Page 24 of Smitty

Laken giggled as she said, “He wouldn’t be so eager to escape if he had a bigger cage.”

“I know.”

“She’s right. He needs more room,” Grim added.

“I know.”

“And tunnels.” Baylor smiled. “And a spinning wheel.”

“He’s not a hamster, kiddo.”

“And things to climb on.”

“Baylor.”

She planted her hands on her hips and huffed, “What?”

“Pop and I will build him a bigger cage in a couple of days.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Grim shook his head as he complained, “That’s great. Volunteered for yet another project.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Skid scoffed. “That’s what grandpas are for.”

Grim muttered something under his breath, and we all chuckled in response. Once they had everything secure, Skid stepped over to me and took the rabbit, whispering warnings in his ear as he placed him in the cage. The rabbit hopped across the enclosure and went straight to his water, taking a drink like nothing had happened.

Baylor closed the latch, then looked up at Laken and asked, “Can we go to the fair now?”

“Yes, sweetie. We can go now.”

“Yay!”

“I need to change first,” Skid added.

Baylor’s smile vanished as she groaned, “That’s gonna take forever.”

“It’ll take five minutes.”

“You always say that.” Baylor’s expression turned to a pout. “And you always take more than five minutes, especially when you go to the bathroom.”

Grim laughed even louder than before as he teased, “Kid’s right about that.”

“Don’t encourage her,” Skid fussed. “You and Jenna still planning to meet us over there with Luna?”

“That was the plan.”

“Good deal. I heard they’ve got some good food vendors coming.”

“Yeah, Jenna was saying something about a corndog made out of cheese? No idea what the hell that is, but she’s excited about trying it.”

“I want one, too!” Baylor gasped. “And some ice cream!”

“I think we can manage that,” Laken answered, before turning her attention to me. “You should come, too.”

“Hard pass.”