Perth woke up to a set of blue eyes staring at him intently. The small somber face was framed by ponytails and a set of orange glitter barrettes. Tight in her arms was a unicorn with a rainbow horn.

"Let him sleep, Princess." It was a male voice and Perth's head jerked toward the source. The man was tall and muscular. Perth started pulling his legs into his chest as he scooted back to the headboard. His eyes were wide, frightened.

Tul wasn't expecting this reaction. "Saint. Hey, Saint. Wake up." He kept slapping Saint's foot. Sprawled across his side of the bed, Saint put on his disgruntled face and cracked his bleary eyes open.

"Wha- go 'way, Tul. Too tired."

"Yeah but I think your patient needs you. I think I'm scaring him." Tul was trying not to look at Perth but the man had pulled in on himself and was slightly trembling.

Saint glanced next to him. Perth was just staring at Tul like he expected to be grabbed and hauled off somewhere.

"Hey, it's okay. Perth, look at me." Saint's smile was gentle, reassuring. He watched Perth's shoulders relax a tiny bit. "You're safe here. Tul isn't going to hurt you. I promise. Tul is my brother-in-law." He lifted Miri into his lap. "And this pretty girl is my niece, Miri." Saint kissed her cheek then growled on her neck just to hear her laugh.

Perth gave a small smile at Miri's giggles and nodded at Tul. His body hadn't relaxed much and he had inched closer to Saint. His eyes were wary. Anxious. Tul took the hint - intended or not - and retreated to the other end of the cabin.

"We brought a load of treasures today, didn't we, Princess?" Miri slid off the bed as Saint yawned enormously and rubbed his face. Running to Tul, she started digging in the bags. He grinned at her enthusiasm until she began slinging things over her head.

"Whoa! What are you looking for?" She whispered in his ear. "Ahhh... that bag over there but no throwing stuff!"

Miri came charging back toward Perth. She seemed quite pleased with herself. Clasped in her arms was a pair of orange low top sneakers. Scrambling back up on the bed, she laid them in front of Perth and then put her feet next to them. She was wearing a matching pair.

"Youse." She pointed an imperious little finger at the larger sneakers. "Mine." She pointed at her own pair. Pleased she'd cleared it all up, she looked at Perth expectantly.

Before Perth could say anything she leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper audible to everyone in the room. "You s'pposed to say Thank You. Owange is excha good."

Perth slowly smiled. "Orange is extra good. I agree. Thank you, Miri!" His voice was soft.

Tul and Saint had watched the little tableau with huge grins. Maybe Miri could work her magic on Perth. She had totally conquered the other three men in her life. Why would he be any different?

"She likes orange." Saint laughed. "A lot!" Miri just grinned at her uncle as he stood and stretched. "Tea anyone?" Multiple nods so Saint wandered over to put the kettle on while scratching his belly.

"Okay, we guessed at clothes sizes for you. There's a few pj pants, t-shirts, boxers and a sweatshirt. Hope they fit." Tul was laying the clothes out on the end of the bed. "Oh and I brought this over." He disappeared for a moment on to the small covered porch. He held a black backpack out to Perth. "The folks that found you said you had this with you?"

Perth let out a cry and tried to grab the bag Tul was handing him. It crashed to the bed with a series of metallic clangs. Too heavy for Perth's weakened state, it pulled him up and forward, stretching muscles that had barely moved for the past week but he didn't let go . His cry of pain brought Saint in a hurry from the kitchen.

Perth was digging through the bag and smiling. Tears hung in his eyes as he kept repeating, "Thank you." to Tul.

Saint paused. "Perth? You okay?" He could see the largest of the cuts was bleeding slightly but whatever was happening might be more important at the moment. Perth nodded fiercely and half laughed.

"My Dad's tools. My tools. I stole back as many as I could find but they were coming. Not enough time." Perth was talking to himself now. Saint and Tul looked at each other a little confused and a lot concerned. "Hammer... where's the hammer?" He looked at Tul who fidgeted a bit.

"We searched your bag. We couldn't risk giving it back with who knew what in it. We only took out the hammer and it's in a safe place." Perth looked up at him and said a single word, "We?".

"My husband, Max and I."

Perth's eyes hadn't left his face. At this angle, the gaunt hollows in his cheeks and the dark circles under his eyes were even more accentuated. 'I don't think he could lift the damn hammer much less hurt someone with it." Tul thought.

Saint stepped in. "I think it's time to take care of your back, Perth." His tone was kind. "No one will take your tools. Can I put them on the nightstand?"

A nod. But he didn't let go. "Perth?" He looked up at Saint. "Do you trust me?" Perth nodded. "Let me move the bag for you. Lifting this much weight will hurt you. I'll put it on the bed next to you. Ok?" He gently laid his hands on Perth's shaking ones. Perth nodded again and slowly let go.

"There you go. Easy does it." Saint softly encouraged Perth as he tried to move himself back to his pile of pillows. Saint deposited the bag on the night stand. "Let me take care of your back and we'll get you fed. Afterwards, I'll put your tools on the bed."

