“Where’s my sundae?”
He spun around and saw Farrah standing there, then looked at his watch. “All the patients called in sick today?” he asked.
Archer laughed. It’s what he was going for.
“There were a few canceled appointments and I got done early and left,” she said. “I haven’t had ice cream sundaes for dinner in ages.”
“We’ve never had ice cream sundaes for dinner,” Archer complained. “And this is our snack. We worked hard today. Jayce is the man.”
“Is he?” she asked, her finger dipping into her son’s ice cream for a tiny taste.
“Hey, get your own,” Archer said.
“I think I might later. Those look fantastic. Or didn’t you leave me any cookies for one?”
“There are a few left,” Jayce said, finishing up and standing to bring his bowl to the sink.
She took it out of his hand and rinsed it, then put it in the dishwasher.
“Jayce was crazy today,” Archer said. The kid picked his bowl up and licked the inside.
He remembered doing things like that, and his mother would have the same expression as Farrah had, but not say a word and just smile.
“And what does crazy entail?” she asked.
“He did everything once.”
“Not everything,” he said. “Don’t exaggerate.”
“There were Ninja courses and Jayce completed two of them.”
“After a lot of fails. But you know, had to make it through.”
“Man,” she said, groaning. “I want to try that.”
“I asked if we could go again this Saturday. Can we, Mom? We have to go with Jayce. He’ll show you how to do it all. And he helped me do everything. Sometimes I fell and he caught me or laughed and helped me get back up. We were strapped in. I didn’t get hurt.”
“You look fine to me,” she said. Her eyes roamed over his body. “Both of you do.”
“I ache in muscles I didn’t know I had in my body,” he said.
“A kid does that to you. He won’t be sore tomorrow.”
“I might not be able to crawl out of bed. This is one of those days I wish I had an ice tub.”
“I’m sure you could fill your tub with ice at home.”
“Do you take ice baths?” Archer asked. “Does your penis shrivel in it?”
He coughed at that question.
Farrah’s face might be as red as his.
“Archer. Don’t be silly,” she said.
“Everyone says it happens,” Archer argued. “That you shouldn’t be around a girl in cold water.”
“You’re eight. Who is talking like that?”
