A Very Bradford Easter

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A Very Bradford Easter

(The Ladies on FB voted for this!! I’m sorry!!!!!!!!!!!! I feared for my life!)

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

            “This is probably the saddest thing that I’ve ever seen,” Danny said, sighing heavily as he set the brakes on his wheelchair.

            “They’re not really going to sign up to do this, are they?” Jodi asked, shooting another nervous glance towards the tables where nearly two dozen Bradfords stood in line, waiting to sign up for the town’s annual Easter Egg Hunt.

            Danny watched as his brother Garrett pointed out something else on the flier to the poor man that had been trying to explain for the past hour that this event was intended for children. “Yes, yes they are,” he said with a resigned shake of his head, accepting the fact that this would probably be the last time any Bradford was allowed at a city sponsored event.

            “And why exactly are they doing this?” she asked as she placed her hand on the curve of her large stomach where their twins were growing and carefully sat down on his lap.

            “Because they’ve been allowing teenagers to enter and none of the little kids have been able to find any eggs,” Haley explained as she walked over and handed Jodi a small bottle of apple juice.

            “Last year the kids were so excited about coming here. We got here an hour early, signed up and waited for nothing. As soon as they blew the whistle a half-dozen teenage boys stormed the woods and scooped up every single egg,” Zoe added with a sigh as she joined them, placing her hand on the slight swell of her belly as she sat down at the picnic table next to them.

            “Dad tried to talk some sense into the City Council, but they won’t put an age restriction on the hunt,” Haley said, pushing her glasses back up her nose while they watched the Bradford men as they each donned the set of bunny ears they were handed when they signed up.

            “The guys asked the kids if they’d rather have an Easter egg hunt at home, but they said they wanted to do this with their friends,” Zoe explained as Danny wrapped his arms around his wife and placed his hand over hers where it rested on her belly.

            “The other parents complained too, but the Council wouldn’t hear it,” his mother explained as she joined them, shooting Jodi a warm smile as she sat down next at the picnic table next to Zoe, putting her arm around the younger woman’s shoulder.

            “So, to keep it fair, the guys decided to give the smaller kids a hand,” Haley explained as they watched every Bradford align himself with a child as a group of teenage boys, shoving each other and acting up, tried to push their way to the starting line.

            “At least this should prove entertaining,” Jodi murmured as they watched Jason and Trevor come between the roughhousing teenagers and the smaller kids stumbling over themselves to get out of the way.

            “Everyone ready?” the Mayor asked, shooting a nervous look between the Bradford men and the teenage boys, who’d given up trying to cut in front of the line and were now shooting nervous looks of their own at all the large men partnered up with small children.

            “Yes!” the kids cried out in unison, smiling hugely as they got ready to run as fast as their little legs could carry them.

            “Go!” the Mayor yelled and just like that, they were off.

            Danny watched as the kids ran for the field and woods, yelling with excitement as they pounced on the plastic eggs littering the field with a Bradford of their very own trailing after them and stepping in whenever a teenager tried to swoop past the little kids and grab the eggs. The men ignored the teenagers who were smart enough to go off to the side and grab those eggs, but the others who tried to swoop in and grab the eggs just as one of the little kids reached for it…

            “Hey!” one of the teenagers yelled in outrage as Sebastian and Jonathan swooped in and blocked him as he tried to grab the egg their little sister was reaching for.

            “That’s not fair!” another teenage boy yelled as Jason stepped in and blocked him from taking the egg away from the three-year-old girl that he’d partnered with.

            “Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” the little girl said as she picked up her egg and placed it in the bucket that Jason dutifully held for her.

            “I was going for that egg, man!” another yelled as a little boy dressed like Superman hugged a pink plastic egg to his small chest as he jumped up and down with excitement as Trevor blocked the kid.

            “This isn’t fair!” another yelled, gesturing to Aidan as who stood there, glaring down at the kid as an adorable little girl wearing a fluffy pink dress waddled past him, hugging the blue plastic Easter egg she’d managed to pick up before the kid could steal it from her.

            “At the very least, the City Council will probably place an age restriction on the hunt next year,” his mother pointed out as they watched the teenage boy, who’d made the mistake of trying to pluck a green egg away from the little boy that Lucifer had partnered with, started crying hysterically at whatever it was that his brother had said to him.

            “Then again, they might just decide to cancel it next year,” his wife mumbled thoughtfully while they watched as another teenager was reduced to tears when he tried to come between Uncle Jared and little Matthew as he picked up a golden egg.

            “That might be for the best,” Haley said, shaking her head in disbelief as Sebastian and Jonathan took exception to another teenage boy trying to steal an egg from their sister.

            “I let it go! I let it go!” the teenage boy cried out as-

            “Not again,” Zoe said, sighing heavily as she stood up, keeping her hand on her belly and headed for her boys.

            “I’ll get the first aid kit,” Haley announced, sounding bored as she headed towards the sign-in tables where the Mayor and half the town stood, staring in horror as the twins made sure that the boy sobbing hysterically and begging for mercy never made the mistake of trying to get between them and their sister again.

            “Not the face!”

            “Even if we don’t get banned,” he started to say, cringing when the twins focused their attention on a teenager trying to grab an egg from their little brother, “we might want to reconsider doing this at home next year.”

            “That probably would be for the best,” his mother murmured in agreement as the twins reduced another teenager to tears.

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