Backdated Log: Let Me See Your Easter Egg Roll (2/2)
Who: Abby Hudson, Altair Evans, Brittany Pierce, Cassie O’Malley, Colin O’Malley, Emma Rodriguez, Finn Hudson, Lily Chang, Mike Chang, Nolan O’Malley, Rowan O’Malley, Sam Evans, Sawyer Reid, Sophia Ben Israel, Tommy Chang
When: Sunday, April 24, 2019
Where: Lincoln Park
What: The Easter Festivities
Prizes:
“Water for the gorgeous blonde.” Emma said as she stopped at Brittany’s side. She held out the bottle she’d grabbed from the cooler. “Do you need help with any of the stuff?” Emma added as she looked around at the table that was stacked with presents.
“Hi, you,” Brittany greeted, taking the water from Emma and twisting open the cap to take a sip. “I’d like company. Good company, if you can manage,” she grinned, putting the water down on the table and tugging Emma closer.
“Where have you been all day? I missed you.”
Emma leaned into Brittany’s side. “I’ve been walking around. I kinda wish I’d brought my camera. But then again, if I did, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy all this stuff for myself. I’ll hang out with you now. I’m pretty confident that you’ll enjoy my company, at least a little.”
Brittany laughed, placing her hand over Emma’s. “I’m surprised you’ve survived this long without your precious camera,” she teased. “You better hope Cat didn’t already chew it up, it being all by its lonesome back home.” She laughed harder when a look of concern crossed over Emma’s face. “I’m kidding, cutie,” she promised, leaning in to kiss her girlfriend. “Cat doesn’t like plastic-y things anyways. Now, entertain me.” She grinned.
“It is precious.” Emma pouted playfully. At Brittany’s next attempt at a kiss she turned her head so that Brittany’s lips brushed her cheek. “Don’t joke about that.” Despite her words she wrapped her free arm around Brittany’s waist, toying with the bottom of the blonde’s t-shirt.
Brittany smiled, her fingers running up and down Emma’s arm. “Okay, okay,” she said, leaning her head in and touching her forehead to Emma’s. “Don’t worry. Your precious camera is going to be safe. Cat’s a docile creature.”
“Cat tolerates me and my things. When she’s hungry she doesn’t even do that.” Emma’s eyes closed as she tilted her head up to rub her nose against Brittany’s in a short but affectionate Eskimo kiss. “But, as long as you promise to make it up to me, I will promise to not worry about what Cat is probably doing to my things.”
Brittany laughed and kissed the tip of Emma’s nose. “Don’t worry. I promise that all damages will be reimbursed.”
----/----\----
Lily stood along with her cousin Abby, Kid Robot and a bunch of other kids waiting to find how what prizes they had won. She gripped the three eggs she had found with numbers on them and stared at the big pink stuffed bunny as well as the toys on the stage. All the children stopped talking when a grown up stepped up to the stage to call out the numbers.
Finally! Abby was beginning to think that they would never start giving out the prizes. She had wanted to go up to the stage herself, but then her mama would hear about it. That wouldn’t be any fun. As it was she hoped her mama didn’t hear about her team’s run in with Sawyer.
That wasn’t important now. Because now they were going to get their prizes. She had five eggys. She hoped she got something good. “What do you want to win Lilla? It all looks really cool.”
"I really want the prize for the candy!" Lily said with wide eyes. "My Mama and Papa don't let me have it when I want to but if it was free maybe I could."
“I bet if you bugged Mike he would buy you some candy. He gets me stuff went I bug him.” Abby showed Lily her look that she used to get what she wanted. “That’s how you do it. Anyway, I want gift certificates.”
Colin stood beside the two girls and shrugged. “Gift certificates sound good.” He looked to where that same blonde lady was getting ready to announce something again.
Lily reached over to hold her big cousin Abby’s hand. She knew some of her numbers but not as many as Abby because she was a lot older. When the first number was called out she looked to her ticket and she found the number. Her eyes went wide as she showed it to the bigger girl who nodded her confirmation. The second and final number was read and Lily looked really hard at her ticket.
“Abby?” she asked. “Did I win?”
Abby grinned as she looked at Lily. “Yeah! C’mon, let’s go get your prize, Lilo!” Before rushing to where Brittany stood smiling, she turned back to Colin. “You too, Kid Robot!”
