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The ride home from the funeral was quiet save for the country music that played softly through the speakers, and the roar of the old pick-up truck as it rattled down the isolated road. Kenny had one hand on the wheel while the other hung out the window with a cigarette between his fingers. He glanced at the small figure in the passenger side; his sister's kid. His nephew.
Levi was his name, and the spitting image of Kuchel. Why his sister never told him she had a kid, he'll never know, but he supposed he couldn't blame her. A woman having a child outside of wedlock was still seen as taboo to many. Kenny couldn't care less, but he wished he could hunt down the bastard that left his sister high and dry without paying anything for the kid.
A soft sniffle broke Kenny from his thoughts. He glanced at him again. The boy's eyes were red and his cheeks wet with tears as he stared over the window. The man sighed quietly and turned his attention back to the road. He didn't know what to do about kids. That was more of Uri’s thing. It was hard to find a babysitter in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, so the ranch hands often brought theirs during the summer to give their spouses a much needed break. Uri didn't mind watching them.
Uri was quite excited to meet Levi despite the circumstances. Obviously, he'd met Kuchel way before the boy was born and was just as saddened about the news as Kenny himself; even if Kenny hid it well. So when they both found out Kuchel had a son and that Kenny was given sole custody-much to Kenny's horror- Uri had immediately begun to empty out the unused guest room.
“The boy deserves his own space in a new place,” he had said. Kenny couldn't argue with that.
So here he was now; bringing the kid home. As nervous as he was about Kuchel putting this kind of trust in him, Kenny hoped the kid would warm up to the place. Even to a bastard like himself, there was something about ranching that warmed the heart. Maybe it would be therapeutic for the boy too.
“Well…Welcome to your new home, kid.”
The words that came out of Kenny's mouth were softer than he thought possible as he pulled into the long, gravel driveway. Levi didn't say anything as he lifted his head, slowly climbing onto his knees to see better. His face was passive as he gazed out at the sprawling landscape dotted with cattle and horses. Another far pasture held a small flock of sheep with a couple goats mingled in. Kenny thought he saw a spark in the kid's eye.
“Don't worry. I'm not expectin’ you to help out. Not unless you want to, that is.”
Levi turned to look at him with that same passive look. He still hadn't said a word. Hadn't said a word the whole time; only the occasional sniffle. It almost unnerved Kenny, but he couldn't blame the kid. His mother died, he had to attend the funeral of said mother, and now here he was with an uncle he never met living in the middle of fucking nowhere. Sounded like the beginning of a horror movie if he was honest. Or the start to your typical generic horse movie: ‘A young boy loses his mother and is sent to live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere with an uncle he's never met’.
Uri was sitting on the front porch of their one story ranch house in one of the rocking chairs. Their small pack of farm dogs sat at his feet even as he stood up. They knew not to crowd the truck or any vehicle that came by. Kenny could already see the soft smile on the man's lips as he parked. Levi looked at the other man as well and his shoulders seemed to relax a bit.
Uri has a way of calming people by just looking at him. Kenny thought as he opened the door. He looked at Levi with a soft eye and motioned with his head toward the house.
“Let's get you settled in, yeah? And don't worry about the dogs. They won't hurt ya none. I'll grab your stuff.” With that he climbed out and went around to the bed of the truck where Levi's belongings were tucked safely behind some boxes and equipment Kenny had left there. He grabbed the suitcase first before reaching for the backpack, swinging the strap around his shoulder.
“Be careful! That has something of mama's in it!”
Kenny jumped and looked down to see Levi glaring up at him, holding out his tiny hands for the bag. The man blinked and gently lowered it into the boy's waiting grasp. Levi immediately held it close to his chest before turning on his heel and marching away. How was Kenny supposed to know that? With a shake of his head he followed behind with the suitcase. Of course, the first thing the kid does is yell at him. At least he knew he had a voice.
Uri greeted Levi with that same soft smile as he held his hand out to the boy.
“It's wonderful to finally meet you, Levi. Kenny didn't bore you on the drive here did he?”
It seemed Levi lost his voice again, but he hesitantly reached out to take Uri's hand. He shook his head in answer to Uri's question as he brought his hand back to cradle the backpack against his chest. Uri motioned for Levi to follow him inside.
“I'll show you to your room. Kenny can bring your suitcase.”
“...’Kay.”
