Surrogate in Love - Richard Madden

Chapter 22: Moving Day P2

*Richards P.O.V*

We spent the last 5 hours of the day filling up the moving van of Iris' stuff and taking it to the new house. Not much was coming with us. only a few bits of furniture, household equipment, bedroom stuff. 12 big boxes of books and 4 bookcases did come with us but what did I expect from a published author. I was excited to see what she did with the old office. I never used it except to take a few international calls so I told her she can have it and change it and I will just use it when I need to. She had already painted in almost white mint green and planned where everything was going to go. She was bringing all her furniture from the old house's office because she had brought it all from various vintage shops and it all fitted her vibe swimmingly. I was excited to see the completed look. We went back and forth for hours and finally, we were on the last trip. It was just me and Ris going this time. Taron was staying behind to organise the kitchen and Tom, who had shown up about two hours into the job was taking the old furniture to the charity shop. As I walked out of the wardrobe with the last box, I saw Ris sitting in the middle of the bedroom that used to be hers. I could see there was a small tear falling from her eye so I dropped the box and moved over to her. I sat behind her and pulled her into my arms and let her cry. I knew she didn't handle change well, she never had done, so I had expected this at some point today. I was surprised that it was so late. I held her for a few moments before she finally stopped crying and moved to look at me. she stared into my eyes for a few seconds before she leaned up and kissed me. not a rough kiss filled with passion like the usually kisses we had shared in this room that usually sent throbbing pains into my lower regions but a soft, love-filled kiss. I knew what she was saying with this kiss. The words she couldn't quite get out. That she was happy even though she was crying she was just sad to be letting go of such an important part of her life. I pulled her closer and reciprocated the love into the kiss but also made sure that she knew I would always protect her and cherish her. I let her go and made to get up helping her up in the process.

"I'm just going to look around one more time" she said and then made her way through all of the rooms in the house. She ended on the living room. Her favourite room in the house she had always told me. I wasn't surprised that she ended there. It was always full of life and colour, just like her. She took one more look and then shut the door forever on that part of her life. She walked towards the car and never looked back. I had expected this I knew if she looked at it she would never be able to let go so I made my way over to the car with the last box, got in and drove off. We drove the hour drive to my house and parked up outside.

By the time we had parked up she was already feeling better. I could tell because she had that beautiful smile on her face that I loved and she was singing along to the radio. She didn't have the voice of a trained singer but she did have a beautiful soft voice that I loved to listen to. She would always sing when she was getting ready for the day and it made me so happy to hear every time. We got out of the car and made our way to the house. On opening the door I could hear the ruckus already. Harrison had shown up with Blue so he was stood helping Tom hang a mirror who must have come back from the charity shop not long before us. Taron was sat in the living room with a beer in hand. Obviously done with whatever task he had started. The smell of Chinese food was wafting into the hallway which Harrison had picked up on his way over. I put my hand on the small of Ris's back and led her into the kitchen to which everyone followed. I began to dish up the intoxicating food and Iris went into the wine fridge and brought out a bottle of red giving everyone, except Taron who was still drinking his beer, a glass 

We spent that evening talking and laughing with our friends. The only topic off-limits was the topic of Jess but everything else was talked about. At one point Ris went upstairs to finish unpacking her clothes so that she could have a shower in the morning and put on fresh clothes. At about 10 everyone left to go to their respective homes and that left Ris, and I sat on the sofa watching whatever garbage move was on the tv. I ran my hand up and down her thigh keeping my eyes locked onto the tv. I could feel the chill that ran through her spine and I knew what it was doing to her. I could see out of the corner of my eye the faint smirk on her face, and I knew she was up to something. she stretched so that she was leaning more into my side and placed her hand at the top of my thigh just below where my tip touched the material of my jeans. I felt myself harden at the feel of her. I couldn't wait any longer, so I grabbed the remote off the edge of the sofa and turned the tv off. I picked her up and she wrapped her hands around my neck and legs around my waist as I took us upstairs.

"I think we may need to christen the new bed"