I’ve had a new apartment with Sweetie for three weeks. I’m still trying to get used to it.

Sweetie got a job in June while I was on vacation with him and Darling. It was a great opportunity, so off he went. That signaled that it was finally time to look for a place. (It also gave me alone time with Darling, which is rather rare, actually.)

At the very end of June, I mentioned to my sister that I was looking for an apartment. She told me that an apartment just like hers opened up two buildings down. That was June 30th. We got the keys for the apartment on July 11th. We’re not fully moved in yet, but I refuse to stress over it. I budgeted storage space along with everything else, so I know it’s covered as long as I need it. We’re still gonna need one of the spaces anyway, as I have a lot of stuff I want to keep and don’t really need.

Darling is here to visit for a few days. He was here for a few days two weekends ago. It’s so good to have him here! Finally, we have a place of our own that we can cook and control the temperature! We got some hand-me-downs for the basic household stuff, plus we’re adding in the stuff we already had. Sweetie scored a king sized bed! You really can’t have anything smaller for a Triad, anyway.

Naturally, we have fish again. One 10 gallon tank is the starter tank for Sweetie and Darling. They want to start rescuing interesting looking feeder goldfish, so there’s a couple of those and a nice koi that Darling really liked. The 30 gallon will be up and running soon so all those guys have more room to roam.

It’s good to have a place where I can be me again. It’s great to live with Sweetie again. It’s spectacular to know that Darling is going to join us permanently in the near future. The three of us have a place where we can love each other for who we are, freely. Where we can be who we are, honestly.

And that, in this day and age, is rare and I treasure it deeply.

Looks like Year Six of Widowhood’s gonna be pretty good.

I have my own 10 gallon with 9 neon tetras named Eric (Monty Python reference) and an orange and pink glow shark named Nymphadora (Harry Potter reference). I’ve wanted a lot of neon tetras for awhile, so it’s great to have them.

I have the old Ikea coffee table that Kevin bought right after I met him. It’s weird for it to be in a living room again. Hey, it’s still in good condition and a perfect start to a larger tank for the koi and goldfish down the road.