Chapter 35
Parker looked around the Ape House. This one was definitely going to be on Kelly and not her. "Do you mind if I go outside and wait?"
"Don't like the Ape House?"
"Don't like Apes of any kind. This is strictly Boys Bonding time."
Kelly chuckled and looked down at Philip. "Looks like it's just the two of us, Buddy. Mom doesn't like apes."
Philip looked up at his parents. "You don't, Mommy?"
"Nope," Parker said as she gave Kelly and Philip both kisses. "See you two later."
Philip waited till Parker had left, then looked up at Kelly again. "Daddy?"
"What's up, Kiddo?"
"Is Mommy afraid of the apes?"
Kelly bent down and looked Philip in the eye. "No, I don't think she's afraid of them. Not like she's afraid of spiders. I think she just doesn't like the smell."
"They do smell pretty bad. Almost as bad as when Roscoe farts in the hallway."
Kelly laughed. The neighbor's Rottweiler was notorious for leaving stink bombs in the hallway.
"Do me a favor, Philip. Don't say fart in front of Mom. She doesn't like it."
"Okay. Moms can be a pain sometime, huh?"
"Sometimes. But most of the time they can be pretty cool."
"Not as cool as Grandma."
Kelly smiled. "You're right. Never as cool as Grandma. You ready to get out of here?"
"Can we get a drink?"
"Yes, we can get a drink. I'm sure Mom has something packed for us."
They found Parker sitting in the shade drinking a bottle of water.
"Hey," Kelly greeted as they approached. "You got some for us?"
"Of course."
Parker fished in her tote bag and brought out two bottles of water. She handed one to Kelly, and opened the other. She poured half of the bottle into Philip's straw cup and handed it to him. "So how were the apes?"
"They smell worse than Roscoe's farts," Philip informed her. He realized what he said and looked up at Kelly. "Sorry, Daddy," he apologized.
"It's okay, Buddy," Kelly said before taking a long drink of water.
"I take it he wasn't impressed?"
"I think he liked the elephants better."
"Everybody loves elephants," Parker agreed.
Kelly walked over to Parker and reached for her hand. "Come on you two, let's go see the polar bears. Maybe if we are lucky, we'll get to see them swim."
Three hours later, Kelly carried a sleeping Philip into the apartment and his bedroom. He took off his shoes, and slipped him under the sheet. Parker watched from the doorway.
"I think we wore him out," Kelly said quietly as he joined her in the hallway.
"It was a fun day," she agreed.
"We should do things with him more often."
She nodded. "He's at the age now where we can do that."
"When can we start him in soccer and hockey?"
"We can start him in learn to skate now, but not in a league till 5. Same with soccer."
Kelly nodded. "Would you be okay with that?"
"So long as he doesn't have to play on Hermann's team, I'm okay with it. We might have the next Bobby Hull there."
"He won't play for Hermann unless we move to Wicker Park."
"God forbid! I'm perfectly happy living in Bucktown, thank you very much."
Kelly walked over to her and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned against him and closed her eyes. "Let's start looking for a house again."
"We can do that."