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Claudia was working the later shift the next day and didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. The three of them had a leisurely breakfast before they left for home so she could get ready for work. As she got ready for work she realized that she couldn't remember the last time she had felt this rested. Work was work and she was tired but not exhausted when she picked Joshua up at the sitter's. They spent a typical night puttering around the apartment and she was in the middle of ironing some cheerful curtains for the living room when Tony called to confirm that they were still on for the carnival.
Claudia could just picture his face on the other end of the phone all lit up in excitement. He had been that way since he first showed her the flyer for the carnival. As she was settling into bed she tried to figure out his enthusiasm and it took her a while but she finally realized that Tony had probably never had the opportunity to do any of this kind of thing as a kid. She determined she was actually going to have two kids with her tomorrow, one just in a bigger package. The thought made her smile as she fell asleep.
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The next morning was bright and sunny and boded well for the carnival. Claudia got up early and packed Joshua's knapsack so it was ready to go. And she got Joshua up and dressed. They were in the kitchen with Joshua eating a bowl of cereal when Tony knocked. When Claudia opened the door for him she got to see in person the exact expression that she had envisioned on his face when he had called.
Tony leaned in and gave her a teasing little kiss, "Good morning."
She teased back, "It is now."
The made their way into the kitchen and Joshua's face lit up when he saw Tony who ruffled his hair. "Morning squirt. Whatcha eating?"
"Rice Krispies with naners." Joshua demonstrated by holding up a dripping spoon full of cereal and bananas.
"Good stuff."
She poured Tony a coffee and without a word deposited a cereal bowl and spoon in front of him gesturing towards the cereal box and milk on the table.
He winked at Joshua and teased Claudia, "Thanks, Mom."
"Brat."
She had promised Tony he could tell Joshua about the carnival so she had to keep from laughing when he said, "So, Joshua, I heard about this silly carnival thing that's going on today. Their going to have rides and ponies and games and stuff, I guess. But I bet that's not anything you'd want to go to right? Too silly?"
Joshua's eyes had grown very large as he thought about it, "That's not silly Tony. That's fun. I like ponies. I rode one before."
Tony played it up some more, "I dunno, Joshua, still sounds silly to me. Maybe we should go so you can show me how it's not silly."
"Mummy, Mummy, can we go, please?"
When she nodded Joshua and Tony had a race to see who could eat their cereal faster and soon enough they were grabbing the knapsack and heading for the car. But Tony had another surprise for them as he pulled them towards his car.
Claudia was just about to say that they needed Joshua's booster seat when she saw the brand spanking new booster seat securely fastened in the back seat of Tony's car. She stood there not knowing exactly what to say as Tony and Joshua put the top down. He got Joshua buckled into the booster seat and with a flourish whipped out a pair of child-sized aviator sunglasses.
"Here you go Joshua, you have look cool when you have the top down."
Claudia climbed in the passenger seat and asked, "You bought a booster seat?"
Tony shrugged, a little embarrassed, "Yeah. Well, you know. It's easier than swapping one back and forth." He gave her a cocky little grin and slipped on his own sunglasses.
He didn't tell her about his misadventure yesterday in trying to purchase said booster seat. He had noted the brand of the one in Claudia's car and had headed off to the department store hoping he could just scoop one off the shelf. No such luck. The endless aisle of car and booster seats had every brand except the once Claudia had. He was lost. He wandered up and down the aisle trying to compare and contrast and just managed to make himself even more frustrated. He had started talking to himself and was getting odd looks from a few women shopping nearby. Finally his rescue came in the form of a pleasantly plump grandmother that worked in the department. He wanted to kiss her when after listening to his dilemma and getting Joshua's size and weight, she walked him over to a spot on the shelf and pointed out the best model for him.
He also didn't tell Claudia about how, with booster seat box in hand, he was making his way out of the children's section when something on the end of an aisle caught his eye and he just had to investigate. It was a display of the little tiniest sneakers Tony had ever seen, they were obviously for babies and as he stood there fingering the little laces he marveled at how small they really were. And he wondered if Joshua had had a little pair of sneakers like them, and he smiled wondering what exactly Joshua had looked like as a baby. He would have to bug Claudia to show him some pictures. Tony didn't see the grandmotherly department store worker watching him with a knowing look as she took in his gentle expression.
