Noah cheered on the inside. An invitation to a Haynes family dinner was always a good time, and if Lucia and nonna went crazy over his son, all the better. Maybe they could help convince Mel to give them a chance. Just because he had decided to back off, didn’t mean he had to make sure no one else said anything…
“Sounds awesome; you know I love your family dinners. Is your mom making lasagne?” He affected a casual tone, not letting his eagerness show.
“She probably will if she knows you want it. I’ll tell her now,” Mel replied, bending her head over her phone to type. “We’ll head there after house hunting?”
“Sounds perfect.” Noah grinned. He couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend a day.
* * *
Going to open houses with Noah turned out to be an interesting experience. After having to deal with three separate agents assuming they were married and that Connor was their child, Mel finally gave up and started ignoring the assumptions. Let them think whatever they wanted.
The first two houses they saw were horrible. So bad that it took mere moments inside for both Mel and Noah to reach a decision and leave.
“I still can’t get over the smell in that first house,” Mel said as they drove to their fourth and final destination for the day.
“Fuck, I know, it was like something died in there,” Noah replied with a chuckle. “And how about the layout of that second one? It was like a maze.”
Mel nodded in agreement. “That last one wasn’t too bad though, it could work.”
“I just didn’t like the street. Too busy.”
“True.”
The conversation faded away into a comfortable silence. The truth was, being with Noah and Connor today, Mel had started envisioning living in a house, with a kid and maybe a dog running around. Of course, she tried to ignore the fact that the imaginary kid looked an awful lot like Noah. Still, she found that she was starting to look at the houses from the perspective of raising a family, considering the neighborhood and the street just like Noah was.
When they pulled up at the last house, Mel gasped. It was a beautiful home, designed in a chalet style with long, exposed beams supporting the roof, and a split-face stone covering the lower half of the exterior walls. Big windows lined the top floor, with a huge picture window on the main floor overlooking the porch. It was painted a grey color that stood out against the wooden beams in a beautiful contrast. The front yard was tidy and well kept, with a fence surrounding it. If Mel could have described her ideal house, this would be it.
“Oh, wow. This looks like it belongs at the bottom of a ski hill. It’s amazing,” she said, breathless from excitement.
“Let’s just hope the inside matches the outside,” Noah replied with an eager grin. He unbuckled Connor and strapped him into the cloth carrier that he had used in the last three tours. The baby had been remarkably well behaved, sleeping through two houses, and watching quietly through another.He really is an easy baby, Mel thought to herself, smiling at Noah pressing a kiss to his son’s forehead.
“Okay, buddy, this might be our new home,” Noah said, as he raised Connor’s hands up to cheer.
“Don’t jinx it, silly!” Mel nudged him in the shoulder as they walked up the smooth stone path. The realtor greeted them and encouraged them to look around freely. They took their time wandering through, exclaiming over the gourmet kitchen, spacious living room, and back deck that led to a huge back yard.
“I could put in a pool, or a play set, or a soccer net, or…” The excitement in Noah’s voice was contagious, and Mel found herself falling in love with the house. She could see the future so clearly, Connor growing up in the backyard, Noah making nachos in the kitchen. But where was she in this future?
As they made their way upstairs, her confusion only grew. The master bedroom was huge, with large windows that let in plenty of light, a stunning bathroom and large closet. She ran her fingers over the bedspread, lost in thought.
“What do you think? Can you see us living here?”
Yeah, I can, all of us…she thought to herself. But to Noah, she said, “It’s perfect for you, Noah.”
He nodded slowly. “It is, isn’t it. Room for more kids in the future, an office, and that backyard is incredible. I never thought I would get this much space in the city. I’m going to buy it,” he said excitedly. He pulled her in for a hug, squeezing Connor between the two of them, and Mel felt the walls around her heart crack. He was such a good man, changing his entire life for his son. He would make an excellent husband someday.Just not to me.
From there, Noah moved fast. He spoke with the listing agent for a while and put down a cash offer that made Mel wonder exactly how much money her friend had sitting in his ‘healthy’ bank account. Once he had signed some papers, and was on his way to being a homeowner, they climbed back into his car and headed to her parents’ house for dinner. Mel didn’t bring up the house again, as she was still coming to grips with yet another side to Noah she had never expected, the apparent millionaire side.
As they pulled into the driveway of her childhood home, Mel noticed that the only other car in the driveway belonged to her grandparents. She let out a small sigh of relief, tonight would be a small Haynes dinner, without the added chaos of any cousins or aunts and uncles. Her family could be loud, chaotic and above all, nosy. Especially her cousins. Avoiding their inquisition for now was a blessing.
When she pushed open the front door, the aroma of her nonna’s incredible lasagne recipe wafted out. Noah sniffed the air appreciatively before walking in as if it were his family home.
“Lucia, I’ve got a baby for you to snuggle,” he called out cheerfully.
Mel winced. His obvious comfort with her family had never been a problem before, but now, with her emotions in turmoil and all the uncertainty in her heart, seeing how easy it was for him to be around her family only added to her confusion.
When her mother and nonna came hurrying down the hall, Noah handed Connor over to them with a smile. Seeing her mother with a baby in her arms devastated Mel. That was one aspect of her infertility that she hadn’t considered. If she didn’t have a baby, her mother would never get to be a grandmother. The adoration in her mom’s eyes as she looked down at Connor made Mel’s heart ache.I could give her a grandson… if I was with Noah…but at what cost? How could she live with the fear of someday having everything ripped away from her again?
She didn’t have long to dwell on her thoughts, as her father came to say hello. Max Haynes was everything a girl could ask for in a father. Kind, loving, and adored his daughter to the ends of the earth. But Mel was not a spoiled daddy’s girl. He had made sure she could throw a ball and change a tire, always pushed her to be her best, and to respect herself first. Her parents hadn’t loved Darren but had supported her until the end. Her Italian grandparents, being good Catholics, had naturally struggled with her divorce, but when everyone saw how miserable she was going through it, and then how relieved and happy she was when it was done, they all moved on. No one in her family knew that Darren had cheated on her however, that was one painful part of her past she had been too embarrassed to share.
