- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey everyone I figured I'd update while I have some time on the weekend. I'm going to start trying to update at last once a week because we're getting into the best part of the story now. I've seriously been looking forward to the rest of the chapters because its got lots of things happening. Weddings, babies, a tour, new houses and of course more snarky dialogue lol. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Two: Christmas Time

That following morning Alyssa stood in the kitchen flipping pancakes in a large griddle pan as Nick tried his best to be wonderfully distracting by kissing along her neck and shoulders. She giggled and sighed as she tried her best to remain calm and not give in fully to what he was doing because if she did that she'd end up burning breakfast.

Undeterred he licked along her tattoo at the back of her neck nipping at the skin gently, making her shudder. He loved doing things to her like this. Especially when she'd have her hair up in a messy bun leaving her neck completely exposed to him.

A few moments later Olivia came walking in smirking at the scene in front of her through her tired eyes. Nick was standing behind Alyssa, his mouth still clearly attached to her neck. Both of them in their pajamas; Nick in long pants and a wife beater and Alyssa in a simple black camisole and long pajama pants as well. "Mornin'." She said mid-yawn as she went for the coffee carafe.

Both Nick and Alyssa stopped and looked up smiling at her. "Mornin' sis. Sleep well?" She asked seeing that her sister looked rather tired.

"Yeah it was okay. Angie was having a hard time getting comfortable at night now that her stomach is getting bigger." Olivia replied as Angela waddled into the room one hand at the small of her back with her slightly rounded tummy showing between her pajama bottom and top.

Angela went for the coffee as well only to have Olivia snatch it away from her. "Oh come onnnn..." Angela whined really wanting her caffeine fix that she hadn't had since she they had gotten pregnant.

Nick chuckled, "You sound like Alyssa did when she was pregnant." He said with a slight grin. Olivia and Angela exchanged a glance seeing the slightly pained look that was only partially hidden by his grin. "Ollie you've been rubbing her back right?" He added quickly trying not to dwell on the subject.

"She does occasionally when it's really bad."

Nick grinned, "Freeze a can of beer or soda and use it on her back it'll make her back less sore and you'll be able to get better sleep that way." He added remembering how he would do the same for Alyssa when her back and neck would ache incessantly from the strain her pregnancy had caused on her body.

"That actually works?" Olivia asked in shock. She'd heard of the method before but to hear it come from her own future brother-in-law's mouth was something else entirely.

Alyssa nodded, "Yes very much so. And I'm surprised you would even need Nick to tell you that Ollie, are you slacking in being the diligent expectant second mommy?" She said with a snarky grin.

Olivia noticed the rather happy demeanor the two of them had between them. She smirked figuring that what they did in the music room last night must have been really good for them to not have a care in the world at the moment. "You missed a great mass last night. It was so beautiful even Aaron was into it." She said diverting their conversation to the previous night.

"Sorry we missed it. I was just really tired." Alyssa said simply.

Olivia bit her lip and grinned. "Oh I'm sure. So are you two excited to see what you got each other for presents?" She asked fishing for more information.

"We did that yesterday." Nick said inadvertently slipping that they'd already had a gift exchange.

Olivia chuckled knowing she had them exactly where she wanted them. She turned her snarky glance towards her sister and asked, "So what did jolly ole St. Nick get you this year? From the look of the music room last night I'd hope at least an orgasm."

Alyssa's eyes widened and she smirked not missing a beat, "Two in fact." She shot back making Olivia break out in a fit of laughter.

"Alyssa..." Nick said as his face flushed in embarrassment.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at him and sighed, "What you can go to Olivia on how better to get me off with your tongue but you can't admit to her that it works like a charm?"

Nick rolled his eyes back at her and started laughing. "You're terrible." He said chuckling as he placed a kiss to her temple.

Alyssa turned her attention back to her sister as Clark and Aaron walked into the room as well. "How'd you know?"

"Someone left burgundy lace panties in the couch." Angela remarked with a glance at Alyssa.

She elbowed Nick in the stomach. "Jerk you were supposed to get my clothes."

"I thought I had it. Sorry..." He replied meekly.

Clark grunted gruffly as he took a mug from Olivia. "Yeah be more careful next time. I may be okay that you two screw around but I really don't want to think of my baby sister in lingerie. It's rather disturbing." He said shuddering making Aaron laugh at him.

