Chapter 31

August – Age 18

Move in Day!

Bowling Green State University was allowing certain groups to move in as of August 1st. Finn and Santana wanted to take advantage of this so they could get Charlotte settled before they started their classes the last week of the month. Burt went out and rented a U-haul for their transportation. They were taking the bedroom set from Finn's room, because it was still fairly new, and the set from Charlotte's room. Santana had been super frugal with some of their other furniture. She had gotten an old sofa set from an old woman who was moving in with her children after her husband passed. It was a leather set and was still in pretty good shape. She got a cheap kitchen table and chairs off someone from Facebook. Burt and Carol sprung and got Finn a new desk and laptop to start off his college career right. And Burt brow beat the Lopez's into getting Santana a new laptop as well. Once the couple saw the space they were moving into and seeing how things they were bringing with them would fit, then they could decide if they needed any more furniture. Carol had put their old furniture in storage, since Burt's sets were nicer; she was offering to give them the furniture if they needed some extra.

Burt and Finn drove the U-haul with Kurt and Dave driving Finn's SUV off to the campus and Santana drove down with Charlotte, and Carol drove their car, so the four of them could come back home. It was only a 2 hour drive to get to their soon to be house. It was a quaint little rancher settled down the street from the main campus. It was a light blue house with a dark brown door and dark blue shutters. There was a fenced in back yard for Charlotte to play in, and a two car driveway. This was the perfect little house for them, at least from the outside. Santana was the first through the door so she could get a plan formulated as to where things were going to go.

Their place had three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. There was a master bedroom with a bathroom attached, a bedroom for Charlotte and a detached guest bathroom. Their third bedroom was going to be used as an office. Their living room was surprisingly large, so they would need more than the small leather sofa that they got from the old woman. Carol and Burt would be bringing the truck back with the second sofa for the living room, the loveseat/sofa bed for the office, and the reclining armchair. Their kitchen was large enough to be an eat-in kitchen, and there was no dining room. There was an attic with access in the office. Outside, there was a small shed on the corner of the property, so they could keep a lawn mower and any other outside amenities. Finn decided that they needed another small one at the back of the house, to house things like snow shovels and stuff they would typically store in a garage – which they were lacking.

Charlotte was pretty excited. Kurt was regulated to playing with her as the rest of them unloaded the U-Haul and cars. There was a lot to bring. They brought pretty much all of their stuff, and all the stuff they had been gathering since they got their admittance letters. Dave and Finn took most of the heavy lifting, and Burt was fighting and trying to get in on it. They got the bed frames all set up and the mattresses brought in and set up before anything else. The sofa was brought in next and set up against the short wall. The small entertainment center was next to come in and be set up and the TV brought in. It seemed like lunch time was catching up with them and they all headed out to a pizza place down the street. This was a good thing, because after they were all full, they did food shopping. Carol insisted on paying for the whole thing, especially since they had to stock everything from the ground up.

Charlotte was tired out by the time they got back, so Santana laid her on her bed and covered her with the first blanket she found in the boxes. It was certainly nice to have her sleep for nearly two hours so they could get things cleaned and set up without having to worry about a small child running around. Dave set up the computer as Kurt was arranging things in Finn's bedroom. Santana was putting all the groceries away with Carol and trying to set things up in the kitchen. They wanted to get most of the things put away and set up because they were going to be staying there for the time being. Charlotte seemed pretty chill about the whole thing, but this would give them time to get her more used to the idea of living at college.

Burt and Carol brought two frozen lasagna's in the car and they were thawing since the morning so there would be a dinner type food for everyone when they got hungry once again. Santana really had no say in her bedroom decorations and how things were going to be arranged. Kurt had brought a whole set of decorations, and had taken over the wardrobe. Burt was setting up the television and the cable wires. Finn was on the phone with the university, figuring out how they went about turning the cable and internet to the house and to see if there were any activities for freshmen and/or children coming up before classes started.

Overall, the move in process could have been way worse for them. There were certainly enough people to get everything set up and moved into at least the right-for-the-current-moment locations. Kurt got into the SUV with Carol and Dave joined Burt in the U-haul to get back home. Santana and Finn both had their cars in their driveway and their little family back in their home. This was the first time in both of their lives that they were living on their own, and had a small child as their responsibility, without the aid of the grandparents and uncles being around all the time.

"I can't believe we have our own place," Finn breathed. Charlotte was laying in the living room, watching the kids' channel they managed to find.

"I can't believe we got everything moved in today and all set up," Santana commented. They were snuggling on the love seat, exhausted from their long day of heavy lifting. "I can't wait to see what Kurt did to our room."

"You haven't gone in yet?"

"Well, he told me to wait until I was ready for bed, and that I would be surprised," Santana explained.

"I can only imagine," Finn groaned.

"He also promised, under painful threats, that he wouldn't go too far," Santana assured him.

"I can't wait to see it then," he replied. Charlotte, during the short conversation, had fallen asleep in front of the television, and her baby snoring was getting louder and louder. "I'll go put her to bed and then we should go check it out."

"Deal," she agreed. They untangled themselves from the love seat and went their separate ways to get things ready for bed. Finn gently scooped up Charlotte, trying not to wake her up. They put her in her freshly made bed, with the pool noodles under the fitted sheet so she wouldn't roll out of bed. Finn tucked her in and gave her a kiss before going around to his bedroom. Santana had gone to go double check that the front door and back door were indeed locked and the house was shut up tight. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's see what Kurt left for us," Finn said. They opened the door and flicked the lights on. "Oh goodness."

The room had been painted blue and Finn's furniture was a naturally dark wood. But the decorations brought out the accents in the wood, and there was a few blue stars spread throughout. There was an ornate, yet strong looking bedside lamp on each table. Finn's was more masculine, while Santana's was more feminine. There was a little plaque that said 'Bless this Home'. Santana went to check their closets and started to giggle. "He color coded our wardrobe," she could barely get any air in to speak.

"He would," Finn sighed. The room was much more to his liking and he could tell that Santana liked it as well. The design was simple, but there were little things around that just made it theirs. Kurt had gotten a cast of Charlotte's hands when she turned two and got that bronzed. This was now on the shelves of his dresser. There were pictures of their little family all over the shelves as well. Singles, couples, group shots, and a whole mix of everything. Finn had the football of the Championship game they won his Sophomore year, where he threw the winning touchdown. It was signed by the whole team, and Kurt had it put in a box for him. Kurt did right by both parties and they wouldn't change a thing.