Claudia just smiled and shook her head. She slipped on her sunglasses and they pulled out of the lot. Joshua was completely thrilled with the idea of riding in the convertible and he had fun imitating all of Tony's actions.
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The park where the carnival was being held was spacious but the parking area was entirely too small to accommodate the expected crowd so folks were parking at the local high school and shuttle busses brought the families to the park. They had put the top up on Tony's car and had headed for the shuttle bus line. Joshua was excited to go on the bus; he had never been on a school bus before.
Tony had commandeered the knapsack leaving Claudia with the strange sensation of not having to lug anything around. She had her camera out and on a lanyard around her neck at the ready, knowing that Tony and Joshua would give her many opportunities to use it.
They were walking past the security tent on their way into the park when an elderly volunteer tapped Tony on the arm and asked, "Sir, would you like to register your son in case you get separated?"
It took Tony a second to get past the word "son" in his brain but once it all processed he replied, "He's not my…that's irrelevant. What's this registration thing?"
"We take your contact information, like your cell phone number, and give each child a bracelet with an id number on it. If you get separated and a security officer finds him they will know who to contact. It's a free service. We just want to keep all the little ones safe."
Tony and Claudia looked at each other and shrugged. They headed into the tent where they filled out a quick form and they each had to provide their id's, the volunteer also snapped a quick digital picture of Joshua. If they were separated only the people listed on the form could claim Joshua and in the event he was lost they could send the picture out to the security officers' cell phones. From a professional standpoint Tony was impressed. As a mother it made Claudia feel a little better. And Joshua was just tickled with his bright yellow hospital bracelet.
Thanking the volunteers they headed out of the tent and through the carnival gate. There were balloons and colorful decorations everywhere. Claudia was hard pressed to tell whose eyes got bigger at the sight, Tony's or Joshua's.
The first thing they came to was one of the local fire department's large ladder trucks. The firefighters were letting the kids climb all over it and answering any questions they had. Joshua was a little leery about investigating the truck on his own, but one of the firefighters said that his dad could go with him, meaning Tony.
Tony was just about to correct the young man when he caught sight of Claudia smirking behind her hand. He frowned at her playfully, "What is so funny?"
"You realize you are going to get that all day right?"
"What?"
"Being called Joshua's dad."
"Oh. Yeah. It's not that I mind, but I just don't want to confuse him."
Claudia looked over at Joshua who had joined several other children watching one of the firefighters roll up the big hose, "He'll be fine. Just go with the flow. The more attention we bring to it, the more important in his mind the issue will be. Like now, he's going to remember the fire truck, not what the fireman called you."
"That makes sense I guess."
So Tony took her advice and just went with flow. It wasn't until the three of them were playing around with a series of fun-house mirrors that Tony came to a shocking realization. The realization took him so much by surprise that he just stopped dead in his tracks and stared at their reflection in the mirror. He felt Claudia's hand sneak into his and she leaned in to whisper, "You just noticed it, huh?"
He had a lump in his throat so he just nodded instead and he saw her smile in the reflection, "They're calling you his Dad because he looks a lot like you, enough like you for him to be your son, Tony. I didn't know you hadn't noticed."
"So does that mean I look like your ex?" he asked quietly, not exactly sure if he wanted the answer.
"No. Not at all." She turned and looked at him directly, "Actually you look like my dad and my uncles, good bunch of guys." That answer made him feel much better. He didn't want to be some sort of substitute for her ex-husband.
A little tug on his hand brought Tony's attention down to Joshua who was pointing at another mirror, "C'mon Tony. Let's look at that one."
They went from area to area enjoying everything they tried. They bought food from the vendors here and there as the mood struck them and Joshua went on not one but two pony rides much to his delight. There was a little petting zoo set up with pygmy goats and a silly old donkey. Tony was looking at his slimy hand that a ravenous little goat had just eaten some pellets from when he felt Claudia tugging at the zipper on the knapsack, and to his eternal gratitude she pulled out a container of baby wipes and handed one to each he and Joshua. Tucking the container of wipes back in the knapsack she teased, "Never leave home without'em."
