Mother's Day is a grim time of the year for Striker.
Jake stared curiously at the gravestone as his father placed a bouquet of flowers on it. There was a sad look on his face, but he was smiling too.
"What ad you doing, daddy?"
Striker motioned his son to come closer. "Remember I told ya once that yer grandma was resting? This is where. I wanted to bring her some flowers' today."
"Why?"
"Because it's Mother's day."
Jake tilted his head a bit. "Whad's Mothed's day?"
Striker took a deep breath, running a hand on the gravestone.
"Today's May tenth, Mother's Day. It's a special holiday where people celebrate their mamas and give 'em presents to show how much they love 'em."
"Evewybody?"
"Everybody, kiddo."
Jake looked down momentarily. "Do I have a mama too?"
Striker swallowed hard.
Thankfully, Bombproof pushed him mildly with a snort to remind him it was time to go to work. This gave him a excuse to dodge the question.
"Time to go, pup. We don't wanna be late."
"Daddy?"
Striker interrupted his task of painting the barn to look down. Jake was pulling unto his pants.
"What is it, pup?" he asked, wiping some sweat off his brow. To his surprise, Jake was holding up a bunch of flowers he'd picked up.
"I got you a pwesent!"
Chuckling, Striker accepted the unexpected gift. "Thanks, pup."
"Happy mothed's day!"
Striker's smile instantly vanished.
"Mid Lynn got lots of pwesents from evewyone. Ye said that mama's get pwesents today, so I wanted to give you somethid!" Jake's enthusiasm faltered a little as he realized his father's expression had gone serious. "You didn't like it, dada?"
"No, no, I did like it, pup. It's just ye... caught me by surprise, that's all." Striker smiled a bit as he ruffled Jake's hair.
But at the same time, his heart ached at the realization that Jake gave him a gift because he didn't have anyone else to give a present to on Mother's Day.