"At least you haven't walked in on it. If I had a dime for every time I walked in on them doing something sexual I'd be richer than I already am." He added.

Clark wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Dude seriously...so lucky I like you man." He retorted at Nick who shot him a cheesy grin making everyone else laugh.

Just then little Jamie came running into the room shrieking with laughter and excitement. "Mawwie Cwiss-muss!" He shouted at everyone making everyone grin and wish him the same.

Clark picked the little red haired toddler up and hugged him. "Thank you Jameson that was very nice of you. Did Mommy tell you to come tell us that?"

Jamie nodded and hugged his father giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Mommy sed to open pwesents too!" He said excitedly.

Alyssa snickered a little, "He is way too smart for his own good." She remarked as Lori walked into the room scratching her hands along her scalp as if to wake herself up more. "Morning Lori..." She said tentatively seeing that she had yet to fully awaken.

Lori grunted slightly looking at everyone then giving a sleepy grin. "Morning everyone." She said before hugging Clark and Jamie resting her head on Clark's shoulder.

"Tired much?"

"Yeah haven't slept in, in a long time. This one gets me up at six every morning." She said pointing to Jamie.

Alyssa smiled and sighed as everyone moved over to the large fake Christmas tree that's bottom was completely filled to the brim with presents. She watched Jamie's eyes light up and his face brighten as he smiled looking at all of the presents.

Clark set him down as everyone found spots around the room. Alyssa and Nick took their spots sitting together by the tree ready to hand everyone their gifts. "Okay Jamie youngest goes first so here you go this is from Santa for you." She said making Jamie's eyes get big as he took the box from her tearing at the paper. He squealed seeing his present of a plush Elmo toy as Nick and Alyssa began handing out presents to everyone else.

Aaron smiled as he got his present from Nick and Alyssa, a silver money clip with his initials engraved on them. Leslie and Mike were next getting each tickets to the Toronto Blue Jays as well as a leather bound book that was full of blank sheet music for Leslie's song writing. Angel and Bobbie each marveled at their distinct gifts that Alyssa had personally picked out for them. A beautiful white cocktail dress for Angel and a profession cutlery set for Bobbie to use in her culinary career.

Alyssa's family was next as Clark received a new lens for his digital SLR and a few photo art books that Alyssa knew he wanted. Lori grinned getting her charm bracelet. Olivia and Angela gasped seeing an all expense paid weekend for expectant parents full of pregnancy massages, and relaxation before their baby would get here. Mary's hand flew to her mouth as she opened her present seeing a frame with a picture of herself and Jameson when they were in college. His scraggly dark mop of hair, her bright smile and rose colored glasses as they stood next to his vintage 1955 Chevy truck. It was looking into a completely different era. She gave them both a simple appreciative smile and nodded getting slightly choked up.

Finally Alyssa and Nick began to open their presents from everyone else smiling at the various things like a few books on Greek and Roman literature from Clark and Lori for Alyssa or more video games for Nick's Xbox from Aaron. Both of them smiled and thanked everyone just has they had been while everyone else opened up all their other presents.

Once everyone had opened all of their presents and said thank you-s to the gift givers Mary surveyed the room looking at her children and their now extended families. She missed them so much being away from where most if not all of them lived. She cleared her throat getting everyone's attention through the loud clamor of the room. "I have quite a bit of an announcement to make..." She said from her perch of sitting on the arm of the large sofa.

Nick saw the nervousness in her glance around the room seeing everyone's expectant expressions. He hoped that it wasn't to announce what she had told him she might have been planning months before. His grip tightened on Alyssa as he were certain her reaction was definitely not going to be a good one.

Mary drew another breath and began trying to not so abruptly drop this news on all of them. "Well I've been offered a teaching position at a medical school."

"Mom that's amazing!" Alyssa exclaimed stopping when her mother held her hand up stopping her congratulations.

"Well it's at Stanford..." She began again pausing to make sure her statements came across clear to each of them. "And I've accepted it." She added beginning to hint that she'd be moving away from Scottsdale and to Palo Alto where the school's campus is.

Alyssa's glance widened as her mother's announcement. "You're moving?" She asked hoping to clarify the situation further.

