"How does it feel?" Colby asked as we got in the car. "How does what feel?" I asked with a small smile as I looked over at him.
"How does it feel to be married?" He asked causing me to laugh.
"It feels like the most natural and best thing we have ever done." I said as he took my hand and started driving.
"I love you...wife." Colby said causing me to burst into laughter.
"That was the most UNnatural thing I have ever heard." I said and looked over at him. "Unnatural but true." Colby said then took my hand and brought it to his lips.
It warmed my heart, knowing that Colby and I were officially married and that we were going to be for the rest of our lives.
We have been through so much together that this felt like the end of a chapter.
We were finally together forever.
Now we were on our way to look at houses since living at base wasn't exactly the easiest thing.
The kids were all so patient and understanding about all of it and Maisie was starting to adjust but they all deserved to have a house to live in.
"Are you excited?" Colby asked as he pulled up to a nice looking house. "Actually, yes. I love the idea of us getting a house and raising our little family in it." I said with a smile.
"I think you're really gonna like this house." Colby said as he parked the car.
"I think my standards are very low. It's Jenna and Juniper that have the standards." I said and started getting out of the car.
"Yeah, I think they'll like it, too." He said and came over to me, taking my hand as we made our way to the front door.
"Is the realtor here?" I asked as he nodded. "Yeah inside." He said then knocked on the door. We stood and waited for a second before a blonde woman opened the door.
"You must be Colby." The woman said with a wide smile. "Nice to meet you. Celeste, this is my wife Julia." Colby said and gestured to me.
"Nice to meet you both." Celeste said and shook each of our hands.
"The house is all set up and ready for you guys if you want to take a walk around. I'll be here for any questions you may have." She said and opened the door so we could walk in.
In front of us was a foyer that led into what looked like a modern style living room.
"Come on, sweetheart." Colby said and took my hand, leading me into the house. "What are your first impressions?" Colby asked as I looked around.
"It's really nice." I said quietly, looking around. I tried to imagine our lives unfolding in a place like this. Would the kids like it?
Would we be able to raise Maisie in a house like this?
"What's going on?" Colby asked as I sighed. "Nothing, I'm just trying to figure out if this is a good fit for us." I said as he breathed a laugh.
"Well I can see Maisie learning how to walk over there." Colby said and pointed towards the living room.
"And the kids could all sit at the kitchen table and eat breakfast. It looks like there's a pool outside which would be great for the kids." Colby said and wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Is there a security system?" I mumbled and looked around. "I think so." Colby said as I sighed.
"I don't know. We can look at the rest of it but it seems too modern. I think I'd be afraid to raise a baby in here." I said causing Colby to laugh.
"Do you even want to bother with looking around? We can try another one of our options." Colby said as my eyes watered.
"Woah...what's wrong?" He asked with concern as I shook my head. "I just miss Maisie. Do you think she's okay?" I asked as he chuckled.
"I think she's perfectly fine. We can call it quits for the day if you want to get back to her." Colby said as I shook my head.
"No. No. We need to figure this all out." I said then looked around once again.
"This isn't it though." I said with a certain nod. "Okay, then onto the next one." Colby said then took my hand once again.
I loved how supportive Colby was when it came to my crazy emotions and with everything in general.
He was so cautious and gentle and knew I struggled with a lot of trauma and wasn't exactly normal when it came to how I feel about certain things.
"Done already?" Celeste asked as we walked out of the house. "We don't think it's the right vibe for raising a family." Colby said as she nodded.
"That's fine, we'll just go to the next one. Meet me at this address." She said and wrote down an address for us.
"See ya there." Colby said then led us to the car. "I hope we find a house today." I said nervously as I picked at my nails.
"If we don't then we just keep looking. This is a big purchase and a big step." Colby reminded as he put the new address in.
"Yeah, I just don't like being away from the kids so long." I said as Colby reached over and stopped me from picking at my nails.
"They're totally fine. If they weren't, Sam would be calling." Colby reminded as I nodded.
I was trying to let loose a little bit and enjoy our time outside of the office. All I could think about was Maisie and the kids.
I knew the kids were all okay but being away from Maisie for this long was going to actually kill me.
It felt like a piece of me was missing.
We drove in silence for a while before we got a gated community. I was grateful that the realtor was showing us such a safe property because I don't think the kids could handle another break in.
"I like this so much already." I hummed as we pulled up to the guard stand.
"Can I help you?" The older man asked as Colby rolled his window down. "We're looking at a house in this neighborhood. Our realtor is Celeste Johnson." Colby explained as the guard nodded.
"Go right along." He said then opened the gate for us so we could drive into the development.
The houses back here were nice but they weren't elaborate mansions like the last neighborhood we went to.
We drove for a little while before we pulled up to a White House with black shutters and a black door.
"This looks nice." Colby said as I nodded. "I can't wait to see inside." I said as he parked the car.
Once he did that we got out and walked up to Celeste who was standing at the front door.
"Alright guys, this is gonna be a six bed, four bath. Did you want me to bring you around or do you want to just explore?" Celeste asked as I looked up at Colby.
"We'll go explore it first." He said then took my hand, leading the way into the house.
This house looked a lot less modern but was still nice and sleek. It had an open floor plan so you could see the living room and the kitchen from the front door.
Along the back wall of the house was a large set of french doors that led to a pool area.
I wasn't the most fond of having a pool because I was terrified of the kids drowning but I knew if we set some rules they'd follow them and everything would be fine.
"This is nice." I said and slowly walked towards the kitchen.
It was a beautiful kitchen with the nicest appliances and sleek marble counters. I could see us making messes in here but it looked like the counters would be fairly easy to clean.
"I think the master bedroom is down here." Colby said and pointed down the hallway to our left. "Is there another bedroom down here?" I asked and slowly followed him down the hallway.
"Yeah, I think so." Colby said and opened the door to the master bedroom.
It was a massive room with a big bay window that showed the view of the beautiful pool area.
Connected to the bedroom was a bathroom that had a huge shower and a claw foot bathtub. It was an absolute dream.
"Fuck, dude." I said and looked over at Colby. "You love it, don't you?" He asked as I nodded.
"I really do. We need to look at the rest of it though." I said as he breathed a laugh.
"Of course, gotta make sure everything else is as perfect as it has been." He said as we went to look at the room next to the master.
I knew if we got this house that this would have to be Maisie's room since it was closest to ours.
I didn't like the idea that the kids would be so far away since all the other bedrooms would be upstairs but I liked that we would be on the main floor so if anything were to happen the kids could hide upstairs.
It was sad that I constantly needed to be thinking about that sort of thing.
Our lives were so much different than it used to be. We had to worry about this sort of thing, because anything could happen.
Anyone could be after us.
"You look worried." Colby said, breaking me from my thoughts as we looked around the room that would potentially be our daughters.
"I guess it all just stresses me out." I said as he sighed and pulled me into his embrace. "It's all gonna work out. You and I both know it." He said then kissed my head.
I knew he was right, but it was hard to be confident when every part of our lives have been flipped upside down.
I knew this house had the potentional to be perfect, but I would always worry we were making the wrong choices.
I would always worry that I was making the wrong decisions.