“I’ll have to defer to you on that, having never thrown a party like this before.”
“Just be glad it’s not her wedding. I’d be sending you spreadsheets and documents in addition to asking for your credit card.”
“Well, in that case, I’m glad we’re starting off small.”
“I hope you don’t regret asking me to do this,” Amy said. “Because this is going to be a party to remember.”
“So I take it you have some ideas?”
“Oh, you bet. Based on my conversations with Isabella over the past few days, I’ve determined that we’re going to do a forest fairy party.”
“I get the fairy part. She’s nuts about fairies, but the forest?”
“Yes. That’s why I want you to come by when you can. I want to show you a spot I found in the woods where I think we can have the party.”
“You want to have the party in the woods?”
He heard Amy sigh before she said, “Don’t you have any imagination at all?”
“Not when it comes to fairy parties, apparently,” Will said, trying not to laugh at the exasperation he heard in her voice. “You’re going to have to paint me a picture.”
“It will be easier to do that when you can see what I’m talking about. I’ll show you in more detail when you stop by. But in addition to that, I want a face painter. Do you know of one?”
Will hated to disappoint her again with his lack of information, so he offered up the first thought that popped into his mind. “You might ask Rose. She used to color all the time and, I believe, has moved into painting. She might be able to help you out.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. She’d make a beautiful fairy, too. Good idea,” Amy said. “Let me write that down. She’s supposed to be here tomorrow, so I’ll ask her.”
Hoping he’d come up a few notches in Amy’s opinion of his abilities, Will was still a little uncertain how this was all going to come together. “Um, there are no such things as male fairies, right?”
“Well, of course there are,” Amy said. “I figure I’ll get you an outfit like Peter Pan’s except with wings.”
The mouthful of coffee Will had just taken spewed all over his monitor and desk. “Say what?”
“You need to be in character if you’re going to be at this party,” Amy told him. “You should probably be able to wear a pair of women’s tights. Finding green ones might be a bit of a challenge though.”
“Green tights?” Will could barely get the words out. He was trying to be a better daddy, but he was going to have to draw the line at green tights. He really didn’t think being a better daddy required him to chuck his manhood card out the window.
“Yep. You’ve got some long legs though. Probably will need the long and leggy ones. Any chance you’d shave your legs? I know from experience that wearing tights with hairy legs can be a bit bothersome.”
“No. Absolutely...no. Just no.No.” Will managed to get the words out. He waited to hear her disappointed response, but the only thing coming from her end of the phone was gasping breaths, and he realized she was laughing at him. “Very funny.”
She erupted into full-fledged laughter then. Finally, she composed herself enough to say, “You should have heard the horrification in your voice. I only wish I could have seen your face.”
“Horrification? Is that even a word?”
“Of course it is. My word. It’s a cross between horrified and mortification.”
As she dissolved into another fit of giggles, Will found himself smiling and then laughing with her. Partly because he was relieved, but mainly because her laughter was so infectious. It had been too long since he’d laughed like that. It was like something slowly loosened within him. The tendrils of negative emotions from the past six years slowly began to unwind themselves from around his heart, and, for the first time in far too long, he felt happiness.
“Okay. Point for you,” Will said when their laughter finally died down. “You really had me going there. You’ve got a mean streak in you.”
“Ah, admit it. You thought it was funny, too,” Amy said.
“Well, yes, once I realized I really wasn’t going to have to wear green tights. I would never have lived that down.”
“On the plus side though, you probably wouldn’t have had too many women chasing after you.”
“True, but I think the women are the lesser of two evils in this particular situation.” Will leaned forward to snag a tissue from the box on his desk and began to wipe up the coffee he’d sprayed everywhere. “Are you planning to dress as a fairy?”
