Page 51 of Sawyer
“Noah!”Annabelle admonishes him as she rushes to follow him outside.
“Ahh, what’s going on?”I ask as Kevin and I stand next to each other, watching his little brother evade his mom’s grasp.
“He’s chasing the chickens,” Kevin says, starting to give chase.
“I’ll go,” I tell him, giving him a break, letting him stay and play while I help.Kevin looks at me with raised eyebrows.
“You practice; I’ll go get your brother,” I assure him, jogging off in the direction of the ruckus, but not before I see a small smile on Kevin’s face, one which holds what looks to be gratitude.
“Everything okay?”I ask Annabelle as I approach her side.
“No.Noah torments the chickens, and they hate being chased.”
“I’ll get him.”Pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, I run after him.“Noah!”
He looks at me with a cheeky grin, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Seesaw!”He giggles, and I can’t help but smile.
“Your ma said to stop chasing the chickens,” I warn him as I get closer, but he just takes off at speed.
“Catch me!”he shouts through a giggle, the cheeky kid faster than he should be.I run after him across the field, chickens all around him, making a hell of a lot of noise.
“Gotchu!”Nearly out of breath, I scoop him into my arms.He lets out a giggly screech, his small arms wrapping around my neck, and I laugh with him, the two of us panting as I start walking us back up the small hill to where Annabelle waits.I look up at her, her wild hair blowing around her shoulders as she smiles.I’ll never tire of how beautiful she is.
“You can’t go chasing the chickens… They don’t like that, buddy,” I tell him before I feel a little prick in my ankle and look down, startled.
“The chickens play chase!”Noah says in glee as I start to walk faster.
“They chase?”I ask him, wondering what the fuck is going on, just as another one starts pecking my shoes, and then another and another.
“Run!”Noah screams.I hold him tight and run, making a beeline for the stunning woman who’s now laughing at me and the fact that there is a flock of fucking psycho chickens chasing me, pecking at my shoes.Noah’s giggling so much as he jiggles in my hold that I think he might wet himself.Meanwhile, my fucking shoes are getting torn to shreds, my laces loosening more every time one of those fuckers comes close.
“You think this is funny?”I call out to Annabelle, who has now almost doubled over with laughter.
“Yes!”she shouts back, and I speed up.
“Ahhhh!”I jump from foot to foot as more and more chickens come to my feet.It looks like they are spawning in numbers, each of them pecking before they finally tire out and I get away from them.“How about I chase you, Mama!”I yell to her, a smirk spreading across my face.
She looks up at me in surprise before she shrieks and turns to run.
“Ma chasies!”Noah yells, still giggling, loving this game.I’m quick and get to her with ease, reaching out with my spare arm and wrapping it around her waist, hoisting her into the air and onto my body.
“Sawyer!”She laughs, her hair wild, her smile wide, her eyes glistening with happiness.
“I got you!”I run with them as best I can over to where Kevin is watching this spectacle unfold.
“Kev!”Noah wriggles from my grasp and runs to him, the two of them jumping on the hay bales and starting to climb them.Noah’s energy is never-ending.
“Did I save the day?”I ask Annabelle as I slowly lower her to her feet, the two of us out of breath from running and laughing so hard.
She hums, kissing my lips sweetly.“My real-life Superman.”
“Only for you, Lois.”I pull her into my side as we watch the boys play, and never once do I think about New York or the deals I need to make, my work now no longer front and center in my mind.It feels better than I could have ever imagined.
“CanI test my monster spray, Seesaw?”Noah asks me, and I grin.He does this almost every night when I stay over, and I swear he just likes seeing glitter on my clothes.But I don’t care, because tonight he asked me to tuck him in.Usually, he sprays me, my shirt turns into a glitter paradise, and I leave Annabelle to take care of the rest.But his instructions tonight were explicit.He wanted Seesaw, and I’m here to follow through.
“Sure, buddy, go for it.”I step back from him and throw my arms wide, offering him my chest.He aims his spray bottle and shoots, the water and glitter liquid coating my t-shirt, the nightly glitter spray now seemingly our thing.So much so, I find glitter in my hair at work sometimes.And every time, it only makes me miss this place more.
