Devoted To You

ten

"Rhinestone Cowboy" -Glen Campbell

      The two had left her to sleep soundly in her room. 

      Tedy was already by her side and wasn't planning on leaving her any time soon. Bo had left the room first, giving Adam the chance to kiss her forehead quickly before having to meet up with him in the living room. 

     Bo sat on the couch, watching the credits roll on the small television with a sigh. Upset that he missed the rest of the movie as if he hadn't already seen it a hand full of times before. Adam sat back in the seat he was in before, picking at his nail buds while he thought about what to say.

     "Is her bein' so sick the reason you do what you do?"

     Bo stood to turn off the television, having a short minute to think before moving to the fire to poke at it, "My dad's old bedroom is filled with the medical supplies I need in order for her to survive, to be as healthy as she can be.

     "Dude, those inhalers? Eighty dollars a pop! Talk about a fuckin' scam..."

     Adam watched as he left the fire alone once its flames grew higher, moving to the kitchen. Adam followed as Bo grabbed himself a bowl of the soup Wendy made. 

     "What happened to your father?" Adam asked as he leaned his hip against the counter.

     Bo searched for a spoon, "Long story."

     Adam crossed his arms, shrugging in the process, "We have time," he pointed his thumb toward the small kitchen window, the one above the sink. Both looked toward the night sky and the blizzard that raged on. 

     As the wind whistled, thumping against the house, Bo thought to himself about how much he should give away. He sipped at the soup, finding it to just be chicken broth with nothing else. Bo thought of how he was to die soon anyway, it didn't hurt for someone to know his story. 

     "Growing up, I had a quiet and semi-absent father and a very involved mother. I would use the word 'smothering' but I don't find it to be very nice," Bo set the soup down. 

     "I was fourteen when both my mother and I found out that my dad had a secret daughter, Wendelin. My father was our pack's mechanic and after a while, when he was gone for a week out of every month, my mother began to grow suspicious because the man wasn't all that special. 

     "Long story short, my ditsy blond of a mother, rest her soul, found out that he had found his mate, kept her hidden, and then had a daughter who he also kept hidden. After finding out, I went off the bender as teenagers do, taking out their issues with drugs and anger but my mother was an alcoholic, drunk herself to death by grief."

     "Your parents weren't mates?"

    Bo shook his head, "They were both in their late thirties, mateless, and thought why the hell not, then had me. But, after my mother's death and due to my extreme hatred toward my father, I got in a bit of trouble as you probably know, but then a few years went by and I got over it and needed a place to lay low. 

     "I tracked down my dad to here, to this dinky ass cabin and the first thing I saw was a little girl on the front porch playing tug a war with a huge ass mutt. The old man didn't question me, he opened his arms to me, introduced me to Wendy, and taught me how to care for her."

     It was silent for a while as Bo calmed himself and Adam tried to reel everything in. Bo returned to his bowl of steaming soup until it was empty. PLacing his dish in the sink, he began again.