Mary nodded, "Since your father died..." She said looking at each of her three children. She gathered her composure looking down at her hands seeing her wedding band and engagement ring still gracing her left hand. "Since then...living here has been really hard without him. There are so many memories. But I want to be closer to you three and your families. I want to see my grandchildren more often than when you can come visit or when I have time in my schedule to fly out."

"So you're just abandoning our home?" Alyssa replied growing defiant against her mother's words.

"Honey this hasn't been your home for five years. Not since you moved to LA to start your life." She countered.

Alyssa stood and shook her head and walked out of the room fearing she would say something that she would regret. Nick sighed and stood going after her. Clark's minimal resolve finally broke and he added, "Mom whether this is our current home or not, we still all grew up here. You can't just sell it."

"It's already in the works I've talked to a few realtors but nothing's set in stone yet." She replied keeping her decision firm and unyielding.

Olivia shook her head not quite believing this conversation. "Jesus-fucking-Christ Mom, next you'll be selling off all of dad's things. It's Christmas and you think it's cool to tell is that you're selling the house we grew up in?"

Mary's jaw set as she narrowed her glance, "The present is that I'm moving closer to all of you, to be near you as my family. Palo Alto is only a couple hours from San Francisco and an hour from where Nick and Alyssa are moving to. It kills me to be away from you three so much and not see you as often as I would like." She explained tearing up.

At that moment Olivia stood and walked to her mother and hugged her fiercely while Clark sat and sulked with his wife and son. The others in the room sat in awkward silence unsure of whether they should say or do anything. True they felt like apart of the Monroe family but at this very moment they really felt like intruders on a very private discourse.

Meanwhile outside Alyssa sat Indian style next to the pool looking up at the sky as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Nick joined her a moment later and put his arm around her shoulders as she leaned over using his body for physical and emotional support at the moment. "I just can't believe she's going to sell this place...I mean I've lived in that bedroom upstairs since I was an infant. I learned to swim in this pool. Dad taught me how to play soccer over there on the grass under the tree. I helped set up the swing when I was 8. I just don't know how I'm going to do without having this place."

Nick closed his eyes just letting her rant for the moment knowing that if he didn't that she'd just clam up like she was so accustomed to over the years. He leaned his chin on to the top of her head and rubbed her shoulder as she finished her rant. "Not having this place to go to will suck, that's for sure. But look at what we're doing. We're making a new home for ourselves that our kids will look at like you and Clark and Ollie do. That's gotta be something right?" He asked hoping to make her feel a little better. He knew he was going to miss this house more than any other he'd ever visited or even lived in. The memories weren't the only thing that made the house what it is. The air in the house always smelled like food, someone was always talking to someone about something and animatedly at that. Although it wasn't to say that when Mary would move to California that her place or even their new home wouldn't hold the same special quality that seemed to follow the Monroe family no matter where they went.

"I don't think I can do this..." Alyssa admitted causing Nick to be ripped from his thoughts.

"Can't do what? Us?" He replied hearing his own voice falter and squeak with fear. The very thought of her backing out of their engagement scared the living hell out of him.

Alyssa pushed back from him and shook her head, "No, no I'm not saying that. Not in the least." She replied reassuring him seeing him take a sigh of relief. "No what I mean is we're moving to a new house. Mom's selling this one. We're getting married. It's just so much change you know? I don't think I can handle all of this." She admitted feeling her hands shake from her own fear.

"Can I tell you something?" He asked seeing her nod emphatically in response. He leaned in and kept his voice low as if he was letting her in on some great secret. "I'm scared too."

Alyssa cocked her head to the side and got a perplexed expression on her face. "But you're always so sure of everything. The move...the wedding...what are you scared of?"

"Same things you are. I'm scared of getting married. You know my family's track record with relationships and it's not very glowing. I'm scared shitless that I'm going to totally fuck it up and hurt you. Or worse push you away to the point where you just get fed up and leave me." He replied looking down at the water. "I know this move is a big change. And we can keep the house in LA if you want, use it for when you're too tired to drive home or if you want to go see Clark and Lori or Kel and Alex. But I want us to raise a family away from the celebrity hell-hole that is Los Angeles. Yeah it's a great city with a lot of great things but for us, to raise a family in paparazzi central? I'd rather protect our future kids from the kind of exposure I had when I was a kid."

