Shifted #Wattys2016

LIX

Bloom

I love having Max around, and I'm not sure I express that enough. After we danced in the air, I hugged Emmett, and we all silently agreed that we were done. We went inside, welcomed by Caven with warm towels. I looked at Max and Felix, laughing as Felix shook out the water like a dog, even though he had shifted back to human. Felix wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, Max laughing in protest.

They were just like any other two teenagers.

And I'm happy to have her as part of the family.

I sat down on the bed and crossed my legs. In my notebook I sketched the floor plan of the house. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, one bedroom and one bathroom downstairs...

Where to put the baby?

I didn't like the idea of her being in the basement, and Felix should probably move out of the garage at some point...

"What'cha doing?" Emmett asked, sitting down behind me and wrapping his arms around me.

"Thinking."

" 'bout what?"

"Where to put the baby."

"Hm."

I shut the notebook and looked at Emmett. "I think your father needs to move out." I bit my lip, knowing that Emmett would probably protest.

"I know, but where do we put him? He can't go into a nursing home, and I'm not comfortable leaving him alone."

I nodded. "What if we put your father down here... and we can move into his room, and put the baby in Ronnie's old room, and then Caven and Felix can stay where they are." I felt like I was forgetting something.

"It's a good plan," Emmett began, taking the notebook from my hands and setting it on the bedside table. "But I don't want Dad to have to go up and down those stairs,"

I sighed. "Okay, what if... We put Felix down here, Caven in the garage, Wane in Caven's room—or in Ronnie's old room—us in the master, and the baby in the extra room, whether that's Caven's or Ronnie's."

"What's wrong with us down here, and just putting the baby in Ronnie's room, that's a lot less rearranging?"

I stood up and walked to my side of the bed, pulling back the covers and sitting down. "I don't like the baby and us being on two different floors."

Emmett pulled the covers over his legs. "Yeah, I see. Let's put Felix down here, us in Wane's room, the baby in Caven's room, Wane in Ronnie's room, and Caven in the garage."

I leaned back into the pillow. "That's a lot of work to do in a few months."

"I'm up for the challenge."

I kissed Emmett. "I know." I flipped off thelamp and shut my eyes.