A Modern Cowboy's Dream

Late Evening

As the night draws on the fire eventually dies down and simply smolders. Everyone else except Doug heads inside. Before Caroline wheels him off the General says "well goodnight, we'll see you in the morning." Doug says "yes sir, good night." Doug finds a hay bale bringing it over to sit down on. He sits and stretches his legs out as he watches the fire to make sure no embers fly off and start another one even though most everything is still damp from the hurricane. Doug hears footsteps and looks seeing Sasha walking towards him. She hands him a shot glass and pours him a shot of whiskey before she drinks straight from the bottle. Doug says "something on your mind?" She sighs and sits next to him capping the whiskey "a lot." He hugs her side and pulls her into him "yeah baby." Sasha says "we need to go do something fun as a family after we get the mess cleaned up and the barn rebuilt." Doug says "when we take Mama home we can stop in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, lots of history to be learned there." Sasha says "that's nice." Doug says "and you can shop all you want too just don't blow everything." Sasha smirks "it's you I have to keep from spending all our money when you spy a new tractor or something." Doug smirks then says "so how about it you take the women shopping I'll take the boys on a historical tour." Sasha says "sounds good." She drinks more whiskey and Doug holds out his shot glass "hit me again." She pours him another shot and he downs it the burning sensation moving from his mouth down his chest and into his stomach. He can already feel his mood turning slightly more jubilant sitting next to Sasha who's feeling the same way. He looks at her and she looks up at him making her silly buzzed smile. Sasha says "do you remember the drinking games we used to play at the apartment years ago?" Doug chuckles "how could I forget?" Sasha says "then there was the time we actually went dry after you had a bad spell." Doug sighs "yeah that ones hard to forget. I wonder if the balcony still smells like Jack." Sasha shrugs "I don't remember how we got back started again." Doug shurgs "I don't either I just know I don't consume near as much as I used to." Sasha says "Neither do I." She caps the bottle and sets it on the ground between her feet. She leans into him as Doug tosses a piece of broken board from the old barn into the embers. It lights up and burns with vigor for awhile before it dies down again. They sit there looking at the dying fire holding onto one another as crickets chirp and an owl can be heard in the distance. Meanwhile at the Davila house Caroline is sitting in the window with her binoculars watching her Aunt and Uncle. Suddenly she feels something bump into her making her nearly jump out of her skin. She looks and sees her Grandpa grinning from ear to ear "Gotcha!" Caroline says "I didn't hear you coming even in that thing!" He chuckles "stealth is something I perfected. Who are you spying on?" Caroline says "Aunt Sasha and Uncle Doug." The General takes the binoculars and looks for him self seeing them just sitting together huddled up as Sasha slowly drifts off to sleep. He hands them back and says "gonna pull something on them?" She shakes her head "no I just like to watch them sometimes." He smirks "you'd make a good employee at the NSA or CIA." Caroline smirks "I'd rather not be a government employee." The General winks "smart girl." Caroline says "now if it were Michael and Katya out there I would be out there pulling a prank on them." The General says "I bet Halloween tricks are your specialty then." She grins "of course! No trick or treating happens out here. We all stopped going into town years ago." The General nods "Understandable." He then says "why don't you come hang out with me and your Grandma? We have loads of embarrassing stories on your Mom." Caroline grins "alright!" The General says "here's one, your Mom didn't stop trick or treating until she was 19." Caroline laughs "what?! You let her do that?" He shrugs "she was very spoiled." Ana overhearing him says "Daddy!" He chuckles "it's true." She sighs and storms off "I don't want to hear the rest." He chuckles and says "wheel me to the living room and we'll embarrass her more." Caroline gets up and wheels him into the living room. She sits in the recliner rocking constantly. Her Grandma asks "so, any special guy we don't know about?" Caroline says "ew God no the boys are idiots at my school. Why do you think Katya dates my brother?" Michael says "that's not the reason!" Caroline says "oh can it Michael you won her by default." Michael shakes his head and says "ah whatever she's nuts about me now." The General says "anyway, your Mom got egged by a Marine on that last Halloween. I mean she was covered in it." Caroline laughs out loud and asks "what did she do?!" He laughs "she ran him down and shoved him down on the sidewalk. He laughed the entire time. She came back home and told me everything and got his name. So when I called him into my office he nearly shit him self when I had her next to me." Ana says "Idiot was mad I rejected him so he ruined my witch costume. I hit him with my broomstick and cursed him to be forever alone." Caroline giggles and Michael says "curses are real?" Caroline laughs even more "no dummy she wished that for him." Ana says "same thing." The Grandparents tell more stories well into the night entertaining the grandkids and embarrassing their Mother. Doug