"Daaaaaaad!"
"What is it, Anthony?" Ian rushed to his son's side, concerned.
"How do you turn it on?" He pointed at the TV.
"You can't turn the TV on?" Ian frowned, "You're almost seven, buddy. You need to learn."
Anthony sat in his father's lap and grabbed the remote, "Teach me!"
"You see this button?" Ian pointed to a big red one.
He nodded.
"You can read that, can't you?"
He nodded again, "Power."
"Good boy." He ruffled Anthony's wavy hair, "It turns the TV on."
Anthony took the remote in his tiny hands and pressed the button. The screen flickered to life, as did Anthony's face.
"We did it!"
"No, buddy, you did it."
Anthony put his hands on his hips, "No! We did it. Together."
Ian smiled, "That's right buddy. Teamwork."
"Teamwork!"
"Did you learn that at school?"
As much as he hated to admit it, he did not want Anthony at school. All he did was worry about his son. Anthony's mother had dropped him off at the doorstep of Ian's dorm in college. He took Anthony in, and sure enough, after a few tests, he found out that the kid was in fact his. Since that day, Ian's number one priority was Anthony. His safety, his happiness, his well-being. Everything.
When Anthony started school, Ian found that his life was awfully boring. Besides his late night stand up at several bars around the city, he found that he needed a real day job. He found one at a theater down the street from their apartment. The theater was for improv comedy. The audience would yell something at the actors and they'd have to obey the commands on the spot. He started as the desk worker, and he was moved up to writer, and now he holds those two jobs as well as being an actor.
He and a group of three others held their own show, and it was occasionally broad-casted on television. They each had their own job. Whatever it was they were discussing, they slipped some comedy into it.
Ian was notorious for reusing jokes in the most obvious and cheesy way possible because there aren't many jokes you can make about weather.
"Yes." Anthony nodded, "I did learn that at school."
Ian had taught Anthony to read, write, and speak properly before school, so Anthony was top of his class.
"Good for you." He smiled, ruffling his son's hair again, "I'm proud of you, buddy."
"Thanks dada."
Ian beamed down at his son, "So, how about you come to the theater with me since school got out early?"
Anthony nodded happily. He loved working at the desk.
Everyone at the theater knew and loved Anthony. He made the work a little more colorful, literally, by drawing pictures with the actors. He would draw after what they said, like an improv sort of drawing. Anthony loved it.
Matt immediately lit up like a lightbulb when he saw him, "There's my favorite little worker!"
Anthony ran over and hugged him, "Uncle Matt!"
Matthew Sohinki, however, was not related to Ian in any way. For some reason, Anthony called him Uncle Matt, but Joshua Ovenshire was just Josh, occasionally Joven, and Mari Takahashi was just plain Mari. Ian never found out why Matt was considered an uncle, but he stuck with it.
"Hey darling." Mari walked over from the desk, "Looks like I'll have a partner in crime today."
"Mari!" Anthony looked completely amazed by the amount of love he was getting.
"Why did no one tell me Anthony was here?" Joshua stormed out, "I heard all the racket and figured it could only mean one thing."
"Josh!" Anthony fell to the floor in excitement.
"Is he...is he okay?" Ian heard a new voice.
"Hey it's newbie." Mari laughed, "And he's fine."
"Newbie, this is Anthony. He's Ian's son." Matt explained, "He just gets really excited around a lot of people."
Ian looked over at the new guy, "Hey newbie."
Newbie rolled his eyes, "David Moss."
"Ian Hecox. Nice to meet you."
"You too." He nodded once.
"Newbie!" Anthony screamed at him, hugging him tightly.
"Oh." David smiled, holding the desk to balance himself, "Hey."
"There's so much people!" Anthony cried, trying to grab everyone in a group hug.
Ian laughed and gave in to the hug.
"So, have you seen some of newbie's work?" Mari asked later on in the day, pushing a large packet of papers towards Ian, "He lives with Matt I believe."
Ian looked up from his computer, "No, I'll get to it, though."
"Will you?"
Ian sighed, "Yes, mother, I will."
Mari rolled her eyes, "I'm not your mother. Just read it. It's really funny. Watch the tapes too. He's good."
"Is he part of the show?"
"We all think he should be, but it's up to you."
"What would he discuss?"
"Well, we need someone to cover games and movies."
"Can he do that?"
"Of course. He's good at that. You need to watch the tapes."
"I will, dammit!" He yelled, thankful that Matt and Josh had taken Anthony out for a special treat.
Mari laughed, "Alright alright."
Matt and Josh brought Anthony back and they all met in the recording room.
"Does Josh have his pop culture news ready?" Ian asked.
"As always." Mari nodded, holding up the papers.
"Does Matt have his regular news all together?"
"Yes."
"Do you have your music ready?"
"Of course."
"Do you have your female tips for feminism and sexism ready?"
"When do I not?"
"True."
"Do you have your weather ready?"
"If you mean, using the same joke I did last week, then yes."
This was their daily routine. Every week day Ian and Mari went over the same thing. Same questions, same answers.
"We're ready then?"
"We're ready."
"Then let's make the magic happen."