Alyssa half grinned at his explanation. She loved that they were being more and more open with each other, more so now than ever. She was afraid of the same things as he was. Moving away from their first home together is a rather large risk and it showed the seriousness of their commitment almost as much as being married would. "I wish there was a way to keep this house..." She said absentmindedly as she stood and held her hand out for Nick to stand as well.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her back into the house where Clark was having a rather heated negotiation with Mary. "Mom seriously, I want the house."

Mary shot her son a look, "Honey I'm moving to California to be close to you kids not for you to just pick up and move here."

"No I'll keep it as a vacation house. I just don't want to part with it. I can't..." He said lowly noticing his sister had entered the room with her fiancé next to her.

"Clark you actually want the house? How are you going to afford it?" Alyssa reasoned.

Clark shot her a look knowing that even though he had a substantial savings from what his parents had given him when he'd graduated college, he also knew that the money was also being saved for when Jamie would go to college. "I'll figure something out..." He retorted. "I mean come on Liss do you want to give up this place?"

Alyssa shook her head, "No I don't. But it's not really my decision..." She said looking to her mother. "Part of being an adult is learning when to let go of the past." She added giving her mother her silent yet very reluctant acceptance of the idea.

Mary's eyes lit up a little as she came over to her and hugged her close whispering a quiet thank you to her.

At the same moment Jamie came toddling into the room and cocked his head to the side. He looked up and over at his father and then to his Aunt and Grandmother. "Evy-won otay?" He asked feeling concerned for everyone since the announcement.

Alyssa and Mary broke their hug and both scooped him up placing kisses to his cheeks. "Yeah we're all right. Sorry you had to see that lil' one." She replied.

Jamie threw his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. "I wuv you Aunt Awi." He added making her grin and hug him back as she glanced to Clark whose resolve melted in favor of a grin.

Late that night...

In the low light of the guest house, Alyssa grinned widely as she pulled out a very worn grey cardigan sweater. She held it to her nose smelling the faint hint of her father's cologne that was almost gone. She slipped it on over her head and began sorting through the box she'd found it in. About a year after her father had passed away, in an attempt to move on Mary had packed away all of Jamie's clothes, his work possessions, and various things that only he used. She'd put it all in the closet of the guest house keeping it out of sight and out of mind. True she still had the millions of pictures through out the house and the various tokens of affection that he'd given her over the course of their 33-year courtship.

She heard a knock at the door and Nick poked his head through the small crack smiling at her, "There you are...I've been looking for you everywhere." He said coming into the small living room of the small three room house. "What are you doing?" He asked seeing a large box sitting in front of her.

"Dad's stuff. His clothes, sports memorabilia, his Pulitzers...I just wanted to go through it and take some of if home with us. You know to remember him by."

Nick grinned and sat down next to her, "I don't think you have any trouble remembering your Dad. But I get the sentimental value. Whoa...Michael Jordan signed this?" He said holding up a basketball with what looked like the entire Chicago Bull's signatures.

"Yeah he covered the finals when Phoenix was robbed back in '93. He got back in the locker rooms and after getting his stuff done he asked them all to sign a ball for him and they were kind enough to do it. Dad really had a way with words, he could convince just about anyone to do something for him." She said holding the Plexiglas case that held the ball suspended inside it.

"So what are you doing?" Nick asked looking at her sincerely.

She sighed and gave him a sideways glance, "Well, Mom told us to go through Dad's stuff and take what we want to keep. Certain things are off limits like the photo albums and his wedding band and his truck but it'll help her move if we take most of his things."

Nick grinned a little and rubbed his palm over her bare knee. "You're okay with this? Her moving closer to us I mean."

Alyssa chewed her lip and sighed a little. "I'm not completely okay with it but it's not my decision. She wants to be closer to us and I can't really blame her. Living here alone, it can get lonely I'm sure and I don't want to force her to live like that because I'm partial to a stupid house that I couldn't wait to move out of when I was 18." She mused chuckling at herself.

Nick pulled her to him and gave her a sweet kiss making her grin at him as he pulled back. "I'm really glad you're okay with this, when Mary told me about it a couple months back I was really worried about your reaction."

Alyssa's grin immediately fell and her voice flattened, "You knew?" She asked in shock making him realize what he had just said. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked keeping her voice calm.

