Of Mountains and Men: A Why Choose Romance

Chapter 38

I want to kill my alarm, it took me forever to fall asleep after Charley joined me in bed. I don't think I've ever let him sleep in bed with me, since he was so emotional. Ugh, I'm emotional too. I smack my alarm off, getting up to start getting ready for work.

"Cereal for breakfast!" I hear Charley yell through the bathroom door.

I groan, spitting out my toothpaste. "I'll check if we have cereal in a moment. Go get dressed pleased."

"Fine." I hear him howl dramatically.

My son has never been dramatic, I throw on my jeans and resort t shirt. Rushing through the rest of my routine I hurry to check if we do indeed have cereal, fortunately for Charley we do. I make him a bowl of Life, then one for myself.

Charley stomachs down the stairs, scowling until he sees the bowl from the stairs. "Yay!" He cheers as he nearly trips coming to the table to sit with me and eat.

We eat in silence as I watch him carefully, I guess he's becoming his own person now. I'll have to ask the guys if sudden mood changes are normal. Running the daycare doesn't allow me to see the kids every day, I don't know what's common behavior and what's not.

I send James a quick text, just telling him the situation. He immediately calls me after seeing the text. "Hey," I answer.

"Let me talk to Charley a moment if you don't mind."

"Sure." I hold out the phone for Charley. "It's daddy James."

Charley's dark blue eyes light up, "Daddy!" He says grabbing the phone.

I can only hear bits and pieces, of James telling Charley that he misses him. There's more but I can't quite hear. Charley gives me a side eye before nodding, "Okay. Love too." And hands me the phone back.

I put the phone back up to my ear, and sit out onto the porch, wrapping my coat around me. "What do you think?" I ask him.

James laughs, "Totally normal. Priscilla started acting out when her mom and I first got divorced. Nothing to be worried about. I just let him know that I'm still here for him even though I can't see him."

"Thank you. The sudden mood swing freaked me out." I admit.

He chuckles, "That's something you'll get used to. The girls go through crazy mood swings every time they get back from their mothers. It's awful. But we'll be here to help you with all of them, so don't stress it. Alright?"

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for calling, I'll talk to you tonight. Love you."

"Love you too babe."

Charley smiles at me as I come back into the kitchen. "Let's finish our breakfast and go to work." I tell him.

He pouts for a moment before nodding and spilling a bit of cereal as the spoon travels to his mouth. I hold back a giggle finishing my own bowl.

...

After being spoiled all weekend, it's hard being back at work. Which is super normal, I know. Lindy tries to keep up the positive attitude, we only have two kids today besides Charley. It's pretty quiet. The nice thing about the weather finally warming up is we can take the kids out to the playground. It's fully enclosed, the only entrance is from the daycare itself.

Charley and the other kids play tag while Lindy sits next to me on the single bench. "What's going on? You are unusually quiet today." She shoulder bumps me.

I bump her back, "Work blues? Or something like that. I'm beginning to think that maybe the guys had a point about stopping work. Just focusing on the house, the kids, and my soap business." I complain.

She laughs, "Then quit! You don't need the job anyways."

I can't help the smile, "I guess that's true now. How are you and David? I've been so self-absorbed lately."

She laughs again, eyes on the kids as she answers. "David is moving over here, being with me is the added perk. He's still going to be Andrew's assistant, they are moving a few of the guys from the company over."

I nod, "I think I heard Michael mention something about that. He wants to put up luxury houses, not like we really need more of them." I roll my eyes.

Lindy shrugs, "More tourism wouldn't be a bad thing. I'm just happy David is moving in with me in June!"

My eyes widen, "That's a huge step! Congrats!" I'm truly happy she's finally getting what she wants too.

"Unlike you, I have to keep working until he purposes."

I grin, "I'm sure he will soon. I didn't think I'd see the day when both of us are in committed relationships."

"Me either! I thought you'd never find anyone!"

We both laugh, gather up the kids and take them in for lunch and naps. I forget how sometimes just a conversation with Lindy can brighten my mood. For the rest of the day, I debate if I should put in my two weeks' notice. There's a lot to the house I can start doing myself. Like painting, or I don't know some process to speed up getting us all to live there.

...

At the end of the day, I write up a letter for my two weeks' notice. As soon as I have it turned in, I feel even lighter. I send a group text out to the guys that I quit my job. Of course, Michael responds practically with, 'If that's what you want to do I support your decision.' Andrew and James, however, send cheering emojis.

Since there's still a bit of light out when I get home. I decide to take pictures of everything to decide what I want to change. I should most definitely have a bigger garden since there will be so many of us. Plus, gardening and canning are great skills for all of the kids to learn. I also snap pictures of the main five acres around the house, for changes I want to see in the future there too.

I upload all the pictures to my laptop, using some sort of editing to add more raised beds. A huge herb garden. Updates to the barn, pastures, and an indoor arena otherwise the girls won't be riding all winter. I want a new playset, not just a very crooked old swing set. A chicken coop, maybe a few sheep and goats. There are so many possibilities, I send all of my ideas straight to Michael to get his opinion.

We spend most of the night going over what I can get started on now, which is the gardens since I can take plenty of breaks and it shouldn't be too strenuous if I just do a little bit per day. I'm happy that everything is coming together.

Charley is in a better mood since talking to James this morning. He hasn't sassed me once, we let the kids video chat before bed. Not that Charley has too much to add to the conversation. He just loves when Lexi reads him a story before bed.

After telling the girls good night, I get Charley intobed. Then myself put to bed, grateful that I have a plan to keep myself busy thismonth. Before our lives change for the better.