Chapter 34 #2
Aspen handled the drive to Louisiana really well.
She stayed busy with her toys most of the ride.
She did have to use the restroom every couple of hours, but we didn’t mind.
It gave all of us a chance to stretch our legs.
She was always quick and right back in the truck, letting us get on the road again.
As we got closer, she started to perk up, asking what it was like.
How were the schools here? Would she have friends?
How big was her room? I didn’t really know any of the answers to the questions.
We were blindly taking a home that Lina and Callie found and picked out for us.
Quinn told her that when he went to school here, he liked it.
We talked about the alligators and how to be safe. She was a little worried about that, which prompted another hundred questions. When I was here before, I hadn’t seen that many alligators, but now that it was summer, I was sure we would see them a lot more.
We arrived at Lina's just after seven. As soon as we pulled into the drive, Lina and Callie rushed out the door. I barely let Quinn put the truck in park before the door was open, and I was in both of their arms.
Quinn laughed as he walked up on us. “I think y’all like her more.”
“Hmm… I like her quite a bit,” Lina said.
“I like both of you equally,” Callie said.
Callie had barely let me go when Aspen ran into her arms.
“I missed you, kiddo,” Callie said.
“I missed you, too,” Aspen said.
“I really am chopped liver,” Quinn said, then laughed.
Lina grabbed him into a big hug, squeezing him extra tight. “I missed you, Quinnlyn! Welcome Home!”
Home was where we were, too. I felt it in every fiber of me. When we got back to Tennessee, I didn’t have peace; I had anxiety. It didn’t feel safe. Even with Ravik gone, I felt uneasy.
Lina had another guest room ready for Quinn and me. She had the couch made up for Aspen. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. Hyder and the others had gone over to Kai’s house to stay the evening. With Kai spending summers in Tennessee, they all knew him well.
The next morning, we met the landlord at the house to get the keys. Callie and Lina had followed behind us. Quinn said a bunch of his cousins would be over soon to help us unpack, as long as we were good with Lina’s choice.
As soon as we pulled up, my heart sped up with excitement.
I knew that this place was it before we’d even walked in.
The driveway was long, making it away from the main road.
The yard was enormous and clear; it spanned from the house all the way down to the main road.
There was plenty of room for Aspen to play.
The landlord was on the porch waiting, with a big smile on her face.
“Lina’s precious nephew, right?” she asked.
“That I am. This is my girlfriend, Zay, and her sister—our daughter—Aspen,” he said.
Aspen had been calling us mom and dad for the last couple of months, something that took a little while to get used to.
We had started referring to her as our daughter.
We were her parents after all, even if we didn’t birth her.
Sometimes we would say sister by habit, but we would correct ourselves.
The home was a classic two-story home, with round banisters supporting the second-floor balcony, creating a covered front porch. Once we walked through the doors, there was a staircase to go upstairs. To the right, there was a large living room. To the left, there was a dining room.
If you went straight along the stairs down the short hallway, you would find yourself in a bathroom. If you turned left before the bathroom, there was a large kitchen. If you went to the right, there was an office with built-in shelves.
“Upstairs, the master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom. Then there are two bedrooms and another guest bathroom,” the landlord said.
We followed her up the stairs. Across from the stairs was a bathroom. To the right was the master bedroom. To the left were two bedrooms and a large laundry room.
We went back downstairs and out of the back door that was in the kitchen. The backyard was as large as the front, but it was fenced in. It was perfect for hosting friends or barbecues.
The whole house was perfect, actually. Lina and Callie really did pick the right house for us—for our family. It was exactly the new beginning that all of us needed.
“What do you think?” the landlord asked.
“It’s perfect,” I said.
“What she said,” Quinn said.
“I lovvvvvvvve it! Which room is mine?” Aspen asked.
Everyone started laughing.
“Whichever room you want on the left of the stairs,” Quinn told her.
She ran back up the stairs, darting from one room to the other and back again.
“I’ll take this one that looks into the backyard,” she shouted from the room.
“Okay!” I told her.
I looked over at Quinn, who shared a smile with me—joy emitting from both of us. Lina and Callie also had a smile. Quinn and Callie had been like her children, especially after both of their parents left. Having both of them home filled her with something that had been missing.
It didn’t take all of Quinn’s family very long at all to get the truck unpacked and moved into the house.
Callie, Lina, Delilah, Minnie, Bellamy, Iris, and Maybelle helped get everything unpacked and put away.
Within two days, it barely looked like we’d just moved in.
They had the house put together almost as we had it in Tennessee.
Of course, we had two extra rooms here. Quinn had already planned to turn the office into a reading space, lining our books up there.
The next morning, we went to Quinn’s uncle’s house to see Lucy.
It was the reunion I was looking forward to the most. She had an enclosure with another young bobcat.
As soon as I walked into her pen, she ran to me, jumped into my arms, and started licking my cheek.
Happy tears rolled down my cheeks, and she licked them away.
I’d been worried she would have forgotten who I was, but his uncle assured me that they never forget the person who first cared for them.
By the time we left, I was already hinting that Quinn should get an enclosure at our new home for her and maybe her friend. His uncle would still guide us since I had no idea how to care for a wild animal beyond bottle feeding. But holding her again was everything I needed.
The following weekend, Quinn hosted a welcome home and housewarming barbecue at the house.
He also wanted to thank all of them for helping us feel welcome.
Aspen played with the other children as if they had been friends the whole time.
I didn’t realize how much weight had been sitting on my chest until we settled in.
Even when we were here before, there was always this little bit of fear that worried me, but now it was gone.
I was truly free.
Free of Ravik.
Free of my mother.
Free of Paxton.
Free of the anxiety that was holding me back.
I was free.