The house was perfect. Honestly, it ticked all my boxes for what I was looking for- large family kitchen, a family room, study, five bedrooms, a nice sized garden, close to my work and Isaac's work... there was nothing I could fault it for. 

"I don't like it," Isaac finally gave us his assessment. With those few words, he elicited a groan from not only me but from Martha and the estate agent, too. This was the third property we were viewing and once again, it fell short of whatever it was Isaac was looking for. Just like the other two houses we'd see, he didn't give us a reason for why it wasn't suitable; he just frowned and walked out the door, descending the steps outside and going back to the car. "Where's the last place?"

Martha sighed. "I actually like this place," she noted. "The fireplace was rad."

It was fast becoming obvious that we were all looking for somewhere totally different but as of yet, John from Knight Frank had failed to find a house that matched our search criteria. I gave him an apologetic smile as we made our way towards my car and told him that we'd get there eventually. He muttered, "Yes, but when?" under his breath, although I chose to ignore him. 

The final house on the list of the ones to see today was a Nash terrace house on a private road opposite Regent's Park. It was a little out of the way of where I'd prefer to be but John kept reassuring me that it was a wonderful house and should tick all the boxes. Then again, he'd said that about the other houses too. 

He warned me that this house may not have everything I was looking for- it didn't have the large garden that I wanted- but with Regent's Park a stone's throw from the house, could I really complain? The boating lake was practically our very own pond, John smiled. Isaac frowned. He didn't want a pond, apparently. 

On the drive, Martha kept her gaze out the window, memorising the way. Secretly, I think she was mentally calculating how long it would take her to get to Oxford Street from the house. That girl wouldn't be able to live further than ten minutes from the nearest Topshop. Luckily, according to Google Maps, it was a nine-minute drive to the shops. It was also fourteen minutes to GOSH for Isaac and sixteen minutes for me to the shop. Martha's morning commute would be eighteen minutes in the car, thirty minutes via public transport. 

I did a quick Google search for schools in the area, looking specifically at International schools or bilingual Anglo-French schools. I hadn't yet broached the subject of sending Nugget to a school that wasn't traditionally British but seeing as Issac hadn't experienced the English school curriculum, I highly doubted that he'd have a problem with it. Plus, the baby is international already. I count off how many cultures Isaac and I share, and it's a long list. 

I'm French-Irish with some German thrown in somewhere in the bloodline, while Isaac is Scottish-Australian-Greek although he was determined that he had some Viking in him too. Apparently, back when the Vikings were around, his Scottish clan got 'mixed up' in all that, so... yeah, a Viking. 

Idiot.

There was, to my surprise, a school that seemed to fit what I was looking for. L'Ecole Internationale Franco-Anglaise. Oh, and there was the Southbank International School. In South Kensington, there was the main campus of the Lycée Francais but I decided that it was too far away for my liking. There was no way I was traipsing all that way just to take my kid to school. I love Nugget, but no. Not happening. I think Isaac would agree with me on that one. 

"Is this it?" Hearing Isaac's voice made me abandon my Google search and look up at the street we were approaching. John pointed in the direction Isaac should be driving and we soon found ourselves at a large iron gate where a portly man came to greet up. "Hi, we're here to see a property."

John handed over an appointment card and waited for the man to undertake the security checks. After five minutes of waiting, the gate opened and we were ushered through. We kept to the right and drove down Hanover Terrace, coming to a stop at where a man in a well-cut suit was waiting for us on the pavement. 

"Good morning," the man smiled at us once we were all out of the car. He shook John's hand and then proceeded to extend his hand to Isaac. Martha and I weren't worthy of such a greeting because after John introduced Isaac, we were being ushered up a few steps and across a patio towards the front door. "Welcome to Number Seven."

The house itself wasn't big. We began on the ground floor, where the kitchen, dining and family room were located. The dining room was long and wide, making the table look small in the space. Double doors led into the kitchen which was modern and had a full-length island running down the centre of the room. It wasn't the type of kitchen I would have chosen but I could certainly make it work. From the kitchen, we entered a large open plan family room. Nearest to the kitchen was a breakfast table while on the opposite end of the room was the seating area, compromising of only a long sofa. Large floor to ceiling windows looked out onto a small garden area, a door to the left taking you down the steps onto the patio just off from the garden. 

As we walked around, exploring all the floors, the man that had greeted us kept spewing out facts about the house; not so much the history of the building but more to do with the fixtures and fittings, all of which cost thousands if the man was to be believed. Isaac nodded whenever the man spoke but I could tell he was taking everything about the house in. 

On the first floor, there was a large reception room that had been broken down into distinct areas. One end of the room was made to look like a study-come-library while towards the front of the house, it was a reception room that was tailored to fit around an impressive fireplace. At the rear of the floor was a roof terrace, while a balcony at the front gave us fabulous views of the park. 

Above us, there were three additional floors. The master suite took up an entire floor, while there were two bedrooms each on the third and fourth floor. The bedrooms on the top floor shared a communal bathroom, while the third floor bedrooms were both en-suite. When we wound our way back down the house, we came to the lower ground floor. There was a media room and a home gym- something that made Isaac crack a small smile- a utility room and finally, a staff bedroom. I'm not sure that we would continue to use it as a staff bedroom, seeing as we don't have any staff, but a spare room wouldn't be so bad or we could use it as a second study. 

"Now, if we go out to the garden, we can see the next part of the house," the man who was giving us the guided tour spoke. 

