Page 114 of Havoc's Fox
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It was still relatively early evening when Havoc waved one last time and closed the door behind everyone finally leaving his home to go back to their own. He’d had a houseful, his parents and most of his uncles and aunts, all of them wanting to see for themselves that Harley was safe and sound. Flipping off most of the interior lights in the living room area, he walked over to the sofa and tucked Harley’s favorite fuzzy blanket around her as she slept peacefully with one of her favorite movies playing on the T.V.
He did his absolute best to ignore the fact that she wore one of Analise’s teeshirts as a nightgown. He’d tried to take it off of her and put one of her actual gowns on for the night, but Harley had flat out refused. He looked down at his child, sleeping so peacefully, unaware of just how much danger she’d been in earlier today, and his heart lurched thinking of what could have happened. He reached out and tucked her gently in once more before the sound of hammers infiltrated his thoughts. Havoc left Harley sleeping and went upstairs to see if there was anything he could do to help. The sounds of hammering and the soft murmurs of familiar voices stopped as he got closer to the back bedrooms.
“You don’t have to stop talking just because I walked in here,” he said.
“When it’s about you we do,” Ronan said.
“Then stop talking about me.”
“We’re worried,” Remi said.
“I’m good. Just got the scare of my life, but it turned out okay. We’ll be alright.”
“We weren’t talking about Harley.”
“Unless you’re talking about helping me move all my stuff from Missouri, I suggest you all stop now. I’m a grown ass man and can handle my own shit.”
“Alright then, how about this. You want these to be bay windows instead of regular windows?” Brandt asked, completely changing the subject.
Remi, Ronan and Barron all turned to look at Brandt. “We just finished framing and floating the damn wall. They’re not bay windows,” Barron said.
“I just thought of it,” Brandt said defensively.
“They’re fine like they are,” Havoc said. “Just regular windows. You do know you don’t have to do all this tonight. You didn’t have to start this at all until you had everything you needed. There’s no reason for you to work into the night like this. We still have to order the windows, they won’t be here for a few days. And the other room still has the French doors in it. Just go home. We’ll get it done as we can.”
“It’s still early, besides, we didn’t want to leave you alone,” Remi admitted.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you though?” Ronan asked.
“Yes.”
All four looked at him critically.
“Jesus,” Havoc grumbled. “I’m going to get a drink. Anybody else want one?”
“Yes,” they all said, laying their tools aside.
They followed him downstairs and into the kitchen where he set five bourbon glasses on the counter top and filled them each with ice, then a splash of bourbon. “To peace,” Havoc said, drinking his down in two gulps before pouring himself another.
“To peace,” they all echoed, drinking theirs down as well.
“We’ll get the windows ordered, and the bricks for the exterior so everything will match. You’ll never know where the doors were when we’re finished,” Brandt said.
“We’ll get the doors out of the second bedroom tomorrow. It’ll be a few days before it’s all finished, but at least the doors won’t be there anymore,” Barron added.
“It’s just me and Harley. We can live around the construction for a little while.”
“You could come stay with me and Tempest if you’d prefer,” Brandt said.
“Seriously?” Havoc asked.
“Or you could just move into Hellen’s house. She’s never freaking here anyway,” Ronan said.
“Now, that’s a thought. It might be worth it just to invade her private space and piss her off,” Havoc said with a grin. “But no, I’m fine in my own house while we’re fixing the doors. It’s not like Harley’s a flight risk, she just made a poor choice. We’ll be fine here until we get it all finished.”