CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO

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We're almost at the driveway when Jax slows to start looking at street numbers, I tap him on the shoulder and point at the driveway that snakes between 2 houses, a short nod and he turns in through the gap in the fences.

Stopping in front of the house helmets are removed and we climb of the bikes. Opie looks at the house and whistles, "Sure you don't have a whole bunch more people coming? That's one hell of a house."

I lift a shoulder, "Nope, no more people. Just me and the monster dog, but it has some awesome neighbours so I couldn't say no." I smile spreads across my face as I fish the keys out of my bag and climb the steps, avoiding the broken one at the bottom.

Sliding the key into the lock it takes me a bit of wiggling to get it to turn, and I can feel Jax wanting to take over, but a glare over my shoulder has him raising his hands a stepping backward just as the lock clicks free.

Pushing the door open I feel my smile stretch even wider as I take in the inside again, even the dust floating in the air doesn't bother me. I step aside and let the guys through, Miles announces he's going to go to the garage and pick up a pile of tools to bring back and asks for a list of what we'll need, the paper and pen I carry in my bag suddenly don't seem as ridiculous as I jot down the destructive tools required. Happy nods with a half-smile when I write sledge hammer and I know he'll be happy to put up his hand for those jobs.

Miles leaves a few minutes later with a list of a dozen things to pick up from the clubhouse, and he's not long out of the driveway before a van pulls in and an older man slides out. Because we're still on the porch he stops at the bottom and says to us all that he's the plumber, I wave everyone inside and go down the stairs to meet him, Jax stays hanging around while the other 3 head inside to look around.

After running down the locations of where the plumbing is he nods and lets me know he'll turn the water off and then we'll have to drain the cylinders before he can start disconnecting things. Nodding I let him get to work and follow the sounds of voices inside to where I find Donna and Opie still looking around the kitchen, it's not till I hear a few thuds that I start to wonder where Happy is. Pulling the permanent marker from my bag I head towards the noises, making notes on the walls as I go. Big crosses get slapped on the walls that I want stripped, while the stuff I want left as is gets nothing. Stopping in the door of the kitchen I realise it was a futile thing starting there as everything in the room is going, the only thing I hope to be able to salvage is the hanging pot rack, but until it's brought down I'm not sure what condition it's actually in.

Climbing the stairs I draw a big line right down the wallpaper all the way to where the noise has originated from Happy is standing in the middle of one of the small rooms, quiet happily using a hammer that had obviously been left behind to knock holes in the wall.

"I don't remember saying I wanted that wall gone?" I feel my eyebrows furrow in confusion but Donna's semi-breathless arrival clears things up a little.

"Well, we talked about turning this room into one big one for the kids when they come over, Happy obviously didn't realise it hadn't been decided yet and started without you." She shrugs and gives me a 'can't help it' look.

I shake my head and look over at Happy who's now standing there swinging the hammer beside him. "Go for it Hap. Looks like it'll be 5 bedrooms."

A grin crosses Happy's face as we hear a bike and a car pull into the drive, I cross the hall and look out the window, Miles is standing there with Gemma behind him, her Caddy seems to be loaded with tools by the looks of the boxes being pulled out.

Knocking on the window I wave and Gemma motions for me to come downstairs, tugging Donna with me I mutter, "She's gonna go apeshit that she didn't get to see it first."

Donna nods, "But it's your house S, remember that."

I smile, my house it sounds so amazing, and any worry I have about Gemma's opinion suddenly melts away, her thoughts don't really matter, she's not the one that has to live there, well I won't be till the works done either.

"Hey Hap, Miles has the sledge hammer." I call up the stairs, his request to get it brought up to him goes unanswered, but when I get outside I motion the prospect over.

"Take the big wall fucker up to Hap. Follow the sounds of plaster breaking and happy Happy." I say a giggle in my voice.

He nods and hoists the heavy tool off the ground and goes inside, a tool box in the other hand which I can see has another couple of smaller hammers and a heat gun.

"Hi Aunt Gem." I smile and give my mother-figure a hug.

"You know, I should be furious that you brought this without me seeing it." She scolds me, her eyes hidden by dark sunglasses but a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth.

"I know, I just said to Don as we were coming down that I should have brought you when we looked the second time." I mentally cross my fingers that she believes me.

She lifts her sunglasses up and settles them on her hair, "Bullshit. But I'm happy for you, now what needs to be done?"

I give her a guided tour of the house, stopping outside the room where half the wall is already missing and the guys are all standing there, the sledge hammer seems to have been used to punch random holes in the walls, they're now using the smaller ones and joining them up, tilting my head to the side I can't help the snicker that appears when I realise they're writing filthy words on the wall with the smaller hammers.

"Very funny guys, you know the plumbers on his way up here to start aye?" I roll my eyes and Gemma shoots them all a look that has them quickly to work erasing the bulk of the gaps with a few sharp swings.

Getting through the bedrooms doesn't take long. I do stop when the plumber comes in to ask him if the bathtub does need replacing. He takes a quick look at it and confirms that while it is repairable, it would be just as much to get a new one installed, but that he won't know anything else till he takes a closer look.

With the plumber working on the fittings in the postage stamp sized bathroom I show Gemma round the master suite, the dual wardrobes make her to say with a chuckle, "Got enough shoes to fill all this?"

My grin is slightly weary when I reply, "I'm not sure there's enough space for all of my shoes. I might have to make another room into a shoe closet."

Gemma doesn't ask a shake of her head is the only reply I get. Taking her downstairs, the living areas and the dining area don't get much of a look, past Gemma's observation that the dining room could easily fit her 12 seater table with room for another 6 seater if we wanted.

Showing her the kitchen she looks around, "This is where the bulk of the work will be I'm guessing?"

My nod confirms it and she pulls me into her side as we walk out, "I'm sure it'll be gorgeous when you're done. Let me know if you need any help."

I nod and Donna and I wave goodbye. As her car pulls out of the driveway I turn to Donna, "Please kill me if I ask her for help in choosing colours or helping me decorate. I've seen what she did to Jax's place."

Donna giggles, "Yep, they certainly don't look like Jax picked them, but that's probably cause he didn't."

We head back inside where the guys come running down the stairs, "Any more to be demolished?" Miles asks, his eyes shining with male pleasure of having destroyed something.

"Yes, but not till the plumber is finished, well there is actually. The curtains all need removing and dumping in the skip outside. The carpet in the bedrooms can be started to be pulled up. Start in those 2 small rooms, I want to see what the floor boards are like, the walls in the whole place need to be stripped. But I'm thinking maybe just putting new plasterboard might be easier, cause then I can insulate as I go." I'm mostly thinking out loud as I speak.

Jax steps over and rests a hand on my shoulder, "Calm down, we're not gonna get it all done in one day anyway, so why don't we start with the stripping of those 2 little rooms, if we get it all done today at least it'll feel like something has been accomplished."

I nod and the 6 of us bring the rest of the stuff in from outside and pile it in the living room, Donna and I arm ourselves with screwdrivers and heat guns while the guys take up a crowbar and some weird looking tools that I'm told are to remove the staples from the carpet.