Surviving for each other

Chapter 11: A Little Family

You woke up to a little touch on your leg. You jolted up and onto your feet seeing a scared Sherry. Leon quickly stood equipping his knife not sure what happened. "Oh my god Sherry I am so sorry. It's just instinct now." You look down to her with a pleading expression to be forgiven. Leon puts his knife away instantly realising the situation. Sherry relaxes and stands up to sit on the couch. You and Leon sit next to each other as she sits next to you. "It's ok guys I should have realized things are a bit different now." She scoots over to you as you wrap your arm around her. "Sherry I am going to do everything in my power to give you a normal life. All of us a normal life.....I promise." Leon leans into your side as you hold Sherry, you all just sitting in comfortable silence. Leon slightly falls asleep leaning up against you. Sherry giggles making you look at her a bit confused. "I think he's sleeping." You look over your shoulder to see Leon passed out on your shoulder. You give a goofy little smile  and whisper "I think so too. Sherry what time is it?" Sherry gets off the couch to look at the clock in the kitchen. "It's 11:12." Your eyes widened a bit at the time but you did have a long night. You decided to let Leon sleep but you needed to get up. Sherry came back to sit next to you, folding her legs criss cross she sat on the end of the couch. You whisper "Sherry what should I do? I gotta get up and it doesn't look like he's moving." She looks at you "It's cuz you're so soft (Y/N)!" She leans over on you. Now being sandwiched between the two you started to think of how lucky you were to have the two. A few happy tears fell from your eyes as Sherry noticed. "(Y/N) what's wrong, why are you crying?" You look at her and put an arm around her hugging her a bit. "Nothings wrong Sherry, that's why I am crying. I am so happy to have the both of you. This is a dream come true." Sherry snuggles into your side more as you give her a little squeeze. "I am happy to be here too (Y/N)." You give her a big smile "Well it is 11 how about some brunch you hungry?" She perks up at the mention of food. You go to get up but realise Leon is still sleeping peacefully against you. You slowly lower him off your shoulder lying him down onto a big soft pillow. Closing the curtains you decided to let him sleep, at least until brunch was ready. You give him one last little look, You couldn't believe he fell for you. Sherry noticed you lingering "You really like him huh..... Well he really likes you so it's a match!" You laughed a bit just thinking of all the people he would like you. Leaving the living room you wandered into the kitchen thinking about what you could make. "How about eggs and toast with some fruit?" You asked Sherry and she nodded excitedly. "Come on outside we got to get the ingredients!" Pulling on your gardening boots, you saw Sherry putting on small white flats. "No No girl you think you can go out with those shoes on hold on." Sherry looked at you confused as you left for the basement. Coming up you carried a pair of rubber boots and a pair of tennis shoes just her size."New shoes! Wow thank you (Y/N)!" You handed her the small yellow boots with a little smile. Pulling them on they fit her perfectly. You grabbed a small cassette player with a strap and headed out. Sliding the glass door open quietly to not wake Leon. You stepped onto the porch with Sherry on your heels. Sherry darted past you into the large backyard taking in the sun. That was before she noticed the empty chicken coop. "What's this?" She asked a bit confused at the empty pen. The average sized shed was closed and locked surrounded by a chicken wire fence in the area. The shed stood tall with one large door and a small door with a ramp. "I built this and it's got a little surprise inside. Come here." You opened the fence letting Sherry in closing it behind the both of you. You tied the radio to the chain link fence as you did every morning pressing play. "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows play. "They like the music. Come here Sherry. Lift this latch and open the door." Sherry crouched down to the door unlocking the small silver lock and opened the door. One by one chickens of all kinds filed out of the small door much to Sherry's surprise. She backed up a bit to let the little creatures roam around. "Wow Wow I have never seen a live chicken before! We lived in the city and there weren't many animals around. Look at them there are so many!" She was so excited. All the chickens filed out quickly one by one with a large rooster at the end of the line. "How about you let them out of the pen hmmm." She looked to the door then the big backyard. "Are you sure that's a good idea they could run away?" You usher her to open the door. "This is their first time being out so I trust you to be their shepherd. Plus I just finished the fence around the entire backyard! Just keep an eye on them Sherry." She excitedly opens the tall gate letting the chickens out as they cluck and peck the fresh soil. "Come over here Sherry." She rushes over to the side of the shed while you grab a small basket hanging from the wall. Entering the coop you make your way to the nest boxes. "These are called nesting boxes; this is where the chickens lay their eggs." You reach in and pull out two eggs placing them in the basket. "Sherry I am going to teach you how to take care of these chickens. This is going to be your responsibility do you think you can handle it." You squat down to her height. She looks at you with a determined look. "Of course I will take