“Okay, so what are we looking for?” I ask him.
His eyes light up. “That’s my girl.” He types something into his laptop and then stops and reaches for his phone. I watch as he dials and places the phone to his ear. “Roger, hey, man, how you been?” he asks. “Listen, I’m ready for the realtor’s name. Does she have a website?” I hear him ask. “Thanks, man. Talk soon,” he says, ending the call.
“Was that Roger, as in Roger Watters, the quarterback for the Defenders?” My voice is a shrill squeak. How is this our life?
“Yep.” He nods as he types. “He bought a house last year and had a great experience with his realtor. This is her site.” He turns the laptop so I can see it. He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close. “Time to find our dream home, baby.”
That’s how we spend the rest of our night. Scrolling through house listings. It’s surreal searching through the homes he’s got us looking at. They’re huge and fancier than anything I’ve ever lived in. Cooper says we need to have the best because that’s where we’ll be raising our family. I argue it’s too much money, but he counters that it’s our home base and that if we’re going to blow money, a home is a good place to do it. He’s right, but it seems frivolous.
“Babe, I need you and our future kids to be safe when I’m on the road. These neighborhoods are the best, and most of the houses have gates,” he explains when we’re lying in bed.
“Okay,” I concede. “I can’t believe you called the realtor at eleven o’clock at night.”
“She was happy to hear from me.” He laughs.
“She was happy to think about the potential commission.”
“I don’t care why. All I care about is that she’s making it happen, and we’re going to look at houses tomorrow.”
“This is unreal, Coop.”
“This is us, baby. This is our life.”
“Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I should be saying that. I know I hurt you, and yet here you are. In our bed, in my arms.”
“Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
He kisses the top of my head, and I close my eyes. I’m content and happy, and it’s hard to believe we’re here, but he’s right. This is our life, and it’s what we make it.
I can’t wait to see what our future holds.
“I’m kind of disappointed. I was sure we would have found one we loved by now,” Cooper says as we drive to the fourth house of the day.
“They were all nice.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t love them. I don’t want to settle for nice. This is where we’re going to be spending the majority of our time, raising our kids, making our kids.” He glances over with a quick wink and wag of his eyebrows.
“We have time, Cooper. It’s not like your condo isn’t nice.”
“I know, but I’m ready to do this. I feel like we’ve been on hold since we were eight. I don’t want to be on hold anymore. I want to be full steam ahead in this new life of ours.”
I reach over and place my hand on his shoulder. “There’s no rush. I’m still moving here as soon as my two weeks are up.”
“Damn right you are,” he says, pulling into a subdivision.
“Wow, these houses are unreal,” I say as I take in each one.
“This is it.” He pulls up in front of a wrought iron gate.
We wait as April, the realtor, opens the gate. Cooper follows her through and my breath hitches in my throat. The house sits back off the road, and it’s on a small knoll. It’s a light brown brick, and it’s gorgeous. My favorite of the day by far, but this place has to be out of our price range.
“Welcome.” April greets us as we get out of the truck. “Each lot is ten acres or more, so it keeps the neighbors from being right on top of you. There are homeowner association fees that pay for keeping the road maintained. Shall we?” she asks, already heading toward the front door. “You know the drill. I’ll be here if you need me. Since this house is empty, you can look around on your own, much like the others. It’s five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and two home offices. There is also a fully finished basement.”
“That’s huge.” I look at Cooper wide-eyed.
“Lots of babies,” he whispers, taking my hand and leading me through the house.
With each room we tour, I fall more in love with this place. The kitchen is huge, with a large island and plenty of space to cook and feed a big family or group of friends in our case. The bedrooms are all large, as are the bathrooms and the living area. The master bedroom has a sitting area, and the shower… it’s the biggest shower I’ve ever seen before in my life. Like, ten people would fit in there, comfortably, I might add, all at one time.
“Wow,” I murmur when we walk out on the back porch. It’s covered, and there is an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, and even a TV. The view of the woods behind the property is so private and serene.
“Good wow?” Cooper asks.
I glance up at him. “It’s breathtaking.”
“I really like this one, Reese. It’s big enough for kids, and we both have an office. There is room for our parents to come and stay when they visit. I really like the theatre room set up in the basement, and this outdoor area… it’s private, and I love that. We need that with my career.”
“I agree. What did you not like about it?” I ask. I’m hoping he says nothing.
“Nothing. I love it all, and that master bath….” He leans down and places his lips next to my ear. “The things I could do to you in there.”
I shiver. “Yeah,” I agree.
“What do you think, baby?” He moves to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Can you see us living here? Raising a family here?”
“Can you?” I ask him.
“I asked you first.”
“How far away is the stadium?”
“About twenty minutes.”
“Not too far of a drive.”
“No. In fact, I think a couple of my teammates live close to here.”
“So?”
He chuckles. The sound is soft and low, but I can feel the vibration of his chest against my back. “I can see us here.”
“Me too,” I say excitedly.
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s go find April.” We locate her in the kitchen, leaning over the counter, typing furiously on her phone. “We’ll take it,” Cooper announces.
“Well, all right then. I’ll draw up the paperwork. Can you stick around to sign the offer?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“And the price?”
“Full asking. We’d like to move quickly.”
“Of course. Give me ten minutes to get this written up, you can sign, and I’ll send it over to the seller’s agent. Hopefully, we’ll hear from them later today.”
Fifteen minutes later, we’re in the truck headed home. “I can’t believe that just happened,” I say, scrolling through the picture I took of the house on my phone.