20. Tricky Ways

20

TRICKY WAYS

“ T he Easter Bunny came,” Ty yelled when he ran down the stairs. Michael had hidden the first egg right on Ty’s pillow to let him know.

“He did,” he said. “How do you know that?”

Ty held the red plastic egg up in triumph. “It was touching my ear when I opened my eyes.”

“Wow,” he said. “I guess you are a deep sleeper.”

“I need to find the rest,” Ty said. “How many are there? Do you know?”

“We left twelve out on the table,” he said. “Remember? How many are over there?”

“None,” Ty screamed. “This is going to be so much fun.”

The two of them colored a dozen eggs last night, but there was no way he was hiding them in the house and forgetting where they might be and having the place stink.

The plastic ones were better anyway and they’d eat the ones they’d colored this week.

He’d asked Electra if she wanted to see Ty today for Easter at some point, but she’d said no. He wasn’t going to get bothered. There had been times when Ty was at Electra’s the night before and he’d have to remind her what Sunday was and to make sure she hid a few eggs.

The first year when Ty was one, Electra didn’t do anything. No hidden eggs. No Easter basket. Nothing.

Electra didn’t realize what Sunday was and said Ty wouldn’t have known the difference even if she had remembered.

From that point on, if Electra had their son overnight for any holiday, he made sure he provided his ex with everything so their son didn’t lose out.

Michael watched while Ty ran around the house finding all the eggs within his reach, but when his son collected them all, there were only ten.

“You’re missing two,” he said.

“I looked everywhere,” Ty said. “Could they be upstairs?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I doubt it. I think you only get one on your pillow so you know he came. That is what I remember when I was a kid. Did you think about looking higher up?”

“Why would the Bunny put them where I can’t reach?” Ty asked, walking around and looking at the ceiling.

“Because he’s tricky that way.”

“There’s one on the ceiling fan,” Ty yelled. “Oh my God. How did he do that?”

“Bunny’s hop,” he said. “I’m not sure even I can reach that. Let me get a chair and find out.”

Ty was running around the room in a victory lap and laughing. This was what parenthood was all about, he reminded himself.

He stood on the chair, reached up and barely could get it with his fingertips. It only made Ty laugh more. He’d put it there using the ladder and was hoping he wouldn’t have to pull that back out to retrieve the egg.

He handed the yellow egg off to his son to put on the table while he returned the chair.

“Only one more to go,” Ty said. “Where could it be?”

“You checked all the rooms on this floor?” he asked.

“I did,” Ty said.

“Even the bathroom?” he asked.

“Ewww,” Ty said. “No. But I will now.”

He laughed as his son ran down the hall to the half bath and came back holding a blue one.

“Where was it?”

“On the back of the toilet. Why would he put it there?”

“Maybe he needed to take a pit stop and set it down and forgot about it?” he asked.

“Noooooo. Rabbits don’t use toilets.”

“But the Easter Bunny is no ordinary rabbit. Remember that,” he said. “Did you notice there is no basket? That’s not right. I bet he hid that on you too.”

Ty slapped his hand to his forehead as if it didn’t even occur to him that he didn’t notice an Easter basket waiting for him.

“Where could it be?” Ty asked.

“I don’t know. Why don’t we check around?”

He made a production of walking around the house and steering Ty in every direction but the mudroom where he’d set the basket on the bench that Ty sat at to remove his shoes and coat daily.

After five minutes he made his way there and Ty saw it right away screaming as he ran down the hall waving his arms around like a silly goof.

He knew he got those exaggerated maneuvers and craziness from his mother but brushed it off.

There was no reason his son couldn’t be a kid. But if he was doing those things at eighteen, that’d be a different story.

Ty struggled to pick up his basket, so Michael grabbed it and brought it to the breakfast table where all the plastic eggs were gathering and let his son start to take everything out.

“I’m hungry,” Ty said. “What’s for breakfast?”

“What do you want?” he asked.

His son was neat and organized and was lining up the coloring books and crayons on top of each other, then the matchbox cars in another pile. There were trading cards, a Nerf gun and foam bullets. The last pile was candy. Just a small one. He’d get more candy from his grandparents later today and there was no reason to overload him with sugar.

“Can I have a pop tart?” Ty asked.

“How about pancakes?” he said. “I’m dying for them. No reason to only make them for me.”

“Yes, please,” Ty said. “With blueberries?”

“Blueberries coming right up,” he said. One of his tricky ways of getting fruit in his kid. Not that Ty ate poorly, but any time he could nudge him away from a processed breakfast he did.

He had those things in the house because they were nice treats for a kid, but not something to eat all the time. They weren’t rushing to get out of the house like some days so a nice cooked breakfast was better.

Ty was playing with his cars, having opened most of them up, when Michael heard his phone go off on the counter.

He picked it up to see the text from Kelly wishing him Happy Easter. He knew she was going to her parents’ today. To him this was any other Sunday they’d spend apart.

Yet part of him wished that wasn’t the case.

He had to figure out what the next step was going to be first.

He looked at his son playing and knew now wasn’t the time to bring up that he had a girlfriend.

“Where’s Kelly today?” his mother asked him five hours later. Ty was playing with things from the Easter basket from his parents in the living room and he’d gotten up to get a beer for him and his father.

“With her parents,” he said quietly.

“Are you going to tell Ty what is going on at some point?” his mother asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Just trying to figure out how.”

“Do you need help with it?” his mother asked.

He wanted to say no, but the truth was, it might help to have some backup.

“Depends on your idea of help?”

