Keep It Kasual

***When they are looking at the house the conversation is in French between Kris, Kalista and Charlene (after the ++++)***

Monday afternoon Alex and I had just come home from a walk to find Kris at home and on the phone. "T'at sounds good Michael. ‘Old on I will bring it up." He clicked a few things on his laptop and gasped. " ‘Ow soon can we start?" By now I had taken Alex out of the stroller and let him go. Of course he went straight over to his papa. "Ah, t'e family is ‘ome." He waved us over. "Come look at t'is. Michael found a ‘ouse t'at I t'ink might be perfect for us."

I moved over to him as he picked up Alex. I took the mouse and began looking through the virtual tour. This place was huge! I gaped as I looked at the images on the screen. There were 4 fireplaces! As the tour went along I began noticing rooms we didn't need. I'd love a room for all the books I owned but I didn't need a 2-story library or a home theatre. It also was much more traditional that I preferred. I had fallen in love with the open floor plan that the loft had for the main living area.

"Is it no' perfect?" I could tell he really liked it. I hated to say anything negative but I bit the bullet.

"You don't think it's too big? I mean, do we need a home theatre or such a big library?" My skepticism showed. "Is that an elevator?"

Kris leaned in. "Looks like it. You really t'ink it is too big? I was t'inking it was good. You don' know ‘ow much room t'e guys can take up yet."

Then a tinny voice on Kris' phone inserted themselves into the conversation. "Kris, I'm not sure who that is, but I do have another place I would love for you to look at. It's smaller than the place you're looking at now. Here, click on this link and take a look." A link came up on the Skype and Kris clicked on it.

As the pictures began to come up my breath was taken away. It showed the foyer first off, which was open and light. Moving into the family room it was an open floor plan. I must have gasped aloud as I heard Kris chuckle. "I t'ink she likes it Michael. Where is it located?"

The unseen man also chuckled. "It seems so by the gasp. So who is this mystery lady Tanger?" I had taken over the mouse so Kris could play a little with Alex. "Tanger?"

"Wha? Oh, she is Kallie, my new girlfriend. She ‘elps me wit' Alex, well really _she_ cares for Alex while I get ready for t'e season. Vero and Flower love ‘er as much as I an' Alex do. You will get to meet ‘er in t'ree weeks when we get to the States again." Alex was starting to nod off on Kris' lap. He must have noticed as Kris sighed and spoke again. "I hate to cut t'is short Michael but Alex needs a nap and I ‘ave to talk Kallie into ‘ouses instead of the condos. We meet wit' my lawyers tomorrow to begin some important papers, we should be able to call or somet'ing t'at afternoon."

Michael laughed. "Sounds good man. Kallie, I look forward to meeting you in person. Keep them in line." The line then went dead. I was still looking at the last link he had sent, drooling more and more as I went through it. I felt Kris kiss my shoulder and then get out of the chair. I guessed he was putting Alex down for his nap as I sat down. I could totally see us living in this house and making it a home.

Soon enough I was positive _this_ was our home and we needed it. I leaned back with a smile and saw Kris leaning nearby watching me. "You like t'e second one a lot yes?"

"It's our home Kris. It's perfect. I can see us living here and having people over, not just family but the team too." I didn't tell him I could see other kids that were ours as well; I felt that would freak him out. It was one thing to be dating and another entirely to be planning a nursery. I looked up at him and saw him smile.

"You really t'ink t'e other is too big?" I nodded. He came over and began comparing the plans for each. "Maybe we do not need t'at much room." He looked at me. "Would you like to go looking for a ‘ome for ‘ere? I know t'at t'e condo is great and everyt'ing but I do no' t'ink it's a good place for children to grow up." He came over and perched on the desk. "I ‘ave been t'inking t'is for a while now, since Alex was born. If we are going to be a family, it is only fair t'at bot' of us should choose it."

I pulled him down to me gently and kissed him. "That sounds like a great idea. I don't know a lot about Montreal so I'm going to leave most of it up to you. If you want to look while Alex naps for places that is. I like an open floor plan, it makes keeping track of Alex easier. Other than that, not a lot matters to me." He pulled me out of the chair and sat down. I then found myself on his lap while he was pulling up a realty website.

We looked through a few homes before Kris sighed. "We need to call I t'ink and talk to someone t'is afternoon. _If_ t'at is ok with you." He looked at me with those gorgeous eyes of his and pulled a little pout.

I felt my heart ache with the look on his face. "You want to buy not one but two homes within a month of each other? One here in Montreal and the other in Pittsburgh. Right?" He nodded. "You're crazy." I laughed a little; he was nuts but then again so was I. "You call whomever you need to just remember I want an open floor plan on the main living level. Of course if we could find some space for a dark room for me too, that would be a bonus." He kissed me quickly and picked up the phone. "You make the calls, I'll finish the laundry."

