Page 46 of Say I'm Yours, Firecracker

“Okay, Miss Gibson.”

I dialed Finn’s number, his laugh came through my speaker first before he said, “I told you I’d have them there later.”

“I don’t even know where they’re taking my stuff!”

“Put some shoes on, Firecracker, and come outside.”

He hung up on me. Bastard.

I ran to my window, thankful for the first time ever that it faced the street. There he was, leaned back against his truck, arms tucked over the other, his legs crossed. He looked delicious as sin. My personal sin, covered in ink and muscles.

I was so fucking excited to show her the house. I knew we still had some things to talk about, Eli being one of them, and our relationship being the next, but that could wait.

Seeing the surprise and utter joy on her face as we made our way to our new home was indescribable. It was nestled in a cul-de-sac, next door to Aaron and Bellamy, who just so happened to be moving in today as well.

Ronnie squeaked when she spoke. “Bell!”

She ripped out of the car faster than I had ever seen her move, especially being pregnant. Her belly was getting rounder, and I had read that babies could be felt by others at this stage. I wanted to hold her while our baby moved inside of her.

She glowed as her hair bounced around on top of her head. Overalls the color of denim covered her from shoulder to ankle. But the legs were tiers of ruffles. Ronnie never ceased to dress in odd clothes.

I walked over to Aaron while Bellamy showed Ronnie their place. Content to wait with my best friend and breathe for a moment before showing Ronnie the many reasons I bought this house.

“We should be able to open up in the next few weeks.” Aaron said when I clapped his shoulder. He’d been working hard on his newest endeavor, and he deserved all the success he was going to have.

“That's great, man.”

“We’re never gonna hear the end of being neighbors,” Aaron said as the girls chattered on somewhere inside the house.

“Yeah.” I agreed. Secretly I loved it though. Aaron found these two properties before they were done, and when we saw them, we knew. This would be it for our girls. It wasn’t far from their office, and it was even closer to the big city.

It was the perfect in-between.

The girls came spilling out through the garage that would only house Aaron’s truck for now. Ronnie swayed over to me, resting her hand on my elbow.

“Can I see it now?” Her face turned up toward mine, blue eyes shining so bright in the afternoon sun.

I nodded and we strolled to the newly laid sidewalk that connected the whole little neighborhood. The walk up to the house was laid with tulips that would bud soon. The house was a modest two story white vinyl home.

With a double wood door stained a walnut brown, the windows gave the interior the best lighting, and columns that closed in the porch finished off the curb appeal.

Her eyes bounced around and she stopped, trying to take in everything, all the details so she could burn into her mind. I watched her step up onto the porch and take a deep breath before twisting the handle.

She stepped inside, slipping off her faithful flip flops she’d grown accustomed to. Leaving them on the concrete by the door as she padded around. Her feet ghosting over the carpet in the living room.

Tracing her finger over the fireplace mantel, she kept her back to me, and I let her have her space to just take everything in. She walked past the shelves that lined the wall beside the fireplace into the dining room.

The walls had all been painted a light gray, the trim a bright white. I didn’t have them furnish the space, I figured she would want to do that.

She floated through the dining room into the back entryway that led to a big backyard that eventually would have a pool. Under the stair storage was across from the back door and then the kitchen took up the bottom half of the house.

It was open to the living room, separated just a bit by the stairs that led to the bedrooms. Everything was stainless steel, and bright white cabinets. Black and white marble topped every surface, and I knew that she would want to paint the cabinets.

Her face was splotchy, pink dotted her cheeks and her eyes were glassy.

I didn’t speak as I made my way over and wrapped her in my arms. She cried, shoulders shaking and breaths choppy.

“Firecracker?”

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