Steve
"What about this one?" I said, moving the laptop so that Tessa could see. She looked at it before shrugging,
"It's alright Steve… I just don't know if we should jump back into this." Tessa said nervously and I bit my lip,
"Babe… Believe me I know that things are great here… We don't pay for anything and there's more than enough room for us to be independent here but… I just… I don't like depending on Soda and Presley for somewhere to live. These listings are something we can afford, the real estate agent knows what our budget is."
"I know she knows that Steve. I just… I don't want us to get in the same position we did the with the apartment. Although this time we're going to be buying a house instead of renting and that's so much more dangerous. I just… I don't really feel comfortable moving out yet. We need more money to fall back on and with two kids… Julian is about to start school and Natalie is still a baby that requires a lot of care and a lot of money. Our only income is the shop and it's going great now but… God forbid there was a slow month… Steve we'd be struggling worse than we already are."
"Tess I don't like depending on other people for hand outs and you know that. I've done the math, I've talked with the real estate agent and the bank. We can move."
She swallowed hard and nodded and I rubbed my face, "Babe I don't want to bully you into this… But being here, living off Soda and Presley, living here essentially for free… It makes me really uncomfortable. I know that they're insisting it's fine but I don't know that it is. They could be making good money on this apartment. This apartment is probably double what we paid for our shitty apartment."
"Steve can't you just accept the fact that they don't care they're not renting it out? They've told us before they wouldn't rent it anyways since they don't want to subject the kids to strangers living in the basement."
I sighed and laid back, closing the laptop. I hated that I was in this position. Had I have just stayed a mechanic at one of the dealerships this wouldn't be a problem. Get paid for over time, get a regular week to week pay check no matter the speed or economy. Now my family's future depended on a variable I could only hope stayed consistent.
Natalie started crying and I got up, kissing Tessa softly before going to get Natalie. I picked her up and gently cradled her to my chest, bringing her back into our room. I handed her to Tessa who already had her shirt off to feed her.
"Look Steve… I know that this makes you uncomfortable but everything we have here we'd never be able to afford on our own. A beautiful kitchen… A dream of a master bedroom and ensuite, the kids have huge rooms… If we were to move out again do you really think that we'd be able to afford anything this nice if we were to leave? We could hardly afford to have a two bedroom apartment."
She sighed and I reached over to rub Natalie's back.
"If it really bothers you that much Steve why don't you talk to Soda about paying some rent or something so we're not mooching off of them?" I nodded and burped Natalie, kissing her head as she curled into me. This was logically the best thing for my family, regardless if I wanted to get a discount rent off of my best friend.
"I guess I can talk to him in the morning while we're working." Even though it was the weekend Soda had asked if I'd be able to help him out getting the equipment working properly and do some manual labor since Presley was on bed rest. Of course I agreed to help, I think he even had most of the boys coming up to also help. As things were piling up his list kept growing and he needed more than his stable hands to help.
I knew for sure some of his equipment wasn't running, Darry was coming to help create new jump stands and help renovate the viewing room, Dallas was coming up to run some hot water lines through the barns for various sinks and to a new washroom. Two-bit and Johnny were likely just going to help out wherever, and I knew Olivia was going to help Darry working on the new viewing room.
Tessa nodded, she volunteered to help move some of the horses and do some of the work they needed in the stables, like new name plates and hooks, Soda was also going to be replacing the doors on the lockers for each of the horses with newer wood and since Tessa was a relatively handy woman so she took that on (I taught her how to use a drill and other tools).
I kissed her head and laid Natalie between us. We tried not to let her sleep in the bed with us, we only broke Julian out of that habit a month ago but sometimes I didn't want to let her out of my sight. We had a baby monitor in both rooms so we could also hear what Julian was up to.
Tessa turned the light off and leaned over Natalie to kiss me. I kissed her back, rubbing her side,
"You did good baby… You gave us the most perfect little girl." She smiled and kissed me again,
"Thank you for loving me and choosing me Steve… And giving me the most perfect future I could imagine."
"Bullshit," I said with a smirk on my face and she grinned,
"All I've ever wanted was kids and a husband that loved me regardless of anything and you do. You know money means nothing to me Steve, it never has and it never will. As long as we have a roof over our heads, our health, our love, and each other, we're going to be okay. I don't care if that's in some shack. But while we have the option to stay at a beautiful place like this… Outside of Tulsa, on a farm where the kids are subjected to such a different life… I would prefer this."
I nodded and kissed her again, resting my arm over her so Natalie was safe between us.
The next morning I had the alarm set for early, I was making breakfast for Tessa and Julian, resting Natalie against me as I flipped the pancakes. Soda knocked on the door at the bottom of the stairs and I went over to open it,
"Hey man, you two are still able to help right?" I nodded,
"Yeah of course. I'm just making breakfast. Did you want some pancakes?" He nodded and came in and I closed the door.
