32. House Hunting

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M A R Y

It was a small home, perfect looking from the outside. From the large front window, with white trim, to the mint green siding. I looked over at Niall whose eyebrows were furrowed. His large hand gripped Tony’s small one at his side.

“What’s that face for?” I laughed, following the realtor up to the front wooden door that had three small rectangular windows.

“This house doesn’t sound cheap at all.” He chuckled, whispering in my ear. “Three bedrooms, large kitchen, a basement with a furnace. Mary, I don’t know if this is in our budget.”

I shook my head, walking through the threshold to come into view of the front living area. “Niall, this one looks—”

“Expensive.” He cut in, earning a laugh from the man who had already shown us three houses already. I could tell both he and Tony were getting a bit annoyed with jumping from house to house.

“Homey.” I smiled, “The carpet is soft on my feet, the half wall that make the living area separate from the large kitchen.” His arm tossed over my shoulders before kissing the top of my head.

“It’s a potential house, sure. But what’s it runnin’ for?”

“That’s what’s great about this area of town.” The man answered, “It’s not on the expensive side, which is why I think you two will enjoy this house. It’s running for up to 10,000 dollars. Right down the street from Bradford Beach.” He paused, seeing Niall’s eyebrows shoot up, “Also, you may be able to negotiate, and get it for cheaper. But that’s up to you.” He quickly added.

 “That’s 5,000 dollars below our budget.”

“Also, it comes with all the appliances. The family who had been living here, seems to just up and left. Leaving almost all the appliances. Would you like to see the rest of the home?”

We both nodded, smiling over at each other. Tony looked between both of us, looking confused. I supposes it’s hard for a nine year old to comprehend the house buying process. I patted his back, smiling while we walked down the hallway towards the two bedrooms and a bathroom.

“Can I have this room?”

“Tony, don’t get too ahead of here.” Niall chimed, “I don’t know what house we are getting yet. I don’t want either of you to get excited about this house, alright?”

I frowned, looking over at Niall from the window. “But this room has a view of the water.” I glanced over a Tony, smirking to myself, “I’ll fight you for it bud.”

“Come on guys,” his hands sat firmly at his hips before letting a smile appear on his lips. “It’s possible that this place is meant to be our home, but can we please talk about it first Mary?”

I walked back out to the front room and looked out the window at the front yard. It was cleanly cut, and the neighborhood seemed friendly enough for Anthony. I felt familiar arms wrap around my waist, Niall’s chin resting on the dip of my shoulder near my neck. “We can go back to the motel, talk it through, alright?” I sighed, slumping my shoulders.

“We will call the guy later, right? Don’t get me wrong,” I whispered, “I don’t mind staying at the motel, but it’s so cramped right now, Niall. We don’t have privacy unless Tony goes down to Aubrey’s room. I just want to get out of there.”

“Of course, I understand that. But Mary, we can’t just jump into buying a house. I want to be able to pay for the majority of this house right off the bat so we aren’t sitting in a pile of mortgage bills for the rest of our lives.”

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