A house needs to be filled with love, warmth, and people to truly be a home. It also needs to have inviting spaces that create and reflect love and warmth. Sunday afternoon, Ava and Johnny scoured furniture and department stores. They used part of Ava's golf tournament money to buy what they needed in terms of furniture and finishings. The tournament money is a huge blessing to them.
It was an interesting time picking out furniture together, but they needed it for their house. In each store, they tested out mattresses, which proved frustrating. This is because she likes a soft mattress while he likes it a little more firm. Together they compromised, with one that fits both their needs. Half the battle in relationships is compromised with giving and taking.
Same with the living room furniture. He wanted all leather and she did not. She put her hands on her hips and told him "Johnny all leather furniture is not practical. What if we get a dog and it scratches it all up? Or what if when we start having kids and the kids scratch it all up?"
Not listening to his wife, he lounged on a brown leather sofa. "We will forbid the animal and kids from sitting on it." He thought that would be the perfect solution.
Putting her hand over her face, she muttered "Are you kidding?" Looking up at him, she then explained "I love you but we are not getting leather. It ruins too easily." In the end, they got a linen blend living room set and a leather club chair. The best of both.
The couple could breathe a sigh of relief. All of the furniture had been bought, and scheduled for delivery, late Monday. One of the main elements for their home has now been obtained. It's a huge check mark off their list.
Next up are the finishings. The Nordstrom home department also provided for compelling discussions. Ready to pull out his hair, Johnny wanted to know "Why do we need a million towels and sheets. And what does the darn thread count matter?" If they look at one more white sheet set he's going to lose his mind. White sheets are white sheets.
Ava narrowed her hazel eyes at him. "Because dear, not all sheets are equal. The higher the thread count the better quality they are. They will last longer and feel better to your skin. Plus it's good to have multiple quantities." Thank God she listened to her grandmother's sheet picking talk, years ago. She'll never forget it, as her grandmother is picky, to begin with. She also made a mental note to NEVER take her husband linen shopping ever again. He has zero patience for it.
Sheets, towels, rugs, pillows, curtains, it's all ridiculous to him. A sheet is a sheet. A towel is a towel and a pillow is a pillow. It doesn't make any difference to him how fluffy they are, but his wife assures him it does matter. And then she told him to go pick out more towels for the guest bathrooms. Any color she says. Grumbling all the way back to the stupid towels, again, he picked out several sets in bold red, navy, forest green, and sunny yellow.
Clearly, she lied because the minute she saw the guest towels she huffed out a breath. What an eyesore those colors are. Mumbling under her breath, she said quietly "If you want something done right you have to do it yourself." She noted to NEVER let him pick out towels ever again, alone. Putting them all back, she chose softer and neutral colors like cream, light grey, soft blue, creamy green, and peach. So much better.
As soon as all of the linens and things were purchased, and dropped off at Sid's beach house, they rested. They've already had all of the utilities turned on in the house. Johnny contacted the cable guys to hook up the TV, which will be on Tuesday morning sometime, as well as the phone. So now all they have to do is wait until the signing. They both decided that after they sign at one, and all the furniture is delivered by five, they're going to talk to their parents. They're going to tell them the truth and hope for the best.
The next day brought a lot of anxious energy, for similar but different reasons. Johnny's tension stems from the house signing. What if something goes wrong? What if they decide to not sell at the last minute? What if they decide they want more money? What if the check he writes doesn't go through, which is stupid because it's his own money and account. So many thoughts are going through his head and if one idiot even dares to piss him off, he's likely to blow up (at least until the signing is over).
Ava's concern is for the dreaded conversation with their parents. Once they sign for the house, then it's there's. No, take-backs. They will officially be true adults. Not that they haven't been, because legally they're both eighteen. But what eighteen-year-old gets married over Christmas Break their Senior year? What eighteen-year-old buys a house? But then what eighteen-year-old has over a million dollars in the bank, by having a financial advisor turn a profit during seventh grade? Only Johnny Lawrence, her husband. Sometimes he's a total wildcard.
