Running Away

Chapter 19

The next morning, Elias and Sera had plans to go view a few houses and start their home buying process. He had sent her a text letting her know that he was outside, and from that point on the Great Wait had begun.

Thirty minutes had gone by and Elias was using all the patience he had to keep from going in the house and carrying Sera out. That day, he was determined to try out his mothers gentleness approach.

When Sera finally did come out, she was a sight to behold. From her cascading body waves, to her beautifully applied makeup, to her cozy yet stylish matching sweat suit. As Elias saw her coming out he thought to himself, "She did this s*** on purpose."

All of his impatience and irritability had vanished in an instant, he got out the car to walk around and opened the door for her. "You look good."

She looked up at him with a distrusting raised eyebrow, "Mmhm."

She got in the car and folded her arms over her chest. Elias noticed and let out a breath, knowing that she was upset about something. When he got to the driver's side, he didn't immediately start driving, he looked over to her and asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"It's me, Si. Just tell me what's wrong."

"I already told you nothing. I'm fine."

"You're still upset with me about last night."

Sera didn't respond, her eyes staring out the window.

"I'm sorry." He got a hold of her hand and pulled it over to kiss it. "I shouldn't have called you crazy."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have." Sera pulled her hand back from his grip, in an effort to stop the butterflies from fluttering in her.

"It was just Preston yesterday. He got assigned to a new case and is about to leave the country for two years, so he came over and we shared a few beers. He also got to meet his niece, it was a good time."

A weight of embarrassment was placed on Sera's shoulders, her voice was quiet. "Well why didn't you just tell me? I wouldn't have gone on and on like that."

"I know, you're right, I should've just told you." He leaned back to his side and turned on the car. "You have to trust me. You and E have my heart, I'm not going to do you two wrong."

Her face heated up, Sera had a big smile on her face that she was trying to suppress. It felt like an answered prayer to hear those words come out of Elias's mouth. She tried poker-face, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not doing anything weird, I wouldn't bring a girl around our baby. So stop working yourself up over nothing, okay?"

"Okay, okay." She used her hand to cover her big smile, "I get it."

"Alright then. Let's go buy a house."

"Wait, wait, wait, what's the budget you're giving me for this?"

"Sera, it's impossible to budget with you."

Sera playfully smacked his arm. With that, the two were off to find a home to share.

Three houses later, the search was proving unsuccessful.

There was one final last minute listing that the real estate agent, Bridgitte, found and the two parents had just arrived at the viewing. It was a house deep in the suburbs at the end of a long driveway. It was a 4 bed, 3 bath traditional two-story American. As they walked in, they were met with a spacious living space that separated from cherry oak hardwood to pristinely clean white carpet. Recessed lights lit the house with a crystal chandelier over the dining area.