The drive to my new place was quite uneventful. We just listened to music as baba manouvered through the light Saturday traffic. When we finally pulled up to the parking space allocated to me (I haven't gotten around to getting a car quite yet), I immediately jumped out and made my way toward the moving van. They were already unloading the boxes and carrying them to the elevator.
I lifted the box labeled stuffed animals. It was probably one of the few things I could carry but the excitement of it all helped me ignore that fact.
"Excited huh?" one of the guys smiled. He was quite tall with tan skin and a beard that gave him an almost fatherly look.
I was about to answer but Adonis beat me to it. "Oh please, she's only excited to get rid of us." he smirked.
"Yes Adonis. That's exactly it. Not because I'm excited about this new chapter of my life or that I have managed to make a life for myself." I rolled my eyes.
"Don't be mad at him." the mover laughed, "You certainly aren't as bad as my sister's kid. He didn't want anyone to help him move his things. I barely managed to convince him to let us help. Safe to say that was our fastest job."
Adonis and I laughed as we followed the others to the elevator. I pressed the button for the 5th floor and we all stood in silence as it took us to our final destination. It was big enough for about 6 of us to fit with all the boxes we were carrying. Mama and baba had gone up ahead and were already waiting for us.
My place was at the end of a very long corridor so we had a bit of a walk before I could reach 'home'. It felt weird calling it that. Probably because home has always been my parents' place. The next time I'd want to see them I couldn't just walk downstairs to the living room or across the corridor to their bedroom. I'd have to take the bus or call an Uber or get a ride from one of my friends or get a taxi. Basically it would take more effort.
I opened the door and made my way to my bedroom and plopped the box on my bed. I made a mental note to make it once I figured out which box had my sheets and pillowcases. The good thing about this whole process was that I tried to get all the bigger fish out of the way. That includes all the furniture, appliances, electricity, water, and wifi. All that I had left to do was organise and I'm pretty excited for that part.
I walked to the living room to find mama and baba arranging the couch cushions and putting up some of the decor we'd bought the week before. I joined them while also watching over the rest of the movers and Adonis who'd apparently decided that it was he was mover for a day too.
"Where does this box go?" one of the movers asked as he walked in. The box he was carrying was labelled books. "It goes in my room. First room to the left." I said.
The rest of the day pretty much went this way. They brought in the boxes, asked where they went, I told them and they put them in the respective room ready to be opened and the contents to be put in a new spot.
With the three of us combined, we managed to organise everything in the living room, dining area, kitchenette and the bathroom. All that was left was my spare room which I hadn't quite decided what to do with, and my bedroom. At this point we were all pretty tired and hungry so we'd decided to take a break. The movers were already done but when we offered them food, they declined saying that they had another job to do. We ordered pizza and sat on the couch talking about the day's events.
This is another one of those moments that I would miss; sitting together as a family at the end of the day and just talking. The feeling of being in each other's company was one I never thought about until now. I didn't realize that I would miss it so much. Especially now that the day was coming to an end. I looked around the room and smiled at the people I valued the most.
The moment didn't last long though.
There was a sudden crash and a little girl came bolting into the room and jumped into Adonis'arm, much to his surprise. She was dressed in a pair of light blue pajama shorts, a white t-shirt and slippers. Her dark hair was in a tangled mess and she was laughing maniacally.
"MEGUMI!" a voice yelled for her.
The voice in question belonged to a tall, asian man with a mop of dark hair, glasses and exhaustion written all over his face. He stood by the entrance to the living room in all his awkward glory.
"I'm so sorry about her. This apartment has been empty for so long that she thinks she can just run in here." he said with a weak smile.
Adonis got up with Megumi in his arms and walked towards the stranger. She clung on to him and squealed with laughter. She looked about 5 or 6 so clearly she though this was all part of a game. I stood up and walked towards the stranger.
"Its ok. I'd say you spiced up our evening even more." I laughed, "I'm Circe, this is Adonis and these are our parents."
"I'm Haru." he smiled, "And this little intruder," he said as he pried her off Adonis, "is Megumi. We live in 5A."
"Its nice to meet the both of you. Would you guys like some pizza?" mama smiled.
Haru looked at us with a bit of worry but Megumi answered for him with a loud "YES PLEASE!"
"Megumi!" he seethed at her before turning to us. "We wouldn't want to intrude. I know its been a long day for you guys especially since you're moving in and stuff."
"Nonsense." Baba spoke. "We're hardly exhausted. And besides Circe is the one who has a lot of work cut out for her seeing as its her place and all. We're just wrapping things up and leaving. Please, sit down."
The gentleness in baba's tone must have persuaded him to stay because he sat down and grabbed a slice of pizza.
The rest of the evening was spent with all of us getting to know each other as neighbours. It turns out Haru was Megumi's uncle and he took care of her during the weekends. She was notorious for making him run around the building, especially now that she was tall enough to open doors by herself.
In a funny way Haru and Megumi made me feel at home almost immediately. By the end of the night, I was less sad about my family's departure. That's not to say I won't miss them, but there was less of an impact when they eventually got up and and left. It was weird, but the events of today made me finally feel like I was welcome into this community and into this home.