Witness Protection Program (Tom Hiddleston)

Chapter 10: The Suspicion of Mat (Plus some stuff about Kate)

The fixing of the fence happened without incident, for which Tom was glad. With Chad to help them, it was done extremely quickly. In spite of the cold air outside, he even found himself sweating a bit. They hadn’t taken the horses back to the site; instead, Chad’s truck had come in handy. It was an old, rusty Chevy with what had once been a blue paint job. It only sat two people, so Tom had volunteered to sit outside in the bed while Mike and Chad took the cab. He figured it was probably best that he didn’t get too close to Chad, what with the redneck’s apparent hatred to him.

It was cold, but it gave him time to think. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. It was deep inside his jacket and it was hard to get it out with his gloves on. He took one of the fingers in his mouth and pulled it off his hand. It was a text from Rita.

Rita: Will u feed Whedon? I 4got 2 feed her @ lunch.

Tom: Sure.

Rita: The bottle is in the sink in the feed room. The milk bag is with the other feed.

Tom: Got it

Rita: Thanks :D

Tom: :)

He put the phone away and slid the glove back on his shivering hand. It got cold in England sometimes, but this cold was completely different. It was somehow more bitter and biting. In England, a good coat could take care of the cold, but not here. Here, it took layers. He had a feeling it had something to do with humidity, even though he knew this part of Texas was on the coast. There was no word to describe this frigidity. It was just different.

As the truck pulled into the drive of the hand house, Tom prepared to exit, and then headed straight for the barn. Whedon was lying in her stall asleep when Tom approached. He was struck again by the beauty she possessed. She looked like a little, Neapolitan ice cream sandwich. Her nose was pink like a strawberry, her head was creamy white vanilla, and her body was dark, black chocolate. Her eyelashes were so long they brushed her bottom lid as she slept and fluttered slightly with whatever dreams she had. The moment was so pristine that Tom hated to break it, but she needed milk. He walked down to the feed room and found the bottle in the sink just as Rita had said it would be.

He mixed the bottle with warm water from the tap and shook it with the powder for the calf. Before heading out, he grabbed an old blanket from the wall, almost as an afterthought. It was cold in the barn, and the calf was only a day old. Once back at the stall, he shook her gently awake. Whedon blinked her huge eyelashes and made a loud bawling sound once she saw what was in Tom’s hands. He sat down and held out the bottle.

She took it easily, making small slurping noises and little grunts of contentment as she sucked. Tom rubbed her little, white head and her ebony neck, smiling in contentment. All of his previous stressors, including Angelina’s treachery, melted away as he stared at Whedon. She was a little miracle; there was no doubt about it. Tom had literally given the shirt off his back for her.

She broke away from the nipple for a minute and took a few steps toward Tom, nuzzling him with her tiny head. He let out a rich, bubbly laugh and ruffled her forehead before offering her the bottle again. She finished it and then made a tiny grunting noise that sounded like a burp. Once Tom set the bottle beside him on the hay, she lay down next to him with her head in his lap and allowed him to stroke her until she fell asleep. Slowly, Tom picked up her head and placed it gently next to her side so that he could get up. He picked up the blanket he’d brought from the barn and draped it over her tiny form. He was so absorbed in the calf that he didn’t hear Mat leading his horse into the barn.