oliver sparks ☆ oliver queen. (nock) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2018-07-17 23:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * kit, * terri, c: finnley sparks, c: oliver sparks |
WHO: Oliver Sparks & Finnley Parker
WHEN: Tuesday, July 17, 2018; Morning
WHERE: A...house. Address TBD!
SUMMARY: Oliver and Finnley try to find their future home...and SUCCEED.
WARNINGS: Smooshiness. So much smooshiness.
Moving in together had been an important and fun new step. Finnley quite happily sold her old house to the Darling triplets, and had put most of her remaining possession in storage while she bunked down with Oliver and Jonas in their little apartment while they tried to find a larger home together. She had loved every minute of it. She didn’t mind the small space. It was cozy and the only part that she’d really cared about was that she was with Oliver. It had allowed her to be increasingly present for Jonas as well, and with every passing day, she felt more comfortable in her role as something like a mother. The house search itself had been a mix of ups and downs. They had looked at a few houses that had seemed great in pictures and lackluster in reality, and the house that she had really wanted to see had been sold right when they’d made an appointment to go look at it. She had diligently been searching the area, however, and she had come across one house that - while out of their agreed price point - checked all the boxes on their mutual lists. It wasn’t until the price dropped and the notation on the house changed to “motivated sellers” that Finnley even brought it up to Oliver. It was on the outskirts of town, with far more land than the average suburban home. There was no harm in looking at it, she had said. If they were truly motivated, they may drop the price even lower. So that was how they had wound up standing in the circular driveway of a beautiful, if expansive, house. It was set far off the road, and she was already starting to fall in love with it, but Finnley tried to keep an open mind, “The porch is gorgeous,” she commented, noting the wrap around porch that disappeared to the side of the house. Their realtor had opened the front doors and then returned to the car to give them privacy for discussing the house, “The open space is really nice, too. It would be great for Jonas and his friends!” Oliver loved having Finnley around on a more permanent and consistent basis. True, most nights he had either been with her or she with him for months, but now their nights didn’t need to be coordinated around Jonas’ schedule--his schedule was their schedule now. As the weeks went on, it was easier to see how they would work as a family and it made him fall even more in love with his quirky fiancee than he’d been before. It also helped him wrap his head around this idea of them bringing disproportionate finances into the relationship. He’d been so concerned that there would be issues at some point down the road that he brought so much less to the table than she did, that they needed to find a home that was within both of their means. Seeing how content Finnley was in the tiny apartment that had only comfortably fit him and his son, and seeing how much joy being with them was brought to her, it caused something within him to shift. Their relationship wasn’t and never would be about money and, when it came right down to it, they both simply brought the prospect of family and being happy together to the table. They were equals in this and that meant that any life they could choose together would be within their collective means. And so Oliver had let himself open up to the idea of this house Finnley had loved so much from the listings. Standing in front of the house, he even found himself being able to picture clearly how they would fit into it. He could see nights spent sitting out on the porch with his family and Quincy and Violet. He could see exactly where he might set up and archery range and maybe even a pool where they could have parties for their family and friends in the summers. He hadn’t even been inside yet and he could already see a life here with Finnley and Jonas. Swallowing back a lump, Oliver smiled down at his future wife. “Want to see if the inside is as gorgeous as the outside?” She had seen pictures of the inside of the house, though she knew it was difficult to really get an idea of the floor plan without walking through the actual rooms of the house. It was probably too much, but it had room for them to host members of their family if anyone ever needed a bed. It had room to grow. She was looking not for a starter house that they might live in for a year or two while they settled into their lives together and got married only to upsize later. She was looking for their forever home. Finnley knew that it was some kind of luxury that she was able to do that. She knew that she had been born into that kind of luck in the way that Oliver hadn’t, and she tried to be sensitive to that. Still, she was about as frugal as it came with they money that she did have. She hoped that the fact that she had sold her first home and held onto the proceeds for the new one would be some amount of comfort for him. They were going to put into this house equally in all the ways that it really mattered. Money was secondary to the life and love that they brought to their family. A broad smile picked up the corners of Finnley’s lips and she answered, “I have a good feeling that it is, but of course I want to see.” Though it went against her general wardrobe, Finnley had worn one of her few pairs of sneakers to look at the house, knowing there would be stairs and walking on the grass outside. She still bounced a little on the balls of her feet as she led the way into the house, though, “I like the green,” she commented with a grin as they opened the front door and let themselves into a front entry way. There were openings that led to several different rooms, but