It was early spring when my wife Cathy and I decided it was time to move. We had been married for 2 years at this point. However we had been living together for 2 years prior to that. The entire time we had been together we had been living in a two bed room mother-in law apartment above my parent’s 2 ½ car garage. The rent was unbelievably good at only $300 a month. Not to mention there were many if not most nights where dinner was provided by my parents in the main house. But at the same time it was often inconvenient and there was a definite lack of privacy and intimacy available. Since Cathy and I had started talking about starting a family we both realized that we first had to move out and be totally independent.

So we started looking at several small ranch style homes. We didn’t need anything fancy to start off with. Not that we couldn’t afford something larger or nicer. It just made no sense since we both worked a lot and were only home a short time every day with the exception to sleep. There were several that just where not what we were looking for. It seemed there was always something that either one of use or both of use didn’t like about the place.

Then one day we found the perfect 3 bed room ranch on a dead end road. It had everything we were looking for in a house. Everything was up to code, brand new roof, completely remodeled and modernized kitchen. Plus an added bonus was the attached 2 car garage. Being that we lived in the northeast and the winters could be real nasty this was great. No trudging through the snow in the mornings to go to work. There was also a nice big yard complete with a tire swing and a big porch complete with a swing overlooking the pond down the road. It was ideal for a family just starting out.

We made an offer on this piece of heaven. Not to our surprise the offer was gladly accepted. In the back of mind I thought that the whole process was way too easy. I also felt that the overall asking price seemed too low for such a well maintained home. But, who was I to second guess the owner or to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was finally time to move out of my parents and become a real grown up.

The day finally came, the papers were signed and the keys were in our hands. The first night we had officially owned the home we had decided to have a picnic dinner and camp in our new living room. The rest of our belongings wouldn’t be there until the next day with the moving crew. It was a great night, other than our wedding night and honeymoon it was one of the most romantic nights we had ever spent together. Waking up in the morning with my beautiful wife wrapped in my arms of our new home was absolutely amazing and I could not wait to start our new adventure together.

It didn’t take use too long to become completely comfortable in our new home. Throughout the summer Cathy had a fresh vegetable garden she cared for on the weekends while I did yard work to keep the place up. Every night we would sit on our porch swing with a glass of wine and watch the sun set over the pond before heading off to bed together. We never had to worry about alone time out here since our nearest neighbor was 2 miles down the road. As to the intimacy that was far from a problem, now believe me.

It was early fall when everything started to change. Cathy came home one afternoon with some amazing news. She had been to the doctors early that week since she had not been feeling well. It turned out that she was pregnant and we were both finally going to be parents. Talk about having to grow up fast. We were both ecstatic about the prospect though. This house had been the answers to all our hopes and prayers. At least it seemed that way at the time.

I hope you all enjoyed part one of this two part short story. Check back on 3/24 for the gripping end to this story. If you enjoyed this story please give it a like to let me know. Also if you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions for future entries please feel free to leave it in the comments.

Check back next Friday at 1500 or 3 PM for a new blog on the historical significance of St. Patrick’s Day.