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“You can wait in the car, Min,” April offered. “We’ll comm you if it has potential.”
“No way, I’m not going to be the idiot on Habitation Hunters who skips a showing,” Minerva said.
“All decision makers must be present,” she and her dad announced together, quoting the show.
From where she stood at the gate, Prauxx Feathersmith-Yun shook her head at them, smiling fondly.
“You know real life isn’t like that show, right?” she asked. “There is no perfect house. It’s all about compromise and patience. The right house might take time to find.”
“Understood,” Khall told her, nodding once.
The gates swung open to reveal a huge emerald lawn, reaching as wide as a meadow and sloping downward toward the woods.
A great big farmhouse sat at the center of the lot. The lumpy stone exterior was adorned with green shutters and matching flower boxes overflowing with flowers so lush they had to be holograms. A copper weathervane spun on the cedar shake roof.
“It’s perfect,” Bo screamed, bolting for the house.
Minerva glanced at April.
“Race you there?” April offered, winking.
Minerva took off without answering and April followed on her heels.
“Am I the only one who can look at this house in a civilized manner?” Khall called after them. But his tone was happy.
Bo was already on the wide front porch, jumping up and down to look at something in the corner.
“What’s going on, Bo?” Minerva asked, panting a little as she joined her sister on the porch.
April joined them to see a green-crested whistler sitting on a nest in the porch rafters.
“Oh, those whistlers are a nuisance,” Prauxx said as she stepped up to the porch and headed for the front door. “But it’s bad luck to remove their nests before the babies are grown.”
“Babies?” Bo asked.
“She’s keeping her eggs warm now,” Prauxx told Bo. “Any day now, there will be babies and this porch will sound like a referee’s convention with all the whistling.”
Bo giggled.
Khall took April’s hand and led her to the door.
She found it strange how much it felt like home already. The door opened to reveal a cozy foyer with a small fireplace. It reminded her of the Hearth Day cards her grandmother used to send.
On either side of the foyer, rooms spilled out into more rooms. The brightly painted walls and humble, overstuffed furniture made it feel like a child’s paradise - a place where things were sturdy and imperfect enough to live.
And it smelled like wood fires and gingerbread cookies.
“Wow,” Khall said, looking around as if he was as stunned as she was. “What do you think?”
“I love it,” April told him simply, meeting his eyes.
“As professionals, we normally recommend seeing the whole house before making any decisions,” Prauxx quipped, quirking an eyebrow until it almost disappeared under her hat.
“I love it, Dad,” Minerva said, running up and grabbing his arm. “What do you think, April?”
“I love it,” April echoed.
“I love it,” Bo yelled, tearing through the foyer and deeper into the house.
