“Don’t you take that tone with me,” I warned him, waving toward the open window. “Go ahead. I dare you to walk out there and tell her we don’t want them.”
“That’s dirty. You know I can’t do that if Henry already knows about the chicks,” Michael protested. “And where, exactly, does Eleanor think they’re going to live?”
I pointed to the next truck coming down the drive. “Oh, ye of little faith. Did you really think she left any detail unattended? Carson’s been working on a coop for them all week.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me about this?” I worried for a second that Michael was truly upset, until I noticed him peeking through the curtains. “Damn it, Henry’s bringing one in the house.”
“It’ll be okay, babe,” I assured him. The boys both loved spending time at my parents’ place. We still needed to work out the details, but James had mentioned the boys joining 4-H earlier this week. He said he wanted to talk to Mom and Dad about raising a pig for his project. “At least it’s not a pig.”
Michael spun around to face me. I guided him out of Henry’s new room to the upstairs hall. “I’m sorry, a what now?”
“You know, oink-oink, curly tail?” I scrunched my nose up and pretended like I was sniffing around. “Mom and Dad will have to let the pig live at their place. We don’t have space for that.”
“I feel like I’ve stepped into some alternate universe here,” Michael muttered. He waved a hand at my face. “I see your lips moving and you’re saying words that sound like English, but you’re not making any sense at all.”
Before I could point out how lucky he was I hadn’t let Anson buy the boys fainting goats as a housewarming gift, the back door slapped against the side of the house and the sound of a little boy trampling up the steps echoed off the walls. “Daddy! Look at what Lola and Papa got us! They said we did so good with the chickens at their house that we should have some here, too!”
Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a high-pitched sound that sounded like a muffled scream. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Henry, you can’t bring chickens into the house.”
“But it’s just a baby!” Henry protested. “I didn’t want to leave him alone. He might get scared with all the noise while Uncle Carson and Uncle Danny set up their house.”
“I know he’s little, but animals live outside,” Michael explained. It was obvious from the measured cadence of his words that he was trying hard to keep his calm. I watched as Michael herded Henry back toward the stairs, a squawking chick clutched tightly in the boy’s hands. Despite everything, I couldn't suppress a grin. Our lives might have been a little more chaotic than I'd initially imagined, but it was our chaos.
Our family.
"You didn't tell me about the pig, Billy," Michael said once I joined the family outside, the tickle in his voice suggesting he was amused rather than genuinely irritated.
"Don’t worry, there isn’t an actual pig," I reassured him. "James just mentioned the idea. And besides," I added before he could say anything else, "I think it would be good for the boys. Teaching them responsibility, you know?"
A wry smile crossed Michael's face. "Between you, your mom, and your brothers, I don't know if I can take many more living, breathing surprises. Please tell me you aren’t seriously entertaining the idea?”
“It’s something we can talk about.” He probably didn’t want to hear that I’d already been looking at piglets, or that Anson’s new friend could get us a couple as soon as we said the word. Chicks were enough for today.
I helped Anson and Carson unload the coop from the bed of Carson’s truck. While we set it up behind the garage, I heard Danny and Michael chatting about how different their lives were than they’d ever anticipated. Even a few months ago, I wouldn’t have expected the two of them to get along as well as they were now. It just went to show that everything really had turned out the way it was meant to.
“Daddy, is it time to go to the festival now?” Henry asked, running through the yard without any chicks in-hand. Apparently, the baby he’d been so worried about was fine on its own now. “Billy said we can get cider donut sundaes from Shiloh.”
“He did, did he?” Michael glanced at me. I simply shrugged. I was a sucker for Shiloh’s Sweets, and he made cider donuts that were a close second to the ones my grandma used to make. Add ice cream, caramel, and whipped cream on top and it sounded like heaven in a bowl. “Well, I suppose we’d better get over there before Shiloh sells out then.”
The entire family loaded into vehicles and our caravan headed across town. The park road was lined on both sides with cars parking anywhere they could find a space big enough. Dad was in the lead, and he took us around to the far side of the park, pulling behind the public works maintenance shed.
“Are you sure we can park back here?” James asked. It was a valid question since no one else had gone around the barricade.
Luckily, Dad knew people, and one of his best friends was the chief of public works. “We’ll be fine. Ray gave my dad permission to park back here when I was about your age, and we’ve been doing it ever since. Of course, there weren’t as many of us back then, but I’m sure Ray wouldn’t mind.”
“Cool.” He went back to texting, and from the smile on his face it was apparent who was on the receiving end of his messages.
Sure enough, before everyone was out of their cars, Theo popped out from the tree line shielding the maintenance garage from view. He opened James’s door, checking to see who all was there before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
James looked at me, his eyes filled with a silent plea tonothave to hang out with the family all day. I shooed him away. “Go. Just be sure you check in from time to time.”
Michael pulled out his wallet, handing James a twenty-dollar bill. “This should be enough for you boys to get something for lunch.”
“Thanks, Michael.” James wrapped his arms around Michael’s torso, giving him a tight hug. Now that he understood he was stuck with us for the long-haul, we were constantly seeing new facets of his personality. As it turned out, he was a sucker for any sort of tactile affection. The cutest being when he and Henry were laying on the floor playing and Henry started playing with his hair. “I’ll text you if we decide to leave the park.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
My chest tightened as I watched James and Theo disappear into the crowd. As grateful as I was to see him coming out of his shell and no longer hiding at home, today was going to be a huge test for him. It was likely people from his former life were also at the park, and I only hoped they’d leave him be. He deserved to finally have peace in his life to be a normal teen.
