Page 87 of Nesting With My Three Alphas
"I want to build a home together," Jonah corrected. "For all of us. For as long as you'll have us."
"Forever," Charlie said immediately. "We're building forever remember."
"Forever sounds perfect," I said, and meant it.
The house hunting started that afternoon. We piled into Reed's truck. Charlie in the front, me between Jonah and Micah. We drove around Hollow Haven looking at properties.
The first house was too small. The second was too expensive. The third had a strange smell that made all their alpha instincts ping with discomfort.
It was the fourth house that made us all go quiet.
"Oh," Charlie breathed as we pulled up to the white farmhouse with the wraparound porch and the big oak tree in the front yard. "Oh, this one feels right."
Something about the house called to every nesting instinct I possessed. It was larger than anything I'd ever imagined livingin, with dormers and a covered porch and what looked like a separate building that could be an art studio.
"It's beautiful," I said softly.
"It's expensive," Reed said, looking at the listing information. "But not impossibly expensive. Not if we're serious about this."
"I'm serious," Jonah said immediately.
"Me too," Micah added.
"Me three," Charlie chimed in.
They all looked at me, waiting for my answer. Waiting for me to choose this family, this future, this leap of faith into something bigger than I'd ever dared to dream.
"I'm serious too," I said, my voice steady despite the magnitude of what we were discussing. "Let's go look inside."
The realtor met us at the front door. A cheerful woman named Susan who knew Jonah from some construction project and immediately started gushing about what a lovely family we made.
"Five bedrooms," she was saying as she led us through the front hall, "three and a half baths, completely updated kitchen, and that sunroom at the back would make a perfect artist's studio."
I tried to play it cool, tried not to look too eager as we walked through rooms that seemed designed for our exact family configuration. But when we reached the sunroom, all windows and natural light, with built-in shelving and enough space for multiple easels, I couldn't hide my reaction. It looked out over the back of the property to where an old barn sat. It was the house you dreamed off when you thought of happily ever afters.
"This is perfect," I whispered, turning in a slow circle to take in the space.
"There's also a workshop area in the basement," Susan continued, leading Reed toward a door marked with promisingtool-related scuffs from the previous owners. "And the master bedroom has an en-suite that's been completely renovated."
Charlie had found the room that would obviously be hers. Painted lavender with built-in bookshelves and a window seat that overlooked the backyard.
"Can we get it?" she asked, pressing her face against the glass. "Please? It even has a good nest spot!"
She was pointing to an alcove near the window that was exactly the right size for a child's nest, naturally sheltered and cozy.
"What do you think?" Jonah asked me quietly while Susan showed Reed and Micah the updated electrical systems.
"I think it's perfect," I said honestly. "I think it's everything we could want and more than I ever thought I'd be allowed to have."
"You're allowed to have anything you want," Jonah said firmly. "We all are."
The negotiations took three days. Three days of phone calls and paperwork and financial discussions that made my head spin. But Reed and Jonah handled most of the business aspects while Micah focused on the practical details of moving his life between the bakery and a new house.
I tried to wrap my head around the fact that I wasn't just moving in, I was building something of my own. That we were going to be homeowners. That this wasn't temporary or conditional or dependent on my continued good behavior.
"It's really happening," I said to Micah the night before we were supposed to sign papers. We were in the kitchen. The cramped, too-small kitchen that had somehow become the heart of our temporary life. He was making late-night snacks because Reed was stress-eating and Jonah was stress-not-eating.
"Having second thoughts?" Micah asked gently, not stopping his methodical sandwich construction.