Uri's gentle smile widened as he led the way inside. Kenny trailed after them quietly. The inside of their home was cozy and most definitely a ranch house. Many of Kenny's mounted shooting awards, and miscellaneous rodeo awards decorated the walls and mantle; as well as a skull of a bull where Kenny hung up his hats rather than buying a coat rack. Despite that, it was homey thanks to Uri's eye for interior decorating. With the way Levi looked around it seemed he thought the same. Much to Kenny's relief.
They showed Levi to his room. It wasn't a big space, but it wasn't terribly small either. A bed sat by the far left corner next to the window with a nightstand, and a desk and drawers to the right.
“You can decorate however you'd like,” Uri gently patted Levi's shoulder as Kenny set the suitcase by the bed. Levi stepped in and looked around quietly as he set the backpack carefully onto the bed.
“We'll give you some time to unpack, okay? We'll be right down the hall in the living room.”
Levi looked up from his feet with a slight nod. With that, Uri ushered Kenny out of the room.
______
Levi unpacked slowly. He didn't want to be here…He wanted to be with mama, but he was told she wouldn't be coming back. She was dead. Levi wasn't stupid, he knew what that word meant, but he couldn't wrap his mind around why it happened to his mom. Why did it have to be her?...Why did he have to live with someone he's never met before?
He left his clothes in the suitcase for the time being; too tired to move that much. Instead he grabbed his backpack and opened it carefully. He pulled out a bundle of his T-shirts and unwrapped them from the item inside the middle. A white teacup with delicate details sat nestled amongst them. Levi picked it up with both hands and placed it carefully on the nightstand before climbing onto the bed. Pulling his knees up to his chest, a wave of sadness washed over him as he sat and looked at the teacup. Tears formed in his eyes causing him to bury his face into his knees.
It wasn't fair.
_____
A couple of days had passed since Levi first came to live with them. He wasn't as quiet as he was before, but he still had yet to open up any. That was alright. It would take time. But he had opened up enough to help Uri around the house while Kenny and his ranch hands worked the ranch. The kid had yet to take interest in the farm. Again, that was alright. He seemed happy enough staying at the house.
Kenny walked in to the smell of dinner. He pulled his boots off at the front door and hung his hat before heading to the kitchen. Uri and Levi sat at the kitchen table playing Go Fish; Levi seemed to be winning if the little pile of cards next to him said anything. Levi was the first to notice him, his expression one of slight surprise before it morphed back into his usual stoicism. As awful as he was with kids, Kenny hated seeing that expression. It wasn't right for a child. Uri looked up and smiled upon seeing his partner. He laid down his cards on the table as he stood up to greet him with a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“Dinner is almost ready. Now go shower, you stink.” He swatted Kenny's arm playfully. Kenny chuckled as he stepped forward to wrap his arms around the shorter man. He hoisted him up off the ground and gave him an exaggerated kiss on the cheek.
“Kenny! Put me down!” Uri shoved at his shoulder, but his laughter gave his enjoyment away.
“But I missed ya all day!”
“You ate lunch with us, you brute!”
“... Doesn't count.” Kenny gave the man another dramatic kiss to his cheek before setting him back onto his feet. Uri swatted his arm again before pointing down the hall.
“Shower!”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm goin’.”
Uri rolled his playfully as he watched Kenny trudge down the hall. He turned back to Levi to find the boy hiding a quiet giggle behind his hands. The man raised an eyebrow with a soft smile.
“And what are you giggling at, hm?”
Levi doesn't say, but seeing the happy crinkle of his eyes made up for it. The two of them continued their card game until Kenny came back from his shower. He and Levi set the table while Uri finished up with the last touches to dinner.
______
It was two weeks into Levi's stay when they hit their first roadblock with him. He had begun having nightmares, some so bad they caused him to wet the bed. It wasn't unusual for a child his age to wet the bed occasionally. Especially when nightmares were involved. Uri had woken to the kid's soft footsteps walking past their door. He glanced at the clock shining ‘2:45 AM’. With a quiet groan, he got up out of bed. Kenny slept like the dead, so Uri had no worries about waking him. The grey haired man stepped out to see Levi struggling to drag his soiled sheets to the laundry.
“Levi? Everything okay?”
Levi froze like a deer in headlights as he looked up at Uri, face turning red in shame and embarrassment as his gaze went back down to the sheets in his hands. The boy's jaw was tight: to make himself look tougher, or to keep himself from crying Uri wasn't sure. The man offered him a kind smile as he gently approached.
“There's nothing to be ashamed of, Levi. You've been through a lot, it happens.”
