Johnny

"Hey Ever, how's it going?" I heard Elena say softly and I wondered what time it was that Elena was already on the phone. I heard some chatter on the other end of the line before Elena replied,

"You're coming to Tulsa! That's great! We miss you too! We're going house hunting today, if my husband decides to wake his lazy ass up," She said before slapping my butt, knowing full well I was awake and listening.

"Of course you can design our house, why would we ever say no?" Elena said happily.

There was more chatter and I rolled onto my back, groaning. If I didn't stop her from talking she would talk to her sister for hours.

"Yeah, we'll let you know when we've found a place, and then you can fly down and stay with us while we do some shopping. I can't wait to have this house as our own." She was quiet before nodding, "Yeah there's going to be room for Mom and Dad, we're hoping a separate space all together though."

They kept chatting before I nodded at the time and she nodded,

"Well I've gotta get going but I'll call you later."

She hung up and turned to look at me, "You're terrible Johnny."

I shrugged, "Shower?" She shook her head smiling before nodding. I went to get the water started and she checked on the girls to make sure they were still sleeping.

We showered, I helped her wash her body and I washed her hair before we got out and got dressed before waking the girls up. We decided to take the girls out for breakfast. We got them dressed and we had a couple places to "look" at (she still didn't know about our house) and then we'd come back for the big dinner Darry and Charolette were having tonight.

"Okay girls let's go."

We went to Two-bit's restaurant and I was surprised when I saw Sylvia working there.

"Johnny, hey! This must be your wife, Elena. Two-bit was telling me about you. Your girls are adorable."

I smiled, "Thanks Sylvia, you look good."

"You do too kiddo, I'm glad you're looking and feeling better. Can I get you guys a booth?"

We nodded and she brought us to a booth, Elena smiled warmly at Sylvia as she talked to the girls in a way that only a parent would know (no ridiculous baby voices and talking down on them). Elena knew all about how I was in Tulsa, about my depression and anxiety. I'd learned how to try and overcome my depression but my anxiety is something I'm still not sure how to deal with.

"What can I get you for breakfast?"

I nodded at Elena and she smiled, "Can we get a plate of hot cakes, and I'll have the Eggs Galore, with a green tea please." Sylvia nodded and wrote it down, looking at me,

"I'll get the King's breakfast, with orange juice please."

She nodded, "And for the girls to drink? Juice and milk?"

I nodded, "Apple juice and chocolate milk."

She smiled and walked away and I took Elena's hand, "What do you say we take the scenic route to the first place babe? See some of the country side?"

"That would be great, maybe we could stop if there's nice scenery and get some pictures with the girls."

I nodded, "Sounds perfect babe."

We ate- Two-bit didn't come in this morning so we didn't get the chance to say hello but we left a generous tip before we left.

I started driving, taking the road to the house. Darry had put a fake for sale sign on it, and just like I had hoped Elena asked that we pull in "just to take a look". I sighed, looking at her,

"Babe I don't know that we can afford this house."

"Let's just look okay?" She said, getting out with the girls. I smiled and put the keys in my pocket, walking out.

"Johnny this house is so beautiful." I got my phone out and pressed record,

"How much do you like this house Lena?" I asked, smiling when she looked into the camera.

"I love it Johnny… I love it so much."

"You haven't even been inside yet."

"I know… But I just know that the inside is as beautiful as the outside."

"Did you want to go and look?"

"Of course I do."

"Well good… Because it's ours."

"W-what?" She said, covering her mouth. I grinned as her eyes got shiny and she sniffled,

"This is ours?"

"Yes Lena, this is our home… This is the one we built together on that app last year…" I said, digging the keys out of my pocket. She sobbed and threw her arms around me, gripping my shirt,

"T-Thank you… Thank you so much." She said, muffled because of my chest,

"Come on, let's go look into our new home." She wiped her eyes, smudging her make up. I kissed her softly before she took the girls's hands and we went into the house.

"I-It's so beautiful… How did you even pull this off?" She asked, hiccuping,

"Well my dear, as well as you can read me, I can read you. I knew that you'd agree that we could move back… And therefore I knew that we could pay for the house. We used all of our own money, your parents didn't help one cent but part of the house that's separated by the arch way will be theirs." She covered her mouth and her shoulders were shaking gently and she hugged my side,

"Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome baby… Ever was just landing in Tulsa when she called you this morning so she can get the house organized for us… Your parents are bringing our clothes and stuff down but we can buy all new furniture."

She leaned up to kiss me softly before I took her hands and took her around the house. Easton eagerly followed us, I held Ella in my arm.

The master bedroom had a huge window that overlooked the backyard and then the country side behind it. We had a pool, a hot tub, and an amazing outdoor eating area. Darry had really outdone himself with this property, it was everything I'd hoped it would be.