They hit the midway and Tony became Joshua's hero all over again at the water gun game. Time after time Tony was able to help him fill his balloon first and soon he had a large stuffed snake for his efforts. Tony whispered to Claudia as they walked away, "Think I can count that as range time? It's not quite the same as my Sig but…"
They rode the Ferris Wheel, and the carousel, and Joshua enjoyed a couple of the little kid rides. They were in line for the gigantic slide and had just picked out their burlap sacks to slide down on when Claudia saw him in the crowd. Standing near one of the ticket booths he was just grinning at her, a feral, mean grin.
She turned back to Tony and Joshua and closed her eyes, willing the hallucination to disappear. She was gripping the burlap so hard her hands were ghostly white.
Tony caught her reaction and asked gently, "Claud, you okay?"
She didn't answer but she did open her eyes and turn back towards the ticket booth where Rick had been standing, he of course was now gone. Scanning the crowd for another glimpse of him she said to Tony, "Yeah. I'm fine.
Tony knew she wasn't fine, and that something had spooked her and he knew that there would only be one thing that would rattle her that badly. When he saw her searching the crowd and he was sure, "Is he here?"
Her eyes snapped to his knowing full well who he meant by "he". She hesitated only a moment before answering, "I thought I saw him but then he was gone. I must have just mistaken someone else."
Doubting that, but letting it drop he placed a hand on her waist and pulled her close to him and she melted back into him, feeling safe knowing that Tony wouldn't let anything happen to either her or Joshua.
By the time they had gone up and down that big slide twice Claudia was back to her normal upbeat self. They continued making the rounds until they had seen and done everything there was to do, a lot of things twice. Tony's senses were on high alert since the slide incident though and he had felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up a couple of times as if someone were watching him. But without knowing what her ex-husband looked like, searching the crowd was a moot point. It was something he decided to rectify at work first thing on Monday.
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The carnival had been a rousing success and the three of them had enjoyed the day immensely, with exclusion of the ex-husband sighting. The walk back to the shuttle bus line was at a much slower pace than it had been earlier, all of their batteries were wearing down.
Joshua was sleeping in the booster seat almost before they had left the high school parking lot. Claudia was enjoying the sun and breeze on her face and was relaxed with her head back on the headrest. Tony reached over and took her hand and gave it a squeeze. The ride home was quiet, but full of the gentle feeling of family and companionship. Tony decided it was a great feeling.
And later on, long after Joshua had been bathed and put to bed, Tony woke with a start realizing that the two adults had fallen asleep sprawled on Claudia's couch. Deciding this too was a great feeling, he curled his arm around her a little tighter and went back to sleep.
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Claudia hated working Mondays. People were always irritable on Mondays, as if it were her fault personally that the weekend was over. And the lunchtime crowd was the worst.
She was busy putting on more coffee when Betsy bumped her hip against her to get her attention, "I think you should take table five."
Looking up from the stack of coffee filters she was fighting with, she saw Jethro's familiar face and smiled. She quickly finished with the coffee maker and headed over to see him.
"Isn't this a little out of your way?" she teased.
"Not in my book."
They chatted for a couple of minutes before her boss was bellowing out food orders from the grill and she had to get back to work. Betsy's shift was over and she plunked down in the booth across from him, cup of coffee in hand. She watched him watch Claudia, and saw that same tender expression that Hollis had recognized on his face.
"She's a nice girl, Jethro." Betsy said plainly. She wasn't one to hold anything back.
He smiled his best little grin at her, "I know."
"I know you know."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're a good man, Jethro. But you have had some bad taste in women in the past. She's not like them." Betsy had had the distinct displeasure to meet Jethro's last two ex-wives, and had not been impressed.
"I know." He looked over to Claudia who was chatting with a table of senior citizens having lunch, she was smiling and just radiated her light-heartedness. Six weeks he thought, he had only known her six weeks. He had never fallen for someone so hard in just six weeks. Well that was not entirely true if he were honest with himself, he had known on their second date that he had wanted to marry Shannon.
Betsy watched him and drank down the rest of her coffee and stood up to go, "You need to tell her, Jethro."
"Tell her what, Betsy?"
She patted his shoulder and leaned in to whisper, "That you are head over heels in love with her. It's written plain as day on your face. Just remember, the nice girls aren't around forever."
She walked off chuckling to herself at his horrified expression.
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tbc... feedback always adored :)
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.