good care of the chickens I promise." Standing up quickly "Good here's what you do. Let the chickens out through their little door. Then let them out in the yard. They can usually find food on their own but I like to give them a little somethin." You lift the lid on a large bin in the corner of the coop, the hinges squeaking as you do. In the bin sat a large sack of stale cereal and old corn. Taking out the scoop you fill it with the feed and head outside. "You take one scoop of the mix and sprinkle it around in the grass to give them some scratch." You hand her the scoop as the chickens crowd around her. She giggles as they cluck around her for the food as she sprinkles it around. When she's done you lead her back into the coop. "The next thing you do is check each egg to see if there is a chick inside. If you collect them every morning you won't have a chick but if you leave them sometimes they will." Picking up the small flashlight that sat on top of the nesting boxes you grab an egg. "Here look if you hold the flashlight to the egg you can tell if the chick is there." The egg lit up red meaning there was no chick inside. "See Sherry if the egg lights up clear there's no chick but if it's dark there's a chick. If you find a chick you have to put it right back where it was O.K." She looks down to the eggs "Got it!" You stand up taking the remaining eggs in the basket but leaving the basket for Sherry. "Alright girl it's all you out here I'll call you in when brunch is ready. All you have left to do is check the rest of the eggs and bring them in." Sherry grabs another egg checking it like you showed her. "Got it this is easy." You walked through the yard dodging the exploring chickens and making your way to the porch. You never felt better on a Monday morning then you did right then. Walking through the sliding door it's been an hour making it more like lunch. Realising it was noon you decided Leon slept long enough. You opened all the curtains lighting up the house with the warm sunshine. You made your way over to the kitchen turning up your radio and opening the kitchen window. Out the window you could see Sherry playing with the chickens. "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone played clear through the house out the window. "Sherry! Did you finish getting the eggs?" She runs back into the coop and you giggle at the caught little girl. Putting on your apron you pulled out a pan and some butter and eggs turning on the stove. Sadly you didn't have milk you have yet to find a cow. You whisk up the eggs as you move your hips to the beat. Preheating the oven you drop the bread into the eggs then pan with a sizzle. Making french toast was easy and everyone could use a little sweet after a long night. Leon started to wake up unknown to you. He groggily moved around on the couch until he decided to get up. He stood from the couch, eyes still half closed, to see you in the kitchen cooking what he presumed as breakfast. The sweat smell radiated from the oven as he made his way to the kitchen. You turned around cooking on the stove faced away from where Leon was. He took a seat at the island just admiring you cooking. You started to sing along to the song a bit as you swayed your hips while flipping a peice. "You know it's rude to stair Mr. Kennedy." You said still turned toward the stove. "(Y/N) how did you get to be so good with kids and such a good cook." You plated the last two of eight pieces of french toast and placed them on the island. Turning around to pull out the powdered sugar from the cabinet you began to explain. "When I was little my parents seperated. I was the only one around to take care of my sisters. I started taking care of them when I was 10. I cooked, cleaned, took care of them all by myself. I taught myself to cook so I could feed them dinner. When this all started I was staying with my dad and grandpa and my two sisters. I was on break from my second year in college and came home to visit. I did everything I could for them from the day I was put in that position. I'm  just glad I get to do it again." You were still so young only 21 and yet it seemed to him you knew everything. You always had a little answer or advice to give. "Bring It On Home To Me" by Sam Cooke was the next on queue on your tape. Leon stood up "We never got to finish last night." He takes you by the waist much to your surprise. You two start swaying to the music in the kitchen. He spun you around making you laugh as he held you close. The flower and mess on your smock transfer to his shirt as you laugh a bit more. He didn't care one bit as long as he was close to you. "Bring your sweet lovin... bring it on home to me." He sang, making the butterflies flutter in you. He swung you two around as you reached for the pan placing it in the sink as you danced. "Leon I got to have this ready for when Sherry comes in." There was a wide grin on both of your faces. "You're so beautiful (Y/N) I don't know how to describe it." You lean on his shoulder as he holds you tight. He started to kiss your neck making you laugh. "Leon! Leon! I got to take them out of the oven." You laugh through the kisses and grabs. You tried to break free but he just hugged you tighter and kissed you more. You finally broke free and opened the oven. The sweet smell of homemade cinnamon rolls flew through the house. You place them on the stove and wait for them to cool. "See you are amazing (Y/N). You can make something out of nothing." You give him a look as his arms snake around your waist. "Well I don't need anything sweet I got you." You two kiss deeply as the song ends and Sherry walks in.