Day 22 – Terms of Endearment/Nicknames

Troy leaned over to kiss Shauna's warm forehead while she lay in bed. "Don't worry, sweetheart," he said. "I'll take care of everything. You just rest, okay?"

"That means you have to take care of the chickens, Sam," Shauna groaned.

Troy couldn't help but grin a little at her stuffed up, nasally voice. "I'll take care of the chickens. Don't worry." He leaned down to kiss her again. "You sound adorable, by the way."

That earned him a hard swat with a pillow. "I'll blow my nose in your hat!" Shauna snarled.

Troy gave her a third kiss before quickly leaving the room. He wasn't too thrilled about having to look after his wife's chickens, but he was willing to do that for her. The chickens meant a lot to her, even if he wasn't very fond of them. They had a tendency to escape, but they couldn't just escape, they had to cause havoc in the process.

After having a cup of coffee and a light breakfast, Troy went out to deal with the chickens first. He was mindful of the gate, making sure it was closed behind him before approaching the massive coop he had built as an anniversary present for Shauna. Once the chickens' feed station was restocked and their water was checked, Troy nervously opened the coop to let the chickens out.

The feathered menaces came strutting out. They seemed greatly confused that their usual human wasn't there. Instead, it was the other human with the goofy hat. The rooster started crowing and the hens flapped their wings and swarmed Troy as he frantically tried to make his escape. He didn't even bother going out through the gate—he vaulted himself over, landing face-first in the dirt. As he pulled himself up, Troy could see angry chicken faces sticking their beaks under the fence, clucking at him.

There was no point in staying. Troy stood, brushed himself off, and started heading toward the horse barn. He greatly preferred the company of horses to chickens. They were more likely to be happy to see him.

"Hi," Troy said as Lana reached her neck out of her stall to nicker at him and nuzzle him. "It's just going to be us today—Shauna's sick."

He wasn't sure if the horses understood what he was saying. He knew Moffitt's horses were weirdly intelligent and seemed to know what people were saying, but Troy wasn't quite sure if the same could be said for his own horses.

After turning the horses out, Troy noticed both Lana and Akutan, one of his older geldings, walking over to the northeastern corner of the pasture, facing the house. He had never seen them do that before, and sighed as he strolled over to the two. "Shauna will be fine. She just has a cold. You'll see her again in a few days, okay?"

Lana glanced at Troy, then went back to staring at the house.

Troy stepped in between the horses. "It'll be okay, I promise, but Shauna has to rest. For now, you're stuck with me. I'm the mean one who makes you work." He smirked, knowing he wasn't actually mean to his animals. "I love all of you and you know it. Right?" His smirk faded, and he let out another sigh. "I'm talking to myself, aren't I?"

Akutan took Troy's hat off with his teeth and placed it on a fencepost.

"Put that back, please."

The bay horse snorted before taking the hat and dropping it on Troy's head.

"Thank you."

Troy didn't go back inside until noon. He found Shauna had moved to the couch in the living room, and was wrapped up in a blanket. "You're supposed to be in bed, sweetheart," Troy said.

"Close enough," Shauna muttered.

Troy sighed. "Alright. Are you feeling better?"

Shauna shrugged. "Fine."

"You and everyone else gets mad whenever I say 'I'm fine,' so I'm not going to believe you."

"Sam, go away."

"Oh, I see." Troy walked over to couch, leaning over the back to nuzzle his wife's forehead. "Are we grumpy, sweetheart?"

"Yes! Go away!" Shauna pushed him away. "You're not helping."

"Me? Not helping? That doesn't sound right, sweetheart."

Shauna covered her head with the blanket. "You're being a pain, Sam—and stop calling me that."

"I've been calling you 'sweetheart' for—" Troy counted on his hand, "seven years now, and you've never complained."

"Well, I'm complaining now."

"You're just cranky because you're sick, sweetheart."

Shauna groped around the couch for a pillow to hit Troy with, not bothering to take the blanket off her head.

"You're getting colder," Troy said when Shauna came close to one of the pillows. "Still colder… Wow, you're freezing, sweetheart."

He ducked when the pillow was flung at his head.

"You're really not helping, Sam. Go away! I want to be left alone." Shauna flopped down on her side, still cocooned in the blanket.

Troy waited, then tapped Shauna's arm.

He heard an annoyed sigh, then silence, then Shauna said, "I don't care how sick I am, I will pin you to the floor and tickle you."

"You have to catch me first."

"And I will."

"You really don't sound threatening with your nose stuffed up."

Shauna sighed again, muttering, "Jackass."

"I'm your favorite jackass, though."

"Not right now, you're not."

"Okay. How can I become your favorite? Want me to get you anything?"

"Let me sleep."

"Apart from letting you sleep."

Shauna was quiet for a moment. "I'd ask for tea, but you can't make tea."

"I can try."

"No. Don't bother. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Please, Sam, go away."

"Alright, alright, I'm going away." Troy went into the kitchen, having nearly forgotten about lunch. He kept glancing out in the living room, seeing Shauna was still hidden under the blanket. I really should leave her alone for a bit, he thought.

He had to leave Shauna alone while going back outside to finish his daily chores around the ranch, and returned that evening to find Shauna was still on the couch, but had finally emerged from the blanket. She looked cold.

Troy said nothing while lighting the fireplace. He wasn't capable of making tea, but he knew how to boil water and scoop powder for hot chocolate. He also knew Shauna liked hers with a little extra chocolate powder.

Shauna perked up a little when Troy set the mug on the table in front of the couch. She sat up, and took the mug. After a couple of sips, she glanced at Troy. "I'm… sorry for being cranky earlier."

"It's okay. I was being kind of a pain," Troy replied.

"I still love you."

"And I love you, too. How are you?"

"Feeling a little better." Shauna held up the mug. "Thank you, by the way."

"You're welcome. Everything was taken care of, even the chickens."

"Thanks."

Troy sat next to her. "So, you weren't serious when you said you don't want me calling you 'sweetheart?'"

"Of course I wasn't being serious. I was cranky." Shauna set the mug down to snuggle up to her husband. "I also don't want you to leave me alone anymore. I need my living radiator right now."

"Okay. Come here, sweetheart." Troy pulled Shauna close, making sure she was covered with a blanket. Her head was rested on his shoulder, and she shivered a little while getting comfortable. Troy hugged her and kissed her forehead, suddenly finding himself reminded of when they were struggling to keep warm after being trapped in a blizzard several years ago. We're not there anymore, he thought, glancing at the fireplace. We're safe and warm inside.

They were both comfortable. Comfortable enough that Troy was okay with sleeping there for part of the night. He did eventually wake up a little after midnight, and took care of putting out the fire before carrying the still-sleeping Shauna up to bed. He did his best not to wake her, even while resuming their snuggle after climbing into bed with her.