Chapter 25: Welcome Home

POV: Gabby

Word Count: 3217

June 13, 2009; Saturday

It was Abby that woke me up at 8 to let her inside the house, where she descended upon the kitchen.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh..housewarming party. Did I not tell you?”

“Uh…no.”

“Well, that explains why you’re wearing a gown. You don’t do anything but go shower and get dressed, wake up Zac since I assume he’s asleep. Guest are due at noon, so if you want to go back to bed.”

Back to bed? I’d been up half the night tossing and turning, finally falling asleep using Zac as my own personal body pillow. I was sure I wouldn’t be comfortable if I laid back down. But, I went up-stairs and she was mumbling something about Andrew shopping. I did lay back down, completely forgetting to set any alarm and it was Zac that nudged me about eleven.

“Baby, why is Abby in our kitchen and why are people here?”

“What time is it?”

“Eleven, she scolded when I came down in boxers and a t-shirt…”

“Eleven? Shit. She said it was a housewarming party. I was suppose to wake you up.”

“Yeah, her dropping pans woke me up. Party?”

“Apparently she is giving us a housewarming party, guess we should shower and get ready.”

Since I overslept we showered together and that allowed me to clean the area well and then rebandage once he was dry. Despite wanting to do a lot more. He stuck with black shorts and a loose t-shirt, I went through seven pair of shorts, each being tossed into the too small pile, which was beginning to be everything I owned.

“Baby?”

“Nothing is fitting.”

He walked over and got the blue skirt and then got one of his white t-shirts and handed it to me.

“It’ll be perfect.”

“You are turning me into a dress person and I don’t like it.”

Yet, he kissed my cheek before heading downstairs. I finished getting dressed, snickering that they fit well. I stood in front of the mirror and tightened the shirt. I wasn’t sure that people weren’t going to guess that I was pregnant, given the bump I was sporting.

Fifteen weeks. It had been a long eight weeks and I was coming to accept that I wasn’t going to lose this one. I was coming to accept that in 25 weeks we’d be parents to a little human being, to which Zac is certain it’s a boy. I let the shirt go and got my shoes and then headed downstairs. By now a lot of people were here. His parents, brothers, Stella, and Nicole. Along with friends like Andrew, Jack, and Sierra.

I seen JJ and Chase on the deck, knowing Stephanie wasn’t here yet I suspected that Sarah was on her way. I greeted everyone and beeline the snacks that she had laid out.

“Starving?” Jack asked.

“Literally, she woke me up but I kind of forgot and went back to sleep.”

“No problem.”

I was right, Sarah came in about thirty minutes after I got woken up and it was nice to see her and the baby. Stephanie was almost a year old and she was crawling and pulling up, garnering her lots of attention. For the most part, it was the first time anyone had ever seen the house, at least finished. So I was taking her on a tour of the place.

“Lavender, this had to be Stella’s doing.”

“It is. But with our old bedroom set in here it works out. It’s just enough to brighten the room, but not over power. I did the light blanket too.”

“It’s nice. You must have gotten a new bedroom set?”

“We did.”

I showed her the new art room and upstairs, which was pretty bland. Every room but ours was empty.

“You guys got a long way to go to fill up rooms.”

“Well, the really large room will be a music room, he said there are things he could bring here that they don’t use at the studio. But, I was also thinking that it could be a really good room for a movie room. But, too many windows.”

She nudged my arm. “You could just split it up and make two more rooms.”

“We could, if we need too. I don’t plan on a house full of little ones.”

She smiled. “I didn’t either.”

“May sound like a weird question but do you enjoy breastfeeding over bottles? I know you used bottles with him but you’ve breastfed her.”

“With him I was terrified I wouldn’t produce enough milk. I actually did start breast feeding him, but I was just so worried I was supplementing and I did that too often and my milk dried up. So, with her I didn’t supplement and I’ve been fine. I do enjoy it more I think, but hubby enjoyed the bottles because he got to feed him more often.”

“I haven’t been around a lot of pregnant or new moms, okay basically you are it.”

“It’s a personal decision really, I have three friends with babies and only one chose to breastfeed the other two said no way and went straight to bottles.”

We headed down and found Stephanie waiting for us smiling. With everyone present we sat down to actually have lunch which Abby had prepared a huge spread of fruit trays, veggie trays, chips, dips, three kinds of sandwiches along with several drink options. The island proved to be perfect for stuff like this. I think I got a little of everything before sitting down.

“Hungry?” Abby asked.

“Skipped breakfast, I was sleeping.”

“Snacked when you got up.”

I looked at her. “This is a Hanson household, snacks are just that, snacks.”

“Leave her alone, let the poor girl eat in peace. It’s not like she gets too often.” Jack said.

Abby stuck her tongue out but I didn’t care, I was hungry and little bean was hungry. Not that he or she was so little anymore either.

“Being married has turned you into a prude.” Sierra said.

“What are you talking about?”

