Turning A New Leaf

Fifty-Five

****

The weekend rolled around, it was a warmer-than-usual day in May, pushing 80. Atira wore a loose-fitting maxi dress that made her bump slightly more noticeable, not that she was showing all that much.

They were headed to view the house in Kelso first, the one on two acres, first, and then would swing by the other home in Vancouver.

Atira had her hand on her barely visible belly, the baby fluttering in her womb. She'd been drinking a coffee-free Frappucino from Starbucks and apparently, the sugar had woken him up.

"He moving?" Krist asked, glancing in her direction.

"He is all worked up," she smiled, "Do you realize it's the twentieth already?"

"Yeah," he replied, his eyes returning to the road.

"Babe!"

"What?" he glanced back to her.

"Your birthday is in four days, were you gonna let me forget?" she asked.

"I honestly didn't even think about it," Krist told her truthfully. His birthday was just another day to him and once he hit the age of twelve or so, he'd stopped looking forward to them.

"We have to do something for it," Atira told him.

"Go to Chuck E. Cheese!" Rocco shouted from the backseat.

Krist glanced in the rearview mirror, "Is that what we should do?" he asked.

"Yes!"

Atira laughed, "Is that what you want to do?"

"I'm always down for some Chuck E. Cheese," he grinned.

****

Krist pulled into the tree-lined driveway of the Kelso home, the gravel crunching beneath the tires. The home itself was not exactly the most impressive to look at from the outside. It was a plain-looking double-wide home, gray with white trim and a covered wraparound porch. However, it was never lived in which was nice.

The yard also needed landscaping as it appeared that whoever owned the property had simply cleared a section of the land to place the home and called it good.

"Looks like we would need a landscaper," Atira remarked as Krist put the car in the driveway.

Krist took in the scene, the yard was still partially dug up, rocky, and covered in broken tree limbs. "True. It's not so bad though," he replied

The three of them exited the Subaru, taking the outside of the property in as they waited for the realtor to arrive. Krist liked what he saw on the outside, there was a lot of potential, even if it was in the same area where he'd gotten into drugs. At least it was located in the more rural side of town, probably twenty minutes from where his dad and Michael had lived.

He liked the idea of having actual land versus a small parcel in a subdivision. The yard and house were surrounded by trees, giving it a woodsy feel. It would be fun for the kids to build forts and explore once they were older.

Krist's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car pulling onto the driveway.

Rocco was running around the porch like a madman, "Aye, bro, calm the fuck down!" Krist called to him, "Come over here."

Rocco jumped down the porch steps, staggering as he landed and falling to his knees in the slowest movement Krist had ever seen.

The fuck, dude?

Rocco jumped to his feet, "I'm fine!" he called, dusting himself off.

The realtor stepped out of her car, she was a heavy-set woman in her early thirties with short-cropped purple hair and black-rimmed glasses, "Hi guys!" she smiled, "I'm Logan."

"My name is Rocco!" the little boy shouted.

"Hi, Rocco, what do you think of all the trees?" she asked.

"It's cool, probably some sand-squash in them though," he replied. He'd somehow learned about Sasquatch, presumably from his Aunt Kali, but he'd decided that, he, single-handedly was going to find Big Foot.

"Ooh, you might be right!" she gave him an amused smile, looking at Krist and Atira, "You guys big into Sasquatch?"

Krist and Atira exchanged looks, laughing, "Not really," Krist said, "My sister and her husband are though."

Logan nodded, "I was going to say, there is a huge Big Foot convention every January out here!"

Atira laughed, "We might need to check that out."

"You guys ready to see the inside?"

****

The interior of the home was far more impressive than the exterior, the layout was spacious and open with a living room that felt like the size of Krist's entire apartment.

The floors of the main spaces were dark gray wood laminate while the bedrooms were a plush beige carpet.

Logan proceeded to show them around, providing them with information on each part of the home. It was equipped with central air, had a massive kitchen space with name-brand appliances, four bedrooms, and two and a half bathrooms.

Atira was delighted to see the giant jacuzzi hot tub in the master bathroom, telling Krist she may lock herself in there and never come out. The walk-in closet of the master room was also something she had been thrilled about, she'd had a large closet in Seattle that she missed deeply after she'd moved in with Krist.

"Bro, this closet is like the size of Rocco's bedroom," Krist joked.

Rocco, only hearing his name and the word bedroom ran over, "Is this my room?" he asked.

Krist laughed, "Only when you're bad," he joked.

Upon completing the tour, Logan looked at them, "Are you guys ready to head down to Vancouver to look at the other house?"

Krist and Atira exchanged looks, "I really like this place," Krist told her.

Atira nodded, rubbing her belly, "I do too," she smiled, "Should we...make an offer?" Krist couldn't hold back his grin, nodding. "Can we make an offer on this house?"

Logan herself looked equally excited, "Yes! Absolutely! Did you still want to see the other house, just in case?"

"I'll be honest, I love this one so much that I don't think I could be excited about the other," Atira confessed.

"I was thinking the same exact thing," Krist agreed.

"Ok then!"

Logan explained that she recommended offering slightly over the asking price as the market was competitive and that she would write up the offer letter that evening, anticipating an answer by within three days, suggesting that they write a letter to the homeowner about how much they loved the home.

"Sometimes it helps pull at their heartstrings and they accept," Logan explained.

Atira grinned, "I'll write that as soon as we get in the car and email it over to you!"