Who Am I (A Jai Courtney Fanfic) Book 2

Chapter 63-Meg

Meg

Jai and I are spending Thursday morning looking at homes in the area. There's one that's further away into the country with the most property that I really like—the first one we view. It's an open house right now and everyone is here touring it. It's the home of a hoarder that passed away. The house is over a hundred years old and doesn't have any sort of heating besides a wood burner in the living room. I like it, but Jai does not want to tackle the cleanup. I frown at him. He wouldn't even go inside.
"No. That house should be condemned," he insists.
"But I like it," I tell him.
"We'd have to pull the floors and walls apart just to update the wiring and HVAC," he insists. "Then, we might as well replace everything. All your wooden floors and whatnot would be destroyed. That's not even including the asbestos that's probably in the floors and walls."
I sigh, "Yeah, you're probably right. But I bet we'd get the property for a bargain. I heard someone saying they'd demolish the house and buy it for the property alone."
"It is an amazing chunk of land," he admits. "I wonder what it'll go for."
"I heard someone say that another person they know got a decent piece of property for $20,000," I tell him.
"No way," he says disbelievingly.
"They said the property wasn't this big but they got a ridiculously good price. That's what happens at auctions. Sometimes nobody shows up," I tell him.
"Let's go to the next one," he says.
I nod and follow him. I grin. I heard a couple people talking about him inside the house. One said it was him, the other disagreed that there'd be no way someone like him would be at a run down auction in this town. I just keep my mouth shut now since the last incident at the YMCA.
We drive to the next town and look at another house. It's a two bed, two bath. It has a little property and it's completely finished—move in ready. Jai seems to like it except for the carpet but I'm not a fan. It's way too modern for my taste.
"I'm surprised you don't like that one," he tells me.
"It's alright," I shrug.
"What don't you like about it?" he asks.
"It only has two bedrooms," I mention.
"Both of my homes are two bedrooms," he tells me.
We climb into his SUV to drive to the next house. I decide to broach the subject since it's never come up and we've only been together for a short time. "Jai?" I ask. He hums a reply. "Do you want children?"
He coughs in surprise and I bite my lip in nervousness at that response. 
"That's not like a deal breaker, is it?" he asks me cautiously.
"No. It's just a question," I shrug.
"I don't know. I've never thought about it," he admits.
"Oh," I say softly.
"Do you want children?" he asks me. He glances at me when I remain silent.
"Only if you do," I whisper.
His expression softens at my response. He reaches a hand out for me and I take it.
"Maybe someday," he says gently. "I think we're too busy now for a family."
I agree with him. Our schedules currently are quite hectic. We'll see how life goes for a while and maybe it'll slow down eventually.
We stop at a house that I find out is higher than I'd want to spend but he coaxes me in to at least looking at it. It's almost like a cabin in the woods—there's a small pond on the property and it's mostly wooded with only grass just around the house and pond area with several aged shade trees sporadically there. It's a three bedroom, two bath house. It's kind of rustic-looking with lots of wood in the interior. It has a vaulted ceiling in the living room and a wood burning stove. But it seems to be mostly move-in ready so far. I like the windows in the living room—how large they are.  I can see the woods around the house and nothing else. It's nice and private. The kitchen is all oak cabinets—Jai doesn't like them. They're not my favorite either.
"Oak is pretty common here," I tell him.
"Why?" he asks.
"I don't know. I think it's popular with Boomers around here. It's wood, but it's a cheaper wood," I shrug. He nods. "I'd definitely get new countertops."
He laughs and nods. They're laminate and pretty beat up.
The master bathroom is all fairly nice and upgraded with stone—not my style but I'm fine with it. There's a walk in shower and a separate soaker tub. The other one—not so much. It's like they tried to give it a look of being redone like the other, but it has the same laminate countertop with a vessel sink. The cabinetry is not the nicest either, like they used an old dresser in here. The bedrooms are decent but Jai has a thing about carpet.
"You know, carpet is typical here in the bedrooms. The floor gets cold in the winter," I tell him.
