CHAPTER SIX BETTER OFF

**DISCLAIMER: STORY CONTAINS ADULT THEMES, LIGHT SEXUAL REFERENCES, SOME FOUL LANGUAGE, AND CHARACTER DEATHS.**

Blessed showers!

Jilly was super excited about the showers. She didn't even care that there's no privacy...she just said we'll shower in our swimsuits or else we'll just make sure the other knows not to go near there when it is in use.

She told me to go first since I'd worked so hard to put it together.

Not gonna lie. It was pure heaven after sweating all day installing it!

She took a picture of me with her phone since I was wearing my suit.  I did the same to her. Except we forgot about towels. Duh. I handed her one and she did the same for me...but next on my list is to install a towel bar!

Almost flat broke after the shower purchase and installation, I spent the next day (a Sunday) dumpster diving for more stuff to fix up and sell to the consignment shop. They still have some of my stuff up for sale, too, so I check once every week or two to see if anything new has sold.

                                       

The good news was, they sold a few things. Jillian and I got ourselves and Katie a few new articles of clothing, opting to wear some of them out of the store.

Giddy with our progress, we spend the next day, Monday, a school holiday, at the beach.  Katie played near us at all times, and we took turns going for swims and sunning ourselves so we always knew where she was.

As the afternoon started to give way to evening, I read a book required for school while Katie played behind me.  Jillian made us some hot dogs for dinner.

I looked up from my book several times to enjoy the view.

We watched Katie play and enjoyed our yummy hot dogs.  

As darkness fell, we got dressed and started the fairly long walk home. We switched off carrying Katie every few blocks.  You can't see the straps too well in the dark, but I carried our wet suits in a backpack with a waterproof cargo section.

It was a great day.

Hopefully I can find a towel bar at the pawn shop sometime this week. 

**

Wishing Well

On Friday afternoon, we stopped by the wishing well on the way to the library. It was a silly whimsical thing to do, and neither of us really expected our dreams to come true, but it was fun to dream.

 I researched tiny houses and sourced materials while Jilly read a book. Katie, of course, played in the kids' corner.

With summer and Jilly's 18th birthday quickly approaching, we made happy plans to save up and get the trailer, we hoped, by the end of my senior year.

The not-so-great thing about fall would be that Jilly would switch back to night shifts only, so I could come home from school and watch Katie. We'll barely see each other, but once we have our tiny home completed, it will be worth it. And once I am out of school, we'll have to keep rotating our schedules or else pay for daycare...which will eat into our earnings a fair amount. 

"That book I read at the library was really smart. It's by this guy who grew up poor and learned from a friend's father how to be smart about money. Right now, we're doing things all wrong. We need to save at least 10% of everything we earn. I know that sounds impossible given our situation, but if we invested just $1,000 at age 18, even if we never added to it again, it could grow to over a million dollars in 40 years."

I laughed. "How are we going to get $1,000 to invest?"

She winced. "You won't like this. But we need to make a slightly new plan. There's another financial wizard guy that the first book recommended. I read some of his stuff on my phone over the internet. First step is to put $1000 in emergency savings. The second is pay off any debts, but we don't have any. So, for that, we just agree not to get into debt. The third is to save 3-6 months of expenses in case of job loss or short-term illnesses or something so we don't have to get in debt to pay our bills."

I sighed. "It does sound smart, but it's going to take us so long to get off this lot..."

"Maybe not. The $1,000 emergency fund will be quick if we put every spare penny toward it first. We don't really need anything else on our campsite now that we have a bathroom. We can keep roasting veggies and having the occasional meal out, and buying a couple small things here and there, but if we focus, we can have that $1,000 saved by halfway through summer. Maybe even sooner if my tips are good.  The 3–6-month thing, that's saving some money while you work toward other goals."

I hated it because it made our tiny house feel farther away by the second, and I knew Jilly was being smart but also kidding herself about our campsite being "doable" until the tiny house.  We fight more often lately, and mostly because of schedules and just living this "tent city" life.  