As soon as they inform their parents, then that's it. The cat will be out of the proverbial bag. And you can't put it back in either. It's like in her favorite movie Dirty Dancing, no one puts Baby in a corner. It's incredibly scary. A line is drawn in the sand basically. On one side is adulthood and on the other childhood. She and Johnny are still in the middle, until tonight. It's also their parents on one side and them on the other. They will have no one to depend on except themselves and all the responsibility that comes with it.
When they both kissed their parents goodbye, that morning, they were literally kissing them goodbye. It's bittersweet. They know what's coming next. All the way to school, both of their cars are filled with silence despite the radio on. Very different from how it normally is.
They knew they had to take both vehicles today. As soon as they finished the signing, and met all of the various delivery guys, they'd leave her car at the house and take his to their parents. Their vehicles are something they've discussed too. Ava had asked "What if they make us take over the car payments, which they probably will? What will we do Johnny?"
His answer was to smirk. Her mind thinks of every angle. She overthinks and he comes up with solutions. "Then we take over the payments. You do realize I can buy our cars outright with my money?" That calmed her mind considerably, even though she still hates him having to use his money.
At school, they were able to park side-by-side, despite Ava running late. She caught up with him and their friends. Her nerves are frazzled thanks to her idiot brother and traffic. Looking at Johnny, she wondered "Why did we decide to come to school today?"
"Because you said we need a distraction. I told you we could have a distraction just fine at the beach house, but you didn't listen." He waggled his eyebrows to prove his point.
Stepping into his embrace, she replied "Remind me to listen to you next time." They hugged and then she turned around in his arms, to look at their friends. She and Johnny are having them all over Friday night for dinner. It's great because it gives them time to get settled in.
Gazing around their circle, Ava noticed everyone there except Rachel and Dawn. Which is funny, because it gave Tommy time to talk about one of them specifically. "Yeah, I think I may ask Dawn out. She's my type."
Dutch declared with a straight face, "If I had a dollar for every time you said you were going to ask someone out, I'd be broke." Jimmy cracked a smile at his statement.
Pointing his finger, Tommy proclaimed "Ha, ha, ha you're hilarious Man. So full of jokes today." Turning to Ava, he asked "Do I have a chance? Be honest."
Does he have a chance? Personally she thinks he does. They would be cute. Another friend project, but it would have to wait until next week. "Any guy has a chance with her unless they're a total idiot or an ass," she answered with honesty.
All of a sudden Dutch and Jimmy doubled over in laughter, they took Bobby with them. The only reason Johnny didn't laugh is that Ava may have pinched his arm, to be quiet. Tommy glared at all three of them. "You're all a riot. A total riot," he took his binder and stormed off to his locker.
Bobby followed after him, "Hey Man. Wait up! Don't rush off! We were only joking." To  which Dutch yelled, "Speak for yourself, Robert." But he followed his feisty friend too, along with Jimmy.
Shaking her head at them, Ava told Johnny "I'm glad you didn't laugh. Poor Tommy."
His eyes stared at her as he rubbed his arm. "Poor Tommy? Poor me. My arm is going to have a bruise where you pinched it. Ow!"
Mocking his hurt, Ava consoled him. "Poor baby. Do I need to call the ambulance?" She rubbed his arm. He glared while she laughed.
The both of them sat through boring history and science lectures, followed by fun electives of shop class(him) and library (her). While he was adding the transmission to the car rebuild, she was helping Ms. Minter catalog returned books. The Dewey decimal system, fun stuff. Ha, ha.
Finally, lunch came and not a moment too soon. If she had to file any more cards in the card catalog she may scream (in the library). Dusting her hands off on her leopard print skirt, and picking up her purse, she told Ms. Minter goodbye. Then she went to sign out at the office and met Johnny at his car. They were both all smiles.