Colin stood there, unsure whether he should follow. “It’s okay. You two go ahead.”
But Abby wouldn’t take no for an answer. “We’re a team, silly. You have to come. Right, Lily?”
The youngest girl bobbed her head in affirmation. “Yup, yup! We all helped each other find the eggos and we all get prizes together. Let’s go Kid Robot!”
Colin couldn't help but smile now, and he let the two girls drag him along.
Reflection:
Sam sat on a park bench, alternating between watching Al play in the grass nearby and sketching lightly in an old sketch pad. The sunlight had warmed the earth as the day drifted into the afternoon hours, and there was a pleasant breeze passing through. All around him, children searched for small plastic multi-colored eggs as their parents lounged around and watched, warning them not to eat all of their Easter candy at once.
Altair was completely content with playing with a few of the plastic eggs on the grass, opening and closing them, putting them in piles, throwing them around. As his father had been watching him, Sam (somewhat guiltily) realized how easily his son was able to entertain himself. It was most likely because Al had never had much interaction with other kids his age- after the birth, Sam had taken on the role of primary caregiver, and was extremely nervous about leaving him at a daycare. Other than briefly speaking with Brittany and Santana, he hadn’t really thought about leaving Al when he started working again.
If he started working again.
’One more line, and... there.’ The pencil was lifted off the paper as Sam looked down at his creation. As he took in the light and dark pencil lines, his eyes widened in surprise. The drawing held similar themes to what he normally did, but was glaringly different. It depicted a woman with long hair holding a small boy in her arms, the two of them smiling and laughing as the woman placed her finger on the boy’s nose.
The book slammed shut with a snap, as the blonde just stared at the cover. The subjects of the piece were obvious, but he made a point to never draw the two of them together. It was always either Altair, (playing, sleeping, eating) or the Ex (rolling her eyes at him, looking out the window, walking out the door). The idea of the two of them together was something so beautifully impossible that Sam kept it locked away in a little drawer in the back of his mind, where he wouldn’t have to think about it. That was one of the reasons he’d moved back to Lima in the first place.
“Daddy?”
Sam was dragged out of his momentary shock to see Al toddling towards him, a blue plastic egg in hand, wearing a pair of bunny ears that he definitely hadn’t been wearing when they arrived.
“Where did you get those, Al?” Sam placed his sketchbook in the messenger bag he brought and extended his arms out to lift his son into his lap. Al whined a little bit and turned to point in the direction he’d come from, where Sam could see a little girl in pastel pink running towards them.
Lily was being a big girl and sharing with the little kids at the party. She gave a little boy her headband with the ears on it and one of the eggs Abby had helped her find. He had smiled at her then run away so she was trying to catch him.
“Liliana!” Tommy called. “Please stop chasing that little boy and come back to the playground. We’re not going to be here much longer and I’m sure you want to play with Abby some more, right?”
Sam watched as a man came up behind the little girl and called for her. He was Asian, and looked somewhat familiar. Al was kicking in his lap, so he put the toddler down and watched him run back towards the little girl, who looked torn between the man and staring at Al. When the younger boy ran up, she smiled a big smile and started speaking excitedly. Sam got up off the bench, put his messenger back on his shoulder, and walked towards the group.
“I’m really sorry about my daughter chasing your son,” Tommy called out. “She has a baby brother and it seems to make her want to..” He paused a moment as he quirked his head “Sam? Sam Evans? It’s been about ten years hasn’t it? Wow.”
Sam squinted in thought for a minute, before realization dawned. “Tommy... Tommy Chang!”
He older man grinned, “Yup. I have to say that I didn’t think I’d see you back in Lima again. I always expected to hear that you were a successful songwriter living on both coasts. What dragged you back to the lovely state of Ohio?”
“Songwriter, artist, same difference, right?” Sam smiled. “Well, I hadn’t seen everyone in a while, and I needed a change of pace after Al was born.” And my life fell apart. He smacked himself on the head in realization and picked up the blonde toddler off the ground. “Oh, right! Tommy, this is my son, Altair. Al for short.”