Uri bent over and gathered the soiled sheets in his arms and calmly told Levi to follow him. The two of them walked to the laundry room where Uri put the sheets in the washer with some detergent and started it up. He looked down at Levi with a soft smile as he patted the boy's head.
“See? No harm done. Why don't you go clean yourself up a bit while I get you some new sheets.”
Levi nodded and walked off in the direction of his bathroom. Uri found some clean sheets in the linen closet and took them to Levi's room, immediately beginning to set the bed. As he was finishing up with a clean comforter, Levi padded in dressed in new pajamas. He threw his dirty ones into the hamper before climbing back into bed to let Uri tuck him in.
“...Uri?”
“Hm?”
“Thank you…”
The man's heart swelled with affection and he leaned down to kiss the top of the boy's head.
“Of course, Levi. Good night. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask. Your uncle sleeps like the dead, so you won't bother him.” Uri gave him a playful wink. Levi smiled, a barely there thing, before he snuggled down into the sheets.
He slept through the rest of the night.
—----
It took a while for Levi to really get interested in walking down to the barn. When Kenny was too busy to come up and eat lunch, Uri would take him one. He would always invite Levi, but the boy preferred the safety of the house. It wasn't until Uri mentioned that one of the horses had had a baby that Levi perked up. He's never seen any baby animal up close except for kittens and puppies. But a horse? That was new! He was getting kind of bored of the house anyway…Or that's what he told himself anyway. It wasn't because he was scared of the barn and big animals. Definitely not…But a baby? He could do that.
Levi held Uri’s free hand tightly as they made their way down the gravel road. His heart was beating nervously. Cattle grazed way out in the distance; some of them with the longest horns he'd ever seen. A few calves ran and frolicked around the herd as their moms laid down to sleep under the warm sun.
Kenny was waiting for them outside the wide, barn doors with a cigarette dangling between his fingers. As they approach he immediately put it out in the pot of sand just for that reason and scoops Levi up like a sack of flour.
“Uncle Kenny!!” Levi exclaimed with hints of annoyance and amusement. He wiggled in the man's grasp as he was carried inside. Uri shook his head with a fond smile as he followed in after. The barn was surprisingly quiet except for a few of the ranch hands laughing from the barn lounge.
“Alright, ya brat, welcome to the barn!” Kenny fixed his hold on the boy so that he was balanced on his hip. He was glad to see Levi finally branch out of the house. Even if it was only for the little day old foal. It's a start. He couldn't argue with that.
“It stinks in here.” Levi scrunched his nose as he wrapped his little arms around Kenny's neck.
“Animals don't smell like roses, kid. You get used to it though.” He ruffled Levi's hair with an amused smirk. Levi batted his hands away with an indignant huff.
“You huffin’ at me, boy?”
“No.”
“Tch, brat.”
“Dummy.”
Kenny gasped in mock offense. Uri hid an amused smile behind his hand as the two continued to bicker. He could understand Kenny's apprehension about first taking Levi in, but as the days, weeks, and months go on, it was probably the best thing to happen for the both of them. Perhaps Kuchel really did make the right choice.
“Alright ankle biter, we've reached our destination!” Kenny set Levi up on the ledge of the stall wall with his arm around him to make sure he didn't fall backwards. The bay mare looked up from her pile of hay and nickered softly at them. Levi's eyes widened. He'd never seen a horse that big. A flutter of movement caught his eye and he looked down to see the baby in question struggling to get up on long, wobbly legs. It made Levi frown.
“Is it okay?”
“She's fine, kid. Foals always have a hard time getting up with those long legs of theirs. Takes them a little to get used to it.”
The little filly finally stood up and walked over to them on wobbly legs. She whinnied as she gently bumped Levi's leg with her little nose. Levi's hands itched to reach out, but he wasn't sure if he could pet or not. The mare calmly made her way over as well and caused Levi to lean away from the intimidating presence. Kenny had to tighten his hold before the kid fell backwards.
“Easy there. She won't hurt ya. See?” Kenny reached out and gently scratched at the mare's forehead. Levi still wasn't sure, but he hesitantly reached out his hand towards the mare. She sniffed his hand and gently nipped at his fingers with her lips. It was a weird feeling, but it made him laugh. The filly pushed in front of her mom and did the same, but gently began to bite at his fingers with her gums. Kenny and Uri exchange a glance over the boy's head as he plays with the filly. Maybe he'd finally open up more.