A Late Father's Day
Nate pulled the blanket up to rest on Sophie's shoulders before turning down the volume. A glance at the clock told him it was approaching two in the morning. He yawned as returned his attention to the last fifteen minutes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The one that came out in the 1970's of course. That was the best version after-all. He smiled as Sophie curled up and snuggled closer. He liked this Father's Day tradition that he developed with his daughter. They would do the usual; the whole family would go out to eat and spend the rest of the day together. After dinner, he and Sophie would go out and rent movies, old TV shows… whatever caught their attention, really. And then after the rental store, they would go and raid the grocery store for soda and junk food. Then, with a quick gathering of pillows and blankets, they settled themselves onto the couch and begin their movie-thon. Of course, when they started this tradition it was more pillow-forts and kid movies. Not that Nate minded. In fact, they still built the occasional pillow-fort.
He smiled as she muttered something in her sleep. He was happy that she was more than willing to celebrate Father's Day late. Nate had felt bad when he learned his latest book tour would make him miss Father's Day, but knowing that his little girl was willing to carry on their special tradition. Elena had laughed when he told her that over the phone one night. Told him that no matter what happened, both Alex and Sophie would want to spend time with him.
"Room for another?"
Nate looked behind him to see Elena wrapped in her white bathrobe. He smiled and nodded, motioning for her to take the empty spot on his left. He chuckled as he noticed Snow tailing his wife. She held back a laugh as she saw what was playing.
"What?" he whispered.
"Figures that you two finish off with this." Elena plopped down next to him.
"She picked it out. After-all, it was her first 'adult' horror movie." Elena snorted.
"Also gave her nightmares for two weeks." She muttered.
Nate gave her a small frown. "How was I supposed to know it was going to give her nightmares? She was thirteen." Elena smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist. "It's almost hard to believe she'll be seventeen soon." They sat in silence, both blankly watching the TV screen.
"She'll always be your little girl." Elena said softly. He nodded, yawning as the end credits started to play. "And you'll always be her father."
"I'll be sure to remember that." Nate murmured, his eyes falling shut. Elena yawned and snuggled close. Slowly they fell asleep, not caring about how they would most likely wake up with a number of aches.
Father's Day Battle
Nate stared at the nerf gun on the end table. Underneath the nerf gun was a note. He set his keys down and carefully picked up the note. He looked around, a little freaked out how quiet the house was at the moment.
This is your gun. It is fully loaded. The kids and I are armed as well. There are other guns scattered throughout the house. Good luck.
He turned the note over to see if there was anything written on the back, a little surprised not to find anything else written on it. He expected a drawing from Sophie, at least. It was hard to find spare paper that wasn't drawn or coloured on. Nate carefully picked up the toy gun, looking around to make sure no one was planning to sneak up on him. He and Elena hadn't done something like this in a long time. Before the kids, Elena would give him directions to a paint-ball place and then it would be an all-out war between the two of them.
After taking off his shoes (Elena had been very adamant about the whole shoes off things as of late), he slowly made his way down the hall, taking cover as he peered into the living room. Nate felt a little ridiculous by the action, but he knew his son had excellent aim for a ten-year-old. Elena chalked it up to genes; Nate gave the credit to video games. Alex may play the E titles (and some T titles with both parents approval), but they definitely improved his reflexes and reaction-time. And Sophie seemed to be a good mix between Nate and Elena; strategizing as she went along and getting the hell out of a situation before it became too overwhelming for her.
He glanced at the closed basement door before deciding that the basement would most likely be a 'safe' zone. Nate quickly headed up the three to four steps that lead into the kitchen. He was barely in the kitchen for a minute when Alex popped up from behind the bar, getting a few good shots as Nate ducked for cover behind the wall dividing the sitting room from the kitchen. He heard Alex dash to his direction and fired as his sandy-blond head came around the opposite corner. Nate laughed as Alex let out a cry surprise as the darts hit their mark. Nate ducked back into the kitchen and scooped up the darts Alex fired.
He went from the kitchen, to the dining room, to the sitting room, grinning as Alex followed. Nate ran up the stairs, slowing as he waited for either Sophie or Elena to jump out of one of the rooms. Sophie was the one who popped out and Nate quickly fired before picking her up. He laughed as she gave half-hearted cries of 'no' and 'put me down'. She giggled as Nate ran back down the stairs with her over her shoulders. Alex shot at them, emptying out his nerf gun before running off to the living room.
"MOM! Help!" he screamed.
Nate placed Sophie back on her feet, smiling as she gathered up the darts. "Wanna team up, Princess?" Sophie lit up like a thousand watt bulb and nodded.
She grabbed hold of his hand and eagerly led him over to the bar, "The rapid fire gun is in there." Sophie whispered as she pointed to a cupboard where people without small children would keep wine. He pulled out the said item, a large grin spreading over his face as studied it. It may not be a AK-47, but it would do.
