Addison coincided last year, when she was pregnant with Zek, to be his first Father's Day but Zed thought this one should be it. He watched Zek clumsily crawl towards Addison's phone she'd left carelessly sitting on the floor beside her while she chatted with Zoey. He stifled his laugh as the 9 month old managed to grab the device excitedly and nearly shoved it in his mouth, if Zed hadn't intervened.
"Good crawling Big Guy! But I don't think Mama would appreciate you drooling on her phone." He praised, glancing at Addison who smiled softly at him. Zed picked up the infant and tossed him gently once into the air playfully before pulling him in for a tight hug.
Zek squealed happily at the familiar game. "Dada! Dada!" He screamed, wrapping his tiny arms around Zed's neck the best he could. These were Zed's favorites. Zek was just recently starting to show physical affection like hugging or giving drooly open-mouthed baby kisses. And Zed adored all of it.
He sat down on the floor next to Addison who gave him a peck on the lips along with a grateful smile.
"Thanks for saving my phone." She thanked him softly.
"That's what I'm here for! Rescuing cellular telephones from the clutches of slobbery baby mouth is my duty!" He teased, sitting up straight and sounding like a superhero narrator.
"Zombie Dad saves the day!" Addison played along, tickling Zek's belly and earning an adorable giggle in return. When they finally stopped laughing, Addison whispered, "Let's give your dad his gift." To which Zed nodded his agreement. She went and grabbed the gift bag from by the door and handed it to Zevon who was still seated in his arm chair.
"You kids didn't have to get me anything!" He assured them as he accepted the gift from his daughter-in-law.
"It's not a lot, but you definitely deserve more." Addison replied with a smile, returning to her seat beside her husband. Zevon pulled out the tissue paper that concealed a t-shirt. He lifted it out of the bag and unfolded it to read the writing printed on it.
"'I'm called 'Poppy' because 'Partner in Crime' sounds like a bad influence', isn't that clever!" He laughed heartily.
"Um," Addison said, drawing everyone's attention her way, "There's actually still something else." Zed looked at her in confusion. She took Zek off his lap and stripped off his t-shirt so that he was only in his onesie and his baby jeans. She paused to smile at the infant who cackled happily before she turned him around to face everyone.
His onesie read, "Does this outfit make me look like a Big Brother?"
The room was silent.
Addison watched Zed's face intently, waiting for his response.
Zed's eyes were wide as he read over the words over and over. Then he quickly looked up at Addison. Her face was worried. He quickly covered up his surprise to show her his overwhelming excitement.
"Are you serious?" He asked, scooting closer to wrap both of them up in his arms.
"Happy Father's Day Zed." Addison whispered into his chest.
"The first of many!" He smiled, kissing the top of her head. Zek squirmed and fussed to get free from his parent's grasps. Both of them laughed and let him go to play with his toys while the they received congratulations Zed's father and sister.
Then the young couple disappeared to Zed's childhood bedroom for some much needed celebratory alone time.