“You guys having a picnic? When’d you bring all this stuff over?” Amelia asked and grabbed herself a beer from the cooler before finding a seat next to Dean.

“Since Abigail didn't want to go inside, I thought it'd be fun if I ran home and brought back a bunch of drinks and snacks for everyone.” Rosalie replied while she grabbed a beer and handed it to Jane, who gladly accepted it.

Jane cracked open the cap of the bottle and took a deep swig, letting the refreshing ice cold feeling of beer sooth her sweaty body. This was the stuff! She took another sip before exhaling loudly after releasing the beer from her mouth, and then she joined everyone on the blanket.

“So what do you think? It's pretty good, just needs a few touch ups right?” Jane asked a little jokingly to rest of them.

“Ha! Wait till you hear what we have to say about the outside of your place.” Dean chimed in and then asked Jane, “Here pass me your notebook and I'll add everything we found out here and add to your own notes.”

Jane nodded and passed Dean her notebook and pencil, then waited on the picnic blanket as Dean and Jeff looked through her notebook together and started writing things down. She enjoyed a few snacks Rosalie had brought along and told Rosalie and Eric what they had found, earning her a disgusted face from Rosalie.

“So you got your own place now and you're planning to live here with Mira right?” Eric asked her.

“That's the plan besides also starting my own business here as well.” Jane sighed. “Mira’s family situation is a little complicated though, so I'm hoping everything works out.”

“Why is that?”

“Have I not told you yet?”

Eric shook his head.

“Well, she's part of a nomadic tribe so if she chooses to come live with me, that means leaving her own family for the most part— and that's only if her tribe approves of her leaving. if they disapprove and she still leaves, then she would get banished for good.” Jane explained. “At least that's what she told me.”

Eric puffed out a sigh, “I also really want to meet her so lets pray for the best then.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Eric said, “On a more happy note, you better invite me over once it's all done.” Eric took a swig of beer and then stared at Jane who stared back with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course… why are you looking at me like that?” She had to inquire as to why he was staring at her.

“Just taking in the fact you're actually back.” Eric replied. “I was a little lonely when you left at first, but eventually I managed to find another group of friends— even a girlfriend. I'm hoping you can get along with them all and hopefully I can do the same with your friends.”

Jane leaned her back against his side, closed her eyes and said, “I'm glad you managed to find other friends— but if they think they can take my place as your number one friend… oh they better watch out!”

Eric chuckled hearing her joke around, “Well they might be getting close.”

“Hoho will see about that.” They laughed together and spent the next few minutes relaxing until she saw Dean and Jeff nod to each other, then proceeded to hand the notebook back over to Jane.

‘This better not be too bad.’ She slowly opened up her notebook to discover a compiled list of all the tasks she would have to do to make sure this place was completely fixed up. The list was separated into two main sections; the inside and the outside.

Outdoor

* Replace or get rid of all the fences. Rotted.

* Get rid of all the weeds.

* Replace or get rid of the wooden steps along the path. Rotted or unstable

* Touch up the bridge by the creek. Little unstable and partially rotted.

* Seal up the holes or openings in the house. Prevent pests.

* Replace the eavestroughs. Cracked.

Indoor

* Clean the place of dust and cobwebs.

* Clean the windows and reseal them.

* Clean the floor.

* Check for mold.

* Remove any dead animals, bugs or other pests.

* Replace furniture and other similar accessories (curtains, desks, lamps).

* Replace kitchen appliances.

* Get rid of all the junk.

* If possible, get a group of elementalists to make sure the runes are all working properly.

There were a few more items on the list, but these were the main tasks at hand. It wasn't as bad as Jane thought it would be, but it was still a long list she’d have to go through eventually. How long would all this take? She had no clue.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Replacing stuff was easy, but getting rid of the junk, resealing the holes, and doing a deep, deep clean was going to be a pain in the ass. Beside all of this, she needed to figure out what she herself wanted when the house was in a livable state. The house was huge and there was a lot she could do or not do with it.

Did she need a library room? The books in there looked fine but she wasn't much of a reader. What did she want to have in the basement since it's empty? There were a lot of questions she’d have to ask herself, about what she wanted in her house. Those questions were for a later date but she might as well try and brainstorm some ideas sooner than later.

“This is gonna take some time…” Jane mumbled to herself looking through the list again.

“Well…”Jeff looked at Rosalie who nodded at him. “We’d be happy to help you with some of it, but we do have our own chores to get through— and then there's also Abigail we need to watch over. Hopefully when we have some free time we can help you.”