she ducked into the widest doorway, ignoring the stairs to the upper level for now, “Whoa,” she breathed as she took in the large living space that could comfortably fit an array of furniture, “You have to admit that the natural light in this room is amazing. I’m pretty sure they couldn’t have fit more windows in here if they had tried, and I love it. We could put a tv right there and,” she gestured to the wide open space, “this is pillow fort city, baby. Not that I’ve ever made a pillow fort, but it sounds fun.” Oliver snorted at the green comment, not bothering to answer. Green was his color now, he supposed--though he had to admit that he’d always had a fondness for the color. He braced himself before stepping across the threshold behind Finnley, already knowing that he was going to love it. It was like he had this feeling that he’d been missing in all of the other places they’d looked at, this feeling that this was theirs. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, though, so he kept his expression schooled. That is, until Finnley’s confession. “How have you never made a pillow fort? Finnley, we’re making a pillow fort tonight.” He feigned a look of horror but couldn’t maintain it as a grin broke through it. They’d have lots of time in their future to make as many pillow forts as they wanted. Oliver took Finnley’s hand and tugged it, signaling her to follow him. “We have to see the most important room in any house, though. The kitchen.” He was unapologetically predictable and he pulled her with him toward where he assumed the kitchen might logically be and, sure enough, they found it. It was almost as massive as the one in Finnley’s old house had been and, was that-- Oliver felt the breath catch in his throat as he moved into a pantry off the kitchen. “Do you realize how much food I could store in here?” The sad truth of the matter was that Finnley had never made a pillow fort because her parents had looked down on such things as being beneath her. Finnley’s childhood had been more like pre-adulthood, which was perhaps why she was so enamored by doing things like going trick or treating with Jonas and attending his every school function and letting him occasionally eat ice cream for dinner. She had tried very hard to make Charlie’s childhood more kid-friendly than her own had been. She had extensively researched halloween costumes and birthday party traditions and how to ride bicycles if only so that her little sister would never be left out the way that she had been. That story, perhaps, was better reserved for within the confines of a pillow fort and as they were trying to gauge if this house could hold their future inside its walls, “I’m holding you to the pillow fort promise,” Finnley told him even as he pulled her from the living room towards the kitchen. It was easy to push out ideas of the shortcomings of her upbringing when she was looking at Oliver as he let his eyes roam over every inch of the kitchen. She held tightly to his hand, a small laugh leaving her lips as he spotted the pantry, “Enough food to feed Dunhaven two or three times over, I bet.” She smiled even wider and nudged his hip with her own, “With a pantry like this, we could keep so well stocked that we can just make whatever we want with very little planning because it would all just be here already. And when Jonas is a teenager and ready to eat us out of house and home, we can keep like three days worth of food in here.” Her quip was teasing. Jonas may never have an appetite that ravenous, but she had heard tales, “Did you see that island? So much counter space and even a secondary sink. My herb garden could easily go in that window, and Q said he would build me some raised garden boxes, which would be perfectly accessible just outside the double doors of the kitchen there.” It was impossible to deny the way Oliver felt his whole being light up inside the house. They’d barely seen a fraction of everything inside of it and he already felt the rightness of it. As easily as he had seen their lives growing outside, he could see it here, too, as she spoke. He loved that the future they envisioned involved her. He loved that when she talked about Jonas growing up, she was as much a part of the picture as Oliver was. The anxiety that typically hounded him when they talked about houses that he couldn’t normally afford on his own quieted as he looked at her while she spoke because it seemed so obvious now that it wasn’t about what he alone could provide but what they could create together. “I would love to have space for you to garden,” Oliver replied quietly as he turned toward her, his hands coming up to frame her face as he leaned down and stole a quick kiss from her. “And I love having enough storage space for all of this hypothetical food that Jonas is going to hypothetically inhale.” He stole another kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “As much as I could live in this kitchen alone, why don’t we head upstairs and see what other visions of our future the space inspires?” This felt like it had been a long time coming. They had decided months ago that they would move in together, and in that time they had gotten engaged and she had sold her house and moved into his apartment. She knew that finding a place that they both loved could take time, but for the first time, she felt like maybe this was finally it. She tried to envision it as he leaned in for a kiss, grinning against his lips at the thought of stolen moments like this on weeknights when he was off of work, and learning how to cook more than just pizza in this kitchen. She knew that Oliver and Jonas were her future. They were a seamless part of her life now. It was strange how well they fit when she never would have thought it before...it was strange how it felt like they’d just been waiting for her to step into their lives and round out their family. As soon as he suggested that they go upstairs, she reached to take