“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Beck jumped at dad’s voice. “Sorry, thought you heard us walk up.”
“Jobe it’s nice to virtually meet you,” Mom said. “And you too, Daddy Stanley.”
From there the conversation was all over the place. I just leaned back and held my overwhelmed boy. Once we got home Jobe would set him right with all of this and it’d be much easier for Beck to grasp then too. Less stimulation always worked best.
Chapter Nine
Beck
“I’m so excited, Daddy. I’ve never colored Easter eggs before.” Daddy was taking so long to put the plastic on the table though. He said the dye would ruin the wood if he didn’t. He dropped a colored pill into each of the disposable cups and added vinegar to them and they fizzled away. “Smells like stinky feet.”
Daddy laughed. “Yes, it does, but it’s fun to do. Let me show you another trick.” He opened a box of the super waxy cheapy crayons he bought just for this. “Write or draw on the egg first then use the bendy metal holder like this and dip it into the color you want. When you pull it out,voila, you can read the crayon parts. They don’t dye.”
“Ooohhh, that’s so cool. What are the tiny stickers for?” I didn’t want to use them on the eggs, at least not the cute bunny ones. I wanted to save them for the pictures I made for Daddy.
“For the eggs too, if you want. Then we punch out the cutouts out on the back of the box and set the eggs in the holes to dry. One of the fun things Mom used to do after we found them all was make deviled eggs and potato salad with them. The eggs that cracked made it fun because they’d be striped all kinds of colors. It was silly, but Karlie and I thought it was awesome to eat frilly colored eggs in the dishes.”
“That does sound fun. Did any of ours crack when you boiled them?” I was excited for colorful potato salad and deviled eggs were the best, colored or not.
“Hmm, one or two, but who’s to say we couldn’t crack some more and make a game of it.” Sometimes I think Daddy had a bit of a little or maybe a middle in him too, because he had just as much fun playing as I did.
“Look, if you dip it halfway in one color then flip it over and put it in another you can make one egg two colors.”
Yup, Daddy was reliving his childhood, and it was too cute.
We colored a dozen eggs. Some were super pretty while others, not so much, but Daddy said they all tasted the same, so it didn’t matter. Carefully, Daddy slid the paper trays into the fridge so the eggs wouldn’t get yucky.
“How about pizza and a movie tonight?” Daddy suggested.
“Yes, please.”
“Always so polite. Okay, wash your hands then pick a movie while Daddy cleans up and orders dinner.”
“Can we get salad too? I like dipping my pizza in the dressing.”
“Absolutely, Bunny.”
“Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail,” I sang as I hopped to the bathroom and washed my hands, then into the living room. “Hmm, what to watch.”
A few minutes later, Daddy came in. “What did ya pick, Bunny.”
“We’ll start with the old cartoon, The First Easter Rabbit. Then Zootopia!” I cheered, even though I’d seen it like twenty times.
“Sounds like an ideal Easter Eve.”
Did he just make that up? “Silly Daddy, is that even a real thing?”
“Did you just roll your eyes at your Daddy?” he tsked. “That calls for a tickly punishment.”
Daddy tickled and I giggled until my face hurt and thankfully the doorbell rang before I ran out of breath.
“Pizza time!” Daddy returned a few minutes later with the pizza box. “Pizza party in the living room. Slide on over, baby boy, we’re eating out of the box tonight.” This side of Daddy was too much fun.
“Let me grab our drinks and bowls for the salad and I’ll be right back, Bunny.”
I snuck a pepperoni and munched on it while I waited.
“Sneaky boy. Here we go.” Daddy loaded up a bowl of salad and poured some dressing in a dippy dish for me. “Special treat tonight, soda in your sippy cup.”
