Conflicted Home (The Survivalist Book 9) by A American (learn to read books TXT) 📕

He smiled a broad toothy smile, “Who’s getting married?”

I put a hand on Thad and Aric’s shoulders. “These two are.”

The smile vanished and Cecil’s face turned sour. “Not to each other, I hope.”

The surprise on Thad’s face was instant and Aric muttered, “What? Fuck, what?”

I cocked my head to the side and gave each of them a quick glance. “Now Cecil, I thought they made a fine couple.”

“What?” Aric shouted. Apparently, it was the only thing he could manage.

Thad started to laugh, slapping his knee. “You a mess, Morgan!”

Cecil broke out into a broad smile again and started to laugh. Mike was standing behind Thad and in as deep a voice as he could muster, which wasn’t much, he said, “You wanna be the husband or you wanna be the wife?”

Thad was still laughing, but Aric was slightly shocked. “I wanna be the husband!” He shouted.

Mike started to laugh and slapped Thad on the back and shouted, “Then get over here and suck yo wife’s dick!”

The joke made Thad laugh even harder. Sarge got a chuckle out of it as well, but he shook his head at the same time. “You just don’t know how to be a grown-up do you?”

With a blank stare, Mike replied, “No. I’m a Toys R Us kid.”

“No, you are without a doubt, the posterchild for infanticide,” Sarge snorted back.

Cecil cleared his throat and stepped towards Thad, “Thad, I’m happy for you.” He stuck his hand out and shook Thad’s. Cecil then turned to Aric, “You too, my friend. This is good news. Seeing that people can still fall in love in all this.” He smiled again. “Maybe we’ll see some youngins soon.”

Aric looked down at his feet and hesitantly replied, “Well, uh, Fred’s pregnant.”

Cecil broke out into a loud raucous laugh. “That’s great news! When’s this wedding to going to take place?”

“Day after tomorrow,” Thad replied.

Cecil smiled, “I’d be honored to be there.”

Chapter 10

Everyone was up early. There was still a lot to do. With the loss of Bobbie so fresh, everyone was looking for something to cheer them. A little bright spot in the darkness. So, the ladies, all of them, even Jamie, were busy in the kitchen. Naturally, Bobbie’s absence was felt. But she was with them in spirit as her name came up often.

Danny was spending his time with the kids. He had the entire troop out at the pond fishing. He was hurting, but so were they. Jace and Edie already lost their parents. Now they’ve lost Bobbie. Danny had always wanted to have kids. But Bobbie was reluctant. When the kids lost their parents, he seized on the opportunity. He was good with kids, having helped raise all three of my girls, and they loved him.

So, I assumed it was a coping mechanism for him to spend so much time with the kids. And it was the best method for him too. He knew there was still someone depending on him. He couldn’t just sink into a pit of despair and not look up. He had to take care of them; and they were the anchor holding him in place. Not to mention, he had a large and very concerned group around. But we didn’t hover over Danny. He was given his space. He needed to grieve, and we allowed him the time and room to do so. But everyone made sure he knew we were thinking about him.

I was sitting on the back porch watching the kids be frustrated by the little bait stealers in the pond. They were keeping him busy baiting hooks. Except Little Bit; she would pinch her own bread balls onto the hook. Miss Kay gave them a heal of bread that Danny dampened with a little water to make it sticky so it would stay on the hooks.

Doc strolled past me, his medic pack over his shoulder, and pushed the screen door open and went down towards the pond. He was constantly checking Danny’s hand, changing the dressings and inspecting the sutures that closed the large wound. He was diligent in ensuring infection didn’t set in.

Seeing Doc approach, Danny took a seat in one of the plastic chairs, ready for his exam. Doc dropped his pack and pulled another chair over. “How’s the hand feeling?” Doc asked.

“No better, no worse.”

Edie missed another fish; and with her bait gone, she was excitedly asking for another bread ball. Danny told her she’d have to wait for a minute. “You gotta wait, sweetie. Doc here wants to poke and prod me first.”

She cocked her little head to the side and scrunched her nose. “Is he taking the Band-Aid off?” Danny nodded and she leaned her pole against a young cypress tree. “I want to see it.”

Little Bit and Jace quickly joined her. They all stood watching as Doc unwrapped the gauze and removed the sponges that absorbed the drainage from the wound. Edie moved closer and looked over Doc’s knee. “Where’s your fingers?”

Danny turned the hand over, “They’re gone.”

“But where’d they go?”

“The bomb took them,” Little Bit said as she watched Doc work.

“Can you get them back?” Jace asked.

“No, they’re not coming back,” Danny said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“That’s true, but Mr. Danny will be alright,” Doc said as he cleaned the wound. “He’ll be back up to speed in no time. He just won’t be able to give you a high five.” Doc leaned in close to Edie and added in a silly tone, “it’ll have to be a high three!”

The kids all laughed. Even Danny half chuckled at the comment. Doc smiled and rubbed Edie’s hair.

“It’s ok,” Edie said as she took Danny’s other hand with both of hers. “He still has this one.” She pulled the hand up to her face and rubbed it on her cheek.”

Doc smiled and looked at Danny and the little girl. “Like I said, Mr. Danny will be just fine.”

As I watched this, Mel walked up