"Hello? Anybody here?" Don Eppes called as he let himself into his brother's home.
"Backyard, Don!" Charlie's faint call came. Charlie smiled as he heard Don's footsteps approaching as he came outside and came around towards the back of the house. Charlie waited until Don was in his direct line of sight, then fired.
Don didn't have time to react before the target reached it's goal, which unfortunately was him. Splash! Don had gotten a direct hit to the head with a water balloon.
"Hey! What was that for?" He was laughing however even as he was forced to duck as another water balloon was lobbed his way.
"This! This is for the other night? Remember, seafood?" Don remembered all to well. Dad taking them out to dinner a week ago, eating a very nice meal, then poor Charlie finding out what it had been. Octopus. He had gotten sick.
"Hey, that was Dad, not me?" Don tried to dodge another water balloon and failed, this one hit him dead center on the chest.
"You laughed too." Charlie was also laughing which was making it easier for Don to cautiously edge toward him. When he was close enough he moved fast, caught Charlie around the waist and tackled him to the ground.
"Hey!" Don stopped suddenly and looked with eyes wide. Charlie must have been busy. He had three large five gallon tubs...all full of filled water balloons. Don stopped.
"Hey, Chuck. When is dad due home?" He let go of Charlie and rocked back on his heels.
"About half an hour, why?" Don grinned and whispered his plan into Charlie's ear. Charlie's grin got wider and the brothers got busy to welcome their dad home.
The "Welcoming Dad Home Plan" worked like a charm. Charlie had taken up residence on the roof of the home, just above where Alan would pull his car in, armed with water balloons. Don, meanwhile was in the shadows of the front yard, armed as well, with the garden hose.
Alan pulled into the driveway, home from a meeting with his bookclub. He saw Don's suv parked in the street and figured he would be talking to Charlie. Alan stepped out of his car and had no warning about what came next. He was suddenly hit in two different directions, with two different objects.
"What the...?" He was cut off as another object came sailing at his head. He got his bearings just long enough to see Charlie perched on the roof with water balloons and then discovered the other source of water was his other son, welding the garden hose.
"Octopus, dad. Octopus!" Shouted Charlie, laughing as he climbed down from the roof. Don shut the hose off and the three of them looked at each other. All three of them were wet, Alan the worst of the three.
"So this was revenge, was it?" Asked Alan with a gleam in his eyes. Don and Charlie nodded.
"You know what comes after revenge?" Alan walked over and discreetly picked up the hose from where Don had left it.
"No, what?" Charlie looked and Don apprehensively.
"Retribution, sons. Retribution." Before Charlie and Don could react, they were hit with the spray of the hose. Laughter rang in the Eppes backyard that night as Alan, Don, and Charlie continued their water fight until they were too cold and wet to continue. As they headed toward the house to dry off, Alan voiced a quick opinion.
"You know. Maybe we should do dinner again..." He broke off as he won twin groans from both his boys. Alan smiled softly. Time with his boys, whether it be at a restaurant or having a water fight was always going to have a special place in his heart.