As soon as school let out for the summer, Erik and his siblings were picked up from school by Mr. Bartley. Apparently Lia's mother had gone to pick up his mother from her workplace. Although he didn't know how well that was going to go over with his mom's boss. His mom didn't talk about the lady that ran the museum part of an old hospital, other than she had supplied her with the generic suppressants that they had been taking. It didn't take long to reach the place his mom was going to be staying with his siblings. The large house loomed before them and was only a few blocks from where Lia lived. It was a nice-looking neighborhood, although it wasn't nearly as fancy as hers. The houses were fairly close together and somewhat narrow, but they stood tall. By his count, the houses in this neighborhood were all three stories tall.
Shortly after they pulled into the drive, another car pulled up next to them before they could exit the vehicle. His mom exited along with Lia's mom as they all got out. Ever since the talk with the Bartleys, Tyler and Emily had been enrolled in a daycare, putting a stop to the arraignment of Nikki and him looking after their youngest siblings when it had been discovered what they had been doing. Even Nikki's job that she said she had quit, when she actually continued, had been put to an end. In the space of a couple of weeks, their entire lives had been turned upside down.
Julie had been a bit surprised that all this charity only required her to stay employed and continue living in the vicinity of the city they were currently residing. Although she had readily agreed at first, she did have her worries. When she had been presented with the paperwork, there had been further stipulations. Those being that while she remained employed, all of her children needed to be enrolled in school, or working at least part time at a reputable business.
It further stipulated that her youngest be enrolled in childcare and that no child would be left to watch another while they should be in school. When she had objected to the cost of childcare, Dr. Bartley pointed out to a section of the document that all childcare and education expenses would be covered. She had been honestly relieved because she knew how intelligent all of her children were, but she could not afford the education they needed to help them along.
The house they had pulled up to was honestly towering. It was hard to imagine living in such nice accommodations rent free, but that too had been part of this charitable deal. She would pay a fraction of the cost of rent to the Bartleys out of her wages. Objecting had been no use as these two were efficient in everything, for in just a single night, they had come armed with knowledge of them since they had moved here. Her worry had been if they looked further back and see the record of her son and then deny them this charity because of his background. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, at least not yet. She silently prayed it stayed that way for a good long time.
Entering the house with Tyler in her arms and Emily in hand, the older children spun around in amazement for just a moment before dashing off in fits of delightful giggles. Only Erik and Nikki looked around in a more subdued manner. Emily saw her older siblings rush off and dashed after them without a second's hesitation. This house had so much space for them to run around in and, from the looks of things, a fenced-in backyard that was just as big as this house was tall. As she looked around the first floor, the Bartleys explained the sparse furnishings and the plan for the rest of the afternoon.
"Usually this house is used sparingly by guests in need of a night or two of accommodation and so we have kept it sparse to make upkeep for them easy. However, we will more than happily remedy that this afternoon. We chose not to select the furnishings for you since you will be the ones living here for the long term now. As such, you and your children will select what you like and we will have it delivered and set up by this evening." Mr. Bartley explained.
After Erik and his siblings had explored every inch of the house, it was back to the large car where they all piled in. They were to go shopping now and after experiencing the way Liona shopped once before; he wasn't sure he was looking forward to this. As it turned out, the Bartleys were much more reasonable than Liona had been and did not take them to an upscale shopping mall. Instead, they were taken to a reasonable outlet center that sold not only furniture, but clothing as well. The reasonable wholesale discount was enough to make his mother sigh in visible relief.
Shopping for furniture was quite the adventure for Julie, with her children being given free rein to each pick out their bedroom furnishings for the first time in their lives. Everything from a desk to a bed was needed. Her older children, knowing restraint, picked out sensible and practical things for their rooms. But to her surprise, Erik was to pick out double the furniture. He was to get things for not only his room in the Bartley house, but the residence she and his siblings were to live in was to be furnished for her son as well. They were very much making sure Erik knew he could always come home to her if he ever needed.
The younger girls all picked out things in various colors, styles and vintages. Her middle child, Heather, whose birthday had just passed, was her little old soul. She liked the antique style of furnishings from somewhere in the early 1900s. While little two-year-old Emily pointed out things that were brightly colored and very modern. Nichole picked out older, but not antique or vintage furnishings in solid wood colors in almost an eclectic style. However, each piece of furniture had everything she saw fit to be practical. Erik, on the other hand, picked out dark wood vintage furniture from the early 2000s that imitated an older style, but with modern fittings.
Once all of her children had picked out their furnishings, it was on to the warehouse next door that sold last chance clothing that was not used, but was the price of used. She thought that used clothing was the better choice, but apparently Dr. Bartley put her foot down on it because most of the used clothing market was filled to the brim with subpar clothing that was all but bound to fall apart before her children could outgrow it. It was something called fast fashion, and it was terrible for the environment, as well as full of chemicals to keep the dyes from running or fading from the materials. This fashion warehouse of last chance clothing was of a guaranteed quality, even if it faded a bit after a few washings.
Erik was of the mind that clothing was clothing and as long as it covered you, that was that. However, that wasn't the case with his sister, Nikki, who was going hog wild over the wall to wall choices. She took the older half of his sisters and made a beeline for the ladies' undergarments section. Meanwhile, he took the younger girls and helped his mother pick out things for them. Tyler was the only other boy and was not old enough to voice much of an opinion on what he wanted, so Erik went around and found a variety of clothes in increasing sizes to help as his mom picked outfits for the littlest girls. Mom had always clothed them in whatever was available out of charity boxes, and gendered clothing ideals had long since been an issue, so he found everything from cute and frilly to more subdued patterns and hues for his baby brother.
For himself, he picked out practical clothes that would withstand wear and tear, which consisted mostly of workman's clothing that was thick and rough denim as well as simple and plain t-shirts of sturdy cotton. He did allow himself a bit of luxury with a couple of button downs in varying shades of jewel tones and some slacks for the days he wanted to take Lia out on a date. Once he was done, he met back up with his mom and his sisters, who had filled several shopping carts with their clothing, while he had a small basket for him and Tyler. The Bartleys didn't say a word about the amount, nor the cost, as everything was rung up. They didn't take more than what was necessary for the night with them as the rest was arranged to be delivered later.