“But we thought—” Bailey says.
“You two will have to share a room.”
Bailey and Kiera roll their eyes. They’ve spent so long occupying the same space, and this was supposed to be about getting their own.
I hold up my palms as Bailey opens her mouth.
“But it’s only temporary. I need you to work out what colour you want to paint your rooms. We’ll get some colour charts. You’ll bunk in together while we paint one room and then you’ll shift so we can paint the other.”
Kiera claps her hands together and Bailey grins.
“I want pink,” Kiera says. That doesn’t surprise me—pink is her thing.
“I want to see what options there are.” Bailey cocks her head. “I’m not sure what I want.”
“How about we do Kiera’s room first, so you can have a bit more time to decide? Let’s go and take a look at the bedrooms and we’ll work out which ones you want.”
“Can I paint my room?” Jason asks.
“Of course you can.” I ruffle his hair. “I just thought that we’d get the girls’ rooms out of the way first so they don’t have to share for long.”
He seems happy with that, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I have an idea about which room each of them will suit, but I want them to feel they have a say in our new home—they’ve never had that before.
There’s a lightness that this house offers that none of us had in the old one. It reminds me of my childhood, before it was ripped away from me.
I’ll move heaven and earth to keep my kids safe.
I’m acutely aware of the fact that Bailey is the same age I was when I was with Caleb. Noah was born before I turned seventeen.
But I’m also aware of the fact that she’s not lead a normal life. While she attended school like anyone else, Malcolm was strict. She didn’t have a social life of any substance—he never let her go to parties or sleepovers like other children.
It’s the same for Kiera and Jason.
Jason at least has a chance for a normal life from an early age. It’ll take time to build trust, but I’m determined to help him find his feet socially.
“I also think Jason should be in the room closest to mine. Which leaves those two rooms for you to pick from. I don’t care which one you want, but that’s your choice.”
“What about Noah?” Kiera asks.
“There’s another bedroom downstairs. That’s Noah’s. He can come and go without disturbing anyone.”
Bailey opens her mouth again, and I hold my palm up.
“Both those rooms are bigger than the one you two used to share. And they have good sized wardrobes. I know we have to go shopping for new things, but let’s just get moved in first and take it from there. Okay?”
She nods, and the others follow suit.
I head back downstairs where Noah waits.
“Sorted?”
“I think so.”
“It’ll be better tomorrow once they can sleep in their own beds and have some of their things around them.”
“Wow. This house is so big.” Jason runs into the living room before running back out and back toward the bedrooms.
“It’s good to see him so happy,” Noah says.
