Chapter Ten
Timothy
Flour-geddon Pizza Party Mayhem
“What the actual fuck?” Casey and I entered the house to what could only be described as a post-apocalyptic flour filled world.
Not. Good.
“Ooohhh, Daddy Casey, Daddy Timothy said a bad word.” Henry tattled.
“Yes, he did, and I don’t blame him.” Casey shook his head. “This will not be an easy clean up.”
“We were only outside for ten minutes. How did this happen?” My boy’s blue eyes, the only part of him not currently covered in flour, stared up at me. “Try not to cry because it will make the flour stick to you even more.”
“Well, since mine is the only one not covered in flour,” the only part of Chase with any on him was the front of his shirt, which clearly happened from standing too close to the other two imps. His hands were clean, so he’d not touched any of it.
“Oh, I’ve got our naughty boy.” Jensen and Mitchell walked in, having just returned from picking up the ice cream cake for me. “Henry, follow me.” Jensen’s displeasure with the situation was clear in his command. Henry flinched but followed him out.
“I didn’t do it.” Chase announced on the verge of tears. “Please don’t punish me.”
I didn’t know his back story, but based upon the fear in his reaction, punishments weren’t foreplay for him, and I hoped Casey caught that too.
“Sweet boy, I don’t believe you did anything wrong,” Casey took his hand, “but let’s go outside and brush you off.”
Putting the boys in the tub or shower would’ve been detrimental to the plumbing lines, and had we thrown them in the pool, yes, that thought had crossed my mind, it would’ve likely done the same to a very expensive pump.
“Over by the hose Jamie and Henry.” This was the first time I was truly angry with Jamie, and he knew it.
Tears spilled over, though he tried his best to contain them, so I washed his face first before the flour had a chance to get doughy.
Was that even a word? Doughy? Hell, who knows, and at this point, none of the ones swirling through my mind were PG-rated.
“Henry,” Mitchell slid Henry’s shirt off and a poof of white filled the air, “why did you do this?”
“The-the,” he stuttered, “the dough was sticking to the counter so we got the flour but couldn’t open it. And-and it was so soft, so we played in it, but it tasted nasty.” Henry stuck his tongue out and a white streak ran down the center. “Blech.”
“Jamie, I don’t even know what to say.” Nor where to begin. “The kitchen is a mess, the dough was already rolled out, so there was nothing for you to do but decorate your pizza. Now, I don’t even know if we can save any of it.”
“Sorry daddies,” Henry and Jamie said together as they cried and clung to one another.
“Jamie how did it get in your ears?”
“My ear itched.”
“And up your nose?”
“The flour made me sneeze, so I rubbed it.”
I was at a loss for words and did not look forward to the challenge of cleaning up the kitchen.
Casey and Chase went back inside where Mitchell was, likely to attempt to salvage our dinner.
A possibility that may not come to fruition.
The only positive was that Jamie was dressed in his swim trunks whereas Henry had to be stripped down to his underwear, so it was easier and less invasive to hose him off.
“I’ll grab towels.” Thankful I’d had the foresight long ago to add a storage cabinet for pool towels and supplies on the porch.
“Henry has an extra outfit in the car. I’ll be right back.” While Jensen took care of that I wrapped the still sobbing boys in towels and had them sit in a lounge chair to dry off. Given the Nevada heat, that would take no time at all.
“Stay put until I come back. Do not turn on the hose, do not jump in the pool. Please be good and listen.”
“Yes, Daddy, I promise.”
“I promise too, Daddy Timothy.”
I stepped inside to check on things and just as the slider closed, a chunk of pizza dough fell from the ceiling and onto Mitchell’s head.
Four pizzas just became three.
“I don’t even know what to say.” Though the groan I released spoke for me. Mitchell, Casey, Chase and I stared at the crusty mess. Jensen walked in, took one look at Mitchell and lost it, and his laughter triggered the rest of us.
“I’m at a loss, guys. I’m so sorry about this. I hope dinner isn’t ruined.” I was prepared to buy them a steak dinner to try and make up for this. No doubt the birthday boy was the mastermind behind it all.
Mitchell tossed the dough atop his head into the trashcan. “I think it’ll be all right. I’ll brush off the rest of the dough and do a quick rinse of the toppings. We should be good to go, although you’ll likely find flour for the next millennia. They killed an entire bag.”
“Jesus.” Though praying to any sort of God or saint would do zero good at this point, I still shot a quick prayer out into the universe just for good measure. The damage was done and there was nothing left to do but to clean.