Tommy’s jaw dropped, “That is an awesome name! Altair is the name of the main star in the constellation Aquila, which is known as Orion in the western world. It was also the name of a character in a game I used to play, ‘Assassin’s Creed’. Color me impressed, Evans.” He blushed as his daughter tugged at his arm, “Oh! I do apologize. This young lady is Liliana, Lily. Her little brother Timothy is at my parent’s house getting doted on by my parents while my wife Liz gets some much needed sleep. Whoa. That was rather long winded. Sorry?”
Sam laughed. “Don’t worry about it. And yeah, I was always a bit of an astrology geek, and since I got to choose his name, why not something unique?” He adjusted the toddler in his arms so he could take Liliana’s hand. “Hey there gorgeous- it’s nice to meet you.” He smiled and kissed her hand.
Lily blushed and turned her head away. "Is he a prince, Papa? Because he kisses like a prince in my movies."
Sam laughed and Altair giggled because his father was laughing. “You’ve got quite the charming young lady here, Tommy.”
“Thank you, Sam” Tommy laughed. “She’s quite enamored with fairy tales at the moment and is always casting people she meets as the characters. When her mother was scolding Lily yesterday for sneaking some cake my wife got called an evil queen! I’m impressed with how creative she is but sometimes it does get her into trouble. Right Lily?”
Lily scowled as she nodded, “I just wanted a little piece of cake, Papa. And she was being an evil queen. You and Mama say it’s important to share and she wasn’t! Hmph.”
“As you can see my daughter is very opinionated as well.” Tommy smirked. “So let me give you my card and our kids can have a playdate soon? I think she needs the good influence of your son, to be honest.” He grabbed his business card out of his wallet and handed it to the other man. “It was great to see you and meet your son, Sam. We’re gonna head over to the dessert tent so the adults can indulge themselves in some caffeine.” He paused a moment, “Also look Mike up. I think he’d appreciate your opinion on being a father right about now.”
Sam took the card with a grin, placing it in his shirt pocket before sharing a strong handshake with the older Chang. “Good to see you too, man. Al and I need some more friends, don’t we buddy?” The toddler gurgled a reply, and the blonde man nodded. “My thoughts exactly. I’ll ask Brittany for Mike’s number next time she babysits Al. I missed that kid.” Al yawned and put his head on Sam’s shoulder. “I’d stop by the dessert tent, but it looks like the little man needs a nap. It’s been an exciting day for him. It’s great to see you’re doing well, Tommy.” He winked at Lily. “And it was wonderful to meet you, Miss Lily; I hope you can play with Altair sometime soon.”
Sam said his final goodbyes to the Chang family and turned and walked down the path back towards the street. He smiled to himself and leaned Al on his shoulder so that his son could drift off without being bumped around too much. The comfortable, happy feeling he got after talking to his friends sat in his stomach; a feeling he hadn’t had in a long time.
The newest picture in his sketchbook lay at the bottom of his bag, all but forgotten.
Coffee and Dessert:
Tommy thanked the barista for the mocha as he put a tip in the well labeled jar on the tabletop. He sighed happily as he took a sip then grabbed the plate of donut holes he could share with his brother and Rowan. Lily waved at her father from the slide where she was playing with Abby. It was fantastic to have the girls playing together after such a long time.
“Thank you for coming along with us today and bringing Abby, you guys.” he smiled. “It’s always good when our family can get together, especially when food is involved.”
Rowan stood people-watching beside Mike, giggling as he murmured his ridiculous observations of the those around them. She belatedly realized Tommy had returned and nudged Mike to indicate he was speaking to them. She looked over and smiled. “Of course. Though I think the credit goes to Finn...wherever he went off to.”
Tommy rolled his eyes. “There are delicious food booths all over the park and it’s free so I think it’s a safe bet that he’s taking advantage of that. When he first got here I think I heard him giggling.”
“Sounds like him.” Mike chuckled. “Well maybe more like with maniacal laughter and a decent Mr. Burns impression. But I know that Abby is happy to be here.” He left it at that, knowing that Abby was still having trouble adjusting to all the changes. She was acting out at school and she wasn’t playing with Kelsey and Lane lately. He hoped that Abby would just take the day and enjoy everything. “And I think that Colin is happy that Abby is here.” Colin was a good kid. At least Abby wasn’t hanging out with the class troublemaker.
