"Hey, the sun is almost up".
Julian's gentle voice woke Rayne up from her deep slumber.
"Wha?", she asked, rubbing her eyes.
Julian lifted her into his arms, "Didn't you want to make a fun announcement to everyone today? We also need to get Adam and the others settled today."
Rayne jolted awake!
"Yes! I want to introduce the Rec Center to everyone today! It's finally finished!", she smiled.
She felt slightly guilty sleeping in so long when the newcomers were waiting on her to settle them into their new homes.
Julian sat her down on the bed to give her a few moments to wake up. It was rare for her to sleep in so he wanted her to enjoy as much sleep as she could after staying up so late last night.
-
Ten minutes later Rayne finally got dressed and came out of the bedroom holding an iced coffee in her hand.
"I'm awake now", she smiled and walked over to kiss Julian.
"Good morning, beautiful", he smiled, accepting the kiss.
They both eat a quick breakfast before going to find Rachael and the others.
Rayne knocked on the door to the guest house which was answered by Rachael, "Oh good morning!"
She seemed to be in a chipper mood this morning and was full of smiles.
"How did you guys sleep? Was everything okay?"
"Oh it was more than okay!", shouted Rachael's mother from inside.
Rachael smiled, "Yes, we both slept very well. It's been a pleasant change to finally sleep in a cool room."
After a few more quick words Rayne and Julian went to bring them over to Noah so that they could get assigned a place to live.
Noah was by the warehouses talking to a few of the other residents when Rayne walked over.
"Hey, Noah. We have some new residents who need to be assigned a living space. There was another man, Adam, but he wasn't in the guesthouse when we got there."
"Hello", said Noah. He smiled at Rachael and her mother, greeting them with a nod, "Adam came by earlier with Brandon, so he's been taken care of. Let me have a quick word with these two ladies so I can settle them in."
"Okay, thanks! Oh! And spread the word, we're having a little party tonight. I have something fun to show everyone", said Rayne.
Noah lifted an eyebrow and nodded, "Okay, I'll spread the word". He was curious about this fun thing she wanted to show off and made a mental note to ask Ella about it after he was done with the newcomers.
-
-
On the other side of the crowd, Adam looked at the new building with a similarly shocked expression as Rachael and her mother.
Prior to his retirement he worked as a college professor and loved reading. Most of the items he brought with him from his apartment were his favorite books. Now hearing there was a whole space dedicated to a library made his heart beat faster.
People from Fred's and Brandon's groups were also very happy with this news. For them, life had slowly shifted from pure day-to-day survival to a more relaxed and slow pace.
With the addition of a place designed to have fun and be creative, the slight boredom they had would now be addressed.
-
Everyone walked behind Rayne to the new building, waiting for her to open the door.
Rayne and Julian smiled as everyone carefully took a step inside, gasping as they entered. Rayne was happy to see that everyone was respectful of the new items, treating them like treasures.
She was slightly worried that everyone would trample inside and create chaos, but thankfully that never happened.
A few people quickly found a book they liked and took a seat around the table to read while others ventured into the other room to look through the craft supplies and instruments.
Some of the ladies from Fred's group ran over to the piano with excitement. One of the women sat down and began to play a happy tune while the other ladies began to sing.
The entire settlement was now filled with laughter, singing, and music, bringing joy to everyone there.
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