Boy Wonder (Phan)

Four.

"Happy Birthday Papa!" Beaming at his sleepy face I held up a cake, with the help of Daddy and Christopher of course, and felt very proud for being able to write out 'Happy Birthday' all on my own. A sleepy smile made its way onto his face as he we set down the cake on the dinner table and Daddy handed him a cup of coffee along with a kiss on the cheek. "You must've been extra sleepy today Papa, it's already after lunchtime!" He gave me an amused smile before taking a sip and letting out a sigh of relief, he must've really been thirsty. "Can we eat the cake /now/ Daddy, /please/?" Looking up I tried to use my puppy dog eyes but I guess 10 years old was to old for that trick because he didn't even hesitate before shaking his head and sitting next to Papa. With a small pout I sat next to Christopher, who was happy enough just to stare at the cake, and gave a few huffs before finally turning my attention to something else. "So are we having a party like we did with me and Christopher's birthdays?" Sitting up a bit straighter I looked at him with an expectant expression but he just shook his head, saying that even if he did have a party it would be a grown up one and me and Christopher would get a babysitter. "Why couldn't we go Papa?"

He started to answer but Daddy elbowed him hard enough in the side that he gave a yelp of pain and quickly shut his mouth, "We'll tell you when you're older. Now how about we go out for a bit of shopping? We're running out of some things." Getting up he gave a stretch and told me to get Christopher dressed and turned to Papa. "You gonna come or do you wanna stay home? Since it is your birthday I'll give you the luxury of choosing." Taking another sip he shook his head and leaned back a bit in his chair and waving Daddy off. "Fine, but I'm not getting you any of your special snacks." Ushering me and Christopher towards our rooms he stuck his tongue out at Papa and grinned when he saw the look of disbelief that he received. "Hurry up alright you two?"

Rolling my eyes I quickly dressed myself before hurrying over to Christopher's room and trying not to laugh as I saw him all tangled up in his shirt, "I guess you take after me." Helping him out of his crisis I placed my hand over his and pulled him out of his room, "Daddy! We're ready to go." Walking into the living room my hands quickly covered Christopher's eyes and my eyes had shut on their own, this was something neither of us needed to see. Others would say it was good to see your parents kiss each other, it was a good way to understand that they loved each other very much. But this was something else beyond kissing and though I was 10 and didn't quite know what it was called yet I knew it wasn't something for me and Christopher to see. "Daddy? Papa?" The weird noises stopped and I heard a big thud before scrambling and a hand pushing my back to push us out the door, "You two were kissing an awful lot should we just wait to shop another time?" Looking up at Daddy, who's entire face was bright red and his eyes were looking straight ahead, I cleared my throat as we finally made it to the car. "What were you two doing?"

"We'll tell you when you're older." It was almost like something I'd seen them do when I came back from my day with Auntie Mae, though she'd seemed to have the power to make them stop. Did I now posses this power? "Just. .. don't say anything about this to anyone else, okay? It's not something you tell other people." He seemed flustered and I really wished I was older now so I could know what it was they were doing. Stopping in front of the main shop he got us out and held each of our hands, "Do you both want to sit in the normal cart or do you want me to get one of those carts with the cars attached?" We both looked at each other before pulling away from Daddy and racing for the one with the car, it was a race to see which one of us would be able to control it. "If you keep fighting then I'm gonna have to use the normal cart, and I think we all know how uncomfortable those can be." Scrunching up my nose I tried to imagine Daddy getting into one of the carts cars with his large body and it made me laugh, it also made me forget what I was trying to do as Christopher pushed me gently and got into the driver's seat. "Sorry Sunshine but it looks like Christopher won. You can have it the next time we come."