Rowan smiled at that. “That he is.” Obvious and adorable crush aside, she knew Colin liked that Abby was spending more time with him. Rowan liked it too; it had been hard seeing him distance himself further from people after his mother moved out. “We better watch out for those two,” she teased, “Today they’re owning everyone at an egg hunt, tomorrow they’ll be partners in crime.”
“You jinxed it.” Mike did an exaggerated face palm. “That’s all I need. Let’s hope they’re like the crew from Leverage instead of Bonnie and Clyde. But Abby would be a great con artist me thinks. Although Finn and I have been the only victims. We never learn.”
Tommy laughed, “Well, obviously it’s because they keep retconning you. Be wary of small children offering you food, just as a precaution. I don’t even want to think how Lily would fit into the scenario!”
“And Abby has more children to recruit.” Mike scrunched his face up. “Sorry she dragged Lily into this. The twins and Timmy are still young though. So we get a reprieve for two years.”
“Just wait until your son is here Bunso!” Tommy raised an eyebrow, “I wonder if Timothy and he will be as thick as thieves as we were? Another generation of the Chang gang.” He paused a moment, then gasped “We’re totally going to get kids exactly like we were just like Nay said aren’t we?”
“Nay’s word is law.” Mike groaned. “The Cousins Chang probably will get into all sorts of trouble. I’m kinda hoping Timmy will be close to Rachel’s twins as well. Even if it means at some point I’m going to end up watching all of these kids.” He took Rowan’s hand in his and smiled at her. He knew she wanted to have children with him. And that made him smile even harder. “But you can bet I’m going to give them all awesome nicknames, just like with Abby. Man, Snake Chang.”
“I can always count on your creativity to rear its’ ugly head Migs.” Tommy replied. “Snake? That makes me think of ‘Escape from New York’. That almost assures the kid who receives that moniker to be a trouble maker. I just figured you’d end up calling Timothy ‘Tigs’ and carry on the tradition.”
“While Snake is creative, the credit is not mine.” Mike thought of the back and forth between him, Finn, and Quinn on her journal. It was pure entertainment to rile Quinn up like. “Snake and Chang just go hand in hand. But I guess that would doom him to an eye-patch and to being a badass antihero. Okay. Can’t argue with tradition. Tigs the Second. Although I like a nickname that is some sort of action word. Roundhouse Chang. Uppercut Chang. Karate Chop Chang. Verb Chang. Oh. I like that last one.” He leaned in close to Rowan, and whispered, “I’m looking forward to some Verb Chang later on.”
“Hey, remember that whole bit about children being present?” Rowan laughed and swatted at his chest with the back of her hand. “And we’ve been over this; no naming your kid after animals, actions, or inanimate objects. No child deserves that kind of shame.”
“Do brand names and places count as inanimate objects?” Mike put forth, only half joking. “And how about later, when there will be no children present? That is my innocent way of asking if you want to come over and watch a movie? We never finished that one.” The look on his face gave away the real reason why the two of them hadn’t seen the movie in it’s entirety. “Terrible movie. Maybe the worst one ever. It’s good for lulz though. And other things.”
“Ugh.” Tommy groaned. “You’re actually going to try to make Rowan sit through that movie? The one we both agreed borderline on the absurd? You’ve got to be kidding me! It was a fantastic graphic novel but that joke of a movie adaptation was just a...I can’t even. It had such potential and it was such a vortex. Especially sad because Paul Bettany is an excellent actor."
Rowan grinned at Mike’s implication that Tommy had naturally missed, and responded conversationally. “Yeah, I usually love Paul Bettany, too. And my brother was really into the graphic novel. The movie--not so much, but I feel like we should at least try to get through it...”
She looked up at Mike with an innocent expression on her face. “Wanna come over later and we’ll watch the rest of it?” she asked casually. Her grin returned in no time as she felt Mike grip her waist, murmuring his agreement. And then some. Yeah. They were never going to finish that sucker.
Meeting the Easter Bunny:
Nolan tried his best to keep Cassie still as she wriggled in his arms, trying to get a better view of the Easter Bunny from where they stood in line. She pouted as she watched another kid ahead of them take a photo with the poor guy sweating in the fluffy white costume. “Lines suck.”