It took a bit to get Perth past the awkward spot in the middle of the bed but finally, he was laid across the fluffed pillows. "Tul, did you find any raw honey?"

"Yes and the mortar and pestle you asked for."

"You are my favorite brother-in-law!"

Tul just laughed. "I'm your only brother-in-law, Saint!"

"As my favorite brother-in-law, can you help a bit?" Saint listed off a few things and Tul got to work.

Saint was fussing over Perth, making sure he was comfortable. Tul watched as Saint lightly pushed Perth's bangs off his forehead as they smiled at each other.

A slightly smug grin pulled at Tul's lips as he turned back to the honey he was warming.

Saint carefully removed all the sugardine. The cuts were healing nicely. Even the slightly torn one was only bleeding a bit. No pus in sight. "Looks good, Perth. Really good. No sign of infection!" A satisfied smile lit up his face.

"We are upgrading you to honey!" Saint announced it as if a fanfare of trumpets should have played.

Perth giggled. He couldn't help it. "You're so silly, Saint." he said smiling. It was amazing how much having his tools raised his spirits.

"I'm not silly. I'm dramatic." Saint returned the smile.

Tul grinned to himself again then laughed aloud as Miri quietly said, "You both sillies."

"Honey warmed but not boiled. As requested. Now I'll get on that tea and some soup for Perth. Didn't know you were awake so all I brought was broth." Tul started humming in the kitchen as he began cooking.

"I think Tul found his calling. He's the best cook I know." Saint whispered with a grin. Perth giggled again and looked at his backpack smiling. "The honey should be warm but not hot, okay? So don't suffer in silence." A gingerly smeared section of honey. Perth hissed. "Too hot?" Saint was already blowing on the small patch. "I'm so sorry."

"Not too hot. Just stings. It's okay now."

"Are you sure?" A nod. "I can make it cooler but I can't help the sting. I'll do a cut and you tell me when you're ready to do the next. How's that?"

"O-okay." By the time all the cuts had been treated and bandaged, Perth's soup was ready if a little hot. Saint blew on it. There were small chunks of vegetables and Saint crumbled some sour dough bread in it. Miri somewhat precariously carried her small bowl over. Saint put bread in hers too.

"Thank you, Uncle Saint." and Miri dug in with the enthusiasm only exhibited by the five and under crowd.

Saint fed Perth a spoonful at a time. He made it up to eight with this meal and Saint was tickled pink. "Everything settling well? No upset stomach?" Perth shook his head. "Good. Let me get your tea."

Peppermint and catnip steeped comfortably in the steaming water.

"Why these two?" Tul asked looking over his shoulder. "Catnip is a muscle relaxer and sooths stress in humans. The peppermint aids in digestion and hides the grassy taste of the catnip. Catnip works great but it tastes like yard clippings." Saint grimaced while Tul laughed.

"I can see where that would be less than appetizing."

"Think you and Max could bring me the deck bathtub? Perth's hair is gross and it just feels good to take a bath." Saint was staring thoughtfully out the window.

"What about his back?"

"I'll keep the water at his waist line and lean him forward instead of back to wash his hair. Wash and rinse the left side of his back with a wash cloth. Keep a towel ready to blot any splashes off the right side. That's all I can think of. I'm hoping it'll relax him enough that he can go a night with no nightmares." He sampled the tea from a spoon. "Almost ready..."

Saint lowered his voice. "Tul, I don't know what they wanted from him but they were starving him trying to make him do it. I don't think he even knew how to do it."

A giggle pulled both their attention. Miri was currently regaling Perth with the story of how Unicorn had saved Daddy Tul when he cut his finger making dinner yesterday. As usual, Miri was quite serious about Unicorn's powers to save the day. The giggle was Perth's.

Tul looked at Saint and held up a finger wearing a Transformer bandaid. "Knicked my finger. Thank goodness for Unicorn and Miri kisses!" Saint grinned. "Yeah, we'll bring the tub over early evening."

"Thanks. A bath and get him into some clean pjs. Yep, Perth should sleep like a baby." A fond smile.

"We'll be back in an hour or two so there's time to heat the water. I'll bring the big pots. Oh and change the sheets. There's a new set in one of the bags."

Tul glanced over at Miri, "Let's go, Princess! We'll be back in a bit but we need to get Daddy Max and the tub for Perth. I think we'll all have dinner here tonight. That okay, Saint?" Saint saw the anxiety return to Perth's eyes. "I think it will be." His voice lowered again. "Warn Max please. He can be umm... intimidating. Perth can't handle that right now."

"Will do." Their voices went back to normal tones.

"Shall I bring the cribbage board?"

"Only if you're in the mood for a humiliating defeat. "

"Bring it on, little man!" Tul grinned and stood as tall as he could emphasizing the one inch difference between them.

"Out! Go on! Prepare for your defeat, Tul!"

Tul just laughed and scooped up Miri. "Bye, Perth!" and they were out the door.

~♡~♡~♡~

Sorry this update is so late! Max's Day grabbed my attention earlier this week (go take a peek and let me know what you think!) and then real life demanded some of my time. Quite annoying but inevitable. 😏😁

Anyway, enjoy!

❤🍫🫖❤