Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Kim
The front door rattles as Danika, Cami, and Hugo enter the apartment late Friday afternoon. Bella’s thumping feet race down the hall as she goes to greet them.
The apartment is crammed. Danika’s house sold nearly two months ago—doing better at auction than expected—but Danika has yet to find somewhere she wants to buy.
In the meantime, they’re staying with Shirley and Paul, an arrangement that suits them all—except for Kim.
The three of them spend every weekend at Kim’s apartment.
Hugo’s presence is against the body corporate’s “no dogs” rule, but so far, they’ve got away with it.
Every weekend, more of Cami’s and Danika’s things migrate to Kim’s apartment, which is getting way too cluttered.
Clothes, shoes, soccer kit. Danika has brought over some of her kitchen appliances too, and Kim’s small countertop barely has room to prepare a meal.
Most Saturday mornings, Danika looks at houses while Kim takes the girls to soccer.
The decision about soccer teams was made for them.
Bella’s team folded—there wasn’t enough interest for a St Kilda girls’ team, so Bella picked a team in Oakleigh, roughly halfway between Belgrave and St Kilda.
Cami switched to be on the same team as her sister, and Jorie moved as well.
Sylvie is the only one of their soccer friends still with her original team, but Mirza has said she’s being beaten down, and Sylvie will join soon.
Danika is trudging around the open for inspections, looking at everything even half-suitable in her price bracket, from three-bedroom apartments overlooking bushland to modern townhouses with paper-thin walls and noisy neighbours.
Cute and tiny two-bedroom cottages to ramshackle three- and four-bedroom places in need of serious work.
So far, there’s nothing she likes or would consider.
Danika paid the agreed money into the trust Alan set up for them, but they haven’t discussed it any further. Alan sent them the details of the trust, but both of them are good at ignoring its existence.
This Friday, Danika enters the kitchen, puts down two bags of groceries, and starts unpacking them.
Kim takes the almond milk, cheese, tofu, and dips and puts them in the fridge along with a bottle of fiano, while Danika stacks crackers and tins of baked beans in the pantry.
“Thai noodles tonight?” Danika asks.
It’s their Friday night routine. They order three sorts of noodles from a café around the corner from Kim’s apartment. Always medium-hot, and Kim has a selection of hot sauces for the girls and their iron stomachs.
“Yes.” Kim plucks the menu from the fridge. She doesn’t know why they need it; they order the same every time and the number is stored in her phone.
She orders, then turns to Danika. “So, what real estate are you looking at tomorrow?”
Danika chews her lip for a moment. “Just one that Mum suggested. It’s not on the market yet, but one of her contacts said it could be suitable. They want a quick sale as the elderly owners are moving to a retirement village. It’s solid, but needs a bit of cosmetic work.”
“Sounds good,” Kim says. “Where is it?”
“Oakleigh. Not far from the soccer pitch, actually. Will you come and look at it with me? Maybe Suze could keep an eye on the girls.”
“Sure,” Kim says. She’s looked at a few places already with Danika, walking through houses and units, trying to imagine Danika in them.
“Great,” Danika says. “There’s no open for inspection as it’s not on the market, so the agent will meet us there. He suggested 10:30, which would work in with soccer.”
Danika doesn’t mention the house again, and they chatter their way through dinner with the girls. Hugo flops on the couch as he waits for Cami and Bella to join him.
Later in bed, after lovemaking, Danika rests her head on Kim’s shoulder. “Are you happy?”
Kim tenses. Why is Danika asking this now? Is she not happy?
“Yes.” Kim presses a kiss to the top of Danika’s head.
Is this what she means? Does she think they’ve become too complacent in their relationship?
Is it too mundane? But no, they’re growing closer, tighter, and their lovemaking is spectacular.
Even now, her body hums in the afterglow of orgasm.
“I’m very happy with you. I don’t want to change anything. What about you?”
“These are the best times,” Danika says.
“I’ve never felt as loved, as secure, as happily a family as I do with you and Bella.
I’m a little stressed by the lack of house though.
Mum and Dad don’t want us to leave, but it’s past time for us to have our own place again.
I’m too old to be living with my parents!
” She raises her head so she can look Kim in the face.
“I guess I just wondered if you wanted more? More for us together?”