“You replaced your leather and lace and heels for flip flops, girly skirts and a simple t-shirt. You my dear have been converted to a housewife. Before long you’ll be putting your hair up with bandanas!”

“Never will I do that! No way, that’s way old fashion.”

I’d legit not even be wearing the dress but I couldn’t really wear anything else in the closet, so I was pretty limited in choices.

When lunch was over and things settled they moved us to the couch and everyone gathered around.

“Is this story time? I mean really, everyone knows how and why I got shot.”

“Good lord Zac, you are not that special.” Chase said.

Zac just smiled. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“Not story time. Gift time. Housewarming gifts.” Abby said.

Well, that was interesting and I’d never even known about the gift section or what to expect as gifts. Diana and Walker presented us with a rather large box first, wrapped neatly in pastel green paper. Inside was a blue kitchen aid mixer.

“You mentioned wanting to bake more but him not having a decent mixer, now that you have plenty of space and time you have the perfect utensil.”

“I can make a cake now and not fear the mix being slung all over the place.”

“My mixer is not that bad!” Zac said.

“You tried to make a cake and the mix ended up on you, the floor, the counter, and the fridge.”

“Not that you minded about it being on him.” Sierra said.

Yeah, I really hadn’t minded that but the eventual clean up had been a bitch. It also turned out to be a good starter because Sarah and her husband had gotten a few attachments that go with it. I suspected they asked Diana what she was getting. I’d be able to make fresh pasta and ground meats without the need of a dozen different items.

Isaac and Nicole stepped up next, presenting an item to Zac and then a smaller one to me. Mine was a set of memory playing cards, which confused me until she insisted I open them. The cards were pictures of the family, of us, our wedding.

“Where did you find this?”

“We had a set made for everyone, but when we were told I just saved them. Got them on the honeymoon actually. You can play traditional games too, there like playing cards but memory is the key game.” She said.

“Nice.”

Zac pulled the outer wrapper and found a bucket of hardware items, rulers, flashlights, extension cords, hammer, and just things he may need. But he seemed confused and Ike smiled.

“You own the house Zac, no one else is going to fix shit but you. You’ll need that stuff to repair walls, fix leaky sinks, figure out what occurred and maybe even find a disgruntled animal and extract them.”

“I really hadn’t thought of that!”

To boot, Chase, JJ and a few others went in and got him tools. Sets of wrenches, screwdrivers, and a few other essential things. Which we had a few odds and ends, but this would be much better.

Taylor stepped up all proud and I just knew whatever they picked had to be something unique and weird, that was Taylor’s motto. So, he let Stella go first which she gave us a customized utensil holder, it was a royal blue with a monogrammed H and the name Hanson under it. I was certain she’d have one and Nicole would too! She also presented a personalized scrapbook, it was a huge one and it was filled with pictures from 2007 to the present times.

“Obviously, Taylor helped you with the pictures.”

“Oh yeah, he had dozens from different things. Some he said you hadn’t even seen.”

“Yeah, that one from 2007 I hadn’t seen, this one here either.”

“What can I say, I am a shutterbug.” He said.

He then handed the box to me, it was heavy though. “What the hell Tay?”

“It’s for you both, but realistically you may use it more.”

Inside was a foot and a half tall fire extinguisher on the outside it said ‘for the pyro’s of our family – flame reducer!”. Everyone laughed and even Zac did despite the cry of pain afterwards.

“You two are perfect for one another, you both love fire. So, in the event one of you get out of hand, you have a flame reducer.”

“It’s perfect.”

Sierra stepped up. “I tried for days to figure out what to get, ended with this because I seen the need.”

Inside were two customized cutting boards. One of them had ‘The Hanson’s” on the center, the other one had a recipe on it for sugar cookies.

“Julian couldn’t make it today, she and her husband were headed out of town. But, she asked me to pick up something from her, so that board is from her. I asked her what your favorite thing was and she said sugar cookies, so I asked for the recipe and had it put on there. You can never lose it and you’ll always have it.”

“It’s perfect, both are. I’ve been using a plate.”

“I know. Scared me.”

Shawn was next, I hadn’t even seen him arrive! But his was pretty evident.

“I couldn’t wrap it, but when Zac said you were having a art room here I asked about the easel, since you don’t really have one, now you do. Added, both of you can use it.”

“I hadn’t even considered what I was going to use here, Zac’s is what I’ve been using but I can’t bring it home.”

He smiled. “You have to have a good quality one here. I expect a house tour and yard tour when this is over, I was running late and this is from Grace, she couldn’t get off.”

He handed that to Zac and inside was a serving platter. It matched our set of dishes but this had pictures of us on them, individuals from the wedding. I recognized his as my favorite, under the arbor and the one of me in the snow was his.

“Now you can serve food or display it either one.”

