"Prometheus" by No Bird Sing

My mom refused to talk or look at me when I got back to camp. "You look relieved she's ignoring you," Adrienne noted as I came back over to continue assisting her with restoring a fossil we had found. "She looked pretty pissed when she came back."

"Understandably," I grumbled. "I wasn't letting her rip into the kids' father for no reason. Would you mind if I handled the next supply run? I wanted to pick up a few more things."

"Yeah, that's not an issue. It's not like anything is really going on around here today anyway. Or any other day, really. Nothing groundbreaking. Why don't you take Tyler and the kids into town? They could use a break from only seeing the camp. And I'm sure Tyler wants a break from your mom." She paused. "Actually, can you take me, too? I need a break from Gabriella." I actually laughed so hard that I choked on my spit a bit. Adrienne grinned at me, clearly pleased by the success of her joke. "But, seriously, take the van and go. We'll be fine without you."

"Thanks," I said gratefully before going to fetch the children and Tyler. I found Declan and Kelly playing with a sheep. I stood there in confusion, my arms crossed, and watched them for a few minutes.

"We should tell Mom," Declan argued while Kelly hugged the sheep.

"No, she won't let us keep it. Maybe we can sneak it into the tent," Kelly said, looking at it thoughtfully.

"Kelly, she'd notice."

"I'll put blankets over it."

"What if it baas?"

"He won't, we have an understanding." As if on cue, the sheep looked at me and let out a bleat, clearly begging to be saved. I couldn't help but laugh. Kelly looked up at me, her face turning red while Declan looked at her triumphantly.

"I told you that she'd find out."

"I mean, you're standing in the middle of the field hugging a sheep. Of course I'm going to find out," I laughed.

"My plan was better than this."

"I'm sure it was," I patted Kelly on the head. "Now go find your uncle and have him get the van ready. We're going to go into town."

"Okay! What are you going to do with Erik?"

"I'll take him back to the farm where he can hang out with his other sheep friends."

"I guess," she said, allowing Declan to grab her hand and take her back to the dig site to find Tyler. I rubbed the bridge of my nose, looking down at the sheep and gave it a pat on the back.

"Come on, let's get you home."

The sheep let out another bleat and trotted at my side as I ascended the hill with it. At one point, it tried to walk the complete other way. I herded it back the right way, running into Murphy as I did so.

"This fecking sheep won't stay in one place," he grumbled. "Thanks."

"No problem, Kelly was planning on keeping Erik and hiding him under a blanket."

"Erik?" He looked at the sheep. "This sheep is a girl."

"Well, her name is Erik now. She didn't seem to mind." The sheep bleated once more before trotting away from Murphy and joining the other sheep like she had never left. She didn't seem to care where she was at any point in time.

"Well, I'll remember that one's name then. It never fecking stays in place."

I laughed, causing him to look at me and smile.

"I've missed hearing ye laugh."

"I've missed you making me laugh," I admitted. He looked as though he wanted to say something more on the subject but wasn't sure how. I studied him for a few moments before smiling softly at him. "That's not an impossibility. It never was."

"How do ye do that?"

"What?"

"Jus' know what to say when I dunno how to say it." I shrugged.

"We'll do dinner tomorrow. We're going to go get the supplies now. Try not to lose Erik again. I'm afraid Kelly might actually try to hide it in the tent and refuse to part with it." He laughed at the thought.

Tyler had the kids and the van entirely ready to go by the time I got back. Kelly was still talking about Erik and how she would think of a better way to keep her next time. Declan did not look okay with that idea while Tyler just looked confused. I'm sure they didn't explain who Erik was at all. When he saw me, I mouthed the word "sheep" and he nodded in recognition, clearly now understanding what Kelly was rambling about.

"Mom," Declan greeted, throwing his arms around my waist. I hugged him back, kissing the top of his head. Kelly stared me down, trying to decide how she felt.

"Is Erik okay?"

"Yes, Erik is okay and she's back with the rest of her sheep friends."

"Okay, I'll allow it," she nodded vigorously. We got the kids into the car and headed into town. It was an old, quaint little place. The grocery store wasn't very large but it usually had what we needed. Tyler and I split the list, each taking one of the twins. He took Kelly while I took Declan. Doing it this way made us finish shopping before the kids got bored and it kept them engaged. I wonder if someday Murphy might be the one at the store with me instead of Tyler.

I felt a small pang of guilt. No wonder Murphy had assumed Tyler and I were together. We became practically inseparable after he moved to Germany. Enough so that Adam broke up with him when he visited because Tyler just wouldn't part from the kids and I. I've always been extra careful and made sure that the twins know he isn't their dad...but he's always filled that role. No matter what it cost him. I'll always be grateful for it. I don't think I would have managed as well as I have on my own.

"I think those are fine, Mom," Declan said, bringing me out of my thoughts. I've been staring at the ingredients on this bag of chips for that entire internal monologue. With a grin, I put them into the basket he was carrying and put my arm around him. I hope tomorrow goes well. If it doesn't, I'm not really sure where to go from there.