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They fell in love the first time they had seen pictures of the house on the internet.
It was rural, surrounded by a deep forest, mostly made out of spruce and fir.
But on the property itself, fruit and walnut trees reigned.
Trevor had gotten into making juices and pickled fruits. Not only were they an excellent way for nutrition and vitamins, it also reduced the amount of rotten fruit that was laying around.
Trevor was also endeared endlessly by the idea of a giant pile of leaves (not to forget jumping into one). And Mat, in all their years together, still hadn’t learned how to say no to him.
It was multiple days of labor, focused on compiling all of the leaves onto multiple bunches, dragging them closer and closer together.
The sun shone warmly onto them, clad in their sweater vests, long pants and gloves. They’d both grown their hair out, long enough to cover the ears, making a hat not yet needed.
Trevor struggled with the leaves of the plum tree, when Mat‘s voice sharply interrupted his work: „Watch out!“
He raised his eyes to meet his fiancés. „Left of you“, was the only explanation he got.
„Other left!“, was the complaint he received when he looked to his right instead of the correct direction.
„Yeah, yeah“, he sassed, but sent his gaze into the right direction regardless.
He was greeted with the sight of a small (normal-sized?) hedgehog.
It appeared to have a bloody gash across one of its hindlegs, struggling to run away from them.
„Holy shit Matty, what do we do!?“, he exclaimed in shock.
Mat had taken the prior moment of direction-confusion to stand behind his partner and laid a calming hand onto his shoulder.
„Why don’t you bring me one of those small transport-boxes we used for the chicks? And then you call our vet to see what we can do?“, he suggested in a reassuring tone.
Trevor speed-walked inside, completing the tasks that were assigned to him.
After bringing Mat the box, he removed himself a few meters from the situation and dialed their vet.
As he talked on the phone, he watched from afar as his fiancé gently picked up the small critter and based on the movement of his lips sweet-talked it and put it in the box.
As it was an emergency, they were ordered to be there as soon as they could.
Trevor originally planned to drive, but Mat grabbed the car keys right out of his hand, carefully replacing it with the animal.
The drive took about half an hour and when they’d arrived, they were quickly ushered into one of the exam rooms.
Dr Smith lifted the hedgehog out of the box. Trevor was worried for their hands, as they only wore those thin latex gloves, but none of the spikes seemed to penetrate their skin.
They placed it onto the table and started examining its leg.
„It looks like she has cut herself on a glass shard, potentially one of those broken bottles certain people like to leave in the woods. The wound still looks fresh and I don’t see an infection, so for now I’m going to clean it out, put a paste on it that should help and then enclose it in a soft cast“, was their report of the hedgehog’s condition.
They followed through with it and then inquired: „Would you two be willing to take care of her? We theoretically have a place here for her, but we prefer to keep a few empty for more serious cases.“
The fiancés shared a quick look. Slowly they both began to nod and Mat verbally agreed they’d take care of the animal.
The vet quickly wrote them a list of all the necessary information, like how to keep her and what food would be best. Then they told them to make an appointment after two weeks have passed, although they should be ready to come back early should the hedgehog"s condition decline.
They placed the animal back into the box and sent the men their merry way.
When they arrived home they busied themselves with setting up where the hedgehog will stay.
The cage was one of those, where the bottom part was a plastic tub and the cage part were metal rods. Thin wood chips topped with straw formed the foundation of her new living space.
The wet cat food they used for their cats was on the list of recommendations, so they scooped it onto a small terracotta bowl, a different one stored the water.
They let her out into the cage and left to take care of their other animals.
As usual, Mat looked after the chicken, feeding them their soaked bread rolls, collecting their eggs and making sure they’re all well.
Meanwhile Trevor was busy with their goats. This week he already had to patch a hole in the fence, so took a quick walk inside to make sure everything was still closed. The entire time he was followed by all six of them. Then he controlled their feeding and water system and finally put new hay into the crib.
Inside, they were greeted by Max, their rescue. They prepared the dog food and then took him for a walk.
As always, Max was excited, but it increased the closer they got back home, resulting in him jumping all over the forest path they’ve chosen for today. (It was the main reason Trevor had control over the leash and not Mat.)
In front of the door, their cats were already waiting. They let all three animals inside and fed them.
After they ate the leftovers from lunch of the previous day, they did the dishes and took their medication.
At about 9 pm they were huddled in bed together, Max and the cats at their feet, discussing what they wanted to name the hedgehog.
„I like Amy“, Trevor was adamant.
„Like the Sonic the Hedgehog character?“, Mat‘s voice had a judgmental twinge to it.
Trevor pouted: „Why not?“
„I refuse to live under the same roof as anything named after something out of that horror franchise.“, Mat defended himself, as he had seen way too much „Sonic“ stuff against his own will.
„Well, what would you suggest?“
„Delilah”
Trevor was quiet for a moment.
“I like that”, he whispered, before he buried his face in Mat’s chest.
“Thought you would.”, his voice turned from smug to soft, ”I’m surprised we haven’t named any of our fur-babies that yet”
Trevor hummed in agreement. During their long-distance years, before he was traded to the Rangers, ‘Hey there Delilah’ had been their song and it was still dear to both of them.
Trevor leaned up to give Mat a soft kiss, before falling asleep.
Mat softly pet his hair and followed his fiancé suit.