Private Cabin(Eight years Later)

It feels good to be out of the city. Quieter. Never realized how loud it was till I had screaming kids around the house, and it seemed like only a dull roar. You get used to things, I guess.

The old thing about hitching up the wagon and taking the family to town seems to apply. Didn't want to end up moving into a cult compound, but... well it was for sale cheap, and had the right amount of rooms. After all, you want privacy for everyone, yet need a central area for meals and family time, you have to go with the old classics. Didn't hurt that they used pre-fabs for most of the houses, so if anything, when we got here the place kinda looked like a trailer park.

Maria had left the next morning early, along with Nikki in tow. The two of them apparently had spent the whole night laughing about their husbands, and seemed to have come to an agreement that men in general were not something they wanted around full time. Phone numbers were exchanged, but Maria had told me that she and Nikki were making a quick stop at a pharmacy in town. Just in case. The morning after had brought some thought about consequences to both of them.

Maria and Nikki ended up moving in together, and apparently got married. Big splash in the local paper about it. It's been great for both of their careers, at least as far as the human resources departments are concerned. Nice to see them succeeding, and I never have mentioned any of the times they've visited. Got to keep up appearances, after all, and a poly harem in the boonies doesn't scream progressive.

We wouldn't have even contemplated moving in together permanently if it hadn't been for that vacation. When we awoke the next morning, Kaila had already made breakfast for everyone, admittedly, not the best, but at least she tried, and had already packed the van for us to leave. She'd then explained that on the ride home, please, could we pick up her sister. I agreed to it, but then was rather surprised when she immediately changed her mind upon checking her messages.

Apparently Carla would be finding her own ride home. She'd met a friend, and the two of them had spent the night over at her place rather than the inn. When Carla announced she was moving out a few weeks later, it wasn't a big surprise, even though the ink on her arm was still fresh. She'd gotten so enamored of the feather sleeve that her sister had gotten that she got a hot rod flame piece on the opposite arm. It made their twin games impossible to pull off on people who know them, but Kaila has remarked it seems to work just fine these days. At least since she lost the baby belly. That was kinda a dead giveaway.

When we had gone to drop off Charlotte and Helen at their place, I got immediate skeeve vibes from the entire neighborhood. The fresh graffiti on the walls didn't help much, and the broken in front door of their apartment made me take charge for the first time in a long time. It set off every single bad feeling that I'd ever had, and I frankly told Helen and Charlotte that there was no way in hell I was going to let them stay there.

Neither one had complained, and by the time the police report finally was taken, the place was picked clean. For a while, we ended up staying in the same apartment complex, right across from each other. It couldn't last though, and the commute into the city was just a nightmare, especially with three pregnant women. While two of them could take maternity leave, Charlotte's job was a bunch of... well, I'd like to be polite, but after they way they treated her, fuck em. They're assholes, and the gal who suggested that she stay on and sue me for child support was a bitch.

So the place we ended up buying was a bit run down. Ok, extremely run down. Took about a year of hard work before it was even really ready, and I put enough sweat into the place to drown a large hoofed mammal of some kind. Really I was too tired to think about what critter would be most appropriate.

All I knew Is I was tired, and if it hadn't been for my friend Nikki's cousin's construction company contact, I'd have never gotten the thing done, at least not for the price I was able to pay. She said she owed me one for introducing her to the love of her life, and I was happy to take the help. Only price ended up being a house on the other side of the property for her and her wife Maria. And their cute twentyteen daughter Sofia, who Helen has told me in no uncertain terms I shouldn't even be thinking about.

When we moved in fully, it was a real joy handing back those apartment keys. Of course we didn't get the deposit back, and they said that we'd never be able to rent an apartment again if we didn't pay certain fees that they claimed... ah whatever, I stopped listening. It was crap, and I didn't have to listen to it any more. I just dropped the keys on the desk and walked away. Felt good too.

Course, it gets crazy. With four kids around the place, I've lost track of the number of skinned knees, poison oak and general random kid injuries I've dealt with. All part and parcel of raising a kid on a place in the middle of nowhere.

But there is one little joy that we all really love. Whenever somebody needs some time away, back in the north section of the property, behind a little rise, we put in a cabin.

Just a little single bedroom. Just like we remember. With one little difference. There's a four poster bed in the bedroom.