Page 80 of Cougar

Ash gives me a sarcastic sneer, and fuck. What is going on with her today? “Well, that will make anyone your best friend. Okay, you get a pass this time. But I will fight you if you step on my turf again.” Ashlynn gives me, what I hope is a fake glare, but I’m honestly not sure.

“Jesus, Ashlynn,” Bri says. “Willie, calm your lady down.”

We all turn our attention to Willie who freezes with a meatball halfway to his mouth. “Well?” Bri asks and his response is to put the meatball in his mouth and walk away. I hear Bri scoff and see her throw her hands up from the corner of my eye. Bri doesn’t seem too worried and when I glance back at Ashlynn, her smile is genuine, and I realize she’s been fucking with me the whole time.

Ha-ha. Bring it on.

“Well, I know I can’t match your crazy, but I do know my way around a car. Crazy may be fun, but I’m useful. What would you rather have in a best friend?” I sass her right back.

“Ma’am who’s to say crazy isn’t useful? I have been known to set a few fires and take out a few psychos when my words and attitude align. Crazy is a versatile skill. Your skills, while useful, are singular. Crazy is a multifaceted skill.” Ashlynn smirks at me, cocking her head to the side.

“Ladies,” Bri starts, stepping between us, holding up a hand in front of each of us. “There is plenty of me to go around,” she laughs.

“What about me?” Audrina calls out as she makes her way over to us, “I need a best friend.”

“There you go new girl. You guys will have littles close to the same age. Well two-ish years apart, but whatever. Bond over that!” Ashlynn shoves me to Audrina and pulls Bri close to her.

I can’t help the laugh that escapes me. Not because of the territory claim, but because of the gremlin voice Ashlynn used when she said “Bond over that.” They all look at me like I’m crazy for a moment but then they all bust out laughing as well. It honestly feels amazing to have people around me smiling about the most ridiculous thing.

I want to keep the fight going, but before I can say anything, Elvira and Mom are trying to get my attention. I excuse myself from the women, who are still being sassy to each other, and make my way over to them.

“Time to open presents and say thank you.” Mama tells me, guiding me to the big recliner.

“Oh, okay. John!” I call to him and he makes his way over to me quickly.

“Yes, Birdie?” His smile is gorgeous, and I have no control over the one I give him in return.

“Mom wants to open gifts, but I was thinking…. Do you want to do the thing before we get to this part?” I ask, motioning towards the table of gifts.

“You sure? I mean, we can end the day with our thing just as easy.” John’s eyes cut to my mom who is watching us with suspicion.

I nod and he smiles. What we have planned, it feels right to do it now. After my talk with Ken, I did see the happiness in the room, but it doesn’t change the fact this is something that needs to happen. And yes, I know this day is about John and our son, but sometimes, you gotta break a couple rules.

“Excuse me everyone!” I call out, trying to get the attention of the rowdy men in the back.

“Hey!” I hear Audrina’s normally subdued voice call out, shocking more than a few people. I don’t miss the look of lust her husband shows in response. “Shut up while my bestie talks.” I can’t help the snort of laughter that comes out when she mouths “I got you” to me.

“Okay, thank you Audrina,” I say to her over the stunned silence. “Thank you everyone for all of this,” I motion around the room, “For taking time to show Cougar, our baby and I how much you love and appreciate us.” I take a deep breath trying to calm the surge of emotions bubbling under the surface. “I know we have had a hard time recently. It took me some time, but I’ve realized that we have to keep pushing forward and celebrate the things we have. Well, Cougar and I want to do that. The plan was to wait, but after a very enlightening conversation earlier,” I glance at Ken, “I decided I didn’t want this to be all about me. Cougar and I want to share this day with someone special.

“We’ve all lost someone we can’t replace, but this goes a little farther than that. While I don’t think this will replace what was lost, I do think it will help bring joy to everyone. One person in particular. Just a little something to help ease the ache.” Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy, which makes me panic, so I turn to the main door and start to leave.

“Follow us, is what she meant to add.” John finishes my thought for me.

The round of laughter that follows me out the door makes me smile. I hear their footsteps behind me as we make our way to the pig pen. John and I spoke one night about how sad my dad has been and I wanted to do something, anything, to make him smile again. Once again, I told the story about getting him a pig when my brother died and we decided to go that route. Except this time, the pig is from John and me. Matilda Jr was picked up shortly after and keeping her a secret has been hard as hell, but we did it.

What I wasn’t expecting to see is the seven other piglets in the pen with Matilda Jr.

My eyes cut to John, and he looks just as shocked as I do at this moment. Turning around, I look at all of his brothers, wondering who stole my thunder. But the handful of sheepish looks tell me it was a few of them, not just one.

I look at Ken and the man looks guilty as hell. We had to tell him our plan so he could help us prepare the pen. We had to clean it out and replace a lot of the soil before it would be okay for new babies to live in. He and John worked hard to get this finished and turns out, Ken had a bit of a surprise up his sleeve as well.

“What’s this?” My dad’s shaky voice cuts through my hormone driven glare at the property owner. When I face him, he’s slowly pushing his way up through his brothers. His eyes find the piglets and they fill to the brim with tears. I’m immediately fighting my own as I tell him what’s going on.

“Well, John and I wanted to get you something to help bring back the smile to your face. But it seems your brothers had the same plan.” I can’t help but feel emotions claw at my throat. I’m so ready for these hormones to go away!

“You mean…” Dad looks from us with wonderment in his eyes to his brothers, like he can’t believe we would ever do anything like this for him.

Before anyone can say anything, dad lets out a sound that can only be described as a giddy squeal. I wipe my tears away as he dives over the fence to roll around with his new batch of piggies. We all laugh as this mountain of a man rolls in the filth and plays with his new babies. He’s crying, laughing, and already very much in love.

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