Chapter 120

Sunday evening, at the usual time, Melody heard the doorbell. Finally her kids were home. She went to open the door, all four of them stood there, for some reason she had missed them more than usual. It had been an emotional week for her.

She hugged them all before they went to their room and she turned to Rob. “So what did you need to talk about?” She asked him.
“I don’t know if you’re gonna like this.” He started off.
The tone of his voice made Melody nervous, like something bad was going to happen. “What is it?”
“I got a job offer.”
“Well that’s good.” She knew the job offer from New York that he had been putting down for years, he couldn’t be accepting that now.
“It’s in a different state.” He added.

Confused, Melody looked at him, he never wanted to take the job because it was in a different state and he would lose custody of the kids. “Which state?” She asked him, wondering how far away this amazing job was going to be.
“New York.”
“New York?” Melody asked.
“Yeah.”
“The state I’ve been wanting to move for a few years to be closer to work?” She was getting angry.
“I guess so.”
“It’s the job you never wanted to take isn’t it. The one you wouldn’t take so I could move to New York too and have things a little easier.” She asked.
“I guess.” He repeated.

Melody sighed frustrated, that’s what she had been worried about? She could finally move to New York, have a place closer to Jon, closer to work. She wouldn’t have to get up at 5 am anymore when she worked the long hours.

“So you don’t mind if I take the job?” Rob asked a little uneasy.
“No, it would be my pleasure, take it.” She urged. It was only a thing she had wanted for years.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll tell the kids next week then.” Rob said before leaving.

Melody almost made a little jump of joy, thinking of all the extra time she could spent with Jon if she lived in New York. She just had to start looking for a new house, already getting excited.

Instead she found her kids already in front of the tv. “Do you guys ever do anything else?”
“Not much.” Ryan answered her.
Melody sighed and sat in the nearest empty spot next to J. “So how was the week?” She asked nobody in particular.
“Fine.” J answered.

Melody sighed again, less tv, they needed much less tv.

Finally Faith was the first to acknowledge her presence and came over to sit in her lap. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Melody hugged her tightly.

She was relieved when she finally could turn off the tv. As usual Faith went to bed an hour after they arrived and the boys remembered last minute homework they still had to do. So it was pushing 9.30 pm and Melody sat alone, quietly in the living room. Unsure whether to call Jon or go house hunting. She loved looking at houses, especially the ones she couldn’t afford.

Finally she decided on her laptop and browsed the internet for online realtors in New York City, to see what she could find and how close to Jon she could actually be before she really got her hopes up.

She opened the page, typing in the state name, maximum price and bedrooms and clicked search.
Most of what she found were apartments, which wasn’t surprising for New York City, most of the buildings were apartment buildings anyway.

She loved having a back yard but the kids were old enough to not need it anymore and a terrace would be just fine according to her too.

Before she knew it, she was really looking at apartments instead of just browsing, saving the ones she liked most. She even emaild one of the realtors to see if she could get an appointment to view it. She loved the building and the apartment itself was beautiful. The kitchen was fairly new. Enough bedrooms that even J and Tyler would have their own room. Of course there wouldn’t be a den, but that would be fine. The living room was bright, along with the kitchen and a separate dining room.

She started to get excited about it, she liked it a lot and it looked perfect. According to google maps it was only a ten minute walk to work. Which was perfect, she’d save so much money on gas that way.

Excited about her search, she finally phoned Jon, not looking up at the time.

“Hey.” She said as soon as he picked up.
Hi, you okay?” He asked a little confused.
“Of course, why?” Melody asked a little confused herself.
“Cause it’s passed 11.”

Melody looked up at the clock, realizing he was right.

“I’m sorry, calling you this late. I can call back tomorrow.”
“Oh no, talk to me now. What’s up?” He asked.
“Well I finally talked to Rob.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he got a job offer in a different state.” She explained.
“Oh.” He sounded disappointed.
Melody almost felt bad for teasing him. “Yeah and I can’t lose my kids, so I have to move too.”
“What?”
“I can’t just let him move. Unless we go to court and make a huge custody thing out of it.” She continued.
“Where’s he moving to?” Jon finally asked, thinking it would be bad.
“New York.”

Jon groaned frustrated. “You’re evil.”
“Who? Me?” Melody asked innocently, she couldn’t help but laugh a little, she was only teasing him.
“Yes you!” He said sharply. “You made me think you we’re going to the other side of the country or something.”
“But if I had said New York from the start, you wouldn’t be so relieved now.” Melody pointed out. She still found her joke funny.
“I would have been a lot happier at the first mention.” He said. “Cause New York could mean, move in with me.” He said happily.
“Where are four more kids going to fit in your apartment?” Melody asked. “Besides, I already found this perfect spot, only 10 minutes walk from you.”
“I can just get a bigger place.” Jon pointed out.
“You can’t do that. If we were married or something, then you could but not now.” Melody said without thinking of her words.
“I’ll think of something.”
“I really like this place and I’m pretty sure I can get it.” Melody tried to convince him.

Finally they both let the moving part go and Jon told Melody about his day with Jake. Which started around 10 and ended about 12 hours later, it had been a late bed time for Jake but Jon knew he definitely made up for his birthday and to him that was all that mattered, his kids their happiness.