Page 34 of A Daddy for Christmas 3: Matty

“That’d be great.” The door opened into a wall, but it wasn’t in your face or claustrophobic. It was light and airy and would be even more so with glass doors and a place to drop our stuff. “Wehave a bench in our place now. So we can sit and get shoes on and off.”

“Mmhm…makes sense.” More tapping on her tablet. I liked that she was taking our thoughts into account.

We walked through the rest of the house, explained the soundproofing, and what we liked and didn’t like. But we were getting Daddy Saxon to decorate the playroom, so nothing for her to do with that. There were two living rooms, so we wanted to turn one into a bonus space, kind of like the one at the big house, only smaller. Drake wanted to be able to have the guys over, and I didn’t blame him. “Wet bar, pool table. Gaming console. Music. Maybe we could get speakers built in all over the house?”

“Yep. Floors?”

“I don’t mind them, but let’s talk kitchen.” I led her to the most questionable area of the house. The floor tiles looked kind of Spanish and ran through all the main areas of the house, which I liked, but it also meant we might have to make some changes. “This bar.” I slapped the countertop that stretched from the wall to the other side of the kitchen, blocking it from the small living room. “I’d rather have an island, so the access is easier. You know. It should flow. And the cabinets shouldn’t end here.” Changing the peninsula into an island would allow more cabinets to stretch into the next room. I indicated the window where the cabinets should stop.

“It’s tight. Pulling this out will help, but also that wall. It’s wasted space and closes it in. We could get rid of that. What do you think?” Pyper asked. She was serious and classy, with brown hair pulled into a low chignon and a nice flowy pantsuit.

I looked at the wall she was talking about. In the kitchen, it was a long blank wall, but on the other side was a small dining area. “Do we need a dining room? Most of the time it’s just us and if our friends and fam are over, this is too small. Let’s dolike the big house and put a big table outside.” I pointed to the back of the house. “Then we can steal this for more kitchen or a pantry.”

Drake nodded. “I like that.”

“Great.” Pyper made another note. We walked through the kitchen and into the small living area. “Pulling this out steals some of this room, but it’s still cozy.”

“Opening up these doors will make it feel bigger.” I opened one of them and stuck my head outside.

“What do you mean, open them up?” Pyper followed me to the door.

“Take these out and put in those big ones that open completely up.” I tried to demonstrate with a hand motion.

“Like the entire wall.” Drake opened the other door. They were nice glass doors, but they weren’t what we wanted. Why have French doors when you could open up the whole thing?

“Yes. Got it.”

“Maybe we could use one of these in our room, so we can have access to the pool.” Yep. Drake said pool. I did a happy dance, wiggling my butt. I was already planning pool parties in my head.

“Okay. Let’s go see.” Pyper walked back into the house. We looked at the rest of the rooms and what work we needed, including rearranging and reframing the bathroom so I could have a nice big standalone tub. It was very exciting. I’d never been able to do anything like this, and neither had Drake. That’s why we hired Pyper. She came highly recommended from the Midnight Hunt guys. She was professional but warm.

This would be much better than living with the other guys, too. Not that I didn’t love them, but privacy was needed. Especially since I liked running around with no clothes on.

Of course, the rest of the guys were still staying in the big house longer. Except Finn. He’d already moved to a big newapartment down the street. The others would eventually find new places to live, though. Midnight Hunt wanted the big house for a new band. Our guys could all afford these new homes now, too. Since their album was a hit. And their tour went so well. Soul Shred was well on their way to being stars. I was so proud of Drake. I put my hand on his cheek. “I love you, Daddy.”

He pulled me into a hug, lifting my feet off the ground. “Love you, too.” He swung me around before putting me down. “Let’s finish this up and get back to the house.”

We picked dinner up on the way home and shared it with Gonzo and Tank. Then we made hot cocoa and went upstairs to finish decorating the tree. This would be our last Christmas in this house. It all seemed so perfect, like a surreal dream.

The last few months have been a lot. With Rocktoberfest and the other West Coast shows. Including being back in Vegas but at a big venue this time. They toured from April through July, then had a break. After that, they had four more months, including the big festival that Drake always wanted to do. They were on a tiny stage on the first day, but they weren’t well-known. Yet. Next year, they would probably get a better spot. After the festival, they played a big show in Vegas, and Andre from the club where I used to work got to come see it.

“It was cool seeing Andre again.”

“Do you want to move back to Vegas?” Where the hell had that come from? We were buying a house together. Making a life.

I did not hesitate. “No. No way. This is my home, where you are, Daddy. That’s home, and it’s where I want to be. I go where you go.”

“You need a life of your own, too.” My grump had a sweet soul. He worried about my happiness. Sometimes, I didn’t know what to do with that. I’d been on my own too long.

I hung another ornament and stepped back to look at it. “I’ve actually been thinking about that.”

“The ornaments?”

“Duh, no.” I took a sip of my cocoa, then picked up a plastic icicle. “I want to open my own dance studio. I want to teach.”

“Teach dance?”

“Yeah. I’m sure as hell not getting on a pole, and we know I can’t dance.”