Settling in Seattle

Chapter 24- The Life They Signed Up For

"Right, so remember when we flew down here from New York, and there was that baby that was fussing. People all around were hoping she wasn't going to make much noise. That's going to be us, Mike you're going to be the one holding a screaming baby, you made me do this." Rachel pulled along her carry-on, the only thing she was taking. They decided checking bags for a three-day trip was pointless. Mike pulled his too with an extra weight strapped to his chest, and they had split Rosalie's things between the two.

"Hey! You agreed. Plus, I don't mind, you can be the one apologising to everyone. And I'm not the one that supplies the milk either!" He joked as they walked passed all the duty-free, and Rachel ogled the sunglasses, whilst Mike's eyes averted straight to the liquor.

"Oh... great, I'm a cow, now am I?!" She pivoted around and gave Mike a weak smile, and he caught up with her.

"No," He put his hands on her waist and edged closer to her, a familiar smell of Rosalie travelled up Rachel's nostrils and she eased, "You are an amazing mother, and this is just the start of our Christmas, our break away from everything, especially from work."

"Alright, but I swear you are taking control on the plane. This is the ultimate test of whether she is a good baby or not, and we actually did get lucky!" Rachel joked, and they made their way to the screens to see when they could get to the gate.

"Here, the gate just opened, let's go, you got everything?" Mike directed, smiling wildly.

"Yep. Look at you," Rachel and Mike headed towards the gate, "You're all smiley."

"Well, your punctuality got us here exactly on time, and we're going on a weekend away from everything to start our Christmas."

"Oh, well, when you put it that way. I guess it'll be okay, but for the record, if there's no Christmas tree in the cottage you rented, I'm flying back home... With Rosalie."

"Yeah, alright then..." Mike smirked secretively and placed his free hand into hers, encasing his hand round her fingers. Rachel looked up towards him and smiled, her eyes moving to and from him and the wriggling baby leant against his chest.

"Hey, looks like she's hungry, so long as I get a quick feed in at the start of the flight, she should sleep most of it."

They had soon arrived at the gate, sitting down and preparing for the boarding. Rachel was scrolling through Instagram, and Mike had taken Rosalie out of the carrier, and was bobbing up and down in an attempt to settle her.

"We're crazy." He looked down at the dark wisps of hair.

"Um, why don't you rephrase that," Rachel peered up from her phone and rose an eyebrow, "You're crazy."

"Look, the flight will be fine, we need this break, from all the craziness that's happening right now. A cleanse for the mind, a change of scenery."

"Woah calm down! It's literally just a cottage by a lake."

"You underestimate my skills." Mike left it at that, and Rachel shot him a confused look, but said no more, thinking about what he could've meant.

"There we go, we can now sit and talk calmly." Rachel looked at Mike who was slightly smiling, she had a newly sleeping baby rested across her lap, her head cushioned in her arm.

"Yep, and only fifty minutes left of the flight." Mike peered out the window, only clouds were to be seen.

"Hey, I reckon it'll be okay you know. Thank you for this, maybe it'll be good?" Rachel leant on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.

"It will, trust me," Mike pulled out his phone and switched it on, manoeuvring it so Rachel could see it, opening up Netflix, "Now, let's get going on the next episode!" He laughed and unzipped the pocket of his bag, pulling out headphones to split.

"Alright then, just until she wakes up!"

"Here we are." Mike pulled the rental car up onto a stony drive, the wheels cracked onto it.

"Woah, it's beautiful, better than it looked online even!" Rachel spoke softly, staring wide eyed at the cottage in front of her. There were plants draped over the bricks, leaving the windows peeping through. The front door was a gable door, with a hook and a lock, there was also an articulate, Christmas wreath hung up. It was like a fairy-tale house.

"I know, right, I'll do bags, can you manage the car seat?" He placed his hand over hers delicately.

"Yep, I think so, you got a key?" Rachel pushed her door open, followed by her husband.

"Collected it yesterday, hold on a sec I'll find it." He started to place the cases onto the drive, whilst Rachel pulled the carrier out from the backseat. Rosalie was still asleep, quietly, gently snoring.

"I guess we did get lucky after all hey?" Rachel followed Mike towards the baby blue door as he pulled the keys out from the bottom of his jacket pocket. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, then letting Rachel get in first. She placed Rosalie down on the dark wooden floor, and looked around in awe.

"How the hell did you get this done?" She rose her voice to Mike, as he piled all the luggage in.

"I have my ways." He pulled Rachel towards him by her waist, and they both stood and stared at the space. It was all open planned, and beautifully humble. But the best thing about it, it was diaphanously decorated with red and green, garnished with totally not tacky Christmas décor. The perfect balance, it was amazing. There was a massive Christmas tree at the centre of it all too, decorated to immaculacy.

"Thank you, Mike, this weekend will be amazing after all." She beamed, and moved in even closer. They kissed, slowly and elegantly. There was so much love between them, stood in the hallway. Breaking it off, Mike smiled too.

"Right, I'll get Rosalie out, and we'll explore the rest of this cottage!" Rachel shook her head smiling, and watched him unclip and lift her out, gently placing her on his chest.

"Let's goooo!" She walked towards the stairway, followed by Mike who was babbling to the baby girl bared in his arms. This was the life she signed up for.