Nolan blinked and looked down at her with a surprised grin. Yeah. She was definitely an O’Malley. “Hey now, we’ll be there in no time, Munchkin.” He put on the most ridiculous face he could think of to get her to laugh.
Emma had been making her way through the various groups of people and children when she spotted Nolan. She headed towards him narrowly avoiding a collision with two chocolate bunny carrying little boys. She nearly laughed out loud at the face she saw him make but she couldn’t help but smile at the laughter that erupted out of the little girl he was holding. “This, this is adorable.” Emma smiled as she finally reached them.
Nolan turned at the sound of her voice and immediately stopped what he was doing. “Uh. How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to see that awesome face you were making.” Emma leaned over speaking conspiratorially into the ear of the little girl Nolan was holding. “You remember the face, don’t you? Wasn’t it awesome?”
As Cassie nodded and succumbed to another fit of giggles, Nolan pulled another face. “Oh, don’t go turning her against me, too.” He made a show of shifting his niece out of Emma’s reach and leaning down to stage whisper in her ear as well. “Don’t let her take you to the Dark Side, Cass. Just say no.”
“What?” Emma said with a laugh. “I just said you were awesome. You should be happy. Plus, Cass here agreed with me. Really, you should be thanking her. She thinks you’re awesome.” She nodded before continuing. “I think you’re super awesome.” Her tone hinted at the teasing that would come later.
Before he could get a retort out, Cassie moved up and cupped a hand alongside his ear as she whispered something. He chuckled. “She wants to know your name.” Then he shook his head at Emma, his tone taking a playfully reproachful turn. “Great. First KC, now Cass? Way to steal my girls one by one. I’m on to you.”
Emma smiled and resisted the urge to make some comment about Nolan’s ‘girls’ not actually being ‘his’. One, because of the little ears and two, because Emma knew Nolan really didn’t mean it as more than a joke. With a girlfriend like KC he’d probably gotten the lecture already. She angled her body toward Cass and held out her hand. “I’m Emma. No, I don’t know why grown ups shake hands but we can if you like.” She whispered to the little girl again. “Between you and me, I think Nolan and I are pretty awesome and most of the other grown ups are pretty silly. Keep that a secret for me though.”
Cassie shook Emma’s hand and giggled again. Nolan may or may not have mock-glared again. Before they knew it, the line moved up and it was Cassie’s turn for a photo with the costumed bunny. Reassuring her that no harm would come to her by taking a picture with him, Nolan set her down and watched the designated cameraman set up the shot.
Crossing his arms, Nolan nodded towards Emma. “I’m surprised you don’t have your camera with you. Smile, Cass!” he added, then chuckled as the little girl beamed at the camera. “So if you’re not taking pics, what are you up to? Trolling for little children?”
Emma rolled her eyes, laughing as she tugged gently on Nolan’s arm to get him to uncross them. “Stop pouting. Even if I’m not taking pictures I have mentally captured that image in my mind forever. You don’t have to worry.”
“I’m not pouting,” he grumbled, which didn’t really help his case. Once her photo was taken, Nolan walked forward to pick Cassie back up, but she shook her head and pointed to Emma. Nolan stared in surprise. “You traitor.” He turned back to Emma, a playfully skeptic look in place. He wasn’t even sure if she was a kid person. “You know, you don’t have to hold her if you don’t go. We wouldn’t want you dropping her or anything.”
“No name calling. Use your nice words, Nolan.” Emma grinned at him as she bent down to scoop up Cassie. “Can you believe how mean he is being to us?” Emma asked as she settled the little girl on her hip. “All we’ve done is call him awesome. Really, Nolan, we need to find you some candy or something.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Babynapper,” Nolan muttered, fishing his phone out of his pocket as it vibrated. He scrolled through his newest message before glancing back at Cassie, who was now snuggled comfortably against his friend’s side. “So Row says she’s over by the coffee tables with Chang. Wanna grab Brittany and head over? Maybe if we’re in a group they’ll quit making googly eyes at each other.”
Emma nodded. “Can you tell Cassie’s parents, or whoever she came here with, that I have her so that no one thinks I am actually kidnapping children. I’ll find Brittany and then we’ll meet you over there.”
“Cool, cool. I’ll let Row know Cassie wasn’t abducted or anything.” He grinned and gave her a dorky little salute before they parted ways.
