Baby on Board

24

I hate house hunting. Is there anything more stressful than trying to find a place to live? I doubt it. 

Firstly, you have to narrow down an area of London that seems like a place you'll continue to love for years to come. Previously, I based this on where my favourite cocktail bar was and then looked at what other nightlife there was. This was back in my wild partying days, long before I met Brogan Greyson and Isaac Fletcher. Now, the main selling point of any location was whether or not there was a good school near the house. 

How times have changed. 

Secondly, I had to think of the features of the house. I've always been an apartment kind of girl, liking everything on one floor. However, that wasn't going to work with a baby. Apartments usually mean that you have limited space and as I'm quickly learning from everyone around me, kids need a lot of space. So a house was definitely the way to go. Preferably with a garden. And secondary accommodation. Martha was going to live with us, but as she nears eighteen, she needs her own space. If we have secondary accommodation, Martha can have a choice of either living with us or live away from us. If she chooses to stay with Isaac, Nugget and me, then the secondary accommodation can be used for visiting family. Done. 

Thirdly, there were niggly things that I would prefer to have but wasn't really necessary. Two studies- one for myself and the second one for Isaac, for example. A separate room just off from the kitchen that we could use as a playroom for Nugget. A walk in closet for myself. A den room for Isaac so he and the boys could continue their poker night tradition. A patio area out in the garden to entertain over the summer season. 

I don't think that my expectations were that high, at least when you looked at matters individually. When you look at my wishlist collectively, however, it seems like an impossible task.

"Well," the estate agent sighs as he scans my list once again. The poor man, in his mid-twenties, looked daunted at the task at hand and kept rubbing his hand down his face. Gulping, he picked up a fancy pen and started making notes on the list I'd given him. Finally, he nodded to himself and said, "Let's see what the database comes back with."

While he clicked away on the computer, I shuffled in my chair and looked at Sam, who was accompanying me in Isaac's absence. He'd run away from the gallery this morning because Martha and the curator, Ros, were arguing once again and Evelyn had to step in to sort it out. Knowing that if he took one woman's side over the other, he'd be accused of favouritism by the unchosen one, Sam was quick to duck out and meet me at the estate agent. I thought, being a recent homeowner himself, that Sam may be able to help me with the house hunt but then I remembered that he had bought the place from Daniel and he'd never experienced the torture of house hunting. 

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Sam suddenly asks me. Quirking my eyebrow at him questioningly, he rolls his eyes and continues anyway. "How do I deal with Martha?"

I frowned. "What do you mean, 'deal with Martha'?"

"She's infuriating and she's forever looking to argue with me," Sam says. He looks weary at having to put up with Martha day in, day out, and I can sympathise with him to an extent but I feel like he's only looking at her bad points. "She hardly ever does anything I ask her to do, she scares Ros' assistant, and she doesn't filter any of the words that come out of her mouth. It's like whatever is in her head, it comes rolling off the tongue."