"This is it, Babe. The beginning of our future," he kissed her in greeting. Then they loaded up in their respective cars and drove to the Sandcastle Cove realtor office. On the drive over, he cleared his mind and tried to stay positive, not thinking the rug will get pulled out any moment. Although a grimace was permanently fixed on his handsome face.
When they arrived and got out, they held hands all the way into the office. The same secretary was there, but today she was not filing her nails. Today she is polishing them. Ava still is not impressed.
Meredith met them after being buzzed in. She led them to the conference room, where the other couple (the previous owners) were already waiting. It was obvious they weren't expecting Johnny and Ava to be so young, by the expressions on their faces when they walked in. They all shook hands though.
The other couple's realtor, Mark, got things rolling by going over the paperwork. Meredith interjected where needed. After talking about how Johnny's check cleared the bank this morning, the other couple was floored. They had no idea their house would be bought outright. The fact this young couple is able to do that left them dumbfounded. Mr. Habner, the previous owner could only sputter words, while his wife thanked them. "We're truly thankful the two of you are wanting to purchase our house. Seeing you both only confirms our decision in selling. We're glad it's going to a nice, young couple like yourselves."
Then the signing began. And it took... forever. They started at one-thirty and didn't finish signing until almost three. Ava knew Johnny is stressed by this, just by the look of exhaustion on his face. Not to mention his jaw and neck are tight. So, she placed her free hand on his leg. The last thing was Meredith handing them both sets of house keys and the two garage openers. That was it. They are now officially homeowners.
Upon shaking the Habner's hands, and hugging Meredith, they exited the building. Apart from holding hands, the two of them didn't say anything. She knows when Johnny is tense like this it's best to not speak. He'll speak when he's ready. They got in their cars and followed each other to their house. THEIR house!
The for-sale sign had been taken down and the lockbox removed from the door. They parked in their garage, exited, and went into their new house. The garage door leads them into a mudroom, which goes into the kitchen. Johnny stopped in his tracks. He picked his wife up and twirled her around. She giggled the whole time.
Pulling her into an embrace, the flood gates opened (for both of them). The tension from the signing was released and replaced by happy tears, of fully realizing a dream. And for once the other shoe didn't drop and the rug wasn't pulled out from under him.
"How did I get so lucky?" he questioned. "Things like this just don't happen for Johnny Lawrence."
Rubbing his back, she answered. "Because it's the right time for a blessing." A smile lit up his face and his blue eyes sparkled. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
Since there was nothing to do but wait for the delivery guys, and they were both hungry, Johnny went to get them food. She also asked him to go by the beach house and pick up all of the towels and linens and things. With a grumpy moan, he left through the garage.
While he was gone, Ava walked around her house. Her mind is full of furniture placements and where everything should go. By the time Johnny returned, the appliance deliveries were there. The guys from Sears were hooking up the washer and dryer set when he came in. He noticed the refrigerator and stove had already been connected.
Starving, Ava tore into the food from Burger King. Johnny ate and oversaw the men. Once they finished in the laundry room, they connected the dishwasher. No sooner had the appliance guys left than the furniture delivery arrived, on three trucks. First, they set up the living room to Ava's specifications. Then they tackled the dining room, island stools, sunroom furniture, and Johnny's "man cave". Last but not least, came the bedrooms starting with the master suite. Everything was gloriously arranged and secured, down to the last bolt.
As soon as the crew left, Johnny laid down on their bed. The day has been exhausting and the parent conversation hasn't even started. She joined him. They just lay there, too drained to do anything. But they had to get up. "Do we have to?" he asked with a whine.
Turning her head to look at him, she confirmed "Yes. We have to. We have to have this conversation. Then we can come back and sleep." She grabbed his hand. They stayed lying just a bit longer. Hoping all the while that things would go well with the parent conversation. If they only knew what awaited them, then perhaps they would have chosen to stay like that.