Page 42 of The Next Chapters

“Look, I’m not trying to stick Mummo in with the girls.” Riley shook her head, her sympathy for Gianna’s grandmother in that situation obvious. “She’d never get a good night of sleep again, and I’m positive she’d be unable to walk in less than a week after the number of small toys she’d step on in the middle of the night when she needs to go to the bathroom.”

Riley refocused on her, using the hands she had in Gianna’s back pockets to squeeze her butt. It was playful, making a grin flash over Gianna’s face at the same time that she felt the answering spark of the touch shoot through her.

It was inescapable, that flash of heat whenever Riley touched her like this. Gianna figured it had something to do with how long she’d had to keep such a tight leash on these feelings. It had to have something to do with the fact that she’d needed to repress the desire Riley’s touch elicited inside of her for over a decade.

For over ten years, the way Riley would casually touch her thigh made Gianna’s stomach clench. The way Riley’s warm breath washed over the sensitive skin of Gianna’s neck when they cuddled made her shiver. The way Riley would lick her lips after taking a sip of her drink made Gianna’s throat run dry.

She’d done her best to cope with those moments. They were unavoidable, and the way she wanted Riley had never once faded or diminished despite Gianna’s best hopes.

And now, she got to live them out. She got to kiss those soft, full lips. To slide her hands over Riley’s perfectly curvy body. To roll her hips into Riley’s when they were lying together, and she felt that zing light her up inside.

Now that she was able to let these feelings out, there was no stopping them, no curbing them. She fucking loved it.

“And I’m so excited that Mummo is coming to live with us,” Riley continued, seemingly unaware of Gianna’s thoughts. “No one tells a better story or makes a better cup of tea than your grandmother. Besides, I love our new house. It’s… us. The way we are now. Our family.”

Gianna didn’t even realize she was nodding in agreement until she’d already done so several times. But what Riley said was true.

Their new house was nestled into a cute little suburb – a place Gianna never thought she’d want to live. It had a yard – something Gianna had never found a need to have; her little city patios worked perfectly fine for her to sit outside in and have a cup of coffee from time to time. It had a two-car garage – something Gianna never thought she’d need, given that she never thought she’d even own a car.

The girls changed everything.

Before Anya was born, Gianna realized abruptly one night that Riley couldn’t be the only person in their home with a license. Riley worked at an in-person job every day! What happened if Gianna and/or their baby had an emergency and she needed to drive somewhere?

So, Gianna had finally let Riley teach her how to drive.

She’d never been someone who yearned to care for a yard, never wanted to learn how to garden. But now, with four kids under ten, she was fucking thrilled to live in a place with a backyard big enough to set up a swing set. A place with a large, fenced-in yard that was just theirs, where their daughters could run around and play and shriek and giggle, a place they could accidentally forget a toy they’d been using and have to race back to the park to hope it was still there.

A place where she and Riley had their private room, along with all of their daughters and Mummo.

Well, Pippa and Annabelle were still sharing. But if the day came that they wanted their own rooms, they could take over the guest room.

A place that was large enough for them to continue to host holidays without feeling claustrophobic when everyone arrived.

“I love that it’s our home,” she found herself whispering. That sentiment felt so strong inside of her, and she’d thought about it so many in the last couple of months throughout the process of buying a new house. “Our home. Something we’re building together.”

Riley frowned up at her, confusion clearly etched into her face. “What do you mean? This is our home, too. I mean, it was.” She sighed, exasperatedly blowing out a breath. “You know what I mean.”

Gianna shrugged, dancing her eyes around the bereft room that had once been their living room. Granted, it had only been a couple of weeks ago that this area was filled with their furniture, a smattering of toys over the floor.

But they’d slowly but surely moved everything over to their suburban paradise, and they were officially closing the sale of this house the next day. Which was why they’d arranged for Joel to go over and watch the girls as they did a final walk-through, making sure everything was ready for them to truly walk away, forever.

“Well, I know it was our house,” she allowed, shrugging listlessly. “But… I bought it years before you and I were even a possibility in my mind. Before I ever thought that this could happen between us.”

“You loved this house when you bought it!” Riley returned, staring up at Gianna as if she’d grown two heads.

“I know!” Riley wasn’t wrong; Gianna had loved this place. “But it’s always been just that. A house. A house I meticulously decorated to my taste, a house I planned on living in by myself for several more years to come.” She paused, trying to put exactly how she felt into words. “Riley, you are home to me.”

There. It was that simple, and expressing it aloud felt so right. That was what she’d learned all those years ago.

“So, yes. I loved this place. But I love the house we’re buying together more. A place that is meant to be ours right from the start.” She gently curled a lock of Riley’s hair between her fingers as she stared down into her wife’s eyes. “I figured you’d feel the same way.”

Riley’s face was the picture of consternation as she met Gianna’s gaze. There was an obvious softness in them as she slid one of her hands up out of Gianna’s back pocket to stroke lovingly up her spine. “I do feel that way. I do love our new house and the way it already feels like a home.”

Her eyebrows knitted together, the look on her face so serious. The way she got when she was thinking about something important.

“But… I always felt like this was our home together. Even before I actually lived here.” She breathed out a cute, self-deprecating chuckle. “I know you bought this place and didn’t know that we would get married or have kids or anything like that. I get what you’re saying.”

The smile on her generous lips melted away slightly, leaving only the echo of it as Riley’s expression grew so earnest, so intense.

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