want any of the sofas, chairs or tables. But Tiffany asked for the suede upholstered easy chair from the family room.

House eyed it and said, "It's kind of ratty, K."

"It was my dad's chair." Tiffany told him. "Every day when he came home from work, he'd sit there and read the newspaper. And when I was little, I'd sit on his lap and he would read the funnies to me or one of my story books. And if I was sick, he'd just hold me there until I fell asleep."

Casey's eyes were filling, as she remembered seeing her brother and her niece sitting together in that chair. Even House had to turn away.

"Okay, sweetie,' Casey told her. "You can keep that chair."

There were some newer appliances in the kitchen that they decided to keep. There was also a very nice Weber gas grill on the deck that would be great on the back deck of their new house.

In the dining room, Casey convinced Tiffany that she should keep her mother's wedding china.

"Believe me, someday you'll thank me. I didn't save my mom's when she died and I wish I had it now. We'll pack it carefully and store it and when you have your own home, you'll have something special from your mom."

Tiffany agreed. House scooped up the bottles of liquor from the little bar there, as Rick Landers had filled it with the good stuff and some hadn't even been opened.

In the living room, which had barely been used by the family, there was almost nothing she wanted to keep.

Except one painting.

"When my mom redid this room, she let each of us pick out a painting. I picked that one with the dog in it. I want to keep that."

Casey agreed and they moved upstairs. Some things in Tiffany's room had been packed up when she moved to Long Island, but the furniture was still there. Tiffany liked her furniture, so they decided they would take it, as well as any of the other things remaining in the room.

Casey had removed most of her things from the little room that she had used, but there were a few bits and pieces that she hadn't packed in her hurry to leave when Hess kicked her out. She sorted through them and separated what she wanted to take and what she would sell or trash.

The master bedroom held a lot of memories, but little that they really wanted to keep. Casey knew she would take all of Beth Landers' jewelry for Tiffany. The real and expensive items she would put in a safe deposit box, while the costume jewelry, she'd pack away in the storage area. She might not want them, but once she was an adult she could make the decision.

The linen closet held some brand new, in the package sheet sets that were the same size as their bed, so they decided to take them. They were almost done, except for Bruce and Todd's room. Gingerly, Tiffany peeked into the room.

"I haven't really been in here since they…"

"I know, honey." Casey said. She put her hand on her niece's shoulder as they walked into the room.

It was a typical teenaged boy's room, times two. There were sports equipment and trophies everywhere. The walls were covered with rock and anime posters. There were even clothes still strewn about.

Tiffany had to hold back the tears. "It still smells like them."

"Tif…"

"I used to say that I hated them. They were always teasing me and not letting me hang out with them when their friends were here. But I didn't really hate them. And I never got to tell them."

"Sweetie, they were probably thinking the same thing. They never got to tell their little sister how much she meant to them."

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course. They loved you."

House stood just outside the room, watching them. He was not comfortable with emotional scenes like this. Still, he loved these two females and he couldn't help feeling their pain as they said goodbye to their family.

"Do I have to get rid of all their stuff?"

"You don't have to do anything." House told her.

She looked at him. "What should I do with it?"

"Just pack it up and store it." Casey said. "At a later date, you might be okay with getting rid of it, but you don't have to do it now."

Tiffany nodded, then looked around the room. "But I want that Final Fantasy poster. I was so jealous when Todd bought it. It was the last one the store had and I wanted it, but he saw it first."

"It's yours now." House said. Casey glared at him and he gave her a 'what did I say?' look.

They finished their inspection of the house and locked it up. Casey called the realtor that was handling their new house and arranged to put the house on the market. She also called the newspaper to put in an ad for a house sale so that they could sell the furniture and other things that they didn't want. They set it up for three weeks from then.

Then, in the meantime, they got storage containers and packed up all the things that Tiffany wanted to keep. They rented a storage unit and moved those items there. They separated the things they would be taking to the new house and moved them all to one room so that the rest of the rooms would be open for the sale. Then they moved all the small items to another room so that they could watch them.

The sale went well. Almost all of the furniture sold as well as the other stuff. When they were done, they arranged for The Salvation Army to take what was left. Then they closed up the house and waited for it to sell.