Leah’s expression softened. She nodded. “That’s true enough. We’re getting to be a whole family of butt-kickers.” Part of her began to wonder if this was the end of her own butt-kicking days. Time to hang up her machetes and get accustomed to this new routine of raising her daughter. It was already happening, shown in her refusal to leave the compound and go looting for supplies. She wasn’t going to leave the girl behind and she downright refused to take the four-year-old out there with her.
“You won’t be that old,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. The smirk returned, however, when the subject of cooties came up and she watched Marigold nod and giggle.
The girl had a mountain of questions to ask every day. Some of them were easy to answer, while others, like this one, weren’t. Leah expected the innocent interrogation, but that didn’t mean every inquiry was easy to swallow. It was just something that came with the territory of being a parent who was learning to become less of a stranger to her own child.
With that bullet dodged, it was time to rebuild the comfortable mood, which, apparently, came in the form of Brandon giving Marigold her first nickname. Leah’s lips quirked. Marigold grinned and nodded her head eagerly. “I think so,” she answered.
Another nod. “Yep! I’ma be a butt-kicker, too!”
When Leah’s laughter died down, she said, “True enough. Though, to be fair, I think we’ve all been pretty busy lately. That’s no excuse to skip out on family time, though.”
Taking a seat at the picnic table, the woman set down the containers of food, popped the lids off, and started to serve everyone. With that finished, she took a moment to glance over the construction site. “Looks like you guys are moving right along with this project.”