The next day, we get ready to go to the new house, and we're excited. Mason knocked on my door very early, just to take Simba outside for his needs. He told me he likes to go for a run in the early morning, and he took Simba with him. I took the opportunity to sleep a little longer. I've never been a fan of waking up too early, so when I saw it was 6 am, I turned around to go back to sleep.
They returned when I was already dressed and ready. My baby came back tired and thirsty. I give him water and food while Mason gets ready for us to leave. Once he's ready, we go out for breakfast since Simba can't enter the hotel restaurant, and we didn't want to order in the room. He had been cooped up in a room for too long.
We order takeout, and we hit the road to the new house to have our meal there. When we arrive at the house, I'm left speechless. It's beautiful, not too big, and it has a lovely garden. We enter, and I silently observe, falling more and more in love with what I see. I don't even bother counting the number of rooms; I go straight to the backyard, and it's huge. There's plenty of space for Simba to run and play. I put him down on the ground, and that's exactly what he does. He runs around, sniffing everything, and peeing everywhere. It makes me laugh. Mason appears by my side, and when he sees Simba peeing on a tree, he laughs and shakes his head.
"I guess he likes the backyard more than the house," he says, chuckling.
"I think so," I reply, looking at my baby.
"Shall we explore the house inside? Or do you prefer to stay outside?" he asks, smiling.
"Let's see which room is the biggest so that it can be mine," I say, walking inside the house.
"None of that. It'll be mine," he replies, moving faster than me.
I grab his arm to stop him, and we playfully race each other. Laughing, we reach the second floor of the house. It has four bedrooms, and they're all enormous, although not as big as the master bedroom, which has a double closet and a bathroom for two people” by that, I mean double sinks and faucets.
I enter this room that I'm claiming as mine. It seems like Mason can read my mind because before I even reach the bed (if it's furnished), he says from behind me,
"Unless you want to share the room with me, we'll stay here. If not, then neither of us will use it." He gets close to my ear when he says this.
"Is this a joke? You could be a considerate husband and let me have this room. Think about how your wife has a lot of clothes, creams, and products that would make good use of all the space in the room and bathroom," I say, smiling.
"I don't think so. If you were like other girls who are always concerned about being fashionable, I would have done it, but you're not like that," he replies, touching my cheek with his index finger.
"Oh, please, don't be mean," I plead, looking at him with a pitiful expression.
"With that face, you're not going to get anything. Besides, what's wrong with sleeping together? Neither of us has any interest in each other in any way other than friends. We've shared a couch when we fell asleep watching movies. It's not much different from sharing a bed; we're just going to sleep," he says, raising his arms and downplaying what he says.
"Well, yes, but..." I try to think of something, but nothing comes to mind.
"You're like a sister to me. We could try it for a few days. If it doesn't work, we can switch to another room. Plus, that way Simba can sleep with both of us," he concludes.
I sigh because I don't know what to say to make him change his mind. He's partly right that we won't do anything other than sleep, and it's true that we've already shared a couch when we fell asleep while watching movies. It's not that it can't be done, of course it can, but I would feel better being alone. I can't be so selfish as to deny him the room. It was his parents who bought the house, and there are upsides to it because we can watch movies peacefully without worrying about falling asleep since we'll already be in bed.
"What's the worst that could happen?" I ask.
"You're right, there's nothing wrong with sharing the room," I resign myself to that.
"I knew you were smart and would agree. Now let's go see the baby before he ends up killing all the plants with his urine."
We head downstairs and go out to the patio again. We see him chewing on some flowers in a corner.
"We'll have to put a fence around the flowers, or we'll end up with none," Mason says, laughing.
"I totally agree with you. Although it will only be while he's small, once they reach two years old, they stop being mischievous," I say as I crouch down to call my baby.
"Maybe they do, maybe they don't. We'll see what happens over the years," he says, stroking Simba.
His words make me think, the passing of years. What will happen to my baby in three years' time? I have time to find a solution when that time comes. For now, I'm just going to spoil my dog as much as I can. I'm sure I'll be the one who indulges him, and Mason will be the one who sets the rules at home. I can't even imagine scolding my baby for anything. I'll leave the tough parenting to him, that's for sure.
I stay at home all day while Mason goes to the hotel to get his things. I didn't want to go for mine, it's just clothes. I asked my partner of three years to bring everything over for me.
While I was alone at home, I took the time to check every part of the house. On the first level, there's the kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, and two offices. On the second level, there are four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, as well as another bathroom for guests on that level. There's also a game room where we plan to add some things to spend time with our friends, even if it means pretending to be in love.
I've been thinking about my friends, and it hurts to lie to them. I wish I could tell them everything, but due to the contract clause, I can't say anything to anyone. Ethan and Sarah have been very good to me from the beginning. I value that a lot because the first impression says a lot about people, and they have continually shown me that Mason was right in having them as friends. They are really good people who deserve a lot of happiness. That's why it hurts to pretend that we're in love.
I'm sure they won't say anything, especially to the press. However, I won't tell them anything until Mason decides to do so or until the contract ends. But I'm sure that if I wait three years, Sarah and Riley will be furious with me for hiding this from them. I feel caught between a rock and a hard place. The best thing to do is to let time pass and see what happens. I hope we can deceive everyone with this fake love.
I'm lost in my thoughts when I realize that Mason is looking in my direction. I smile and ask, "Did you bring everything?"
"Yes, all set. Now comes the part that will take the most time, organizing our stuff in the closet," he replies.
"Then let's get started," I say, getting up.
We go to what will be our room and start sorting everything out. I grab my phone to connect my headphones. Everything is better with music. I play my favorite playlist and lose track of time until my stomach growls, reminding me that it's time to eat. I think it's later than I thought. I walk out of the room and find Mason holding Simba, who climbed onto the bed to reach the pizza waiting for me there.
"I'll take him to the patio so we can eat in peace," I nod as I take a slice of pizza.
I must admit that my husband always remembers details, like the fact that I love pizza with mushrooms, bell peppers, and olives. He doesn't have the same taste, so he always orders two pizzas, one for each of us, although sometimes we order half for him and the other half for me.
The rest of the day, we finish organizing, and Ethan calls Mason to ask about the move. While he's talking to his friend, I video call my girlfriends to show them the house. The fact that we share a room works perfectly for them because the first thing my friends ask to see is the master bedroom.
After showing them the whole house, Riley says, "I think I should come in person. I can't wait to spend a weekend getting to know Simba."
"That's a great idea, my friend. You have several rooms to accommodate us. We need to plan the housewarming party," Sarah replies.
"I have to ask Mason," I start making excuses.
"Please, leave convincing him to me. Besides, he doesn't deny anything to his wife," Sarah comments, laughing.
"Well, just so you know, I'm not a good hostess. You'll have to help me with everything," I warn them.
"That's what I'm here for," Riley says.
"Alright, everything's set. Let's plan it for Friday, so we can stay the whole weekend and catch up," Sarah suggests.
"But it hasn't even been two days since we last saw each other," I reply.
"That doesn't matter. We always have things to talk about when we see each other," Riley responds as if it were obvious.