All By Myself

Chapter 25

Hailey greeted me with a hug and a birthday card that included a gift certificate. I thanked her and headed into Roberts' office, and he looked up at me, beaming.

"Hello...what to call you? Birthday girl? Home owner? So hard to choose." Robert said. I sat down opposite him and smiled.

"Just Cassi will suffice I'm sure." I said, and he grinned.

"Happy birthday, home owner." He said, and handed me an envelope. I took it and opened it, seeing the birthday card, and opened that as well, a folded slip of paper inside it. I unfolded the paper and looked down at a cheque. I nearly fell off my chair at the large sum of money.

"What's this for?" I asked. He smiled.

"That's half of the equity from your parents' home and the sale of their cars, minus the cost of your new house, the other half has been put aside for your 21st, along with money already put in there that was held in lieu when your parents ran away with you." He said. I looked down at the cheque, and felt tears well up, but swallowed it down. Robert noticed, and his eyes softened. "If you like, we can go to the bank now, deposit it in your account, then go and collect your keys from the real estate." Robert said. I stared at him, then nodded dumbly. Robert powered down his computer, then stood up.

"Let's go then, and we can head out for lunch after. My treat." Robert said. I put the check in my wallet, picked up my bag, and followed him out. Hailey watched us.

"I shall be gone until around 2pm. What's my schedule like?" He asked. Hailey checked.

"You have no appointments until 3." She replied, then looked at me. "Are you okay?" She asked. I looked at her, blinked, then nodded.

"Oh yes, I'm fine." I said. Robert grinned.

"I just gave her a surprise. She'll be fine." He said. After saying goodbye to Hailey we headed outside.

"Leave your car here, we'll come back for it once the shock subsides." Robert teased, and I grinned at him, then got into his car, buckling in. We headed to the bank, deposited the cheque, the teller advising it would take a few business days for it to clear, then we went to the real estate. After filling out a few more forms, the keys were given to me, and I was officially a home owner. Robert drove us to the house in Avondale, and I let us in, looking around the empty cottage. Robert looked at me.

"Welcome home." He said. I beamed at him, and walked from the entry to the kitchen, looking around. I checked all the rooms, taking it all in, then headed out to the small backyard. I could smell the ocean, and then went upstairs, finding the main bedroom, the main window facing the ocean. I felt my heart swell at the sight and smells. It was perfect, and it looked larger to me now that the room was empty. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I stood there, looking out the window. I hadn't heard Rob enter until he spoke.

"I know you only found this place because of the Labs, but you have made an exceptional choice. Your parents would be so proud of you." Robert said. I looked at him, and saw there were tears in his eyes too. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me an affectionate squeeze as we stood there.

"I wish I had brought a bottle of champagne. This deserves a toast." He said. I smiled.

"When I spend my first night here, we'll do it then. I'll arrange a house-warming." I replied. Robert nodded.

"Sounds good. Shall we go to lunch now?" Robert said. I nodded. At my insistence we checked all the windows and doors, making sure everything was locked, then headed out and locked the house. As we moved to the car a door opened of the house across the cul-de-sac. I paused, then walked across the road. The man saw me and moved to his fence.