Cowboys and Critters
Chapter 6: One Day At A Time
"Where's Guthrie?" Adam came into the kitchen, stretching as he walked. He'd been working on financial paperwork all morning. He was still trying to figure out how to feed everything through the winter. Cows and brothers just ate too much.
Brian didn't even turn away from the stove, "In the barn."
"By Himself?"
"He's fine, It's just the barn."
Adam took a deep breath; he didn't want to fight with Brian. They'd all spent time in the barn as kids, even younger than Guthrie. But that was before the accident. The mantle of parenthood had descended upon the two oldest McFadden boys. The heavy load threatened to bury them both. Adam felt like he was suffocating under the responsibility. If something happened to his brothers it would be his fault.
Brian didn't turn around; but he stopped stirring the scrambled eggs, "One of the strays dropped a litter of kittens."
"That's all we need, more mouths to feed." Brian finally turned from the stove at his older brother's bitter defeated tone. He found Adam sitting at the table with his head in his hands.
"Hey, Junior," Brian laid a hand on Adam's shoulder, "We can take care of them."
"How?" Adam stood up, brushing off the comforting hand, "Tie them in a sack and throw them in the river like everyone else?"
"Hell no," Their mother had always taken good care of their barn cats, "We could sell them or even give them away in town."
Adam stopped pacing and let his shoulders drop with a sigh, "Yeah."
The eggs began to smoke on the stove.
The two brothers rushed to the ruined meal before the food caught fire. Dark smoke and cursing filled the kitchen. Adam slammed the blackened pan into the sink. They lost food they couldn't afford to waste.
"Damnit!" A young voice swore. They turned to find their youngest brother standing innocently in the doorway.
Guthrie held up a dark furball, "The kitty farted on me. It's stinky."
I took them a moment for the stinky smell to reach their noses. But when it did the smell was unmistakable; they looked closer noticing the white strip down the back. The kitty didn't fart, the skunk had sprayed.
Adam pulled out a can of tomato juice without a word. He couldn't speak, even if he wanted to, around the lump in his throat holding back his sobs. He was too young for this; he didn't know how to be a parent.
The two men shared a look. They were a team they took care of each other so together they could take care of the family. Adam inclined his head towards the animal. He indicated Brian should figure out where it came from and get the skunks away from the house. They didn't need any more brothers to be sprayed. Adam would take care of the one that already was.
"Hey Cowboy, let me take this little fella back to his mama," Brian took the little skunk from his baby brother's grasp. He made a hasty retreat holding the black furball out away from his body. Adam watched him leave with a sinking feeling in his gut, making him think he made the wrong choice. He should have chosen to take care of the skunk.
"I love you, Adam!" Guthrie declared as the stinky little boy wrapped his arms around his oldest brother in affection. The man knelt down to properly hug his brother back, smell and all. He didn't know what he was doing but he knew why he did it. He did it for his brothers.
After the bath, practically rubbing his little brother raw, the smell was still there, faint but tolerable. The damp little boy rushed out of his room half-dressed with a mewing kitten he'd hidden in his room earlier.
"He misses his mama too," He held out an actual baby cat to his older brother. Adam just gave a tired nod, picking up the boy, kitten and all, heading out to the barn.
Guthrie carried the little furball kitten around to its mother.
"It'll be okay now." Brian sat down on the ground next to Adam as they watched Guthrie joyously play with the little animals.
"Will it ever really be okay?" Adam mumbled to the ground, "We don't know what the hell we're doing."
Brain knocked his shoulder into his older brother, "We got the boys. We just keep taking care of them and the stock. We take it one day at a time, Junior. This won't last forever."
Adam nodded, with a faint smile. Life was hard trying to be a parent. No matter the trouble or pain, he wouldn't change any one of his brothers. Some day all his brothers would grow up and their job raising them would be done. For the moment he would try to enjoy each day he had with them.
They sat there until their rear ends started to go numb. Adam threw his arm around his brother as they watched their baby brother play with the real kittens.