The kitchen was out of Elena's dreams. Although we didn't get granite counter tops it was a look alike and it was still a fairly big kitchen. We couldn't afford top of the line appliances but I had a good feeling that her parents and Ever would get the higher end appliances for us and even renovate. They've all had top of the line appliances their entire life and I didn't know that they would like not having the same amenities.

This luxurious life style at first made me so uncomfortable, but then I realized how generous the family was with their money. Elena and Ever were definitely spoiled, they each had accounts to fall back and absolutely spoil my daughters.

I spoil my daughters too- I wanted them to have the life that I didn't get. I was a sucker for my girls, Elena had to be the strong one because I can't ever say no. We heard a car pull up out front and we looked over to see Ever getting out of her rental car.

Elena grinned and went over to hug her tightly and Ever grinned,

"I hope you got your plastic card ready because we're going to use it and abuse it today."

Elena giggled and I smiled, hugging Ever, "How was your flight?"

"It was great," She leaned up and kissed my cheek, "I wanna meet your hot single friends."

I laughed, "As far as I know I only have one friend that's single."

She shrugged before getting into the SUV.

"Alright tell me where I'm heading." I said as I started driving and they requested that we go to Ikea (to start).

When we got there it was packed as usual, so I picked Easton up and Elena picked Ella up and we started walking around.

"Okay, so we're going to have to set a budget and you girls can go to town, I just want a say in our bedroom."

Elena grinned and kissed me and I started walking with them. I knew there was a reason that Ever was an interior designer and I wanted our house to be perfect like Elena wanted but they were definitely not looking at the price tag before writing things down.

"Lena how much do we want to spend on this?" I asked when Ever went to track down an associate.

"Babe some of this she's going to cover as a house warming gift and Mom and Dad said they'd help too."

I sighed, "Why don't you just start being more price conscious? I don't think it's smart to use the money from your account for something like this. It would be better to save it in case we need a new car. Your parents and Ever won't be helping to cover all of this." She sighed and nodded, I could tell that she wasn't happy.

We started looking again and I could tell Elena wasn't into it anymore. This was her way of being stubborn- it had to be all or nothing. Ever knew what was going on and I knew she was going to find a way to talk me into it.

Elena sighed and took Easton to look at things for her room and Ever slowed down so she was walking beside me,

"You know… She's been dreaming this house for all of her life."

"Yes I know Ever… But this isn't only her house. It's mine too."

"I know Johnny but buying and decorating your first home means the world to women. You get to express yourself through your home."

"Okay, I understand that, but do we really need all of the most expensive appliances and set ups?"

She sighed, "I can try and meet you half way… But I just want you to know that this could be what your house looks like for the rest of your girls' lives."

I kissed Ella's head as she held her stuffed animal tightly in the cart and I looked at Ever,

"Can I at least see the designs you had in mind?"

She nodded and got her tablet out, showing me pictures of every room, "Obviously it won't be identical to this because it's a program and we're in reality but… This is what I had in mind."

Alright, I admitted to myself, So she has my style and Elena's style perfectly mixed together.

"Look, I just don't want to… I don't want to spend an extra mortgage on decorating the house. There's other expenses to go along with decorating," I said, mainly thinking about her rates. She was an interior decorator that was highly in demand and I knew it wouldn't be cheap.

"Johnny you know I'm not charging you for this right?"

"I… I didn't know that." She sighed and linked her arm through mine,

"You're my brother. Elena loves you so much, you're family. I'd never charge you. Well maybe only if I hated you but you treat Elena right and for that I'm grateful. I will need somewhere to stay while I look for a place here, though.."

I grinned and shook my head, "Fine, fine. You can stay with us, make Elena happy. Okay?" She grinned and walked ahead to talk to Lena, Ella looked up at me curiously and I sighed, kissing her head, "You girls have me wrapped around your finger and you have no idea." She grinned up at me and I shook my head grinning, walking to the display where Elena was. She leaned to kiss me and I rubbed her back softly,

"You're so spoiled," I whispered and she grinned,

"I know, I love you and thank you Johnny."

"You're welcome babe."

We left almost five hours later, the furniture was being delivered tomorrow morning. By the time we were finished it was pretty much time that we were supposed to be at Darry's for dinner. We brought Ever back to the house to have one last look for the day. While Ever was getting into her car she looked over,

"Alright guys I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. Johnny, bring some reinforcements if you can because we need to put everything together. Luckily for you guys the colours are already fantastic, so we won't have to paint. Elena and I will need to get some kitchen supplies and bed sheets and what not."

I smiled, "Well text us what hotel you're staying at and we can pick you up in the morning."

She smiled and hugged us both, kissing the girls's heads before leaving.