Phase I.I- Moving In

"Hey! Wake up!"

Ange sighed and rolled her eyes as her son Ben woke up in a sudden daze.

"I'm stopping for gas. You want anything? Need to go?"

"No" Ben still seemed confused from waking up.

"Are you sure? It's going to be a while before we get there. You might need to go number one."

"Mom!"

"You will need to take a piss! We all have to take a piss at some point! You just have to learn that!" Ange laughed at her son's discomfort.

"Fine, I'll go."

"I thought so."

Ange modified the map on her phone to divert to the nearest gas station. She thought it strange that Stepford wasn't on any maps. Not even GPS. She had to download a special app that the realtor provided.

The app had other general information about the place, but the map was the only one available for Stepford.

She was confused, but largely dismissed it. Her son looked outside the window. Ange sighed again, but this time in understanding.

"I know you're going to miss New York. I'm gonna miss it too."

"I just don't know why we're moving. I didn't even get caught."

" Only because I stopped you. If you had... Look," Ange used one hand to go into her tan jacket (part of a tan pantsuit with maroon undershirt) and pulled out a orange brochure, with "Stepford" written in cursive at the top. "Your father had this on him when he died. I saw he had visited their website. He had bought a place there and his family reserved it. He was serious about moving to this place. I didn't get it at the time, and I just went straight back to being a detective."

Ange pulled into the gas station, her black SUV a going-away gift from the department. She technically retired, but the chief said that her desk would be open if and when she decided she could do it again.

"And I pulled away from you, didn't pay attention to you or what you needed. And it doesn't matter if I had no part in it, I still hold myself responsible."

Ange slapped her son's shoulder, grabbed him tight and shook him a little.

"I know I was never the traditional mother, but when your dad died, I should've been there for you. We should've healed together, but instead, we grew apart. I was reprimanded during my last case and you almost broke the law. I realized then and there I needed to be a better parent and be more involved in your life, even if I didn't fit the role well."

She grabbed the pamphlet again. "I don't know what this Stepford place is, but if your father wanted to move there, he wanted a new start for us. After what happened, I realized we could have a new start. We could recover together and I could be a better mom to you."

After a bit, Ben nodded, understanding the situation. "I get it."

"Great. Now take a piss, and find something for us. Maybe some beer?"

"You got it." Ben mumbled as he unbuckled. "Oh, Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I am sorry."

Ange smirked and patted Ben on the back.

"Like I said, new start."

Ange emerged to the backyard of their new home. A gazebo sat in the middle, connected to the house, and a seemingly endless yard. Ange smirked as she considered the possibilities.

"Oh, this is so fucking great!" She was laughing almost, as she took it in.

The Sanderson family had deep ties with just about every New York institution, including the NYPD. Thus, it didn't surprise her that the house was as huge as it was. In fact, in her research on Stepford (which was extremely brief, as very little information existed), the Sandersons also had a few other properties here. In fact, Tim's brother Joe also bought and reserved a place here.

In fact, the house was so big, large sections were actually empty. The furniture and some stuff from their old apartment was already there, and it failed to fill the house. The remaining items they brought with them failed to fill it up.

It was sunset, so the light reflected off her sunglasses. She thought of the gazebo as a good place to do her daily morning exercises, at least until the gym was furnished properly. Maybe even install a basket to shoot some hoops through. She hadn't done that in a while, and she could bond with her son over it.

"Why hello!"

Ange was broken from her trance by a young women over the picket fence. Ange took stock. It was late in the day, so they hadn't seen many people when coming in. The young lady (probably no more than 23 or 24) was tanned, though slightly darker than her, with long black hair (with a ponytail tied with a blue bandana), high cheek bones, perfect lips, and wearing a cardigan over blue knee length dress with white petticoats, and white heels. She looked like a pop singer cosplaying as a 50's housewife.

"Oh, hey. I didn't see you there."

"It's fine, I was just watering my lawn." She held up her pitcher. "You must be the new neighbors. I saw you and your son when you were unloading."

"Angelica Lopez." Ange held out her hand. "You can call me Ange."

"Sita." Sita shook the hand. "Sita Vasudevan-Sapperstein."

