Dishes

(Words: 607)

Spoilers: Time Flies

A/N: The idea for this one came from the episode's "Dear Doc". I made notes for it at some point…just haven't been able to find them. So, this is all new. Not beta-read, so if you see a mistake, please let me know. Have a blessed 2017 everyone!

Finished: December 28, 2016

"That was wonderful, Love," Ralph Cassidy said, pushing his chair back from the table. With a glance at the clock he rose. "Unfortunately, I do have to leave now."

"Be careful and have fun." His wife tipped her head back for a goodbye kiss. Ralph happily obliged.

"Will do. You two have fun too. And Clint, be a good boy and help your mom with the dishes, hey Buddy?"

"Da-ad!" Clint complained as his father ruffled his hair. "Can I come with you?" He asked hopefully.

"Sorry, Son, not tonight. It's gonna be way past your bedtime before I'm gonna be back."

"Aw…"

"And those puppy dog eyes don't work no more, so giddy-up and help your Mom out." There was a honk outside. "That'll be Joe. Gotta go. See y'all in the morning."

While his father grabbed his guitar and left, Clint sighed and moodily stared at his empty plate.

"Come on, let's get these dishes done. The sooner we do them, the sooner we can do something fun." His mother stood and started stacking the plates.

Clint sighed again, but did get up and gathered the cutlery. "I don't get it. Dad always says that the cook never cleans… so why do we have to do the dishes?" he complained.

His mother had a twinkle in her eye. "Oh, are you offering to do the dishes by yourself?"

Wide-eyed, Clint looked up and vigorously shook his head. "No! I mean, will you help me, Mom, please?"

"Of course, I will, Sweetheart."

"I just meant… Dad doesn't cook. But he almost never does the dishes."

"That's 'cause your Dad plays in the band and has to leave early, Honey, you know that."

"I know," Clint sighed. He put the cutlery in the sink and went to get the glasses while his mother started rinsing the plates.

They were approaching the end of the dishes when Clint, who had been very thoughtful while he was drying off, spoke up again.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Clint?"

"When I grow up I wanna be in a band too," he said this with a decisive tone.

His mother's eyes started twinkling. "That so…? And why is that?"

Clint grinned up at his mother. "Then I'll never have to do the dishes either."

His mother laughed. "Oh, but then you'll miss out on so much fun!"

He wrinkled his nose. "No way! What fun?"

"Oh you know," his mother started, watching as Clint put down the last dried off plate. "Things like this."

"Huh?" Clint looked up and was met with suds on his nose. "Mo-om!" he complained half-heartedly. A gleam in his eyes betrayed him though, and his mother jumped just out of reach when Clint grabbed a big handful of soapy bubbles. She ran around the table and waited for Clint to decide on a direction. Clint made a faint towards the right but then went left. His mother fell for the trick, but recovered quickly and ducked out of the way. Not fast enough though. In the end they both had laughing faces covered of suds. A towel took care of that, and they finished putting away the dry dishes.

Afterwards, they sat down on the porch with some lemonade, watching the sunset.

"So, still wanna be in a band?"

"Yes!" Clint declared emphatically, looking sideways to gauge his mother's response. At her raised eyebrows, he giggled. Then he hugged her. "But I guess till then doing the dishes ain't all bad. As long as I'm doing them with you." His beaming smile made his mother's heart melt. She hugged him just a little closer. How she loved her boys.

A/N: The sentence from the episode that inspired it was: "Hey Dottie, It's times like these I get to wishing I could just drop by and sit a spell, maybe help you with the dishes after supper, like I used to do with my mom, and just like I did with you after you took me in when I was a kid."

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