65 : Conversations in the Car

We were halfway to church, Oxbear driving. Puck tapped secretively on my shoulder.

“I’m going to give this to Dad for a present,” he whispered. “For Father’s Day.”

On the drive, he had crafted Legos into a container with a secret compartment inside. He opened the compartment to reveal a roll of dollar bills.

“Okay,” I whispered back. “It’s early though.”

“That’s okay. I want to give it to him now.”

A few minutes later, I could hear the grin in Puck’s words. “Dad, don’t expect anything for Father’s Day from me. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Just kidding! Here! This is for you!”

After Oxbear had expressed appropriate appreciation and enthusiasm for the gift, Puck added, “Now, Dad. Let me recap. I have another better gift for you for Father’s Day. This is just a bonus gift. Okay?”

“Well, hot dog!” Oxbear exclaimed.

After church, on the drive to the Big House, Oxbear and I remembered that we had originally planned to visit Greece for our tenth anniversary. That was two years ago though, and somehow we had skipped doing anything big.

“Should we shoot for our 20th?”

“Sure.”

“Hey, Puck, when you’re 17, do you want to watch Yali while your mom and I go to Greece for our anniversary?”

“But I want to come too!”

“You’ll have more fun at home, just you and Yali. Think about it.”

Several minutes lapsed with silence in the back seat. I had forgotten about the conversation by the time Puck returned to us with his verdict.

“No, Dad. I don’t think I want to stay home alone with Yali. I don’t want you to go to Greece. Please don’t go to Greece!”

At least he has eight more years to chew on that one.

After hot dogs and potato salad at the Big House, most of the crew packed up for a swim – Elmer and Jaya had connections for the weekend. So while they headed for the pool, Carrie-Bri, Rose, and I switched on a little Sunday afternoon baseball. Swimming is fun and all, but when it comes down to it, I have to take a Matt Holliday home run over sunscreen and the American crawl.