Chapter 15
MURRY
“Guess what just arrived!”
Daddy’s voice sounded excited as he stepped off the lift, dragging a cart loaded with boxes behind him.
“Lunch?” I asked, peering at the boxes, hoping to see bags among them with the logo of our favorite seafood restaurant.
It had been my turn to choose, and I’d ordered a feast that Daddy had refused to let me pay for, since he believed food was a daddy’s job to provide.
Even after I’d turned my phone to show him just how much delicious seafood goodness was contained in the order, he’d still refused to allow me to enter my debit card number.
Only there was no sign of the bags, just six big boxes carefully stacked on the cart and one significantly smaller one perched on the center of the pile.
“Not yet, but Aspen is keeping an eye out for it and promises to buzz me as soon as it arrives,” Daddy said.
“I set the table,” Raleigh announced. “But I didn’t put ice in the glasses yet. I didn’t want it to start melting and water down our pop.”
“Good plan. Watered-down pop is never fun to drink, and I’m looking forward to trying this tangerine soda you’ve been telling me about.”
“It’s so good,” Raleigh insisted.
“And I’m so thirsty,” I whined, pouting as my stomach grumbled.
“I promise it will be here soon,” Daddy said. “And in the meantime, we can see how the new prototypes for the swim gear turned out, because that’s what’s in all these boxes.”
I tried to feel excited, but my stomach rumbled again, and it hurt this time, which made smiling difficult as I followed Daddy through the loft to the worktables where we always placed deliveries for unboxing.
Raleigh hurried to the storage closet, bringing out a rack with empty garment bags dangling from it. There were a lot of them, and I truly hoped that our food would get here before we filled too many bags, or I’d be working hangry and have to be mindful not to accidentally snap at anyone.
“Murry, can you grab the tote with the aqua lid?” Daddy asked. “We can arrange the goggles, caps, and swim fins in there so it will be easier to load them in the van when we head down to the beach to test everything.”
“Wait, we’re going to the beach?” I asked, the discomfort of my rumbly stomach easing up as I started getting excited.
“That’s the only way for us to test everything properly,” Daddy explained.
“When do we get to go?” I blurted.
I still hadn’t taken two steps towards the closet to get the tote, but I would, just as soon as Daddy answered the question.
“The weather report I saw this morning claimed that tomorrow’s high would be 87,” Daddy replied. “That sounds like perfect beach weather to me.”
“Do we get to stay there all day?” Raleigh asked, placing the totes with the aqua lid on the table and setting the lid aside.
“With so many things to test, I don’t see how we’d be able to get through it all if we didn’t head down early and stay until the sun went down,” Daddy replied.
My stomach grumbled again, and this time Daddy heard it, because he turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you snag a banana out of the fruit bowl? It won’t spoil your appetite for supper.”
“I kind of ate the last banana,” Raleigh admitted. “And killed off the pineapple chunks in the fridge.”
“Shit, and we killed off the kiwis, strawberries, and blackberries this morning, didn’t we?” Daddy said. “No wonder I’ve got a frowny bunny glaring at the floor like he wants to start nibbling on the wood.”
“I would if I thought it would taste good,” I grumbled.
“I’m sorry about that, boys; I’m still trying to get the hang of how much food to order for three people,” Daddy explained.
“I’ll admit I didn’t quite realize just how deeply your love of fruits and vegetables ran, being a meat and potatoes guy myself.
I promise to up the quantity when I put the next order in.
In fact, I will take care of it while we eat so we have it tonight and can pack ourselves a picnic for tomorrow. ”
I was totally on board with the picnic and Daddy upping the produce order.
Having something to snack on that didn’t need to be cooked, or even heated up, always kept this bunny appeased.
Especially when there were enough grapes and berries to mix in a bag and stick in the freezer for smoothies and things to suck on when I got warm, which I sometimes did while playing.
Daddy’s phone chimed, and a bright smile lit his face as he turned and headed for the lift. “Unboxing can wait until after we eat,” Daddy declared. “Our food is here.”
I threw my hands in the air and hopped around in a circle. “Yay! My belly thanks you.”
“I’ll put the ice in the glasses now,” Raleigh declared and hurried to do just that.
I hopped behind him and plopped on my seat, bouncing in it when I heard the lift doors open a few minutes later.
“Sorry I didn’t leave you anything to snack on,” Raleigh said, looking a bit sheepish as I narrowed my eyes at him across the table.
