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Joe and Nicky had invited Nile to spend the summer with them in Provence. When Nile finally made it to Joe and Nicky's house, she first saw Joe working in the kitchen garden with a big straw hat on his head.
Nile: "Is that the latest fashion from Paris?"
Joe turned his head and saw Nile. Seconds later, Joe swung Nile around while hugging her.
Joe: "Oh, and about the hat. You have to ask Paul Cézanne about that because he gave it to me as a gift."
Nile: "There is a story I would love to hear, but I'm SO hungry after living on rations for almost two years."
Joe: "Got it. Food first and then story. Come inside, dinner is soon ready."
Joe picked up Nile's backpacks and carried them inside. When they stood inside the house, Nile looked around. It was a small house with only a kitchen and a living room downstairs and two bedrooms on the first floor. Wherever Nile looked, she could find pieces of evidence of a long life lived.
Nile: "And Nicky? Have you forgotten him in Malta?"
Joe chuckled before he made a sign she should join him next to the window. When Nile looked outside of the window, she saw Nicky sitting under a big tree with a big stack of books and a tabby cat in his lap.
Nile: "Glad to see that in an ever-changing world, something stays the same."
Joe: "I have never thought of it like that before."
Joe lifted the lid on the pot, and a smell of chicken filled the kitchen. Nile never thought you could miss chicken that much.
Nile: "Can I go and say hi to Nicky?"
Joe: "Once he is done reading, which is when the chicken is done."
Nile nodded before she sat down on a chair.
Nile: "So while you are here, Nicky reads, and you are growing vegetables?"
Joe tasted the broth before adding more salt.
Joe: "It is our way of clearing our heads after a tough mission, just like you shop for clothes and shoes. That reminds me, how big is your shoe collection after 140 years on this earth?"
Nile laughed.
Nile: "Not as big as it could be."
Joe smiled before adding mushrooms to the broth.
Nile: "And the cat? What is the story with that?"
Joe: "We needed a cat to catch all the mice that sometimes sneak into the house. So, we went to a local shelter and adopted an elderly cat who needed a home for a few years. His name is Otto."
Joe looked at Otto and Nicky, who had taken the last book in his stack. Joe saw it as a sign to boil the potatoes.
Nile: "Can't wait to meet Otto and get a hug from Nicky. While I wait, I think I will take a hot shower."
Joe held out a bucket.
Nile: "And what am I to do with that?"
Joe: "If you want a hot shower, you have to get the water in the well and boil it. Unless you want to jump into the flood behind the house."
140 years ago, Nile would have protested over not having running water in the house, but now, she just took the bucket with a smile because he had learned to respect Joe and Nicky's way of living, just like they respected her way of living.
Nile: "That is going to be fun. Please tell me you haven't drilled holes in the bottom of the bucket?"
Nile ran her fingers over the bottom of the buckets with a smile. She still remembered when Booker drilled holes in their last bucket as a prank during a cold winter.
Joe: "Unlike someone we know, I know the value of a good bucket, but seeing Andy chase Booker around the house was funny because she got wet."
Nile: "It was, yes. Be back in a moment, so keep the stove going."
Joe: "I promise."
When Nicky got into the kitchen five minutes later, he heard Nile shouting, "JOE!!" really loud.
Nicky: "Did you drill holes in the bucket?"
Joe: "No, as I told Nile before, I know the value of a good bucket, so I would never do that, but I might have fiddled a bit with the handle as a prank, so when Nile lifted the bucket, she would get wet."
Nicky kissed Joe with a smile.
Nicky: "While you try to escape from a wet, angry Nile, I will look after the chicken."
Joe: "Be right back."
When Nicky looked out of the window, he saw Nile chasing after Joe, trying to hit him with a bucket of water. It made Nicky happy to have Nile home again, and he knew Joe felt the same way because they had missed their little sister.