Not Expecting to Collide (COMPLETE) - ABP Fanfiction

Chapter 76 - Dirty Work

After sleeping in late and waking to find herself alone in the trapper shack, October entered the main cabin to find only Amber, Birdie and Rainy inside.

"Good morning!" chirped Birdie with a smile. "All the boys went hunting this morning so we get to have some girls' time." She explained.

Rainy took her by the arm and led her over to sit at the table. "Bam told us to make sure you eat breakfast and don't do too much work."

October smiled and rolled her eyes. "Your brother worries too much."

Amber set a full plate of breakfast in front of her. "Yes, he does." She agreed. "But his worrying too much has done a lot to keep this family together over the past year so we do our best to fulfill his requests. He has so few." October raised her head to look Amber in the eye. It was obvious how much Amber and Bam respected each other. She didn't know her very well yet but she had the feeling that she and Amber were going to have a very strong bond.

"It's easy to see why Matt adores you and why Bam holds you in such high regard." October responded before taking a bite of her food.

Amber grinned. "I didn't know him before he met you but his sisters' tell me he wasn't the most pleasant person to deal with. He was worse than a grizzly when you were gone. I'm glad you're back."

October nodded. "He does have a temper." She agreed. "Did Bear go hunting as well?"

"No." Birdie interjected. "He's gone to meet the ferry."

"So no one has told Bam yet." October surmised. All three girls shook their heads slowly. "Not even Bear?" She asked. "Seriously?"

Rainy shrugged. "We thought maybe you would?"

October put her hands up in front of her, palms outward. "Oh no. Not my place to tell him. Bear should have told him long ago. Just because I'm married to him doesn't mean that I have to do the dirty work." She took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. "And I'm going to tell Bear that when he returns."

Birdie and Rainy exchanged apprehensive looks and sighed. "Well, Bear won't be back until this afternoon and the rest will probably be later than that. You should have time to talk to Bear first."

October nodded. "So, Bam tells me you are planning a huge dinner tonight. What can I do to help?"

"Nothing." Amber replied. "You are to relax - Bam's orders. The girls and I will take care of the rest."

October rolled her eyes. She was going to have to have a word with Bam about leaving orders where she was concerned. Eventually she convinced Amber that she could shape dough into buns while still sitting at the table so as not to exert herself too much. The four ladies laughed and talked away much of the morning and early afternoon while preparing a Thanksgiving feast for the entire family. They took turns teasing Rainy about the boy in Hoonah (and what not to do if he went in for a kiss), teasing Birdie about spending so much time at the library (perhaps she was sweet on that new, young librarian with the jerry curl), teasing Amber about marrying Matt (Amber remained rather tight-lipped about any upcoming nuptials), and teasing October about unusual baby names. (So far the agreed upon favourite was 'Pinecone Thunderstorm November Hunt Brown' - much to October's chagrin.)

They were giggling so much and conversing so loudly that they didn't hear Bear return with his girlfriend in tow.  He cleared his throat and put on a apprehensive smile. "October, this is my girlfriend."
October stood up and walked over to where the girl was standing. She visibly flinched and took a step back when October came closer and October realized that she was actually afraid. October put her hand on her arm and spoke very softly. "Bam told me all about you. It's nice to meet you." She smiled gratefully and clung to Bear's side. October turned to Bear and glared. "Are you trying to give your brother a heart attack?" Bear shook his head. "You've had months to tell Bam about you two and instead you wait to spring it on him now! What are you thinking?"
Bear shrugged. "Self preservation, man!  I'm just trying to steer clear of the wrath of Bam." He confessed.
October jabbed a finger into Bear's chest. "This is not the way to do it. You have to go tell him before he comes in here."
Bear put his hands up. "No way."
"I'll do it." The timid voice came from behind Bear.
"No you won't." October countered. "Bear should do it."
"Well, somebody better tell him soon. They're back." Birdie called as she looked out the window above the kitchen sink. Not a moment later, the hunting party burst through the door.
October almost had to yell to be heard over the noise. "Where's Bam?"
"He's still cleaning his birds." Gabe answered her. "He got more than the rest of us."
October gave Bear a shove. "Go! Now's your chance."
"Okay, okay, I'm going. Geez! Talk about pushy." Bear grumbled. Amber pressed his boots into his hands and frowned. "You'd better hurry. Rosanna just ran through the yard." Bear turned around to see that indeed, there was an empty space where his girlfriend had just been.

~*~

Bam finished hanging the last of his grouse and wiped his hands on the side of his jeans.
"Looks like dirty work." A voice that he couldn't quite place said through the trees. Bam lifted his head in the direction it came from. "I hear congratulations are in order. A new wife and a baby. Wow, good for you, Bam."
Bam straightened his shoulders. "Bambi?" He asked, the confusion clear in his voice.
"Rosanna." She corrected before continuing. "You Brown boys don't waste anytime, do you?"
Bam stared at her with his mouth agape for a moment. He surreptitiously looked around him for a camera crew. He saw none and furrowed his brow. "Rosanna, what are you doing here?"
"I have to tell you something."
Bam's eyebrows shot up. What could she possibly have to tell him? "Did Myra send you?"
"No!" She shook her head. Bam visibly relaxed at that.
"Okay." Bam eyed her warily. "What's up then?"
Rosanna fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket. "Remember when I told you that I met someone and he didn't like me touching you?"
"Yes." Bam nodded, still not catching on.
Just then Bear ran through the trees and stopped abruptly in between Bam and Rosanna. "Bam!" He exclaimed, out of breath.
"Bear." Bam said flatly. "Did you know Bambi was here?" He was definitely confused.
"Rosanna." Bear corrected unconsciously. "Um, yeah." Bear continued. "About that.  I've uh been meaning to tell you since June but you were, like, so mad and I thought it wasn't the best time to bug you with October leaving and all and then we were still filming and you weren't, like, talking to anyone we kind of ran out of time and then you left for Calgary and I didn't get a chance to tell you but-"
"Bear!" Both Bam and Rosanna shouted at the same time.
Bear quit rambling and pointed to Rosanna. "She's my new girlfriend." He said quickly.
"Bear is the guy I was telling you about." Rosanna filled in.
Both she and Bear held their breath waiting for the explosion they were both expecting.
Bam looked back and forth between the two of them a few times. The light of realization dawned in his eyes as a few pieces of information clicked into place in his mind. Neither of them expected what he said next.
Bam cocked his head to the side and asked Rosanna. "You chose Bear over batteries?"

----------
Now, for those of you that are surprised, you should know that I never tried to hide this from anyone except Bam. If you go back and read, the truth was there in plain sight. Not one person picked up on it! I'd love to hear your reaction in the comments!
XOX -PC