“I’ll let the cats out in the bedroom.”
“Okay.”
As he and Ezreal left to get the rest of our things, I picked the carriers up and took them into the back.
The bedroom actually had a king-size bed. I put the carriers on it, then looked around for a way to shut the door. There was a button on the side of the wall so I pushed it. The door slid closed, Star Trek-style. “Are you kidding me? That is so cool.” I couldn’t have the cats escaping after I set them free.
Spider was already pawing at the carrier’s grate. “Mama, Spider wants out.”
“Out,” Sugar repeated. “Out, Momlady.
“I know you want out, and I’m going to let you, but first, listen to me.” I made sure they were both looking at me. Still not a guarantee they were listening, but you took what you could get with cats. “We’re in a very big vehicle now. It’s a motor coach. And for the next few weeks, we’re going to live on this motor coach. You cannot leave the motor coach for any reason or Sinclair and I will be upset. You could get hurt or lost, and that would make us very sad. Do you understand?”
“No leaving. Mama mad.”
“Right.” Close enough. I looked at Sugar. “You got it?”
She blinked her pretty eyes at me. “Sugar stay put.”
“Very good. For now, I’m going to let you out but only in the bedroom so you can explore in here while we get settled, all right? After we’re on the road, you can go anywhere you like on the coach.”
“Yes, Mama. Hurry.”
I opened his carrier first, then Sugar’s. They both popped out instantly but then stopped to sniff the air.
“There’s supposed to be a litter box in the bathroom,” I told them. “I guess we should have a look.”
I went through the etched glass door on the other side of the bed. And stopped. I’d been incredibly wrong about imagining having to stand on the toilet to shower. “Snowballs.”
The bathroom was remarkable. Obviously not as big as the one in our apartment but just as nicely appointed. Two cobalt-blue glass vessel sinks and a big walk-in shower with lots of white marble tile and plenty of storage space. No tub, but then that seemed like a silly thing to have on what was essentially a land yacht.
I went back out to the bedroom to check that out some more. The top of the mattress was elevated so that it sloped, which would be great for reading or watching TV, but that would have to be flattened out for sleeping. I just didn’t know how to do that yet.
Two good-size wardrobes flanked the television opposite the bed, along with plenty of drawers underneath. I was surprised by how much storage there was. One of the wardrobes even had a small safe. The other had the Santa’s Bag.
Spider’s voice carried from the other room. “Mama Mama Mama.”
I went back into the bathroom. “What is it, Spider?”
“Look, Mama. Litter box.”
He was standing in it, his head peeking out of the opening. The box had been cleverly hidden in a cabinet beside the toilet. Sugar sat on top of the toilet, watching him.
Thankfully, the lid was down. Starting the trip with a toilet-water-soaked cat didn’t seem like the best way to kick things off.
“I’m so glad you found it.” I opened the narrow cabinet next to it and found all the supplies necessary to maintain the litter box. Ezreal really had thought of everything.
“All right, you two enjoy your exploring. I’m going back out to help.”
Sugar jumped off the toilet seat and zoomed past me to hop up on the bed. “Momlady, window?”
Windows were a big deal for cats. “Oh, right. Let me see.” There was a small window on either side of the headboard, which had reading lights built in. A nice touch. I opened the blinds and pulled them up and out of the way. If there was anything these two loved, it was looking outside. “There you go.”
Sugar perched herself on the sill that doubled as a nightstand, instantly glued to that little slice of Anchorage. I went to the other side and opened those blinds as well.
I’d been a tiny bit concerned about how the cats were going to do in such a small space and how they’d handle the travel. I was starting to think I’d been worried about nothing. Also, it wasn’t that small of a space.
Spider came out of the bathroom and took up residence in the other window a few seconds later.
“You guys good?”
Neither one looked at me.
Spider made a little eek eek eek noise at something beyond the glass. “Bird, Mama.”
“Good thing you spotted him.” I tried not to laugh. “Better keep an eye on him.”
Sin and Ezreal were just returning as I left the bedroom, making sure to hit the button to slide the door shut. “You got it all?”
“Yes.” Sin set the rest of the bags down, then moved out of the way to let Ezreal add his to the pile.
He hooked a thumb toward the door. “If you want to come outside, I’ll give you the rundown of everything out there, then I can go over a few more things inside and that’ll be it.”
Sin rubbed his hands together, clearly as excited as could be. “Let’s do it.”
We followed Ezreal as he gave us the grand tour. Not going to lie, it was a little overwhelming, but Sin seemed to have a decent grasp of most of it already. The coach was very impressive. Every available space had been turned into useful storage. There was even a big empty compartment on one side for our luggage when we’d unpacked.
And pretty much everything was as techie as possible. Not only was that a camera at the front door, but it was connected to a monitor in the back that would allow us to see and record anyone who came to our door.
Additionally, there was a tablet that controlled just about everything, from the climate to the slide-outs, whatever those were, to the awnings that would provide us shade when we were parked in a campsite.
I loved that the double awnings were trimmed with LED lights. I could already imagine sitting underneath them with Sin some evening, maybe having our dinner outside, listening to the sounds of nature and taking in the night air.
Was that camping? I couldn’t believe I was genuinely looking forward to camping. Maybe marriage was changing me.
Back inside, Ezreal showed us the tablet. He took it out of a pocket behind the driver’s seat and turned it on. “This is basically your control panel for everything.” He tapped a few buttons.
Things began to move. I grabbed Sin’s arm. “Whoa. This gets bigger?”
He smiled. “These are the slide-outs Ezreal mentioned. Only for when we’re parked, though.”
Ezreal showed me the tablet’s screen. “See? Here’s where you control those. Just look at the tabs and you should be able to find what you need. Everything outside can be controlled with this too. Not just the awnings but everything out there.”
When the slide-outs stopped sliding, I took a walk through. The coach had almost doubled in size. I peeked into the bedroom. It had grown, too.
Spider and Sugar were curled up on the bed together, sleeping. Apparently, travel was exhausting.
I closed the door and went back to Sin and Ezreal. “This is great. I never thought I’d say this, but I love it.”
Ezreal made a short bow. “I am very happy to hear you say that, Princess.”