"Well, I guess this makes you two even."

From the way Angela was glaring at Mona, Tony was pretty sure she wanted to scold her mother but couldn't in front of the film crew, the people from the agency, and the client, Mr. Larson of Lankersham Cosmetics. Tony knew better than to point out that he wasn't naked, although he was in swim briefs. And the shower he'd be taking would not be in the privacy of a real bathroom but on a bathroom set.

He was doing another ad, this time for Machismo, the seven-day scented shower gel. The deodorant commercial turned out well enough that he got another gig and he said OK, despite the awkwardness with Angela. He did ask if she minded, since it was her agency, and she was president now, unlike when they met. She just shrugged and said, "Who am I to stand in the way of your career?" Then he asked Mona, but she said Angela was a professional and would pretend there was nothing personal about this.

Another difference from before was that this time he had lines. But they had cue cards for him. It was still hard. He kept messing up. Eventually, Angela gave his lines to the sexy blonde playing his girlfriend in the commercial. Tony tried not to take it personally. And Mona said he'd still get paid the same.

Mona didn't have classes that day. This was a couple weeks after his date with Cindy, but Mona had told him that Psychology 102 was going well so far, and she hoped he'd take Professor Morrell out again, now that he was back in New York. He had mixed feelings about it. He liked Cindy, but he would always associate her with the embarrassing incident with Angela. Also, he was just going to be around through Wednesday, and he was playing three games against the Mets, plus of course trying to spend time with Sam. Squeezing in this commercial was pushing it, but at least Angela knew his schedule and was willing to make this work out. And, yeah, it was more money for Sam's college fund.

So he'd gone straight from the airport to this evening shoot, and he hadn't even been back to Connecticut yet. He'd be sleeping on the couch again, all three nights, commuting into the city for the games. Maybe he could take out Cindy one of those nights, but not this first night. He'd want to relax and have a real shower when he got to the house. (And not in Angela's bathroom.)

...

"Why does Dad keep scratching?" Sam asked at Monday's game. "Is he signalling?"

Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Bower, and Jonathan all shrugged. Sam shook her head. It wasn't like any of that family knew anything about sports. They'd probably never been to a game before they met Dad. Sam wished Grandpa Micelli was still alive. She missed going to Dad's games with him, even if they were the only ones in their section not cheering for the Mets. It was hard to believe that Grandpa had still been alive and well last summer.

Sam tried not to think about it and paid attention to the game again. Her father's scratching was distracting though.

It wasn't Dad's fault but the Cards lost, 3 to 4. And when they met him outside the locker room afterwards, he told them that he had a rash all over his body. He pulled up his shirt and showed them how red his stomach was.

"How awful, Dad!"
"You look like a lobster, Tony," Jonathan said.

Mrs. Bower said, "You don't think it's the Machismo, do you?"

Sam was confused for a moment. She thought their landlady meant that Dad was so macho that it was making him break out.

But then Mrs. Robinson said, "Good thing you wore the little bathing suit."
Sam realized they were talking about the shower gel Dad did the commercial for.

"That's what the team doctor thinks."
"Oh no!" Mrs. Bower said. "We'd better talk to Mr. Larson right away. Mother, can you get the children home?"

"Of course, Dear."

Mrs. Robinson took them to the train station by cab rather than bus and then they took the train back to Fairfield.

"Will Dad be OK?" Sam asked.

Mrs. Robinson nodded. "Rashes aren't fatal, just itchy."
"Like chicken pox?" Jonathan asked.

"Sort of."
"Then Tony had better not scratch."

"Well, I think it's a little late for that. But hopefully they can get him an ointment or something."
"Why would a company sell a product that's bad for people?" Sam asked.

"They probably didn't know he'd have that kind of reaction," Mrs. Robinson said, but Sam could tell from her tone that she was as suspicious as Sam was.

...

"What's going on?" Jonathan asked with a yawn.

"It's four in the morning," said Sam, who could tell time.

Mom, who was dressed in daytime clothes, shushed them and whispered, "Don't wake up Mrs. Hiller. Tony's taking us out to breakfast. In New Hampshire."

That was weird, but exciting. Jonathan wanted to ask questions but he could wait till they went downstairs. Right now he let his mom help him into shoes and a jacket over his pajamas, while Sam got ready on her own.

"Are you gonna leave her a note?" Sam asked when they got down to the kitchen.

Mom sighed but said, "I suppose I should."
"Are we still gonna see Dad play later? Can he play? What about his rash?"

"We're not sure. But we'll deal with that when we go to New York later," said Mom, as she got a pen and wrote a message on a paper towel.

Then she led them outside, where they saw Tony grinning in a red convertible!

Sam whistled. "Whoa, Dad, what's this?"

"It's a little gift I'll be returning. Later. Meanwhile, how does Nashua sound?"

Even after Mom and Tony explained, Jonathan didn't completely understand. But the shower jelly gave some people rashes and so Tony wasn't going to do more commercials for the company, and Mom was going to give up the account. And Tony had to give up the car, but not yet. Jonathan gave up trying to understand and he just enjoyed feeling the wind on his face and in his hair as Tony drove to New Hampshire. As for Sam, she rocked out to the stereo and kept wanting to crank it up, even though it was very late at night, or very early in the morning.

It took three hours to get there, so Jonathan got to see the sun come up on the way. He'd never been awake this early, or this late. That in itself was magical. And it felt like they were a family, instead of two families, but he knew better than to say that.

The waitress at the only restaurant open at seven in the morning thought they were one family, too, but no one corrected her. Mom did look embarrassed and Tony, well, he was red from the rash, so it was hard to tell.

"Dad, did you get anything for your rash?"

"Yeah, I put some ointment on. It doesn't itch as bad now. And the redness will fade." Tony had scratched much less when he was driving. Jonathan was glad Tony would be OK.

After a nice big yummy breakfast, Tony drove them back to Fairfield. He dropped Jonathan and Sam off at the house. It was about eleven now. Tony had to return the car, after dropping Mom off at work. Grandma could take them down for the game in the afternoon. Jonathan hoped the Cardinals would do better today, whether or not Tony could play.

But even if they didn't, life was more interesting and fun with Tony around. Jonathan was already looking forward to the visit after this one, but Sam said that that wouldn't be for another month and a half.

"That's a long time," Jonathan said seriously.

Sam sighed. "Yeah, it is. But you'll get used to it, Kid."