“I will always want more,” Kim says. “Anything you want to give. I love you, Danika, and I don’t see that ever changing.”
“I love you too.” Danika rests her head down again, and her hand creeps up to Kim’s breast. “Want me to show you?”
“Oh, yes.” And Kim’s momentary disquiet evaporates in the tumult of their renewed lovemaking.
Danika stops the car outside a large single-storey brick house.
The garden is overgrown, and the house needs a bit of TLC.
Paint is peeling from the window frames, and the front gutter sags.
It’s also large. Kim sweeps her gaze over the house.
Maybe four bedrooms. It must be in poor order if it’s in Danika’s price bracket.
A car door slams, and a muscled brown man in a suit approaches them. “Danika, hello. I’m Farid West from My New Home.”
“Thanks for coming out, Farid. This is my partner, Kim.”
Farid shakes both their hands. “The house is untidy inside. The owners are packing up—they’re moving in three weeks. They’re keen to get this house under contract before then. I’ll be listing it next week, but Shirley persuaded me to let you look at it first.”
They walk through the house. There are four bedrooms with a modern ensuite attached to the main, but a dated family bathroom and kitchen. It needs paint, new carpet, and a few minor repairs—door handles, rusty ceiling fans replacing, air conditioning.
“You can access the studio from the rear garden,” Farid says.
A studio too? This place is massive. Why would Danika want something so large…
unless… A seed takes root in Kim’s mind.
Unless she’s suggesting that Kim and Bella move in.
Four bedrooms allows one each for Bella and Cami, plus a spare, and a studio…
Maybe that could be an office for them both. She pushes past the drooping shrubbery.
The studio is a large, light-filled room.
“Barbara is an artist,” Farid says. “She has arthritis in her hands now, so it’s harder for her to create, but she has a painting in the National Gallery of Victoria.”
A large easel holds a finished painting of a beach scene.
Curling white waves crash to shore, and seabirds wheel overhead.
The scene looks familiar. Kim looks closer and gasps.
It’s Johanna Beach. She straightens to tell Danika and finds her gazing at the painting too.
A delicate pink stains her neck and cheeks.
“Subject to planning approval, you could easily convert this to a self-contained unit,” Farid continues. “You could rent it out, have relatives live here, or it could be a teenagers’ den.”
Kim’s happy buzz deflates. Maybe this is why Danika needs a larger house. Maybe Shirley and Paul are assisting with the purchase based on their future needs.
Farid looks from one to the other. “I’ll leave you to wander around. I’ll be on the front veranda if you’ve any questions.” He retreats to the house.
“What do you think?” Danika asks. “I don’t think the work is anything too awful, and as Mum would say, the house has good bones.”
“It’s lovely. I can see you and Cami being happy here. Lots of space.”
Danika steps closer. “What about you and Bella?”
The tendril of hope unfurls again. Strange, how although they have yet to discuss moving in together, this hint of maybe has her heart skittering.
“What are you asking, Danika?” Her voice is low. “Are you asking generally, or do you have a specific reason?”
Danika rests a hand on Kim’s waist. “I’ve been looking at smaller places.
And some of them are lovely. Perfect, even, for me and Cami.
But I couldn’t see myself living in any of them.
Maybe this is too early for you. Maybe it will never be the right time.
But when Mum mentioned this house, I had a picture in my head of us all living here: you, me, Bella, Cami, and Hugo.
Even though I hadn’t even seen the house, it felt possible.
” She takes a deep breath and her gaze shifts to stare out the studio window.
“There’s a lovely main bedroom for us. Two decent-sized bedrooms for the girls, and a small guest room.
This studio could be office space for both of us.
There’s storage for you, if you want to start selling things you salvage.
A big yard for Hugo, room for veggies. If the girls want to remain at their current schools, it’s almost equidistant. Very close to their soccer club.”
Kim is silent. Exactly what is Danika suggesting?
“Thing is, I can’t afford it by myself. But if we bought it together…
” She doesn’t say more but the avenue for that for that is obvious.
The money in the trust. Would it be enough?
Or would she need to sell her apartment as well?
The apartment she’s owned for nearly fifteen years. The only home Bella has known.
She thinks of its familiar and warm space. She thinks of its restrictions.
“But I don’t know if you’d want to do that.” Danika kisses Kim softly on the lips. “It’s okay if it’s not what you want. If it’s never going to be what you want. But if I know, then I can stop dreaming and maybe settle on somewhere for me and Cami.”
