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The Cost Of Winning

Of Course I Remember

ASHLEY'S POV :

"Okay, everybody grab something," I say, as we all start climbing out of the car. "And Bren, you need to be careful, and stay out of the way when the guys are bringing in the furniture."

"Otay, Daddy!" she calls back, as she attempts to wrestle her keyboard out of the backseat. "Me takes mines piwano to mines room, and pway wif it. And there Mommy is, and baby Ian!"

I turn my head, and see Fi's SUV pulling into the driveway next to the car, with my aunt and uncle right behind her. I pull Yoda's crate out of the seat as Fi opens her door to unstrap Ian, and Uncle Bill gets out of his car and walks to Fi's to pop the back hatch and spring the newest members of the family.

Just a few days ago, we ran into our neighbor, Ron, and noticed that he seemed to be somewhat stressed. When we asked why, he informed us that his mother had developed health problems, and would be coming to live with him. The thing that was bothering him was that she was severely allergic to dogs, so he was going to have to give up Laverne and Shirley, and he was concerned about where to find a good home on such short notice. We offered to ask around for him, but after going home and talking about it some more, we decided to take them ourselves. He was ecstatic when we told him, because it meant that he could still visit with them occasionally, and he wouldn't be leaving them with complete strangers.

Uncle Bill takes all three dogs to the back yard, which has a fence separating it from the front, while Aunt Carol and I grab boxes, and Fi carries Ian and the diaper bag up to the front porch. We walk into the living room, and Bren says, "It so pwetty and big! But when ours stuffs comes? Us no cans sits down, and Ian no have hims bed to goes to seep."

"The trucks are coming soon, Smidge," Fianna tells her. "And Aunt 'Kaela and Uncle Ryan will be here soon to help us put everything where it needs to go."

"Jeff and Karla said they'd swing by to help, too," I inform Fianna. "So hopefully we can get things at least mostly organized before I have to leave." I have just over a week before I go back on the road, and we discussed putting off the move until I came home, but we got a serious offer on the other house, and we decided to go ahead and get ourselves settled in a bit before I go.

We got really lucky when we found this house, because it has something for all of us. It's a gorgeous log house, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows in the front, a freestanding fireplace in the living room, and since the original owner was a chef, there's a restaurant-quality kitchen, which Fi is in love with. It has a huge glass-fronted built-in refrigerator, an eight-burner stove, a convection oven, a walk-in freezer and pantry, and a breakfast bar.

There are also six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a laundry room with two washers and dryers, and a walk-out basement, which we plan to turn into a combination home theater/playroom. There's a huge yard for the kids and the dogs to run around in, and we also bought the empty lot next door, where a construction company will start putting up our stable next week, so we can eventually bring the horses out here, too. Fi is converting one of the bedrooms into her workspace, and I'm having the toolshed just off the garage tricked out into a studio.

I've also been coming out here for a couple of hours every day since Fianna came home from the hospital, to work on some projects, which I finally got finished a couple of days ago. When we told Bren that we were actually moving, she was excited, but then got upset when she figured out that she wouldn't be able to take her mural with her. So we took pictures of it, and had one framed to hang up in her new room, and I promised her a new one for this house. So she now has a picture of herself in our new yard, playing on the grass with Ian and the dogs, with the horses in the background behind the fence. I also did a jungle scene in Ian's room, and did a beach painting in our room, of a spot in California that has a special significance to us. I decided to surprise Fi with it, so she hasn't seen it yet.

The sound of a horn gets our attention, and I go to the door to see Miki and Ryan pulling up to the shoulder of the road by the fence. As they get out of the SUV, Ryan calls out, "I think I just saw your moving truck up the road, so it should be here soon!"

They step inside, and Bren yells, "Aunt 'Kaela! Unca Wy! Where Abby and Haywee is at? Don'ts them come to pway wif we?"

"No, Smidge, they went to see their grandma and grandpa today. Since they're such good crawlers now, we don't want them to be in the way and get hurt while we're moving furniture around," Miki explains. Bren gives her a sad face, but the movers arrive and distract her from making a fuss.

As they start unloading the trailer, Fi takes the kids to the kitchen until the couch is in place, and then she sets them up with her laptop showing episodes of "Peanuts", putting one part of the baby monitor on the end table, and sticking the other half in her bra, as she goes to direct the movers in the kitchen. Jeff and Karla arrive just a few minutes later, and they pitch in as Ivy and Cody join Bren and Ian on the couch. As I make a pass back through the living room, on my way out to see what's coming next, Cody waves to me, so I detour back to the kids. "Do you need something?" I ask.

