When it's Not Right

Chapter 5

Cory hung up the call and looked around the living room. Rick had told him to clean up... he'd laughed about it though, so probably he'd been joking. It was hard to tell over the phone. Cory stood up and walked around the main floor, then went down to the basement and confirmed the cleanliness of the rooms he'd framed and finished down there after fixing up the main floor to how it currently looked. Everything was as tidy as normal, and Rick had been up to the house often since Cory had moved in, so the comment to clean up had probably been a joke.

        The indoor dogs followed him around, and then lay down on their pads when he settled back into his chair in the living room to resume watching the movie he'd been playing. It was another home video that Austin and Jenny had made up of the kids, this one about an hour long and hitting all the high points of John's latest birthday, and was a blast to watch. Not as good as being there like Cory had been able to for the previous birthday, but still great. Even better was that Austin put everything on disk and mailed it so Cory could watch whenever in spite of his internet connection being sketchy at best.

        It was so crazy to think that John, Jenny and Austin's oldest, was five years old and starting Kindergarten next month. And Jenny had just found out she was having a little boy this time, which would round out their house to four kids. John was excited to have a brother as an ally in the battle against his twin sisters, and the twins were doubly angry about not being the babies anymore. Cory laughed to himself once the movie ended and he'd shut off the TV. He'd have to plan to fly down and visit once Jenny stopped modeling the maternity shows and took time off for having the new baby.

        He wrestled with the dogs a bit once the new puppy got both older dogs to start playing, being careful with the puppy that Tank had carried home last week. That guy was still really little. Trench couldn't usually be bothered with the puppy, but Tank was taking good care of the new addition. Cory had found the neighbor where the puppy had come from, found out that the litter had been abandoned, and gotten permission to keep the survivor. The little guy was pretty fun to have around. Cory warmed up the late morning bottle for him and tucked it into Tank's armpit (she got mad when he fed the puppy himself) and then went outside to check on the other two dogs that didn't like being in the house.

        Penny, short for Pensive, was hanging out in her usual spot by the front steps. She watched him with more calm interest than terrified apprehension, which was an achievement that had taken the four months since she'd started coming around the yard, and he figured she'd be happy to take over the enclosed porch for the winter. He'd even been able to pat her head a couple of times over the past weeks.

        The other dog had simply moved into the yard two months ago. Cory had started feeding him on the third day when he hadn't simply gone away again, and he hadn't eaten any of the offered food until the day after the bowl had been set out for him. He was a hard case with a graying muzzle, big enough to be dangerous and too indifferent about everything to be a bother. A couple of the neighbors thought he might have belonged to one of the hermit trappers, but nobody recognized the photos on Cory's phone. After a couple weeks of the dog hanging around, Cory had set up a lean-to for him against the side of the house where the dog typically slept and put some old blankets in it. That offering had been accepted on the same day.

        "I'm going to head over and split some wood while we're waiting for Rick to get here. Do either of you want to come?" he asked the dogs in the yard as he brought the axe out of the shed. Penny laid her head back down and returned to watching. The old guy stood up and stretched, yawning wide, and then followed Cory up the small hill to the splitting stump. Cory split the bucked logs for an hour, the old dog just hanging out and chasing mice over by the stacked pieces that were already cut, and then they went back down to the house so Cory could wash up ahead of Rick arriving. The old dog went over to his lean to and groaned as he lay down on his blankets, grumbling once he was settled. Cory chuckled at the sound effects and gave Penny a careful pat, noting that she was just watchful and not scared, and her tail thumped once as he was walking up the stairs to the porch.