Saber's Surrender (Imperial Knights #2)

Chapter 21

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

Saber

“What do you think about this one?” I inquire as Foxy and I tour a double wide mobile home that has four bedrooms and two separate living spaces. “There’s plenty of room for everyone to stretch out.”

“Hmm?” she distractedly asks.

“Where’s your head, Foxy Roxy?”

“Someplace it doesn’t belong,” she clarifies. “I’m worried, Weston. Should you be with Wrecker? He looked a little… delighted I guess is the word I’m looking for when we left him with wheelchair man.”

“Foxy, it’s club business and I wouldn’t be here with you if he didn’t have brothers with him,” I remind her. “There are some things you’re better off not knowing.”

“I know,” she grumbles. “But they’re our family and Wrecker helped us find our way back to each other. I don’t want him to lose himself while ‘getting his pound of flesh’.” Her repeating as well as air quoting my prior words has me chuckling. “As long as he’s not alone, I’ll let it go.”

Her pouting is cute but I don’t let it show because it may encourage her. “You didn’t answer me, Foxy.”

“About what, Weston?”

“This place. What do you think about it? Will it work for us?” I probe.

“Well, we’ll have an extra room that we can turn into our office, two different living spaces so if Egypt and I want to watch chick flicks we can while y’all watch sports or some shit in the other one and we won’t be arguing over who gets their way,” she replies. “The master bathroom isn’t too bad and the rooms have plenty of closet space. Plus, I like the built-in bookshelves in the one living area that has the fireplace. I could see us making that the family room and the extra one we can let the kids have.”

I know I’m about to have her laughing her ass off as I ask, “And where will the Christmas tree go?”

“The Christmas trees ,” she replies, emphasizing that it’s going to be plural, “will be in both living spaces, plus the kids might want a small one in their room. Not to mention, while I don’t need the whole shebang in the master bedroom, I would like to put up Christmas lights around the headboard. I think that would be nice and cozy during the holidays.”

“Wait, you want more than one tree?” I question. “Why, Foxy Roxy?”

“Because we’ll have a fancy tree that can be seen from the front room, then our family tree in the den, plus the ones the kids might want for their rooms. Think about it, we brought their Christmas ornaments from their home so they’ll probably like the idea of having a piece of their family during the holidays. Oh, and Egypt is definitely a girly-girl if you haven’t figured that out yet, so I suspect she’s gonna want a pink sparkly tree.”

“Looks like I’ve opened a can of worms. Who would’ve thought you’d be so passionate about trees,” I taunt, which has her elbowing me in the ribs.

“We didn’t have that as kids, Weston. I want it all for them. Hell, we didn’t even have a tree when we lived together after leaving the Pena’s. We couldn’t afford one and I have a lot of missed years to make up for.”

“Whatever you want, Foxy Roxy. If it’s in my power to make it happen, I will,” I promise. “And if we have one or ten trees when it comes time for us to decorate, so be it.”

She starts giggling when she states, “I can’t wait to see how you look on a ladder as you put up the lights around the house.”

“Fuck no,” I grumble. “You know I fucking hate heights.” One year, a cat got stuck up a tree and Foxy insisted I climb up after it and help it down. The branch didn’t like my weight and needless to say, the kitten and I both came tumbling down. The kitten was fine, me, not so much. I ended up with a fractured ankle and needing surgery to have pins and rods inserted to keep it in place. I vowed then and there that I’d never climb a motherfucking thing again.

My comment has her doubling over in laughter, and soon, I’m joining in. “Y-y-you can always ask one of your brothers to see if they can help.”

“Absofuckinlutely not,” I retort. “I’m no pussy so I’ll handle it when the time comes. Now, back to the house. I agree that the rooms are a good size, and there’s plenty of room that we can put up a small fence if the kids want a dog.”

“A dog,” she whispers, her eyes lighting up. “We always wanted a dog, Weston.”

“I know, Foxy. You wanted a cat too if memory serves.”

“So this is going to be ours,” she surmises. “I can picture us here, Weston.”

“Wherever you are is where I’ll be happy, Foxy. We could live in a cardboard box and I’d do so with a smile on my face. You’re my home.”

“Well, I’m not made of brick and mortar, but the sentiment is beautiful. All teasing aside, you’re my home too, Weston.”

“How much more do we need, Foxy? It’s a small house, not a mansion,” I grumble. On a normal day, my woman isn’t a shopper, she’d rather purchase things online, but since this is the house we’ll be bringing our boy and girl to, she wants everything to be perfect.

