The Free Pass

Chapter 59

Shawn

I woke up in the best mood. I hopped out of bed and went to the kitchen for coffee. As I made myself a mug, I started singing 'I Gotta Feeling' by the Black Eyed Peas. Tonight was gonna be a good night.

"I'm heading out to the spa," Mallory said as she hurried into the room, handing Grace to me. "She's eaten. They could only fit me in really early, so I've got to rush."

She gave me a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing her keys and purse and exiting out the door.

"It's just you and me, Gracie!" I said happily.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal after putting Grace in her swing. As I was finishing eating, my phone buzzed.

"Hey, mom," I said as I accepted the call.

"So how did things go?" she asked.

"They went very well, actually," I said, smiling at how Mal and I had ended our conversation last night.

"Oh thank god. I was really worried that she hadn't come home."

"She's at the spa using those gift certificates you got her right now."

"I was hoping she was with you. I wanted to tell you that I could take you over to that condo that you sent me the listing for. I contacted the selling agent and he said we should look at it today since there's another interested couple."

"Shit. Seriously? Can we go over this afternoon?"

"I have a meeting at noon. I could meet you at the condo at 1:15 if that works for you."

I wasn't totally sure what Mallory was getting done today, but surely it wouldn't take that long.

"That's great. We'll see you there."

I hung up and cleaned up my cereal bowl. I got Gracie out of the high chair and brought her into the living room with me. I put her bouncy seat on the coffee table and put her in it. I grabbed my acoustic guitar that was leaned against the wall and started on a song that had been floating around my head for days. It was too late for it to make it onto the album, but maybe I could release it as a single or a supplementary track.

I got a text from Mal a couple hours later.

Mal: OMW home. Stopped at the grocery store.

Me: good

Me: G is hungry

Mal walked in the house a bit later looking refreshed and radiant.

"Your hair looks different," I said as I grabbed the groceries from her hands.

"There's a salon at the spa. I got it trimmed and got highlights. I needed a change."

I leaned over and kissed her. "You look stunning, baby. I'll put the groceries away while you feed our cranky daughter."

Mal got to work nursing Gracie. "Did she nap?"

"Not for very long. Maybe an hour. She'll probably crash hard for her afternoon nap, which reminds me, my mom is going to show us that condo in a little while."

"Oh! Cool! I picked up a pizza for lunch. We can eat that fast."

"Perfect. Are these steaks for tonight?" I asked.

"I felt like tonight warranted a nice dinner. I got steaks, baking potatoes, stuff for salad, red wine, and a cake that looked really good."

I grinned as I put the food away. Celebratory dinner and then celebratory sex.

Mallory finished feeding Grace and then changed her diaper. She put her in the swing while we ate our pizza.

"Apparently someone else is interested in the condo. We need to make a decision fast if we want to put an offer on it."

"Won't you need to sell this place?"

I shrugged. "Eventually. I've got the money to buy the other place without selling. I could even rent this condo out to hold on to it as an investment."

"I'm nervous about seeing the new place," she said. "It looked perfect in the online listing photos."

"If it's perfect then we'll try to outbid the other people. If that doesn't work then it wasn't meant to be."

An hour and a half later, we met my mom outside the condo's building entrance. She showed the doorman her realtor's license and he let us through. We took the elevator up to the top floor.

"The fact that it's a penthouse condo adds to the value," my mom explained.

The doorknob had a lockbox on it and my mom entered the code. She opened the door and we stepped in.

The condo had a large foyer with a coat closet on one side and a half bath on the other. The foyer led to a large living space. There was a dining room with a wall of built-in hutches and cabinets. Between the dining room and the living room was a large area that the current owners used for a baby grand piano.

My mom read over the listing. "The piano is available to be purchased with the home."

"Sweet," I said.

The living area was large. It had a wall that was perfect for a TV and then another wall with a gas fireplace. There was a large balcony that was accessible through two sets of French doors.

The kitchen was behind the piano area. It had a gigantic island with seating for six people. The counters were light gray granite and the cabinets were white. All of the appliances were top of the line. There was a door next to the kitchen that led to a laundry room and storage area.

There was a hall off of the living area. The first room was a windowless study, which would make a perfect studio with some added soundproofing. There were four bedrooms. The three smaller bedrooms shared a bathroom. The master had a fabulous en suite bath with a gigantic soaking tub. It also had a private balcony.

The square footage was more than twice that of my current condo. The price matched that. It was a definite step up. I'd bought that condo when I was 19. I was even more solid financially now; I could afford it.

"What do you think, hun?" I asked Mallory. My mom had left us alone in the master bedroom to talk.

"It's huge. Do we need a place this big?"

I considered what she said. "I guess we don't need it, but we're allowed to get it because we want it, you know."

"It's much more traditional. Do you think the furniture would look okay?" she asked.

I'd noticed that, too. The place we had now was pretty modern. This condo was built in the 1930's. Some of the stuff we had would look fine, but we'd have to replace some things, like the dining room set. We'd need something more formal.

"It might be fun to decorate it. If you wanted, we could hire a professional to help."

Mal shook her head. "We could do it ourselves. I'd want to paint the place. The white walls are too much with the white woodwork, built-ins, columns, and cabinetry. I think a beige or gray would look good."

"So we should make an offer?" I asked.

"Technically it's your money. You need to make the final decision."

"Nope. We're married. This is a partnership. What's mine is yours. Tell me what you think."

She looked around the bedroom. "I could definitely see us waking up together in this room each morning."

I put my arms around her and pulled her close. "I can see us doing a lot more than that," I said as I nuzzled her neck.

"I thought of that, too," she said as she pulled me closer. I couldn't help but kiss her. It didn't take long for the kiss to escalate.

"Ahem," we heard my mother say behind us. "If you are considering a putting a contract down, we need to get it written and submitted today."

We broke apart. Mal looked slightly embarrassed. Not me. I was so happy to be having moments like that with my wife again that I didn't care who saw us.

"Let's go write a contract," I said.