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Which means Autumn will have plenty of space for her clothes and shoes and purses and whatever else she owns. And if the closet fills, there is plenty of room in Clementine’s closet.
Back seats laid down in the Jeep, I wedge the box between two others and go back for more. Everything leaving the apartment is small enough to fit in the Jeep or Autumn’s car. After talking with Penny, Autumn opted to leave the furniture in the apartment for whoever rooms here next. Better it go to use than sell it.
In the apartment, I wander to the Jenga pile of odd-sized boxes. “This the last of them?”
Autumn pops up behind the open kitchen counter and brushes a stray hair out of her face. “Just packing up the last of the kitchen items. Everything else is done.”
One by one, I carry out the larger boxes, followed by several small boxes labeledbathroom. As eager as I am to share the same living space with Autumn and Clementine, the number of personal care items going into the bathroom intimidates the hell out of me. What do I have? Maybe less than ten hygiene/personal care items in the bathroom. By the looks of it, Autumn owns the entire beauty care department in Target.
The bathroom may need revamping. Again.
Not that I am opposed.
Once everything is crammed inside the Jeep and Bel Air, we drive back to the house and haul everything inside.
The house looks like a war zone. Boxes in every room. Piles of wadded newspaper from unwrapping fragile pieces. We pile the boxes according to room then disburse accordingly.
Clementine spends the day in her room, putting away her own belongings as Spartan supervises. Every once in a while, we hear her direct him where something goes—although he isn’t capable of putting it away. Or so I thought. At one point, I peeked in her room and watched Spartan carry a stuffed animal on the bed and place it by the pillows. Huh. Only for her.
We spend all of Saturday unpacking. Only taking breaks to eat and sleep. When Sunday morning rolls around, I glance around the house with fresh eyes. It’s the same space, but not. The energy vibes differently. Feels more lived in. Comfortable. A home.
While the girls are still asleep, I cook breakfast. Our first official Sunday living under the same roof. And I plan to treat my girls.
Clementine wanders from her room first. Balled fingers rubbing her eyes as she yawns big. Spartan ambles lazily beside her. Before Clementine, Spartan was this wild child. Barking and running like his ass was on fire. Now, he peers up at her, docile and at her beck and call.
“‘Morning, sunshine. Did you sleep good?”
She nods. “Can I let Sparty out?”
“Sure. Just open the back door. He’ll bark when he’s ready to come back in.”
After she lets Spartan out, she sidles up to me in the kitchen. “Whatcha making?”
“French toast, sausage, eggs, and fruit.”
Spartan barks to come back inside. Clementine tends to him as I finish cooking. When I spin around to grab plates from the cupboard, Autumn stands at the opposite end of the kitchen, ogling me.
Sleepy eyes rake over my bare chest and sweats. The hunger in her eyes is a delicious assault that lights me on fire. Her tongue sweeps out and licks her lips. Chest rises and falls quicker. And I love how easily she is affected by me. Just as I am her.
Each morning, I am rewarded with her natural beauty. Although I love seeing Autumn styled to the nines—hair pinned to perfection, lips and nails scarlet red, outfit glamorous even when casual—seeing her fresh from sleep is my favorite. Tank top and pajama shorts hugging her curves. Face free of makeup. Hair frizzing in every direction. Feet and legs bare.
I saunter over to her, grip her hips to bring her flush to my chest as I kiss her. “‘Morning, scarlet.”
Eyes closed, a warm smile curves her lips up. “‘Morning,” she says, breathless. “Smells good.”
“Was about to plate everything. Pull up a stool.” I kiss her nose and smack her ass as she heads for the breakfast bar.
Maple, herbs, and citrus waft in the air as I deliver breakfast to my girls. As we eat, the topic of tonight’s gathering comes up.
Although I have owned the house for some time, having Autumn and Clementine here makes it feel new. Our recent Sunday get-togethers with friends have been wonderful, so we opted to do a housewarming. As I see it, tonight’s shindig is just another of our Sunday gatherings, just using the guise of Autumn and Clementine moving in as a reason to ask everyone over.
Once we clear our plates, I clean up the kitchen. Autumn and I sit down to write a shopping list while Clementine showers.
If there is one thing that will take time adjusting to, it’s the fact I now have to share one bathroom with two additional people. Thankfully, the water heater holds enough to let us all shower without the water running cold.
Though we are slowly settling in to the idea of living together, I wonder how long we will be able to stay in this small house. Does it have everything we need? Absolutely. Will it be a struggle to live in a small space with one bathroom as Clementine approaches her teen years? More than likely. But we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
With the list made, we gather clothes for the day while waiting for Clementine to finish.
