Chapter 42 #2
The kids take off, with the caregivers helping the toddlers along and the guys spread out with the kids.
Bay grabs my hand and pulls me along, too.
We monitor the kids on the left side of the yard by the house.
I look around at everything. Even the teens are getting into the hunt.
Seb is lifting a small boy up to grab an egg from the live oak tree.
Sue and Zander are sitting in two Adirondack chairs on the deck.
Nick has a little boy by the hand and a little girl on his shoulders, pointing out eggs for Nick to grab for her.
E and Alex are supervising from the middle of the yard.
We all get pulled into the hunt to help, eventually.
Dave, one of the caretakers, is taking pictures with the cutout bunny as the kids come by.
I end up with a young boy about 10 beside me as we hunt in the trees.
Sue has a toddler on her lap on the deck, and Zander is running around with a child on each hip.
Alex and E are playing tag with some kids in the middle of the yard.
It’s…simply incredible. No wonder Seb has been so excited all week.
I can’t believe the guys do this every year.
The Easter egg hunt is an enormous success.
All the kids end up with full baskets. Sue and Zander bring out paper cups and pitchers of juice and water to the folding table next.
Everyone spreads out, enjoying themselves and the beautiful weather.
I join Sue, Zander, and a few of the caretakers at the outdoor table.
“Thank you so much for hosting this year, Zander and Summer. We are so grateful,” Mona says.
“Happy to help. This is an amazing thing the boys do,” Zander replies.
“It is. Alex’s mom would be so proud of him for keeping this tradition alive,” Mona smiles.
Suddenly, there’s a commotion off to the side of the house. E walks to the center of the yard, carrying one of the Adirondack chairs and sets it down. Looking back towards the garage, I see the Easter Bunny hopping along, surrounded by most of the kids.
“Oh my word,” Sue exclaims.
Scanning the yard, I see all the guys except Seb. Of course, he would be the one to dress up. “Come help Summer,” E calls.
I get up and head over to the chaos. We wrangle the kids into a line to get their picture taken with the bunny. Alex takes a picture of each child as they sit on the Easter bunny’s knee.
I take the kids to a sitting circle with E and Bay after their photo. The guys entertain the kids as we move through the group.
Once the photos are done and everyone has had a drink and some chocolate, the group loads back onto the bus. I notice all the adults have their sweetgrass baskets with the chocolate eggs E made. We all wave goodbye to the kids and caretakers as they leave.
“A few more pictures with the bunny to go,” E exclaims, so we follow him back to Seb. Alex sets up his phone on the deck, and we all gather around the Easter Bunny, with me ending up on Seb’s knee. Several photos later, Seb heads inside to get out of his costume.
Zander and Sue offer to go pick up dinner for everyone, so the rest of us start to clean up.
Bay hands me a tote bag to find any eggs the kids haven’t found.
I end up with most of the tote full by the time I scour the whole yard.
Everything else is taken care of when I’m done except the cutout, so I help Nick carry it to Alex’s SUV.
“What do you do with all the photos, Alex?” I ask as we slide the plywood bunny into the trunk area.
“I have them printed and delivered to Mona. She will distribute them to each child as a keepsake.”
We meet everyone inside the house as Zander and Sue arrive back with the food. After everyone is full, the guys present Zander, Sue, and me with the baskets we made earlier, full of E’s chocolate eggs and a few plastic eggs.
“You guys are incredible,” I say. “Thank you for including us this year.”
“Hear, hear!” Sue exclaims.
“Happy to have you guys,” Seb responds. The guys head out soon after, and the three of us relax on the couch.
“What a fantastic day!” Zander exclaims.
“It really was, wasn’t it?” I smile.
“Fantastic indeed,” Sue says. “I’m going to take my basket of goodies and head to my room. It was a very busy day today.”
“I think I’ll do the same,” Zander says, “if you’re good, Summer?”
“I’m fine. Gonna get a shower. Night guys,” I wave.
After a quick shower, I decide to take a bath with the Epson salts.
Taking my phone with me, I wish Mal and Jake a Happy Easter and then set up a group chat with all the guys.
I wish them all a Happy Easter tomorrow and tell them again how impressive today was. It’s not long before I get a response.
Seb: Group chat. Yes, Sunshine! We should've done this ages ago.
Alex: Happy Easter everyone
E: Glad you enjoyed yourself, Summer. Enjoy your day tomorrow.
Bay: Happy Easter!
There’s no response from Nick, but I wasn’t really expecting one, but I do get a call from Seb. “Hi Seb.”
“Sunshine. I’m framing the pic of you on my knee next week.”
“Um, that sounds dirty, Seb,” I reply.
Laughing, Seb responds, “not what I meant, Sunshine. What are you doing now?”
“I’m in the tub.”
Seb groans, “Damn Sunshine. You’re killing me.”
I chuckle at that. “Sorry.”
“Hey you didn’t get a run in today, did you?” I didn’t, so I definitely should run tomorrow.
“I’ll run with you if you don’t mind my showering over there afterwards. We can run the trails really close to you, or we can just run around the neighborhood. I’m gonna get going now. Night Sunshine. Sweet dreams.”
I fall asleep with a smile on my face, hugging Jake’s pillow.
Zander and I help Sue with prep in the kitchen Easter morning. Seb, Troy, Nick, and Gabby show up around lunchtime. Nick comes bearing a beautiful bouquet for Sue, thanking her for cooking. I’m a little stunned, but Sue is blushing like a schoolgirl.
Seb joins me for a run in the park nearby, and we run for about an hour.
I let Seb shower first, then grab a quick shower and soak in the tub with my salts.
After applying my recovery cream, I go back to the kitchen to see if Sue needs any help.
We work on and off prepping food and checking on the ham.
Once everything is ready, we enjoy a fantastic meal together.
Everybody heads home after dessert and cleanup, then Zander and I drop Sue off at the airport at 7pm. “Thanks so much for coming down here, Sue,” I say, hugging her goodbye near the security line.
“I had a wonderful weekend, sweetheart. You’re just blossoming down here. I’m so proud of you,” she smiles. After hugging Zander, she gives us one last wave before disappearing through security. I’m sad to see her go, but so grateful for the weekend I’ve experienced.