After filing his company for bankruptcy, Kyle's wife leaves him and his three-year-old son. Now a forty-two-year-old divorcee with no parenting skills or money, Kyle decides to move back to the small home town he grew up in.
He should have lost all...
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Chaska and Kyle were able to make the down payment on the little townhouse. The young man who was leaving for the city has handed them the keys before rambling on about how he would be expecting his monthly payments even though he wouldn't be in town anymore. Chaska and Kyle had promised him that, and they quickly went on to scoop the house and figure out what needed to be done so that they could move in by the end of the year.
The typical things like checking the plumbing, fixing up the woodwork, and switching out light bulbs were tasks that were done within a week. Changing tiles, painting, and putting up wallpaper took most of the time. That's what Chaska and Kyle were currently doing on one of those few days when they were off work at the same time.
"I hope he doesn't ruin it," Kyle said, climbing down from the ladder before staring at the wall he's just wallpapered.
"He won't. He promised," Chaska said, coming up behind the man. They were in what would soon be Otis' room. It was half the size of theirs that would be across the hallway. They had gotten the toddler to pick out wallpaper himself, and he had gone for ponies against a green background.
Kyle sighed, picking up the ladder again. "I'm still a bit worried," he said, making Chaska chuckle. They had cleaned out the garage, painted the walls of what would be their shared bedroom, and they had finished up tiling in the living room. The only thing left was deciding if they wanted to use wallpaper or paint in the living room.
"Do you think we need child gates?" Kyle asked, walking out of the room with the ladder in his hands. Chaska followed behind him with their tools.
"You mean those short gates by doors?"
"Yes."
"Why? Otis is going to be four years old soon, and he'll grow taller than them before we can count to five," Chaska said as the two men made their way down the stairs. "Maybe if we had a dog, but it's just the cats," Chaska muttered as Kyle hummed in agreement.
"You're right," the older man said dropping the ladder to the side when they got into the living room. "I guess I keep forgetting how old he is," Kyle said walking over to take a seat on the couch they had brought with them a week back.
Slowly they were emptying out Chaska's apartment, and soon they would start sleeping over at the house. Chaska dropped their tools before heading to join Kyle on the couch.
Kyle was tired, but it was fulfilling tiredness. He was going to say goodbye to his old apartment and move to a proper house—despite its smallness, its location, and the fact that they were paying for it in installments, it was still their own place. He was proud. A lot prouder and happier than when he had bought a McMansion in the suburbs with Anastasia.
"The first thing I'm going to do when we're here for the first night is to make dinner, then do laundry," Chaska yawned as he pulled Kyle's head to rest on his shoulder. "It's been a long few weeks," Chaska muttered, and Kyle hummed in agreement.
