She smiled sweetly, then said, “This box is junk.These were probably used by the people who owned the house before to make preserves or for food storage.The lids are all warped and the containers are discolored.”
Avi moved over and looked inside.“Ew.”
“Yeah, like why wouldn’t they just toss them out in the first place?”
“Some people are hoarders.We found a lot of stuff in the attic space when we moved in and cleaned it out, but instead of going through the boxes and throwing stuff out right then, we just shoved everything in the empty rooms on the first floor and closed the doors.I guess we’re no better than they are.”
“We did find a great set of cast-iron skillets, though.They’ll make the cornbread taste even yummier.Oh, speaking of cornbread, I definitely want to make some for dinner tonight.”
He cleared his throat.“We’ve got plans for dinner.”
She blinked at him in surprise.“We do?”
“Yep.I know you said you were feeling a little cooped up and wanted to run in your jaguar shift, but I also realized we were just staying in the farmhouse, just working and cleaning, and not doing anything fun for ourselves.So I’ve planned a date.”
He rocked back on his heels.
“You did?That’s so sweet.”
“It’ll be super romantic.”
“I bet.You’re really good at that kind of thing.”
His stallion let out a happy snort in his head, prancing like a show pony.“I’d do anything to make you smile, Fallon.You’re the most important person in the world to me.”
“You are to me too.”
They moved the box to the hall for items to go to the trash heap and recycling center.There was another pile for things to be dropped off at a local thrift store.
It was symbolic to clean out the rooms.Like they were making room for the future.A fresh start, with paint and carpet.
Someone knocked on the open door, and Avi saw Khyle with a tape measure.“I came to measure for fixtures.We’re going to order for Grey and Tatum’s bathroom so we’ll do one big order.”
“Sounds good,” Avi said.
He went with Khyle into the bathroom and wrote down the room’s measurements, including where the fixtures were plumbed.
“We can order baby-proofing stuff too,” Khyle said.“The home improvement website has a whole slew of that kind of thing, from baby gates to cabinet locks, and even toilet locks.Which I wonder how hard they are to open, because what if you have to piss in the middle of the night but the toilet is locked?”
Avi laughed.“I don’t know, man.I guess you gotta work fast in that scenario.”
“By the way,” Khyle said, hooking the tape measure onto his belt and taking the notepad and pencil from Avi, “I wanted to ask if you guys would like a built-in bookshelf in the nursery.”
Fallon stood from where she’d been digging through a box.“A bookshelf?”
“Yeah, it’s nice because they don’t take up floor space.I could do a two or three-shelf unit with light wood.”
Fallon was smiling so big that Avi knew she was a fan of the idea.
“That would be awesome, thanks.Let’s go look in the nursery and see where it might go.”
They spent time with him in the bedroom, measuring and planning.
Before he left, he said, “I can’t wait until Tris and I have a kid of our own.We’re both ready to start a family.”
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Avi said.
* * *
