Cinders

~91~ Welcome Home

He puts Sasha in the stroller and I start pushing it. Taylor takes mom's hand and we start walking. We walk several blocks before we come to our house.

"Look, Tay! That's my favorite. Isn't it stunning?" She asks, stopping to stare at it. Taylor glances at me and winks.

"Yeah, it's not bad. Wanna go inside and see what it looks like?" He asks, sounding bored.

"Ummm... people live here babe, we can't just go through the houses."

"Oh, come on. It doesn't even look like anyone's home," he says, pulling her gently towards the house.

She stops and frees herself from his grip. "You might be ok with getting arrested, but I'm not. My children and I will stay right here, thank you very much!" She says, the stubborn set of her jaw has arrived. Taylor knows as well as I do that she isn't going to budge.

He's gotta switch tactics.

Taylor just chuckles. "Well, what if I told you that I personally know the owner, and they told us we could look through it?"

"I'd call foul. You don't know the owner, ya ding dong," she says, crossing her arms.

We can't help it. Taylor and I both start laughing.

"I know the owners, Ellie Jane. You actually know them too."

"Oh yeah? Who?" She asks, not believing a single word of it.

"Us," he says simply.

"Us who?"

"Us...You, Me, Liam, and Sasha... Us" he says, waiting for her to get it.

"What?"

"I bought this house. It's yours, baby."

"You bought this house?" she asks, still in a daze.

"A month ago," he says, still smiling.

She just stands there, still trying to process.

Taylor sighs and gets out the keys, and dangles them in front of her. "Would you like to see our home?" He asks, bending down to kiss her.

"You bought this house?" She asks, finally starting to get it. Her eyes fill with tears as she realizes what's going on.

Taylor just nods. "Are you happy?"

Mom silently nods, tears streaming down her face.

"How?" She asks quietly.

"With my mom's money," he says, getting emotional and clearing his throat to keep from crying.

"You bought me the house I've wanted since I was a little girl with your mom's money?" She asks, starting to actually cry now.

Taylor says nothing as he pulls her into him and hugs her tight. Then I hear him whisper into her ear "The first moment you showed it to me, I knew it would one day be ours. I've had Lilah keeping an eye on it for two years. It finally went on the market two months ago. Are you happy?"

"I've never been so happy in my entire life," she says, still crying as she buries her head into his chest.

"Welcome home, baby girl," he says as he kisses her head.

"We're home?" She asks him softly.

"We're home," he says, getting choked up.

~*~

As mom walks up the pathway, she's taking it all in. Every flower, every bush, every brick. We just walk behind her, letting her go as slow as she wants. When she gets to the porch, she just sits in the swing that the people left. Taylor paid extra for it; He knew she would love it. He goes up to her and sits down next to her.

"How is this real?" She asks, still stunned.

"I have no idea."

"Did you know about this?" She asks, looking at me.

I nod. "That's where we went the day he lied to you about bowling."

She just silently nods as she looks out over her front yard.

"Come on, I'm dying to carry you over this threshold," Taylor says as he grabs her hand and pulls her up. He unlocks the door and then picks her up effortlessly as he carries her over the threshold. Once they're inside he kisses her and puts her down.

She just silently stares at everything—Every detail. We are here for an hour. She is just silently looking at everything.

"Are you sure you're happy?" He asks a while later, pulling her close to him.

She nods and reaches on her tippy toes to kiss him. "Thank you," she says, putting her thumb on his dimple in his chin.

"Thank you for giving us a second chance," he says, kissing her in their new home.