"What does he mean by the next part of the house?" Martha whispered as we trailed behind the men. "Isn't this part of the house enough? It's insane."

The garden was smaller than I was expecting but then again, this is London so if you have any sort of greenery, you're lucky. The patio was also on the small side but none of this seemed to matter to any of us as we traversed the garden and headed for a door that led into a secondary building.

"This is the mews house that comes as part of the sale," John announced as we all entered into a grey coloured hallway. "This is the rear ent-"

"This is the rear entrance," the other man spoke, cutting John off. "As you can see, from here we open into the garage, however, if we move through this door, we come into the house itself. Here, we have a study and the only bedroom in the house. There is also a bathroom."

Upstairs, there was a decent sized kitchen, a large reception room and a dining room that was big enough for a small round table. Patio doors in the reception room opened onto a decked terrace that looked out over the garden. Over all, it was a nice secondary accommodation for the property. 

"And this is part of the sale?" Isaac asked. When John confirmed that this was the case, Isaac nodded. "Dare I ask what the asking price is?"

"Nineteen, nine-fifty," John announced rather proudly. "It's within your budget."

Ah, about that...

"Oh, we had a budget, did we?" Isaac asked, turning to face me with a surprised look on his features. "And it went that high, huh?"

John, noticing that this was not an argument he wanted to witness, was quick to lead the obnoxious man in the tailored suit back out of the building, leaving Martha and me with Isaac in the mews house. Sighing, Isaac walked passed me and went to open the door that led out to the terrace, stepping out and leaning against the railings that over looked the garden. 

"You know, you could have discussed it with me first," Isaac said when he heard my footsteps approach him. I came to a stop next to him and fixed my eyes on the back of the house we'd just viewed, thinking that this place had pretty much ticked the boxes of what we were all looking for. Except for Isaac's boxes. Lord knows what he was searching for. He looked over at me and asked, "Can you picture us living here?"

I nod. "I think so, yes. It's in a great location, on a private road, and there are some really good schools around here for the baby. The hospital is close, my work is close, the gallery is close, too, for Martha. Ok, so the garden could be better but Regent's Park is on the doorstep. Or baby will grow up with London Zoo in its front garden!"

"I hate zoos," Isaac grumbles. "You shouldn't cage up an animal."

"It has penguins and giraffes!" I protested, although I could see it from Isaac's point of view. Penguins and giraffes shouldn't be kept locked up in an environment that failed to mimic their natural habitat. "Could you see us living here?"

Isaac pondered the questions, chewing on his lip as he thought of the scenario. I could imagine us having breakfast in the family room, watching movies in the media room, running after our kids in the park outside. I could totally picture me salivating over Isaac as he worked out in the home gym and I could see us having lots of rampant sex without having to worry about Martha because she'll be living in the mews house. If that wasn't a selling point to Isaac, I really didn't know what would sway if for him. 

"Yes," he finally answered. Looking down at John who was stood in the garden, Isaac shouted down, "We'll take it. Put the bid in. We'll pay the asking price."

Isaac smiled as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer to his side. His other hand went to my bump. "So, this is going to be our first family home, huh?" I asked. 

"It'll be our only family home," Isaac said, narrowing his eyes on me. "I'm draining my bank account for this place so we're not bloody moving. Martha! Get out here."

"What's up, daddio?" Martha asked as she joined us. 

"You're ok with this place right?" He asked his daughter. She nodded. "Good. Now that we're done traipsing around London looking at houses, can we finally go and see Jimmy?"

I nodded in agreement. "Most definitely. I'm going to kill him!"

"A bit extreme, Charlotte," Martha sighed. She rubbed her arm and said, "It's not even that bad."

"Not that bad?" I could feel my blood pressure rising. "Not that bad? Martha, you dislocated your shoulder! He told me- he promised me- that he'd get you back in one piece. This is not in one piece."

"Technically-" Martha started to argue with me. From the way her father and I glared at her, she knew better than to defend my dad to us. "Fine, whatever. I'll text him in the car to warn him that you're both on your way. Maybe by the time we arrive he'll have called the psychiatric people to come and take your crazy selves away."

So, it seems as if they've found their family home! Whoop, finally!

Ok, so I'm not even going to ask boy or girl because, after the last update, I feel like you've all made up your mind. All I will say is this-

Never take it at face value what I write. If the clue is obvious, ask yourselves- is it too obvious? Look at the way I write stuff- is it a little ambiguous? Am I putting in 'clues' to throw you off the scent? 

Always assume that I'm a horrible person who is out to confuse you!

That said, I am also a very nice person, so I will tell you this- Isaac and Charlotte will have a daughter and they will also have a son. They will also have two more children. But I'm not telling you in which order they will arrive. 

Wait, was the mean? *shrugs*

Anyway, as you know from the last update, I'll be starting Girl Friday in 2018 but for that, I was wondering if you could all help me out with something- in one of my other stories, I have quotes that start each chapter and I like that idea. I want something similar for Girl Friday. Could you tell me:

1. What is your favourite romantic line from a film? (If it's in another language, please write the original and if you have a translation, that would be great!)

2. What is the most swoonsome line you've read in literature? (Again, translations if it's not already in English)

3. What song lyric makes your heart ache (good or bad)? (Same rule applies as above!)

Well, that's it from me! See you on Wednesday, peeps. 

Sarah, xx

Which book would you choose?