The next day was Saturday and Ephram was thinking of going to Julliard to practice for a couple hours.
"Sweetie," Madison said, "I know what you're thinking and I think you need a break! Taking a day off from practicing wont kill you…" She raised her eyebrows as she unpacked boxes, waiting for Ephram's reply.
He tilted his head as he thought about it. He pulled on the little patch of hair under his bottom lip, "…Okay," he said making his way to Madison, "you're right, I do need a break." he smiled, "so does that mean I don't have to help unpack?" he grinned, already knowing the answer.
"Har har. Funny smartass, but no, you're helping me today," she bent down to unpack a box, "call it, quality bonding if you want to." she tossed a box to him before she left the room to start on something else.
Everything for the upstairs was almost completely unpacked. Afterwards they headed downstairs to finish the unpacking there. Madison wore a do-rag to keep her hair from falling into her face, an old white tank top and some old holey jeans of hers so she wouldn't get any of her newer clothes dirty or ripped. Ephram didn't wear a shirt, just wore some baggy jeans and old shoes. Madison opened all the windows and the back door to let in some cool air to circulate around the house. With the extra space in the living room they figured they could put Ephram's piano and keyboard near the wall and make a little area just for the instruments. The way Madison arranged it made the whole room look rather chic.
After several hours of unpacking, they finally finished and had tons of empty boxes to throw out. They collapsed on the couch in the oversized living room. A furtive smile came over Madison's lips as she lay on Ephram's shoulder, "I think we should go shopping for new furniture!" she got excited at the thought. She sat up in an instant and shot a look towards Ephram, "you're sister can help me out next week!" She stood up, "Ah! I'm so excited!" and she quickly walked to the kitchen to make out a list of things to do next week; places to go, people to see. Ephram just sat on the couch amused. He looked around and was proud of everything he had accomplished. Suddenly, an image of his mom came into his head; she looked happy, proud of her son and everything he has done in the passed few years. A tear formed in his eye, but he was smiling. It gave him a sense of comfort to know that she was still with him. He decided to find an old photograph of him and his mother and put it on the coffee table. Once they figure where to put the photographs, he'll hang that one up above the stairs with the rest of the family photos. He couldn't stop looking at it.
Tuesday came around and Madison and Ephram met Andy and Delia at the airport around 7pm. Much to their surprise, Bright and Jess had come with them.
Bright put down his bags to bear hug Ephram, "I missed you, bro! Plus, I'd never been to New York so I figured I'd come and make you show me the sights!"
"Gawd, I missed you!" cried Jess as she hugged Madison tightly.
Ephram hugged Delia, "Dee, what's in your hair?"
"Electric blue streaks" she smiled happily.
Andy replied with a half smile, "apparently that's the style kids her age go for nowadays."
"And you let her?!" Ephram screeched.
"Madison used to put red streaks in her hair!" cried Delia.
"Well…that's different" replied Ephram trying to sound convincing.
"Just for argument sake…sure" replied Delia amused
Everybody hugged each other, greeted and joked with each other before they headed to Madison's truck.
Delia jumped up and down happily, "which vehicle is yours, Madison!?!?"
Ephram chuckled, "see that ugly rusted, beat up, blue car with the sticker on the back?"
Delia's face scrunched up and breathed, "disgusting!"
"Well, it's the white Escalade beside it"
Bright's jaw dropped to the ground as he gasped. He was speechless.
Madison unlocked the door with her keyless entry pad, saying, "you guys are lucky we brought this vehicle, otherwise we wouldn't have had enough room with Ephram's car!"
"What vehicle is that?" asked Andy smiling.
"I have Maddi's old protégé. Its all I need, plus, she's the one who wanted a new vehicle."
Madison jokingly said, "plus, Starving Artist over here didn't want to spend the money on two new vehicles."
They all piled in and made their way to the new house.
Delia asked, "you guys aren't still at that apartment are you? I mean, you did move since the last time we visited last year, right?"
Madison looked in the mirror at Delia, "you'll see, sweetie."