----/----\----
Lily had finally gotten to see the Easter Bunny. She had been so excited about the visit she had been bouncing almost the entire time they had been waiting in the line. After five minutes of nonstop talking she had to let the next child in line have their turn.
“Thank you for the coloring book and crayons Mr. Easter Bunny!” she chirped. “I hope you can go home to your family soon.”
Tommy held her hand as they walked to where they were meeting Mike. “You did a really good job today sweetie. I’m really proud of you. So do you think we should bring Timothy next time?”
“No way Papa!” she shook her head. “This is just for big kids and not for babies. Maybe when he is three like me he can.”
Packing Up and Heading Out:
Tommy picked up his daughter and settled her into his arms. She gave a wide yawn as she snuggled closer, “Thank you for the fun day Papa. I had lots of fun with Abby and Tito Mike and his Rowan. She’s pretty and she smiles a lot.”
“I’m glad you had fun, Bunny,” he smiled. “I had a good time too. I think you’re right about Miss O’Malley. She also makes your Tito Mike smile.”
“That she does.” In fact, Mike was still smiling. He was happy that his niece approved of Rowan. She was kinda mad when he and Quinn broke up. “You know Rowan is really fun.” At Tommy’s raised eyebrow, he smirked. “I mean she likes to sing and is funny and just amazing in every single way.” He got a dreamy look on his face.
“Tito Mike!” Lily giggled sleepily. “You have a kissy kissy goo goo face. You want to kiss your Rowan, don’t you?”
Her father nodded, “That is what grown ups do Lily. And yes, he does have a kissy kissy goo goo face.”
“Not cool, Kuya. I do not have a kissy kissy goo goo face. I have a “Rowan is awesome” face.” Mike stuck his tongue out at his older brother and then smiled at Lily. “Sorry for correcting you. The two are very similar but you have to know the differences between the faces.”
“Okay,” Tommy laughed. “So the fact that if you were a cartoon character your eyes would be hearts doesn’t mean that you have a kissy kissy goo goo face? Now you’ll have to explain the difference to me because I’ve obviously been erroneously informed.”
“Really bro? The “Rowan is awesome” face differs from the kissy kissy goo goo face because the kissy kissy goo goo face is strictly Disney. And the “Rowan is awesome” can get up there in rating.” Mike nodded his head in a celebratory manner.
His older brother screwed up his face, “Whoa! This is what we call a healthy dose of TMI. Migs. Let’s not saunter down that incredibly frightening road.” Tommy shifted his daughter into his left arm as he playfully hit his brother, “I’m glad you two are back together. She is definitely awesome for you.”
“She is awesome for me as you say, which is why I’m meeting her later.” Mike grinned. He saw the expression on his brother’s face. “We’re going to watch a movie. Come on now. But maybe that is on the agenda.”
“Do I have to cover your goddaughter’s ears Michael Ignacio Chang?” Tommy said with his eyes wide. “And you can stop saying things to make your kuya blush right about now.”
“But it’s perfectly normal. Aren’t you a doctor? A lady parts doctor. You can do that but not listen to your baby bro use double speak without getting embarrassed.” Mike teased. “Okay, let’s get back to a conversation the three of us can engage in. Ponies.” He cheered. “I always favored a blue striped pony myself. Or one with wings.”
“That’s called a Pegasus Tito Mike,” Lily half yawned. “And striped horses are zebras. They have those stripes so they can hide from lions and stuff. Can I have a purple pony Papa?”
“It’s all about context, Bunso. Context.” Tommy sighed. “And you already have a purple pony with a sparkly mane as well as wings Lily. Why do you need another one?”
“Girls love ponies, Kuya. Fact of life. Anything in the equine family. Ponies, unicorns, Pegasus... There was just the one right? Unless you go by Harry Potter rules.” He looked thoughtful. “Anyway... You don’t want Mister” At a look from Lily he corrected himself. “I’m sorry Miss Purple Pony With A Sparkly Mane As Well As Wings to be lonely... Too cruel.”
“Remind me to buy your son a drum kit when he starts walking, okay?” Tommy laughed. “Miss Liliana has many, many pony toys so Miss Purple Pony has quite a few friends to play with. I do thank you for your concern. Instigator.”
