Light Of My Life
3
"There now~" Cheryl hummed as she finished putting the last of the groceries away, "It will be nice to have a little bit more actual food to eat, don't you agree?" she hummed.
They didn't buy very much to start off with.
Thanks to the divorce, they didn't really have very much to spend right now.
She had bought some flower seeds to hopefully bring a little color to the place when they bloomed... as well as a few packs of seeds for crops to grow, so that they had stuff to sell for Mayor Lewis to collect from the collection box when he did his rounds at night-
...And of course she had replaced her one bottle of wine, Wave noticed.
He didn't mind it too much-
At least she only buys the one bottle at a time...
"Yeah it will be." he hummed, "But mom...you don't know a thing about farming... are you sure you're ready for this kind of life?" he wondered.
"That's true...maybe I don't." she said softly, "But the towns folk have all been very kind so far to show me how and teach me some basics." she hummed, "Not to mention your uncle Tommy has done a lot of research and study on farm life and animal care... so...I think we'll be all right." she said softly.
"Besides...I'm afraid this is all we can afford right now...I can't afford anything nicer or a life in the city any more." she said softly with a hint of a sigh in her voice and a pained expression in her eyes, "...Besides...fresh food, and clean air. This place will be good for us. For all of us. Especially for Tommy too."
Wave smiled softly.
His mother was so kind...
Always putting others before herself...
But this sort of behaivior is also why he worried about her and the wine...
"Yeah... I think you're right." he said softly, "Speaking of Uncle Tom...he said he was going to hang out with the chickens while we were gone." he laughed, "So...I'm gonna go check on him and see if he's still kicking it with the hens."
"All right dear." she said softly, "Be sure to come in and wash up for dinner soon though...since I will actually be cooking tonight~"
"Got it!"
xxx
Thomas was where he was expected to be...
Sitting on the hay covered floor and letting the chicks run around him.
"Oh...you're back already, are you?" he smiled warmly up at his nephew and grunts as he struggles to push himself up from the floor.
Without much word, Waverly rushed over to his side to help him stand.
"Mom says to come wash up for dinner soon...she's cooking tonight." Wave chuckled.
"Is she now?" smiled Tom, "She must have found some good ingredients at the locka market." he chuckled. His pale blue eyes shifted downward to watch the chicks rush up and greet Waverly, running all over and all arount his boots.
"Would'ya look'it that? They remember you." he chuckled softly, his eyes cricnkled up with his smile as Waverly laughed softly to push the chicks aside.
"Come on now, I gotta walk, I don't wanna step on you with these clompers." he chuckled.
It brought joy to Thomas...
Watching his nephew get on well with the animals.
Tommy had always loved animals.
Being ill as he was, he couldn't really go out much, so he always fancied having pets as a kid and dreamed one day about running a big farm with a bunch of animals in it...
He coughed softly, gripping his chest while his heart tightened up.
...Unfortunately that dream of his wasn't something he could really do now...
At least not on his own.
Farming was a lot of work-
And Thimas was very limited on work he could do these days.
"Uncle Tom...are you okay?" the boy asked curiously, a look of concern written in his features.
"Never you mind it boy...I'll be all right." he chuckled softly resting a dirty palm in his nephew's hair.
"Promise me something kiddo...can you do that?"
"Well...sure Uncle Tom...you know I'm good for my word." Wave said softly.
"...I know you are." Tom chuckled, "Your mother raised a good boy...and a fine young man..." he coughed a bit.
"Tom!?"
"I'm fine- don't you worry." he chuckled before he continued, "What I want you to promise me, boy, is that you'll be good to these animals...and all the other animals that may wind up here one day." he hummed.
"Well yeah, of course I would." he chuckled awkwardly, "I'm not one to be cruel to nature, Uncle Tom."
"Yeah...I know it." he sighed, "Just note...that nature will always run its course. It has a life line...and it's gonna follow it...we've got no control over that."
The boy's face crinkled a bit, getting a hint of discomfort.
He didn't like hearing his uncle talk like this...
Even though he knew it was important...so he always listened anyway.
"You'll take care of these animals. I know you will. And you'll do a damn good job doing it." he chuckled, "And...I know you'll take care of your mother too."
"Come on, Uncle Tom...you talk like an old man."
"Well you know I'm not exactly young and chipper like you are, Waverly." Thomas chuckled softly, "What your mother and I would give to be 20 again~" he teased.
"You're only 32- don't talk like that!" Wave grinned, "You're still a young man yet...and mama ain't even 40!" he laughed, "You two still have plenty of time ahead of you~" he teased, standing up again to dust off his knees and help his uncle up one more time.
"Now come on..." he says softly, placing Thomas's arm over his shoulders to help him walk more steadily on the uneven ground toward their new home.
"...Soup's on."
To be continued