Chapter 3

Emerson. The new house

Sawyer was a lot of things and usually speechless wasn’t one of them. However when their mom opened the front door and they stepped into their new home, he sat there with his mouth dropped wide open and no words coming out. Emerson wasn’t much better as she too couldn’t seem to form a complete thought. They walked into an entry way that opened up into the most beautiful space she had ever seen. All wood and brick with windows for walls along the back and soft lighting from lamps and the over head lights made the space look not only beautiful but eclectic, and something out of one of her moms popular home magazines. The main living space was two steps down from the entry. A beautiful living room with a huge brick fireplace that covered the entire wall was to the right. Straight in front of her the floor to ceiling windows opened up to a huge outdoor deck over looking the lake and mountains and forest to the back. To the left was the huge amazing kitchen complete with all brand new appliances dark gray cabinets and granite countertops and an oversized island with hanging lights above. Emerson thought she had never seen anything quite so beautiful. There was a large light grey sectional couch with a distressed wooden light grey coffee table in front of it, facing the fireplace and large flat screen tv that was mounted on the wall.

“Mom. This is amazing!! Where did the furniture come from??”

“I ordered it all and had the movers bring it early.” Carol started... getting quieter. “I didn’t think we wanted any from the old house. A new start means new things to go along with the new life and new home”. She spoke quietly so Sawyer couldn’t hear. But she had tears in her eyes once more.

Emerson reached over and grabbed her moms hand and squeezed. Tears now coming to her eyes as well. Em knew her mom had gotten a large sum of money from her dads life insurance, not to mention the money he had put back over the years of being a doctor. She now knew where a lot of that money had gone while looking at the extravagant space before her.

Sawyer still hadn’t moved from his perch on the landing when Em and her mom turned to him.

“Saw?” Em started...

“Sawyer? What do you think son?” Carol had an edge in her voice. She was worried about him being so young to have gone through so much.

“I ......”. Sawyer couldn’t form words..... “ I FUCKING LOVE THIS PLACE WOMAN!!”

Carols face showed shock at his words as Emerson snorted then gave up trying not to laugh. She actually began laughing and snorting so hard she was doubled over on the floor when Carol finally started laughing too. Emerson couldn’t breathe and her mom didn’t look much better. Laughter turned to tears and stomach holding. Ah it felt good to laugh like this again. This went on for several moments before Carol calmed herself enough to scold him for his language.

“Sorry mom. It slipped” Sawyer grinned.

Emerson thought he was really going to be a mess when he got older.

“Ok let’s finish looking around. I took the liberty of picking your bedrooms for you. None are better than the other so I hope you both will be happy”.

Emerson picked her purse and backpack from the floor where she’d dropped it and followed her mom to check out the rest of the home. To the left was a half bath. Then her moms bedroom. To the right there was a laundry room, then some stairs leading into a basement. Down the hall was a room her mom said she would use as an office. Then surprisingly at the end of the hall a glass door stood, and on further inspection Em saw that it was a workout room, with half of it designed with a full wall of mirrors and padded floor, perfect for dancing. Emerson stood speechless. Her mom made her a dance studio. “Oh, mom” Em started to cry all over again. She immediately wrapped her arms around her mothers neck and squeezed. They stayed like this, both crying and laughing until her brother cleared his throat.

“As much as I love watching you gals blubbering can we get a move on?” Em and her mom started laughing. They continued this until they were bent over laughing, holding their stomachs and wheezing. Snorting and unable to breathe once more …. Sawyer rolled his eyes at his mom and sister. “Such dramatics” he said seriously which got them laughing even more. It took them five minutes to calm down. And then finally, they continued the tour..

In the basement Em and Sawyer became giddy with excitement all over again. There was a media room with a huge screen for movie watching and a huge open space that would be great for get togethers or a game room. It even came with a wet bar. And a wood burning heater. Em loved the smell of burning wood. It made her feel at peace somehow. She was so glad this house had the heater plus real fireplaces that burned real wood… not the tacky ones with fake gas or electric logs. That combined with the lake and mountains set such a serene setting. It was everything she could’ve ever wanted. They went back upstairs to the main level and continued on up to the third floor of the home where the rest of the bedrooms were. Emerson’s bedroom faced the lake where Sawyers faced the road. Emerson was greatful for that fact and hoped Saw didn’t mind too much. But after opening his door to his new room he was so ecstatic that the direction of his room was the last thing on his mind. His room was painted a dark navy complete with his own bathroom and walk in closet. He had brand new bunk beds to the side with cream bedding, and… his own small deck that was right outside his French doors. Emerson remembered seeing the decks when they pulled into the driveway, guessing that his was one of them. There was also another huge tv on the wall with all his gaming systems and games plugged in and ready to go. Emerson thought whomever her mom had hired to do the moving did an awfully good job at setting things up just right. She turned and gave her mom a knowing smile. Seeing her brother so generally pleased and happy made this day a little brighter. So much she almost forgot to wonder about her own room.

When she went across the hall Emerson held her breath. She was excited to see her new bedroom but she was also a little scared. This was a lot to take in. Everything was happening so fast and she hadn’t had a moment to catch her breath. But that all faded away as she pushed open her door. She stood mesmerized by what she saw. Her room was beautiful. Everything she could’ve wanted it to be, and then some. A large bed stood in the middle of the left wall. It was covered in light gray fluffy bedding with black and white pillows. Her walls were painted a dark gray color. She saw her tv on the opposite wall with wooden dressers and tables around the room. Some of her pictures from her old room were already on the walls, her dance and gymnastics awards and other accomplishments were there too. A desk with her laptop was set up in the corner. She had her own beautiful bathroom and huge closet. She walked to the sliding glass doors and saw that she too, like Sawyer, had her own little deck. And just like she had imagined it would.. it looked right out over the lake and the mountains.

Her mom had one more surprise for them so they went back downstairs with her and out on the back porch from the living room, there they saw it. Sawyer squealed and jumped up and down as Emerson was again speechless. There was a large in ground pool complete with a pool house in their large backyard. An outdoor fireplace and grill with an outdoor couch was looking very inviting. Emerson was filled with happiness in that moment. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. She hoped this was going to be the happiest time of her life. And that all the bad things that had happened to her were in the past and things were going to be better than ever …..