Page 6 of Stone Cold Savage

“Shucks. I was going to say shucks.” He grinned.

“Sure, you were.” Devyn laughed as she grabbed the can of whipped cream again and held it over Dally’s mouth, “Open, kid.”

She pressed the valve, filled her mouth with whipped cream, and quickly had Beau standing at the ready, mouth open.

“Your turn, squirt.” She followed through and repeated the gesture. “Now, you two like that?”

The little ones nodded their heads vigorously.

“Good. You behave, pick all the berries we need for everyone, no goofing, and you can have more as soon as we’re done. Deal?”

“Deal!” they shouted.

“When they don’t go down for naps from all that sugar, you’re on duty, Aunty Dev.” Nora threatened.

“Oh… and you have to take a good nap later or… no dessert tonight.” Devyn bargained.

“Do we have to close our eyes?” Beau asked.

“Most people do when they sleep.” Devyn reasoned.

“Do we have to sleep?” Dally asked.

“How about this… you have to lie down and try to sleep, but if you can’t close your eyes, you can quietly read a book and have a quiet time while Tuck naps and your Mama takes a break. Can we do that?”

“Yep!”

“Yepper!”

“Someone has her negotiating skills down. Anyone who can reason with tiny terrorists like that will have no problem in the courtroom.” Cut joked. “Good luck with the quiet part.”

“Don’t worry,” Charlotte chimed in, jumping in at the stove and scrambling eggs. I’ll jump in if they don’t hold up their end of the deal. Mama will get her break.”

“You don’t have to…” Nora started.

“I’m here for a while. Use me. I have all sorts of bedtime stories and songs my Mama used to sing to me growing up. It’ll be fun to share them with the little ones.”

Nash put an arm around her shoulders and kissed her, “You are going to fit in nicely around here.”

“You’re hired.” Nora teased, sitting back in her chair and rubbing her very pregnant belly.

Charlotte smiled, “It’s no problem at all. It’ll be fun.”

“Alright, squirts, let’s get to pickin’.”

Devyn marched out the door with Beau and Dally on her heels, heading to one of the gardens closest to the house.

“Last one there’s a rotten egg.” She announced playfully and skipped off, the kids running ahead of her to the strawberry patch.

Once there, Devyn made a game of it and a lesson in counting to see who could pick the most and the fastest. A regular activity during the season, the little ones knew what to do, which to pick, and which to leave. They also snacked on a few choice strawberries while hard at work picking enough for everyone.

“Our bowl is almost full,” Devyn said. “Let’s pick…”

A noise from the nearby tree line had Devyn’s attention. She’d been watchful all along but not worried as they had agents strategically placed around the property. Until now, when the hair on the back of her neck stood tall at the subtle sound of crackling branches in the distance. They weren’t alone. If it were an agent, he would have made himself known.

“Okay, guys, I think we have enough.” She said, guiding them away from the tree line and out of the strawberry patch. With her body strategically between the kids and dense woods, she focused on the area where the random and intermittent sounds were coming from.

Wildlife wasn’t uncommon for their area, but at that time of day and that close to the house, it was.

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