Katrina's eyes shot open. It was finally morning!
"It's moving day!" she said happily.
Katrina threw the covers off of her and hopped out of bed. She started towards the door, then realized something had fallen off the bed. She looked back, seeing her bear face down on the floor.
She picked up the bear and looked straight into his face. "It's moving day, Bernie!" Katrina then tossed the bear on her pillow and ran to the door.
As she ran down the hallway towards the kitchen, she could smell the familiar aroma of coffee. That meant Mommy and Daddy were awake!
"It's moving day! It's moving day!" Katrina shouted, running into the kitchen.
"Yes it is!" Rafe said, scooping Katrina up into his arms and kissing her on the cheek. "Good morning, Princess!"
"When do we go?" Katrina asked.
Rafe laughed. "First things first. It's breakfast time for you." Rafe plopped her down in a chair at the table.
"I'm not hungry!"
"Well you have to eat! If you don't have breakfast, you won't have any energy for the big move today."
Katrina thought about it. "Well, on second thought, I am a little hungry!"
Rafe put a couple of pancakes on her plate. "That's my girl."
"I want bacon too!"
"May I please have some bacon?" Alison said, walking into the kitchen and correcting her daughter.
"May I please have some bacon?" she asked politely.
"Yes you may." Rafe put a few slices next to her pancakes.
"Mommy, you're dressed already!"
Alison laughed. "I woke up early. Good morning." Alison gave Katrina a quick kiss on the cheek before she managed to get her face all syrupy.
"When will the moving men be here?"
Rafe brought a cup of coffee to the table and sat down beside her. "You ask a lot of questions. It's going to be hard to eat with all of that talking going on."
"She's just excited, Rafe," Alison said, laughing softly.
"They'll be here soon. Probably after you finish eating," Rafe answered her.
"Oh boy!" Katrina cheered, taking a big bite of her pancakes.
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Katrina wandered into the house, heading to her room. She was surprised to see that most of her things were gone, with the exception of her bed, which was bare with no covers or sheets.
"Hello, little lady," one of the moving men said as he and his coworker walked into her room. They were about to move the bed.
"Hi."
"You might want to move aside there, little miss. Wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"How are you going to pick that up? It's heavy!"
"We take it apart first," the first man explained, taking one side of the mattress as his partner took the other.
"Wow. You're strong!" Katrina was amazed to see them carry the mattress out of the room with hardly any effort. She followed them outside.
"One time, I was helping my Daddy move some boxes at his work, and there was this one box that I thought I could pick up, but it was so heavy that I dropped it and everything fell out! We could have used you then!"
One of men laughed.
Katrina watched as they loaded the mattress into the moving truck along with the rest of their belongings.
As they headed back into the house, Katrina followed them again.
"My daddy's pretty strong though. One time, he said that he threw a vampire clear across the room, like a hundred feet away!"
Both of the men stopped and gave her a questioning look.
"Mmm hmm!" Katrina nodded. "AND, my daddy beats up monsters! There's one that hides under my bed a lot. I guess he'll have to move too! If you see him, don't let him get in the truck!"
"Katrina, where are you?" Alison called as she walked down the hallway.
"I'm in here, Mommy!"
Alison walked into the room, embarrassed that she had let Katrina get out of her sight. "Katrina, you're supposed to be outside playing. These men are working and you're bothering them."
"I'm not bothering them, Mommy. We're just talking."
Alison looked over at the men apologetically. "I'm sorry. I left for two minutes and she got away from me."
"It's no bother, ma'am," said one of the men. "She kind of reminds me of my little girl, when she was that age, of course. She's a cute one."
"Yeah, everyone says that about me," Katrina told them.
They laughed.
"Well all the same, we'll let you get back to work," Alison said. "Come along, Katrina."
Alison walked out of the room and Katrina followed.
Katrina quickly turned back and poked her head into the doorway. "Don't forget! If you see that big ole monster, scare him off!"
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"You picked a good day to move," Livvie said, looking out the kitchen window. "It's such a pretty day. And there's a nice breeze."
"True, but I don't have to worry about working up a sweat. Rafe won't let me pick up anything."
Livvie laughed. "Certainly an advantage of being pregnant."
"Livvie, I'm not talking about just heavy stuff. He won't even let me carry shoeboxes to the car."
Livvie laughed again. "Rafe was always a little over-protective. Well, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"You could help me clean up a bit. I want the house to look nice when we leave."
"Sure. You have any spray and paper towels?"
"On the counter."
As Livvie began wiping the counter, Alison grabbed a broom and began sweeping.
"Hey! The table's gone!" Katrina said, busting into the kitchen through the garage door.
"They moved it already, sweetie," Alison said. "They're probably just about ready to take everything over to the new house."
"Is that where Daddy went?"
"Yes. But he'll be back soon."
"Ooo! Can I help you sweep?" she begged.
"Well of course, if you want! Take it away!"
Alison handed over the broom and smiled as Katrina started to work.
"Enjoy it while you can," Livvie remarked. "Charlotte likes doing housework too but my dad says it's only temporary. He now has to bribe Christina to do her chores."
Alison laughed.
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Alison stood in the doorway, taking one more look at the house she and Rafe had made a home these last few years. It made her sad to go, but she looked forward to their new home, where they would make new memories.
"You look a million miles away," Rafe whispered from behind her.
"Just thinking about how much I'm going to miss this place."
Rafe put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her cheek. "We had a lot of good times here."
Alison turned to Rafe and smiled. "Yes, we have."
Honk! Honk!
The sound of the horn startled them both as they looked out towards the driveway.
"Hey! Come on! Let's go!" Katrina hollered, poking her head out the car window.
"We're coming!" Alison called back. "Buckle up!"
"Well, I guess it's time to go," Rafe said softly.
"Yes, I suppose so."
Rafe took Alison's hand, and together, they walked out.
Alison watched as Rafe closed the door and locked it one last time. She almost cried, but thoughts of their brand new house made her forget.
As they got into the car, Katrina was all set and ready to go. Bernie was too, sitting in the seat beside her, strapped in as well.
"New house, here we come!" Katrina cheered.
Alison and Rafe laughed.
"That's right, Princess."
"New house, here we come," Alison said.