To prove we could still buy a few small luxuries here and there, she brought home a toy for Katie.

Several nights later, she paid for us to have dinner at a local diner. Not the one she works for, but one a bit further away.

"See? We can still have a few small splurges, and still save up our emergency fund. It's already up to $150, and we're not even out of school yet."

I couldn't argue with that. 

**

CHAPTER FIVE BETTER OFF

**DISCLAIMER: STORY CONTAINS ADULT THEMES, LIGHT SEXUAL REFERENCES, SOME FOUL LANGUAGE, AND CHARACTER DEATHS.**

And... We have a makeshift toilet facility!

It took a bit of time and effort. I had to go to the library a few times, too, to brush up on SimTube videos of people assembling similar makeshift bathroom structures for camping. And... I got a little video gaming in, too. 

I had to dumpster dive for some stuff to sell so we could make just a little more money. Even then, I had to break the news that no, we wouldn't have two separate toilets. We'd have one compartment for the toilet, but it would have a door. We'd have another for the outdoor shower. It wouldn't have a door.

Jillian took Katie on a few collecting runs. They ended up all the way over by the science center. It's a very long walk. She got there in fits and starts, collecting a few items, resting, collecting more, resting again. But Katie got fussy and hungry, so after they cashed in the specimens Jilly gathered, Jillian stopped at the kitschy diner next door before cabbing it home. I couldn't be mad...after eating at the diner and cab fare, they still cleared over three hundred dollars!

I spent the next day purchasing materials and assembling at least the frame. By sunset, I had it up. Jillian was a little disappointed that the toilet wasn't set up yet, but she could see I was sweaty and exhausted. She sent me off to the gym for a shower and told me to go ahead and watch some TV there if I wanted. She'd watch Katie until bedtime.

Meanwhile, I felt bad that I couldn't complete the bathroom for her. I know she's so tired of the gym. It's really hard if you have to go in the middle of the night.  It's either pee in the bushes, which is way easier for guys, or slog across the street to the gym for yet ANOTHER $5 fee.  

I cut school. I told her I was too tired to go, but I'd look after Katie. She hesitated. I knew she didn't want to leave Katie with me if I might fall asleep.

"I won't sleep," I promised. "It's just the sleep deprivation gave me a bad headache. I'll study here today. Promise."

She frowned, but then left. "I have to work after school." 

"That's okay, I can watch Katie all day."

Out of nowhere, she kissed my forehead. We both froze. Neither of us had ever done anything like that. When I gave her a half grin to let her know it was okay, she took off running for the bus.

By the time she came home, I had the roof on and the lanterns up...but still no toilets.

It's close to the well. close enough that I can run the hose underground right until the edge of the well, then run it up the outside and down. Nothing to trip over that way, and nothing unsightly.

Jillian was wrecked after school all day and waitressing half the night. Katie was already asleep in the old crib we'd found and set up.

She saw my progress and started to cry.

"Hey...what's wrong?"

She shrugged and shook her head. I didn't know what else to say, so I said nothing. I just held her until she stopped crying.  

She didn't say, but I figured she was bone tired and disappointed that there was still no toilet hooked up.

I felt terrible. I knew she didn't understand how hard it was to walk with Katie back and forth to the hardware store for a box of roof paneling at a time, one by one, until we had all ten boxes we needed. I knew she didn't understand that to put the roof on, I had to watch Katie AND watch what I was doing.  I put Katie in the crib a couple times, but after about an hour each time, she threw a tantrum until I let her out to play on the ground. Then, of course, there were food breaks, potty breaks for Katie, and toward sunset, a trip to the gym to bathe Katie in the sink in the men's room and to shower and use the bathroom, myself.

I couldn't skip a third day, so we suffered through the rest of the week with our usual gym visits. It wasn't a pay week for Jillian, so her tips were all the extra money we had. I'd been working hard to make up for the two days of school and couldn't go out collecting.

