CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Four weeks later. Four bloody long it-wasn’t-like-this-before-him weeks later.
The thing was so bloody big, the only place it could truly go without burning the house down was outside. “Jesus,” Ernie said. “You startin’ a Domino’s franchise or something?”
I stood back and looked at the pizza oven. “I didn’t realise it was gonna be this big.”
“Didn’t you read the specifications before you bought it?” he asked.
“Of course I didn’t.”
Ma laughed. “Well, they’ll be back soon, so you might wanna get it fired up.”
Travis had gone with Bacon, Trudy, George and Billy up to the northern paddocks. He’d been gone five days. We had agreed that time apart, as much as it sucked, was critical. Travis had reasoned that working, living, and playin’ together, day in and day out, without any kind of time apart wasn’t conducive to staying together.
And he was right.
So a few days campin’ out, whether it was fixin’ fences or herdin’ pregnant cows into a separate paddock like they’d been doin’ this week, whether it was him or me that went, would do us good.
It also gave me time to do some secret stuff, like buyin’ and settin’ up a pizza oven. He said he wished he had one, so it seemed the logical thing to do.
I just didn’t realise it was so big.
It kinda looked like a stone igloo with a chimney, and truth be told, I should’ve realised it wasn’t exactly small when it took a truck to get it here and forklift to get it moved into place.
But he was gonna love it.
Well. He fucking better.
“Load her up with wood,” I said. “Let’s see how she cooks.”
It had been an interesting four weeks. I’d given everyone a week off. They were supposed to have time off when Travis and I went into the Alice, but the stubborn folks they were decided to stick around and show him some brotherly support.
And then when they got back, Travis and I went into Alice Springs. It was his idea, and in fact, I tried to talk him out of it. But he said it was time.
We took Matilda to the Kangaroo Rescue Centre.
Travis held her in her pouch the whole way into town. He carried her like a baby, like he always did, and for about a hundred kilometres I asked him if he was sure. He told me to shut up, I was just making it worse. “She needs to go,” he said quietly. “I’ve done all I can, and she should have a new home before she gets any bigger.”
The truth was he couldn’t release her. If she did manage to find another mob of kangaroos, they’d likely kill her for smellin’ like a human. She certainly wouldn’t survive on her own, and he knew she certainly couldn’t stay at home.
“You saved her life,” I told him.
He’d nodded and gone back to bein’ quiet. The guy at the centre had devoted his whole life to savin’ these baby critters, and he told Travis he’d done a real good job with Matilda.
It was a heartbreaking kind of horrible watching him say goodbye.
But even as he fought tears, he knew it was the right thing to do. She’d have a long, safe life in her new home, and he said as sad as it was, he was happy to leave her there.
That was two weeks ago.
The last five days had dragged their sorry selves forward, and I missed him like crazy. I kept busy enough. I finished my assessment, I even submitted it. I did some PR work with Greg on getting elected to the Board of the Territory Farmers Association next month, and Ma took it upon herself to yell at me if I got sulking without him.
It was just goin’ on late afternoon when we heard the utes and bikes come into the yards. The pizza oven was raring to go. Ma was trying some practice strips of bread, wanting to leave the first pizza honours to Travis.
I guessed they saw the smoke from the oven, because George and Billy came around the back first, looking to see what was happening. When Bacon and Trudy came around next without him, I asked, “Where’s Travis?”
“Oh, he’s coming,” Bacon said like he knew something I didn’t.
Before I could ask what that meant, Travis came through the back door of the house instead of walking around the side like the others. He stopped dead, his mouth open, his eyes wide.
He was holding something.
Something in a bundle.
Something in a wrapped-up sweater.
He was staring at the pizza oven, I was staring at him. We both spoke at the same time. “What the hell is that?”
“You bought a pizza oven?” he cried, walking down the back steps.
I ignored his question. “Is that another kangaroo?”
He ignored mine. “Seriously? That thing is huge! I don’t even wanna know how much it cost,” he mumbled to himself. “Jesus, Charlie. Did you buy that for me?”
“Travis,” I said as calmly as I could. Everyone was watching us. “Are you holding another baby kangaroo?”
He looked down at the bundle of sweater and shook his head. “No,” he said simply. Then he started to smile and walked over to me. He gently peeled back the sweater and a big flat brown nose and two tiny little eyes peeked back at me.
It was a baby wombat.
Jesus.
Fucking.
Christ.
“Oh, Travis,” I said. “No, no, no. Do you know what damage they cause?” I asked. “They dig holes. Big holes. The kind of holes that wreck the foundations of houses. And they bite.”
“But his momma was dead,” Trav said, all blue eyes and disarming smiles. “And he’s really cute. I named him Nugget.”
Oh, no. He’d named him already.
“Here,” he said, handing the bundled-up baby wombat over to me. “Hold him. I wanna check out this oven.”
I looked down at this Nugget. His little nose twitched, and he blinked. “Don’t look at me like that,” I told it. It. Him. Whatever.
George laughed beside me and patted my shoulder. “Yep. That’s what I thought.”
I looked up then and saw everyone smiling at me. “This isn’t funny,” I told them.
I could tell by their faces they thought it was. Ma called out from the veranda, “Come on, you lot. You can all make your own pizzas. I don’t cook outside.”
Everyone followed her in, excited about this new pizza thing. I stood there holding a bloody baby wombat. Travis walked up and kissed me. “Did you miss me?”
“I did,” I said. “Until you got home.”
He laughed and poked his finger into the sweater at the wombat. “See? He’s the cranky daddy, I’m the funny, handsome daddy.”
“Boys!” Ma yelled at us this time. “Come in and get your dinner organised. I ain’t your slave.”
Travis grinned and took the stairs two at a time while I stomped after him, still carrying the newest Sutton addition.
I walked into the kitchen, where everyone was buzzing around. Life in this house used to be quiet and boring. Now it was loud, busy and filled with talk and laughter, not to mention the occasional baby freakin’ animal. I looked at Travis as he was laughing at something Ernie said, and it made me smile. I’m pretty sure once upon a time, the noise, the lack of space and solitude would’ve driven me crazy.
Now I kind of loved it.
It was hectic and busy. It was in my face and loud.
I guessed it was a little like family.
And a whole lot of perfect.
~The End