Nature calls

16 Shawn/Kira

I'm sitting on the floor in the kitchen eating homemade burgers. We REALLY need a bigger kitchen table! Boe sits down next to me and takes a big bite of his burger. "I've noticed that the... 'house'... has grown bigger?"

I remember Kira slapping the wall in our bedroom and I can't help but smile a little. "Yeah, it has a tendency to do that." God, I miss her.

"Right. That's just totally normal," he says. I chuckle. "It's best not to think about it too much. Weird things just happen around... around Kira." I clear my throat and he pats my shoulder. "Sorry man."

I give ham a small smile. "It's alright." Taking another big bite of his burger he says with his mouth full, "but my point was that maybe we should start to do some plumbing if that's possible in this... tree."

I nod. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. One bathroom for all of us is impossible and I think the house is giving us the opportunity to do the plumbing. If not, I don't know why it's giving us extra rooms."

"I got some connections back home. They'll give us a good price on materials. I need to go back there anyway to tell my family that I found my mate and that I'm moving here," he says. I didn't see that coming. I though him and Sharon would move closer to his home.

"Really?" I ask. He swallows, smiles and nods. "Yeah. I'm living with my mate in a fucking tree that grows rooms. What's not to love. Besides, I already planned on moving closer to here so it's not a problem."

I'm thankful for that. Then Sharon can stay. Her and Hillary are the only family I have left. And I would hate to lose any one of them.

Olea looks at us and says, "The council will help pay for it. We need to pay some kind of rent anyway. I don't think we'll be leaving anytime soon. With Kira needing our help, we can have our base here. We don't need a specific place to stay."

I smile a little. I'm glad that they're staying because I think Kira could use all the help she can get... When she gets back...

I finish eating, clean the plate, and go outside. I'm about to strip down so I can shift when I see Chloe sitting on a bench at the firepit. I slowly walk over to her and sit down next to her.

"Look Chloe, I'm sorry about earlier..." She quickly shakes her head and says, "no, don't be. I understand completely. I'm sorry I was so pushy." I give her a small smile. "It's okay. I know you were just worried."

She sighs and nods. "Yeah. It's all so insane." I nod too without saying anything. It IS insane. It's all insane.

Then she looks at me with uncertainty in her eyes. "Do you think... No never mind." I quirk a brow and ask, "No, come on. What is it?"

"I just... Do you think I could move in here? Right now, I don't feel safe anywhere but here."

I quickly nod and don't hesitate to say, "Of course. You might have to share a room with someone but other than that, it shouldn't be a problem."

She gives me a small grateful smile. "Thank you. Will you... Show me where Karen is buried?" I swallow as I slowly nod. "Oh, uhm, sure. Come on." We get up from the bench and I show her to the spot with all the flowers. She kneels down and touches one of them. "It's beautiful."

I nod. "It is." I don't know what else to say. It IS beautiful but I'm still a little freaked out about how the earth just swallowed Kate when I put her on the ground. Chloe snaps me out of my thoughts when she asks, "It's exactly how Kira would want it, don't you think?"

She sniffles and I kneel down next to her. "Yeah." I really do think that she will like it this way. I also know that she will like that it's here in the forest. The part that isn't blown away that is.