Finally, on Saturday, I worked all morning while she looked after Katie. She had to work, so I wasn't able to do as much in the afternoon, but I still worked on it. She'd tired Katie out at the park, so I had the blessing of three hours of solid work time while Katie napped in the crib where I didn't have to watch her.

Jillian was super happy to come home and find the completed outhouse...with the toilet inside and even a toilet paper holder installed on the wall and a pack of the pricey toilet tissue that isn't scratchy with a silly gift bow on it from the dollar store.  She laughed and cried at the same time. When she came out, she said we should probably move the washstand over to the outhouse area, so we don't have to walk all the way across the campsite to wash up after using the bathroom.

"Tomorrow," I said, lying flat on my back in the dirt under the pavilion.

"Sure, Matt. Sorry. I didn't mean to make more demands. This is awesome. Thanks so much."

"Next up, the shower," I mumbled, half asleep.  "As soon as we can get the money together."

I knew we'd both work extra hard to scrape up that fund.

***

If it's Love...

Two things happened this last two weeks.

First, we went to the spring festival...a combination of Valentine's and Easter festivities. We got free passes at school to get in, and everything once you're in is ticket based. You can play games, search for Easter eggs, and enter dance contests to win tickets you can exchange for either food or prizes.  We'd hoped to get Katie more toys. The fact that she only has like one toy left...the other two got too filthy and Jillian threw them out...makes us both sad. But they had stuff more geared toward school kids and teens like us.

She found some eggs....

So did I. 

We played horseshoes.

We both suck at it, but Jilly won.

We got a little caught up in the moment, I guess.  I asked her to dance.

She got all shy and awkward but said yes and stepped into me. It was pretty romantic, what with the sun going down.

When the song ended, I took her hands and took the risk I've been trying to take for weeks now.

"Jillian, I know our lives are really hard right now...but someday, we're going to be in a much better place.  For now, though...there's no one else I'd rather be roughing it with. I... I think I love you."

We stood frozen in that moment. I couldn't read her expression. But I took another leap of faith and kissed her.

And when I was finished kissing her and backed away to catch my breath, she pulled me back in and kissed me senseless.

After that, we gathered Katie, turned in our tickets for a hardware store gift card that will help us buy our shower, and floated home on a cloud of happiness. Or at least I did.  I think Jilly did, too, but I can't say for sure.

****

Onward and Upward

As the school year raced toward a close and Jillian raced toward graduation, we sat down to plan. 

"I've been doing some window shopping," I said.  "We can get almost everything for the tiny house locally...at the hardware store. The utility trailers are about $3,300, but if we wait until around Memorial Day or Father's Day, they might go on sale. If we don't have the money by then, we can wait for Labor Day for the end of season sales."

Jillian wrote the figure on a notepad.

"I've been pricing those all-in-one bathroom stall units, and if we go with the middle unit, which I hope we do because the smallest is just super tiny, we can get it for about $4,750."

She added that item with a wince. "Wow. This still feels pretty out of reach."

I nodded. "But remember...when you graduate, you can work full time.  I'll watch Katie and take her specimen hunting with me. And if my guitar improves, we can spend time at the park. She can play and I can also...play. The only difference is I'll be playing for tips." I grinned.

"Ok. What else?" she asked.

"Stove, fridge, and sink. They also sell them in these combo units where you can do a mini fridge and a microwave or a regular size fridge and no microwave.  The mini set up is about $1250 and the bigger one is $1550."

"I want the bigger one. I know it would be nice to have a microwave, but I'd rather have a roomier fridge. Maybe we can get a blender or food processor or something. I'd like to make a lot of nice, healthy smoothies and soups. And it's easy food that won't require a lot of counter space to prepare."

I nodded. "Ok. So that's $9300 just for the main conveniences. That's not even walls and windows and doors, stairs to the loft or any furniture like beds."

