Turning to the kitchen island, she saw Kirk and Pat already at work and starting breakfast with Vicki and Jodi. Taking a deep breath, Andrea moved in and started the coffee and then moved over, helping and learning.
After Betty pushed him back from doing the bacon, Shawn moved to the cabinets and grabbed the plates. Carrying the stack to the table, Shawn started setting the table.
Smelling coffee, Arthur’s eyes struggled to open up. When his eyes finally opened, Arthur looked down at Nicole sleeping peacefully. Feeling bodies next to him, Arthur looked at the little kids beside him and groaned. “Robin, you don’t sleep in your cowboy boots.” Robin, nor Jim and Beth moved when Arthur groaned.
Looking at Robin’s pink cowboy boots, Arthur wondered if he found her pink clothes, maybe Robin would keep them on. As that thought bounced around in his head, Arthur stood up and felt Nicole squirm in his arm. As a yawn erupted from Arthur, he glanced down to see Nicole giving a small yawn.
With her yawn finished, Nicole opened her eyes and saw Arthur looking down at her. “Hey, blue eyes,” Arthur smiled and Nicole let out a coo. Setting Nicole on the bed, Arthur took off his shorts and pulled on his pants. Shoving his feet in his crocs, Arthur changed Nicole and then walked out of the bedroom and stopped.
The kitchen was a buzz of activity. Kids were moving everywhere. He would follow one with his eyes for a few minutes just to make sure progress was being made and to his surprise, each one was doing a task. Tony was feeding the dogs and cats. Shawn was setting the table. Shelia was putting the dishes up from the dishwasher and the others were cooking.
“Your mug is fixed,” Arthur heard Andrea call out and turned to see her closing the waffle maker.
“Thanks,” Arthur said, grabbing his mug and heading for the back door.
The eastern sky wasn’t bright yet as he stood out on the patio. ‘Meow’, Arthur heard and glanced over and saw Kong approaching him. Stepping back, “You just go on,” Arthur snapped, thinking about throwing his mug at the monster cat.
When Kong sat down, Arthur noticed a mound of fur beside the patio and made a wide circle around Kong. “How in the hell can you kill a raccoon that big?” he asked, looking at the huge dead raccoon. “The dogs can’t even kill one that big, I’m sure.”
Turning back to Kong, Arthur saw him cleaning his paws. “Okay, thank you,” Arthur said, but still didn’t get close to Kong. Hearing the back door open, he turned to see Shawn and Andrea walking out.
“Arthur, I’m sorry,” Shawn started as he walked toward Arthur and then jumped back, seeing Kong. “Nice kitty,” Shawn said, glaring at the cat and side-stepping around it. If the cat scared Arthur, Shawn would run from Kong and would feel no shame whatsoever.
“It’s just a cat,” Andrea huffed, throwing up her hands and saw Arthur pointing at the side of the patio.
As Andrea looked over and saw a mound of fur, Arthur spoke. “That is a thirty-pound raccoon that Kong killed and carried to the house. Coons that size, kill dogs.”
Jerking her head back and staring at the cat in shock, Andrea side-stepped around Kong with Shawn. “Are you sure it’s a cat? I’ve seen bobcats at zoos that weren’t that big,” Andrea said when she was standing beside Shawn and Arthur.
“Not sure, but he kills shit that tries to hurt the animals on the farm so he can stay,” Arthur said, taking a sip and then smacked his lips. “To be honest, I’m scared to shoot him. It might just piss him off.”
Shawn’s body jerked as a shiver ran down his spine and then he turned to Arthur. “Arthur, I’m sorry. I should’ve heard Lucas and I don’t know why I didn’t. I’m…,” Shawn stopped as Arthur raised his coffee mug up.
“Shawn, you’re fourteen and have been busting ass since you joined this family. You have nothing to be sorry for,” Arthur told him. “You wanted to try and did feed Lucas once. I’m head of this family and I heard Lucas crying after I fed Nicole. So, I went and got him.”
“I’m eighteen!” Andrea snapped. “And Pam doesn’t cry, she screams. I should’ve woken up.”
Turning to Andrea with a huge grin, “Andrea, anyone can tell, you’ve never been around babies until now. You tried to get Pam to use the toilet two days ago. Granted, if you had gotten a six-month-old to use the toilet, I would’ve been impressed,” Arthur chuckled and Shawn snorted, turning away. “Vicki did get up when Pam cried because she’s been around babies, but I knew she was tired so I took Pam and fed her.”
Cocking her head to the side, “Vicki got up?” Andrea asked, clearly confused.
“Andrea, Vicki alone took care of her group until she found us. She went out looking for food for Jodi and Robin, then fed and changed Pam,” Arthur told her with a serious face and then turned to Shawn. “If you think back, Shawn, Beth is the one that woke you up when Lucas cried. I know because the first few days here whenever Lucas cried, Beth ran and grabbed you.”
“I’ll get Beth to sleep in my room again,” Shawn nodded.
“If she wants to,” Arthur said and then took a sip of coffee. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never had to sleep with more than one little kid at once. One beats you half to death; a group beats you into submission.”
Watching the way Arthur cuddled Nicole, Andrea gave a soft smile as she sighed. “Arthur, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Arthur said, jerking his head to see movement and watched Kong walk over to the corpse
