Cooper POV
I waited for mom and dad to go to bed before I snuck out of my room and over to Lila's room. I saw that she was already fast asleep. I know I should leave her alone, but I want to know what's in the barn. At the very least I will need her to distract mom and dad tomorrow If I'm going to find out. My birthday is coming up soon, they could be hiding my present there.
Cooper: "Lila, Lila wake up."
Lila: "Cooper?" Lila guesses as she slowly sits up and rubs her eyes with her fist.
C: "Lila, we need to find out what mom and dad are hiding in the barn." She yawns.
L: "Otay, but seep now." She said as she laid back down and turned away from me.
C: "Fine, we can do it in the morning, but I need your help."
L: "..."
C: "Lila?" I just got a soft snore in response. I huffed and walked back to my room and sat by my window and stared out at the barn. Letting my imagination run wild of what they could be hiding.
Alex POV
I had woken up in the middle of the night shivering from the cold. I looked over at Nat and saw that the blanket had fallen down and was just covering her lap. I fixed the blanket then shifted into my wolf form knowing my fur would keep us both warm. I moved my body, so I was closer to Nat but my head facing the door and closed my eyes again. I felt Nat shift in the sleep, so she was even closer to me. I let the sound of her breathing and lull me back to a dreamless sleep.
Nat POV
I woke up laying practically on top of Alex's wolf form. I'm not sure when she shifted back, but damn she is warm and soft. I gently placed the blanket over her and carefully opened the stable door, not wanting to wake her. Once I made sure the door was secure, I made my way over to the house to grab us both breakfast. As I approached the backdoor, I saw that everyone was up already.
N: "Goodmorning." I said as I opened the door and entered the kitchen.
Cooper and Lila: "Auntie Nat!" I bent down and gave both kids a hug.
Cooper: "Did you just get here Auntie Nat?"
N: "No, I came with your dad yesterday. I was out in the barn. He wanted to surprise you."
Lila: "Mom if it's just Auntie Nat, why can't we go in the barn?"
N: "Just Auntie Nat? Who said it was just Auntie Nat that was in the barn?"
Clint: "Nat we are trying to get them to stay out of the barn remember."
Cooper: "What are you hiding?" he said and looked at me with this tiny glare. I've seen teddy bears with meaner glares than what he was giving me.
N: "That's for me to know..." I said as i grabbed his sides and started to tickle him "and for you not to find out."
Lila: "Awe."
Cooper: "Come on Lila, let's go play" he said once he escaped my clutches and ran out the door with his sister.
N: "So what's the plan for today?"
C: "I figured we could go into town quick after breakfast and get more food and supplies for the stable and bed. I don't have much on hand here.
L: "I'll hold down the fort here. I'll check on Alex every hour or so to make sure she is ok and keep the kids out of the way.
N: "Alright, sounds good. Do you mind if I make a couple eggs for Alex? Then we can head out?
L: "I already made some, they just need to be heated up a little. I would say take the kids with you, but I know they would get into trouble."
N: "They are turning more and more like you every day, huh Clint."
L: "I just want one that doesn't get his sense of adventure and try to put me in an early grave."
C: "Well maybe the next one will be more like you?"
N: "Next one? Anything you forget to tell me Clint?"
L: "Trust me Nat, you will be the first to know when there is news to share."
N: "I'll hold you to that. I'm going to bring these to the barn quick. Clint meet you by the truck in like 5 minutes?" I get a nod in confirmation and make my way back to the barn. When I walk in I see Alex is still asleep. I contemplate waking her, because she needs to still rest and heal, but I don't want her to wake up and see that I'm gone, then freak out either. I enter the stable and set the bowl of food down in front of her nose hoping that will help wake her up a little. I then start to gently call her and pet her head. After a couple minutes she wakes up and sees me and the food.
N: "Alex, I'm running into town with Clint to get supplies for you. Laura will be checking in when she can. Please just try to rest while I'm gone. Should only be a few hours tops."
I stayed while she finished eating then took the bowl and set it on the bench in the barn. I made sure the stable door was fully latched and did the same with the barn door before making my way over to Clint and the truck.
Cooper POV
Lila and I came up with a plan to sneak into the barn while Auntie Nat talked to mom and dad. Whatever is in the barn has to be good if they have her standing guard over it. We watched as Auntie closed up the barn and left with dad. All that was left now was to make sure mom wasn't watching then make a run for it. I heard the sound of the vacuum turn on. Now is our chance. I held my finger up to my lips and turned to Lila, signaling to her we have to be quiet. We sprinted towards the barn. Me being older got their first and started to open it. The door made a loud creek. I paused hoping mom didn't hear it. Once Lila was an arm's length away, I pushed her in and closed the door again. Wanting to make it seem like we aren't in here.
C: "Ok Lila, start looking around. It has to be in here somewhere." I let Lila check around the lower level while I climbed up to the loft. There wasn't much up here besides a couple barrels of hay and the couch and TV dad keeps up here. Not seeing anything I went back down the ladder. "Did you find anything?"
L: "Yeah I found these." She proudly held two bow and arrows that we got for Christmas last year.
C: "Lila, those are the toys mom made dad take away from us. She said we were too young for them yet." Lila Looked at each bow in her tiny hand then back at me.
L: "Oh yeah" she shrugged then dropped them on the ground and walked away. I chuckled and shook my head. If dad saw her do that, I think he would have had a heart attack from being heartbroken that she just dropped then and walked away. As if it was no big deal.
It felt like we had been looking around forever by the time we got to the back of the barn. So far, we have combed through every inch of the barn and only found our bows. We only had the last stable left to look in when we heard mom start yelling our names. I held my finger up to Lila again to keep her quiet and signaled for her to go into the loft. It took a little longer for her to get up there, but she finally did. We had just made it around the haystacks when the barn door opened.
Laura: Coop, Lila. Are you in here? If you're in here, come out now." I had to hold Lila still. She was about to go back down. If she did, we would have gotten in even more trouble. After all, we were told to stay out of the barn more than once and neither of us are really allowed to be up in the loft. Mom thinks it's too dangerous. If dad is around and I go up that's one thing, but no way is Lila allowed to be up here yet. We waited a few more minutes, ignoring the multiple callouts for us. Once we heard the door close again, we waited a little longer. I inched my way towards the edge of the loft and looked over. The coast was clear.
C: "Ok, let's go. We just have the one stable left." I made my way down the ladder first. "Ok Lila, your turn. You're going to face away from me and grab the two bars once your feet hang over the edge."
L: "Coop, I'm scared."
C: "You got this. Nothing to be scared of, just take it slow and listen. Grab the two bars then with your right foot reach down until you feel the bar. That's it. Now with that same foot, step on the bar. Good. Now do it with your other foot. Hang on tight to the bar with your hands. I'm right under you in case you fall."
Lila had slowly followed Cooper's instructions to get down the ladder. Once she was halfway down, her foot slipped, and she fell. She let out a scream, but Cooper was right there to catch her. It was too late though. The scream caught the attention of their mother. They could hear her yelling their names as she got closer and closer to the barn. Knowing they didn't have much time; they ran to the back of the barn into the one stable they had left to look in. They opened and entered the stable too quickly, making sure to close it behind them, that neither of them noticed what occupied the area already.