Page 25 of Raw

Of course.

That’s all I ever wanted.

8

We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the fish and then preparing dinner until Papa was back.

Instead of greeting us, he walked straight to his tent and hid in there for a few minutes before he came back with a different pair of pants on.

“Are you hungry, Papa? We caught fish and they’re almost ready,” I told him as he walked toward us to the fire.

“Those look great, sweetheart. Where’d you find them?”

“Far east from here, where Fennec usually goes to catch fish,” I explained, smiling up at him.

“Close to the border,” Fennec added, making Papa nod and then quickly change the subject.

“So you had fun today, huh? Next time I’ll come with you guys. I miss doing all these things together like we used to before.”

“Where have you been?” I asked, wanting to know what made him stay away from our camp for so long without telling us he’d be gone.

“Checking to see if there were hunters around our area. Observing and waiting on anyone to pass,” he explained.

That seemed odd. “All day long?”

“Yes.”

“Bullshit,” Fennec muttered, but instead of adding more to his cussing, he continued to check on the fish laying on the grill above the fire.

“Are you guys still mad at each other?” I asked, looking back at Papa with a worried look. “You told me you two would talk it out today.”

“Didn’t say I wouldn’t,” Papa replied, taking a quick look at Fennec.

“But it seems like you’re avoiding him,” I pointed out.

“I’m not. I had things to do.” He let out a heavy sigh and walked over to Fennec, running his large hand across Fen’s hair and leaning in to kiss his temple from behind.

Fennec didn’t seem too comfortable with that, but it was enough for now to act normal around each other again.

“Love you, kid,” Papa said, and Fennec shrugged it off before nodding.

“You too.”

That was good enough for me.

Papa sat down next to me at the table, and I leaned against him while I reached for his hands, pulling them into my lap.

“I found all those packages with different seeds in the bin. Do you think I can plant some? Maybe build a little garden like when I was younger?”

“You found seeds?” Papa asked.

“Yeah, in the bin Jason gave you years ago. Where you store the things he gives you but you never use.”

Because he was too inconsistent to keep a little vegetable and herb garden. I wasn’t though, and most summers and winters I spent here, I planted my own veggies.

Not because we didn’t have enough food from the wild, but because it was a good way of changing up our diet, but most importantly, to keep me busy.

We wouldn’t go hunt every day, and with a little garden, I’d have other things to take care of other than waiting for lunch and dinner each day.

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