“Oh if you ever need Abigail off yer hands we’d be happy to take her whenever you want. I'm sure Abigail would like to spend time with Emily and Alex instead of being stuck at home all the time.” Amelia said then turned to Jane. “We’d also be able to pitch in some hours as well, but it's quite busy at the farm since we were in the middle of replanting everything.”

“I’d love to have you all help, just make sure you aren't putting off any of your own tasks. I'm in no rush to finish this place up.” Jane replied, happy to hear everyone's support for her.

“It's a parent's job to help their children— but if you pitch in with some chores around the house as well we’d have more time to help you.” Jeff said, getting a nod in return from Jane.

“Ya I’d be happy to, I guess I haven't really helped out around the house yet.” Jane rubbed the back of head a little embarrassed. It was the fourth day since she first arrived in Redwood and she had been doing her own thing, she had forgotten all about her family duties.

“No no, don't worry about any of that! You’re your own woman now so you can do whatever you want… But some help around the farm would help out a lot.” Rosalie chimed in and stood up. “Speaking of chores though— we gotta get back to finish the day's tasks, we're a little behind after all.”

After saying that, everyone else followed suit and stood up.

“That's right, we gotta get back on the farm.” Amelia chugged the last bit of her beer and placed the empty back in the cooler. “Let me take Abigail off your hands and give you one less thing to worry about today.”

“You sure?” Rosalie handed Abigail over to Amelia’s arms, who snuggly held her tightly.

“She and Emily haven't hung out recently and I bet they’d love to see each other— plus I got older kids able to watch over them while we go about our own chores. Win-win.” Amelia replied and bopped Abigail on the nose, getting a giggle in return.

“That sounds like a plan— thanks!” Rosalie started to pack up alongside Jeff, while Amelia, Dean and Abigail said their goodbyes and headed back to the Frier’s place.

“What are you two gonna do? It's almost evening already.” Jeff asked, the picnic items already packed up.

“Well we're supposed to go to Danielle's house later this evening, not sure what we can do in the meantime though, maybe start putting a dent in the list of tasks.” Jane replied with a scowl at the end of that sentence.

“Actually we can head over now if you want. I usually arrive early and chill there before the others arrive.” Eric said. “Plus everyone normally arrives early anyways so it's probably fine to head over now.”

Jane thought about it for a second before asking, ”I don't wanna intrude on you two’s time together though, I can arrive at the normal time.”

“We have plenty of time together so don't worry about that. I don't think Danielle would mind either— actually she’d probably be more happy to have us both there.” Eric replied. “Unless you don't want to, then feel free to come by later.”

“Nah, actually I'd love to come now, I really don't wanna start fixing this house today. I've already seen enough of it in one day.” Jane took one last look at her new home before she grabbed Eric's shoulder and said, “Let's go then!”

“Don't stay out too late— ah who am I kidding, do whatever you want!” Jeff yelled at Jane who had started scampering off with Eric. She looked back at him and grinned while giving him a thumbs up.

Jeff watched as his daughter got further away, walking side by side with her best friend while basking in the late afternoon sun. He felt complete now. The last four years were great, they even had another child, but now it felt like the last missing puzzle piece in his life was finally found. A slight breeze brushed past his bald head and poufy facial hair, while a smile blossomed on his fuzzy lips.

“Alright that's enough, let's get back already.” Rosalie interrupted his ‘dad stare’, and with a blanket tucked under her arm, she grabbed Jeff’s own arm and dragged him towards the Bluegold hill.

“You just don't get it, I was having a moment.” Jeff begrudgingly said to his wife.

“Ya, a middle aged moment.” Rosalie replied snarkily, and instead of an annoyed expression from Jeff, he looked at her with a grin. “Stop giving me that face, I know what you're thinking.” Rosalie snorted.

“I really love that sharp tongue of yours.” Jeff commented and saw Rosalie huff in embarrassment. He reached his arm around Rosalie's waist and pulled her in close.

“Don't you think you should soothe your husband after saying such harsh words to him, who knows he might just be angry.” Jeff smirked and lowered his hand towards Rosalie’s bottom.

“Soothe my ass!” Rosalie chided but realized what she had said too late. Jeff could only nod and do exactly as she instructed.

“Jeffrey… What am I gonna do with you? At least save it for when we're back home.” Rosalie whispered, blushing like a schoolgirl.

“You're adorable.” Seeing the angry stare he got in return after saying that, he raised his hand off her bottom and back onto her waist. “Save it till we're back home— that's exactly what I'm gonna do then.” Jeff chuckled.

The childish married couple half flirted and half argued during their walk back to their house, their love still going strong as ever. What happened later that night was not for others to know about.