I Hate California

forty three

Today was the day. We were officially going to be moving to our new house. I felt like the last couple of days were all fast forwarded up until now. With packing up everything in the house, gathering things from my other house, and making sure Sage was comfortable and felt loved at all times were difficult to juggle, but we did it. While I watched Joe place Sage in the car, I noticed how much taller she got. Her legs were almost touching the floor of the car. I had to take note that she would be turning seven soon, so she she was growing up faster every minute.

"Baby, are you excited? The cats are finally going to live with us, love!" I exclaimed, turning around to look at her. Ever since I've had Sage, the cats haven't stayed with me. While I was on tour, my parents or Austin were always looking after them. Sage has gotten to see them over video calls and sometimes my Mom would bring them over for a couple hours, just so she could get used to them.

Sage gave me a small smile and nodded while still looking out the window, I was honestly nervous for her reaction when I told her that all three of them were going to be living with us, but she didn't seem to mind. I knew that she was a dog person because of her Father, but at least she didn't hate the cats. I was also very excited to see her reaction to when she finds out that we were going to be installing our own pool in the backyard. The backyard was so big, so adding a pool was going to help with filling up some space.

When we arrived at the gates, we were greeted by the security guards at the entrance. "The Alwyn's", Joe exclaimed as he rolled the window down. They entered in a code in their computer and the gates opened. I looked back at Sage who stared with curiosity and chuckled. I felt tingly when Joe mentioned, "The Alwyn's", that's who we are anyway...

When Joe pulled up to our house, we were followed by my parents in another car. I slowly got down, placing my hand over my bump and opened the door on Sage's side. She unbuckled herself on her owned, holding my hand as she jumped down from the car. I was happy to see that she was in a good mood and looked very interested to see the house.

"Let's go, go!" I said, as she pulled my arm following behind Joe who was opening the front door. Sage's jaw dropped when she took her first step inside. We were greeted with a long hallway, light wooden flooring, and white and grey walls with a few gold designs. This house was more on the modern side, but the architecture was breathtaking.

"It's so big!" Sage exclaimed, as she kicked off her crocs and ran down the grand hallway. Joe and I laughed at her excitement, waiting for my parents to come in.

This house had ten bedrooms, five on the second floor, three on the first floor, and two in the basement. Sage and the baby's room were going to be huge and I was thankful for that because Sage already had so many things and it was going to help as she grows up and changes her room occasionally. We plan to raise Sage and the baby in this house until Sage hits her teenage years and then Joe and I came to the agreement of moving to our family to New York City before Sage enters high school.

My parents let the cats out of their carriers and they slowly began to explore their new surroundings. I met Sage who was wandering around the new kitchen, way bigger than our old house.

"Mommy, the fridge looks like a cabinet" Sage says, closing the fridge. That was one thing I really liked, the kitchen had so many cabinets, so much storage, and the fridge being hidden away as a large cabinet. There was a large island right in the middle with bar stools on the other side. The pantry was a walk-in and even had another door, connecting to a small back kitchen to the other side of the house. I heard it was supposed to be the maids kitchen, but since we didn't have any, it was just extra.

"Come on baby, let's go see your room" I said, holding my hand out to Sage before going up the stairs. There were more stairs in this house and they were definitely bigger so that was one worry of mine since I didn't want Sage to fall down accidentally; she has the urge to skip steps.

When we reached the second flood, there was a huge balcony over looking the living room and kitchen, Sage was in awh as she kept her distance, afraid she might fall. We walked down the long hallways, stopping right in front of the door that was next to Joe and I's grand bedroom. When I pushed the door open, we were greeted by a huge room with many windows, a brand new king bed, and a walk-in closet with her own personal bathroom.

Sage gasped, looking at everything and quickly running from one corner to another. She took a quick look at her closet, did a couple laps inside which made me giggle and then peeked into her bathroom. She was overjoyed to find out that she had a shower and a bathtub, that was also jacuzzi!

"Mommy? Is this all mine?" She asks, slowly walking back over to me. I carefully bent down to her level and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"It is all yours my love. We're going to start designing it soon and buy more things to fill up this space" I smiled as she looked at me with teary eyes. I could tell how thankful and grateful she was. She didn't say much after that and just continued to look at all the details in her bedroom. Sage's bedroom was the second largest room next to ours. I really wanted to prioritize her privacy, starting at a young age.

While we waited for the movers to finish bringing in the rest of the boxes and furniture, I followed Sage around the house as she wandered through each room, taking everything in. She asked to go into the backyard which I happily led her to. She was amazed at how big it was. Everything was fenced and even though it looked like it wasn't because of how far it went, it was. We already got a new slide and swing set up and it was much bigger than the one she used to have. I wanted to build her a tree house, but looking at the trees now, they looked way too big and dangerous.

"Babe, everyone's gone" Joe says, kissing my shoulder from behind. We were both watching Sage as she played and I took everything in. This was the first time where I felt like we could be safe. My daughter was safe.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Sage yelled as she ran towards us. Joe bent down, catching her in his arms and she giggled. My favorite sound in the whole world.

"How do you like the house babe?" Joe asks her, removing the hair that had fallen in front of her face. Sage eagerly nodded her head with a big smile on her face.

"I love it!" She exclaimed, reaching out to me and I happily accepted her into my arms.

When we walked back into the house. Joe continued to unbox boxes that were in the kitchen and Sage and I worked on the small decor and supplies in the living room. We prioritized getting Sage's belongings organized first, so that had been done a while ago, thanks to my parents. I wanted Sage to feel right at home.

"Are you excited to help us decorate your little siblings room?" I asked Sage who was digging through the boxes. She had been with us, the last couple appointments which meant she already knew the gender. We didn't want her to be left out of anything, so when we found out, she also did.

Sage nodded her head as she handed me a picture frame. It was a picture of her when she was a toddler, sleeping. I placed the picture in the center of the coffee table.

"When do I get to tell Grandma and Grandpa?" She asks, looking at me. We told her that when it's time we wanted her to be the one to tell them if it was a boy or girl. Sage's reaction wasn't what we expected, but we made sure she was given lots of love and she eventually got over it after Joe said that we were going to get ice cream.

"Soon boo!" I smiled.