“Like a fever dream, hm?”
She nodded.
“It means your brain works just fine, and that you’re alert even in your sleep. I have dreams like those too, you know? They’re normal. At least out here they are. Don’t be scared, okay?”
I smiled at her and moved my hand to her neck, cupping it and then leaning in to kiss her forehead.
“The wilderness does things to a human we can’t explain at times, but now you know that you’re not alone having such vivid dreams. It’s normal.”
She kept her eyes on me for a moment before her lips curled up into a smile. “We’re normal,” she stated.
“Exactly. And all these other people fooled by society aren’t.”
*
“What do you need my quad for?” Jason asked as we stood in front of his front door.
“Papa wants to cut down some trees to build a cabin for himself. We need it to pull the wood to camp,” I explained.
“Need my chainsaw too?” he asked, already knowing it was necessary for us unless we wanted to spend hours cutting a tree down with a handsaw.
“Yes, sir.”
He moved his eyes from me to Vespyr who was playing with Sitka.
“She doing okay up there?” he asked, walking down the steps to head over to his shed.
“Vespyr? Yeah. She’s just fine. It’s where she’s supposed to be,” I told him.
“Didn’t think she’d spend more than a week with you. Can’t imagine how your mother feels about her family living out there.”
“Mama’s okay with it. She’s got her own life,” I explained, not that it was any of his business anyway.
“My offer still stands. If she ever wants to go back home, I’d be happy to drive her.”
I gave him a nod, knowing Vespyr didn’t want to leave our home in the forest. But we would need a ride if we wanted to surprise Mama in Fairbanks.
“We could all use a ride to spend Christmas with Mama. We have yet to ask her, but we’d like to spend Christmas with her this year.”
“Your father too?” he asked, obviously surprised by this.
“Yeah, guess so.”
“Well, you can use my phone if you wanna go ask her,” he suggested.
“Ask who?” Vespyr walked over to us with Sitka jumping up and down behind her, wanting her to throw the tennis ball.
“Ask Mama if she’s okay with us going to visit her for Christmas. Wanna go call?”
Her eyes widened with excitement. “Yes! Oh, she’d be so happy to have us over for the holidays.”
“She sure will. Go call. Use Jason’s landline.”
She quickly nodded and turned to pet Sitka on the head before they both headed inside.
“You should go say hi to your mother too. It’s been a while, I believe.”
Not sure why he would care how long it’s been since I’ve last heard my Mama’s voice, but he was right.
“Go talk to her and I’ll get the chainsaw and quad ready for you.”
I nodded, pushing my hands deep into my pants’ pockets before heading inside Jason’s cabin where Vespyr was already dialing Mama’s number.
“She’s going to be so happy to hear from you, Fennec,” Vespyr said with a bright smile.
I sat down on the armrest of the couch with my arms crossed over my chest now while she excitedly stood there with the phone pressed against her ear.
“Mama? It’s Vespyr! How are you?” she asked.
Although I had always been the one closer to Mama, they had their own special bond.
Not something I could say about Papa and me.
“No, everything’s perfect. Don’t worry. Fennec and I walked down to Jason’s because we needed a few things.”
I watched her as she spoke, and with every smile or frown, I couldn’t help but feel this familiar feeling inside of me grow.
Vespyr was one of a kind, and although she didn’t look like all those girls in high school, she stood out in my eyes.
Her eyes moved to mine, and with a sweet smile, she stepped closer to me. “He’s right here. I’ll let you talk to him.”
She held the phone to me, but it took me a while to grab it.
“It’s Mama,” Ves said as if I didn’t know already.
I let out a heavy sigh and took the phone into my hand before holding it up to my ear.
“Hey, Mama.”
“Fennec, darling. It’s so good to hear your voice again,” she announced, sounding as if the heaviest weight lifted off her shoulders. “How are things going?”
“Things are great. Papa wants to build his own cabin, that’s why we came down to Jason’s. To get a few things we need,” I explained.
“Has he had enough of sleeping in that tent?”
“Seems like it,” I said with a chuckle, keeping my eyes on Vespyr.
I reached for her hands which were clasped together, nervously moving while she continued to stare at me.
“Listen, Mama. Vespyr had this idea of us coming home for the holidays. Papa first wanted you to come up here, but I know you wouldn’t want that. So how about we come visit you in December?” I suggested.
It would make her and Ves happy, that much I knew.
“That’s surprising,” she replied, keeping quiet for a moment while I slid my fingers through Vespyr’s.
I smiled up at her and received one back immediately, but when she continued to look at me with those eyes filled with emotions, her face changed.
“What is she saying?” she whispered.
“Nothing,” I mouthed, still waiting on Mama to talk.
“I’d love to have you home for Christmas. Let me know when you’ll be heading to town and I’ll have the rooms ready for you guys. How’s Vespyr holding up?”
“Ves is fine. Helps a lot around camp and she already shot a squirrel. She’s putting dinner on our table,” I said proudly, making Vespyr’s smile return.
“Sounds wonderful. Pass her the phone before you hang up, okay?”
“Will do. Is there anything else you wanna tell me, Mama?”
“Stay safe. And tell your father to not work too hard. Building a cabin takes time and strength.”
She didn’t have to tell me that because I knew damn well how hard it was to survive out here.
But Mama was still in love with him, and he felt the same about her.
“I’ll let him know you said that. Take care. I love you.”
I heard her response to me as I was already passing the phone back to Ves.
“Mama?” she asked. “Are we gonna spend Christmas at your house? Oh, I can’t wait! I’ll tell Papa when we get back! Okay, see you soon. I love you.”
She hung up and placed the phone back on the table before she turned to put her arms around my shoulders, letting go of my hand.
“I can’t wait for Christmas to come,” she squealed, pressing her body tightly against mine.
She was standing between my legs, her hips pressed against my belly while I buried my face into the crook of her neck.
“I’m excited too,” I told her, rubbing her back and then placing my left hand on the backside of her thigh, right underneath her ass.
She eased into me as her excitement turned into something different.