We let everyone order and then I smiled as I looked around at everyone. “Celia and I have an announcement to make.”
Mom set her wine down and stared at me. “Another baby? Dear God.”
“No, not a baby.” Celia giggled and pulled something up on her phone. I saw the house and grinned at the sight of it. “We’re moving out.”
Mom started to cry as Celia handed Dad her phone to look at. He whistled as he scrolled and smiled at his wife. “Look, baby. It’s beautiful.” She wiped at her eyes and glanced at the screen, allowing Dad to show her all the pictures. Something crossed her face, and she stared at us.
“A beach house?” She asked as Celia nodded.
“A few blocks from yours. We’re close.” I assured Mom as she smiled.
“You went for their dream.” She told Celia, and I watched as she shrugged in response.
“It was mine as well. I think it’s going to be a perfect place to live.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled at Brin. Mom kept looking at the photos and smiled wider with each one. We lingered over dinner and left when it was dark, walking languidly to the parking lot. I was holding Celia’s hand and leading her to the parking lot of my office when I heard my name.
I turned to see Amy standing a few feet away. She looked nervous and I could see by Celia’s face that she knew who this was. “Hello, Remington.”
“Amy,” I said as she shuffled her feet back and forth for a moment.
“I’m sorry for everything. I have been doing a lot of work on myself and I’m going to be better. I have a job at a small firm, but they are willing to work with me.” Her eyes were large with sincerity and I nodded. She looked at Celia who was silent beside me and offered a smile. “Hi. He loves you, you know.”
Celia smiled at me and I squeezed her hand. “I do.”
“I just wanted to wish you the best and apologize. I caused a lot of pain for you over time.” Amy licked her lips. “Goodbye, Remington.” She turned to leave, and I pulled Celia to my car.
“Do you think she meant that?” Celia asked as I mulled it over.
“I hope so. She did have something going on with her that I didn’t see in the beginning. She has a lot of potential though, so I hope so.” I walked across an intersection and breathed in. “I am moving past it. I was a long time ago.”
“I know.” Celia admitted as I looked down at her. We finished the walk and got into my car, driving home. Everyone came over and we talked about babies and houses as Mom kept crying. Ryan mentioned buying something before the baby came and Brin beamed at him. He laughed and said it wouldn’t be a beach house yet but something bigger than the apartment.
We celebrated the twelve-week mark what seemed like the following week and the announcement was made to friends and family. Everyone was excited, and Celia suggested having the baby shower at our house. We’d be moved in by then and set up. We were set to close in three weeks and planning the move.
When the move came, Ryan and Rick helped us. We didn’t have too much, but I had furniture in storage from my grandparents. We were planning to move that in and decide what we were going to keep. Celia was shopping, and beds was delivered the afternoon we moved in. She got a King for our room, a Queen for the guest room, and trundle for the office. It offered two beds if we had guests and room for everything else.
The first night after everyone left, we walked out to the balcony and looked over the water. The moon was shimmering on it and she smiled as she snuggled closer to me. “This is all ours.”
“It is,” I agreed as she moved to kiss me. “I love you.”
“I love you and our future. We’re going to make this the home that your parents always wanted as well as what we want. I can’t wait until it’s all set up and we can start having everyone over for dinner.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Celia
I shopped a little at a time for the house. We loved having the place to ourselves and I learned just how loud I get during sex. It reminded me of our first night together and now that was a fond memory for me that led to so much more.
We ended every night making love in our room with the windows open. Remy insisted on installing a good security system since I worked from home and I agreed. It was great to feel safe as I wandered the beach in the morning and wrote out on the deck. Melinda filled our fridge the first time, and I was stunned at the amount of food in the house. It was enough to feed us for a while and I was eager to find out what Remy liked.