Page 2 of Rejected Broken Mate

I nodded. "Yep, and there is enough space up here for you to have a couch and a TV as long as you promise you will turn it off before bed."

He nodded his head, hugging me quickly.

The rest of the morning was full of moving everything into the house as the movers arrived. We unpacked and started to decorate the house how we wanted. I bought Michael new stuff for the house and was unboxing it as he put up his space posters.

"Those aren't mine," he said as he turned back to me.

I smiled at him. "Actually, they are. I bought them. I figured you would like this new bedspread, and I got twinkle lights for you to string up.

Michael's eyes widened. "When did you buy this? I never saw it."

"I bought it a while ago and just had it dropped off. The post office was holding it for me."

I started putting Michael's bed together as he began to unbox his desk. After a couple of hours, his bedroom was ready. Michael was lying on his rug, staring at the ceiling in amazement.

"I'm going to order a pizza and try to get everything where I want it. Call me if you need me."

I kissed him quickly on the forehead and headed down the stairs to finish unboxing everything else. We didn't have much left to do, and by the time I got to the living room, I was exhausted.

I closed my eyes, thinking back to this morning. We woke up in our bare apartment—just our beds were there. We had packed everything up the entire week before. I took my shower, and by the time I got out, our neighbor, Dusty, came over with some coffee. His dog ran into our place, going straight for Michael's bedroom.

"I still can't believe you guys are moving," he said as he handed me my coffee.

"It's good for us," I said, smiling at him. "We've been here a long time."

"I know, but still," he said, shaking his head. "It's going to be hard to get used to you guys not being around."

I had always liked Dusty, but being a single mom meant there were lines I couldn't cross. One of them was dating. The minute Michael was born, I promised that he would always be my top priority. Giving us a better life was always going to be my job.

"I know," I said, looking at my coffee. "It's going to be weird waking up somewhere it isn't blistering hot all the time."

Dusty laughed.

Saying goodbye to everyone was hard, and I cried a little. We had been there since Michael was little; everyone treated us like family. Dusty had been there when Michael first spoke. Paul, on the first floor, had been there when he got mono and helped me take him to the ER.

Michael had his first steps in that apartment. I had been folding laundry in the living room when he came walking down the hallway. I remember screaming because I was so excited when he fell backward and started to cry because I scared him.

He learned to rollerblade on the sidewalk, scraping every part of his body. He drew outside on the sidewalk with Luke and Carmen, who were just a year younger than him.

I wiped at my eyes, feeling tears build up again. As much as I was going to miss it, I knew this would be just as great. It had more space and a massive yard for us.

Michael came down the stairs, his brown hair flopping with each step. He looked at me and then leaned onto the couch. "When is the pizza going to get here?"

Just then, there was a soft knock on the door. We both turned towards the glass door, and I could see the person behind it holding the pizza.

"Now," I said, "You can give him the twenty from my purse."

Michael was moving, and I smirked, grabbing another box to open. I ripped the top off, and my hands paused as I took in all my college stuff. My stomach dipped, looking at what I never finished.

I heard the door open and shut, and Michael walked by with the pizza. "You coming, Mom?"

"One second," I said, quickly shutting the box. I glanced at Michael as he popped the pizza onto the counter, grabbed a chair, and seated himself on the island. We were only in the house for half a day, and he was already feeling at home.

I turned and went into my bedroom, taking the box with me. I opened the closet and stuffed the box down before shutting the door.

I turned and walked back out, ruffling Michael's hair as I sat next to him, grabbing a slice.

"So, you like the house?" I asked as I grabbed a napkin and handed it to him.

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