Mary and Halley (sequel to When Mary Met Halley)

twenty nine

We were fast outgrowing the house, and when Leif joined me on the couch the next day, I was brooding about it. I was supposed to be Christmas shopping, but I'm easily distracted.

"What're you doing?" he asked, taking a miniature Hershey's with almonds out of the bowl. We always stocked up on the Halloween candy clearances, much to my complexion's chagrin.

"Thinking about whether to fix this place up and like, add rooms somehow, or move somewhere bigger," I admitted. We'd sold my little house that Halley and I had fallen in love at, much as it hurt to do so. We didn't need it and hadn't felt like dealing with renters. Now we could have used it. 

He made a face. "Well, if it helps any, Pammy and I are moving out soon. So the teens can take the garage, Shiloh can have their room, and everyone's happy." He glanced at me to see what I thought about that because it was a big admission.

An ideal one, too, though kind of weird because we were used to living together, however unusual it all was. "First of all, aww, and secondly, that would work. They can have more privacy in the garage too, as is appropriate for almost-adults such as themselves."

He snort-laughed. "Good, they need it."

I drank my coffee, which he stole. "Well, we have plenty of money, so find one you like. Just not too far away, okay?" Halley playing with some stocks and bonds had nearly doubled the money in less than a year.

We gave a fair amount of it to different local charities, mostly for children, animals, people experiencing homelessness, and veterans. Before I'd met Halley and gotten custody of the kids, I had done a lot of volunteering at the same places. There was never enough help, or money, and I felt compelled to do my little part to remedy what I could of that.

"Of course not," he scoffed. "So get your laptop, let's look, I'm excited. Can it have an upstairs? Can we make one room a weight room? We probably can't have a swimming pool."

I got it and we scrolled until I saw one and clicked. "Wait. There's undoubtedly something wrong with it but look at this. Three rooms. Two miles from here. It even has a pool table."

He scooted closer to look. "Oooh, there's a tire swing in the backyard. Sold." He got an orange Starburst from the bowl and I made a face when he opened it. I didn't like the smell of them. "Sorryyy," he said, holding it away. "When can we buy it? Wait, we should probably talk to our girlfriends first. Or wifey, in your case. Hey, so when is that marriage gonna happen?"

I rolled my eyes, drinking some of my lukewarm coffee. "What's so great about marriage, anyway? Tell me one happily married couple we know. I'll wait."

He couldn't, so he didn't. 

The bathroom door opened and Halley came out in a cloud of steam. It was ten, and the little kids were at school. The teens had gotten up early and messed with the piano and then gone back to bed. Their homeschool work only took a few hours a day and as long as they didn't slack on getting it done, they were free to do whatever they wanted for the most part. This included a lot of sleeping and eating.

My towel-wrapped lover came to hug me from behind and drip water on me. "Hey," I protested until she kissed my neck. "You may continue," I allowed. 

"Eww," my asinine best friend felt the need to say. I tossed my candy wrapper at him. 

"What's on head radio?" she asked against my skin, her lips hot from the shower. 

I tuned in. Heard your name, saw your face, had to get with you. "Girls Like Girls," I said with a grin, wiping droplets of water off my arm. "After you're dressed we need to talk crowdedness. Leif and Pammy are moving out so the teens can have the garage."