can hear the laughing even outside and he half smiles "somebody is in good spirits." Sasha wakes up "huh?" Doug smirks "hello sleeping beauty." She yawns "how did I not fall over?" Doug says "I held you in place." The fire is out and only moonlight lights the way besides what lights shine from the houses. Doug gets up and sweeps up Sasha in one swift motion making her scream and laugh. Katya with the binoculars Caroline gave her watches them with a smile on her face. Little Doug snatches the binoculars "ooo nice!" Katya says "hey! Give that back!" He tosses them to Willie who throws them back to his brother in a game of make Katya angry which works very well as she begins to hurl insults at them switching between English and Russian. Doug kisses Sasha as hard as he can then walks back with her to the house. When they get closer they hear Katya screaming at her laughing brothers and Sasha sighs "damn it." He sets her down and she turns around pulling off his belt then rushes inside yelling at all of them in Russian which sends everyone running upstairs. Doug sighs "better them than me." While giving chase Sasha trips on the final step falling and hurting her elbow and shoulder. Doug hearing the thud rushes upstairs to help her. She seethes "don't touch me!" He steps back "just trying to help." She gets back up and looks at all three kids who are frozen in fear. She points at her bedroom and they file in there where she dishes out her spankings. They all file out and go to their bedrooms for the night. Sasha comes out with tears in her eyes. Doug says "you ok?" She says "no my elbow and shoulder hurts like hell." Doug says "go get ready for bed I'll bring you some pain medicine." She says "ok." Doug goes downstairs opening the medicine cabinet and takes the ibuprofen up to her with a glass of water. She's already lying in bed sitting up while she looks at her phone. Sasha says "my cousin Nicolas and Uncle Victor want to come see us." Doug says "leaving your Aunt up there?" Sasha says "she's sick and can't come. A family friend is staying with her." Doug says "well alright I guess we'll have a house full huh." Sasha half smiles "hopefully it'll be fun we haven't seen them in a long time." Doug hands her the medicine and water. "Thanks." Doug says "you're welcome lovely." Sasha's phone buzzes again and Sasha says "Nicolas's wife Olga and their son Anatoli will be here too. He's the same age as Doug and Willie." Doug says "oh boy a third minion for Caroline." Sasha says "only God knows what they'll do." Doug plops down on the bed making Sasha bounce and the bed creeks making a horrid noise. She slaps him "you idiot your fat ass just broke the bed!" Doug chuckles "relax it's nothing just the box spring making noise." She sighs "aye blyat." Doug smirks trying not to laugh and she sees him "something funny?" Doug says "you're cute when you're mad." Sasha says "then why do you dissapear on me when I'm mad at you?" Doug says "to live." She smirks "no I would never do that." Doug smiles and she says "unless I catch you with another woman of course then I will off you both." Doug says "and I would never do that." She says "that's what they all say." Doug actually gets irritated "where the hell is this coming from?" Sasha sighs and covers her face "I'm sorry I'm just scared of losing you." Doug hugs her tightly "it's alright." She says "I've had nightmares of you getting killed or another woman stealing you from me so many times over the years and I still have them even last night. I dreamt you turned over the tractor and the cab crushed you." She sniffles really loud and Doug kisses her head "sweetheart it's alright." Her sobbing can be heard by Katya who gets curious and comes over knocking. "Mama? Daddy?" Sasha says quietly "I'm a horrible Mother I shouldn't have spanked her." Doug says "wasn't she calling them every horrible name under the sun?" She sighs then says "come in my darling." Katya enters and sits next to her Mother "what happened?" Sasha says "a very bad dream. I thought your Father had been killed in a farming accident." Katya says "oh." She looks at her Dad and he just half smiles at her. Katya hugs her Mother putting her head on her Mother's chest. Sasha kisses Katya's head and hugs her tightly "I love you so very much. I shouldn't have spanked you earlier and I'm very sorry." Katya sighs "it's fine. I shouldn't have said what I said to them." Sasha showers her Daughter with kisses making Katya giggle. Doug half smiles at the sight. "You look like twins." Sasha says "I appreciate the compliment but seriously look at the wrinkles I have now." Doug says "what wrinkles?" Sasha says "do you need my glasses?" Doug says "will you just take the compliment? Some husbands have the nerve to call their wives fat and ugly." Sasha says "am I fat and ugly?" Doug says "am I stupid?" Katya laughs "you two are like children arguing oh my God." Doug says to Sasha "if you were ugly I wouldn't be trying to mount you every other night at least." Sasha blushes and Katya says "Daddy! Eww! I'm right here!" Doug smirks "and you wouldn't be if we hadn't..." Katya plugs her ears "goodnight sleep tight!" She rushes back to her room and Sasha glares at Doug "nevermind I'm an excellent Mama you're a terrible Daddy." Doug grins and she actually smirks shaking her head. Doug says "well how about it?" Sasha keeps smirking but says "tempting but I'm tired. Maybe tomorrow night." He sighs "alright." She kisses him "I love you." Doug says "I love you too."