Page 20 of A Clutch for Hutch
In fact, I was sure we would. Thanks to Burns and everyone from Animals.
Maybe I might even get back to my keyboard sometime soon.
Epilogue
Hutch
I counted the baskets we filled in the greenhouse. We had a whole lot of tomatoes to process. Today, my mate’s brother and his mate and kids were coming over, along with Goldie and her three mates, and Karma and hers. For whatever reason, I decided having a tomato party was a good idea. And they all agreed.
Come to find out, Burns was a cousin of Karma’s mate, something even he hadn’t realized at the time. It was a small world like that.
Burns and Dirk were out back with the kids. They were at the crawling stage now, and we’d created a fenced-in area for them to crawl around in. There were a few toys in there, and we planned to put a little slide in when they got older. But for now, it was mostly for getting some fresh air. We’d even installed a canopy over it to keep the sun from glaring on them.
I carried the baskets into the kitchen one at a time and lined the back wall with them. My mate had set up stations—one for salsa, one for stewed tomatoes, one for diced stewed tomatoes—which I guessed was somehow different—one for sauce, and one for frozen. I had no idea what we were going to do with all or any of it, but it was going to be fun processing…or at least the barbecue we were planning for after would be.
Our guests came in slowly, starting with my brothers-in-law and their kids. Then I tag-teamed out with my mate and let him run the actual tomato part of the tomato party, while Burns and I took over kid duty with all of our kids, as well as the cousins.
“Any regrets?” I put an arm around his shoulder. “Dropping the big city life to come here and wrangle not-quite-toddlers?”
“Not a single one,” he said without skipping a beat. “I love it here.”
“That’s because I’m here.”
“That’s one of the reasons. But there’s something about being in a community with others like you. I always thought that maybe someday I’d go back to the den, but that life wasn’t for me. That’s why I left.” He didn’t talk a lot about his den. I knew he loved it, but also it was no surprise to me that it wasn’t a place he planned to go back to long-term. Visits were plenty.
“Being around other shifters…my bear likes it. He likes it a lot. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll be lucky, walk into Animals, and find my mate.”
“It does seem to be what all the cool kids are doing these days.” I thought back to all the people I’d met around here, and he was right—Animals was the common denominator. “I guess we’re just gonna have to go there more often.”
He broke out in laughter. “There’s three of us with five little ones. You think we’re gonna have time to sneak away and go to Animals?”
“You make sure my mate and I get to go out.” The first few times, we felt guilty about it, but now, we cherished those quiet times together.
“That’s different. This is my job.”
I rolled my eyes. “And maybe some days, it’s my job just to be your friend and go have a beer with you.”
“Fine. We can do that. But first, let’s roll the ball around—”
“I have a better idea.” I pulled jars of bubbles out of each of my pockets and handed him one. “It’s bubble time.”
All of the kids loved bubbles, and we blew them as they giggled and grabbed at them. Soon, it was time to get them ready for naps. All five of ours, and the two others as well. We’d actually added a couple of toddler beds to our home so that itwas easier for when they came to visit. What was the point of having a huge house if it wasn’t filled with family?
Using a hybrid wagon slash stroller I’d built, we got all of the kids back home, cleaned up, fed, and in bed, and by some miracle, they all fell asleep almost instantly.
“Shall we check on the tomatoes?” Burns asked.
“Let’s.”
The table was filled with jars, already sealed and labeled.
“You guys are, like, so fast.” I’d expected them to be a couple more hours.
Karma turned and smiled. “Well, we heard if we do a good job and do it quickly, there’s a barbecue waiting for us.”
“I’ll get the grill going,” Burns said. “Looks like we’re gonna be eating early.”
I jumped in and helped with cleaning up, and soon enough, we were all outside…talking, eating, having a blast.
