“Not if I see you first,” I retort, my eyes already closing.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Prophet
“You look tired, brother,”Rebel says as we all arrive at the base camp after another day spent clearing the detritus from the hurricanes.
“I am, but it’s more of a good tired than exhaustion,” I admit. “Being here with Phoebe, taking care of her, and Kevin is rewarding in a lot of ways. Doing the manual labor to help these folks return to some form of normalcy is as well. I think once we’re home everything will settle down because Iamworried about her still trying to work, even in her limited capacity. I don’t want her pushing herself too much, but I also don’t want to treat her like she’s incapable of knowing her limits.”
“It’s definitely a balancing act,” he replies. “But it seems that we manage to find strong women, Prophet, so it’s something we’re going to have to figure out, I guess.”
I chuckle because I’m pretty sure Rebel didn’t plan on Marnie, Holly, and the kids coming along. He probably figured some of the brothers would come with him to lend a hand. However,knowing Marnie and Holly, there’s no way they wouldn’t want to help as well. But having Esther and Paul here too? It’s been a blessing to everyone who has been here since they were allowed into the area. Fresh blood and all that jazz.
“Yeah, I know and I promise I’m working on it. Okay, I’m going to go shower and I’ll meet y’all at the food tent. Can’t wait to see what Esther and Bubba have put together for tonight’s meal.”
“She’s in her element right now, you know that, right?” Rebel asks.
“She loves taking care of people, that’s for sure. So does Paul,” I reply. “See y’all shortly.”
Walking into our RV, I see Phoebe sitting in the recliner, Kevin curled up to her as he eats. “He’s getting bigger,” I say as I walk over and lean in to give her a kiss.
“Yeah, he is,” she replies once I pull back from her lips.
“Did you get any rest today?” I ask, walking toward our bedroom.
“Actually, yes. Ella helped me open up my late-night purchases and your prospects delivered them. I ended up taking a nap until this little guy started licking my chin to let me know he was hungry.”
I can’t help laughing because we haven’t had him long, but he’s got a huge personality despite his small size. “I’m going to grab a shower then we can head over to the tent to eat. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good to me. The breeze has been wafting delicious smells in this direction which has my stomach rumbling,” she says. “Come on, little boy, let’s finish up so I can fill my tummy.”
With my clean clothes over my shoulder, I scoop him up and tell her, “I’ll get him sorted out if you want to get your shoes on.”
“Oh! I bought some flip flops because I’ve been having a hard time tying my shoes,” she says, giggling.
Shaking my head, I go into the bathroom and after getting Kevin’s bladder taken care of, I hop into the shower. Seeing the full hamper, I decide to run the clothes over to the firehouse and get them started before we eat. With food on my mind, it doesn’t take long to get myself clean and redressed.
“You ready, Phoebe?” I ask, the hamper in my arms.
“Dang it, I could have done those today,” she replies, seeing what I’m carrying.
“Babe, you don’t need to be carrying this right now,” I tell her.
“Whatever,” she grumbles.
“Don’t ‘whatever’ me, you have to be careful, remember?” I ask.
“I know, I know. I hate this, Eli.”
“That’s because you’re not used to being idle.”
“Nope. Plus, I can’t really hold Cami since I don’t want her to accidentally pull on the tubing to the wound vac, and even though the PICC line is protected, if she were to bump it, that could cause a problem. I know she doesn’t understand, and it breaks my heart when she cries for me.”
“Then we’ll figure out a way so you can hold her without causing an issue, I promise.”
“Good, now, let’s go eat. And for the record, you may get away with washing and drying the clothes, but Icanandwillfold them!”