Kim smiles against Danika’s lips. “You’re not dreaming. We’re a family in most things now. Let’s move in together, too.”
Danika closes her eyes for a moment, and when she opens them again the relief shines out like a beacon. “I thought, maybe, you wanted that, too, but didn’t want to presume.”
“The money in the trust. The money we can’t decide what to do with… Would that be enough for my share? Or would I need to sell my flat as well?”
“I’m not sure,” Danika says. “I guess it would depend on how we do this. If we do.”
“Let’s put in an offer.” Kim looks around the studio. “An offer that means we can afford to fix it up.”
Together they wander through the house once more, but this time Kim imagines her and Bella living there with Danika and Cami.
The four of them—five with Hugo—sharing all of their lives, not just the parts they can make fit.
She thinks about how they will tame the overgrown garden, and Bella’s pleasure at having space to run, to kick a soccer ball around.
As they stand in the main bedroom, Kim thinks of them in a king bed, making sweet morning love in the easterly light that will stream through the windows. She thinks of coffee or wine on the veranda, of their daughters growing even closer in their unbreakable sisterly bond.
And she thinks of her and Danika, and how they will grow. Maybe they’ll get married—something she never looked for previously, but that now seems mistily appealing.
But first, they have to put in an offer.
They’re at Kim’s place later that day when Danika’s phone rings, the display showing Farid’s number.
Danika’s eyes widen and with a jut of her chin toward Bella and Cami, who are sitting on the beanbags, their heads together as they giggle over something on the iPad, Danika answers the call, and goes into the bedroom.
Kim follows and closes the door behind her.
“Hi, Farid,” Danika says. “Kim’s here too, and you’re on speaker.”
“I hope I’m not calling too late,” Farid says. “The sellers wanted time to consider your offer. As I mentioned, it’s a fair bit lower than what they were hoping for.”
“I see,” Danika says in a neutral voice. “Did the sellers make a counteroffer?”
Papers rustle over the phone. “They did,” Farid says. “But before I come to that, can you confirm that your offer is not subject to finance and that you have the money immediately available?”
“We have the money, but we’d need seven days to access it,” Danika says. “That’s about as immediate as you get these days.”
“The note you wrote accompanying your offer mentioned you wanted a family home for you and your girls. Anything you say isn’t binding of course, but the sellers liked the idea of another family growing up in the home where they were so happy.”
Danika wiggles her eyebrows at Kim, who grins. They had taken a leaf out of Cami’s book and written a letter as to why they’d love the house.
“That’s quite true,” Kim says. “We see the house as perfect for our family. We’d be moving in.”
“Then I have instructions to make a counteroffer.” He named a figure that was twenty thousand more than their offer.
“The sellers ask that a twenty per cent deposit be paid within seven days, which will allow them to finalise the purchase of their retirement unit, and also that settlement be sixty days, to allow them sufficient time to move.”
Kim’s heart leaps. They allowed for counteroffers, and the figure is reasonable, as are the terms. She nods.
Danika grabs a pad and scribbles Counter with 15 more than our offer?
Kim shakes her head. “I’m happy with that.” She puts her arm around Danika’s waist and leans closer so she can hear Farid better.
“Sure?” Danika mouths.
Kim nods again. She has never been surer, except for when she told Danika she loved her.
“Farid, we accept that offer. The terms are all fine.”
“Then we have a deal. Congratulations, Danika and Kim. I’ll relay your acceptance to the sellers, and text you to confirm they, too, are still happy. I won’t be able to send the paperwork until Monday though.”
After thanking Farid, Danika ends the call.
“We’ve bought a house.” Danika sits abruptly on the bed. “You and me, together. I can barely believe it.”
Kim sits next to her and grips her leg. “Neither can I.” She shakes her head. “Who’d have thought, when I knocked on your door unannounced, it would come to this.”
“Not me,” Danika says. She leans into Kim and kisses her neck. “We’re going to have some celebration tonight.”
“We haven’t even hinted at this to the girls,” Kim says. “What if they hate the idea?”
“They won’t. They absolutely won’t. Let’s go tell them now.”
Hand in hand, they exit Kim’s bedroom to tell their daughters how their family will get even closer.