·this is the sound of settling·

[❀ Melíssa]

     Oliver grunted as he struggled to get Chelsea's bed frame up the stairs. "Are you serious?" he growled to himself.
     "Oh just suck it up," Natalia squeezed past her older brother and the bed. "It'll be worth it to have the place to yourself half the time."
     Chelsea appeared behind Oliver. "Do you want me to get Dad to help you?"
     "No, I want you to take your ass to the furniture store and get a new frame that dismantles into smaller pieces. This is bullshit."
     "Sorry. Never thought we'd ever be leaving the city, didn't plan on ever having to move it."
     Hearing the wistfulness in his sister's voice, Oliver immediately softened. Chelsea was taking this move out to "the country" (her words) the hardest of everyone. "Tell you what? Go get Troy to help me. I'll move the rest of this stuff and then we can get the frame up together."
      Elsewhere in the house, Sénia sorted through a box of clothes, getting her baby unpacked. Richie was more focused on getting his entertainment center squared away than getting his clothes put away. "So have you given any thought to what you want to do with yourself? Music? Sports?"
      "Nah," Richie shrugged. "Dunno. Was thinking maybe hockey, like Dad. Maybe football with Troy."
     "Aunt Sen," Nate poked his head in the room, holding onto the doorframe for support. "I'm gonna go for a walk, check the place out, cool?"
     "Be back at a reasonable time, please."
     "Reasonable to me or you?"
     Sénia turned to stare him down with The Look. Nate just slunk away before thundering down the stairs and out the door.
     Richard appeared in the door shortly after and kissed his wife on the forehead. "I've got almost have everything put away in the kitchen. Waiting on you to do the living room."
      "Thanks, I'll be right down. Why don't you start the office while you wait?"
     Before Richard turned on his heel, he instructed his youngest son to put the PS3 down and help out.
     Richie groaned and turned the system off, looking at his mother helplessly. She just laughed and told him to go give the oldest kids a hand, before continuing to fold his clothes and place them in the dresser drawers.
     Out in the 'apartment', Natalia was driving her brother and sister mad because she'd already gotten her room mostly situated and was just standing at the top of the stairs watching them run back and forth. "Hate you," Chelsea remarked to her on one run. Oliver & Troy spent the better part of an hour putting Chelsea's bed together.
     Finally, everyone was finished for the day, and Troy and Richard left to go pick up a few pizzas. Nate surprised everyone by returning around the same time the food did, and the family enjoyed their first meal together in their new home.