A Father's Day Chronicle

A Father’s Day Chronicle

by

R.L. Mathewson

“What are you doing?” came the question that had Mikey wondering why he was being so difficult about this as she finished yanking the covers away, grabbed Sebastian’s hand and-

Really didn’t appreciate the long-suffering sigh that followed since she was doing this for his own good. When he didn’t move fast enough, she grabbed his other hand, gave his hand a pull and-

“What are we doing?” Jonathan asked, jumping out of bed with a smile that drew Mikey’s attention as she adjusted her backpack over her shoulder.

She looked from Jonathan’s eager smile to Sebastian’s resigned expression and-

“Wait. What are you doing?” Sebastian asked when she released his hand, grabbed Jonathan’s hand, and headed towards their closed bedroom door.

“Interviewing for a new best friend,” Mikey mumbled absently as she pressed her ear against the door and listened.

“He couldn’t handle you,” Sebastian said, sounding bored as he dropped back down on his bed with a heavy sigh as she stood there, waiting for the right moment to make her move.

“What are we doing?” came the soft whisper that had her reaching back and slapping her hand on Jonathan’s face.

“Shhhh, not while I’m being devious,” Mikey whispered back, dropping her hand away and-

“Why are you entwining our fingers?” Mikey asked, unable to help but frown as she looked down at their hands.

“Making this easier for you,” Jonathan said with a sympathetic smile, nodding as he reached up and playfully tapped her nose. “It’s okay.”

Blinking, Mikey asked, “Do you want me to hurt you?”

“Love hurts,” Jonathan murmured only to wince and immediately release her hand when she was forced to reach over and pinch the back of his hand.

“So did that,” she said as she slapped her hand back against his face and shoved him away before returning her attention back to the door and-

Damn it!

-was forced to shove Jonathan out of the way, grab hold of the closet door, flung it open, dove inside, and yanked the door shut behind her. Once she was there, Mikey was forced to blindly navigate her way through old gym bags, sneakers, and other things that she didn’t want to think about and pulled everything within reach over herself and once she felt that she was well-hidden, she held her breath and waited.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have to wait long before the closet door opened and she found herself looking up at Uncle Trevor. For several long moments, he simply stood there with his arms folded over his bare chest as he waited for her to give herself up. Since she was determined to see this thing to the end, Mikey kept her mouth shut and stayed perfectly still as she waited for him to give up and walk away so that she could do what she came here to do.

“Mikey,” was all he said as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yes?” she asked, blinking innocently up at him as she tried for a hopeful smile that he didn’t have any chance of seeing with Jonathan’s old school tie covering her mouth.

“Why are you in my sons’ closet at two in the morning?” Uncle Trevor asked as he leaned back against the wall.

“I think the more important question is, what are you doing up at two in the morning, sir,” Mikey said, slapping away Jonathan’s old gym shorts as she sat up to glare accusingly at the man that should be in bed.

“Well,” Uncle Trevor said, sighing as he shifted to get more comfortable, “I was sleeping in my bed when I heard the unmistakable sounds of a certain pain in the ass breaking into my sons’ room.”

Nodding, she said, “That’s what I heard too, which is why I came here to make sure that they wouldn’t be led astray.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Uncle Trevor drawled.

Nodding, she said, “I try.”

When he gestured for her to come out of the closet, Mikey tightened her hold around her backpack and shook her head. Sighing heavily, he gestured again, but…

“I’m going to need you to close that door and pretend that you didn’t see me here,” Mikey said, gesturing for him to go ahead and close the door as she laid back down, grabbed a handful of questionable gym clothes and pulled them back over herself.

There was a heavy sigh and then-

“I thought we had an understanding!”

“We did,” Uncle Trevor said as he threw her over his shoulder and headed for the door.

“Then explain why you’re carrying me downstairs,” Mikey said, biting back a sigh as she resigned herself to breaking back into Sebastian’s room as soon as Uncle Trevor dropped her off back at her house.

“After you explain what you’re doing here,” he said, adjusting her over his shoulder as he headed for the front door.

“I don’t believe that it would be in my best interest to do that,” Mikey mumbled absently, trying to figure out how she was going to be able to pull this off with him awake.

