Dream House

Molly Shannon hadn't expected to find a half-dead cat on the side of the road as she left work one snowy day. She couldn't leave it there though, especially knowing she could take it in now that her sweet Lily had died of old age.

She had never seen an albino cat before. It was a beautiful creature when it wasn't soaked in blood. She was happy to take him home, though her remaining cat Stella hadn't been happy about getting used to a new member of the household.

Neither had her boyfriend Calvin Howe if she was being perfectly honest. He didn't like the fact that she was spending all her time taking care of her new pet at home instead of hanging out with him.

What could she do though? Casper needed to have his medication dispensed twice a day and she wanted to keep him company while he wasn't feeling well too. As Lily declined, she wanted snuggles more and more.

He was a bit standoffish at first but warmed up to her before long. He and Stella weren't friends the way she and Lily were but she hoped they would be with enough time.

Molly loved cats more than almost anything. They helped with her depression and anxiety and had for as long as she could remember. Living without them wasn't an option. She was glad she had Casper around now because the apartment had felt too empty with only one.

They had also helped a lot with her loneliness before she met Calvin. She had never been the most social person in the world and struggled with making and keeping friends. Lily had been her best friend since she was a child so she had been devastated by her death. Casper helped fill the void a little but no one would ever truly be able to replace her.

Her boyfriend accepted her cats' presence in her life but didn't seem to truly like them. The feeling seemed to be mutual since Stella, normally such a cuddle bug, refused to come near him at all.

They would have to get used to it sooner or later. She and Calvin had talked about the future and marriage had been brought up.

His lease would be up in a few months and he was planning on moving in with her when that happened. She was nervous but excited at the same time. She had never lived with a boyfriend before and it would be nice having someone to come home to at the end of the day that could talk back.

Calvin was the manager of a retail chain store location not terribly far from her school and happened to be close friends with one of her fellow third grade teachers. She had set the two of them up thinking they would be a good match.

They hit it off immediately, which was unusual for Molly since she was normally so shy, and the rest was history. He was her first love and hopefully also her last.

About halfway through the movie they were watching, they sort of abandoned it to make out. Afterwards, they snuggled on the couch and continued ignoring the TV to talk about the future.

"What does your dream house entail?" Molly asked curiously.

"I dunno," Calvin shrugged. "I guess somewhere with a yard and a three-car garage. I'm not all that picky. What about you?"

"Not that I could ever afford this…but I think it would be amazing to have a secret library. You know, like in the movies where there are hidden doors and stuff. I got to go inside a house like that once and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen."

"You and your books! Fitting of a teacher."

"What can I say? I love to read," she replied casually. He didn't read much but didn't tease her the way other people did over the years for being too much of a bookworm.

Molly appreciated that about him. He kept his teasing about most things to a minimum and didn't tell her to shut up when she talked. That was more than she had gotten from her estranged parents.

She had bookshelves stuffed to the brim all over her apartment and they still weren't enough. There were also stacks of books on every available surface and even the floor since there wasn't enough space.

If she could afford it, she would love to have a two-bedroom apartment solely so the spare room could be a library. That sounded amazing.

"Is there anything else you would want in a dreamhouse? Provided money was no object," Calvin clarified.

Molly smiled as she thought of it. "Yeah. I'd want a winding mahogany staircase with an impressive banister for sliding down, a kitchen with two ovens to make cooking easier on holidays, and an indoor pool. Outdoor ones are kind of out of the question here for most of the year.

"Oh! And a laundry chute. I always thought those were super cool in movies. Maybe a dumbwaiter too. I could also go for some saltwater aquariums but those are so expensive. Everything I'm listing off is though. Which is why it's just a 'dream house'. Dreams are unrealistic by nature of the word."

She wished her nightmares were less realistic some of the time. Usually, they were nonsense but she had nightmares that were far too real so she couldn't tell she was dreaming at least once a week.

It was her curse. Her old therapist said the nightmares were a byproduct of constant anxiety living under her father's thumb.

For the most part, Molly was doing well these days since she didn't speak to either of her parents but sometimes the past came back to haunt her in ways other than nightmares too. She did better on the nights she had something to hold so thankfully Calvin hadn't seen her freak out because of a nightmare yet.

Stella was a lifesaver in that regard but she had to admit it was better on the nights she slept over at his place. Possibly because he was bigger and there was more of him to hug.

He didn't like staying over at her place as often because the cats always meowed to be let in if the door was shut but he was going to have to get used to either the meowing or having cats get in his face in the middle of the night. That was what happened when you got into a serious relationship with an animal lover.

"Yeah, those things are pretty out there, Mol," Calvin said with a laugh in response to her dream house ideas.

Molly grinned sheepishly. "I know. I don't think any of the things on my list are realistic but it's fun to dream, isn't it? At the very least, I do need some sort of room to turn into a library because I don't have enough space for all my books."

"Very true. You have more books than the average person could ever read."

And yet she had read everything she owned a minimum of three times. Not only did she love to read, she was a speed reader. People used to give her such a hard time for showing up to school with a different book every day.

"I guess I missed my true calling as a librarian," she replied with a shrug.

Calvin smiled. "I guess so. Anyway, I should probably get going. I'll see you Thursday, alright?"

He disentangled himself and got up before giving her a kiss and heading to the front door to grab his coat and shoes. She was disappointed she wouldn't see him for so long after they barely got to spend time together again but squashed it down.

She didn't want to appear needy. That was what drove people away.

It was kind of funny he had been complaining about seeing her less when she was taking care of Casper post-surgery because she honestly didn't see him that much. They got together two or three times a week at most and she had only been busy for two weeks.

He could have come to her place but didn't want to deal with an injured cat and her focus being elsewhere. He could be so finicky sometimes.

When Calvin left, Molly sighed and flopped back onto the couch thinking about how lucky she was to have him. He looked like a model with his dark hair and devastating cheekbones and he was attracted to her of all people!

She wasn't anything special. She had long wavyish dirty blonde hair, wore round silver glasses, and her eyes were a boring shade of blue.

Truth be told, she fit the plain nerdy girl stereotype to a T. She was tall and gawky with a boyish figure. Not very feminine or pretty at all. Boys hadn't been all that interested in her growing up, especially since she was so shy.

Having someone find her beautiful for the first time in her life had been a shock. Sometimes she still had a hard time believing it.

Calvin was definitely an anomaly. At least cats didn't care what you looked like. As long as you fed them and gave them attention, they were cool with pretty much anybody.