~~ the next morning ~~

Tim and Adam come jogging down the stairs, holding hands. They were to meet Mr. Kendricks in town with a lawyer to seal the deal on the house.

"Where y'all heading?" Eddie asks as they come into the kitchen.

"To buy us a house." Tim answers, stealing a piece of bacon from his plate.

"Y'all want some breakfast?" Esther asks as she was sitting down at the table.

"Naw, we'll just grab something in town." Tim says as he reaches for another slice of bacon but gets his hand smacked by his muscular friend.

"Eddie, you're probably the only man that can hit the boss's hand and live to tell about it." Chris laughs.

"I could." Adam smirks as he wraps his arms around Tim's waist.

"Honey, you could smack him anywhere and get away with it." Avi laughs.

"True." Tim chuckles. "See yall later."

"Good luck." They all call from around the table as Tim and Adam leave the lodge.

~~ 

Avi gasps as he looks out the window of his and Kirstie's bedroom to see Tim's car pulling into the large circular driveway.

"THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE COMING! THEY'RE COMING!!" He shouts as he runs down the long hallway.

He balances himself on the banister of the staircase.

"THEY'RE COMMMMIINNGGGG!" He shouts as he slides down, reaching the bottom just as Tim and Adam walk in, falling into Tim's arms.

"TIMBO, YOU'RE BACK!!" Avi shouts, hugging Tim tightly.

"WILL YOU STOP YOUR YELLING!" Tim yells.

"WHY!!" Avi shouts back.

"BECAU .... Because, you're giving me a headache." Tim says, shaking his head.

"SOR ... Sorry." Avi giggles.

"And if I see you sliding down that banister again, I'll have the whole d*mn staircase removed and an elevator put in. And since it's my house now, I can do that." Tim smiles.

"OH, MY GOD!!! YOU GOT THE HOUSE!! KIRSTIE!! WE'RE NOT HOMELESS ANYMORE!!" Avi yells running to the living room where the others were.

Tim sighs as he rubs his forehead.

Adam laughs and rubs him on the back.

"You love him, you know you do." Adam laughs.

"Yeah, but that don't stop me from wanting to kill him." Tim chuckles as he slides his arm around his lover and they follow Avi into the living room.

They were met by several "Congratulations" and handshakes.

"I think this calls for a celebration." Eddie laughs and they head to the bar where he pops the cork on a bottle of champagne.

They all cheer as he fills their glasses.

"To our new home." Tim says with a smile as he holds his glass up.

"To our new home" Everyone repeats.

"Maybe." Eddie adds with a chuckle.

"Hopefully." Tim smiles as he clicks his glass against Eddie's.

"So did it go over smoothly?" Chance asks.

"Smooth as a baby's bottom." Tim says emptying his glass. "What do y'all want to do about the cooks and maids? Should we keep them or let them go?"

"I love to cook and with the cooks, I can't. I would love to be able to tackle that humongous kitchen." Kirstie giggles.

"Same here, Sis." Austin smiles.

"Personally, Tim, I really don't like the idea of maids going into our bedrooms." Chance shrugs. "I mean, we have a lot of firearms."

Tim nods in agreement.

"I just feel like they're invading our privacy." Chris says.

"I think I got cussed out by one the other day. But I don't speak Spanish so I don't know." Avi says.

"Huh, maybe I should learn Spanish." Tim smiles as he pours him a glass of Bourbon.

"So what are you saying?" Avi asks.

"So we're all in agreement to drop of the agency?" Tim asks. Everyone nods in agreement.

"I thought with was a celebration, not a business meeting." Eddie says with a chuckle.

"Well, I had to get everyone's opinion so I could take care of things." Tim says.

"I can't believe we're all going to be living under one roof." Adam smiles as he snuggles into Tim's side. "All of our friends together."

"How long have you guys all known each other? How did you meet each other?" Kirstie asks.

"Well, I met Avi when he started sneaking into the bar before he was even old enough to drink. I met Tim during a pool tournament at my bar, I don't know, maybe a hundred years ago." Eddie laughs. "Things just clicked between us and we've been friends ever since. And the rest of the guys, I met through them. I met Esther through Avi and it was love at first sight"

"Awww." Esther giggled as her face turns red.

"Tim?" Kirstie asks.

"Oh, this should be interesting." Avi laughs.

"Well, it does seem like Tim is the link that brought everybody together." Kirstie shrugs.

"I've known Adam and Chris for what, about ten years?" Tim asks looking around at Adam. Adam nods. "They were working for this 'businessman'." Tim smiles as he does the finger quote for business man. "But the guy died for some unknown reason and they started working for me. I knew of Avi and had met him several times during our pool playing years. Played against each other numerous times. But I didn't really get to know him until the tournament at Fast Eddies."

"And boy, did we get to know each other." Avi laughs.

Tim shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

"I also met Austin at the bar." Tim says.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I was a Tim Foust groupie." Austin laughs.

"Well, my experience meeting Avi tops the list of storytelling." Kirstie laughs. "I got fed up living in my small apartment and decided to buy a house. So I got a realty agent."

"Oh. My. God. Mrs. Winston. God, I hated that woman. She sounded like a seal on crack." Avi says, shaking his head.

"She found me the perfect house. The price had even been reduced because they just couldn't sell it."

"I kept scaring people away." Avi giggles proudly.

"I fell in love with the house the minute I walked in, even though the decor was a little strange." Kirstie says with a smirk.

"Uh, excuse me." Avi interrupts.

"Will you be quiet and let her tell the freaking story?" Tim chuckles.

"Go ahead." Avi pouts.

"I had already decided that I wanted the house even before I made it up to the master bedroom." Kirstie sighs and looks around at Avi. "And that's where I found IT."

Avi grins and nods at his friends.

"Yep, she fell madly in love with me. I charmed the pants clean off of her." He says with a huge grin.

~~~~~ TO BE CONTINUED ~~~~~

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