As I pushed open the front door, I wondered if Audrey had thought to buy more pillows and blankets for us. I had one bed in my house with two sets of sheets and a comforter… that was it. That was all I’d needed. I could tell right away that Audrey had come in like a crazy lady and dusted all the surfaces of my living room. There was no way in hell it had sat for weeks and looked like this.
Apparently, she’d done more than that. My beige couch now had a huge, light blue blanket draped over the back and little brightly-colored pillows at each end. There was a fucking painting hanging over my fireplace that I had never seen before and a huge tree in the corner. I wasn’t going to be able to keep that shit alive, so I hoped Audrey planned on coming back regularly to take care of that thing.
“This is so nice, Lane,” Rae said quietly as she walked in behind me. “It’s very homey.” As long as Rae approved, the damn tree could stay. I was probably going to toss the little, annoying pillows on the couch though.
“Let’s go drop our bags in the room.”
“This is your house, daddy?” Kate called from behind.
“This is your house now too, Kit Kat. Do you like it?” I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
“Will mommy and Braden live here too?” Her voice had gone quiet and I could tell she wasn’t feeling sure about her surroundings. I dropped my bags and scooped her up tightly against my chest.
“Of course they’ll live here too.” The moment the words left my mouth, she instantly brightened and the Kate I had been falling in love with again wiggled out of my arms.
“Yay! Okay, lets go!” she called out to the house. “Can Braden and I get our own bed? You and mommy take all the covers.”
I laughed uproariously and grabbed my bag from the ground. “Absolutely. You guys should get your own beds. There’s no need to share anymore.”
“Really?” Braden asked with surprise in his voice.
“Yeah, buddy. There is plenty of room for you to have your own,” I said, patting his shoulder.
“That. Is. Awesome!” he exclaimed. I smiled at his enthusiasm because I hadn’t expected him to be so thrilled about something so simple.
“Whoa!” Kate yelled from down the hall. Rae, Braden, and I turned to see her looking into one of the guest bedrooms, and we quickly followed to see what she was so animated about. I didn’t remember there being anything in that room, except maybe a few stray boxes that had never been unpacked.
Raegan gasped as she turned the corner, and when I finally peered inside, I called out, “Holy —” Thankfully, Rae slapped her hand over my mouth before anything else could come out.
Two twin beds with drawers underneath sat against two opposing walls. At the head of each bed sat a bookshelf teeming with books and various personalized items for each child. A giant metal “K” hung on the wall above the pink bed and a coordinating letter “B” hung above the blue bed.
A tall wire basket rested at the end of Braden’s bed with basketballs, footballs, baseballs, and more. At the end of Kate’s was a smaller shelf that she could sit on if she wanted, but the space below was occupied by dolls and stuffed animals. We had packed up a few items in New York to ship out here, but it looked as if they wouldn’t really need anything.
Braden immediately zoned in on a small terrarium on the shelf at the head of his bed. He climbed up and began observing the tiny plants inside with a look of wonder on his face. Thank God I had shared that bit of information with Audrey about him loving the greenhouse at the museum in Brooklyn.
On the shelf at the head of Kate’s bed was a small, antique birdcage that appeared to have a pretend bird perched on a stick inside. I was relieved to see it wasn't a real bird—I don’t do birds.
“How?” Rae whispered.
“Audrey,” I replied quietly.
She stepped out of the room and I followed behind. The kids would be occupied with their new things for at least a little bit. Raegan instinctively moved toward the master bedroom and I reached in front of her to turn the knob. She stepped in first and turned toward me.
“Audrey’s just a friend, right?” I saw her wince and then add, “I shouldn't be jealous. I don't have a right, but you guys seem so… close.” This girl could never let anything go for too long. I fucking loved it.
“We are close.”
“Close like two people who are very familiar with one another…” she trailed off.
“We are very familiar with one another.” She let out a sigh and I knew I was torturing her, but I wanted this to stick. “I love Audrey like a sister. It’s never been anything more or anything less. If we were going to get together, it would have already happened.”
“That’s all I needed. You won’t hear any more from me about it.” She’d conceded a little too easily for me.
“That easy?” I asked.
“Would you lie to me?”
“Never.” The word slipped out of my mouth before I had time to evaluate it, but it was the absolute truth.
“Then it’s that easy, because I believe you.”
I moved to set our bags down by the closet, and we both turned to inspect the bedroom. My bed had the same navy blue comforter and the same white pillows, but I noticed a few new little additions.
“More of those damned throw pillows,” I grumbled, while fumbling with the small, colorful pillows. “What the hell would we do with all these?”
“They’re supposed to be for decoration,” she muttered from behind me. I started tossing them off the bed, but then Rae added, “But I’m sure we could get into some pretty good sex positions with them.”
I quickly scooped those things back up and tossed them right back on. Well, okay then. The tiny pillows could stay.
Yet another potted plant sat in the corner by the vast window, which looked out to the backyard patio. Two wingback chairs were placed on an opposite wall with a small table in between them.
“I’m pretty damn sure I told her not to go overboard.”
“It’s nice.” She shrugged casually, though it was obvious she was still stressing. Over what I didn’t know, but I was about to find out.
I softly nudged the door shut and walked up behind her. My lips found the area below her ear that always gave her goose bumps up her arms. My hands grazed across her hips underneath her t-shirt. Slowly, her body eased back into mine and I pulled her in tighter.
“What’s going on, love?” I whispered in between kisses along her jaw.
She shivered and I liked to assume it was from my new term of endearment. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“Tell me about it, my house is definitely not how I left it. I have fucking throw pillows on my bed. Trust me, I would have never have made that purchase, and I can’t keep a plant alive to save my life.”
“No, I mean just being here. And you told Kate that Braden and I would be living here. Now that they have a real bedroom with their own beds and belongings, it’ll be even harder to pry Braden away from that.”
My body locked up, and I spun her around and tossed her onto the bed. Her eyes were saucers as she glared at me for my actions. I ignored it.
“What are you talking about? Pry him away? Why?” I growled while hovering over her prone body.
“We don't live here.”
“Of course you do, Rae.”
“You and Kate live here.”
“Along with you and Braden,” I quickly added.
“We can’t live together.”
“I don’t see why not. You like me, and I sure as hell like you. We get along great. Kate needs you. Braden and Kate need each other. Hell, Braden could use a guy like me. Why rock the boat?”