"Mr. Ash, how old is he?" he inquires, pointing to Ian.

"Almost a month and a half. Why?"

"How long until he can actually do stuff?" he wonders, and I sort of chuckle.

"He could start walking and talking anywhere between nine months and a year old, Cody. He won't even be able to crawl or sit up on his own for a few months yet."

"Oh," he says, sounding slightly disappointed. "I was thinking about asking Mom for a little brother, but I didn't know that they couldn't be fun for such a long time. By the time he got big enough to play with, I'd be too old."

"Maybe, but you can do other things," I tell him. "You'd know a lot of things to teach him, and you could be the person he looks up to, and wants to be like."

"You mean he'd think I'm cool? Wow, that'd be awesome, I'm gonna think about it some more!" he announces, before going back to watch cartoons with the girls.

With everyone helping out, we actually have everything out of the truck, and most of the furniture in place, in less than three hours. The ladies get the beds made up for tonight, and unpack some of the dishes, while the other guys help me with hooking up the electronics and moving my gear to the studio space. As we come back into the kitchen, Fi meets me at the door and gives me a kiss. "Not complaining in the slightest, but what brought that on?" I ask.

She slides her arms around my waist and looks up at me with a smile. "That's for what you did with our bedroom, I love it, " she whispers. "I wasn't sure if you remembered."

"Of course I remember, darlin'," I whisper back, kissing her temple. "Do you really think I could ever forget the place where we made love for the first time?"

Bren wanders into the room to inform us that Ian is "making fussy faces", so Fi goes to check on him, while I start polling everyone about what they want to eat, and then call in an order for Chinese. Aunt Carol, Miki, and Karla start getting drinks and stuff together, Fi feeds Ian and gets him changed, and Jeff and I corral the other kids and get them washed up before the food gets here, while Ryan and Uncle Bill feed the dogs.

When it finally arrives, we all just sit in a circle in the living-room floor with the food in the center, sort of like an indoor picnic, talking about the kids, the rest of our tour, and Jeff and Karla's wedding, which is coming up in July. We all hang out and just chill for a couple of hours, until Ryan and Miki have to go pick up the twins, then Jeff and Karla leave with their kids a little bit later.

After they've gone, Bren insists on helping us finish getting Ian's room together, and then Fi and I help her get hers the way she wants it, and finally let the dogs back in to explore and get used to the place.The four of us sit down to watch a movie with Bren before she goes to bed, and then watch some TV afterwards, while we discuss our plans for tomorrow. Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill have decided to go back to Missouri in a couple of days, so we're going to go out and have a "family adventure" day tomorrow before they go.

Before long, they say that they're ready to turn in, and since we've had a pretty busy day, Fi and I decide that we might as well call it a night, too. We peek in on the kids before we go to our room, and when I come out of our bathroom, I find Fi in her robe, standing in front of the mural, with a faint smile on her face.

I kiss the top of her head, and say, "Penny for your thoughts, babe."

She turns to face me, still smiling. "I was just wondering," she replies, sliding her fingers down my stomach. "Since we sort of have "our spot" again, what would you think about making some new memories?"

"Does that mean what I hope it means?" I ask.

"Yup, Dr. Hildebrant gave me the all-clear at my appointment yesterday," she informs me. "I thought this would be a good way to sort of 'christen' the new house."

I wrap my arms around her and lift her off of the floor, and as I carry her to the bed, I say, "That sounds like the best idea I've heard in weeks, love. I've missed you like crazy, and I can't wait to make new memories with you."


















Notes

Comments

@Merelan
Definitely something to consider. If not an actual prologue, it would probably be interesting to have her remember some of the things that happened in this book, so i'll most likely have to find a way to work that in somewhere. Thanx for the thought!

Red Phoenix77 Red Phoenix77
8/21/18

Oh yes PLEASE a sequel! I would love to see events through Bren's eyes! Something fun you might consider is a recap of the story told by a teen Been, as like a prologue.
I look forward to seeing what you devise next!

Merelan Merelan
8/21/18

@Merelan
Cool, glad you enjoyed it!

Red Phoenix77 Red Phoenix77
8/20/18

Awww, such a sweet chapter! Yay for Ash and Fi!

Merelan Merelan
8/20/18

Ah, I love this story! Good on you, Fi!

Merelan Merelan
8/13/18