He has a pocket full of nuts and bolts, and he moves back and forth between the sides to get those tightened with a handheldelectrical tool. I guess at least the battery for that thing hasn’t needed to be charged up again since we got out here.
“This is going to take forever!” I complain.
“It’s not,” he says. “We have this one side to get done. Owen and Pete have the back fence, and they have two teams of two on the right and left. We’ll be done in a few hours, max.”
“I doubt it,” I mutter, not seeing how that’s possible.
“Look, I know it’s a pain,” he starts. “But this place is going to be our home, with Robin. The safer it is, the better for all of us.”
“I get that,” I tell him, as we move back to pick up the next panel. “I do. I just … This is some kind of interim plan, right? While Robin gets comfortable with the idea of moving out of here?”
Falcon stops at his side of the panel and looks at me.
It’s been bright all morning, and his hair looks golden blond when the sun hits it.
The dark jumpsuits Owen gave us before we started make us look like convicts, but I don’t want to think about how much more scraped up I would have been if I hadn’t put it on.
“Is that how you’re seeing it?” Falcon asks.
“Well, yeah. I mean, we’ve been talking about getting a house together forever. It always gets pushed back for some reason. I thought now that we’re a complete pack, that would make it the end goal again, I guess.”
I shrug, because I’m worn out and honestly, probably too tired to be starting this conversation right now.
“It is the end goal,” he confirms. “We’ll get a house. A home. Together. I can still see that.”
“But?” I ask, wondering what it is that he’s holding back.
“I think we’re here for a reason, Shayne. That’s all. I don’t what that means yet, but I feel it.”
He doesn’t have anything else to say, and I don’t like his answer.
It’s as vague as when he told me he needed to figure out what to do with his life before we could build something stronger together.
“You know the first thought through Jay’s mind when he found out about Robin was how many kids we’d end up having, right?” I ask, trying to make him see that his answer isn’t good enough.
He nods slowly. “I know. We all want a family. It’ll happen.”
“Here?” I ask, gesturing around me.
He sighs. “Does it matter where we are when it happens?”
“Of course it does! Kids need a home, Falcon. A real home, where all their parents live, all of the time. You really think we could raise kids in this place? We might as well raise them in a glass cage!” I stare at him, waiting for him to say something, anything that would prove he cares.
“I know it’s not ideal,” he says. “But it’s where we’re at right now.”
He might as well have shrugged and said nothing.
“We’re both tired,” he goes on. “It’s not the time to talk about this.”
I bite back the urge to ask when that time will ever be.
He’s not wrong. We’re worn out and there’s a shit-ton of work still to do before we’re done for the day. I just know we’ll be too exhausted to talk again after this fence shit.
So, I tell myself it doesn’t matter.
Not right now. Not in this second.
“Fine.” I get ready to lift the next panel.
