It was now October of 2013, about two weeks away from Halloween. Karen and Jimi and finally found a house that they think is the perfect house. They want to put an offer on it, but want to wait until they show Emma and Elijah. The kids have seen pictures of the house online, but haven't seen it in person.
It was about 9:30 in the morning and they have all just eaten breakfast. They were sitting in the living room. Elijah went over to the closet and grabbed his art supplies. "Emma, want to color with me?" he asked his older sister. "Sure bud" Emma said. Elijah laid out all of his stuff. He gave Emma a Mickey Mouse coloring book and he picked a Jake and the Neverland Pirates one. They both laid on their stomachs and started coloring. "At the new house, can I have a coloring room?" Elijah asked. "If we get the house, we can put a coloring table in the toy room" Karen said. "That'll work" Elijah said and went back to his coloring. The other three laughed at the little boy's comment. "What time are we seeing the house?" Emma asked. "1:00" Jimi replied. They hung out in the living room for the next few hours.
12:30 rolled around and they got ready to leave to go see the house. They all got into the car and Jimi drove them over. He pulled up next to the house. They met the realtor at the end of the driveway. Karen introduced Emma and Elijah to him. They followed him into the house. "Wow, it's huge" Emma said as they walked in. "I like it. Let's get it" she added. "Em, we've only been through the front door" Karen said with a giggle. They realtor took them on a tour of the downstairs. There were a few things that needed to be fixed up. Karen had the entire layout of what she wanted done all in her head. "This fireplace is bigger than the one we have at home" Elijah said as they walked into the living room.
"Over here E, this would be your toy room." Jimi said. "Oooo let me see!" Elijah said and ran over to Jimi. He walked into the room. "It's HUGE" Elijah said with his arms out wide. "You like it?" Jimi asked. "YES!" Elijah replied. "Let's go look upstairs" The realtor said.
They all followed him up the stairs. "I really like this a lot" Emma said as they reached the top. "We were thinking this would be your room" They said as they reached the first bedroom. "Wow, this is gigantic. It's even bigger than my room now" She said and walked inside. "Is that a full bathroom?" She asked in amazement as she was looking around. "Yep" Karen said. "That's awesome!" she said. Then they moved onto the next bedroom. "This one would be yours E" Karen said. "I like it" he said. There were three more bedrooms to look at. "Would those be guest bedrooms?" Emma asked. "Yep" Jimi said. "And here is the master" The realtor said. "Holy cow, this is ginormous" Emma said. "Take a look at the bathroom" Jimi said. Emma and Elijah walked over to the attached bathroom. There was a Jacuzzi bathtub and a separate walk in shower. There was tons of storage. "You're gonna have to share this bathtub" Emma said. "We'll see about that" Jimi said and laughed.
"Let's take a look at the backyard" The realtor said. "Emma, I think you will like what you see" he added. "I can't wait" she said. They all followed him down the stairs and to the back patio. They walked outside. "Is that a pool?" Emma asked. "It is" Karen said. Emma looked at her parents. "You have to buy this house!" Emma said excitedly.
They finished the tour of the house and then left. They arrived back home and walked inside. "So, what do you guys think of the house?" Jimi asked Emma and Elijah. "I really like it a lot" Emma said. "I really, really, REALLY like it" Elijah said. "Good, because we think we're going to put an offer on it" Karen said. "Do it" Emma said and Jimi and Karen laughed.
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It is now October 31st, Halloween. Elijah picked the family costumes this year. He wanted everyone to be Peter Pan themed. Elijah went as Peter Pan, Emma went as Tinker Bell, Jimi went as Captain Hook and Karen went as Wendy.