one of his hands in hers and led him to the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Finnley pointed out the availability for a little sitting area by the windows before breezing onto the bedrooms. They scouted every room and bathroom, theorizing plans and admiring the finishing touches. Finnley was especially enamored by the master bathroom with the spa tub. There were more rooms than what they would really need right now, but they had space for guests or the eventual expansion of their family if they ever decided to have more children. There was a space for an at-home office for her, and a large bonus room that had been set up as a movie theatre. Even the space for the laundry was more than she ever could have asked for, and she was inordinately excited about it for someone who had only learned how to do laundry in the last few months. Her head was spinning with the possibilities. She was already thinking about bedroom suites and decor, but she knew that they would have to agree to put an offer in on the house first and she was likely getting ahead of herself. Finnley had tried to gauge how Oliver was feeling about the house as they went along, and she thought it was mostly positive, but she couldn’t help but ask as she leaned against a doorframe, “So...is it too much? It’s got a lot of space, for sure. More space than we really need, but it’s got really good bones and we could make little changes to make it our own. It definitely checks the boxes that we wanted and then some?” This was it. Oliver could feel it in his bones that this was their home, the one he would make and build with Finnley and Jonas and anyone else they brought into their growing family. As they wound through the rooms and Oliver continued to be able to picture their lives there, all of his objections and concerns and insecurities fell away. What was more important, he thought, than investing in the future they created together? Oliver looked at Finnley, drinking in the way the setting sun poured in through the windows behind her and silhouetted her in the doorway. She absolutely took his breath away and she had done from the moment he'd met her at the restaurant. That night felt like a lifetime ago, like there couldn't have possibly been a time when he'd only known this beautiful, intelligent, compassionate woman by her preferred table number and dinner menu. She was so much more to him now and if the rightness of the house didn't sell it for him, the look of barely contained joy and excitement on her face did. "Let's do it," he said in answer to her question. The truth was that it probably was too much and that it was ten times the space they really needed just then. It didn't matter, though, not now that he knew that, at some point on this short tour of the property, both of their hearts had set on it. "Let's do it and if it's too big, we'll just have to fill it with more of us," he continued, a grin widening across his face. She was fairly certain she felt her heart leap in her chest as he suggested that they get this house. It was one that she wouldn’t have even suggested to him a few months ago when discussions of finances had halted their looking on several properties. She only needed to look at the smile upon his face to know that he was as in love with this house as she was. For the first time, she didn’t feel the need to worry about whether or not he would be content with the unevenly split financial burden. He wouldn’t have committed if he wasn’t all in, and this was happening. It was really, finally happening. Letting out a small squeal of excitement, Finnley bounced twice and propelled herself towards him. She tossed her arms around his shoulders as she leaned in and claimed a kiss to his lips, pressed onto her toes. A small flurry of kisses and a broad grin was followed by an almost breathless laugh, “More of us sounds good. Really good.” She tugged her lower lip between her teeth even as she grinned, “We found our house, Oliver. All of our searching and planning paid off. I know they still have to accept an offer, but...this is it. This is home.” Of course, anywhere could be home as long as they were there together, but there was something about this place that made her feel at ease and excited all at once. Their future was held within these walls. Oliver easily caught Finnley in his arms and welcome every kiss she gave him. This decision felt good to him and it made her happy, too, and that was ultimately all that he really cared about. He knew that Jonas would love the place and he knew that it was going to give them plenty of room to grow whenever that time came. He laughed, the sound light and exuberant as he said, “Now we just need to work on that getting married part and we’ll be good to go.” “Getting married is high on my list of priorities,” she assured him with a wise nod even as she kept her arms around his shoulders and leaned into his chest, “We can work on setting a date and sorting out all the details once we’re settled. But don’t think that will stop me from immediately putting up “Sparks” home decor because we’ll all match soon enough. I’m already working on replacing all my monogrammed stuff and I probably preemptively ordered new business cards because I got a little excited.” She still hadn’t opened the package with those cards, thinking it would be too tempting to use them, “First...we make an offer on this house and then we move in and then we get married.” Oliver laughed. She was ridiculous, but she was his favorite sort of ridiculous because it was so incredibly her. It didn’t surprise him in the least that she’d already started on switching over to Sparks and he loved it. He would have happily married her the night he’d proposed and he knew it. The when didn’t matter much to him because he knew that it was an inevitability. He smiled and pushed her hair back off of her face and stole one more kiss. “Alright, Almost Mrs. Sparks. Let’s go buy us a house.” |