She sighed. "What do you think on the rest? Could we go back to roughing it for a while just to get the trailer bed and then get the framing, walls, windows, and roof up so we can camp out in it until the facilities are installed?"

I gave her a look. "Do you really want to go back to bathing and all that at the pool or gym?"

She gave me a look. "No. But I also don't want Katie to reach school age and risk anyone finding out about how we live."

I frowned. "True."

I put the notebook away and distracted her with some kissing. "We can sell your tent," I suggested. "You can move in mine."

She grinned. "That's not a whole lot of money."

"No. But we'll be warmer when it's cold and it will bring us a few extra bucks."

She laughed. "Okay."

I spent the next week out collecting specimens and found an abandoned mine.  I did not venture inside because I thought I saw a pair of eyes glowing back at me. Didn't want to risk running into some animal's lair.  But there were quite a few interesting rocks and metals nearby that ended up netting a pretty penny.

And two days after I dropped the specimens, Jilly came home from work to our completed bathroom...shower and all.

****

CHAPTER FOUR BETTER OFF

**DISCLAIMER: STORY CONTAINS ADULT THEMES, LIGHT SEXUAL REFERENCES, SOME FOUL LANGUAGE, AND CHARACTER DEATHS.**

A week later....

After a week I spent making money, we pooled our funds and got a few things to make our campsite more comfortable.

First, we moved the tents closer to the pavilion to try to block even more of the weather.  We got a fire bowl, and I carved out two old fallen trees, turning them into chairs.  We picked up a crib at the super pawn for Katie to use when the weather is warmer and not raining.  I didn't want to get it...I didn't understand why Jillian would want a crib outdoors, but when she said Katie's tossing and turning kept her awake a lot, it made more sense.  We even picked up a cheap training potty since Jillian said Katie's starting to get the point of bathrooms. Lastly, we got a few old washtubs and an old-fashioned washstand that no one had bought from the super pawn after well over a year on display.  

"I'd love to have that to wash my hands and face," Jillian commented. "You know, between gym and pool visits."

                                           

Not gonna lie. By week's end, roasting veggies for dinner over the fire, I was glad for the fire bowl and our other amenities.

I did my homework by firelight as Jillian fed Katie.

Or taught her to walk.

We developed a routine to keep Katie out of daycare after school. I'd take her with me rock and bug hunting...only nearby since we didn't have one of those kiddie seats for our bikes yet.  Or we'd hang around the camp site and I'd work with her on the walking thing.

We were trying so hard to get the money together to rig up an outdoor shower, but Jilly---I somehow started calling her by a nickname--was the only one with a real job.

I expressed to her how guilty I felt that I couldn't get a real job. I unloaded on her for about ten minutes before she stopped me.

"Matt, you're saving me like seventy dollars every time I work a shift and you watch Katie. That's more of a contribution than you think. It saves a lot of money. Money we can save for our tiny house."

She hugged me, then asked me if the log chairs were dry...I'd been water sealing them.

I brought them back around the fire and we started roasting dinner.

"Our tiny house?" I asked after a long silence.

She smiled and nodded. "Our tiny house."

I grinned back.

We carried on like that through the fall and into winter.  I kept working with Katie. Talking, which she wasn't great at. Jilly worried all the time that she was behind other kids her age, fretting that it's her fault because they were homeless and focused on just surviving for so long.

"She's fine. She's smart, Jilly. She gets the point across about what she needs and how she feels. And she knows what things are. Like, I'll tell her to bring me the book or her rabbit toy or whatever, and she brings it.  She'll catch up on saying the things."

Katie and I became fast friends.  I was sitting with her one evening as it rained, and I realized I loved that little girl.  And her mom.

I said nothing to Jilly for fear of scaring her off.

We just carried on carrying on.  I walked ALL over the place with Katie on my hip. 

