Author's Chapter Notes:
I know I left it a little suspense, but here's your answer...
12:23 PM
Nick went to join Howie and the kids in front of the television as the last of the dishes were put away.
As Kevin pulled out one of the counter chairs for Kristin, he glanced through the kitchen doorway and saw A.J. and Rochelle standing frozen in front of the staircase.
A.J. took a step forward and whispered something Kevin couldn’t make out. Then he suddenly leapt towards the stairs and Rochelle screamed.
A large gray squirrel scampered between the couple and right past Kevin. “Woah!!!”
A group of screams, both parents and children’s, erupted from the living room.
“Fuck! What the hell?!”
“Oh my God!”
“Back up, stay back!”
“Somebody get it out of here!”
Kevin rushed back in, with A.J. and Rochelle behind him. The kids had fled the sofa with Nick and Howie. Lauren and Leigh had quickly grabbed Odin and Sasha from the play mat and were behind the counter with Kristin and Leighanne, while Brian and climbed onto the dining room table with Baylee and Mason.
“Get a broom or something! Open the door, a window. Anything!” Howie exclaimed. Leighanne rushed to the pantry and pulled out a broom and a long handled dustpan.
“I knew I heard something,” Kristin reminded the girls. “I really hate to say ‘I told you so’, but…”
“Okay! We’re sorry, honey,” Leigh nodded frantically. “Let’s just get that thing out of here!”
Kevin took the broom and dustpan, handing the broom to A.J. “Nick, get the door,” he said pointing. The two of them started to very slowly inch around the larger couch, and spotted the squirrel sitting halfway underneath the coffee table.
“Go when I say,” A.J. hissed. “Corner him with that, and we’ll shoo him out.” Kevin nodded, gripping the handle tightly as he slunk around to the opposite end of the table.
“They’re not gonna kill it, right?” Mason asked Brian as they started to climb down from the table.
“Of course not!” Brian assured him.
Nick had slowly reached the door, not wanting to make noise to set the rodent off again. He gave A.J. a thumbs up and flung it open.
“Go!” A.J. started poking at the squirrel with the broom’s bristles, then nudged it towards where Kevin was with the dustpan. The children screeched and scattered to the kitchen side of the room.
“Out! Shove him out!”
Kevin swooped in and smacked the furry creature along its side, sending it flying out into the snow. Nick slammed the door shut and everyone cheered.
“Yeah, that’s how you do it!” A.J. hollered.
“That…was…awesome!” Mason exclaimed, he and Max running to the window to try and spot their former intruder.
James and Holden were jumping up and down. “Bring him back! Do it again!” “I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” Leigh calmed her sons.
While everyone settled down and had a laugh about the entire fiasco, Rochelle found the cabin’s vacuum and went around where the squirrel had been. After that, they finished the spots off with Lysol spray, which drove them away because of the overloading scent of the enormous amount of the antibacterial fumes.
Soon they all went back outside for more fun in the snow, making sure this time that the porch door was shut!
4:07 P.M.
Witnessing the sunset nestled in those snowy mountains was a truly awesome sight for the guys and their families that evening. All together they stood out on the deck and watched as the skyline became a deep magenta with orange as the sun dipped out of sight.
There were plenty of leftovers from the big lunch buffet to go around for dinner that night. Afterwards, they put together a tournament of board games to go through until it was time for the younger kids to get ready for bed.
9:00 P.M.
As the rest of the parents were tucking in their children, the Littrell’s sat together in the living room for evening prayers before Baylee would retreat upstairs himself in an hour. In a few minutes A.J. and Rochelle and Kevin and Kristin were back with Nick and Lauren, while Howie and Leigh had snuck back to their room for a head start on some personal down time.
“This is turning out to be one hell of a trip for just one full day,” Nick sighed, sinking into one of the couches with his wife after getting a new fire started in the fireplace.
“Let’s just hope anything else thrown at us this week will be enough to handle,” Brian said chuckling.
“I think a squirrel in the house was enough!” A.J. nodded, putting his arm over Rochelle and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Anything worse and we wouldn’t have been able to sneak off at all…”
“Uh, TMI, dude.” Baylee mumbled, rolling his eyes.
