It Goes On - Book l

Thankful - Part 1

"Baler," Kiera whispered from behind the couch, looking over to see the teen's sleeping form spread across the leather couch, his mouth agape and his right arm above his head. "Baler." 

"Hmph?" He grumbled, his eyes still closed, taking a few moments before fluttering his eyes open, looking around to follow the sound of Kiera's soothing voice - her motherly voice. 

"It's time to get up." 

His eyes followed the sound of her voice, looking up to see her face looking down at him from behind the couch, Evie's curious gaze looking at her mother's face as she sat securely against Kiera's hip. "Wh-What time is it?" 

"It's almost nine."

Baler shot up at the time, hating himself for oversleeping. "I'm sorry for oversleeping, Miss Kiera. I'll go get ready and go to the barn-"

"Not today, Baler. You worked late last night and missed dinner. You'll be coming with me into town today to get some groceries for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night while Simon is out hunting with my dad." 

"O-Okay," Baler nodded, shaking his head as he had forgotten briefly about addressing her like he did Simon. "Um, yes ma'am." 

"Thank you. Your breakfast is on the table and after you finish up, you can get ready to go into town while I'm getting the babies ready. I may need a hand with getting their stroller in the truck." 

"Yes, ma'am. I'll help." 

Kiera couldn't help but smile at his improved behavior, hoping he was just as proud as she and Simon were of him for coming such a long way in a short period of time.

Although his path wasn't easy as he and Simon didn't see eye-to-eye on some things, but one thing was for certain: Simon made it very clear that major consequences came if Baler ever disrespected Kiera again, especially around their infants. 

He watched as Kiera nodded, standing up to fold the blanket he used to sleep with and drape it over the back of the couch before taking his pillow and fluffing it to put it in the drawer along with taking his dirty clothes from the day before into the hamper in the laundry room. He was thankful to see a plate of hearty breakfast waiting for him when he sat down - two pancakes, two scrambled eggs, and four pieces of bacon. If Miss Kiera keeps making me big breakfasts like this, I won't be able to work being this full... But I'm not complaining, he thought as he wasted no time in digging in. 

A few minutes later, Kiera returned into the kitchen with free hands, putting her hair into a loose bun as she made a plate of breakfast for herself, sitting down across from Baler with a playful arch of her brow, "Good Lord, did you taste anything?" She giggled. 

"Uh... Yeah? It's good." He replied, confused. 

"You're eating that so fast I would assume you didn't taste anything." 

Baler chuckled, "Oh, yeah. It was so bad, I'll need another plate to get the taste out of my mouth." 

She laughed at his wit, "Well, you're more than welcome to get another plate if you want." 

"What about your husband?" He questioned, feeling like he hadn't earned Simon's respect yet to address him by his first name. 

Kiera grinned, "He ate early this morning before he met my dad for hunting. He doesn't usually eat a big breakfast. He says big breakfasts make him gain weight." 

"I mean, if I ate a breakfast like this every day, I wouldn't be surprised if I got fat too." Baler chuckled, taking a drink of water from the glass. 

"Hey, I gotta make sure you and him don't starve."