August 1981
Moving in didn't take too much time, as there wasn't much stuff in their small studio. Mick had packed the rest of his things that were still at his parent's place and took them over. All of Bob's worldly possessions were in the apartment or in his van. The guys helped Gus get the things they'd brought up from Stacy's father's house out of storage.
"I just love this closet," Stacy giggled. Lois nodded and continued to hang up clothes.
"Gus should be good with this spot at the end, right?" Lois asked, pointing to the end of the long, narrow closet. On either side were longer areas each girl was putting their things.
"I don't think he has much choice. You get one side, I get the other, naturally," she shrugged, looking innocently at Lois. She couldn't hold it and laughed.
"Yeah. His fault for letting two women fall in love with him," Lois said, nodding.
They walked back into the bedroom and looked around. "Biggest room I've ever had," Stacy said softly.
"Yup. I do love having our own bathroom," Lois chuckled. "It's worth the extra we pay in rent." Stacy nodded, then went over to some boxes stacked against the wall.
"We're gonna need another bureau, I think. The one you brought is good for your stuff. I have one from my old room, too. Gus doesn't have a place for his stuff," Stacy mused.
"We can get something at the second-hand store. The others have been talking about going around and seeing what furniture we can get for cheap. Maybe hit up some garage sales too. We'll get the place fitted out pretty quickly."
"Are you gonna miss having the bed in the main room? You know where the others would be...," Stacy shrugged. "I hope we don't stop being close, you know? Spontaneous. It's fun when we're all in the same room, doing it."
Lois nodded and smiled at Stacy. "Yeah, me too. You sure got into the swing of that." Stacy blushed.
"There's the playroom. I'm sure we'll have fun there." Lois giggled, a wicked gleam in her eye. "I'm sure Mick will help us get everyone worked up."
"Oh, yeah," Stacy agreed, chuckling. "You two are scary when you put your heads together!"
"That's not the only thing we put together!"
---***---
Stacy and Lois walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Demi and Sam were there, arguing about where to put things.
"Hey! Girls!" Lois called out, getting their attention. "What's wrong?"
"Ah!" Demi exclaimed, a spoon in one hand, and a spatula in the other. "Sam wants to put these kinds of things over there, away from the stove." She pointed with the spoon. "I want them here, where we can get at them when we're cooking."
"I didn't say that," Sam said, exasperated. "I said we should keep some here, and the rest over there. Jeez!"
"Okay, okay," Lois said, walking over. "Let's put the things we use all the time in this drawer, right next to the stove, alright? Anything we don't use regularly, put over there where there's a lot more room."
The other girls grumbled, but did as she suggested and were soon done with getting the kitchen set up.
"Demi, was your mom really okay with you moving out?" Stacy asked her.
"Yeah, she's cool with it. One less mouth to feed," she giggled. "She knows all you guys, and loves Bob to death. I think she'd date him if she could."
"I heard she loved Mick too," Sam said, grinning and bumping Demi's hip with hers.
"Oh, yeah. She really had a thing for Mick. I think it's his smile. She swooned every time he'd throw his head to the side to get his hair out of his face," Demi laughed.
"How about you, Sam? Your mom is okay with you living here?" Lois asked.
Sam sighed softly. "Yeah. She's still kinda weirded out over what happened with my dad. She's got herself another boyfriend."
"Another?" Lois asked, surprised.
Sam nodded. "Yep. She's seen... I think four different guys since she threw dad out. It's like she's trying to reassure herself she's still got it, you know? That must have been devastating, finding out your husband's been cheating on you for years. Getting it thrown in your face like that."
"Sucks," Stacy said, shaking her head.
Just then, the guys came tromping in from the backyard through the large, sliding glass door in the back of the kitchen.
"Hey!" Mick called out to the four girls. "We're ready out there. The table and chairs are set up, and the grill your parents gave us is working," he said to Lois.
They went out to inspect the guy's work. "Nice," Sam said, and kissed Mick. He reached down and pinched her ample curvy bottom, getting a satisfying squeal. She hit his arm lightly, then jumped when Bob came up behind her and pinched her other cheek.
"Hey!" she laughed. "No ganging up!"
Bob wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Don't knock it until you try it!" he leered at her.
"I bet you'd like that!"
"Oh, yeah," he said, patting her bottom again, then heading outside.
---***---
"I officially declare this pool 'clothing free'!" Lois said in her best official tone as they sat around outside in the backyard.
Cheers and laughter rolled around the group. Several of them sat around the large, round table Lois' parents had let her keep. With the chairs they had, and a few other people gave them, they had plenty of outdoor seating.
"Who wants a burger?" Gus called out from the grill. Stacy was bringing a platter of cooked meat over to the table where Demi and Sam had the fixings ready.
A line formed and food passed around. "I think we're getting this figured out," Demi chuckled to Sam.
"Yup, just like an assembly line!"
"That was awesome," Mick said as he leaned back and rubbed his stomach, smiling widely. He burped loudly, then laughed. "Sorry!"
"Gross!" Lois called out, laughing.
They sat and talked, enjoying the late summer weather. Mick looked around the yard, his eyes settling on the beautiful blue pool, then looked at Lois, one eyebrow arched.
"So, what was that you said about no clothing?"
