Johnny had been officially hers for a week. It was one of the happiest weeks of her life. Their lives had continued on the way they had when he first moved in. Every so often she would look at Johnny and see the little boy she knew. Other times she caught Johnny looking at her, eyes full of happy memories and gratitude for his new home. Rosita felt guilty whenever he looked at her that way, because the young gorilla was still sleeping on the couch.
The problem was that she didn't know where she could squeeze another bed. Let alone give the teenager the space he needed. It was one thing to sleep on the couch and have no option for privacy when his situation was temporary. It was another thing entirely for this to be his new home, but not have his own room. What would CPS say when they eventually came for the home visit?
Rosita reflected as she placed the last of the dishes on the drying wrack. She turned to clean up for bed, only to realize that there were toys scattered about. Which wasn't unusual in a house with even one young child, let alone twenty-five. However the amount of toys was getting ridiculous. With a sigh she set about the house to pick up after the children. She followed the trail of toys around, placing them where they belonged or at least out of the way. She lost herself in the monotony.
She was startled from her task when she heard a loud snore. Looking up she found Johnny asleep on the couch. Rosita smothered a giggle under her hand. Johnny's long limbs were thrown about everywhere. One of his legs was even over the back of the couch. A line of drool trailed from his mouth. He had thrown the blanket off in his wild sleep.
Rosita placed the toys in her hand off to the side before making her way over to the sleeping teen. Gingerly she moved his leg off the back of the couch. It couldn't be comfortable and she would hate it the couch toppled over with Johnny on it. Rosita picked the blanket up and spread it over him. She pulled it up to his chin to make sure he would be warm. Rosita smoothed back the fur on the top of his head.
She retreated to the doorway with light feet. There she turned around and watched Johnny as he slept. A soft smile spread across her face when he snuggled deeper into the blanket.
"Rosita," Norman said as he walked into the house. He was later than normal.
"Shhh," Rosita whispered, pointing to Johnny. Norman peaked over her shoulder to see what she was talking about. He nodded, a soft smile of his own tugging at one side of his lips. Norman ushered her away from the living room and towards their bedroom. There were still toys to pick up but Rosita was tired.
"He seems to be settling in," Rosita said once the door was closed.
"Yea, he is. He needs a room of his own though," Norman took a seat on their bed. Rosita sat down next to him.
"We can't even squeeze another bed in here, let alone a bedroom," Rosita rubbed a tired hand over her forehead.
"We'll use my home office," Norman said. Rosita sat up and stared at her husband in shock.
"Are you serious?" She asked.
"I am. Look I am sorry about what I said about Johnny last week. I shouldn't have done that,"
"You shouldn't have said it in front of Johnny either," Rosita crossed her arms. She didn't care if he was her husband, no one talked about any of her kids like that.
"I know, and I am sorry about that too. I want to show Johnny that he is welcome in our home. I don't really use the home office now. It's just taking up space. Why don't we put it to good use? I'm sure your theater friends would be willing to help us move everything out and put Johnny's things from his house in," Norman said, holding her hand in his.
"Really?" Rosita asked, hope making her eyes prick with tears.
"Of course," Norman said with a voice so sure. Rosita launched herself at her husband. She kissed him soundly.
"Thank you," she whispered when she pulled away.
—
That Weekend
Just as Norman predicted the Moon Theater Group was happy to help with the move. They got together that weekend. They had divided into several groups. Norman and Rosita were packing up the office and moving things out of it. Mena and Gunter were moving things back and forth in Johnny's truck. Buster and Mrs. Crawly were kind (read brave) enough to take the piglets to the park to play while all this was happening. Which left Johnny and Ash to pack up Johnny's belongings at the garage.
Rosita didn't think they would get into too much trouble. She wasn't sure if Oscar had given his son that talk yet, but she was confident that the young couple wouldn't try anything with animals going in and out. Of course she wasn't sure if they were classified as a couple, yet. All she had heard about were the walks home and the movie. Which friends could do too.
Eventually the office looked less like an office and more like a teenager's bedroom. The boxes became fewer. Gunter and Mena took the truck back to the garage one last time before heading to their respective homes. Ash and Johnny brought over the last of the boxes. And Johnny's bed. Now Johnny and Norman were trying to get the bed in. Rosita had tried to tell them to take the frame apart, but they had elected to ignore her. So she dragged Ash to the kitchen for a break. They sat at the table sipping lemonade and making small talk. Eventually Rosita could no longer resist the question that she had been burning to ask all afternoon.
"Has he asked you on a real date yet?" Rosita asked
"What? Johnny and me? No, we're just friends," Ash said. Rosita snorted
"Please, you two are just friends like the pair of you are just singers," Rosita rolled her eyes. There was a long pause as Ash stirred her drink with the straw.
"When he does finally ask you out make sure you say yes and have a video camera on hand," Rosita told her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked.
"It means that Oscar Hall would have been youtube famous if I'd had a cellphone when we were in high school," Rosita laughed.
"What did he do?" Ash leaned forward to hear better.
"Oh, I don't want to spoil the surprise if Johnny does the same thing,"
"Wait, you said to make sure I say 'yes'. Why is that?" Ash asked, her brow furrowed.
"Well, first and fore most, Johnny is my son now even if it is temporary. I don't want to see him heartbroken. And because each thing he does after the first time, will be even more public and embarrassing," Rosita said.
"Are you saying, that Johnny's Mom said 'no' to his Dad when he asked her out?"
"Oh she didn't just say 'no' once. Gabby refused five times. After the last one she decided to take pity on the poor man. Why I'll never understand," Rosita shook her head. Ash opened her mouth, to say what would remain a mystery as Johnny and Norman finally trudged into the kitchen. The men collapsed into two chairs at the table.
"You get it?" Rosita smirked.
"No~" the pair said together.
"Did you try bringing it in horizontally?" Rosita asked.
"Yes," Johnny groaned.
"Did you try diagonally?" Rosita asked.
"Yes," Norman's brow twitched with annoyance.
"Did you try taking apart the frame and then brining the mattress in?" Rosita asked, taking a sip of lemonade. The boys groaned in unison, dropping their heads to the table. Rosita and Ash smirked at each other over their heads.