Thank you to Imperfect Being, AdamaGirl, Ilovetoship, walkerdude1 and the six guests for reviewing, I love reading your thoughts on the story!
Chapter rating: T
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
All mistakes are my own. I hope you enjoy :)
18th April
"How many places left to see?" Laura asked Bill, as she hopped into the passenger seat.
After having told the boys about the baby, Bill contacted a real estate agent to begin both finding them a house and selling Laura's apartment, and to their surprise, a few days after putting her apartment on the market, they received an offer above asking price.
This caused a need to speed up the process but luckily, Bill's house was owned by the fleet, so a) they didn't have to worry about selling the place and b) Bill did not have a lot of outgoing expenses. Therefore once they combined their resources, including Laura's inheritance and secured a small loan, the couple had enough money to buy a house that would accommodate their growing family.
So while Laura had been working at the bookstore during the week, Bill had attended a few open homes with the real estate agent to try and narrow down the houses he wanted to show Laura.
Evelyn and Joseph offered to take care of the boys, while they looked at places, knowing how hard it could be with two boys running around, plus they were ecstatic about the news of Laura's pregnancy and it provided them with an excuse to see her.
"Just one left" Bill said slightly deflated at how the day had gone so far. The preceding four houses they had seen, had in Laura's opinion been too small, too big, too close to the road and too dark, he wasn't sure if they were going to find a place today, but he had saved his favourite to last.
Bill pulled the car into the driveway of an off white rendered two story modern house and Laura got out of the car silently walking towards the house. The waiting real-estate agent ushered them through the door and the couple were led into the foyer which was connected to a large open plan kitchen, dining and living room.
"Here we have a contemporary home, with open plan living areas, five bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a generous backyard, which is great for young kids. Now the sellers are having to relocate so they're very motivated to sell their property. I'll let you walk around the property yourselves, and when you're finished we'll talk further" the real-estate agent said before going outside to make some calls.
Laura and Bill walked hand in hand to the back of the first floor where the laundry room, linen cupboard and the first bedroom, which could be converted into study/office were located, before heading upstairs to find a large open space, perfect for a play area, surrounded by three bedrooms and a large bathroom.
Laura let go of Bill's hand wandering into each of the three rooms and into the large master bedroom, which was connected to a walk in wardrobe and reasonably sized en-suite.
Bill watched her closely, giving her the time to properly examine the house, before hesitantly asking "what do you think?"
Laura sat down next to him and too a deep breath, before smiling as she replied "it's perfect, it has everything we want".
"You do?" Bill asked relieved, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into his side.
"I do, I can see us living her with the boys and the new baby".
"Let's go talk to the agent then" he said grasping her hand in his.
"How did it go?" Evelyn asked Laura when they were seated in the living room with glasses of lemonade, while Bill, Joseph and the boys played outside.
"Good, the final house we saw had we've everything we wanted, enough space for everybody, nice area, a backyard for the kids and it's close to the boy's school, so we put in an offer and hopefully we'll hear back from the agent tomorrow" Laura said her eyes shining.
"That's great news. I know all the boys could talk about today was how they were getting a new house and a baby…..how are you doing?" Evelyn asked smiling as she indicated towards Laura's stomach.
"We're doing well" she said rubbing her hand over the soft swell showing through one of the new maternity dresses she had purchased, it was nice to not have to hide the fact she was pregnant anymore.
"That's good. I'm so excited I'm getting another grandchild, especially one that will have yourself, as an amazing mother" Evelyn replied resting a hand atop Laura's.
15th May
It was finally moving day, and they had enlisted the help of Billy, Saul, Ellen, Joseph and Evelyn, hoping to have the majority of the process finished within a day. They had brought a combination both of their furniture and trinkets, with the exception of new bed's for the boys, some additional appliances and a new desk for the office, from which Laura could run the bookstore if needed. Anything else had been donated or sold.
"That should be the last of it ma'am" Billy said placing the final box in the living room of their new house.
"Thanks Billy" she said, as she watched Bill and Saul bring in Bill's large leather couch.
"Come on boy's lets go set your rooms up" Evelyn said noticing the boys were getting in the way of Bill and Saul, who were arranging the furniture to Laura's liking.
"Thanks Mom" Bill said looking over his shoulder gratefully, as he and Saul placed the remaining pieces of furniture in their allocated spots.
"I'll go set up the boxing equipment, while Ellen's making the beds" Saul said heading towards the garage.
"Thank you Saul. Bill can you please start unpacking the appliances, while I arrange the utensils and crockery in the cabinets?" Laura asked moving towards the kitchen.
"Okay, but I don't want you doing too much, that's why we've got help" Bill said rubbing his hand over the noticeable swell of Laura's stomach.
"Don't worry, I'll only do as much as I feel I need to. Anyway I can feel the baby moving around a lot today, and I'm getting some abdominal aches with my muscles stretching" she replied placing her hand over where she could feel tiny flutters.
"I love you" he told her kissing the top of her head, before moving to the other side of the kitchen.
"Can you help me with these bowls that need to go in the top cabinet?" Laura asked Bill, looking over her shoulder to where he was unboxing the blender and stand mixer.
"Sure" he replied taking the offending item from her, before smiling down at her and wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her stomach. She rested her hands atop his and craned her neck backwards to connect their lips in a sweet kiss.
Laura looked around the room before turning in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling as she said "our house".
"I know, it's perfect" Bill replied grinning at her and leaning down to capture her lips with his. She moaned as the kiss grew heated, their tongues battling for dominance before his lips trailed down her neck, sucking lightly at the flesh he found there.
"I'm done constructing the boy's beds and Evelyn is helping the pair unpack their toys and clothes" Joseph said as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, before stopping still noticing the guilty looking couple wrapped in each other's arms.
Blushing Laura cleared her throat and said "um maybe you can start placing some books on the bookshelf located in the study, Billy's in there helping to organise my desk, but he shouldn't be in the way".
Two hours later, after having been banned from unpacking anything more when Bill found her on a ladder in the walk in robe, Laura sat on the couch, Zak and Lee either side of her as she read them a book.
"I think that's all the essentials done" Bill said walking into the room, with Saul, Ellen, Evelyn and Joseph following closely behind.
"I agree, we've finished the bathrooms, the kitchen and the bedrooms" Evelyn commented, sitting down in one of the chairs.
"Thank you all so much, you've been a big help" Laura said, "how about everyone stays a couple more hours and we can order pizza?"
"Yes" the boys cried in unison.
"What?" she asked when Bill looked at her funny, knowing he would want everyone eating something more nutritious than fast food, "the baby wants pizza".
"Yeah Dad, the baby wants Pizza" Zak said putting his hand over Laura's stomach.
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