We smiled at him. Andrew and Jack gave us a set of wine glasses, which could be used anytime but they had measurements on the side, starting with all good, meh, and don’t ask. They also gave me a paper weight with one of our wedding pictures on it, one of us outside in the snow. Sarah had a customized doormat, saying every home needed one. It had The Hanson’s household on it and it was brown with black borders and words. The others presented us with kitchen utensils, nice blanket sets, and odds and ends that were useful. I suspected that Abby had a gift card and was waiting to be the last person. Lucas had presented a picture with spooning leads to forking on it, it was rather sexual to me, but the others didn’t seem to care. We also got the extra towels and washclothes we needed.

“Alright Abby, you’re the last one.” Zac said.

I expected a gift card, which she handed an envelope to Zac which contained one for the local flower shop, apparently for the outside area when we figured out what to do. They had come this past week and laid down sod and grass, bordered the flower beds but we didn’t have the flowers. Figuring that was it, I went to get up but then Shawn sat a box down in my lap.

“I didn’t know what to really get overall, so I went more personal.”

“You bought something?”

She smiled. “I did and realistically you both can use it.”

Inside the box was a portable stand easel that rolled and had storage for the paints and brushes. It was very impressive and she even had my name monogrammed on the end with the handle.

“It’s multiple use, you can sit it on a table and use it or you can use it as the stand, that way you always have an easel you can take with you. Whether it be tours, El Paso, traveling to different states, or whatever. You have it.”

I really didn’t want to cry but Abby had never given me anything that related to art or drawing, she always thought it was a stupid idea. She’d support it, but it wasn’t her chosen idea for me. The fact that she was giving me an Easel I could travel with showed more support than I ever thought she had for me.

“You made me cry, not cool.”

“It’s about damn time! That wasn’t my intention. But, I couldn’t think of anything and you all so suck for having ideas. Shawn said he got the big one but it’s just not portable like this. So, you can take it to the studio, downtown, parks, wherever you want to go.”

“I love it.”

She smiled, from there it was just a gathering and talking, mingling. The guys went to the deck because Zac had ideas apparently, I wondered if I needed to be scared. I showed Shawn around and we ended in the master bedroom.

“It’s a nice house. Have you chose the room yet?”

“First one, we’re just not going to buy anything real specific until we know.”

“When everyone leaves I have something else for you from Grace and I.”

“Why not give it to us earlier?”

He smiled. “I didn’t want too.”

“Well, okay.”

When he pulled me in for a hug I was confused, he wasn’t usually the initiator.

“Just so you know, Jacob’s release date is next week. I want you to be aware of and know, so if you seen him he wouldn’t freak you out.”

“Okay.”

“You didn’t attend Max’s funeral did you?”

“No. I thought about it but I couldn’t. Abby went and a few days after the burial Zac took me to the cemetery. It was closed anyway.”

His hug tightened before he let me go. We went back down and it was just a fun afternoon, everyone cleared out about six, Abby left with Andrew for a date and only Shawn was left. He ran out to the car and came back inside with two large gift bags, which he handed to me.

I smiled when I looked in, because god bless Grace, she’d bought maternity shorts, pants, and a dozen shirts that would be perfect.

“How did you know?”

“You are always wearing shorts or pants, even Capri’s. Yet the last few weeks every time I see you it’s a dress. I mentioned it to Grace and she said it was probably because most of what you had is getting too small. So, we figured a nice house warming gift would be clothes you could wear.”

“Yes! I think I have three pair of shorts that still button, I doubt I have any pants at all.”

“Well, she got two each, she wasn’t exactly sure if you were preferring the dresses and like she said you had pajamas sets and stuff for the house. So, you have some nice shorts and pants to wear with tons of shirts.”

“There much appreciated and needed, thank you.”

“No problem. When do I find out if I have a niece or nephew?”

“Another five weeks or so, I have a routine appointment Monday, then the next one is the anatomy scan, so they’ll try then.”

“Now that no one else is here, how is the little bean?”

“Little bean is annoying me to hell at night time, I can’t find a comfortable spot to save my life. Poor Zac, once I find he’s the perfect pillow then he can’t even move.”

“She speaks as if I care about that.” Zac said.

He smiled. “Few months from now you may mind.”

“Truth.”

“Okay, need help putting this stuff up?”

“Please? The heavy items especially.”

He took the mixer and fire extinguisher to the kitchen, even unboxed them for me. The towels were split, she’d gotten lavender ones and white, so I put the lavender in the suite here and the white up-stairs, then put the other items in the kitchen, we decided to display the plate on the stand in the corner of the kitchen so it could be seen.

Shawn headed out after that and Zac held up the picture.

“That is highly not us.”

“It’s funny, it’s also true. Isn’t that how we got little bean? Where did that come from?”

“We got little bean after you were handcuffed to a chair, ironically the first was a theatre. I just don’t know, he said the living room was a good place but I disagree.”

He smiled and the picture ended up on the wall in the little hall leading to the front door, it was seen and would be but not often, it was perfect.

After that we both got ready for bed, catching up on a few shows now that we could before sleep took over for him and I finally got comfortable.