The park was filled with the sounds of children's laughter while Alec Hardy pushed the stroller and Fred Miller looked up at him. Both of them were wearing jeans and white converse sneakers, but Alec wore a gray sweatshirt and Fred was wearing a headband with bunny ears on top and a white sweatshirt with a cartoon bunny on the front. HOPPY EASTER surrounded the cartoon bunny and Fred held the plush bunny with white fur the Easter Bunny had left him in his basket.
The older children were playing carnival games or participating in contests and some of the teenagers were helping out in the booths. He noticed his daughter, Daisy, working at the face painting booth when she smiled at him and he nodded his head. He was surprised when she agreed to come spend Easter with him and had signed up to help out at the Easter carnival Paul Coates had set up after the church service. Not being much of a church goer, Alec admitted Paul did a great service and Daisy had held his hand during the hymns.
"She wouldnae have been able tae do that if you never had surgery," he thought. Being diagnosed with heart arrhythmia and having a pacemaker implanted in his chest was enough of a wakeup call for him and solving the Sandbrook case helped mend the bond he had with her. Ellie Miller was surprised he came back a few weeks after solving the case, but he had to go patch things up with his daughter and see if he had chance with his ex-wife, Tess. He and Tess had long talks over a few dinners, but found whatever trust they had, whatever love they had, was gone and parted as friends.
"Daddy, are you ok?" Daisy called out. He noticed he had just been standing there when he smiled and moved the stroller closer.
"Aye, I was just thinking," he said with a small smile. Daisy liked seeing him smiling again and nodded her head. "Looks like you've been busy."
"Yeah, we've been going non-stop since we opened," she said then looked down at Fred. "Think Ellie would mind if he got his face painted?"
Daisy wouldn't admit to her father that she thought he and Ellie liked each other more than just friends, but she did admit she was glad Ellie was there for him while he was recovering from surgery. She did have a few nightmares after she learned Alec' heart stopped during surgery, but seeing him standing there looking healthy again made her smile.
"Why do you think I'm over here?" he teased and she laughed. She led him to the booth when he paid and Daisy picked Fred up, placing him on the stool.
"Ok, what do you want to be?" she asked Fred and he looked at the drawings on the board.
"Bunny! Fred said, pointing. Nodding, Daisy went to get the face paints and Fred smiled up at Alec.
"Now," Alec said as he leaned on the stool and looked at him. "You are going tae sit real still like a good boy, aye?"
"Aye," Fred said with a grin. Alec liked that Fred was picking up a few of his words as he stood up and Daisy walked closer.
"This reminds me of the Easter carnivals I went to as a kid," she said. Alec felt a small jolt from the pacemaker as he made a small cough and she looked at him. "Daddy, what's wrong?"
"I was just… Aye, it does," he said and she gently nudged him. She knew it was hard for him to accept her growing up and he shrugged. "Sorry, I just keep seeing my little girl."
"That's ok," she said and went up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. A few minutes later she finished painting Fred's face and Alec used his smart phone to take a picture. Holding out her hand, Daisy took a picture of Alec and Fred then handed him the smart phone.
"Remember we're going over tae Miller's for dinner," he said and she nodded. Waving, he walked away as he softly laughed and shook his head. He watched some of the older children doing contests when he spotted Tom Miller doing the egg race and leaned on the handles of the stroller. Tom won as he ran to Mark Latimer and Mark hugged him. Alec felt bad for Tom not having his father around, but him getting close to Mark felt wrong. Alec knew he shouldn't say anything, but he knew it wasn't good for them to get so close.
"Am I reading too much into this? They both lost someone. It's nothing," he thought then looked down at Fred. Fred was much too young to fully understand what was going on and the thought of him forgetting his father made Alec' heart hurt.
"Bunny!" Fred said as Alec looked at the small petting zoo and several bunnies were hopping behind the wire fencing. There were also baby chicks and baby ducks and he pushed the stroller toward the ticket booth. He watched Fred moving by the other children while using the cup of seed to feed the baby chicks and Fred giggled. Taking out the smart phone, Alec took some pictures when Fred walked up to him and smiled. "Awec."
He held up the cup of seed as Alec nodded and placed the smart phone in his jeans pocket. Kneeling down, he tossed some of the seed as Fred stood next to him and the baby chicks came closer. Once they ran out of seed, Alec used the hand sanitizer to clean their hands and Fred climbed in the stroller. Alec wasn't sure, but he suspected Fred knew he couldn't pick him up and clicked the harness in place then pushed the stroller down the path.
"Attention please, it is time for the Easter Egg Hunt. Will all children and their parents or guardians place come to the starting area?"
"Egg!" Fred said, bouncing up and down on the seat and Alec walked faster. He was surprised at the number of people as he looked down at Fred and Fred had started to unbuckle the harness as he tried to get out of the stroller. The idea of losing him in the crowd made Alec' heart go faster and the pacemaker did small jolts, trying to calm him down.
"You sure you want tae do this?" Alec asked.
"Aye," Fred said, smiling.
"Then you're going tae have tae stay right beside me. Got it?" he asked and Fred nodded. Alec paid for the plastic basket and the tickets as they walked into the crowd and Fred held tightly to his hand. The smaller children were in the front of the crowd while Alec looked around and saw Tom with the older children.
"On your mark….get set….GO!" the announcer said and the smaller children ran off. Frantic parents or guardians or older siblings followed them while Fred and Alec walked around and Fred found the plastic eggs in the grass, behind the bushes and Alec had to get the three plastic eggs which were in the trees. Fred found a small, blue plush duck hidden under the slid and smiled as he handed the small, blue plush duck to Alec. It looked brand new as he placed the small, blue plush duck in the basket and Fred came back with three more plastic eggs.
"Ok, I think we have enough. Got tae save some for the other kids," Alec said and Fred nodded. Walking back to the stroller, Alec placed the plastic basket under the stroller while Fred got in the stroller and Alec clicked the harness in place. Fred yawned as he closed his eyes and Alec stood up, smiling. Thoughts of Daisy at his age filled his mind and he blinked the tears out of his eyes. Taking hold of the handles, Alec pushed the stroller when he saw someone dressed as a white fur rabbit with a cartoony face and a pink bow around the neck waving at the children and he pressed his lips together. He knew who it was as he noticed how tired they looked and pushed the stroller closer. "Hello."
The Easter Bunny looked at him then down and Alec gave the Easter Bunny a bored look.
"Did he have a good time?" Ellie's muffled voice asked.
"Aye, he had a great time."
"That's good," she said then sighed. "I am roasting in this thing."
"Well, you did volunteer," he said, grinning and his dimples dented his cheeks under his beard. She wiggled her finger for him to come closer as he stood in front of her and she leaned closer until the tips of the bunny ears touched the top of his head.
"Fuck off," she growled then walked away and Alec laughed.