Sometimes when Jilly had a night off, I'd go out hunting for stuff until well after dark. 

 I taught her what to look for, and sometimes, I'd come back with Katie from the pool or gym (thankfully, Katie gets in free), and she'd regale me about what she'd found and turned in.

One evening, she even brought me a surprise.

A guitar.

"Now you can play in the park for money," she said. 

I laughed. "Not so fast. I'm rusty. I need to practice, remember what I know."

But I started fiddling with it whenever I finished my homework and was too wired to sleep.

It wasn't all roses.  As fall gave way to winter, we got a few really bad storms. One day after school, I was out hunting when it began to storm. I knew Jillian planned to go to the store and get a few convenience items for us...more soap for our washstand and Katie's washtub baths, and even a few non- perishables. We'd gotten some camping cookware and were able to expand our diets. Canned chili and stew. Oh, god, I missed meat while I was roasting all that produce!

When the storm got really bad, I called it a day and rushed to the science center to offload my specimens, all the while worrying about Katie and Jillian.

When I got home, Jilly and Katie weren't there. I rushed across the street to the gym and paid my $5.00 just to see if they were there. Jilly wasn't answering her phone. It was going straight to voicemail.

Thankfully, they were there, taking shelter from the violent thunderstorm.

I've done my share of rain walking with Katie. She's a pretty tough, resilient kid. She doesn't even get scared by the storms anymore unless they are super loud.  We had a brief week of warm weather and monsoon like storms. I still bundled Katie up, but I wore shorts and a tank and was fine.

I got us a few staples and balanced Katie and the shopping bags on my right arm and started the long slog home in the rain.

Past the movie theater.

Past the other few businesses.

I think Katie and I were both grateful to get home.

***

Best Spent Dollars

Jillian and I sat down and mapped out a saving and purchase plan. If we're to survive this campsite life, we need to cut down on our reliance on the gym and pool. The washstand isn't sufficient to take the place of a shower.  

"We can get an outdoor shower kit at the hardware store," I told her.  "Then all we need to do is hook a decent pump up to the well and run the supply hose down the well."

"What do we do about a toilet?" she asked.

I grimaced. "It's not great, but we can put together one of those camp toilets for now. But we have to clean it out ourselves."

She shook her head. "No. Veto."

I sighed. "The other alternative is to get a fancy camper toilet. It actually flushes and stores the waste in the base. But it still has to be emptied. The only difference is that the bowl can just be cleaned like a regular toilet bowl as opposed to hand scrubbing."

"How much to set up two of them? I want my own if I have to clean it out."

"Hundred bucks for a really good one."

She sighed. "Fine. That's the plan, then. Save up enough to get a portable toilet for each of us and a shower set up."

"Deal."

"Then once we don't have to rely on the gym or pool, we'll easily pay back our investment in about two weeks."

"True." 

The gym was closest, so even though it cost more, we both found ourselves relying more heavily on that than the pool, especially if we had to carry Katie with us.

As we saved up for the new conveniences, I took advantage of my last few visits to the gym.

Turns out, I should have been using the treadmill more often. 

It's kind of a bummer that I won't have the hang of it before we aren't going to use the gym anymore.

I did suck up a longer walk and took Katie to the library one day. She could play...and so could I.

I put her in the kids' area, and she happily got busy with all the toys.   And I got busy at the other end of the room with a computer game.

When Jillian got off work, she met up with us, proving she got my phone message.  We stopped by our campsite and grabbed our laundry and went to the laundromat.  She sprang for a cab. It costed a bit, but honestly? I was grateful. I really hate laundry day. Especially if we have to take Katie.  I love that little girl, but it's just so tedious, lugging two bags of laundry and carrying a twenty-some pound almost two-year old.

But the benefit is there's lots of time to teach Katie to walk and talk or to do our homework...if we remember to bring it.

Katie started whining the second we arrived.  She does know the word "potty", and when I said it, she said another word she knows..."yes."