“I just figured if you told him with us around, we could be supportive and talk about how fun it would be to get to know another one of Daddy’s friends.”

“I guess,” he said.

“Speaking of friends,” his mother said. “Does Owen know about Kelly?”

“No,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance. And that just reminded me. I’ll text him later and see if he wants to get a beer or something. Maybe I’ll have them meet. I feel bad I haven’t been around much, but Owen has been out of town for a few weeks for work too. He got back last week.”

He and Owen didn’t always spend a ton of time together because Owen traveled for work and Michael had Ty. There weren’t a lot of free nights so Owen normally just came over to hang out when he could.

“Then start with that,” his mother said. “Bring up Owen’s name and friends and go from there.”

“If you think that will work,” he said. “I’m not sold on it though.”

The last thing he wanted to do was confuse his son about a friend and a girlfriend.

He grabbed the two beers and brought them to the living room. His mother came out a few minutes later and sat down.

“Ty, Daddy was just saying he hasn’t seen Owen in a while.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Ty said. “Where is Uncle Owen?”

Nothing like his mother to dive right in.

“He’s been away for work but is back in town. I’ll text him later and see if he wants to visit.”

“Don’t you think it’s nice that Daddy has friends?” his mother asked.

Michael frowned. That made him sound like a loser.

“I’ve got friends,” he said.

“Me too,” Ty said. “Caleb and Troy and Spencer are my three best friends in daycare. What other friends do you have?”

Last week it was two other people. He couldn’t keep up. Maybe he should try to have some of the kids over at some point, but it was just too daunting to do play dates with everything going on in his life.

“I’ve got a new friend,” he said. “It’s a girl.”

“A girlfriend that you kiss?” Ty asked. “Or like a girl you watch football with?”

He started to laugh over that description. “What do you know about kissing?”

“Mom has kissed guys before. They stop over and she goes in the hall but leaves the door open. Then she talks to them on the phone.”

Michael ground his teeth. “How long ago was this?”

Ty shrugged and grabbed one of the activity books he was given and a colored pencil. “I don’t remember. Not long ago. Like when it was colder.”

Which meant a few months ago and he’d had this conversation with her much longer than that to cut the shit.

But he was positive Electra felt that not letting the guy in the house and making out in the hallway wasn’t the same thing.

One more thing he’d have to address.

“My friend is both,” he said. “She likes sports and we do kiss. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure,” Ty said. “Can I meet her like your other friends?”

He looked at his mother. “I think that would be great,” his mother said. “Maybe Daddy needs to work up to it, but it’s nice you are willing to meet her.”

“What’s her name?” Ty asked.

His son’s head was still down and he wasn’t so sure that Ty was as receptive to this as he was saying.

He was regretting this now.

“Her name is Kelly,” he said. “She knows your cousins. She works for Cade. That’s how we met.”

“Really?” Ty asked, popping his head up. “So it’s not someone you just met outside walking or in a store and flirted with her?”

Fuck! What the hell was Electra doing around his son? And how was a four-year-old able to pick this shit up?

“No,” he said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. “I’ve known her for years. We work together and have gotten to know each other that way. Kind of slowly. She knows all about you too.”

“She does?” Ty asked. “Does she like kids?”

“She does,” he said. “And she’s really funny and likes to laugh.”

“I bet you two would get along great,” his mother said.

“Have you met her?” Ty asked his mother.

“I haven’t,” his mother said, looking at him. “Maybe sometime we can all meet?”

Might be best to do it at once. He’d have to see what Kelly thought of it. Could be too much for her.

“I’ll talk about it with Kelly,” he said. “Why don’t you show me what you’re doing in that book.”

Ty got all excited over his new book and he knew it was best to end the conversation. Though he appreciated his mother’s help, he knew his son better than anyone else.

“Dude,” Owen said hours later. “You’re dating someone and just telling me now?”

“Sorry,” he said. “I want to say it was sudden, but it wasn’t. Though it seems it.”

“Not sure what to make of that, but it’s your life. When do I get to meet her? I need to make sure she’s not another Electra.”

He snorted. “Not even close. Trust me. Not in looks, personality or profession.”

“Tell me about her,” Owen said.

He explained how they knew each other, what Kelly looked like and her character. How accepting she was of everything, but he kept out anything about Kelly’s past.

“She almost seems too good to be true.”

“No one is perfect,” Owen said.

“No,” he said. “I wouldn’t say she is, but I do worry that when I call her next to meet you and then my parents and Ty, things could slow down.”

“If you worry or think that, then she isn’t for you,” Owen said.

“I don’t believe that,” he said. “I don’t want to overwhelm her too much though.”

“You’re talking about her as if she walks on water. Then she should be able to handle your son and parents for a few hours. I’m a piece of cake.”

“I’m not so sure you are a piece of cake, but she’d probably be more accepting of meeting you since I talk about you a lot.”

“I’m flattered,” Owen said. “Call her and set it up and then text me. I’ll make it happen. This week,” Owen said. “I mean it. Do it on Tuesday when Electra has Ty.”

“If he ends up going there, sure,” he said. “Since we spend Tuesdays together too.”

“Sweet,” Owen said. “Does she have a sister or any single friends?”

“No sister. I haven’t asked about friends,” he said, “and not going to. I’m not into setting people up.”

“True,” Owen said. “Sounds like if she didn’t make a funny bet with you, she’d still be staring at you from a distance. I like that she made that first move.”

“I like that too,” he said.

Because Owen was right. If Kelly hadn’t, he was positive they wouldn’t be in a relationship right now.