It was around 8:00 that morning and everyone was still asleep, except for Elijah. He woke up, put his costume on, and ran into his parent's bedroom. He ran to Karen's side. "Mama, wake up, it's time to go trick or treating" he said as he shook her arm. "E, it's only eight in the morning, trick or treating doesn't start until five" Karen said in a groggy voice. "But I want to go now" "We're not going now because it's not time" Karen said. "Ugh, fiiiine" Elijah said and crawled up next to Karen. He laid down between her and Jimi and faced her. "How many more minutes until it's time?" Elijah asked. "A lot of minutes" Karen said. "We still have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner before we go" Karen said. "Ugh, that's a long time" Elijah said. "Are you in your costume?" Karen said when she eyed up her son as he laid next to her. "Yes, duh, I'm Peter Pan" Elijah said. "I almost forgot" Karen said with a giggle. "Silly Mama" Elijah said and let out a laugh. "Why don't we go downstairs and get some breakfast and let Daddy sleep a little longer" Karen said. "Ok" Elijah said and followed his mom out of bed.
Elijah grabbed his step stool and brought it over to Karen. "What are we makin' for breakfast, Mama?" Elijah asked. "I don't know. What do you want to have?" Karen asked. "Pantakes and bacon!" Elijah said excitedly. "The ones with the chocolate chips that Emma likes" he added. "You got it" Karen said.
The two of them started making breakfast. Emma came downstairs by Karen and Elijah. "What smells so good?" Emma asked. "Me and Mama are makin' breakfast" Elijah said. "I didn't know Peter Pan cooked" she said. "Oh he does" Elijah said and Emma laughed. "We're making your favorite" Karen said. "Awesome" Emma said.
Jimi came downstairs shortly after Emma did. Karen and Elijah finished up breakfast and everyone sat down at the table and ate. After breakfast they cleaned up and got ready for the day. They spent the day at home until it was time to go out trick or treating. Elijah, of course, was bugging everyone about how much longer it would be until they would leave.
Finally it was time to go. Everyone got dressed in their costumes. Karen set up a tripod and they took a family picture dressed in their costumes. They were meeting everyone at Kimberly's house to go trick or treating. They headed over there and then started walking around town. About halfway through trick or treating, Jimi received a phone call. When he finished the call he hung up and put his phone back in his pocked. He grabbed Karen's hand and smiled at her. "Who was that?" She asked him. "We got it" he said. "Really?!" She asked excitedly. "Yeah" he said and leaned down and kissed her.
Later that night, Emma and Elijah were asleep and in bed. Karen was lying in bed waiting for Jimi to finish brushing his teeth. When he was done, he climbed in and wrapped his arms around her. "I can't believe we got the house" Karen said with a smile. "It's your dream house" Jimi said. "It is" she said. "I can't wait until we move in. It will be nice to have the extra space" Karen added. "Yeah defiantly, and our bedroom will be bigger" Jimi said and started kissing her. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked "We can get a bigger bed" Jimi said kissing her down her neck. "And?" she asked. "There will be more room to do this" Jimi said and crawled on top of her. Karen giggled, and you know what happens next.
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It was just before Thanksgiving. Karen and Jimi were meeting with the realtor to close on the new house. They finished signing the papers. "Congratulations" The realtor said and handed them the keys to their new house. "Thank you" they both said at the same time.
The realtor left the house. Jimi turned to Karen and wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck and he leaned down and kissed her. "We should probably get the contractor over here to start on the renovations so we can move in" Karen said. "Probably" Jimi said.
Karen had planned to do a few renovations before they moved in. She planned to put in new appliances in the kitchen and new counter tops. She also wanted to knock out a wall in the living room to make it more open. The renovations were expected to be done before Christmas. They decided not to tell Emma and Elijah about getting the house until they closed on it and finished all the major renovations and painting.
It was mid-December and everything was going better than planned and the renovations would be done sooner than expected. They wanted to surprise Elijah and Emma and get everything moved in. It was the perfect time because Karen's parents were coming up to visit and were renting a car and taking the kids on a little road trip before Christmas. Jimi and Karen used this time to get everything from the old house to the new house. They already had everything painted and it was move in ready.
