Priceless & Broken

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror.

"Aubrey, what do you think of the house?" Miley asked from the door way.

"It's great." I forced a smile on my face.

I was ready to just settle somewhere and start taking control of my life again. I was ready to move on from my past.

"You sure you want a house so... small? I told you I would buy us a house."

I shook my head quickly. "No, that's your money. I would never take money from you."

"You aren't taking money from me if I want to buy it."

I let out a sigh. "Honestly, I don't know how long I'm staying here. I'm here because I want to move on and gain control over my life again. The duration of my stay depends on how long that takes."

Miley put her hands out in front of her and sighed. "All right, but at least let me buy a house. It doesn't have to be a big one -- just a nicer one."

I looked at her hesitantly. I closed my eyes, thinking it through. I bit my lip and slowly began to nod my head.

"Is it a yes?" Miley asked, her voice dripping with enthusiasm.

"It's a yes," I stated, opening my eyes back up.

"Let's go tell the realtor." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the master bathroom.

I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but I was hoping it would pay off in the end.

The realtor showed us about five more houses, leaving me exhausted. Miley told her we would sleep on the choices and get back to her tomorrow, which I was completely thankful for. All five houses were extremely beautiful, and I could tell we were going to have a hard time deciding.

We stopped by a fast food restaurant before going to a hotel for the night. Stormy was getting sleepy; I could tell by the way she kept dozing off in her car seat.

I kept my cell phone ringer on a low volume so it wouldn't give me a heart attack when Joe called tonight.

We had apologized. I didn't take back what I said and neither did he. We were civil, though. He, Kevin, and Danielle decided to go back to L.A. the day before, but he didn't fail to warn me that I wasn't getting rid of him. He insisted that he call daily to check up on us. He made sure he wasn't going to lose touch. He was even pushing for monthly visits. I couldn't tell if he's kidding, though, since it was Joe; I doubted it was a joke.

We checked into the closest hotel and quickly made our way to our room. I pulled some night attire out of a little duffel bag I brought with me. I swiftly changed, and, as if on cue, my phone started ringing. I took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Hello, Joseph," I said, calmly.

"Hello, Aubrey. How was your day?"

I laid back on the bed and yawned. "Very exhausting. We decided to get a different house. We haven't made our final decision, though."

"Oh, really? That's a pleasant surprise. How's your arm?"

I rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"Broken," I stated with sarcasm.

"Have you been taking your medicine?"

"What are you -- my dad? Of course I've been taking my medicine."

Joe chuckled on the other end. "What's Stormy doing?"

I glanced at the small figure lying beside me.

"She's sleeping. She's building a habit of sucking her thumb." I chuckled dryly.

"All right, well it seems like everything's going good. I'll talk to you again tomorrow."

"Night, Joey." I yawned again into the phone.

"Night, Bree."

I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed the end button before laying it on the night stand beside me.

***

I opened my eyes and looked around the hotel room. I could see the brightness of the sun shining around the curtains. I threw the covers off of me and stood onto the cool floor. I grabbed a change of clothes and made my way to the bathroom. Today would be the day Miley and I moved into our new house. Sure, we haven't had it finalized, but I couldn't help but hope. I was ready to begin my new life for the second time.

When I came out of the bathroom, I saw that Miley had finished her phone call with the realtor. I got Stormy dressed while Miley got herself dressed in the bathroom.

"So, what are the plans for today?" I asked, plopping down on the unmade bed.

"Well, first, we're going to stop and get breakfast. Then, we shall go to a bank and see if I can get some money out here in Texas. After that, we're meeting up with the realtor to sign the papers on that one house, and then, we're moving in."

I nodded my head with a smile on my face.

"What's going to happen if you can't get any money out today?" I asked curiously.

"I'll fly out to L.A. and then, get money and fly back here."

I gave her a signal that I heard her.

"Are you ready to go?" She got off the bed and stood in front of me.

"Let me wake Stormy up. Can you get the bags?" I turned around and poked Stormy. "Stormy, wake up, we're leaving."

I watched her stir in her sleep and eventually open her eyes. She balled up her tiny fists and rubbed her eyes.

I made my way to the door with my little girl waddling behind me. I heard her pace quicken before I felt little fingers wrap around my average ones.

It felt as if the morning was going by in a blur. We had already eaten breakfast and lunch. We were on our way to the house to sign the papers; that hopefully wouldn't take too long.

***

I grabbed a box and carried it to my room. Just as I was about to set it down, my phone started blaring my ringtone, "Remembering Sunday." I knew it was Joseph calling to check in.

I pulled my phone out and pressed 'Talk'.

"Hello?" I called into the phone while sitting on the bed.

"Hi!" I could tell he had a smile on his face.

"Hi, Joe!" I exclaimed.

The conversation was about the same as the night before. I told him we were in the process of moving into our new house. He made it very clear that he couldn't wait to come and check it out. I let him talk to Stormy for a few minutes before ending the call.

We finished bringing everything into the house around 7:30 P.M. It was twilight, so we took a break and sat on the back patio close to the pool. The house was beautiful.

I was so glad I had let Miley talk me into letting her buy the house. I would have never been able to afford something like it, which reminded me that I needed to get a job. The next day, I would start looking for a therapist and get the help I knew I needed.