“Do your parents know that you’re here?” Uncle Trevor asked as she worried her bottom lip, trying to think of something to-

“I have to use the bathroom!” she blurted out when he unlocked the front door.

There was a heavy sigh and then, he asked, “Can you hold it until you get home?

“I mean, if you’re willing to take the risk since you’re the one carrying me, I guess,” Mikey said, shrugging it off before adding, “I should probably mention that I consumed a lot of water tonight.”

There was a sigh, and then, he was putting her down on her feet and gesturing for her to get on with it. Hugging her bag tightly against her chest, Mikey turned around and quicky made her way down the hallway and once she reached the bathroom door, she kept going until she reached the kitchen. Once she was there, she rushed over to the kitchen counter and glanced over her shoulder to make sure that he hadn’t followed her before shifting her attention back to her bag.

She quickly opened her bag, grabbed the small box that she’d wrapped, the large Tupperware container that she’d filled with cupcakes, brownies, and cookies that her mother baked yesterday, the card, and-

“What’s this?” Uncle Trevor asked, sending her a curious look as he reached past her and picked up the Tupperware container filled to the brim with baked goods.

“Nothing,” Mike said, blinking up at him as she reached over and plucked the Tupperware container away from him and placed it back on the counter next to the gift that she was hoping that he hadn’t seen.

“How come that nothing has my name on it?” Uncle Trevor asked, picking up the card that had taken her an hour to pick out.

“It came like that,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“I see,” he murmured, placing the card back on the counter and picked up the small box. “And this?”

“Was there when I got here?” Mikey said when he continued standing there, absently turning the box over in his hands and-

“I got you something for Father’s Day,” she grumbled, her shoulders slumped as she gestured for him to open it.

“You got me something?” Uncle Trevor asked, sounding surprised.

“I saw it online a few months ago and I thought of you. I was going to wait until Christmas to give it to you, but I didn’t want to wait that long,” Mikey said, gesturing for him to open it, excited to see if he liked it.

Throwing her a curious look, Uncle Trevor tore the wrapping paper off and…frowned when he saw the earpiece and Apple gift card with a post-It note taped to it. When he only continued staring at it, she decided that some clarification was in order here. Sighing, she climbed onto the kitchen counter, sat down and plucked the box out of his hands.

“I found this really cool app that I thought you would like. It was developed for people with dyslexia. It reads everything from text messages, emails, documents, and websites for you so that you don’t have to wait for someone to read them for you anymore. You just tap the text that you want read and it will read it for you, which is where the earpiece comes in. It will also follow voice commands so that you can send text messages, send emails, and even search online without having to worry about spelling. The app works on your phone, iPad, and on the computer,” Mikey said, smiling as she explained it to him only to feel that smile slowly disappear when she realized that he was staring at her.

When he still didn’t say anything after a few minutes, she swallowed hard and mumbled, “If you don’t like it, I can take it back. I wasn’t sure that you would like it, so I brought baked goods just in case,” as she gestured helplessly to the Tupperware container.

“You got this for me?” Uncle Trevor asked, looking down at the box as he reached over and took it from her.

Shrugging, she said, “I thought you’d like it.”

Smiling, Uncle Trevor leaned over and kissed her forehead as he said, “I love it.”

“Really?” Mikey asked, smiling hugely as she watched Uncle Trevor run his fingertips over the small box that held the earpiece.

Nodding, Uncle Trevor opened his mouth and-

“Wait! That’s from both of us!” Jonathan said, rushing into the kitchen and jumped onto counter next to her where he threw one arm around her and gestured with the other toward the gift with a satisfied sigh. “I knew you’d love it.”

Glaring at his son, Uncle Trevor reached over with one hand, flipped the cover off the container and helped himself to a cupcake, never taking his eyes off his son.

Nodding, Jonathan said, “I knew you’d like those too.”

“Why is your arm around me?” Mikey asked with a pointed look at the arm thrown over her shoulder.

Reaching over, Jonathan placed his hand over her mouth as he said, “Shhh, not while Daddy is overcome with emotions over the wonderful gift that we got him.”

Nodding, Mikey reached up and-

“Why are you so mean?” came the demand when Jonathan decided that it was in his best interest to drop his arm away and give her a little space.  

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