Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty Four
Monty
Eight Months Postpartum
“Igot something! I got something!” Shiloh shouts as the tip of his rod bends toward the water.
“Reel it in!” I tell him as I look around for the net. “Where’s the net? You’re doing good buddy, keep reeling!”
“Got it!” Xavier shouts, and I redirect myself to behind Shiloh and give him some extra support. I talk him through it, letting him take control of bringing in his fish. He continues to reel and I keep one hand on his rod to make sure it doesn’t fly out of his grip.
It takes him a couple minutes, but finally a fish comes to the surface and splashes the water before trying to dive down again. An excited cheer comes from Shiloh as he continues to reel in.
“This is hard!” He shouts, hearing the exhaustion in his voice I encourage him to keep going.
“I know buddy, this is the hardest part, but you’re almost there. Uncle Xavier is ready with the net for the next time it comes to the surface.” Just then the fish jumps from the water, and Shiloh yells in excitement.
The next moments are like a blur, Xavier gets the fish into the net and we bring the walleye into the boat. I fumble for my phone and snap my boy's first interaction seeing his catch. He shows no fear when it comes to holding his prize and smiling for another photo.
Shiloh’s on cloud nine for the rest of the time we’re out on the lake.
He catches another smaller fish, which he tells me he wants to put back in the water so it can get bigger.
Xavier and I catch a couple of walleye ourselves, and I even catch a little perch.
We decided to bring them all back to the cabin and I try to show Shiloh how to clean a fish but he quickly loses interest.
We put half of our catch away in the freezer to bring home and the other half we cook up and have a fish fry.
Xavier and Shiloh are out on a hike as I stand in front of the stove, battered fish are crackling over the oil in my handy cast iron skillet.
The aroma of cooking fish unlocks a core memory of myself as a kid.
Out tenting with my parents, my dad cooked fish on the skillet over the fire.
Late nights out in the quiet country air, open skies and so many stars.
I would sit back in my camp chair and just stare at the millions of twinkly lights in the sky.
There were never that many from our house in the middle of Rosewick Falls, but when we were out in the countryside I felt like I was being covered in a blanket of stars.
When I was old enough I got my constellation sign tattooed on my calf, with the idea that I could always bring those bright lights with me. I’ve wanted to add onto it too, and get a galaxy sky tattooed on my forearm, but there just never seemed to be the right time.
The back door slams open, Shiloh coming into the cabin full force.
“Dad, you won’t believe it!” Shiloh yells, but he continues before I even get to ask him what’s up. “I found a four leaf clover with Uncle Xavy! Look!” In the next second he’s at my side with his arm stretched up in my direction as he shows me the tiny four leafed plant with pride.
“That’s super cool buddy. We’re going to have to preserve it and frame it for your room.” I tell him, and his eyes widen at the suggestion.
“How do you do that?” He asks.
Xavier comes to my side and takes over the rest of the cooking as I proceed to show Shiloh how we begin to press the clover between two papers and stick it in a book.
I tell him how it needs to dry out before we do anything.
If it still has water in it, it can mold and then we’d have to throw it out and it wouldn’t be good luck anymore.
He nods along and insists he does everything himself. With my supervision of course, but that’s besides the point. Just as we’re finishing up, Xavier hollers that supper is finished and we make our way to the table to eat our fill.
As busy as the trip was, the weekend blew by in a blur.
We’re on our last night here, and I wish we could stay longer.
Except with everyone else with us, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my guys weekend.
Shiloh caught his first first, and Xavier and I were able to sit down and shoot the shit once the kid was asleep.
We haven’t had moments like this in a bit since life got so busy for the both of us.
We sit around the fire, Shiloh has passed out in his chair and I can’t be bothered to wake him up. He’s in the most awkward position but he’s not budging. I know he’ll be alright because kids are built differently.
“You know if I were to fall asleep in this camping chair like Loh right now. My back would be fucked up for a week and I’d need to go and get an adjustment.” I say just as Shiloh readjusts himself so that he’s curled up on his side in the chair.
Xavier chuckles and shakes his head, “A week? I don’t know if I would ever recover from sleeping in a position like that.”
“I’ll leave him for a bit longer then I’ll carry him to bed. I just wanna enjoy this last fire for tonight.” I say, watching as the flames dance across the logs in the pit.
