Drama Momma (Surprisingly Perfect Sequel)

House Hunting

It was a weird couple of weeks. It seemed like each day Jace cared less and less. He wouldn't even take the boys so Chrys could have a birthday party with her friends at the house.

He turned back into a scumbag because I wasn't in control of him. I told Chrys that what I was doing was working, but she would never acknowledge how what I did was right.

Of course, now that the secret was out in the open, the bullies were back. I started posting some of my cute bump photos and the Olsanna gang left comments that I was a slut. I mean, my other classmates did too, but I didn't care.

Oh and surprise, surprise, Jace and Chase weren't talking to each other. Mr and Mrs Hetcher wanted nothing to do with us either. Mom sent them an invite to the gender reveal, but they never responded.

Today though, we were forgetting all that. Today, we were looking into the future: the nice, bright future where I had my own room or possibly, a pool. I sat in the back row of Smushy and crossed my fingers. Hopefully, a pool.

"Well the good thing about this place is, I'll be really close to Cler!" Chrys said as we passed her best friend Cler's apartment complex.

Right down the street from Cler was a road of historic row houses. Chrys and I used to ride our bikes down here. Without permission, of course.

It was tricky to maneuver around all the traffic and we knew Mom would have a panic attack if we were around all those cars.

"Okay, this is the one," Mom said, struggling to parallel park.

"No driveway?" Chrys asked.

"This feels a lot like one of those house-hunting shows," I said.

"You bet, but it's even better, because this is the Everston Edition!" Mom said.

Mom finally got smushy parked and we waited for the cars to go by before we could cross the street. On the front porch of a three-story brick house, our longtime family friend Karen was waving at us.

"Hey everybody! Glad you can make it!" she said. She reached over and gave us all hugs before she rubbed my belly. "Look at you, getting so big!"

"She's almost seventeen weeks now," Mom said.

"Oh, almost time for the gender reveal! I had a blast last year. Can't wait to go again!" Karen said.

"Well yeah, you come to all our parties!" I said. "And side note, sorry you've been memed to hell and back lately."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, not a great time to be named Karen right now. I keep trying to tell people that I've never asked to see a manager in my whole entire life."

"Can we go inside now?" I asked.

My whole body was jittery. I couldn't wait to see where I'd be potentially raising my little one, who was seriously fluttering a whole lot more now. Every once in awhile I thought I was feeling small kicks, too.

"Okay, come on in, guys!" Karen said as she opened one of the front doors.

The house looked really similar to the pictures. Mom showed us each of the houses a million times. While Destiny did my hair, I showed her pictures on my phone and told her how I'd redecorate everything.

"So as you know, this building consists of three separate apartments, each with their own entrance. Seven bedrooms total. The apartments on the first and second floor are the two-bedroom units, and the one on the third floor is the three bedroom," Karen said.

"Which would be the one I take," Chrys said.

"And Poppy would be on the second floor," Mom said. "I'd be on the first floor so I'd be closer to both entrances, for when you two need me."

"Fine with me," I said.

We walked through the first apartment, which looked okay. Then we went back outside to the front porch, where there was the entrance to the second floor apartment.

I climbed the old creaky stairs and took my first look. The stairs led to the living room, which had these awesome wood floors.

The kitchen was kind of small, but I never cooked anyway. I liked that it had black appliances and a cool checkerboard tile floor, but the blue counter tops and flower wallpaper were kind of off putting. At the end of the day, it was still my own place.

The two bedrooms had carpet and gray walls. I liked the view out of the bigger bedroom, where I'd sleep, because it faced the park.

"Look at that, a front row seat to all the concerts, and you don't even have to pay!" Mom said.

"Yeah. I love it. And the baby won't even hear it because her room faces the other way," I said.

"Wait, you know it's a girl already?" Karen asked.

"No, she just likes to think she's right," Chrys said.

We all had a laugh and moved on to the back of the house, where there was the entrance to the third apartment. We climbed all the way up the super hot and humid staircase to the third floor.

"Man, this is gonna be tough lugging both boys up here," Chrys said.

"Oh, they'll be fine. Once they're older it shouldn't be a problem," Mom said.

"Yeah but even once they're two or three it'll still be challenging for them," Chrys said.

"These are all things to consider before making a decision," Karen said.

We walked through Chrys's potential apartment. It was probably the nicest of the three. It even had a bonus attic space that could be converted into an extra playroom for the three of our kids. One we were all done, we gathered in a circle on the muggy, front porch.

"So, what did you guys think?" Karen asked.

"I think it'll be great for us. Everyone will have their own space," Mom said.

"I loved it, but I'm just worried about the boys and the stairs," Chrys said.

"Well I think it was pretty good, but I want to go see the next one," I said.

Karen let out a chuckle. "Oh yes, I heard that's the one you're really excited about, Poppy. I'll hop in the car and I'll meet you guys over there in a half an hour."

We parted ways and got into Smushy. I sent a quick text to Chase about how the first tour went. It was important to him too, since he'd be coming over a bunch to visit and help out. The only issue was, we kind of disagreed.

But you liked it, right? I think it would be best if you just went with it.

I thought hard about my reply and typed something back to him.

I just think I'd want to live in the same house as my family, like, not separate entrances and everything.

But Gumdrop, remember, we should have our own space to be together.

Okay but I could always just come visit you at your place in the city. The whole apartment thing...I'm just not sure if I want that.

I know, but it's not exactly about just you anymore, Poppy. It's about US.

I put my phone back in my purse. The car pulled away and we were onto our next house, which was the one I couldn't wait to see.