Just Rosalie

Early Christmas Gift

Kaitlyn encouraged her daughter to take Elizabeth out for a date. She promised to look after Abbi, as she ushered them both out of the house and into the car.
Deciding on simply pizza, they headed to the nearby pizzeria and grabbed a booth.
"This is nice."
Elizabeth said after they gave the waiter their orders.
"Much better than having everyone around. Good thing Barbara ended up cooking for them," Rosalie stretched her hand across the table for her wife's. The next day would be Christmas Eve, and they'd already set up the Christmas tree and placed the wrapped gifts under it, "so have you thought more on the expansion? I really think it's a good idea."
Elizabeth sighed and nodded. She couldn't stop thinking about it.
"I'd need to scope out properties to buy. And that in itself is a difficult task."
Elizabeth had spoken to Isabelle, and she wanted to buy out her shares of the company. It wasn't something that Elizabeth wanted to do, but it would free her from the responsibilities and allow her to go forth with her plans without a lot of setbacks.
But after so many years of putting her efforts into the firm, it was hard to let go.
"If you buy a few properties in one neighbourhood, we could relocate there."
Rosalie suggested. Where they currently lived in Milan had no places for sale. But Rosalie had no objections with moving.
"Tell me the place, and I'll do it."
Elizabeth chuckled, as Rosalie's chest tightened. She moved over to the same side of the booth as Elizabeth and took out the town's map from her purse.
"I might have done something that you won't particularly like," Elizabeth quirked a brow, "accept it as an early Christmas present, okay?"
Elizabeth didn't nod because she knew how extravagant Rosalie could get.
"What is it?"
Rosalie swallowed and pointed to a location on the map.
"There are a few properties for sale in town, and I bought one."
Elizabeth nudged Rosalie's arm.
"Without discussing it with me first?" Rosalie smiled weakly and grabbed her phone. Pulling up the pictures of the place that she'd bought, Elizabeth gasped, "that's the bar." My childhood home.
"It is. Merry Christmas?" Elizabeth pulled Rosalie in for a hug, "I'm not in trouble, right?"
Rosalie caressed her wife's cheek, as she began to tear up.
"I think it's the best gift I've ever gotten. But I'll pay you back for it, I promise."
"No. No paying back. You are my wife, just accept the damn place."
Elizabeth giggled.
"Damn, I didn't even know that it was up for sale. Gosh, there's so many things I could do with it."
"You want to rebuild it into a house?"
Elizabeth stared at the pictures with a huge smile on her face.
"We're keeping this one. I'll remodel it and we can have it as our second getaway home in town."
Why not our permanent home? "You sound so boujee, Miss Harper."
Elizabeth wiped her eyes with a napkin and placed a kiss on her wife's lips.
"Then we'll sell the cabin."
Rosalie shook her head.
"No. I love the cabin. Everyone does. But babe, I still haven't gotten to the best part of my gift."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. What more did Rosalie have up her sleeve? If she bought that friggin' island, I'll kill her.
"As I said, there are a few properties for sale. I only bought the bar, but I was thinking that buying the others would be a good investment. All the places are in walking distance to each other, and it could be a great turnover."
Elizabeth sighed in relief. At least Rosalie didn't spend another load of cash without her permission first.
"Are these places vacant, or are there tenants?"
"Some are empty, some are not."
Rosalie pursed her lips, as she watched her wife get lost in thought. Abbi was heading into her second semester of preschool. Was it a good idea to move? They'd have to enroll her at the private school till in the other town if anything.
"I'm not sure. We've lived in Milan for so long. All of Abbi's friends are there."
"Maybe we should ask her? She's young, and she loves this town. Don't you think she'd say yes to moving?"
"But permanently? I've never particularly liked this town, you know. It's not a very accepting place."
"Things change. I've been seeing queer couples all over town, more than we see back home," Elizabeth wasn't budging, "we'll be closer to Henry."
That caught Elizabeth's interest immediately.
"I'd be able to see him more often."
Elizabeth rested her chin on her hands and her elbows on the table. It seemed like a great idea, but was it really? There were so many things to consider that she had a lot of doubts.
"What are the price ranges for the buildings?"
Rosalie pulled up her spreadsheet on the phone and handed it to Elizabeth.
"With these prices, I'm not sure how great the real estate turnover is here. Would we get people to buy the buildings after we renovate?"
"If not, we'll own one tenth of the town," Rosalie grinned but Elizabeth shook her head, "babe, we're getting those prices because they're all currently owned by one person, well except about three or four."