“I suppose you can be forgiven this time,” I told him, sticking my tongue out at him when he pouted. “But only because the food is here, and oh my goddess, it smells delicious.”
Daddy seemed to realize exactly how hungry I was and how close I was to ripping open the carton on the top so I could inhale the contents, because he passed me the package of garlic biscuits that was poking out of the bag before he started untying it.
“Yum, they’re still hot!” I declared as I snatched one from the bag and bit into it, moaning, which turned to gasping, my yelp half smothered by the bread as a steaming chunk burned my tongue.
“Yeah, so you might want to blow on that before you take your next bite,” Daddy said. “I’m sure your taste buds will thank you for doing it.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, swallowing and immediately taking another bite so my stomach would stop complaining.
“Or not,” Daddy said.
I finished two before relinquishing the bag to Raleigh, but only because Daddy had removed all the cartons from the first bag and started opening them.
The bread had sated my appetite enough that I sat patiently while Daddy dished the food onto our plates, and his own, pour the drinks, and sit down to join us before I dug in.
This was not a meal to interrupt with conversation, though, so I was pleased when they dove right in too, sparing me from having to grunt and mumble around my food to answer any questions directed at me. To say we made pigs of ourselves would be an understatement.
The cartons looked like they’d been victims of a giant lizard on a rampage.
Nothing but crumbs, twisted lids, and half-tipped Styrofoam remained of our feast. Even the tangerine soda had fallen victim to the epic pig-out session we’d treated ourselves to.
Daddy let out a long, echoing belch that made Raleigh giggle, before rubbing his belly and groaning as he slumped down in his seat like he was about to slide out completely and take a cat nap under the table.
“If I move, I’m going to explode,” I declared when the full weight of all I’d consumed hit my stomach like a brick, leaving me with serious regrets about my recent life choices.
I should have slowed down on the second plate or at least given myself a half-hour break to see if I was really as hungry as my brain thought I was.
“No exploding. I wouldn’t be able to move to clean up the mess,” Daddy declared.
“Stop making me laugh,” Raleigh whined in between giggles.
If I’d tried giggling at our predicament, I’d have burst. Hell, if I were a witness to this, I’d be doubled over, laughing at the state we’d left ourselves in.
“Daddy,” I moaned. “You might need to design pig gear because I just made a pig out of myself, and now my stomach hurts, and I just want to lie somewhere cool and sunny and go to sleep. I think wallowing in the mud would feel spectacular right now.”
“Ugg, mud is too filthy,” Raleigh groused. “I’d rather lie in a squishy pool of chocolate pudding or on a giant slab of Jell-O. Either seems like it would be really nice right now.”
“Until you started eating it,” Daddy said.
“Can’t skip dessert,” Raleigh said.
“Don’t say dessert,” I moaned. “Don’t even talk about food or anything remotely food adjacent until sometime tomorrow afternoon. My stomach can’t decide if it’s happy or pissed right now.”
“Mine’s happy,” Raleigh said. “But I’m sleepy. Can I take a cat nap before I help with the unboxing?”
“There isn’t going to be an unboxing until we’ve all had the chance to let our food settle,” Daddy declared. “I think we should take a moment and muster up the energy to waddle over to the living room so we can put something on to watch while our food digests.”
“Waddling makes me think of penguins,” Raleigh said, slipping further down in the seat, so much so that his t-shirt rode up, abs bulging where a food baby had formed beneath them.
“Oh my goddess, Daddy, that would be such cool gear. You can design the arms like flippers but still make it look like a tuxedo. You could do a whole formal line of actual penguin suits with pieces that could be added or removed for different occasions and tiny matching bow ties, and eggs too so they have a cool accessory to carry with them.”
“If the eggs opened, they could carry stuff in them,” I offered, glad to have something to think about beside how full I was.
“You could even make egg-shaped sporrans for the daddies with penguins,” Raleigh added, pushing himself back up in his seat slowly.
He took a few slow, deep breaths before he stood, while Daddy groaned and let out another long belch.
“It says something about how full I am that I’m not rushing to grab a pen right now because those are some amazing ideas,” Daddy said. “I can already picture the gear taking shape in my head.”
“You’ve got your living room sketchbook,” I pointed out.
“You’re right. I do,” Daddy said. “Guess I’d better pry myself out of this chair so I can write everything down before you two start firing more wonderful ideas.”