Why they put the bathroom upstairs and off the balcony, I have no idea. There's not even a roof, so if it's raining, you go to the bathroom and get wet at the same time.  

Going to the laundromat might be easier if we didn't wait until we're down to our last clean outfits. We easily hog two or three machines if we can.

Jilly had to wait for some clothes to get done so she could change out of a set and put THEM in the washer next. I guess the machine didn't like that because it overflowed or something, and Jilly had to mop up.

The worst thing on laundry day is if it starts raining while we're on our way home. Jilly regretted springing for a cab to get us there, because it started thundering as we were leaving.  She bought a ride home, which cut into our grocery store money for the week. Free community garden produce it is!

The following weekend was the monthly free "Safe Harbor" event for the Fire Department.  We made sure to get there early, even though we had to wait around outside for several hours.  It was the only way to make sure all three of us got a space...me, Jilly, and Katie.

It was crazy weird. They had to answer an alarm call, leaving us there with only one other fire fighter, and he told us to make ourselves comfortable while he caught a nap.  So, we were essentially alone. 

Then a thunderstorm swept through, and the power went out. He called down through an intercom, though, and explained the fridge would still be safe as the fridge, the alarm system, and the intercom system were all hooked up to a generator.  

"You won't have lights or the stove, but the microwave will work and there are some flashlights in the last kitchen drawer by the exit door."

We cobbled together canned soup in the microwave. It tasted like heaven. We hadn't been buying much canned food after overspending on cabs to and from the laundromat.  Too bad we didn't think to bring our latest laundry to the fire station...they had washers and dryers. Well, I guess they wouldn't work, anyway, because they weren't on the list of things the generator would work.

I had a second can of soup, and Jillian fed Katie, then took her upstairs saying she was going to shower and check the clothing and shoe donation boxes.

I heard her singing while she showered. My brain started trying to picture her naked, and I blushed furiously.  I was both glad and disappointed when my imagination came up with only the parts I'd seen of her when she was dressed...her face, hair, shoulders, arms and legs. The rest was a big blank.

It didn't stop me from growing, um...aroused.  So, I gave a mortified glance toward the fireman's bunk, glad he seemed fast asleep, and rushed to get my own shower. A cold one.

I don't know what it is with girls and clothes, but Jillian insisted on showing me things she thought about taking from the clothing donations. It didn't do my mortifying condition any good, despite the cold shower.  I leaned forward over my lap, elbows on knees, and watched her go in and out of the bathroom to show me outfits.

Pajamas. Check.

Everyday outfit for summer. Check.

Spare athletic gear...but honestly, it's also fine for every day.

                                        

And outerwear...just in time for winter.

                                       

I gotta admit. It was more fun to watch than I'd thought it would be...as long as I hid my lap from her.

I hadn't told her how I felt about her. I figured she didn't need some guy who was a couple years younger hitting on her.

She settled on an empty bunk with a book while I went to check out the donation boxes...but she insisted that once I found some stuff to try on that I allow her to provide similar input.

Okay. So, my turn to search for stuff in a pile of pre-worn clothes. Thankfully, they smelled fine.

I took a couple athletic shirts and one pair of new shorts. Oh. And shoes to replace my hole-y ones.

Honestly, they were also going to double as everyday clothes.

I also got more wintery pajamas. I couldn't find pants, but the hoodie would help my upper body stay warmer.

I took two different items for winter wear.  A lighter jacket for now and a heavier one for later.

The last thing we did before bed was try out the fireman's pole. Since the firefighters were still out on their call and their buddy was still napping, no one could say we couldn't do it. They'd told us that last time...that for insurance reasons, we were not allowed to slide down. 

Well, we did it, anyway.

Totally worth it.

The only sucky thing was they didn't currently have anything Katie's size, but thinking ahead, Jilly grabbed a few things that she might grow into soon.

Next up...get that outdoor shower and the portable camping toilets set up!