Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ulrich chuckled. "Poor Feng. The other three all adored her ... this must be hard for her."

They rolled out of the woods and into the clearing, and Ulrich directed the horse and cart straight towards the newly constructed house.

"Not yet," Ulrich corrected Lin, "just give them a few more days. They won't be married until the house is finished. I guess it doesn't matter, but really it would give them the perfect wedding night."

He stopped the horse next to the house and hollered, "Hello in there!"

Ulrich climbed down from the cart and leaned against it, waiting for whoever was inside to come out and help him unload the cart. He wasn't waiting long - it was only a few short moments before Adonai appeared, stripped to the waist and sweating slightly.

"Hey! Ada, you're back!" he beamed. "Excellent! What did you bring us? Windows I see ... nails, I hope ..."

Ulrich chuckled. "Yes, yes, all that and more," he assured his son. "Now come help me unload."

As the two men started going about unloading the cart, Shael appeared in the doorway as well, her sleeves rolled up and her hair pulled back from her face, her eyes shining brightly.

"Hello," she called out to Ulrich and Lin. "Welcome back!"

Shael smiled warmly at Lin and leaned against the doorway to rest a bit.

"Everything's going very smoothly," she told Lin happily. "Once the windows are in and the roof is finished, I think we might be able to move in ... do you want to come in and see?"

She paused. "I think most everyone's over Aliya and Amdir's," she murmured, "though I don't know what they're doing. I've been here since sunrise."

Shael laughed and moved to the side. "Well, come on in," she invited Lin happily. "It's not very homey yet but that will come soon enough. I think Ulrich brought material for drapes and the like, and Ulani's working on the bed linen and blankets and pillows and the like."

The first room that they entered was the living room, though it was mostly bare at the moment. A bookshelf was built into one of the walls, from ceiling to floor nothing but shelves, though there were not yet any books on it. There were however several book ends, all of them in the shapes of horses. Other than that, there was a single couch - just a frame at the moment, Ulani was also working on the cover for it - and one small table.

"The rest will be coming as soon as Ulrich finishes with it," Shael smiled at Lin. "Most of it is in storage in my room at Ulrich and Ulani's house, since I'm not living with them anymore, and the rest will be done soon, he says."

Shael laughed softly. "Yes, I'll have an entire lifetime to make it truly our home," she agreed. "And once it's finished being built, we'll clean it all up, dust, sweep, wipe everything down, and then Ulani will bring in all the curtains, linen, everything, and then it will be a home."

She smiled. "It's not that complicated or big, really ... through this door here," she pointed at a door in the far wall, "is the dining room, and through that is the kitchen ... then up the stairs here," she pointed at the stairs that were against the side wall, "are the bedrooms and the bath room. Oh, and a study for Adonai, since he'll need an entire room for his work."

She beamed at Lin. "I just think it will be so amazing ... when we can finally move in ..."

Shael blinked. Where had that question come from? She had no idea, really ... couldn't think of where ...

"I ... already don't go there often," she murmured. "I haven't for a long time. There are others who take care of the horses now, so ..."

She fidgeted slightly. "Why do you ask?"

Shael laughed softly. "Ah, I see," she smiled. "Well, it would be hard not to go to the ranch more than I already don't, so ... I suppose my visits wouldn't change all that much. And it's a bit early to be talking about children, as much as I would love to have children, Adonai and I aren't even married yet."

She giggled. "Come to think of it," she admitted, "I can't even think of the last time Aliya went to the ranch."