"I really don't think-"
"I'd like to take one and open my own art gallery. That'll encourage tourists to visit," Elizabeth's brain began to hurt, as the waiter brought over their drinks. She covered her face with her hands in an attempt to get her thoughts in order, "I know I'm having big ideas without thinking about the work we'll have to put in, and these buildings could take years to renovate, and cost a lot of capital-"
Elizabeth pulled Rosalie in for a kiss to shut her up. Her brain was thumping and Rosalie's rambling wasn't helping. Also, she wanted to see the reaction that they'd get from the people around them. Pulling away from the kiss, Elizabeth looked around and noticed that no one gave a damn, except for the teenage boy who was smiling lustfully in the corner.
Rosalie glared at him. His eyes widened and he rushed out of the pizzeria without looking back.
"I still don't know. But I didn't know that you want to open an art gallery."
Rosalie smiled and tilted her head side to side.
"Yeah. I'll be able to showcase my paintings and sell them from the comfort of one place. Mallory's not going to be too happy when she gets fired."
Elizabeth laughed.
"She's always been a bitch anyway. And she has lots more clients."
Rosalie nodded and sighed. Thinking about settling down in that town didn't seem like the worst idea that she'd ever had. She'd always loved the idea of living in one, minus the nosy neighbours.
"I want to invest in you, Miss Harper. Just think of me as your investor, and not our wife. If I give you the capital to start up and you start repaying me in like a hundred years, I think we can make this work."
Elizabeth took a sip of her soda and poked Rosalie's arm. She's such a sweet asshole.
"You'll be dead. Am I repaying a corpse? Fuck, I'd be decayed cause I'll probably die first."
"Okay, what about you put the money into Abbi's trust fund instead of repaying me?"
"Abbi has a trust fund?"
Rosalie's eyes widened. They'd discussed it, but never agreed on it.
"Uh, no," Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at her wife, "well, maybe. I might have taken my trust fund and put it in Abbi's name."
"Wait, you're telling me that you put your fifty million dollars for Abbi, plus you've been adding to it?"
Elizabeth glared at her wife with the most unnecessary anger. Why was it so wrong to make sure that her daughter was financially secured for the rest of her life and then some?
"Actually, I, uh, put half of it in a trust fund for Henry. He'll have access to it when he turns thirty."
Elizabeth smacked Rosalie's arm.
"What did I tell you about spoiling our children?"
"Technically, Henry's not my kid," Elizabeth smacked Rosalie's arm again, "fine. I'll donate it all to charity."
"Yeah, for those blood hungry organizations to take every cent for themselves."
Rosalie shrugged. She wasn't sure what to do. Wasn't it a good thought to give Henry a trust fund as well? He was a good kid.
"Our kids aren't going to work a day in their lives. How will they know the meaning of hard earned money if you keep throwing millions of dollars at them like dollar bills?"
"You're calling our kids strippers now?"
"Ha, our kids," Rosalie's lips curved into a smile. Taking Elizabeth's hand in hers, their eyes locked, "I want them to work to achieve something great. Not have everything handed to them."
Rosalie thought about it for a moment. Was giving their kids everything they needed and wanted going to ruin their lives?
"Henry's old enough. He's working and striving. By the time he's thirty he'll accomplish something, and if not, well luckily he has that trust fund."
Elizabeth clicked her teeth together. She was always uncomfortable with how much money her wife possessed.
"You're too wealthy. They're right to call you my sugar baby."
Rosalie laughed.
"As if. You don't take a frickin' cent from me. Babe, my money is your money. I've told you this so many times. If you divorce me, you'd become a millionaire."
Elizabeth was then the one laughing.
"Where are those divorce papers then?" Rosalie frowned, "I'm kidding. Why take half when I could have all being married to you?" Rosalie leaned back with a pout. Elizabeth was teasing her too much, "if I kill you, I'd get all plus your life insurance."
"You're an asshole."
"But you love me regardless."
There weren't many things that Rosalie had gotten a chance to give Elizabeth, since she'd always refuse. But being able to restore the place where she grew up in, even if it was remodeled into a bar for a few years, was one thing that she was happy Elizabeth accepted. Hopefully, she'd go forth with allowing Rosalie to invest in her new business too.
Rosalie could already see that glimmer in Elizabeth's eyes from just the thought of what she'd do with all of those buildings, and even though Rosalie had fixed those numbers, so that Elizabeth wouldn't know the true costs of them, she knew it was one of the best secrets that she'd keep.