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I can’t wait to get to the cabin and light up the fireplace, and Kathleen can’t wait to decorate for Halloween as soon as we get inside the cabin’s warm interior.
A fiery sunset burns its way across the sky, flaring golden over the windshield and glaring like flickering flames. Kathleen smiles gently at me from the passenger’s seat, squeezing my hand where our fingers are entangled in a familiar way on the console.
Her pale blonde hair is caught golden in the evening sunlight, and her pale green eyes glow like the bright colors of the autumn sky in the morning. The car’s radio plays softly around us, lulling us into a peaceful silence that neither of us brakes until we reach the tree-lined lane that leads into the mountains.
In the backseat, Poppy and Lily sleep peacefully in their little Halloween pajamas, covered in grinning ghosts and smiling skeletons along with their pumpkin blankets.
Yeah, my wife is definitely a fan of Halloween, I think with a quiet chuckle.
* * *
A familiar happiness blooms in my chest at the sight of our new (old) home, waiting for us to go ahead and fill the walls and rooms with our special brand of love.
We’ve stayed at the house every few weeks or so this year, and we have stuffed it full to the brim with beautiful flea market finds, well-used little trinkets, and old furniture for when we plan to move all the way in. It’s so amazing to see it come to life.
The cabin in the mountains is a labor of love, and I can tell that my wife absolutely loves the house and the rest of the property as much as I do.She likes that it feels like something straight out of a Halloween movie, and I like all of the space around us.
I plan on filling the rest of the acres of our land outside with little animals to go with the two little cows in our lower field that one of the neighbors gave us as an odd sort of housewarming gift.
We definitely aren’t in the city now, that’s for sure.
Being this close to our new, beautiful home, I can’t stop thinking about how in love I am with my wife. I like to think that our love lives here in this place, forever golden and living peacefully in the high peaks of the mountains.
“I’m so glad to be back,” I say aloud, keeping my voice very quiet. The car bumps and jolts a little down the road under the shifting trees above us, following the long path to the end until it opens to a small meadow nestled in a thicket of oaks under the roots of the mountains.
“We’re home now,” Kathleen murmurs, smiling as if she’s just learned how and it feels right to her. I bring her soft little fingers up to my smiling mouth to kiss my wife’s hand. Joy fills my mind with happiness, and I really can’t help but smile about it.
The woman I love is here with our daughters and me; this is ourhome.
The big cabin in the mountains sits under the trees like an old friend, waiting for us to come back to it while we’re away. It feels so damn good to be back here at the cabin.
It’s honestly so hard to believe that it has been almost a whole year since I found the cabin and bought it very cheap with the land from one of our sweet, elderly neighbors. Unfortunately, the space had just been too much for them, and they moved to the city.
The trees shift above us, brushing low branches over the pine-covered, green roof and the big, brick chimney. I can’t help myself as I nearly run to the little white porch, jumping through the half-dead beds of flowers and then onto the smooth stone path that leads up to the door of the cabin’s front entrance.
The place reminds me of my childhood home, and indeed, the town close by is where I grew up, chasing my friends through the dark of the mountains. This place is so beautiful to me, so full of good memories.
Three bright, orange pumpkins sit on the porch, grinning at us from their carved faces. They are new and have very recently been left there.
I smiled to myself, knowing that one of our neighbors came by to spread a little Halloween cheer before we got back.
Kathleen laughs in a bright tone from behind me as I rush to open the door, curling my fingers over the antique knob from outside. I have one twin in my arms, and she has the other in hers. They both yawn as we put them on the couch, curling up together.
Inside, the warm, familiar scent of vanilla greets me, and it feels as if I’m finally home. I guess I am finally where I want to be and who I want to be with.
The wide windows of the cabin lets in the evening beauty of the falling dark outside of the cabin’s warm interior walls. I brush my fingers over the back of the couch in the living room that had come from my old apartment, newly redone and restored, and then I go to make my way into the big kitchen with its industrial fridge and antique wallpaper.
A thin layer of dust all but covers our things, everything sitting untouched after the months of our stay back in Atlanta to see the family.
I know that Kathleen must be very glad that she has finally switched the last of her schoolwork to online classes to make it easier on her. She can now spend her days in the peaceful beauty of our home, watching autumn cover the valleys and mountains, which makes her very happy and content.
I can hear Kathleen’s soft steps moving lightly through the house in her sneakers, flicking on lights and opening doors to air the rooms out after being away from them for so long. I lean against the sink and watch the moon as it rises slowly in the night sky, full and heavy, on the horizon across the trees. Birds flutter across the sky, flapping their smooth wings as they do. I feel Kathleen wrap her warm arms around me from behind, her sweet voice in my ear.
“You should go light the fireplace in the sitting room for me. I’m cold,” she says, grinning at me. Still, our twin daughters sleep soundly on the couch.
“How romantic,” I murmur, grinning at my beautiful wife. She turns in my arms, kissing me soundly and making my pants grow a little tight with her touch.
“Let’s go make sure the bedroom is okay. I think we need to check.”
