What does Home mean?

Repairs and reveals...

I'm on the roof, repairing a hole as Holly watches me.

I can feel Josie in the house, mopping the water up.

Honestly, the tornado didn't really do all that much damage and I could, probably, have not held the house together from the other house.

Oh, yeah.

Charlie really didn't take my change very well and thought that someone made me change.

He's not wrong but, it's not as malevolent as he thought.

After shaving the splinters of wood off of the hole's edge, I mix gelatin and a slight amount of glycerin together.

Pouring some into a bowl of sawdust, I mix it into a paste and spread it into the hole.

I'd already put a temporary backing on the underside, earlier... sorry for skipping that step.

It's a piece of tarred paper sandwiched between the underside of the roof and a piece of wood that is nailed to it.

As I waited for the wood filler to harden and dry, Holly and I enjoyed some fresh strawberry pie with cream and lemonade.

Testing the filler, it was dry.

I had Holly bring me the can of Pine tar and gypsum with a paint brush.

She can't "reach" that high but she can appear on any shelf.

Caught her sneaking cookies from the jar on top of the refrigerator.

To be fair, I had promised that she could have some but I'd forgot.

She wasn't punished.

She reappears with the can and brush.

I open it and she backs away, a little, at the smell.

Dipping the brush in, I smear it on the wood filler until there are no more voids.

Taking a piece of rice paper, I tack it around the hole and tar it as well.

Grabbing the new shingle, I put it in place and take Holly into my arms.

We appear inside and I sigh.

Heading up the ladder, I remove the piece of wood backing the filled hole and use more tar and rice paper the make a permanent backing.

That done, I climb down and put everything away.

Holly appears on my shoulder and licks my cheek.

"We're finished.

Thank you." I say.

"Siguis benvingut, pare." She says and vanishes.

"So it's Catalan, today, huh?

Serves me right for falling asleep with our minds connected.

Ever since then, she can speak any language as easily as I can, as well as calculate complex math equations.

I didn't mean to give her such a boost.

It really was an accident.

She also does things without me asking...

It's kind of scary...

....

Avery stands in front of Brent, facing away, while leaning on a table with his tail raised.

"Alright... I'm going to draw it out now." Brent says, wearing a full class 3 hazmat suit.

I am just glad that they're doing this outside.

At the same time, watching my husband gesture at a skunk's ass was kind of hilarious.

"Alright, relax the glands." Brent instructs and two single ounce glass bottles were filled with a somewhat viscous yellow fluid, then the wind changed direction.

The smell didn't bother me as badly as I thought it would have.

Capping the bottles off, Brent carefully places them into a padded case.

"That's it, we're done." Brent says, getting up from the chair.

Avery lowers his tail and sighs.

"That was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be.

Usually, for me to spray, I'm already under extreme threat of danger.

Thanks for making this so easy." He says.

"Well, considering that I'd have been on the receiving end if your heart rate and adrenaline had spiked, I wore this oven of a safety device just in case."

Avery bursts out laughing.

"Yeah, wouldn't have been my fault, either...

Then again, at least you can take your suit off." He smiles.

Brent turns around for Avery to unzip his hazmat suit from the head down.

Pulling it off, Brent carefully folds it and places it back in it's case.

"Of course it wouldn't have been your fault.

I willingly stared a skunk in the sphincter."

I lost it and started laughing.

Brent walks toward me and picks me up.

Throwing me over his shoulder, he carries me to the Dodge truck.

"Avery, we're going to our lake.

You are more than welcome to join or not." He says, not looking back.

When we go inside the house, there's utter madness as Veronica is running around while being chased by three ferrets.

We get a quick read of the situation and realize that they're all just playing, even Veronica.

Holly is always reeling her brothers in if she see that their thoughts can lead to real problems, so we rely on her to mitigate any potential for injuries.

Such a responsible daughter for being three years old.

Brent scoops up Charlie and Mikhail while telling Holly to take her new friend and get ready to go swimming.

"Then, Later, we're going to a friend's property from 2019.

I'm gonna see whether his world war two fighter is still in one piece, if he built the underground hangar like I told him to." He says

"World War two?" I ask.

"1939 to 1945. It was the war that came after the war to end all wars... World War one."

"Why do humans have a strong inclination for foreshadowing?" Avery asks.

"That's easy.

They would rather hide history, to try to cover up mistakes, than to reveal it all to be learned from." Brent says.

"Right... I'll retract my racist question, then, as I'm quite guilty of trying to hide my own past." The skunk sheepishly admits.

"See? We're not as inhuman as we wish we were..." I say

"Ouch... there went my pride shattered..." Avery says.

"Nah. You guys just embody the best that humanity has ever been." Brent says.

"Yeah! Yourself included, twit." I say.

"Right, because acting like a loose cannon army of one is the best that humanity can offer."

"When that army of one successfully frees a bunch of slaves while killing their captors?" I counter.

"Okay, okay... I get it..."