Turning A New Leaf

Fifty-Nine

July
****

After the offer on their new home had been accepted, time began to fly by, filled with various inspections of the property, packing, baby appointments and finally closing on the home.

Atira and Krist were given the keys to their new home on the first of June and were fully moved in the same week. While Krist missed his view from the apartment balcony, he enjoyed a new view on from his porch.

Rocco was thrilled about the new home, even more so about the fact that he'd gotten a brand new wooden swing set complete with two slides, a tire swing, and a covered playhouse up top.

Atira was in her sixth month of pregnancy at that point, her belly finally popping and the baby's kicks strong enough for Krist and Rocco to feel when they laid their hands on her stomach.

They had begun preparing the nursery for the arrival of the baby who would be named Gabriel. Both Atira and Rocco had gotten an obsession with Highland Cows, a breed of cattle with long hair and an almost fairytale look to them, so it was agreed that Baby Gabriel's room would be cattle-themed.

Rocco, excited to be a big brother, helped choose the framed artwork for his little brother's walls, as well as a highland cow-themed mobile for the crib.

Atira had selected a modern-styled crib from Childcraft with a matching dresser, nightstand, and changing table in "Caviar Black", Krist remarking "Sounds expensive as fuck," and damn near shitting himself when he saw the price tag, "Baby, that's like what I make in a month."

He had wanted to buy something cheaper but Atira was insistent that was the set she wanted so that's what they got. Krist had money in his savings, and though Atira was fine paying for it, Krist wanted to purchase the set himself.

She was also insistent on cloth diapering and after doing her research, ordered several hundred dollars worth of diapers from Grovia, telling Krist it seemed expensive but in the long run would save them money.

Krist didn't see himself as being a cheap parent, Rocco got everything he needed and then some but he had a time justifying uppity baby items. The baby didn't need an expensive ass bassinet that swayed him to sleep nor did he need that three-thousand dollar furniture set. Shit, Rocco slept in an eighty-dollar pack-and-play after he first came to live with Krist, when he was sleeping in his bed with him.

When Rocco was old enough for a toddler bed, he'd gotten him a second-hand race car bed at the consignment store with a Walmart mattress and Rocco had been fucking stoked about it.

Not to mention, Atira wanted the "best of the best" when it came to baby clothes, her online pregnancy groups had been buzzing about bamboo baby clothes, namely Kyte and Little Sleepies, which were both insanely expensive. Krist was not thrilled about spending twenty dollars on a single onesie and fifty on footy pajamas when they were a few dollars apiece at Ross.

"Baby, he's just gonna shit and spit up on them anyway," he had told her as gently as possible.

Unfortunately, Atira had burst into tears, explaining she just wanted to make sure the baby had nice things. So they got him the fancy bamboo stuff, Krist still purchasing things from Ross and Marshalls and removing the tags so Atira didn't know he bought "cheap" baby things. They were all Nike, Adidas, and Puma so it wasn't like they were Walmart brand-not that Rocco didn't have the occasional shirt from there.