Breaking the Moon

16: Kitten-Sitting

.^^ Turk dresses as Ryan^^

— Haven —

I rubbed soothing circles into Sam's shoulders, calming him from when he'd shifted at the breakfast table, and I hadn't seen it, despite his proximity to me.

He curled up in my lap, still shivering, and I glowered at papa, who simply turned his nose away, declaring his lack of care. He'd said his piece, and wasn't going to apologize.

Smokey hummed, but decided to stay out of it, and finished her salad. "Well, despite the serious talks, this was very delicious. So let's get packing! Where are your boxes?"

He chuckled, and shook his head. "We won't be needing those. The house itself is coming with us."

I tossed him my magical Vault, putting more arm into it than was necessary, and he grunted in pain as it slammed his diaphragm.

He cleared his throat slowly. "Yes... Ow. Well, the entire pocket is going into the Vault, and then it's going to leave the Vault, exactly as it was."

"Then... your preparations?" She asked.

"I had to disconnect the outside phone and water lines. I'll reconnect to whatever lake you all use for running water and sewage." He nodded.

"The river for sewage-, well, actually, not there either, that's the new lake... I wonder where the pipes are going, now?" Ryan hummed.

"The badgers will figure it out." Smokey shrugged.

"We have badgers?" I grinned.

"Yes. You've never seen the Mines, which I suppose is why you didn't know. All of our metal comes from them." Ryan nodded.

"Well then... let's get going!" I grinned and collected the empty plates, setting them in the sink.

We all piled into my truck, with Smokey and Papa taking the Bed, (because I'm a smartass,) and drove out to the road. When we reached it, the entire forest behind us disappeared, revealing only an empty crater made of clay dirt.

He passed the bag to me, and I settled it in its natural place, then started driving towards the Willamette.

—

Papa was always good at keeping children occupied, during road trips. He had a specific ability to capture your entire attention, and then use that to keep you interested in the game, even if it was a boring game, like 'I-Spy' or '99 Bottles of Roadsigns'.

Needless to say, Jack and Kate were perfectly happy playing with him while I drove down the interstate at speed that weren't anything close to legal.

—

I slowed and parked in front of Oliver's shop. "Hey Olly! I'm back! You miss me?"

He sighed, in his workshop. "I had a few days of peace and quiet. I miss it already..."

"Oh please you're old, you live for excitement." I shrugged.

He came out, laughing. "True. Who's this?"

"My Papa, Heinrich Weisenstier. He's a Bull Shifter." I nodded at the larger man as he exited the bed of the truck carefully.

"Well then! Welcome, my name is Oliver, I'm the Elder of this here Community!" He grinned, shaking papa's hand heartily.

"And it's mechanic, I see?" He responded, wiping the oil off onto his black shirt casually.

"Correct! There's a bit of a shortage in mature adults, right now, so I'm happy to have you." Olly laughed.