"Look man there's something I want to talk to you about." I said and Soda nodded, getting a glass of chocolate milk from the fridge.
"I just… Living here… Free of any charges is making me uncomfortable. I know… I know that you did this as a favour but… Tessa and I want to start contributing. We don't want to move out of here… It's a good life and atmosphere for Julian and Natalie to grow up in but… We don't want to mooch."
Soda rose his eyebrow and shrugged, "Alright, but I'm not accepting anything expensive. Remember that if you guys are here or not we don't get any money."
"Yeah but I'm not dumb. I know your bills have all increased."
"Well… I'll tell you what. Tomorrow you and I can sit down with the girls and we'll compare bills from the last previous months and we'll come up with a figure you guys pay us. But please, don't worry about rent. If… If you want to pay rent down the road sure, but we're okay for now. Save your money man, I know it's not cheap right now and I know you two still have things to pay off. I'll wait, happily. We're not in the place that we need the money. Especially with you helping me out big time if you can fix the equipment."
I nodded and handed him a plate and Tessa came out with Julian, in one of my sweaters and short sleep shorts and damn did she look hot.
"Oh, Sodapop I didn't know you were down here…" Tessa said blushing and Soda smiled,
"It's okay Tess, it's your guy's place."
"Let me get changed," She said and Soda shook his head,
"No don't Tessa. This is your home and if anything I should leave. But you don't have to cover up if you don't want too. You're practically my sister." She nodded and sat at the table and I gave her Natalie before putting plates down and making two mugs of coffee for Tessa and I.
We ate in silence and Tessa smiled, "Is Presley still asleep?" Soda nodded,
"Yeah, she tends to get morning sickness after it's barely morning and it lasts a couple hours or so. Therefore she just tends to sleep in more often than not, and since she's essentially on bed rest she gets restless at night when it's time to sleep."
"You look exhausted," I noted and he gave us a tired grin,
"I feel like I've been hit by a bus. Between Presley taking time off and her Dad wanting to slow down I've taken on triple my old work load and with Presley being sick first thing in the morning it doesn't give me much time to catch up on sleep."
"If there's a day you want to catch up on sleep you can always give me a list of things to do for you man." I offered and he nodded gratefully.
"I'll keep that in mind man, thanks." We finished eating and I started washing the dishes, before changing into a pair of work jeans and an old ratty teeshirt. I grabbed my tool box from the back of my truck and Soda took me to where the old equipment had been accumulating. He explained the problem with each of them and I turned on my wireless radio and set to work.
I have to admit I loved the challenge of farm equipment. Working on cars for as long as I have you tend to get used to the same problems and the farm equipment was challenging- in a good way.
"Hey there handsome," I heard Tessa say and I turned around to see her walking over holding a lunch bag.
"Damn, well hello there beautiful." She came over and kissed me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"How's everything going babe? Are you taking it easy?" She nodded and kissed me again,
"Yes, I've gotten everything Soda asked for done and he wanted me to take a break so I decided to come and visit my wonderful husband."
I chuckled and helped her into the bench seat of the tractor, bringing the lunch bag up with me. I opened it to see my favourite- bologna sandwiches with jalapeños.
"God you know just what I like woman," I said, taking a huge bite. I grinned when I saw two with 'S' on it and I couldn't help but kiss her, "You're perfect, do you know that?" She grinned and started eating her sandwich.
"So did you talk to Soda this morning?"
I nodded, "Yes, he said that we could sit down and compare their bills to previous ones so we know how much we would pay and we'll start paying for bills. But he doesn't want us to pay rent yet."
She smiled and gently rubbed my knee, "Do you feel better now? Knowing you can raise your kids here guilt free? Julian was helping Soda today with some of the chickens and he loves it Steve."
"I know baby… I know. I do feel better but I still feel like a mooch." She smiled and kissed me,
"I love you for the man that you are Steve. I love that you're so stubborn." I smiled and kissed her head before I continued eating,
"So are you helping out after lunch?" I asked and she shook her head,
"I thought I could help out my sexy mechanic husband. How's it going here?" She asked, looking around,
"Good, so far everything's been working, most just needed new gaskets or spark plugs." I said, starting my second sandwich. God this woman spoiled me and I knew her cooking was no good for me, I'd easily gained twenty pounds.
"That's great. Are you working tomorrow?" She asked and I shook my head,
"No, I decided to take this Sunday off baby. I figured once we're done talking to Soda and Presley I figured we could watch some television… Maybe play a game or something with Julian."
My wife grinned quickly and I kissed her head. I was going to try my hardest with Julian. I had to.