For You, With My Love

Chapter 2: Move-In Day

Many hours later, a neighborhood elderly couple makes their way down the street towards the new residence's house. They walk hand in hand, with the wife clutching a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in her open hand. They idly chat about what they each would say to the younger pair as they slowly walk up to the open front door.

The pair pull their hands apart as the husband softly knocks on the door. After he receives no answer, he knocks again while he lowly calls out to the newcomers. He gets a rushed out response of "Coming!" that seems to come from further in the house. Feeling satisfied, they quietly wait for one of the women to approach them.

Since it seems that the wait will take a few minutes, the wife decides that it would be good to take a peek through the open doorway and see what the new couple has got done. There are many boxes that line the walls of what she assumes to be the living room. Most of the boxes are unopened, with the exception of a few that she can't see inside. She keeps looking around until she feels a gentle tap on her left shoulder. She quickly turns her head to spot her husband, who has a soft smile spreading across his face. She looks slightly confused until he directs her attention to a photo that lays placed on the center of the front-facing wall. The picture isn't the largest but it is big enough for both of them to see what moment it captured. It holds a picture that seems to have been taken a few months ago. Both of the women in the picture are dressed in beautiful white gowns and are gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

When the older woman discovers this photograph, the same soft smile spreads across her face. She turns back to her husband and lovingly takes his hand in her own. From their previous entrance earlier that day, everyone had assumed that the newcomers were just a young couple that had decided to move in together. The couple had thought the same thing, but to see that these two young women were married brings a familiar spark of joy to the two elders. It gives the two a hint of nostalgia as they seem to reminisce about their own nuptials.

Their silent reverie is broken when a pink-haired woman rushes out the kitchen to make her way in their direction. She holds a bright smile on her face, presumably in a pleasant mood from receiving her first visitors.. When she is right in front of them, she holds out one of her hands for either one of the seniors to shake and starts to speak.

"Hello! I'm so sorry for the long wait. My wife decided to try and start unpacking the kitchen when you got to the door. While that is probably not a good excuse to keep you waiting, I thought that walking to meet you with stacks of plates in my hands wouldn't really help me make a good first impression." She greets them with a sweet giggle as the elders take turns shaking her hand. Her voice is soft and melodic, almost enchanting to listen to.

The old woman is the first to respond, her voice gentle and worn from her many years. "Oh, it's alright, dear. We weren't waiting for very long. Even if we were, we wouldn't have minded at all."

At this, the old man joins in. "We would have waited for as long as you needed. We live right across the street and saw all of the stuff you had to move. We know that settling in can be quite the hassle if it's just the two of you unpacking." He ends his sentence by wrapping an arm around his wife, giving her a slow and tender glance before he turns his attention back to the woman in front of him.

The young pink-haired woman replies with a soft sigh, "Thank you so much for understanding. Oh! I can't believe I was so scattered-brained as to not remember my manners." She lifts her head towards the kitchen before shouting out to her partner, "Hailey, could you come in here, please? Two of our new neighbors have come to welcome us-"

She suddenly pauses when the old woman quickly adds that she had brought cookies to give the two of them. The younger woman grins from ear to ear before adding, "And they brought some cookies for us." She turns back to the elders as they wait for 'Hailey' to join them.