Best of Women

Lin

On Monday, we took the whole gang over to the apartment we'd made the offer on.  The family that had lived there previously had already moved out, so it seemed even more spacious than it probably was.  The girls did cartwheels in the large living room.

"Don't break a window," I told Eva. 

The kids ran throughout the house, checking out all the bedrooms.  There was one bedroom other than the master that was a bit bigger, so that would be Sebastian and Carmen's.  Everyone seemed excited about the new place.  It was only a couple blocks away from our old place, so it wouldn't be a big deal.  Everything they knew was still close by.

After everyone had had their fill of looking around, we gathered in the kitchen area, talking and laughing.

"So, you guys like it?" I asked everyone, and they all agreed wholeheartedly.  I glanced at Pippa. "Well good!  Because we made an offer and they've accepted it!"

Everyone cheered and Rio and the twins jumped up and down.  Now that we had a new place, we'd have to start the arduous task of packing.  We decided to all grab a bite to eat before we went home to celebrate.  I loved having a big family, and an unconventional family at that.  I could see that Carmen made Sebastian really happy, and they made great first time parents.

New York City was full of free boxes.  You just had to know where to look.  Pippa and I trolled the backs of restaurants and stores and picked up a ton.  The kids started packing right away.  Pippa and I signed the paperwork midweek so we were able to start moving stuff over gradually.  We decided we'd move the big stuff, like the beds and big furniture, at the weekend.

It all happened so quickly.  It was a whirlwind of packing, moving, and unpacking.  We kind of had two residences going for a while.  The next weekend, as the movers were packing up the last of our stuff, I began to get a bit sentimental.  We'd been in this space for years.  This is the last place my wife lived.  All our memories of a family were in this space.

I stood in the middle of the living room, once filled with laughter and noise.  Now, I was in the center of silence.  I looked to my left and remembered Rio's first steps, between the coffee table and the couch.  How my wife had scooped him up and planted kisses all over his face.  I looked to the kitchen and pictured the twins having a water fight as they did the dishes together.  I smiled at all the memories, hands tucked in my pockets.

In a way, this was the end of my old life and the beginning of my new life with Pippa.  She'd been living with us for a couple months now, along with Carmen and little Paco.  We'd outgrown the space as a family and now it was time to make new memories in a new space.

I sighed and closed the door, locking it behind me.

____

At the new apartment, music was blaring as everyone unpacked their bedrooms.  Eva and Mia were especially excited because they now had their own rooms.  It was decided Mia would keep their old furniture and Eva would pick out new furniture this weekend.  She was anxious to go out and choose some, but I told her we needed to get some things unpacked first.

Pippa was in our room, unpacking clothes and tucking them in the dresser drawers.  She was a very neat, orderly person.  She organized her drawers by color like a dork.

"Are you sure that cream colored tank top belongs with the white ones?" I teased her, walking up behind her.  My front was flush with her back.

She chuckled as my arms wrapped around her from behind.  I kissed behind her ear and swayed back and forth with her.  "Don't make fun of my organization.  Do I ever have to rummage around to find what I'm looking for in the mornings?"