He beamed at me, reminding me of how Alex did the same. I shook my head and went to move the laundry I had put in the dryer before we had gone on our walk.

++++++++++++++++++++

As it turned out there were several properties that were having open houses this afternoon. Kris spoke with an agent who agreed to show them to us. Now we were standing outside of a place in Westmont. It was the ritzy part of Montreal in Westmount. Kris was holding Alex as we walked up the front walk. We opened the front door and saw no one else in sight. "W'ere is she?" Kris pondered aloud.

"Over here Kris." Kris turned and I saw his face light up. We headed over and as Kris and the woman exchanged kisses, I moved to take Alex. “Non, let him sleep where he is.” That told me what I needed to know, this was Kris' half sister, Charlene.

Kris chuckled. " You hold him while he's asleep for long and see how heavy he is." True to form Alex stirred when he felt his dad talking. "Wake up Alex, Aunt Charlene wants to see those eyes of yours.” I leaned over and kissed Alex's forehead as I would if I was waking him. The 8 month old blinked at me owlishly.

" Come on honey, time to wake up. It's time to see if we love this house.” He lifted his head and turned around. Seeing his aunt, he reached for her. Kris gave him up easily.

"So, mon frere, it is clear that you are no longer with her. Who is she and why my nephew to wake up and move when she said?” There was a sparkle in Charlene's eye that told me she was pretty sure of who I was and just wanted to hear Kris say it.

" Kalista is my new girlfriend and caregiver Alex. Of course, you spoke with dad if you already know.” She nodded. I had met Kris' biological father at Alex's baptism gathering. He was very like his son; I liked him a lot. He had also been put on my email list for pictures and updates.

"I have. He seemed very taken with her and now I see why. Please let's look around and see if you can find you three in this home." By agreement we started in the kitchen. As I asked for this whole main level was incredibly open. As I rounded into the kitchen I noticed a banquet in what would be the left corner as you faced the front of the house. "The banquet is completely washable fabrics for those times when you need to and with boys you know you will." I laughed. She was leaned against the 4-seat island with Alex in her arms. I poked around the white interior, even going so far as to look in a few drawers. I liked this place so far but it wasn't everything I needed to see.

There was a dining room that you could see from the kitchen, which I liked, I hated not being a part of the conversation when I was busy cooking. I could also see a place to keep my cookbooks and a pantry nearby as well. "Do you mind if I take a look down the hall?" She shook her head, put Alex on the floor and offered him her hand. We were all thankful when he took it and we could all walk down the hall. There was the laundry room, a bathroom that connected to the outside and several placed that could have built in wall lockers for coats and gear. It really was more of a mudroom than a hallway, another plus for this house.

"As you saw the living area is open so you can see everywhere. Kris said that was _very_ important to you which is why I thought of this house." She led us to the study. "There are a couple closets on the outside of the study as well as a few built in shelves inside. The Master Suite is through these doors." We went in and the first thing I saw was the Master Bath. The tub was against some window and looked large enough for two. The shower was in a corner with the toilet in the other corner. The dual sinks framed its entrance. It was all nicely done; this house was growing on me by leaps and bounds.

The bedroom was roughly 13 ft by 17 ft, which really is a good size. There was a built in cabinet on the wall that was shared with the bathroom. I heard laughter coming from another area in the bedroom and found Kris and Alex playing hide and seek, sort of, in the Master closet. Alex was running to either side of the closet and shrieking with laughter when Kris would look at him and say boo. More built-ins were in here, including a jewelry case.

"Come, let us go upstairs." We followed Alex's pace, which while not fast was easy for everyone. Once we were upstairs Charlene continued. "There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a playroom and another laundry room here. The bedrooms are all about the same size, but only one of the bathrooms has a bathtub." I went into the playroom and was amazed. It was larger than the master bedroom. There was lots of room in here for a growing family.

That's when Kris noticed one of the built ins was actually a door. "This is cool, what could we use this for?"

"A toy storage room maybe a small safe room?" I said blithely as we went in to investigate. There was room in there for shelves or a built in desk but not much else. We looked at each other and at the same time said. "Toy room." This made Charlene laugh.

"If I had not already heard that you two seemed so complete with each other, I would swear you were made for each other. Speaking of hearing things, is it true that you and her folks are going to force her to give up her rights?" Talk about stepping in it...

