Chapter 4 – Caught!
Meanwhile, back at the ice rink, Roger had gotten cold despite the vigorous skating. Howie had challenged him to a couple of races down the rink.
"Want to get some hot chocolate at the snack bar?" Roger asked his "son for the day".
"Sounds great, Dad."
The two sat in the snack bar, which was rubberized so that skaters could go in with their skates still on, and drank hot chocolate. Roger would have preferred a cup of coffee. But Howard had said at breakfast that morning, he only drank one cup of coffee a day. This was one smart little guy, smarter than his dad, perhaps. He would figure it out in a minute if Roger drank the wrong thing.
In the snack bar, Adam came up to Roger and Howie. "Are you SURE T.J. isn't coming today?"
Roger was uncomfortable about answering, with Howie this close. But Howie solved the problem for him. "I think you're mixing him up with an astronaut. This is my dad, Howard Borden. Colonel Healey just looks like him."
Adam looked even more puzzled than ever, looking back and forth between Roger and Howie. He shook his head and walked away.
Back at the ballet studio, Skylar took a running dive into Howard's lap when she finished class. "Daddy, that was fun! And next week, Miss Gina teaches us to turn like a ballerina!"
Howard hugged the little girl. This was a new sensation, hugging a small daughter, and he was enjoying it. "I'm glad you had fun, Skylar."
"I'm hungry!"
"Me, too. Let's go get a burger?" It seemed the right thing to say, and Skylar looked excited.
Skylar had a hard time tying her shoes, so she plopped herself back in Howard's lap and drew up her foot. "Help me tie?" Howard tied her shoes for her, and she gave him another hug.
Howard looked up and down the street, trying to figure out where he might find the local hamburger joint, preferably a McDonald's or Burger King. His eyes lit upon one about four blocks up the road. Once at Burger King, though, he made his second mistake. "What do you want to eat?"
Skylar looked shocked. "Daddy! You never ask me! You just get it for me!"
"Well – …" Howard didn't know how to answer that one. He said to the cashier, "One Burger King Kids Meal, hamburger…"
"Daddy, you KNOW I like cheese!"
"One Burger King Kids Meal, cheeseburger, small fries, and a small chocolate shake for her, and a Whopper, large fries, and a large Coke for me."
Skylar stared at him again. "Daddy? I get a SHAKE! You always order milk!" She gave him a big grin and hugged his knees. "I like shakes – and you always say no!"
"Special occasion, Toots."
"What's 'Toots'?" Now she looked puzzled.
Howard just grinned. "You."
After a little more skating, Roger took Howie into the snack bar for lunch. Howie was just as confused as Skylar was, because Roger didn't seem to know what to order for him, and seemed very sure of himself. While they were sitting there eating, Howie looked at him.
"You're not my father, you're Colonel Healey, aren't you?" Howie asked.
Roger smiled slyly. "And you're VERY smart. How did you figure it out?"
"A lot of things. But first, if my DAD had taken me skating, he'd have spent most of the time falling down. You didn't fall down a lot."
"Good observation, partner. If you want to be an astronaut, that's a good trait to have. Anything else?"
"Dad would have ordered my meal for me. I HATE it when he does that, he still thinks I'm five," Howie stated. "So where's my dad?"
"Your dad has Skylar today. He wanted to know what it would be like to have a daughter, and I wanted to know what it would be like to have a son. So we decided to trade," Roger told Howie. "Are you mad?"
Howie laughed. "No, it was fun. I was with Dad all day yesterday and I'll get him for the rest of the weekend."
"I'm glad you had fun, because I sure enjoyed going to the ice rink with you more than I would have liked taking Skylar to ballet class."
The little boy let out a whoop. "DAD went to a ballet class!"
"It's an eye opener. Skylar started ballet about a month ago. Her mom used to take ballet when she was little."
Howie giggled. "I can't imagine my dad sitting at a ballet class." He looked up at Roger and asked, "Can I tell you something, and you promise you won't tell my dad?"
"Yup, you can tell me, and I won't tell your dad unless I think it's something he really, really needs to know," Roger told him.
"I think I figured out that you weren't my dad when you started telling me about how skaters get going so fast. My dad isn't that smart to know all that science stuff."
Roger gulped. "I think your dad is probably smarter in some things than you give him credit for."
"And one more thing, Colonel Healey," Howie hesitated at first, then went on, "My dad really does love me a lot."
"I wouldn't be surprised at that at all. The second time I ever met him, I asked him if he had any children, and he spoke of you with lots of love in his eyes. But you know something else, Howie?" Roger looked right at Howie and went on. "If you were my son, I think I'd love you just as much."
"There's one more thing, Colonel," Howie said, then looked down at the floor sadly.
"What's that?"
"Skylar's lucky. She has two parents that live together all the time. My dad and mom haven't lived together since I was really little."
There wasn't anything that Roger could say to that, to make Howie feel better.
Howard and Skylar were sitting at Burger King, enjoying their meal, when Skylar looked up at him.
"You're not my daddy," she stated.
"No? Why do you think that?"
"You don't smell like my daddy," Skylar said.
Howard remembered that Roger had asked him not to wear any after-shave lotion or cologne today, and he had complied. Tracy had told Roger that Skylar knew right away that Howard wasn't her father, by the way he smelled. "I didn't wear any cologne today, sweetheart."
"My daddy not call me Toots. Daddy calls me Punkin."
"I can't have a new name for you?"
"And … my daddy love me lots. He loves me so much, he and Mommy got married again. And you love Howie, don't you?"
Howard nodded. "Very much. But you know something, Skylar … I think if you were MY little girl, I'd love YOU just as much as I love Howie."