John
Can you make sure the donkeys have food and water before you leave? And that they go outside for a bit?
James
Sure. You guys okay?
John
We’re fine. Thank you.
I respond to his text, sure I’m going to get shit from my brothers at work tomorrow, but with Chad’s steady breathing against my chest, I can’t find it in myself to care.
When Chad shifts about an hour later, rolling over to murmur, “Should I go?” I pull him tighter to me.
I place a soft kiss on his forehead and whisper, “Stay,” deciding to be selfish one more time and add, “We can get rid of the no-sleepover rule.”
25
CHAD
“So you think it’s better to spend the time sanding the current hardwoods than replacing them throughout the whole house?” I confirm.
“Yep, it’ll be cheaper too.” Mark nods. “There’s hardwood under all the upstairs carpet; we already checked.”
“Then let’s do that,” I agree easily.
“We have some samples for your kitchen, if you want to head in there next,” Drew suggests, and we all walk into the kitchen, including John who insisted on being here “for work purposes” even though I’m pretty sure he’s using that as an excuse to spend more time with me.
The kitchen as it stands right now has pale yellow cabinets and a weird silver ceiling. I hate it, and it still feels very much like I assume it did in 1886 when the house was built.
“Based on the things you’ve told us you like, I picked out tile options for the backsplash, these for the floor, and these are some cabinet colors,” Drew explains, pointing to the three piles of options they’d put together.
“Ohhh,” I say as I ogle the materials. The first pile has black-and-white checkered tile, black cabinets, gold knobs, with an off-white backsplash. Very classic. The middle option has sage green cabinets with brick and hardwood. “Would you just keep the hardwood with this option?” I ask.
“Yes, that’s what we were thinking,” Mark confirms.
I nod, looking at the third option, which is gray-and-white checkered floor tile, wood cabinets, and square off-white tile.
“John, what do you think? I love all the options. I can’t decide.”
“You sure you don’t want to save the original cabinets?” he asks me, but they have a lot of wear and tear on them, and I really want to make this place my own.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“What about the black-and-white floor tile with the green cabinets instead of black? It’ll keep it bright in here,” John suggests.
“Oh, I love that!” I say, moving the samples around. “Can we do that with the gold handles?”
“Sure, we can do anything you want. Those were just starting points.” Mark nods, taking some notes.
“I think we should do a marble countertop too, really tie in the Victorian era,” I add, attempting to sound like I know what I’m talking about and not like someone who’s just learned what any of this meant through Google searches. Google has truly become my most visited website lately between house inspiration, learning about kink stuff, and the donkeys.
I’ve really grown a lot as a person since leaving the city.
“We’ll get some samples in,” Drew confirms.
“So, John, I know you’re only supposed to be working on the electric here, but you’re doing everything at your place, right? Will you teach me how to do any of this? Maybe the backsplash? Or whatever is a good learning point.”
