“Nice. If we like this one, it’s got one big added bonus.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s at the end of the same block your parents live on. Might be good for… future plans.”
We didn’t talk about kids often, aside from the fact that we both wanted them. And as much as I did, I really think Perish wanted them more. To be able to have that loving family he never had growing up, to break bad cycles. To teach them how to mow the lawn.
“That sounds perfect. Do we really even need to see it?” I asked, soaking up another hug before I had to pull away.
“Want to have Cain point out anything we gotta worry about,” Perish said. Cain had been law enforcement by trade. But his real passion was in handyman-type stuff.
“Okay. Then let’s see it, let him tell us it’s all good, and snag it before someone else does.”
“Deal.”
“But after eleven. I’m going to be here so late. I want to sleep in.”
“Sleep in, brunch, viewing.”
Yeah, I’d introduced Perish to brunch. He’d been obsessed ever since. I had a theory it was the mimosas. But whatever it was, I loved the looks we got from all the groups of women when we showed up at the restaurant. Like they thought I’d snagged one of the good ones.
I had.
“Sounds perfect,” I agreed, leaning up for a kiss before heading back inside to watch a whole family celebrate the beginning of a happily-ever-after for their loved ones.
Someday, that would be us.
But I wasn’t in a rush.
I was enjoying each step along the way.
Perish - 1 year
“You’re getting fat as fuck, man,” I called to the squirrel who was staring at me from the tree, just waiting for me to finish filling the feeders so he could knock the contents on the ground for him and his buddies. “If you’re not careful, you’re gonna get stuck in the fence.”
“Talking to yourself?” Gracie asked, standing a few feet away with an armful of grocery bags.
“To Steve,” I said, nodding at the squirrel.
“I still think that’s a girl. She’s too calm. The boys are always chasing each other up and down the tree…”
“What?” I asked when she trailed off.
“I think we’re officially old people,” she declared, her face scrunching up. “We’re talking about the squirrels. And the birds. And we totally talked about the weather this morning.”
“We’re… domestic,” I decided.
“That’s a nice way of putting it. How did it go with the plumber?” she asked as I came over to help her with the bags.
“About how I expected,” I said as we moved into the kitchen.
“Meaning expensive.”
“What in this house hasn’t been?”
“To be fair, Cain did warn us. He wasn’t even subtle about it.”
He’d called the place a ‘money pit.’