Lily frowned, “But I don’t have a Pegasus friend for my purple Pegasus, Papa! Tito Mike is right, she needs a friend.”
“Drum kit would be awesome. All we need is a bassist, and this kid and Abby can start a band. Maybe keyboardist... Keyboard player?” Mike wondered what the term was. “And Lil Lily I’m sure your daddy won’t let Miss Purple Pegasus go through life without another Pegasus friend.” He grinned at his older brother.
The older brother was thankful they had finally made it to the car despite the fact that he knew that his brother would continue to give him grief on the ride home. He shook his head as he laughed, “Maybe one of Rachel’s twins will be the keyboard player and the other will be the lead singer? Sounds like an excellent ten year plan.” He turned to his daughter, “Maybe for your birthday, Bunny. Why don’t you and Mama make a wishlist for your birthday and your Tito Mike can find you one?”
“I’ll be on the look out for pretty Pegasus friends for Miss Purple Pegasus. And if you need any awesome ideas for what to put on your birthday wishlist, you can come and ask your Tito Mike.” As he opened the passenger side door, Mike watch as his brother got his niece safely settled into the back seat. “God, I think all four of those kids will want to be the lead singer at having Rachel in their lives. Can a band have four lead singers?” He mused. But then he came up with a more plausible outcome. “I suppose the more likely outcome is four separate musical acts.”
Tommy gave his daughter a peck on the cheek then stepped back before he shut the rear passenger door. He walked around the car as he looked back to his brother, “Maybe they can be the lead singer on a rotation?” Tommy suggested. “I’m sure such talented musicians can share the limelight. So it sounds like you need some time with your niece, Migs. How about a Sunday lunch soon?”
“Yeah. That sounds good.” Mike gave in reply. He turned around in his seat to look at his niece. “You up for having lunch with your Tito Mike, Lil’ Lily? And not just lunch but dessert too. But there’s no need to tell your Daddy what we’ll be having for dessert. So he doesn’t get jealous. He’ll just have to go on some Daddy Daughter bonding time and get his own dessert.”
“Okay, Tito Mike,” Lily said in between yawns. “We can go play mini-golf and then go to the Dairy King and get a bubble gum shake. But I won’t tell Papa.” She closed her eyes as the pull of sleep won over her desire to keep talking.
“That’s my niece, going around and supporting local businesses. I should get you a nice big one as a reward.” But it looked like Lily had fallen asleep. Mike looked over at his brother. “Well, guess it’s just you and me now, Kuya.”
“Isn’t that how it’s always been, Bunso?” Tommy winked. “Trouble following us wherever we go along with all the fun. Thanks for hanging out with us, Migs.”
“Thanks for having me. It’s always a riot. Nothing too crazy happened today.” Mike was grateful for all the moments he could share with loved ones. Those were the best memories. And that was a good goal in life, to have more good memories than unhappy ones. He didn’t know what was going to happen years down the road, but he hoped that Rowan and his family would be around to have more moments like this. Yes, today was a good memory.
----/----\----
Sophia sat in the grass near the pond and watched as the crowd started to thin out, it wouldn’t be long before the volunteers could start cleaning up. She took the last bite of her ice cream and set the plastic spoon and bowl down beside her, getting a second sundae had definitely been a good choice. She leaned back against her elbows and looked up at the sky, it was a beautiful day and the event certainly seemed like it had been a success. She was glad she’d decided to volunteer and, besides that one kid who’d wanted a Batman symbol, her adventure in face painting hadn’t even turned out that terribly, so she was pretty sure they would let her do it again next year, which she definitely wanted to do.
She couldn’t help but think though that today would have been even better if Gabe had been here but he was busy with a family dinner. Thinking of him, Sophia sat up and pulled out her uPhone and scrolled down until she found his name, quickly typing up a text. Hey you, Happy Easter. Say hi to Alvin for me and remind him that he should probably pace himself, I know how excited he gets about food but puking isn’t fun. lol. Also, guess what? It turns out I’m a lady.Quit laughing! I know it’s funny but it’s a true story. A true story, I tell you...well actually, a true story I’ll tell you later...don’t let the anticipation kill you ;) She hit send before slipping her uPhone back into her pocket and getting up and heading towards the booths to start helping with the clean up.