When Karen's parents arrived back in town with the kids, they met them at a restaurant for lunch. They were fully aware of what was going on with the house. "What time does your flight leave?" Karen asked. "Not until seven tonight" Karen's dad replied. "Why don't you guys come over for a little bit so you don't have to hang around the airport all day" Karen said. "Works for us" he said. They finished up eating and paid the bill.
Jimi grabbed Elijah and Emma's bags from their rental car and loaded them up in his and Karen's. Everyone climbed in their cars and drove to the new house. "Where are we going?" Emma asked. "We have a surprise for you guys" Karen said. "Oooo a surprise!" Elijah said excitedly. "What is it?" Elijah asked. Jimi chuckled. "E, you are just like Mama" he said.
They turned on their road. "Alright you two, close your eyes" Karen said. "No peeking either" she added. "Ok ok" Emma said. They pulled into the driveway. "Alright you can open your eyes now" Jimi said. "What are we doing here?" Emma asked as they all got out of the car. "Did you get the house?" she asked again. "We did" Karen said. "Yay!" she said and hugged her parents. "Let's show Grandma and Grandpa the inside" Jimi said.
They followed Jimi into the new house. He unlocked the door and they all walked in. Emma and Elijah's jaws dropped at the sight in front of them. "Oh my gosh. It looks amazing" Emma said. "When did you do all of this?" Emma asked. "While you were with Grandma and Grandpa" Jimi said. "We closed on the house before Thanksgiving and just finished up the renovations last week" Karen said. "Go look around" she added. Emma and Elijah looked around downstairs "You got a Christmas tree?" Elijah asked. "It's the same one from the other house bud" Jimi said. "Do you guys want to see your bedrooms?" Karen asked. "YES!" They both said excitedly.
They walked up the stairs. "This is your room, Em" Karen said when they reached the top of the stairs. Emma walked into her room, amazed. "This looks amazing" Emma said. "I'm glad you like it" Karen said. "How could I not, this is like a dream bedroom" Emma said and hugged her mom. Then they walked down the hall to Elijah's room. "Here's your room E, what do you think?" Jimi said. "This is AWESOME!" He said and threw himself on his bed. Everyone laughed at the three year old.
They went back downstairs and hung out in the new living room for a little while until Karen's parents had to leave. "Your new house is beautiful sweetie" Karen's mom said. "Thanks Mama" Karen said and gave her a hug. "We're really proud of you guys" Karen's dad said. "Thanks Daddy" Karen said and hugged him. "We'll see you guys at Christmas?" Karen's mom asked. "We'll be there" Jimi said and then they left.
They returned to the living room. Emma sat down in between her parents. Elijah was obsessed with his new toy room and has only left it to say goodbye to his grandparents. Emma sat there in silence with a smile on her face. "What are you thinking about?" Karen asked. "How amazing this is" Emma said. "The house?" Jimi asked. "That, and everything else" Emma said. "What do you mean by everything else?" Karen asked. "How I got here, to this point" Emma said. There was a moment of silence then she continued. "I started off going from foster home to foster home and being treated badly. Then I decided one day that I would sneak into a Martina McBride concert. I was running away from security when I collided with a person and smashed my face on the corner of a wall. Then he took me to his wife who insisted I go to the hospital to get stitches. I got to know these people and they rescued me. They took me in and eventually adopted me. Now I call them my mom and dad." "Aww sweetie" Karen said and kissed the top of her head. "It's just crazy. I never knew that anyone was capable of loving me like you guys do. Seven years ago, I never would have imagined I would be sitting here with two loving parents, a little brother, travel the world, and live in a house like this." Emma said. "We wouldn't have it any other way" Jimi said. They both gave her a hug. Elijah finally came out of his play room and climbed up on Karen's lap. Emma leaned her head on Karen's shoulder and Jimi put his arm around the two of them. "It's crazy how all of this started with a trip to the hospital." Emma finished with a smile on her face.