“You heard Egypt and Canyon, Weston. They want to start fresh outside of some small keepsakes and their clothes. I have their wishlist here,” she says, pulling out several sheets of printed out paper that’s stapled together at the edge. “Jillian sat down with them and scrolled through several sites, these are the things they’d like for their bedrooms and entertainment area.”

“A sixty-five inch television for his gaming system is a little outlandish isn’t it?” I rebuff. “Surely he doesn’t need one that big to see the enemies coming at him.”

“Well, it’ll also double as yours and his TV for watching football games, do you really want to invest in a smaller one?” She’s got me there with that I have to admit. “We’ll get them smaller ones for their bedrooms, but since it’ll be a community room for them and their friends, we can spend a little more.”

“Money’s not the object,” I state. “But this is the tenth damn electronic store we’ve been in. Can’t you find a model, pick it, and buy it? I spend enough time on my feet at work and today’s our only mutual day off, I’d like to spend some time with you that doesn’t have to do with us shopping.”

“We still have to hit the furniture stores,” she reminds me. “I told you that you should’ve stayed home. In my defense, I did tell you this would end up being an entire day affair.”

“Outfitting a house shouldn’t take this long,” I mumble.

“If it helps, the furniture store I found online will be a one-stop shopping spree,” she informs me.

“I don’t like that word,” I grunt.

“What word would that be?” she probes, cupping her mouth to hide her grin. I’m glad she finds me and my rumblings amusing.

“Spree. Especially when it’s preceded by the word shopping,” I harumph.

“Don’t be a baby about this, Weston,” she playfully chides. “I’ve been looking for a particular brand, it’s supposed to be top-of-the-line when a console is hooked up to it. Something to do with the graphics and the clarity of the picture, which I don’t claim to fully comprehend. It’s not my fault that the other stores were sold out.”

“And we know this store has what we’re looking for and we're not going to have to go out of town to find the one Canyon asked for?” I inquire.

I mean, if that’s where an available television was, I could send prospects. Or better yet, toss in some cash for them to ship it to the store and then send the prospects to pick it up for us. But I know my woman and she wants to do these things for the kids herself, not just hand the tasks off to someone else, so I resign myself to a potential out-of-town trip.

“No. While you were in the restroom at the last place, the salesman told me that he knew a guy who worked at this one, so he called him and confirmed they had several available on the storeroom floor, as well as more that had come in and were waiting to be stocked.. They put two aside for us,” she enlightens me.

“Why two, Foxy? I thought he wasn’t getting one for his bedroom as well.”

“He’s not. Since it’s the best of the best, I thought we’d get one for each of the living spaces. Let me take care of my guys, Weston.”

“Fine,” I say, waving her toward the counter since the woman that was ahead of us in line is finally checked out.

I glance around and can’t begin to comprehend why an entire building needs to be dedicated to electronics and all the tidbits that are needed for them to run and be hooked up. Of course, I suspect Hawg and Beast, and probably even Selah would be in hog heaven the second they stepped through the fucking doors. I mean, I do the same when I walk into a Harley-Davidson store or find a small shop that caters to bikers with unique items, so I understand the feeling to an extent. A camera off to the side catches my attention and I leave Foxy’s side long enough to go and examine it.

Back in the day, Foxy used to dream about hiking through the woods and taking photos of nature. We never had the funds to buy anything more expensive than a Polaroid, but from what I remember, anytime she pressed that button and the film would shoot out from it, she’d have a luminous smile on her face. I silently promised her back then that when the day came when I could afford a better one, I’d grab it for her. Now seems as good of a time as any to do that.

While she’s occupied with the salesman as he walks her through HDMI cords and other bullshit, stuff I feel like he’s going to end up selling her even though I halfway doubt we’ll need it all seeing as it’s labeled as a smart TV, I grab a woman who's walking the floor, wearing one of their uniformed shirts, and tell her what I’m wanting.

She goes through an entire speech about the pros of this one and the cons of others. When I tell her that I’m in a hurry and it’s a surprise for the woman I’m shopping with, she gets the hint and grabs the Canon EOS Rebel and hightails it to a different register on the other side of the warehouse so my Foxy Roxy can’t see us.

By the time she’s done with me, I have a carrying case, an extra lens that will allow Roxy to get different panoramic effects, and a tripod stand. I think I’m the one who got taken by buying more things than what was necessary, but the thought of seeing her smile has me almost cheerfully handing the clerk my card

I rush the things out to the car after coming up with the excuse that I had to hit the head again, rubbing my belly to make her think it’s upset, and hide the items in the tirewell section of the SUV. I plan on giving it to her as a wedding gift. I hope she’ll love it as much as I think she will.

My goal in life is to make all of her dreams come true. I don’t give a fuck if they’re ones she used to dream of and gave up on, or new ones she finds along the way.