“I can’t believe the weekend is already over and we’re heading home tomorrow.” Xavier says, “We’ll have to plan a big camping trip for everyone next summer.”
“Yeah, Hayes will be older and moving along where he can enjoy it a bit more than right now.” I agree, humming as I think about what next year might look like.
There’s a good chance Hayes won’t be the youngest one there if Harper and Xavier are trying for a baby.
A new addition could very well be joining us next year.
We sit in silence after that, enjoying the sounds of nature around us.
Sitting in silence is hard for me most of the time, but when it comes to sitting around a fire, I feel the busyness die down.
The sound of the crickets plays a gentle song that’s the perfect white noise.
I watch the flames work down each log until it’s nothing but ash at the bottom of the pit.
Using a poker stick, I move the logs so that it all burns.
When the flames were down to embers we decide to call it a night.
Xavier puts what’s left of the fire out as I carry my boy to his bed.
He’s dead to the world, and doesn’t rustle as I move him.
I do a walk through of the main floor, picking up a few random items that are scattered about and packing them away so it’s one less thing to do in the morning.
When I make it to my room, I look at the time and see that it’s early enough that the girls might still be up.
I only had a chance to quickly send them the pictures of Shiloh’s catch and then the rest of the day got away from me.
I decide to send a text to our group chat to make sure that everyone’s awake.
Monty: Are you guys still up?
Josie: Just crawled into bed, Evie had to run over to the loft to grab some things.
Evie: *Image Attachment*
I click open the image to see that it’s Evie in the bathroom in the house. Her hair falls damp on her shoulders, as a green towel is tightly wrapped around her body. A groan creeps its way up my throat, wishing that the scrap of fabric was gone and she was in nothing else.
Josie: Damn, Sweets. I didn’t even hear you sneak into the bathroom.
Evie: You were in with Hayes settling him down. I decided to shower quickly before bed.
Monty: I can’t wait to get home to you three. This trip was fun, but I’m ready to be home.
Monty: can we have a quick call before I crash for the night?
I watch as my message is marked as read from both of them but I get no response. I’m about to just call them myself when my screen changes and I see I have an incoming video call from Josie.
I accept the call and my face lights up when I see the two of them together on the screen.
“There are my girls.” I say, as I take them both in.
Evie’s hair which was once damp and messy is now fixed with two french braids.
Her face is make-up free and her hazel eyes sparkle with mischief.
Josie’s head rests next to hers, her chocolate locks ruffled like she was rolling her head around in bed.
Her cheeks are slightly flushed and when I look at her eyes, I know exactly what was going on before they called.
“Hey baby,” Josie says breathlessly.
A chuckle leaves me, “Was I interrupting something?” I ask them with humor, lacing each word. My heart beat flutters with happiness as I can see they took the weekend the way I hoped they would.
A sly smirk spreads over Evie’s face before she responds, “I was just taking time becoming acquainted with Josie here, but she saw that you wanted to call so we put a pin in it.”
“Well I’m glad you guys took the time to call me. I just wanted to see your faces before I went to bed.” I say, sitting up on the bed, resting my back against the headboard.
“What time are you guys hoping to head out tomorrow? Harper is going to be coming back in the morning. I was going to get lunch made so we can all eat before Xavier and Harper go home.” Josie asks, always the planner.
I scratch my beard as I think about what’s left to pack before we need to leave. “Probably looking to be home around noon. We packed up most of the stuff tonight, so it’s just all the last minute stuff. I want to let Shiloh get another swim in before we head out.”
“You guys had a good time?” Evie asks, “That fish Loh caught was so big. I can’t wait to hear the story from him.”
“Yeah, we had a great time. I wish I would’ve been able to record it on video though, but I was more focused on making sure he could reel it in on his own.
I was ready to jump in if he needed me though.
” Pride takes over as I think about how focused Shiloh was.
He faltered only for a minute before he rallied and brought the fish the rest of the way in.
“I’m glad you were in the moment with him.
That’s much better than a video, besides I like hearing the story over watching it on video.
” Josie chimes in, “We should let you get to bed though, talk to Xavier and Shiloh in the morning on what they want for lunch and I’ll have it ready when you guys get home. ”
“Sounds good, sleep well girls.” A yawn escapes as I finish the sentence, giving away to how tired I am. “Miss you. Goodnight.”
They reply with their goodbyes and as soon as my head hits the pillow my eyes close and sleep takes over.