"Have an idea of what your mother may have?" Nate asked. He watched as Sophie's face contorted adorably into concentration.
"The rifle, maybe." She replied. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. She hugged him back, always eager for one her father's hug. "Do we have a plan?"
Nate pulled back and held up a finger, singling for her to quiet as he tried to listen for Elena and Alex. All he could hear was some shuffling and the sound of nerf guns reloading. "I think what we'll do is flank them."
"Won't Mom expect that?"
"Maybe. But you're forgetting that your brother likes to charge forward whenever we go head to head." He handed her his starter gun, "Take this and go left-"
"As if I'm trying to go the garage?"
"-Yup. But I want you to take cover behind the wall just as the stairs end and wait for me to draw Alex away. When you hear Alex give out his war cry, I want you to attack. Sound good?"
Sophie nodded, "What if Mom's hiding in the basement?"
"Then you shot and run, zig and zag, and find some cover."
"Like always?"
Nate chuckled as he pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Just like always." He checked the rapid-fire nerf gun, happy to see that it was fully loaded. "Ready to go?" She gave a quick nod and held up her two nerf guns. They smiled at one another before breaking apart, Nate purposely making as much noise as possible as he dashed over to cover Sophie's footsteps. They shot each other a thumbs-up before moving into their positions.
Nate listened for movement and carefully peered into the living room. He saw the top of Elena's head behind the couch, and it seemed like she was busy with Alex. He took a chance and looked around the corner, seeing Sophie doing the same thing as him. She spotted him and slowly held up one of the nerf guns. He titled the rapid-fire up and nodded towards Elena and Alex; a quick glance told him that they had heard his approach, but Elena had to keep the eager ten-year-old still. And from the looks of it, she was having a hard time in the task. It also looked like she hadn't noticed her husband and daughter slowly closing in on them. Nate made eye contact with Sophie and took aim; she followed suit and shot him a big toothy grin.
"Alex! They're gonna pop out any minute now!" Nate heard Elena whisper, confirming his suspicion.
Nate mouthed the count-down as they listened to mother and son argue. Elena and Alex's heads snapped up as they heard Sophie cock her nerf gun. Elena made a move for her gun, was too slow as Nate and Sophie opened fire. Alex tried to run and tackle Nate, but tripped over a throw pillow. Nate just laughed and emptied out the rapid-fire nerf gun. Elena let out a war cry and vaulted over the couch, tackling Nate. He caught her and was barely able to stop them from tumbling to the floor. Sophie followed her mother's example and hopped onto her brother, hitting him with a pillow. Nate laughed at it all.
"It would be easier if you surrendered!" Elena announced, laughing as Sophie cried out an overly-dramatic 'never'. "And what about you tough guy?" Elena asked Nate. He gave her a roguish grin before tossing her on his shoulder and spun around. Elena couldn't help but laugh and scream at the same time.
"You're the one who needs to surrender!" he laughed out and continuing to spin around.
"No! No more! I'm gonna throw up!" She cried out.
"Do you surrender?"
"Yes! Yes! Now stop!"
Nate laughed and came to a stop, tossing Elena onto the couch. He braced himself on his knees and let himself regain his balance. They listened with half an ear as Sophie and Alex continued on with their pillow fight. He soon joined Elena on the couch and tossed an arm over her shoulders.
"Good Father's Day activity?" she asked, still a little out of breath. He nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I thought so too. I would have done paint-ball but…" They both looked over to their kids. It looked like Sophie was winning.
"Another couple of years and then we can take them out to the range." Nate decided.
"No live guns."
"I know. Only paint guns." Elena smiled in agreement and rested her head on his shoulder, "And maybe the archery range." Elena gave him a weird look, "You know, if they want to."
She rolled her eyes and couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of her children with a bow and arrow. A smile spread across her lips as Alex reached up and started tickling Sophie's sides. Elena placed an arm around Nate's waist. "Thank you." she murmured. Nate gave her a confused look, silently asking her what she was thanking him for. She placed a soft kiss on his jaw, "For them." She answered, looking back at their children.
"You don't have to thank me." He answered softly, "I should be thanking you. You're the one who was the taxi cab for nine months, not me."
"And I wouldn't have been the taxi cab if you didn't provide half of the material."
Nate chuckled, "Elena, we could argue about this all week and still be unable to come to an agreement."
Elena rolled her eyes again and settled herself back against him. "You know we have this argument every Mother's and Father's Day. And since it's Father's Day, I get to thank you."
"Fair enough." Nate said with another chuckle.
A very late Father's Day chapter, but better late than never right?
By the way,
there will be a very special chapter on the Ninth of July.
I look forward to your reviews!