Jack and his kids stop for fast food on the way home. 1.2K words.
For a while there, it was just Jack, the soft singing of the radio, and the sunset-lit highway, but it wasn’t too long before a soft voice said, “Papa?”
“Yes, sweetie?” Jack’s eyes flickered to the rear view mirror where Annie was rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“Did you eat all your snacks already?” Jack asked as he glanced at the time on the dashboard. There was almost another half hour before they’d be home, and now that Annie had brought it up Jack was starting to feel hungry himself.
“Sam ate all the dino gummies,” she said, wrinkling her nose at her twin.
At the mention of his name, Sam groaned and lifted his head from where he’d been slumped over in his car seat. There was a wet spot on his shirt from where he’d been drooling. He snuffled and kicked his legs.
“I want chicken nuggets,” Annie said.
“Daddy probably left us a healthy meal at home already,” Jack said.
“Chicken nuggets,” she repeated stubbornly before sticking her thumb into her mouth. Sam seemed to have fallen back asleep because he said nothing.
In the distance, the neon light of Good Burger came into view like a well-timed beacon. Jack sighed inwardly as he took the exit to turn into the parking lot. The twins had already had pizza and cake at the birthday party earlier this afternoon, and if Bitty were there, he would object to feeding them more unhealthy food.
Despite his husband’s voice in the back of his head, Jack unbuckled his children from their car seats. Sam draped his head on Jack’s shoulder while Annie, the little ball of energy she was, started to bounce excitedly as soon as her feet touched the ground. “Papa, I want a toy with my food!” she said.
“Okay, sweetie,” Jack said fondly.
It was not very busy inside the fast food restaurant, a few people at their own table and a quiet family sitting in the corner. “Welcome to Good Burger. What can I get for you?” the tired teenager said automatically at the till.
“I’ll have a combo number four and two orders of the kids chicken nugget meals, please,” Jack said as he juggled Sam in one arm while trying to reach around for the wallet in his back pocket. Sam had woken up during the short walk inside from the car, and he was now looking dazedly around the bright surroundings. He was still too sluggish from his nap to do more than put his chin back on Jack’s shoulder.
Meanwhile, Annie had ran over to look at one of the posters beside the fountain soda machine. She turned dashed back to Jack with a toothy grin. “I want a Papa toy,” she said to the cashier.
“That’ll be $18.49,” the cashier said.
“I want a Papa toy!” Annie said loudly again when she was ignored. Jack frowned and had to put a hand softly on her head.
“That’s not how we talk to people,” he reminded her.
Annie turned her big eyes on him before looking back at the girl behind the counter. “Please, can I have a Papa toy?” she repeated.
“Um, I don’t think we have those,” the cashier said, clearly having no idea what Annie was talking about. She handed Jack back his receipt and then turned to Annie, “How about a different toy?” she asked.
Annie frowned, clearly not pleased by any of this. “But I want a Papa toy.” She pointed to the poster she’d been staring up at earlier.
Jack had barely glanced at it when he’d come in, but now, he realized that his face was on the poster. The advertisement promised a sports action figure in every kid’s meal pack, and Annie had wanted one of him. Her words suddenly made more sense, and Jack could see it dawning on the teenage employee as well.
“Oh!,” she exclaimed. She looked back at Jack sheepishly. “Sorry, I don’t really follow hockey,” she said.
It was Jack’s turn to feel a bit embarrassed. It never stopped being weird when he got recognized. “It’s fine,” he said.
“I want a Papa toy, too!” Sam piped up even though he had his fingers jammed in his mouth, so it came out more as a garbled shout.
“We don’t usually take requests,” the cashier said slowly. “It’s usually whatever gets put into the bag.”
Jack watched as Annie’s face fell as she stared up at the other girl. Her brown eyes widened and he could see the beginnings of a pout as her lower lip began to quiver ever so slightly.
“But, of course, we can make an exception in this case!” the cashier said quickly.
Jack shook his head, bewildered by how Annie could turn on the puppy eyes so effectively. “Thank you,” he said sincerely when the cashier came back with two plastic wrapped action figures with the familiar blue Falconers jerseys.
“No problem. If my dad had been an action figure when I was a kid, I’d ask for him too,” she said with a smile.
When they’d finally collected their food and they’d found a table, Sam and Annie were too engrossed in playing with their new toys to actually eat their dinner. “He shoots! He scores!” Sam yelled.
“Hey, inside voice,” Jack said.
“Sorry, Papa,” Sam said without taking his eyes off of the toy. Jack took one of his chicken nuggets, dipped it in sauce, and fed it to Sam who happily continued to push the miniature version of Jack across the table.
Annie, who sat beside Sam, had ketchup all over her hands and even some in her hair, but she didn’t seem to care as she attempted to feed the plastic toy one of her french fries. “We should get a toy Daddy,” she said.
“They don’t have a toy Daddy,” Jack explained patiently.
“But what if toy Papa gets lonely?”
“He won’t,” he promised. “He has you now.”
Annie looked down at her action figure before setting it down on the table. She scrambled onto Jack lap, and he let her, not caring about her messy face and grease-smeared fingers. “Do you miss me when I’m not here, Papa?” she asked sadly.
The question took Jack by surprise, but he rubbed her back soothingly. “Of course, ma chouette, I always miss you when you’re not around.” He felt a little pang in his chest as he thought of all the times he’d had to leave his family during road trips or because of something hockey related.
“I miss you, Papa,” Sam said in earnest, mirroring his sister’s agitation, and now, Jack had both of his children sniffling wetly against him.
“I miss you, too,” Jack said. He was suddenly struck by the memory of his own father kneeling in the front hall, explaining that he had to leave again, and his mother promising him that he could watch the game on TV that night.
“You don’t have to be sad though. Do you know why?” Jack finally said as he mentally shook himself.
Both of them looked up at Jack with confused expressions. “Why?”
“I’ll come back home every time,” Jack said, echoing his father’s words from decades ago.
The twins were contemplative until Sam finally cracked a small smile. “Okay, Papa,” he accepted. “But you promise, right?”
Jack pressed a kiss to each of their soft foreheads. “Always.”
