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"Sorry." She said, dropping his hand. She looks out the window and feels a wet nose touch her cheek. Dakota slightly jumps before realizing it's just Kingston
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Elijah chuckles, "Kingston, down boy" he says and Kingston sits. "Sorry about him, he just likes attention"
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"It's fine." She says, still looking out the window. As they pulled into the driveway, Dakota sighs. This is home. She thinks, getting out. She goes to take Elijah's hand before going to unlock the door. Dakota is nearly jumping with excitement when they walk inside. She looks around again, double checking where she wanted to put things. She nearly danced to start unloading the horses. She flung the trailer's door open, and grabbed Secret. Secret felt Dakota's happy energy and began tossing her head. "There's two different pastures, so i'll put Secret in the left one, 'kay?" She called to Elijah over her shoulder as she was walking to the barn. Dakota watched the mare frolick and play for a moment before going to take stuff inside the house. She took armloads back and forth from the truck, to the house, and back. Once everything was moderatly put away, Dakota walked over to Elijah and wrapped her arms around him, her head tipped up to look at him. "It's the perfect home for our family." She whispered.
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Elijah stood still for a moment, watching her bounce around with that infectious excitement. He could feel the warmth of the moment, the simplicity of it all — the way her energy filled every inch of the space. Dakota was always so full of life, so vibrant. Her enthusiasm was a force of nature, and he couldn’t help but smile, even if he was still processing the weight of everything. He nodded when she spoke about Secret and the pastures, his mind already working on the little details of their new life here. "Yeah, sounds good," he called back to her, his voice steady, even though his heart was beating just a little faster than usual. It was a good feeling. The kind of feeling that made you think maybe, just maybe, you were on the right path. As Dakota flitted between the house and the truck, carrying things in, Elijah leaned against the barn door for a moment. There was a sense of peace in the air. Quiet, stillness that hadn’t been there before. Maybe it was the land, or the house, or the way everything seemed to be falling into place... but Elijah couldn't deny it. This felt like something real. When she finally made her way over to him, arms wrapping around him, he pulled her close, resting his chin on the top of her head. Her words settled into him, her soft whisper grounding him in a way nothing else could. "It is," he murmured back, his hands gently holding her as he let the quiet sink in. "It’s perfect." A little grin tugged at his lips as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. It wasn’t just the house that felt perfect—it was the two of them, building something real together.
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"You really sound happy. Or...content at the very least." She noted, leaning back to look up at him.
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Elijah smiles, "I am very excited" he says, hugging her close to him. "Want to unpack" he asks her, a bright smile on his face
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"Yeah." She answered, taking his hand and weaving her fingers through his. They walked to the house and began unpacking the clothes first, then his schoolwork, then the bathroom stuff. "There wasn't much to do..." Dakota said,turning off the bathroom's light.
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Elijah nods. He watches as Kingston wanders around sniffing all the corners of the house.
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"Maybe we should go furniture shopping?" She offers, kissing him
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Elijah nods, "Let's do it! You have a color scheme in mind?"
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