Here's a quickie that I wrote in a ridiculously short amount of time today as my own father and I spent the day watching the Mariners/Giants game on TV. Of course, we were both distracted by our computers - him playing solitaire and me writing this. But still, it's been a Father's Day well spent. I didn't really edit this at all because I wanted to post it while it was actually still Father's Day, so sorry for the zillions of mistakes that may or may not be present. Hope you enjoy!
Full of Surprises
He knew it had been a bad idea. He shouldn't have let them go off by themselves. God, he was such an idiot. Margaret would probably - no, she would definitely kill him when she found out what he'd done. He checked his watch. How long had they been gone? Unfortunately he hadn't really paid attention to what time it had been when they'd left.
Well, okay. A few more minutes and maybe he'd go look for them. But what if they came back and he wasn't there? They'd probably worry about him.
A feeling of worry and fear twisted deep in Alan's gut. So much for a nice day out at the ballgame. Margaret had gone out and bought him and their two boys tickets to the Dodgers game against the Cincinnati Reds. Alan had been thrilled; it had been so long since he could remember doing something with both Don and Charlie, just the three of them. The Eppes men, out on the town, Margaret had joked as she'd sent them off on their way.
It had started out as probably the most perfect Father's Day ever, Alan reflected. Don and Charlie had been getting along real nicely, which was a rare phenomenon these days it seemed. Don, who was turning 13 next month, was rapidly growing more and more independent and usually wanted nothing to do with his 7-year-old genius little brother. Don was usually trying his best to ignore Charlie, and Charlie was usually trying to worm his way back into his big brother's line of sight, so to speak. But today, they both had seemed so excited to get out and go to the baseball game, and the two boys hadn't gotten in any type of skirmish all day.
This had been such a good idea that Margaret had, Alan thought. It had been a great way to get the boys out of the house, which they hadn't left much lately - Charlie because he'd been too busy studying collegiate-level calculus and Don because he'd come down with a nasty case of the flu the week before that he was only just now recovering from. And Alan had needed the getaway as well - he'd been stuck in the office almost non-stop all week working on a big project for the city. And it was also the perfect way for Alan to spend Father's Day with his two sons.
Except now he'd lost them. They'd left just before the top of the fourth inning because Charlie had said he'd needed to use the restroom. Alan had immediately stood up, intending to leave Don to guard their seats, but his older son had stopped him.
"No, Dad, you stay here and enjoy the game," Don had said. "I'll go with Charlie. I kind of have to go, too. We'll be fine." Alan had laughed, unsurprised. Those two boys had each gotten the large sodas at the beginning of the game instead of the small that Alan recommended. They were probably both about ready to burst.
So now, his twelve-year-old and his seven-year-old were somewhere in Dodgers Stadium and it was now the bottom of the fifth. A whole inning and a half had gone by and those two boys had not returned.
Well, maybe he was overreacting. Maybe they'd simply decided they wanted a snack and had stopped at the concession stands. But did they even have any money?
Okay, two more minutes, and he was going to look for them, Alan thought as he watched Ken Landreaux hit a real shot to left field, and the Dodgers' center fielder ran in for a solid double and the crowd went wild.
That's it. Alan was going to look for them before they missed anything else. He stood up from his seat and climbed the stairs to the top of their section. He glanced behind him as he reached the top, out across the outfield to the diamond in the distance, squinting as the Red's pitcher threw the ball a little away from the catcher. Wild pitch? Yeah, that must be it, because Landreaux was now on third.
Gotta love these cheap center field bleacher seats. Alan smiled a little to himself. He turned back around in search of his boys. That nervous feeling engulfed him again as he noted just how many people were wandering around here. Don and Charlie could be anywhere.
Oh, come on, he chided himself. Don was twelve years old, almost thirteen. And he was better at taking care of himself than most teenagers would be. And yes, Alan realized the irony. Here he was, yet again, counting on his older son's strong sense of independence. But seriously, what kind of father was he, letting his two young boys wander around Dodgers Stadium by themselves? Anything could happen to them in such a public place. And here they were, only at this game because of a holiday honoring him as a father.
And damn, Dusty Baker struck out. Now there were two outs, so it would take a hit for Landreaux to score. At least they were already up 3 to 1.
He first checked the nearest men's room, although he strongly doubted Don and Charlie would still be there. And he was right, the men's room was mostly empty save for another young father and his small boy, a boy who was probably younger than Charlie.
