Chapter Eight #3
“If you want to, I think one of the new orcs is a locksmith. Yelyet.” She smiled. “Oh, and we are opening a daycare at the new building out front on the drive. I think the parking was sorted today.”
“Sorted?”
They were walking through the hall. “Sorted, sprouted from the ground around the new building with appropriate drainage, you get the idea.”
Aspen chuckled. “You have learned about zoning and structural requirements?”
“I had a long convalescence. I learned about how to make this place legal no matter what I did to it. I never wanted my safe place to be in danger.”
They walked through the kitchen, and Aspen’s eyes lit up with the surviving pastries on the trays. “They are fresh?”
“Well, I made them five hours ago, but yeah. Fresh-ish. Coffee is in the big carafe.”
“And there is your tea set.”
“Yup. Some things haven’t changed.”
Aspen grabbed a cherry pastry and groaned as she bit down. “Oh, I have missed food.”
Rowan grinned and got her a sippy cup of black coffee. “Bring a few, and here is your coffee.”
“What is that?”
“Oh, there is a whole thermal coffee cup craze, and giant water cup craze. Basically, we now get to haul our beverages around at our preferred temperature.”
“Ah, the future is amazing.” She sipped at the coffee and collected more pastries.
“Now, to the basement.”
Rowan led the way through the doorway to the basement, and Aspen munched and mumbled behind her, “You talked to Lucia?”
“I did. She gave me some tips, including not to be afraid of food.”
“Oh, I installed on-demand water heaters for all the suites.”
“What does that mean?”
“Unlimited hot water. It heats it as it comes through the unit, and you get hot water as long as you want. All the units are on different heaters.”
Aspen chuckled. “You are going to have a line out the door if the gym is as good as you—holy hells.”
They walked around the corner, and there was the gym. Four treadmills, six heavy-weight weight machines, a moving climbing wall, and an astonishing array of plates as well as an expansive area for stretching and floor work.
“This is my room now.”
Rowan chuckled. “No, but glad you like it.”
“How did you get fourteen-foot ceilings down here?”
Rowan lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers. “I needed it, and the house gave it to me.”
She smiled. “The recording studio is down that hall. Did you want to see it while you finish your pastry before you start touching things?”
Aspen grinned. “You know me so well. Sure.”
They went to the recording studio, and Aspen gasped. “This is incredible.”
“Thanks. Every time I missed hearing you sing with your own voice, I made this a little better. Learning about the mixing board was weird, but it helped me focus on when you would come back. I knew you would come back.”
Aspen reached for her. Rowan said, “Bathroom is back the way we came. I don’t like being sticky.”
Aspen laughed and walked outside, washing her hands and her coffee cup. She came in for a hug. “You missed me.”
“I did.”
“Where did Laurel go?”
“She’s somewhere across the world with a houseful of kids.”
“What?”
“She became a foster parent and opened a group home in the islands. Mom and Dad are frequent visitors. She has six kids, and they are all doing extremely well.”
“Have you been to visit?”
“Um, no. I haven’t left you or Mell alone.”
“I see. Can you?”
“I don’t know. This building has become everything. My stabilization. My life. Travel there and back takes three days, and I don’t know what that will mean to me or do to me.”
Aspen nodded. “Do I have travel documents?”
“Yes. Your license is good, and your passport looks a bit like me, but they are both legit.”
“Would it upset you if I went to visit them?”
“No. I want you to touch as many parts of your life as possible. I want you to return to the world roaring. Oh, Mira will be here this afternoon, and she would love to know you are good.”
Aspen smiled. “She has a lovely voice.”
“She was—”
“My occupational therapy. She told me. Don’t worry. We just worked together. She’s a friend, not a crush.”
Rowan exhaled. “Good.”
Aspen laughed. “Now, I am going to try that climbing wall. It looks fun.”
“It’s rated for five hundred pounds, and you are currently two seventy-five. I don’t know if you can gain or lose, but that is where you are now.”
“Huh. And yet, I have less muscle mass.”
“The last time you posed for a photo, you were seventeen.”
“Oh, shit.” She looked at her hands.
“Good thing I could give him composites from other images, silhouettes, parties with friends where I cleaned up your image and he used that.”
Aspen laughed. “And you got the height right.”
“That was easy. Me plus a foot.”
Aspen looked at the climbing wall. “How does it work?”
“You switch it on, put that deadman switch on. Start climbing, and when you are done, you fall on your ass or jump off the wall.”
Aspen turned it on, and it started moving, and then she put the clip on and started climbing. Rowan smiled and sat nearby watching her aunt climb. Rowan felt herself beginning to relax, and then she nodded off. She could rest now.