Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for the always awesome feedback. You're the best, ladies!
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
And I can't believe I'm saying this but thank you to the multitude of birds whose actions last week prompted me to go to the car wash, inspiring this idea.
This story directly follows Mari's totally awesome Quicksand.
Hope you enjoy!
Payback (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Steve was closing the door to the garage as Danny pulled up with Angie and DJ after their pizza dinner. He headed over to help the kids out of the car as well as to retrieve Angie's carseat and DJ's booster.
"Hey, how was the pizza?" he asked, opening the door.
"Good!" DJ replied, climbing out of the car.
Angie popped the button on her buckle and extricated herself from the straps, already excitedly relating her favorite part of the evening.
"We went to da car wash and it did like dis: whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!" She spun in a circle, swirling her arms around like the brushes at the car wash.
DJ ran around the car. "Yeah! It was a little scary at first but then it was so cool! All the soap came down but Uncle Danny made sure all the windows were up so no soap got in the car."
Angie shook her head emphatically. "No soap got in da car," she said seriously.
"Yeah, we checked. And then the giant hair dryers came and went whhhhrrrrrrr and dried the whole car off!" DJ shook his hands to demonstrate.
"Whrrrrrr!" Angie echoed, imitating his gesture.
Steve, who had been listening to the excited dual recitation with one eyebrow quirked, asked, "Is that right?" He looked at his partner who was smiling gleefully. "You were serious about the car wash?"
"Yes, I was serious about the car wash. You owe me $17.50, by the way. How is it your daughter is almost four years old and your son is eight and they've never been through a car wash?"
Steve made a face. "Cath and I like to handwash, you know that."
Danny waved a hand dismissively. "I know, I know, you like the satisfaction of doing it yourself, but seriously, not even once?"
"I'm not gonna pay a machine to do something I can do better with my own hands."
Angie tugged on Steve's cargoes. "We go to da car wash tomorrow?"
DJ's eyes widened. "Ooh yeah, can we, Daddy?"
Steve gestured at them while looking at Danny. "Now see what you've done. My kids are gonna want to go to the car wash every time we go anywhere."
"Payback, partner."
"Payback? What are you talking about, payback?"
"Um, I'm sorry, who took my daughter skydiving for her birthday?"
Steve rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. "Oh come on. That's not even close."
"Yeah, a car wash is tame in comparison."
DJ's eyes suddenly widened and he took off toward the house.
"DJ?" Steve called after him, concerned.
"I hafta use the bathroom!" DJ called back over his shoulder. "I had two lemonades at the pizza place!"
Steve chuckled, relaxing.
DJ turned enough to wave before he reached the lanai. "Thank you for the pizza and the car wash, Uncle Danny!"
As he disappeared inside, Angie repeated, "We go to da car wash, Daddy?"
Steve groaned and picked her up. "Car wash? Don't you like washing the truck with Daddy? With the hose and the big sponges?" he added enticingly.
She nodded, suddenly excited, looking over at the truck as if they might start cleaning it right now. "An' I wear my bading suit."
Steve grinned. "And you get to wear your bathing suit, that's right."
Beaming, she turned back to them and caught sight of Danny who said, "But I know you really liked the car wash …" as he reached over to tickle her.
She giggled and then grew more serious, looking back and forth between the two men. Finally she patted Steve's shoulder. "I wash da truck wif Daddy …" she said with a nod.
"Ha!" He kissed her cheek. "That's my girl!" he added and grinned triumphantly at Danny.
"… An' den I ride in da car wash wif Uncle Danno," Angie finished brightly, grasping Danny's hand.
"Ha!" Danny echoed his partner's exclamation. "And that's Catherine's girl. Finding the best solution."
Steve smiled, kissing Angie's cheek. "Agreed."
Danny did the same. "Okay, I'm gonna get out of here. You all have a good evening and you," he tickled Angie's tummy, "dream about the car wash tonight, okay?"
She beamed, nodding enthusiastically. "Okay! Bye, Uncle Danno!" she said, waving as he headed back toward the driver's side.
Steve bounced her once against his hip. "What do you say to Uncle Danno?"
"T'ank you for da car wash, Uncle Danno!"
Steve sighed, chuckling. "And …?" She looked at him quizzically and he whispered, "Pizza."
Smiling again, she looked back at Danny and said, "T'ank you for da pizza! An' da car wash!"
Danny grinned. "I like your priorities, Angie. And you're very welcome."
Late that evening, Catherine returned down the stairs after checking on Angie who had woken up after a couple hours of sleep.
"Everything okay?" Steve asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Catherine nodded, fighting a smile. "She was upset that she didn't dream about the car wash."
Steve groaned, letting his head drop to the back of the sofa as she reclaimed her seat beside him. "You've gotta be kidding me. I'm gonna get him for this."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on," she said doubtfully.
He raised his head to look at her in question.
"You can't fool me," she continued, grinning. "I know that under all that griping you actually really like that the kids have these special things they share with Danny."
"Even if it's a machine car wash?"
Her smile widened. "Even if it's a machine car wash."
He paused as if he was going to try and bluff it out before cracking his own smile and pulling her closer. "Yeah, I do." He sighed fondly, leaning back against the sofa again. "You should have seen how excited they were when they got out of the car. Most kids, you'd like pizza would have been the highlight of the evening, but for ours, it was the car wash."
She chuckled. "Oh, I know. DJ only paused long enough to use the bathroom before explaining every detail. I think I know what his next show and tell will be about."
He smiled at that before turning his gaze back to her. "But you're right. I do love how close they are to Danny and how they look forward to hanging out with him."
"And vice versa," she added.
He nodded. "And vice versa." He looked toward the ceiling again thoughtfully and she waited for him to complete his thought. "Payback," he finally said quietly.
"Hmm?" she asked.
He looked back at her and smiled. "All the great years I've had hanging out with Gracie, doing things together that Danny would never do … now it's his turn."
She smiled, understanding. Settling her head against his shoulder, they relaxed companionably for a few minutes before she let out a small laugh.
"What?" he asked, glancing down at her.
"I just thought of a way you can help finance that payback."
"How?"
She grinned. "Unlimited pass to the car wash."
Steve laughed and pulled her closer. "Well, he does have a birthday coming up."
Hope you enjoyed!
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