"Matthew, are you okay going with Uncle Jack?" Sam asked as they piled out
the car at the Mall.
"Why where are you and Hannah going Auntie Sam?" He asked.
"We're going to do something very girly which you won't like. I'm sure Uncle Jack can find something macho for you to do for an hour. Then we'll all go and see a movie."
"Okay." He reluctantly agreed.
"We'll meet you out side the movie theatre in one hour." She gave Jack a quick kiss.
"Yuck." Matthew said.
"You'll understand when you're older." He shuffled Matthew off.
"So where are we going Auntie Sam?" Hannah asked.
"Well Uncle Jack and I were wondering if you'd like to be a flower girl at the wedding on Saturday."
"What's a flower girl?" Hannah asked.
"It's a special type of bridesmaid. You sprinkle rose petals down the aisle for me to walk on."
"Okay." Hannah said after she thought about it for a second.
"Good now we have to go and get your dress."
"Mommy was planning on buying me a new dress this week." Hannah mentioned. "But she already bought Matthew a new suit."
"This is why. I wanted to ask you myself. If you didn't want to be a flower girl she would have bought you a new dress. But this way you get one that matches Cassie and Janet's dresses."
"Why couldn't Matthew and Uncle Jack come with us?" Hannah asked.
"For two reasons, one Uncle Jack doesn't like shopping too much unless it's for food."
"And two?" Hannah prompted.
"You see because I have to work a lot Grandpa has had to organise the wedding for us. Everything but my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses, you see I want to keep them a secret from Uncle Jack. So I need you to promise me you won't tell him."
"You want me to lie to him? Because Daddy says it's a bad thing to lie to people." Hannah said.
"And your Daddy is right, but it's not really lying it's keeping a secret."
"I guess that would be okay."
"Good. Let's go shopping."
~
"So Matthew what do you want to do?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. What is there to do in the Mall?"
"Are you hungry?" Jack asked.
"I just had breakfast." Matthew reminded him.
"Good point. Besides it's too early for ice-cream, but I'm sure your Auntie Sam would prefer blue Jell-O."
"I like blue Jell-O best too, so does Hannah."
"It must be a Carter thing." Jack smiled.
"Daddy says Hannah got the smart genes like Auntie Sam while I got his genes."
"There are different kinds of smart. There are the genius booky type smart people and then there are the life smart people. Neither is better than the other. I don't understand half the things that come out your Auntie Sam's mouth but that doesn't matter."
"I guess."
"Look at it this way, your Auntie Sam is a scientist so she sees a flower as a sum of its parts, petals, a stem, stigma, stamen. That sometimes means she misses out on the fact that it is a beautiful flower. Booky smart people need life smart people to point those things out to them."
"That makes a lot of sense. You're smarter than you look Uncle Jack."
"Thank you I think. Do you like video games? They have an arcade here." Jack suggested.
"Cool. You like video games Uncle Jack?"
"Love 'em. Sometimes when she's mad at me Auntie Sam threatens to take my Playstation apart."
"That's just mean."
"And she threatens to pour coffee on my Gameboy." Jack added.
"Then I guess you don't want to make her mad at you very often."
"I try not to. But thing you have to understand about women is sometimes they get mad for a reason that only makes sense to them." Jack explained.
"That seems stupid."
"Yeah. Women are complicated. You only get more confused if you try to understand them. Sometime you just have to apologise even though you don't know what you're apologising for."
"You know you're good at this uncle stuff."
"You ever need advice just call me."
~
"What have you got there Matthew?" Sam asked as she saw the teddy bear he was holding.
"A teddy, I won it but I'm a boy so I don't need a bear." So he shoved it into Hannah's hand. Her face lit up.
"Thank you Mattie."
"Now don't go all soppy on me Hannah."
"That's very sweet Matthew." Sam smiled at him.
"Uncle Jack." Matthew prompted.
"What? Oh yeah." He took out another teddy from behind his back. "I got one for you too."
"That's very sweet too." She kissed his cheek. "So Hannah what are we going to call them?"
"I think I'll call him Jack." She said. "What about you Auntie Sam?" Sam studied the bear for a moment.
"I think I'll call him George." Jack raised an eyebrow. "Okay last one to the movie theatre has to sit next to Uncle Jack and he steals all the popcorn." The kids started running.
"So you're naming it after the General?"
"Well he was the first person to buy me a teddy bear outside my direct family." Sam said as they began walking after the kids.
"Should I be jealous?"
"Well I was eight at the time and I just found we were moving again."
