Chapter 24 #2
Taking her hand, I lead her behind the pine trees to where a group of spireas are clustered together, where I hid eggs myself.
We get on our knees, locating half a dozen eggs.
I climb one of the pine trees the other little girls missed, adding four more to her basket.
We skip back towards the canopies, stopping when she spots several more.
Her basket is full when we return, and she’s all smiles now.
Jake and Will are handing out drinks to the kids as they finish. Some are sitting in the grass, while others are in the shade.
E announces that the Easter bunny has arrived as Bay and Alex set a large chair near the cutouts. Seb comes hopping over as screams and cheers echo around the yard. I help form a line and move kids along as Alex takes pics of each of them with the bunny.
A few teens are hesitant to sit on his lap, so I tell them to just stand beside him. It takes a while, but we get photos of all the kids. Bay has a group on the grass playing I spy, and E is playing tag with another group.
As I’m turning to grab a seat in the shade, someone taps my shoulder. “Tag, you’re it!” E smiles and jogs off. Guess I’m playing tag. Smiling, I chase the kids circling E.
It must be another hour before the kids tire.
We make sure everyone has a drink, and then the caregivers round up the kids to get back on the bus.
I have one little boy on my back while the two little girls from the pine trees are holding onto my shirt as we walk.
I spot Jake with the little boy from earlier on his lap.
I’m able to say hello to Mona as the kids climb onto the bus, and we all wave goodbye as the bus ambles down the driveway until it’s out of sight.
Steven has a crew to clean up for us, so we gather in the living room. “What did you think, handsome?” I ask Jake.
“That was amazing, Sum. You do this every year?”
“I do now. It started with Alex’s mom, and he kept the tradition going. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah.” Jake lets out a big yawn, so Ray says it’s time to go home. Alex gives the three of them their own sweetgrass baskets with chocolate eggs, like they did for us last year. I give Jake a hug and a kiss on his cheek as they thank everyone for the invite today.
Dad announces two Finn employees need help removing trees that came down in the storm yesterday. They both had crews lined up for today, but they were called to help the power company instead.
We split up with me, Dad, E, and Bay going to one location while Troy, Alex, and Seb head to the other. Steven asks Sue to remain for some tea, which she's happy to do. I give her a hug, and then we climb into my Jeep, and Dad drives.
We end up at Jensen’s house, the other helicopter pilot at Finn. He’s outside with a chainsaw running as he cuts branches off the enormous tree leaning on his roof. Several more Finn employees arrive with chainsaws shortly after us.
I follow Bay up onto the roof. As he cuts branches with a chainsaw, I roll them off the roof for someone to either stack for firewood or burn.
Bay is both comfortable and proficient with the chainsaw, making quick work of the branches.
As we’re removing the last few, I hear some yell up to him that one of the chainsaws is broken.
Dad switches places with him as he climbs down to fix it.
Once dad has the trunk chopped up, he helps me chuck the pieces onto the ground. Unfortunately, the tree did some damage to the roof. There’s a visible dip where it landed, although no hole. E climbs the ladder and hands us a tarp, strapping, and nails to protect the roof until it can be repaired.
I’m exhausted and covered in sawdust and twigs by the time we finish.
Seb texts me as we drive back to Alex’s house to pick up Sue that the other house wasn’t damaged, but two trees blocked the driveway.
I guess there’s many, many trees down around the area, and power is still out in remote places.
I think all of Finn showed up between the two houses, which is great.
We pick up Sue before heading home. Dad and I hop in the shower as soon as we arrive, as Sue makes dinner. I talk to Jake, telling him about the cleanup when I get into bed, and sleep like the dead that night.
Sue and I spend the morning in the kitchen prepping for Easter dinner. We’re having baked honey brown sugar ham, scalloped potatoes, roasted spring veggies, salad, and biscuits. We also have several pies for dessert.
Troy, Seb, and Gabby arrive at 1pm with Troy carrying a bouquet of mixed flowers for Sue. Jake, Ray, and Will are a few minutes behind, and Jake has a bouquet of roses for me. I kiss his cheek and reintroduce Sue, Troy, and Gabby before finding a vase.
Gabby helps me set the table and island since there are so many of us this year.
What a wonderful problem to have. I doubt Nick is celebrating the holiday, but I hope he knows I’m thinking of him.
We use the far side of the island to set the dishes, going buffet style, and Seb, Gabby, and I volunteer to sit at the island.
Seb keeps the conversation lively as we enjoy our delicious meal, and everyone is chatting and happy.
As we begin our dessert, Troy raises his glass to toast Nick. “Nick, we’re thinking of you today and hope you can return to us soon.” We each raise our glasses in cheers as my eyes fill with moisture. Seb squeezes my knee, and I give Gabby a side hug. She’s also fighting back tears.
All these holidays and moments he’s missing out on make me both sad and angry.
He should be here with us today, possibly handing Sue another bouquet like last year, and Nick and Jake should be good friends by now.
He should've been here when we got our acceptance letters and scholarships.
Will he miss graduation, too? Shaking my head to refocus, I eat my delicious coconut cream pie.
Dad and I divide up the leftovers among the three households into containers, and then we settle in for some sports in the living room.
Sue isn’t flying back until tomorrow morning this year, so she and I take a walk around the yard arm in arm before dark so she can see the blooms and what I’ve done to the flower beds since she was last here.
Jake and crew are the first to leave. This is more activity than Jake has had in years, so he still tires quickly, but he made it through. Seb, Troy, and Gabby stay until close to 10pm.