"Oh, is that why they put it in?" he asks.
"I think so," I nod. "You know, this one does have a lot of property but it needs some updates."
"Yeah," he agrees. "Do you want to see the basement? I think this one has a pool table that's staying."
I laugh lightly. "Do you play pool?"
"A little bit," he nods.
"Do you want to play a round?" I ask grinning.
"You play?" he questions shocked.
I nod.
"You are just full of surprises, aren't you?" he smiles.
We go down to the basement and look around a bit before we play a short game of billiards. I win quickly.
"I'm glad I didn't put any money on this game," he chuckles jokingly.
I grin at him. "I like the space down here."  The basement is huge.  I could put a darkroom and studio down here, probably a pantry, too.  There's even a living room area with a wood burning fireplace down here as well and of course, the laundry. 
"Yeah, so... where'd you learn how to play?" he asks me.
"Spencer," I say quietly. "We used to play at the Rec Center at school, pool hauls, his house..."
He nods and doesn't say anything else about it.
"What do you think of this place?" he asks.
"Are there any more to look at?" I question.
"One more. If you don't like them, we can keep looking... but it'll have to either be online or in a few weeks," he tells me.
"Let's look at that last one and we can talk," I say.
"Alright," he agrees.
We drive to the final one. It's a Cape Cod style home with yellow siding. It's a three bedroom, two bath also. It's newer and looks decent. The interior is fine but everything outside is set up for horses. I like it, it's nice. It definitely is a style for a homesteader. It has a lot of grass, though. I wasn't planning on doing horses and that's a lot of maintenance for us not being here often. The interior is really beautiful, though.
We climb back into the SUV.
"What do you think? Did you see any you like?" he asks.
"What did you like?" I inquire.
"I oddly like forest one the best," he tells me.
"Really?" I say surprised.
"I've never lived in the bush before. It looked pretty nice. It needs a lot of work—kitchen, the one bathroom, the flooring, and finish the basement... but I looked into pricing. That one is $120,000 less than the neighbors' houses. If we put a little into it, I bet we could sell it for that much in the future," he tells me.
I nod in response.
"Are you going to tell me which one you liked?" he questions.
"The hoarder house is out, right?" I ask.
He guffaws, "I'm not touching that hot mess. I don't care if it's 20 acres. I heard someone say there was a raccoon in the downstairs bedroom."
"It was taxidermy," I laugh.
"Still, that place smelled bad," he replies grinning.
"It did," I agree. "And the floor was sticky."
"Was it a wood floor?" he asks.
"Carpet," I reply.
He cringes. "How did you go in there?"
"Easy. I walked. There were some collectors items in there, too. I saw a Marilyn Monroe doll mint in the box," I tell him.
"I bet she smells bad," he chuckles.
"Oh, definitely," I agree.
"So... besides the hoarder house—which is not an option—which one did you like? If I would've seen the inside or even known about that one, we wouldn't have gone," he tells me.
"The woods," I agree.
"Really?" he questions.
I nod.
"The yellow one... well, I don't like yellow but there was so much grass. I bet they cut it yesterday and it needs to be cut again. I feel like it'd never be done. The two bedroom... it was too close to the school. I'd like to have some space and land. The wooded one, I could put a darkroom in the basement. There's plenty of space for me to have another studio down there and I just liked it better. It needs a little work but I liked it," I tell him.
"Do you want me to put an offer on it?" he asks.
"Do you know much about living in the woods?" I question.
He shakes his head.
"There will be so many mosquitoes," I tell him. "Especially with the pond."
"I didn't think about mozzies. Do they get bad here?" he asks.
"Around standing water like that pond, yes," I nod.
"Is there like a treatment for them?" he questions.
"Some people get their property sprayed. I've heard there's something that can be put on ponds to deter them, like an oil or something. I don't know if there's fish in there so that may be problematic," I tell him. "Also, I think those type of standing water ponds need treatments or you get leeches."
"Eww, really?" he asks.
"I knew someone who had a newly dug pond in his backyard. When you got out of the water, you had to wipe all the baby leeches off your skin because you'd be covered in them," I admit.
