Our trip out the next day was to a farm which offered every possible flavour of ice cream I'd ever heard of, and then some. Beth grinned at me as she licked her triple cone with obvious enjoyment. "Maybe we need to think again about that gym membership - seeing how much we like cooking, and our amazing kitchen, I can see us doing nothing but eat once we've really moved in."
"Well, there is one form of exercise we get consistently," I pointed out, raising my eyebrows meaningfully.
Beth smirked, but her eyes held a soft look. "True."
She reached to touch my hand. "Maybe when we get back to the house, we can find out if our grass is as nice to lie on as your parents' garden," she hinted. "The weather'll probably turn cooler soon."
We drove back up the following day, Mum and Dad quizzing us on progress at the house. "Sarah sounds nice," Mum commented. "It's good that you've already started to make friends down there."
"Especially people that aren't just students," Dad offered. "After all, you two are going to be there long-term. Have you seen anywhere that looks promising for getting jobs?"
Beth looked thoughtful. "Actually I was wondering about starting our own business - with the skills we'll have between us when we finish, there are a few things we could do, and the house has plenty of space for a home office, even for meeting clients."
She glanced at me. "If we're careful, we can hang on to some of Grandad's money to use for startup capital."
"Definitely," I nodded.
We spent a couple of days on serious packing - "We do actually have to get our uni books too," reminded Beth. Dad volunteered to drive a hire van down and back, and by Wednesday afternoon we were ready, the hallway a barely organised chaos of more boxes, cases, random items - "Oo, badminton rackets," Beth enthused. "There's plenty of space for a net."
My mind was distracted for a few moments by an image of her in a short tennis skirt, stretching for a hard-won point, and I grinned. "Sure."
Mum kissed us both goodbye - "We'll both come down and visit when you've really got things the way you want them -" and we were off, following Dad down the motorway. We gave him a tour of the house, then he helped us unload the van, Beth again supervising what went where. "You're sure you won't stay for something to eat?" she queried when the van was empty.
He shook his head. "I'd rather get home. But I'll call you when I'm back, and we'll definitely see you in a couple of weeks."
We watched him drive off, then Beth took a deep breath as the door closed. "I know we've sort of done it in stages, but now we're really, finally here."
I kissed her. "We really are. Now, are you hungry? Mum put a lasagna in one of the boxes, bless her, and I put it in the bottom oven as soon as we got here, so it'll be ready."
We made short work of the lasagna, and Beth stifled a yawn. "Gosh, I'm worn out."
My phone rang, and I picked it up. "Hi, Dad. Everything OK?"
"Fine - I took the van back, your mother's just making dinner."
"We've had ours," I grinned, forgetting he couldn't see me. "Thank Mum for us, the lasagna was delicious. And Beth says she knows what she's making for you when you visit."
"Will do - see you soon."
I put my phone down, and fought back a yawn of my own. "It's going to be a busy one tomorrow, isn't it - another reason to get an early night, as if having you in my arms wasn't reason enough..."
***
Thursday turned out to be just as busy as we'd anticipated, the furniture delivery van disgorging a seemingly never-ending stream of flatpacks. The driver caught my attention, running his finger down to one line of the manifest. "This is the biggest item, if you can tell us where you want it."
Beth looked over his shoulder. "OK, that's the bed. Master bedroom, up the stairs and turn right."
We'd already put our temporary mattress back where it belonged, Beth tugging from the top while I pushed it up the attic stairs, and we watched as the driver and his mate carefully lifted the bed up the stairs and through the doorway, returning for the mattress and then the headboard - "I've not forgotten what you said you wanted to do with that," I murmured in Beth's ear, and she threw me a knowing smile, for my eyes only.
"Right," managed the driver, obviously out of breath. "If I could have a signature, we'll be on our way."
Beth scrawled her name on the line. "Thank you so much - drive safely."
We watched the van till it disappeared round the curve in the drive, and Beth grinned at me. "I know exactly what you're thinking..."
I followed her up the stairs, ignoring the stacks of variously-sized cardboard boxes, and into the bedroom. "Let's get all this plastic stuff off the mattress," suggested Beth, already tugging at the polythene.
Finally we had all the packaging off and bundled together on the landing. "Wow," Beth breathed. "It looks even bigger than it did in the shop."
She sifted through boxes. "Right - give me a hand with this sheet."
Together we spread the sheet out, and Beth showed me how to do the corners. "And we need to put the duvet cover on."
I chuckled as Beth ended up almost completely swathed in fabric as we sorted the duvet, but finally it was spread across the bed, a couple of pillows at the top. We stood back, and Beth nodded. "Perfect."
"Want to try it?" I hinted.
"In a bit," she smiled. "So we can just go to sleep afterwards. Let's make sure everything else is where it's supposed to be first, so we can rattle through putting it all together tomorrow before Sarah gets here."
I glanced at the bed again. "Beth, darling - if Sarah does, well, if -"
I started again. "Would you feel you'd missed out on something if she shares our bed for a night or two, when we've only been in it for a little while ourselves?"
Beth shook her head, smiling. "It's fine. Wherever you and I have been together has already been 'our bed' - I know this one's new, special, but the best thing about it is that there's plenty of room."
She grinned knowingly. "If Sarah and I want to have a cuddle - or more - and leave you to snore on the other side of the bed, you won't even notice."
She tugged at my hand. "Come on - the sooner we sort everything else out, the sooner we can see if that headboard delivers on its promises..."
***
Beth stirred in my arms. "Morning, lover."
I kissed the back of her neck. "Morning yourself. Rested?"
She stretched. "Mm, yes. We'll have to call this our Goldilocks bed - not too hard, not too soft, just right."
She slid out of bed, standing in the shaft of sunlight from the window, and I felt a sensation I could only describe as 'glory' as I looked at her.
Finally my all-too-human needs brought me down to earth. "Want to go down for breakfast?" I queried.
Beth shook her head, smiling. "I thought I'd treat you to bacon sandwiches, seeing as most of the hard work is yours today."