Forever.
“I’ll go dress Henry and bring the boys in.
” Jensen took care of the imp twins while the rest of us were attending the kitchen, and I made a mental note to change the air filter before bed.
A clogged filter would do more harm than good, and there was no way it hadn’t caught some of this.
Bucket after bucket of water was rinsed outside and coated the colorful riverbed of rocks in a dull white sheen.
Jensen had put Jamie and Henry in timeout the moment he brought them inside.
I’d never been a stern Daddy before, but it was time to find that attribute and utilize it if today was any sign of what my boy had in store for me.
“Monsoons should wash it away,” Casey patted my shoulder as we dumped the buckets out and refilled them with fresh water from the hose.
“Here’s to hoping. Is Chase okay, he was pretty shaken up?”
“Yes. I don’t know his backstory yet. Believe it or not, he’s best friends with my best friend’s son.
Strange circle we’re in, but David, his best friend, has given me glimpses into Chase.
That boy brings out the protective Daddy in me.
” Enough said. His boy’s past definitely wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, not that most of them were anymore.
I got the feeling that Casey would be the perfect Daddy for Chase. His calm demeanor was exactly what Chase needed.
I checked the temp on the pizza oven, which was where we needed it. “Let’s go salvage what we can of dinner. Thank fuck the salad was in the fridge.” At least I hoped it still was…
We walked into a mostly clean kitchen and never had I been more thankful than I was right then for having opted for full-height cabinets that butted up against the ceiling when I did the remodel. Otherwise, I’d be on a ladder cleaning the tops off for days.
“Thanks guys, I appreciate the help.” Note to self, send these Daddy’s a thank you gift.
“Hey, our boy was in on it too. The cake is in the freezer, ready to decorate the pizzas?” Mitchell did his best to bring things back around to the party. Glad one of us was focused.
“Yes. Jamie,” his blue eyes met mine. “Come over and decorate our pizza, but please do not touch the other two.” I put the sauce and cheese on first because I wasn’t about to deal with that potential disaster.
“Henry, Chase, come on over and do yours.” Chase glanced at his daddy and Casey nodded and sweetly smiled.
I was happy for my friend and though he might have his work cut out for him, Chase will make a perfect boy once he learns to let go.
Together they will work past their traumas and challenges, but either way my mischievous boy had a new friend.
With minimal topping casualties, the boys decorated the pizzas. While Casey and I manned the pizza oven, Jensen and Mitchell took care of the rest. When we brought the pizzas inside the boys were seated and had their juice boxes.
The boys didn’t say a word as they ate. Henry and Jamie likely didn’t enjoy the timeout but hopefully learned their lesson.
Once they were full and wiped off, it was time for them to play while we dealt with the leftovers.
“Why don’t you boys go into the playroom while we get the kitchen cleaned up. ”
“Okay, Daddy. Thank you for dinner. I’m sorry I was naughty.” Jamie kissed my cheek and skipped off. Clearly trying to get me to forget the whole event, and given it was his birthday, he may get away with nothing more than a warning.
Maybe.
“Cake and present time?” Jensen asked.
“Should we give them anymore sugar?” Mitchell had a point.
“Good call, but given it’s Jamie’s birthday, and I get the feeling it’s his first birthday party, I hate for him to miss such an important part.” I pulled the cake from the fridge and put the candle on it. “You want to grab them, Casey?”
As soon as Jamie appeared, we broke into the familiar song.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Jamie. Happy birthday to you.”
His eyes were wide as saucers, and he clapped when we were done. “Thank you!”
“Make a wish and blow out the candles.” I stood nearby just in case…
Jamie closed his eyes and scrunched his face, then blew hard.
As soon as it went out, we cheered. “Okay, Jamie, open your presents while we cut the cake.” The boys were enthralled with that, which gave us time to get the cake served.
Jamie got a racetrack from Henry, no surprise there, and a gift card from Casey and Chase for an online toy store. He was ecstatic.
“Thank you, everyone. Cake with ice cream in it. I’ve never had that before.” Jamie was so excited. “So nummy, nummy,” before he got to his third nummy, he slapped his forehead. “Owie, owie, owie. Ice cream head rush. Bad ice cream.”
“Slow it down, Jamie.” I got that he was excited, but brain freezes were painful.
With full bellies the boys were sluggish and decided to play with the toys in lieu of swimming.