Chapter 7 #2
“Dad is my hero. My mom? Well, she and I have a special relationship that has a lot to do with my art. She’s the first person that encouraged me to go to another country to show my paintings.
Without her, I’d still be at craft shows trying to hustle a few bucks out of people for my work.
” He laughed. “She even signed me up with my agent so that I had no excuse but to do what he wanted. And it worked out for me ever since.”
Getting ready for bed, she went into the bathroom to change.
She’d been wearing one of Audon’s shirts around the house lately and his T-shirts to bed.
They were large on her, and she had plenty of room, but they were cottony soft and smelled like he did.
Getting into bed, she realized that Audon was already asleep.
Looking at him, she fell in love with him even more.
His soft snores were wonderfully sexy, and she wanted to curl around him and go to sleep herself.
Just as she was getting under the covers, Lizzy woke up.
While she knew that the nanny had her, she went to the room to feed her the last bottle of the night.
She was just being changed when she entered the room.
“How’s momma’s little girl?” She smiled at her and Lizzy smiled back.
Since she had only just woken up, she realized that she wanted to go back to sleep.
Holding her in her arms, she rocked her.
Lizzy snuggled up under her chin and closed her eyes.
Trin watched her go to sleep and realized that she had to treasure these moments, as Lizzy was growing up so quickly and she was afraid of missing the milestones.
Holding her tighter, she squirmed a little from being held so tight, so she let her go a little.
Just as she was falling asleep again, Trin decided that she wanted to have a lot of sisters and brothers for her daughter so that she’d never feel alone.
There was no feeling like that. She missed her sister more every day.
“You and I will have so much fun, little girl. We’ll go shopping and have our nails done.” She whispered things to her that she wanted to do and realized that she could do that with her. “Momma has worked very hard so that you won’t have to. Daddy will be there for you too. I know it.”
Putting her to bed, she went back to her bedroom and got into bed with Audon. They didn’t make love on their wedding night, but they had all the rest of their lives to do that. She snuggled around Audon and closed her eyes. Sleep was quick in coming to her, and she was glad for that.
~*~
Gilman was up before the sun. Since he had to work most of his hours outdoors, he made sure that he got up early enough that it was cooler outside than in the middle of the day.
Today he was working on a grid that was working hard to keep the houses powered during the hottest part of the summer.
They were all worried that with the extra drain on the grid would cause power outages throughout the town. No one wanted that.
“Gil, you have a message here. Your mother said she’s been trying to reach you for three days without success. She said for you to call her.” He smiled. “She’s not happy that she had to call your place of work either; she said to tell you.”
“Tell her that I’ve lost my phone again but have one ordered that’s supposed to come in today.” While the message was being relayed, he gathered up his tools to go home. His phone had been delivered an hour ago, and he’d not had any time to go there and get it. “I’m going home now to get my phone.”
Driving back to his home, he thought about how he’d been avoiding his parents.
Not because he disliked them or anything, but he didn’t want them finding out that he’d bought a house and that it was being worked on.
This was a surprise that he wanted to keep from them until he moved in.
Not that it was such a big deal, him buying a house, but it was the house that he bought.
He’d managed to get the Manchester Estate.
The estate was a large one. Nearly one thousand acres.
A house sitting on a hill that looked down over the town.
The house itself was huge in that it had twelve bedrooms and that many baths.
He’d been working on the deal for the past five weeks and only just now closed on the deal.
It needed some work, not a lot, but the kitchen for sure.
As soon as he got home and opened the box for his phone, he called his mom. She was pissed off, but he knew how to drag her out of that mood. He told her that he loved her and that he’d purchased the estate.
“What do you mean you’ve bought the Manchester Estate?
I had no idea…do you know how long I’ve wanted to tour that house?
And you own it?” He said he just signed off on the deal the other day and was going to surprise her with the tour that she wanted tomorrow for lunch.
“How much did you pay for it? I’m betting that you took all your savings to put down on it. ”
“I didn’t really. You remember Mr. Manchester died some years ago and the house has been sitting empty?
He didn’t have a will.” She said she remembered there being a big fight about it that no one in the family could afford it.
“Yes, well, the bank was selling it for what they thought it would be worth if they sold it on today’s market. But it needed work.”
“How much work?” He told her about the kitchen and the bedrooms. “Oh, Gil honey, that’s going to cost you a fortune to replace.”
“Not really. I got the house for a song.” He told her how much he paid for the house, and even she was impressed.
“They just wanted it off their books and didn’t mind coming down on the price so that they could do that.
I was even able to get a good loan to do the work on the house so that I can move into it while it’s being worked on.
I’ve already put my condo on the market so that I can use that as a buffer while I’m working on it. ”
“Are you doing the work yourself or are you getting in touch with Booth Construction? You know that Mac will do you well if you use her.” He said that he’d already contacted her contractor and he was coming out soon to tell him how much the kitchen would cost. “You’re going to do the bedrooms on your own? ”
“Yes. All they need is a good coat of paint. I’m going to have to have the bathrooms brought up to this century, but that shouldn’t be too much work if I have them come in and do them one or two at a time.
They really are in good shape but just need some tweaking here and there.
” She asked when she could come and see it.
“I’m having all the carpets torn out of the main living area, so if you don’t mind that kind of mess, you can go anytime.
I can’t go until tomorrow. The heat is making trouble for the grids we watch over, and I want to be on duty if something happens. If something happens.”
“I’d love to be there with you. Oh, son, I’m so happy for you.” She said that she was still upset that he’d not called her. “But I understand too. I have to find my phone at least twice a day nowadays. Especially when I’ve been doing things around the house.”
“I think I might have left it in one of the truck beds. If I do find it, it’s going to be smashed up and broken anyway.
But I have this one now that’s supposed to be geared for workers.
I even got the extra heavy-duty phone case for it in the event that I drop it again.
” They talked about him coming over for dinner tonight, and he agreed.
He had to have someone go in and clean up his condo so that he could sell it, but other than that and work, he was free to do what he wanted.
“Are the rest of them coming over too? I was hoping just for the three of us.”
“I’m going to be babysitting Lizzy for a couple of hours.
I’m so excited. She’s my first grandchild, and I can’t wait to spoil her.
” Gilman grinned and knew why they were letting Mom babysit.
Audon and Trin were going to go shopping for a new bedroom suit for their home.
“She’s such a pretty little thing and looks at you like she knows what you’re saying to her.
I just love her to pieces. Speaking of which, when are you going to find yourself a wife? ”
“You have four women in your life right now. And one of them gave you a granddaughter, and two more are cooking you up two as we speak. Let a man get a house ready before we start talking about marriage again.” Mom laughed just like he had hoped she would.
“I’m not dating all that much right now.
I want to get my house in order and to sell off my condo.
By then I should be ready to pounce on some woman to get her with child so you have even more grandchildren. ”
“Behave yourself.” They both laughed this time. “Well, since I’m going to see you tonight, I’d better let you go. You keep your phone where you can find it from now on. I thought that you were avoiding me.”
“Never. You’re the light of my life. I will compare all women to you and find them lacking.
You’re my hero, mom.” She told him again to behave.
“I am. I love you. And dad. You’ve made me want to be a good man, and when a wife does come along, if she does, then I’ll be the best husband to her that I can because I was taught by the best.”
He was sure that he made his mom cry and hadn’t meant to. Just as he was ready to tell her he was sorry, his dad got on the phone. While he seemed confused as to why he was handed the phone, Gilman told him about the house.