Boundaries

Susie Lynn: early worm

Susie Lynn

Even though we had breakfast later with Dad being home, I still woke up at five. Instead of going back to sleep, I would bounce out of bed and get dressed before creeping downstairs where Tish was sleeping with Connor.
She wasn't a morning person, at least, not like I had become, but Connor would shake Tish out of bed with minimal grumbling. This morning was particularly frosty; even I had grabbed a coat.

"You could always train her without me," she yawned at Connor.

He shook his head. "You do such a good job. Why would I get in the way of that?"

Tish pulled out a sweater and then dragged Conor out of bed, throwing a hat at him. He still didn't get cold like we did, but Tish didn't like him wandering outside without something warm. She said looking at him made her colder.

We slipped out of the house and down to the shop. I bounced up and down, trying to wake up my arms and legs before Conor helped me into my gloves. Tish cracked her neck and yawned again. No one said anything about Tish's scars on her face, but they didn't seem to be healing. I mentioned it to Conor once, but he shrugged, not wanting to make it a big deal. There wasn't anything we could do, at least, according to him.

"I can't believe, now unemployed, I wake up earlier than I have ever done in my life," Tish grumbled. "Why can't we do this in the afternoon?"

"Because then everyone is watching, and it's uncomfortable," I told her. "This way Dad doesn't feel bad about it."

I found that being honest with Tish and Connor was the best policy. Connor didn't really understand lying and Tish hated it, so I didn't have to pretend that everything was okay with them. I knew that it really wasn't.

Tish laced Conor up in gloves and instructed me as I swung at Conor. He blocked it easily. Tish said I was building up my stamina, but I didn't feel any stronger than I had been before.

This was my new favorite part of the day. Mom and Dad weren't up yet, the pack wasn't around, and I got to spend time with Connor and Tish. They had come back different from the hunters, but it had been a good different. They were dating, but it was different than Aidan and Grant or any of the others. They could be apart with getting grouchy, and they made fun of each other more than anything else. They also hadn't been here for the manic construction and overall overhaul of the farm. I was glad that Dad could get around, but I wished that my mom hadn't lost so much weight.

"You daydreaming over there?" Tish laughed when Connor tapped my face. "You don't get to be tired; you woke us up."

The nice part of waking up and training earlier was that I could shower and get to breakfast on time. Conor and Tish headed back downstairs while I scrubbed down and changed into more suitable clothes for the negative degrees it was outside. I braided my wet hair, hoping it would dry before I went back outside for chores.

"How was training?" Mom asked when I came into the kitchen.

"Good," I said. "I don't feel like I'm getting better though; Conor is so fast."

"He's faster than everyone but Tish and Grant; he's not a good comparison," Mom remarked, and pulled out the carton of eggs. "Tea or cocoa?"

"Tea, please," I said.

Mom set me to cooking tortillas while she scrambled the eggs with the sausage. Conor came in and pulled out plates and utensils to set the table. Soon, the whole pack was shuffling around the kitchen getting coffee and helping cut onions, salsa and cheese.

Dad took longer to get dressed nowadays, and I had heard his and Mom's fights about him not wanting help. So he rolled in just as we were all sitting down and no one said anything about it.