As soon as I entered the house, I could tell Nathan had something big cookin’. The hallway was littered with stuff. Some boxes were labeled Goodwill, some were trash, and one box of old toys had a Post-it with my niece’s name on it.
I heard Nate upstairs, explaining we were making some changes. It’d be Dylan’s room, Hallie’s room, Lily’s little alcove would become Daddy’s home office, and we were apparentlyputting up an extra wall in Daddies’ bedroom to convert it into two rooms, one for Mikey, one for Lily.
“You see that big box there, princess? That’s your new bed. I’m gonna assemble it after dinner.”
“I’m not sharing with Dylan anymore?” Mikey was one part excitement and one part worry.
“Where are you gonna sleep, Daddy?” Lily asked curiously.
Right then and there, I cast a glance into the living room and spotted a big-ass couch that needed assembling. And it was a pullout. Where was our old couch?
I scratched the side of my head.
“Daddy and I will be downstairs in the living room,” Nate responded. “And we think it’s time you and your brother got your own space.” That was for Mikey, I presumed. Time would tell how he’d react. “This weekend, we’ll go out and pick which colors you’ll want on the walls.”
“I want pink!” Lily exclaimed triumphantly.
“In the meantime, we’ll survive the mess, won’t we? You’ll have a sleepover with Nana and Pop-Pop too, while we get your rooms ready.”
I guessed I had plans this weekend, because in no way was I letting Nate play handyman. I’d seen his work. I’d already stopped him from getting up on the roof to replace the broken shingles.
I blew out a breath and continued into the kitchen. I left the bag of panko on the counter, then sifted through the mail on the island.
His idea wasn’t bad, but I guessed it meant he wasn’t moving.
He came downstairs a minute later, looking like he’d been at it all day.
“Hi. Micah looks like he recovered well. Was it a bad attack?”
“Hey. No, one of the milder ones, I’d say.” I eyed him. Hating him. Loving him way too much. Missing him as much. “I see you have plans.”
He nodded and aimed for the fridge. “I have gone over my finances till I was ready to scream into a pillow, and there’s just no way I can afford to move.” He started pulling out stuff for the kids’ afternoon snack. “I wanna buy you out, though. You’re not walking away from all that money.”
I frowned. “I don’t see it that way. I want the father of my kids to have a decent home. Otherwise, I won’t be able to relax wherever I end up.”
“And that’s…” He sighed and grabbed two apples from our fruit bowl. “That’s very sweet of you, Ash, but you’re already talking about having your parents help you with a loan?—”
“If I need substantial renovations,” I pointed out. I still had money. The down payment to wherever was covered. I just might need a loan to cover a potential kitchen remodel and so on. My future mortgage was a nonissue. I’d done the math. I knew my budget and what I could afford.
“Fine. We can talk about it later,” he said.
I knew what that meant. He was gonna push it till he got his way—just not right now. He probably had enough on his plate.
I shut my mouth, for now, and opened some more mail while Nate cut up apple wedges and put them on two plates with peanut butter, some baby carrots, and, the finishing touch, Juliana’s homemade crackers.
“Kids! Snack in the kitchen!” Nate hollered. “Micah, please bring your homework!”
I threw away the junk mail. “I’ll get started on the new couch,” I said. “By the way, where’s the old one?”
“I sold it. Two guys came by earlier and picked it up,” he replied. “And you don’t have to do that. I’ve looked at the instructions. I think I can do it.”
My mouth twitched, and I glanced over at him. “Wouldn’t it be nice to offload some things?”
He made a face. “Yes, but I already have to ask for your help to put up a wall upstairs.”
“I can do two things. I can even do three or four.”
He hesitated. “It’ll be a lot of work.”