Nick shrugged, "I didn't want to freak you out. I learned not long after we lost Noah and it fucking scared me. I was hoping that she'd change her mind about it and forget the whole thing so it'd never come up. But apparently I was wrong on that notion. Are you mad at me?"

Alyssa thought a moment, she really wanted to be angry at him for not disclosing this major change to her sooner but she understood his reasoning behind it. Not long before he'd learned about it they'd lost their son and nearly each other in the process. Adding the fact her mother was considering moving out of her home was going to be something that Alyssa couldn't have handled at the time and instead of anger toward him she felt an all too different emotion...gratitude.

Nick chewed his lower lip nervously awaiting her answer knowing that he was probably in for one of the worst shit storms he'd seen in quiet a while from her. He gulped and tried to study her expression looking for any clues as to how it may have drastically changed her mood.

Alyssa looked down at her hands then back up meeting his glance and gave his nervous expression a sympathetic look. "I'm not mad...A little irked you didn't tell me but I understand why." She finally admitted making him look at her as if she'd grown an extra head. "What?"

"Who the hell are you and what have you done to my fiancée?" He remarked completely in shock from her reaction.

Alyssa laughed a little, "It's your fault you're the one who forced me to deal with my emotions like an adult by taking me to therapy." She scoffed back making him chuckle at her. "I mean okay I'm a little pissed at you that you didn't say anything for the past few months after all this opening up and sharing our emotions. But I also get that you didn't want to hurt me. So I should be thanking you for that, for at least trying to spare me any more drama."

Nick nodded, "Plus it wasn't my place to tell you. I went off on Mary when she told me because it upset me a lot too and I knew you wouldn't react well to it so I kind of snapped at her."

Alyssa's eyes widened and a snicker arose from her throat. "You snapped at my Mom?" She asked incredulously not knowing where Nick gained the courage to actually take on her mother head on.

"Well it shocked the hell out of her, she didn't really react and kind of shut up afterward. I just couldn't handle that on top of everything and her depending on me to be strong for you."

Alyssa wrapped her arms around his shoulders and sat across his lap. "So anything else you happen to be hiding from me? You're not a Liberace fan right?" She asked sarcastically making him chuckle.

"Oh yes I love show tunes too." He said mocking a feminine voice making her giggle at him. "But seriously, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I just didn't even want to think of it. And for your information no I don't believe I'm hiding anything else."

The following morning...

Alyssa looked over seeing her mother standing in the driveway talking with Nick as he loaded another box into his rental car. The previous night they'd realized that they had too much stuff for them to ship back to their home in LA so they figured taking the rental and driving it back would not only get it all there but give them some time together. She watched as Nick went back up into the house as Mary made her way over to her.

"Well darling daughter...everything you wanted of your father's is almost all packed. Clark and Olivia are having me ship them their boxes." She announced smiling at her youngest child.

Alyssa grinned at her and wrapped her arm around her shorter mother's shoulders and leaned her head on hers. "Thanks mom, you know for letting us take what we wanted and all of Dad's stuff."

Mary grinned and hugged her daughter back. "I'm really glad that you and Nick made it out for the holiday. For awhile you two really had me worried but you've made me so proud you know?"

Alyssa gave her mother an odd look breaking their hug. "Proud? Why are you proud of me? Of us?"

Mary sighed and looked around then back to her daughter. There were so many reasons to be proud of them; both of their careers were successful, they were happy together. But most of all what'd they'd been through, most couples could not have handled it. "You two fought through when most couples would have given up. Especially after the loss of Noah."

Alyssa sighed and nodded, "It wasn't easy. It's still isn't." She admitted.

Mary gave a slight shake of her head. "Believe me I know. But you two survived, your relationship survived. I couldn't be more proud of you that you didn't give up. You remind me so much of your father that way."

She grinned appreciatively at the comparison of her father. She always wanted to be like him, his kindness and generosity were two of his best qualities. But most of all Jameson always had an intense drive to never give up on the people he cared for most. In someways she always hoped that she'd have that to some extent. She did know that Nick had it in spades. In all their years of friendship and relationship he'd never given up on her even when the night where he'd caught her cutting again he still hadn't really given up on her. "I couldn't give up on my relationship once Nick showed me how to fight for it. Before then I was ready to pack everything in." She said solemnly. She hated admitting that she felt like the weaker one out of the relationship but sometimes that's how she felt.

