Chapter 5
These Few Precious Moments
'Wakey, wakey, rise and shine,
You've had yours, I've had mine.
Get up and pee,
The world's on fire and we need the water!"
I opened my eye, surprised to see Dad shaved and ready to go, standing above me. He rarely got up before me, so I wasn't sure if I was awake. Still, he always said that stupid rhyme when he woke me up, so I figured it was him in the flesh. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"Dad? It's 7:30 am? What's up?"
"Your girlfriend is going to meet us for breakfast. I called her and she said she'll be down in a few minutes so you better get your butt in that shower dude, you look punk."
I was still groggy which means my gate is usually down a little. I could feel that he was in a good mood and that worried me. My Dad was in his best mood when he had pulled one over on someone or was about to play a prank on me or Uncle Jimmy. Still, he was smiling and that made me happy. I got up and took my shower and put on my jeans and new Trek t-shirt.
We went downstairs to the lobby and my Dad broke out in a big smile when he saw Auri standing by the entrance to the resort's café. We had come in through the courtyard since our room was on the other side of the resort, but she was turned, facing the elevators, apparently thinking that we would probably come from one of the hotel floors above the café. I was blown away when my father walked up behind her and tickled her on the sides. Uncle Jimmy and I looked at each other, our mouths and eyes wide open in shock. She jumped and giggled at the same time. Apparently, she had her gate up because there was no doubt in my mind that Dad had surprised her. I wasn't used to my Dad being playful with a woman, so I just stood there staring.
He turned and looked at us, tilted his head and asked, "Are you two going to just stand there gawking or are we going to get something to eat?
I ran up to him and looked up.
He frowned, "Furey, close your mouth, the flies are going to get in."
He was right, my mouth was wide open! I couldn't believe that my Dad was happy and playful. I grinned as he punched me playfully in the stomach. He winked at me then put his hand on my shoulder to guide me inside the café. I crawled into the booth next to Uncle Jimmy so that Dad would have to sit next to Auri. She narrowed her eyes and smiled knowingly at me.
My Dad sat real close to her, closer than he had to. I saw her flinch when he scooted over so that their bodies touched. Her face turned red and she looked down at her hands. Dad's hands were somewhere under the table so I wondered if he had tickled her. I tried to open the gate and search Auri's mind.
Out! Get out!!! Nothing to see here...move along Furey.
Oh come on, did he tickle you? I asked.
Yeah, something like that.
I told you you'd like him. He really knows how to tickle, watch it.
He sure does.
"So dude, what's on the agenda?" Dad asked.
I looked up at my Dad who was giving me a silly stare. "I want to go to the screening of the new sci-fi series, Centauri, at nine then the auction at eleven. We can find something at ten to fill in the gap."
Auri looked at House, "Why don't you stay at your convention, I can escort the munchkin around."
My Dad looked upset, like we had just taken away a toy. "No...I uh...I wanted to see Centauri. There's nothing exciting this morning at the medical convention anyway...nothing exciting today. It's mostly stuff I know already."
Uncle Jimmy rolled his eyes, "I'll take notes. Apparently, you're up for a little hookie."
I heard my Dad think, Nookie, hookie, what's the difference?
"Dad, what's nookie?"
He gave me a stern look to shut up, but Auri had already laughed, tea coming through her nose. She must have heard his thoughts too, they were pretty loud. She grabbed a napkin and held it up to her nose, wiping it. "Yes, Greg, what's nookie?"
He pretended not to hear her ask. He looked at me, "So, we have forty minutes to get breakfast and get going. Where's that waitress?"
I had chocolate chip pancakes, my favorite. Dad usually picks food off of my plate, but he started grabbing it off of Auri's. She started chasing his hand all over the plate with her fork. They started laughing. It was so weird. I looked up at Uncle Jimmy who just shrugged and smiled. We're close enough that sometimes he can send me messages.
He was like this sometimes with your mother. Playful and funny. He's in a good mood. Don't worry, it's not fatal.
I nodded and watched, happy to see Dad chuckling as she tried to tickle him to give her back the grape in his mouth, although I don't really think she wanted it. Uncle Jimmy went back to eating his breakfast and motioned for me to do the same.
After breakfast we made our way over to the conference center and filed into the hall where they were showing Centauri. Auri sat between us. The last thing I saw before they turned out the lights was my Dad's arm going around the back of her chair.
Dear Readers...short chapter today! Sorry, but hope you enjoyed it.