One Chance, Fancy (Bear Bottom Guardians MC 5)

“Why don’t you just run power over there?” I suggested.

“Because the idea of being here is having a compound that is entirely sustainable even with power down,” Dad explained as he held out his hands for Isa. Isa went willingly, already in love with my father just like I was. “And having power run to the gate will make it to where it’s not sustainable.”

I supposed that I could see that. Really, I could.

However, saying that, I could count multiple times over the years that the gate had stopped working correctly and nearly all of those were due to the battery being bad, or the solar panel not working.

“Gotcha,” I said instead of arguing. I turned to Elliott. “How are you?”

He held his hands out wide, and I walked into them without hesitation.

Every single one of my uncles meant the world to me, but Elliott always had a special place in my heart mainly because he was the comedian of the group. The one that always got a laugh out of me despite how I was feeling.

“I’m doing good,” he rumbled. “I hear that you’re getting married.”

I smiled against his chest for a few long seconds before I pulled away and smiled at him as I said, “I am. We haven’t set a date or anything yet, though. So, don’t bother asking.”

His eyes twinkled. “Yes, ma’am.”

A cute little baby giggle filled the air, and I looked over at my dad who was gently tickling Isa’s neck with the ends of his beard.

I grinned at the two of them. “Would you mind hanging on to her for a little bit while I go outside and work with Phantom? She wants to visit with the bird, and watch, but I also have to clean out the mew and do all of that fun stuff. I don’t want her getting all dirty and gross.”

Dad nodded. “How about I bring her out in thirty minutes or so? That gives her time to eat and you to clean out the cage.”

I held up a thumb and said, “Sounds good.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was sole deep in muddy, poopy dirt as I sloshed in my cute chicken boots through the muddy area around Phantom’s pen.

“How would you like to move over to my house?” I paused. “Though granted, I’m getting married eventually and I’ve only really spent a single night there since I’ve moved in. Maybe I should wait until I’m permanently over at Bayou’s house to invite you over.”

Phantom didn’t bother even looking at me as I cleaned up her mew.

“You could at least act like you’re excited about the move,” I told her.

She fluffed her feathers as a gust of wind caused them to ruffle, then resituated herself silently on her outside perch my dad had made for her right outside her mew door.

I made a humming sound, singing to a tune only I could hear in my head and continued to clean up her mew until it was about as spotless as I could get it without actually bringing the vacuum out.

“All right.” I sighed and stepped back, inspecting the mew visually for any signs of another intruder.

Last week the boards at the side of the mew had been ripped off, almost as if the predator that had tried to get inside had wanted Phantom to come out of her mew before they had dinner.

Luckily, the mew was made of sturdy stuff. That, and Phantom likely enjoyed being the fat and happy bird that she was. She enjoyed being fed without having to actually look for her dinner.

Speaking of, what was left of her dinner was now gone, and I wondered if maybe I should’ve given her something a little more substantial.

She was in the process of molting, and sometimes that took a little more energy, requiring feeding more often than was her norm.

“You ready for us yet?” Dad called from his back porch.

I looked up the length of the yard and held up a finger. “Yes, kind of! I have to go wash my hands and then I’m ready.”

Dad nodded and retreated back into the house, Isa firmly snuggled against his shoulder.

I grinned at the adorableness of that image and then walked up to the side of the cage where my father had installed plumbing for me.

Once my hands were washed, I turned around and started to make my way inside when Phantom let out a warning screech, the one she’d used only a handful of times when she was ‘alarmed.’

The first time I’d heard it I could remember the instance clearly in my mind.

The wind had picked up quite a bit the day in question. She’d been on the hunt, and a large gust of wind had nearly sent her ass over tea kettle. I saw her wings collapse at one point, and that cry had come out of her throat as she’d started to fall.