As we looked in the second laundry room, something I hadn't expected but liked, Kris sighed and spoke with his sister. "Do you know how close we all came to losing Alex?" She shook her head and he continued by telling her how we had met and how much I had aided in keeping Alex at home. "I can not trust that she will not try and take him again and then not be able to handle him and try to give him up. Her parents agreed and have told her that if she wants to continue getting their financial assistance, she will give me peace of mind about Alex." Charlene just gaped. "He is my son and he already has a better mother than she ever was." He pulled me close and kissed my temple.

We went back downstairs and Alex threw himself on the couch. I giggled at him, which made him grin at me over his little shoulder. "I did not know she had caused so much pain, mon frere. I know that Papa and Eric both like Kalista more, I got an earful for not being at the baptism. They said that she took everything with grace, including how _she pushed her out of the way."

I had enough, looking over at Charlene I sighed. "It will be the only time that witch gets to push me out of the way without Alex first asking me. Kris has asked me to be his mother and I have agreed. I may have only been around a few weeks, but I can no longer imagine my life without either of them. My own parents love them as well as my brothers, I can only hope that I will not be hated in Pittsburgh." I walked over to Alex and rubbed noses with him, which made him giggle. "Please do not misunderstand. They are _my_ boys now and nothing will tear me away."

She smiled at my ferocity. "Finally he found someone worthy. Come, I need to show you something in the garage." We scooped Alex up and followed her. "I was not sure how you would like this, but after hearing that, this will be good I think." We went up an inner staircase and at the top was something wonderful, a one-bedroom guesthouse.

Both Kris and I gasped as we looked around. It was perfect for the handful of times that my folks would come visit. It would give them privacy and peace. "I love it." Kris added "Moi aussi. (Me too.)", which told me that there wasn't much that this house didn't have for us.

"There is one more level, downstairs I want to show you both. If I am reading you right, you like it a lot, oui?" We were heading back into the house and down the inner stairs as she asked. Kris just laughed.

"I told Kallie that I wanted to pick the Montreal home together, but I have seen how she has lit up while looking here. If this is the one she loves, this is the one we will fight for." His sister shook her head as if to say, you have no idea how far gone you are for her do you brother mine? It was affectionate and knowing.

Hitting the basement, we let Alex explore. More than likely this would probably be where Kris put his hockey memorabilia which was fine by me, hopefully I would get some good pictures this season to begin to help that effort. Alex wandered room to room looking at everything. Then he found the gym... A very happy boy he was then. He began playing with a few of the weights while under his papa's watchful eye. That gave me time to really look. Again it was mostly open which I loved. There was an honest to god bar at the foot of the stairs, good for entertaining. Next to that was a bathroom and bedroom. Next to the gym was another bathroom, but this one had a twist, it had a sauna in it. Charlene opened a set of double doors to an unfinished space. "Behind here is completely unfinished. You can anything with it."

I looked around in the darkness a little bit. I could see possibilities. If nothing else I could use this as an uber dark room. I went back into the gym and had to giggle at Alex trying to lift the 5-pound weight. Kris was taping it on his phone. “Come on big boy, you can do it.” I said encouragingly. When he got it up to his waist it slipped and dropped to the floor. Instead of crying he looked up at us and grinned. “Mama!” He pointed to the weight and I moved over to him.

“You did a good job. I’m proud of you.” He flung himself at me with that bright grin and I covered his face in kisses. Kris stopped taping then. “Do you have any _more surprises for me?” He shook his head. I then looked at Charlene. “If we did the paperwork today, how long do you think it would take us to get _in_ the house?”

She smiled. “Well I know that they have no one else that has been interested in it. It’s part of the reason the price had been reduced 3 times. If you were to get it all in today and request a quick closing, you should be in before you go back to Pittsburgh.” Well I had no reason not to trust her; she was a realtor and Kris’ family. She knew that he had a good job with steady income, especially after the last 2 years. Of course signing a $58 million contract a few weeks ago didn’t hurt.

“Do we need to go to your office or do you have the paperwork here?” Kris asked as he picked Alex up. We began going up the stairs. This was _the_ house; I felt it.

++++++++++++++++++++

After taking 2 days to make sure we had all the paperwork we needed and get it all filed, we got a phone call just before we put Alex to bed. “Hello?”

“Kris, it’s Charlene. I have great news! The house, it’s yours!” The smile that lit up his face at that news was worth waiting for. We quickly agreed that she could come over so we could sign the paperwork tonight and get the second ball rolling. Within 15 minutes she was in the door and we were reading.

After what felt like forever, we both had signed on the dotted line. Yes, Kris had insisted that we _both_ be on the title. I got shivers when he said that, it felt like he was saying more than he was. Charlene promised she would get the paperwork in as soon as she left so that the next phase could begin.

Alex went to bed as easily as he normally did, however Kris forbade me from doing any ‘chores’ after that. Shortly there after _we_ went to bed.