CHAPTER 24 ALEXIS
The house is up on a hill overlooking downtown Los Angeles in the distance, and it’s private and quiet up here. And one of the features I loved most about it is the separate guest house on the property—a nice place in its own right with two thousand square feet, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms located across the expansive pool from our side of the house.
Which means that even though Gregory and Danny’s mom are here, we still get privacy for our first night in our new home.
And we’re definitely going to need that. Lots of privacy…wink, wink.
The house came furnished, which was a blessing in disguise since we simply don’t have the time to furnish it ourselves right now. Gregory managed a cleaning crew who came through to make it sparkle, and he and Tracy went through the place and took down anything they thought didn’t fit our style.
And as I asked them to do that, I couldn’t help but feel like we really hit the jackpot with the two of them. They were eager to help in any way they could, and the look of pure and utter shock on Danny’s face tells me it was totally worth it.
Was it frivolous to spend this exorbitant amount of money on a mansion when I just bought a house in San Diego and I have serious financial woes thanks to my father?
Absolutely.
But Danny and I needed a home here in LA, and my need for a little separation from my father outweighed my fears about money.
I’ll take on a few extra gigs. I can set my own price for private performances, something that was already high. Maybe it’s time to raise it. And I’ll do a few more sponsorships. We’ll figure it out, and we’ll be okay…all from the luxury of the dream house we own.
After we get out of the car and hug Tracy and Gregory, I ask Danny if he’s ready for a tour of our new home. The first thing I see when I walk into the foyer is an enormous framed painting of the two of us at our wedding.
I turn around and see Tracy and Gregory standing behind us, both of them smiling.
“We couldn’t let you move into your new home without a few personal touches,” Tracy says.
I rush over to hug her, and she squeezes me tightly.
We wander aimlessly through the house, and while I’m used to living in luxury, there’s something really special about the fact that we’re able to live here because I do what I love for a living.
I realize I’m one of the lucky few. I’m incredibly blessed, and despite my father’s best efforts to spend all my money, at twenty-eight, I’m still well off enough that I could retire if I wanted to.
I don’t want to.
But I do want to slow down a little.
I do want to make some plans for my future with Danny.
Even though it was right for us, we were married quickly. Marriages are complicated and intricate, and while we’re still very much in our honeymoon phase, this is also the time when we need to put in the work.
We can surprise each other with homes, but once the excitement and the newness wear off, where will we be?
I want to be in a stable relationship with the person I most love in the entire world. It’ll be hard when he’s traveling and I’m traveling, and so building that stable foundation now is essential.
And I have some plans for what comes next.
The album is already in the works, and I also have a plan to turn the movie and media room in this house into my own studio since it’s already soundproofed. But beyond the goals that were already in place for this year, I have some ideas for where I want to take my career next.
And I can’t wait to set the plans in motion so I can surprise my husband.
It’ll be a way for us to have time together so we can build all the things we want for our future. Kids. A home. Family. Love.
We wander through the six bedrooms and eight bathrooms in this seven thousand square foot home plus the two thousand square foot guesthouse as all these thoughts race through my mind. We sit by the pool in the oasis of a backyard, my mind calming just from being out here in the fresh air surrounded by palm trees.
Gregory heads out to pick up dinner for us, and the four of us sit in our new kitchen around our new table as we pass around salad and chicken and vegetables.
“So what’s going on with you two?” Danny asks bluntly as he takes another scoop of veggies.
I nearly choke on my chicken, but Tracy and Gregory handle it with grace.
They glance at each other as if they knew this question was coming, and then Tracy fields it.
“We’ve spent the last week together, and we’re really enjoying each other’s company,” she says.
Gregory laughs. He laughs. He’ll sort of chuckle every now and again, but hearing laughter is a rare occurrence from the man who rarely shows any emotion at all. “You could say that. We’re just two old people who found each other at the right time.”
“Speak for yourself, G,” Tracy scolds as she thins her lips to shoot him a glare.
He laughs again. Again. I’m flabbergasted by the whole thing, but I guess that’s what love does to someone.
And if anyone deserves to find love, it’s these two.
They’ve teamed up to help the two of us, and somehow they found everything neither one of them was ever looking for.
My heart feels full and happy as I sit around this table with these people who have come to mean so very much to me.
I still have my father, and we’ll work on mending our relationship. But this right here is the found family I’ve been searching for my entire life.
My hot and sexy husband. My wonderful mother-in-law. And my security guard turned pseudo-father.
It doesn’t get much more special than that.