⇢ CHAPTER 88

Holly spoke as she and Jackson collapsed onto their couch, defeated after seeing houses with no luck on falling in love with them.

"Me too." Jackson agreed, exhaling as he turned his head to glance at her, "What if we just live here?"

Holly shrugged, "I guess—"

"You are living in this apartment for the rest of your lives so my Grand-babies can cry whenever they go to a house with ." Catherine Avery criticized— successfully spooking Jackson and Holly as they both jumped and Jackson reached over to hide Holly behind himself before realizing it was his mother.

"Jesus Christ, Mom..." Jackson groaned, placing a hand over his heart.

"I think we shouldn't give too many people our house keys." Holly voiced, feeling her heartbeat calm down as Jackson nodded.

"Agreed— Mom, what are you doing here?" Jackson quirked a brow, glancing at his mother, who looked over the various pictures the couple had decorated around their living room.

"Thought I could help you two with the decision making of picking out a house." She grinned, "Richard told me you two were struggling, and I thought—"

Holly blinked, "H-How does he know?"

"He found you two excitedly talk about houses before coming back to work with depressed looks on your faces." Catherine remarked, chuckling lightly as Jackson and Holly gave each other a look, wondering how obvious they were with their emotions.

"Well, Mom, we talked about this." Jackson reminded, "You you wouldn't meddle in—"

"Wait," Holly began, flickering her eyes between the two Avery's before shrugging, "s-she might actually be of some help—"

"Great! Then it's decided!" Catherine cheered, clasping her hands together, "I—"

"I haven't said anything." Jackson blinked, shaking his head, "Mom, are you sure you want to—"

"Look for a house where you two, Frodo, and the children can live? I'm sure I can manage." Catherine assured with a nod as Jackson quirked a brow and looked to his fiancée.

"You told her about ?" Jackson questioned, squinting at Holly.

Holly flashed him an innocent smile, "I mean, he was the name of your imaginary friend—"

"Okay." Catherine voiced, checking her watch, "How about you two go on and pick out from the neighbor-lady you talked about while I go find a house?"

"I don't think we'll take long finding a dog we like from the litter..." Holly mentioned, "I think it might take you longer to find a house—"

"Then go on a date, explore Seattle— I'll call you when I'm ready." Catherine smiled, grabbing her bag with excitement before rushing off and calling her assistant, "

"I know you don't want to hear it," Holly began, smiling as she met Jackson's eyes, "but your Mom just saved the day."

Jackson closed his eyes and buried his face into Holly's neck as he groaned, "You're right— I didn't."

She chuckled before her eyes widened, "Wait—" She reminded, grabbing Jackson's arm to bring him to a stand, "let's go find Frodo!"

Jackson gave her a squint, "I was peacefully resting."

"Too bad." Holly shrugged, jumping onto his back before pointing forward, "Onwards!"

"All right, M'Lady." Jackson nodded, matching her energy as he began to walk, "Off we go to find our dog!"

✧

The process of finding the proved an easy task a few moments after they arrived at the neighbors house— there, in the corner of the living room, remained a large playpen where tons of Australian Shepherd puppies roamed around and played with each other.

Jackson and Holly glanced over the pups with eager eyes— already knowing a few were reserved for others by the collar on their neck, Holly grinned as she saw one of them excitedly wagging their tail at them upon waking up from a nap.

Jackson, being distracted from looking at the other dogs, grew oblivious to Holly grabbing one before he abruptly felt a tongue meet his cheek— making him turn around to face the puppy who did so.

Instantly, Jackson fell in love— making him spend the remainder of their time there attempting to convince Holly to adopt the dog on the spot while she wanted to look at the other dogs— yet, as the same puppy began to follow her around, she knew she couldn't resist denying the pup a chance of becoming their dog.

"That was easy." Holly noted, walking out of the pet store they decided to visit after choosing Frodo with of puppy supplies— Jackson and Holly had, to say the least, gone crazy in spoiling their future dog.

"Yeah— I thought it'd be harder process." Jackson admitted, taking a sip from his slushee as he quirked a brow at her, "I'm glad gave us a list of what Frodo needs."

Holly squinted up at Jackson with a smile as a small chuckle escaped her lips, "You've been planning that pun, haven't you?"

Jackson grinned with a nod as her phone rang, "Yes, I have."

Frowning her brows as she helped Jackson place the supplies in their car, she answered the call, "Hello?"

"" Catherine declared, enthusiasm pouring out of her voice as she chuckled, "."

"O—" Catherine hung up, prompting Holly to deepen the frown of her brows, "Okay...?"

"Who was that?" Jackson asked, quirking a brow as he closed the trunk of their car.

"Your mother."

✧

"Okay, here's the plan." Jackson nodded as he turned the corner to meet the house his mother chose, "No matter what— we don't let her win."

Holly quirked a brow, "Okay?"

"We'll look at the house— we'll smile out of politeness and respect, but we won't fall in love with the house because then she'll want to meddle again." Jackson reasoned, quickly glancing at Holly with a quirked brow as he began to pull into the driveway, "Right?"

Holly chuckled as she nodded, "Right—" Her eyes briefly flicked forward before taking a double take, "holy crap..."

Perhaps it was the sunset, or the backyard Jackson took note of— already planning camping nights in his head, or the smoke escaping the chimney Holly glanced towards— excited to finally have an actual fireplace in a house, or the way the house looked beautifully elegant both externally and internally, from what they could see through the windows, or the fact it was in a secure neighborhood where neighbors were somewhat close for friendship yet far enough to give each other distance, or that it was a house near their workplace— but Holly and Jackson fell in love.