Just a Soldier

Chapter 43 - The Basement

Y/n's POV:

It's been a week since Ava and I moved in with Scarlett. It feels almost surreal that I get to come home to her every evening and wake up to her in the morning. Even though this week she has been really busy with the press for Civil War, we still see each other every day and we both make time to spend with each other, even if it's just an hour before bed. That's the best thing about living together, we may not see each other through the day, but we always come home to one another.

Ava and I have been watching a few of the interviews, and they are really funny. The ones we've watched are mainly the full cast ones. There is so much banter between them. I feel for the interviewers sometimes as it can get a little hectic, especially if Mackie is around!

Our favourite interview though is one that was just Scarlett, Lizzie, Evans, and Robert. The interviewer was asking about Robert's kids and how they find it having a dad that is Iron Man. Lizzie mentions how cute Ava is with her love of Black Widow and Scarlett shares her nickname for her as well as going on a little ramble about how cute and amazing Ava is.

Scarlett definitely faced a little teasing from the others, but they were all gushing over Ava, and I loved it. It was so nice to see them talk easily about her and with such words.

Other than watching interviews, Ava has been in her element this week. She's been swimming almost every day and enjoying being in her room. She's a little sad that she can't rebuild her Lego sets yet, but I'm working on getting the basement completed so she can get started.

We spent Friday evening talking about what she wants to be included. "It should be like a city! We can have different areas for the Marvel ones, they should be on display. They are the best ones." Ava tells us enthusiastically. "OK, how about we put those on some shelves?" I ask and she nods in agreement.

She then thinks a little further as I'm scribbling in my notepad to make sure I get all her ideas down to include as best I can. "There should also be a space for extra blocks so we can just build things with our imagination." She continues and I love that idea. We rarely just build, so often completing a Lego set. I scribble down a couple of ideas that I have, excited to get it done.

As I have quite a bit of spare time this weekend, I've start planning what I'm going to do and making up the shopping list for everything I'll need. Scarlett is away tonight, and Ava is spending the weekend at Gracie's so I want to get as much done over the two days as I can. There's quite a big space so I decide to zone it off in to three areas. A Lego space, a gaming set up and a music zone. Scarlett and Ava are only expecting it to be Lego focused so I hope they like it!

Through the week I had already started painting the walls. All that was left was to get the installations in. I get up early on Saturday and head out to the DIY shop to get the bits that I need. My car was completely full of all the wood, flooring, light fixtures, shelves and extra tools.

When I arrive back home, I open up the garage and set up my work area. I get a little OCD and set everything up precisely and waste no time in getting cracking. I start with the floor which takes me a few hours to lay. I didn't go for anything fancy, just an oak vinyl, which is easy to lay. 

After that I move onto the light fixtures. This is where I have so much to thank my military career for. Being in the electrical and mechanical core, all of this stuff comes second nature to me now. I set up spotlights in the ceiling and then put in the sockets for the LED lighting in the gaming area.

Once the lights are in, I have a quick lunch and text Scarlett a bit. They're doing interviews all day and she has been paired up with Robert. I can only imagine the chaos that will come from that. I then head out to Ikea to get the furniture that I need. I get a few tables for the Lego sets and building station. I also spend far too much money on different storage options to make it the ultimate Lego station. I then get some chairs for the gaming area along with some TV brackets and trunking to hide the cables.