There’s a knock on my door, and I kick my feet over my bed and crack open the door.
“Hey Tater-Tot.” My dad smiles, holding up a can ofDr. Pepperand a bowl of popcorn. “I thought we could watch a movie.”
“Hey.” My eyes stare at the items hanging from his hands. I can’t remember the last time we just sat down and watched a movie. “I didn’t know you were home.”
“I finished up early and thought we could have some quality time.”
I want to tell him he’s about fifteen years too late for that. Again, it’s not as if we didn’t spend time together when I was younger. I definitely saw him more often than I saw my mom, but he wasn’t around like other people’s parents were. I tried to make excuses forhim when I was younger, but I slowly realized there was no excuse for me to go days without seeing either of my parents.
“If you’re busy, that’s okay too. I know that with going into your last year of college, you probably have a lot on your mind.”
“Yeah, I do.” His smile falters. “But one movie won’t hurt.”
The smile is back, and he nods toward the hallway, his way of telling me to head downstairs.
“What are you in the mood for?” He glances back at me as we walk down the stairs. “I remember when you were little, we would watchAlvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfmanon repeat. I had to buy a new VHS every year because we watched it so much.”
“Yeah, that movie is a classic.”
I don’t remember the last time I saw it. I honestly think the more my dad and I grew apart, the less I wanted to watch that movie. I almost watched it earlier this year, when everything was going on with Fletcher, because it was such a comfort movie for me as a kid. However, nowadays, I like watching rom-coms in the hope of feeling something.
“I don’t think they have it on anything. With all of the streaming services, it’s—”
He shakes his head, setting my drink and the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. “I still have a VHS.” He laughs. “Actually, I have a couple stored away in my office.”
“What?”
“Yeah, like I said, you were so obsessed with the movie when you were younger. I was buying a new VHS every year. Well, one year, I saw that they weren’t going to make them anymore and went and found every single VHS I could.”
“You did that for me?”
“Of course I did. It was important to you. So, what do you think? Should we put it on?”
I give him a strained smile and a small nod.
He grabs the VHS tape from the storage cabinet under the TV and inserts it into the slot.
I sit down on the couch, grab the bowl of popcorn, and toss a handful into my mouth. He comes and sits next to me, grabbing some popcorn as well.
“Do you know what would make this better?” He looks over at me, and the second our eyes meet, it clicks.
“Raisinets?”
He points a finger at me, almost as if he’s sayingbingo. “Raisinets,” he repeats. “There should still be a tub in the pantry.”
He jumps off the couch and, a few moments later, comes back with a giant tub of Raisinets and a bowl. He puts the bowl between us, then grabs a few Raisinets and some more popcorn. He throws the combination into his mouth, and his eyes light up.
“I forgot how good this was. Your mom tries to keep things healthy at home. I hide a few snacks like these on the top shelf of the pantry, way in the back, so she can’t see them.
I chuckle.
He wraps his arm around my shoulder and leans in to kiss my head.
“I’m happy we’re doing this, Tater-Tot.”
“Me too, Dad.”
Dad and I didn’t get up from the couch after we finished our movie. Instead, we started doing something we haven’t done in a long time—