Mary took her hand in her own and shook her head at her, "No you wouldn't have given up darling. You love him too much to have given up on each other. Just like I know that when you two are ready you'll have a family together."

Alyssa shrugged, "I'm scared to even try. I don't want to get my hopes up and then have it taken away again." She replied quickly.

Mary took a breath and bit her bottom lip. "Do you promise not to tell your siblings what I'm about to tell you?" She asked getting a serious nod from Alyssa. "After we had Clark your father and I were trying for another baby. Not right away but about a year after he was born we really wanted a third child. The reason why I said a while back that I understand what you were going through is because before you, we had two miscarriages. Olivia and Clark thought that I had just gotten a little fat and didn't quite understand that I was pregnant. After those miscarriages your father and I were so completely broken emotionally that we didn't even want to try again. But we waited, we let time and each other heal our wounds and we tried one last time...and it brought us you." She explained seeing all the information register across Alyssa's face. "So if we had been too scared to try again...I wouldn't be talking to you right now. I wouldn't have the memories of watching you grow into such a remarkable woman or even watch you fall in love with Nick. And really I'd regret that if I'd been too scared to try again."

Alyssa chewed her lip and processed all the information her mother had given her. She knew her mother was right, that giving into her own anxieties would only keep them from any future happiness. At the same time she also realized how strong her mother really was. To have gone through the loss of two pregnancies and to witness her youngest child go through something rather similar. "Mom I never...knew just how much you and Dad had gone through."

"I know. We didn't want you kids to ever feel the pain that we'd gone through together so we kept it between us, relied on each other and became stronger because of it. To see you go through a miscarriage and then to lose Noah the way you did. It broke my heart to watch the pain and grieving you both felt. I'm glad Nick kicked us all out when he did. It let you two gain that strength in each other that Jamie and I did. He would be so proud of the both of you." She replied.

Alyssa leaned over and gave her mother a firm hug letting all her emotion and gratitude be communicated through her simple affectionate gesture. Nick walked out a moment later and grinned at the exchange between the two of them. Both of the women broke away from each other and blushed at Nick's presence. "Oh don't mind me..." He said loading the final box into the rental.

Mary and Alyssa shrugged and laughed together before Mary headed over to the bottom of the driveway to grab the morning newspaper. Alyssa walked over to Nick and wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned up pressing her lips to his. Grinning against her lips he brought one hand up to hold onto the back of her neck while the other snaked around her waist to hold onto her belt that ran along the small of her back. Mary walked back up the driveway seeing the liplock between the two and grinned a little as they broke apart hearing whispered ‘I love yous' being exchanged.

Nick kissed Alyssa's forehead and hugged her body tightly to his own. He opened his eyes seeing Mary grinning at the two of them and he inwardly blushed a little at the intrusion on a relatively private moment.

She gave him a nod and a grin reassuring him of his place in the family. Alyssa broke away from him and turned seeing her mom there and smiled at her as she walked over. "So Momma you're coming to Vegas for New Years right?"

"Of course honey, as long as you don't mind partying with you're old hippie of a mother." She replied chuckling at her self-deprecation.

Alyssa snickered and hugged her mother. "Momma, I'll always want you to come hang out with us." She said proudly.

Nick grinned and moved in giving her a hug as well after Alyssa had backed away. "Thanks Mary, for everything really. I'm actually kind of looking forward to having you live in California." He admitted making her smile and hug him tighter.

"I am too." She whispered back. "Take good care of my daughter now." She added breaking away saying it loud enough to make Alyssa snicker. "She's very dear to me." Mary continued giving her youngest a wink.

Nick smiled and nodded, "I always do." He said as Alyssa got into the truck. Nick got in a moment later and the two of them began to pull out of the driveway.

Alyssa sighed waving to her mother as they slid down the driveway. "I can't believe this was one of the last times I'll stay in that house." She remarked while Nick drove down the street.

Nick gave her a quick sympathetic glance and placed his hand on her knee. "I know. But at least we'll have her closer to us so she can visit more often." He replied consoling her still existent sadness of losing the house she grew up in.

She smiled at him and nodded. "I know you're right." She said taking a deep breath feeling slightly more at ease with the uncharted territory they knew would be ahead of them in their relationship.


Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for reading!