"That's okay then." He smiled and put his arm around her.
TBC
"Why where are you and Hannah going Auntie Sam?" He asked.
"We're going to do something very girly which you won't like. I'm sure Uncle Jack can find something macho for you to do for an hour. Then we'll all go and see a movie."
"Okay." He reluctantly agreed.
"We'll meet you out side the movie theatre in one hour." She gave Jack a quick kiss.
"Yuck." Matthew said.
"You'll understand when you're older." He shuffled Matthew off.
"So where are we going Auntie Sam?" Hannah asked.
"Well Uncle Jack and I were wondering if you'd like to be a flower girl at the wedding on Saturday."
"What's a flower girl?" Hannah asked.
"It's a special type of bridesmaid. You sprinkle rose petals down the aisle for me to walk on."
"Okay." Hannah said after she thought about it for a second.
"Good now we have to go and get your dress."
"Mommy was planning on buying me a new dress this week." Hannah mentioned. "But she already bought Matthew a new suit."
"This is why. I wanted to ask you myself. If you didn't want to be a flower girl she would have bought you a new dress. But this way you get one that matches Cassie and Janet's dresses."
"Why couldn't Matthew and Uncle Jack come with us?" Hannah asked.
"For two reasons, one Uncle Jack doesn't like shopping too much unless it's for food."
"And two?" Hannah prompted.
"You see because I have to work a lot Grandpa has had to organise the wedding for us. Everything but my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses, you see I want to keep them a secret from Uncle Jack. So I need you to promise me you won't tell him."
"You want me to lie to him? Because Daddy says it's a bad thing to lie to people." Hannah said.
"And your Daddy is right, but it's not really lying it's keeping a secret."
"I guess that would be okay."
"Good. Let's go shopping."
~
"So Matthew what do you want to do?" Jack asked.
"I don't know. What is there to do in the Mall?"
"Are you hungry?" Jack asked.
"I just had breakfast." Matthew reminded him.
"Good point. Besides it's too early for ice-cream, but I'm sure your Auntie Sam would prefer blue Jell-O."
"I like blue Jell-O best too, so does Hannah."
"It must be a Carter thing." Jack smiled.
"Daddy says Hannah got the smart genes like Auntie Sam while I got his genes."
"There are different kinds of smart. There are the genius booky type smart people and then there are the life smart people. Neither is better than the other. I don't understand half the things that come out your Auntie Sam's mouth but that doesn't matter."
"I guess."
"Look at it this way, your Auntie Sam is a scientist so she sees a flower as a sum of its parts, petals, a stem, stigma, stamen. That sometimes means she misses out on the fact that it is a beautiful flower. Booky smart people need life smart people to point those things out to them."
"That makes a lot of sense. You're smarter than you look Uncle Jack."
"Thank you I think. Do you like video games? They have an arcade here." Jack suggested.
"Cool. You like video games Uncle Jack?"
"Love 'em. Sometimes when she's mad at me Auntie Sam threatens to take my Playstation apart."
"That's just mean."
"And she threatens to pour coffee on my Gameboy." Jack added.
"Then I guess you don't want to make her mad at you very often."
"I try not to. But thing you have to understand about women is sometimes they get mad for a reason that only makes sense to them." Jack explained.
"That seems stupid."
"Yeah. Women are complicated. You only get more confused if you try to understand them. Sometime you just have to apologise even though you don't know what you're apologising for."
"You know you're good at this uncle stuff."
"You ever need advice just call me."
~
"What have you got there Matthew?" Sam asked as she saw the teddy bear he was holding.
"A teddy, I won it but I'm a boy so I don't need a bear." So he shoved it into Hannah's hand. Her face lit up.
"Thank you Mattie."
"Now don't go all soppy on me Hannah."
"That's very sweet Matthew." Sam smiled at him.
"Uncle Jack." Matthew prompted.
"What? Oh yeah." He took out another teddy from behind his back. "I got one for you too."
"That's very sweet too." She kissed his cheek. "So Hannah what are we going to call them?"
"I think I'll call him Jack." She said. "What about you Auntie Sam?" Sam studied the bear for a moment.
"I think I'll call him George." Jack raised an eyebrow. "Okay last one to the movie theatre has to sit next to Uncle Jack and he steals all the popcorn." The kids started running.
"So you're naming it after the General?"
"Well he was the first person to buy me a teddy bear outside my direct family." Sam said as they began walking after the kids.
"Should I be jealous?"
"Well I was eight at the time and I just found we were moving again."
"That's okay then." He smiled and put his arm around her.
TBC