Page 113 of Quinton's Quest

“It’s chaos when the kids are here.”

“I like a little enthusiastic nuttiness.”

“I can’t promise I’ll always be cheerful when they’re not.”

He smiled. “I can deal when you’re a bear with a sore paw. I’ll kiss it and make it better.”

I believed him. “What will happen to your mom and your house? Do you think we should move there? Or be there when I don’t have the kids? Or—”

“You bought this house to be near them. That’s a solid plan.”

“Did you ever notice the cabin on the other side of the driveway?”

He cocked his head. “Sure. I assumed that was your neighbors’.”

I shook my head. “The former owners of the house had a disabled adult son. They wanted to keep him close, but give him his own space. Eventually, he moved into Mission City and was able to achieve a level of independence. The cabin’s traditional on the outside, but very modern on the inside.”

“And you’re thinking I might live there?” He squinted. “I suppose. Although I kind of thought—”

“That you’ll be in here and in my bed? Hell, yes.”

“But—”

“You’re right, it’s a stupid idea.”

He blinked. “I don’t know what the idea is. Don’t assume you know what I’m thinking—that way leads to trouble.”

“Yes, you’re right.” I took a breath. “Do you suppose, I mean it’s silly, right? Because she has a house in the—”

“You’re wondering if Mama might want to move into a cabin in the woods?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”

“Actually, it doesn’t. I mean, I have no idea what she’d say. But she doesn’t want to live in a big house. Personally, I’d love to see her move out of the basement—but this is a huge step. We just agreed to be boyfriends—”

“You agreed to move in.”

“Yes, I can hardly forget that. Even though you sort of forgot to mention that part of the plan.”

I burst out laughing. “You think I have a plan? You give me way too much credit. I just know I don’t want to be apart from you more than absolutely necessary. Oh, does this…is this going to be a conflict at work?”

“A doctor and a nurse living together? No. Will I have to tell Marlena so she doesn’t schedule me in your rotation? Yes.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “She’s been trying to get me to commit to the NICU.”

“That’s a rough place to work.”

“Yeah, I suppose. But I think oncology would be tougher. Which is the other place that needs more nurses right now.”

I placed a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll support you—no matter what.”

He sighed. “You make this sound so easy.”

I laughed. “Oh, hardly that. You’d be upending your life to be part of chaos.”

“The best kind of chaos.”