On his way to the concession stand, Alan peeked out to the field and was pleased to watch yet another wild pitch thrown by the Reds' pitcher, allowing Landreaux to score from third, making it 4-1 Dodgers.
Once he reached the concession stand, Alan was shocked by how incredibly long the line was. If the boys had stopped there, they would definitely have been there long enough to explain their prolonged absence. But scanning the crowd in front of the counter, Alan realized quickly that Don and Charlie were not there.
The crowd started to roar but quickly silenced. Pedro Guerrero struck out and the inning was over.
Alan didn't know where else to look. Maybe the boys went back to their seats while Alan was looking. He'd go check, and if they weren't there, then he'd have no real choice but to enlist the help of stadium security. Margaret was going to be absolutely livid when she found out what happened.
He quickly descended the steps back to the center field bleachers. He couldn't quite tell if their three seats were occupied over the heads of the other fans, so he quickened his pace.
Alan couldn't believe the sight that met him at their seats. Charlie's face looked up at him, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. Don was also looking up at him, but his expression was more careful and guarded; he clearly read Alan's exasperated expression and probably figured they were in some kind of trouble.
Alan sat back down between the two of them, speechless.
Finally, he found his voice.
"Where have you guys been?" he breathed out. "You've been gone for two full innings. I've been looking all over for you! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"
"We were getting this!" Charlie's little voice couldn't contain his excitement. He whipped out a little shopping bag from under the bleachers and swung it up in front of Alan's face.
"Charlie," Don ground out, annoyed, rubbing his hand over his face. Then he sighed. "We're really sorry, Dad. I know we shouldn't have wandered off and been gone so long, but we really just wanted to get you something special. I'm sorry."
"Happy Father's Day!" Charlie exclaimed loudly, plopping the little bag down on Alan's lap. Charlie's grin was bigger than ever, and Alan softened. The youngest Eppes was clearly oblivious to Alan's worry and to Don's apology. All the seven-year-old knew was that he and his brother were giving their father a Father's Day gift and that there was no reason for everyone not to be happy.
Alan quickly regarded the bag in his lap, but turned right towards Charlie, taking in his younger son's beaming face. The boy was clearly quite proud of what was in that bag. Alan couldn't help but smile back. Then he turned to the left towards Donnie. His older son still wore that same cautious expression as before. Alan reached up to clap a hand on Don's shoulder.
He relaxed. Charlie was right; or rather, his face was right. There was no reason for him to be upset. That wouldn't do any good anymore. His boys were sitting here with him, safe and sound.
"Well, let's see what we've got here," he said finally, snaking a hand inside the bag. What he pulled out was a brand new baseball cap, all in Dodgers blue. On the front was the Dodgers logo, small and white. But what really struck Alan was what was written on the back in some kind of silver-colored permanent marker in Don's chicken-scratch handwriting.
"Thanks for being the world's #1 Dad.
Love Don and Charlie."
Alan swallowed past the small lump in his throat. "I love this," he finally managed. "Thank you boys so very much. I love it."
"I knew you would!" Charlie was excited.
Don laughed a relieved laugh. "No you didn't. You kept trying to calculate which thing in the $10 or less bin Dad would like most using math. I was the one who said he'd love the hat."
"But I knew he'd love it too!" Charlie protested.
"Well, then you were both right," Alan said in attempt to diffuse the situation before it got any worse. "I love this hat." To prove it, he stuck the hat on his head.
Leave it to these two boys to scare him to death and then immediately surprise him with the intensity of their love. They'd scared him many times before in their short lives, and they probably would a million times more before he finally got old and stroked out or had a heart attack from these two. And they'd also surprised him countless times, and Alan couldn't wait to see how they'd surprise him in the future. They were always full of surprises.
It was all part of the joy of being the father of Don and Charlie Eppes. And apparently, of being the world's number one Dad. Alan grinned and shifted his new hat to a better position on his head.
The three Eppes men cheered as Cincinnati's left fielder hit a fly ball that was caught by Ken Landreaux out in center field to make one out in the top of the sixth inning.
END.
By the way, in case you're wondering, yes, I did look up that Father's Day '83 was on June 19, and I did look up a play-by-play analysis of the game the Dodgers played on June 19, 1983. So all the things that happened on the field here in this story are pure historical fact.