"So, Sita, how do you like it here?"

"Oh, my wife and I love it! It's just so swell here, and the people are just so gosh darn nice! It takes... a while to get used to, but my wife and I got adapted pretty quickly after we moved here from New York."

"Oh, hey, I'm also from New York!"

"Gee whiz, lovely." Sita clapped her hands in feminine delight. "My wife and I met in Columbia, where she was a law professor."

"Wait, you said Sapperstein? You mean Deb Sapperstein?"

"You know her?"

Ange did. Deb Sapperstein was an esteemed law professor who had testified in several of Ange's trials. Ange had met and interacted with Deb a few times. They didn't know each other well, but their interactions were cordial. Ange hadn't seen her in a while, though. In fact, she had heard some time ago about that she had left her post and disappeared from New York after she got an offer.

"Yes, is she here? I'd love to catch up."

"Oh, she's working late today. The school needs her there today."

Oh, she just moved here, presumably to take up another position. Though, Ange eyed the young lady. Deb Sapperstein wasn't married, and she had been a little older than her, so she couldn't explain this marriage.

"Well, tell her I'd like to meet sometime. Catch up on how she's been doing."

"I will! How are you liking your new home?"

"I like it. Pretty big, though. Can't fill it with our stuff."

"Well, there's stores all over, with reasonable prices."

"Yeah, I might check them out. They're still fixing the laundry machines, though. So, I can't clean my clothes, at least now."

"Well, you can always buy new ones."

Ange scoffed. "I think I'm good."

"You never know.... you may need it. "

"Sure." Ange was dismissive.

"Well, I look forward to seeing you more."

"You too. And if you need anything, I'll be there.

The two chatted, before Ange went back inside to sort her remaining stuff.

After a day of rest and remaining moving, Ange got up early, took a shower, got ready (no make-up), and got dressed in her workout gear. While her late husband gifted her some women's workout gear, she still liked her own outfits: tracksuits, NYPD t-shirts, sweatpants. Today, it was the later two: a grey shirt with a blue NYPD logo and a pair of black sweatpants.

She took a yoga mat from the gym and went to the backyard. Even if she had moved, she still had her morning tradition. She'd do her morning exercises on the porch of their New York apartment, every day like clockwork. Now she had a whole yard, and she was already thinking of how to expand it.

For now, it was mainly exercises focused on heart rate and muscles. She even had her weights with her. Her morning exercise was carefully coordinated by her, combining elements of traditional muscle exercises, cardio exercises, and a bit of boxing and mixed martial arts.

She moved very quickly as she moved from push-ups to lifting her weights to shadowing boxing to doing pull-ups. She could feel the heat of exercise on her. In fact, it seemed... hotter than it could be. Like there was more heat than usual. She was certainly sweating a lot more.

Maybe I haven't done this in a while, she waved it off, and continued.

Ben woke up pretty early. Normally he didn't, but he wasn't used to this house. He was groggy, but he got up and out his window, he saw his mom do her morning exercises. He hadn't seen her do it in a while. He was never up when she did it.

Yet, watching her from his window, observing her, he was actually vaguely interested. Just watching her move and watching her sweat drenched body, he stared for a good bit.

Ange didn't notice, as she continued for a few more minutes before ending. Ben trance was broken, and he was chalked it up to being tired.

Ange, in the meantime, got dressed, this time in a black pantsuit with a red undershirt. She walked down and saw her son in his boxers and undershirt getting some Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

It struck Ange just how little interaction he had with anyone else. She was barely there after Timothy's ****, and the two were very busy. She had heard that he was a quiet kid who kept to himself or computers. And now, he opted not to go to college and now he didn't have anyone. Not even his clients

New start, she thought.

"Here" she grabbed the cereal. "I'll serve you and me."

She grabbed two bowls and poured some milk (free courtesy of the Stepford Realtor's Association), and cereal before the two sat down to eat.

"So, what are you going to do today?" Ange decided to talk a bit more to establish a connection

"Just chill. Figure out the wifi situation and start stuff there. How about you?"

"I may need to go shopping. We have a lot of space and we need to fill it with shit. First and foremost, I need to get actual food. I might go to the supermarket later."