"That is nasty. That's some things to look into," he replies.
"Yeah," I agree.
My phone rings and I answer it.
"Mom?" I question on speakerphone.
"Guess who has a little boy?" she asks me. I smile in response.
"That was fast. When did she go into labor?" I ask.
"Right after you two left. Each baby usually comes faster than the last," she tells me.
"Which hospital?" I question.
"The closest," she responds.
"Same as last time," I nod. "Do we have time to stop by the hospital?" I ask Jai.
"We've got two hours," he nods.
"Alright, we'll be there shortly," I tell my mom.
I hang up and we drive to the hospital. I wash my hands really well in the restroom when we walk in and I'm glad I just looked around in that hoarder house and didn't touch anything. I press the button at the elevator and we wait. We go up to the top floor in the elevator to the labor and delivery section.
"I'm just going to warn you, they deliver in the same room they stay in," I tell him as we ascend.
"What does that mean?" he asks me skeptically. "Watch out for puddles?"
I chuckle. "No, I'm just hoping they've cleaned up a bit since she just delivered. She's probably tired and weak, though."
I ask at the reception desk which room she's in and we walk down the hall in search of her number. I knock lightly on the opened door. I see Artie holding his son. He smiles at me. My mom is sitting on the sofa and Yvette looks like she's asleep.
I step in and he hands me his baby, my first nephew.
"Ethan Arthur Wright," he whispers to me.
"His middle name is Gabriel," Yvette corrects from the bed. She looks like she's asleep but she must just be tired.
"Fine," he sighs. "Ethan Gabriel Wright."
I hold the little bundle. "He feels heavier than the girls," I mention.
"Seven pounds, two ounces," my mom says. "The girls were all six something. But boys are usually heavier."
I smile at my mom's wisdom. I kiss little Ethan's head and sit down in a rocking chair. He opens his eyes and looks up at me.
"Hi there, little guy," I whisper to him. He looks at me and sighs before closing his eyes. I see him trying to suck his thumb. "It looks like you've got another thumb sucker," I point out.
"Yeah, it's tough to break that habit," Artie says.
I look up to see Jai standing back and watching us.
"Do you want to hold him?" I ask.
"I've never held one that little before," he admits.
"Well, you better get used to it. Megan wants an army of her own," Artie tells him patting him on the back. "Congratulations by the way," he adds probably just remembering we're engaged. Jai thanks him but looks to me and he knows that I'd give up anything for him. He comes over and asks to hold the baby—his nephew. I rise and have him sit. I gently put Ethan in his arms and show him how to support him. I'm standing just above them, leaning down. Jai kisses me and I'm surprised by it.
"I love you," he whispers. I reply the same.
Jai holds him for a little longer and then my mom asks to hold him. We both sit beside her on the sofa as she holds the sleeping newborn. I think Yvette is actually napping this time, too.
"Where have you two been all morning? I thought you were flying out soon," she inquires.
"We were looking at houses," I admit.
She smiles widely at that. "What'd you find?" she asks.
"There's one we both like in the woods. It needs a little work but it's nice. It's heavily forested and has a pond," I explain.
"You'll have to get some birds to eat all the mosquitoes and ticks," she tells me.
"I didn't even think about ticks," I admit. "It's near the park."
"You can get some guinea fowl. They'll take care of them. You can just let them roam free. They may be a little noisy but they'll control the population. You can also get your yard sprayed and add a fountain to the pond. Moving water stops the mosquitoes from laying their eggs there," she advises.
"Thanks," Jai says surprised. I thank her as well but ask her how she knows all of that.
"You're not the only one that likes homesteading. Mine's just on a smaller scale," she grins. "I think someone's hungry," she says rising and passing the baby to Yvette.
We decide we better go since it's almost time for our flight. We hug everyone and tell them we'll see them in a couple weeks. My mom walks us to the door and tells us if we like it, we should get it. She advises us not to worry about those types of things. There's plenty of people that've handled those situations just fine. I smile and thank her hugging her once more as we leave.