Leave a Trace: Book Three

Chapter Seven: Firing and Hiring

Chapter Seven: Firing and Hiring

The next month was spent getting the kids into their new school, making floor plans, getting the new house checked for any problems, hiring people to help build the house, and the guys starting to dig the new basement.

It's December third and I'm hoping they'll get the roof on before the snow comes. They're busting their asses and we hired a lot of people so our family can come and go, but they come over to help when they can. Zane is there from six in the morning to seven at night.

I drop by to check on him but by the time he gets home, he's exhausted.

It's Saturday and all eight kids are sitting with me in the living room.

"Mommy, I miss our old life. I want to go home. This house is boring." Liam mumbles.

"If you didn't flood the basement, we could be home." Logan says.

"Mommy and Daddy said the basement wants my fault!" Liam snaps.

"They lied!" Logan snaps.

"Stop being mean! Buttface!"

"Bully!"

"Stupid!"

"Frog!"

"Lizard!"

"You look like a greasy jiggly pee pee!" Liam says.

"Boys!" I say loudly. "Stop fighting now. If Liam didn't flood the basement, we all would probably be dead. There were bugs eating the house and that's why it collapsed. We can't go home because we don't have a home to go home to."

"Well I miss Daddy." Nicholas whines.

"Me too." He mumbles.

"We have to live here for Christmas?"

"This house is not as bad as it was when we moved in." I say.

And it's true. Me and the girls, being Vanessa, Emma, Reagan's wife Lauren, and Tanner's wife Evelyn, all sat around here with glasses of wine and put in a beam where the wall separating most of the house was. We knocked down most of the interior walls and put wood floor all over and stained it dark. We painted the walls white and it looks good. The kitchen still looks like garbage but that's because we haven't gotten to it yet.

"That's true but it's not home." Brandon murmurs.

"I want to go see Daddy." Nick says.

"I miss Daddy." Noah adds.

So I dress them all warm and dress myself warm, put them in the car, and drive down the road to our driveway.

The basement is dug, the walls are in, the floor is in, and it's just straight concrete for now, but it's better than nothing. All of the guys are here today because it's the day they're pouring cement for the first floor.

They're all sitting around when I pull up, drinking water.

All of the kids who are unbuckled since I was driving two inches down the street, come jumping out of the car.