David rushed down the stairs and saw his Mom at work in the kitchen. She was crafting one of her neighborhood-famous pizzas, and the aroma had awakened him from a nap.
"Can't wait to have a slice. Leave some in the fridge for me. I'll heat it up tomorrow morning," he said. He hopped into the kitchen and kissed his mother on the cheek.
"Where are you off to?" she asked. Eleanor, known to most by Ellie, was a nervous woman and liked to keep a mental tab on where everyone was.
"I'm going to camp with Jarred tonight, remember?" David looked at his mother in the eyes and gave his warmest smile. Those eyes were the same soulful blue as his father's, which had been what she couldn't resist when they met in college. Looking at David, she may as well have been looking at her husband. He reminded her so much of her youth and having the entire world ahead of her. He would be in college soon, and he'd be gone. These last few months before his graduation was all that she had left with the baby she had worked so hard to raise…
"Mom?" David had been standing there the entire time she had run deep into her thoughts. She almost felt embarrassed.
"Oh, right. Sorry, hon." The oven began to beep and she turned away from him to pull out the pizza. "You guys have a good time, okay?"
"Oh, we will," David said with a big grin. "Jarred got a new tent and lots of camp gear for Christmas. We'd be able to live out there forever if we needed to."
She laughed. "Let's try to avoid doing it for that long. You said we'll see you in the morning?"
"Sure will," David replied. "Bright and early."
"Alright," she said. "You boys be safe."
David walked to the back door. He opened it and started out.
"I love you, honey," she said with a smile.
He looked back with those deep blue eyes. "I love you too."
David closed the door and ran to his car, off to chase the afternoon sun.
David's father, Ben, was on the way home from work. He had a seemingly endless gas tank; rolling through multiple emails, phone calls, meetings, and pitches to clients while still managing to add his family into the equation. He told everyone his secret was listening to Elvis. He said that the voice of the King carried him throughout the day and all the way home without skipping a beat.
He was about five minutes out from home when he decided to call David. Ben saw his son as his prized possession and his greatest creation. Despite all of his accomplishments in work and physically, which were plentiful, Ben was an excellent father. He was fifty-one and was operating on a strict Keto diet, pridefully wearing only 6-percent body fat. He was in the best shape of his life both physically and spiritually, but David was him at his best. Having David gifted him the purpose he had lacked for so long and also helped to keep him young. He was an awesome teenager, but David had his share of screw-ups. Being caught with pot by Ellie had been the fall of his little youth-empire; he had been grounded for nearly six months and she very nearly threw him out. She had asked him if he wanted to "live on the streets," and had seemingly given him a good scare. This was sort of "preaching to the choir" as both Ben and Ellie had been occasional green-smokers since they met, but David needed to learn that high-school was not the time to experiment. David had now seemed to recover his spot at school almost like a ruling elder and continued to operate the social monopoly he had founded when he got to school during freshman year.
The phone began to chime and David picked up on the second ring.
"Hey Dad," David said with his usual enthusiasm.
"Hey, buddy," Ben replied. "I hear you're back out in the woods again tonight."
"That's right," David returned. "Jarred and I are taking his new gear for a test run."
"Jarred and I, David, Jarred and I," Ben said teasingly. "You should have learned that in kindergarten,"
Yeah, yeah" David joked. "Take me to jail."
Ben chuckled. "Are you camping the usual spot?"
"You know it," David said. "We can't break tradition."
"Alright. I just wanted to call and check in," Ben said. "I love you. Have fun."
"I love you too, Dad. We'll have a good time. You and Mom be on your best behavior."
Ben laughed. "Okay, we'll do our best."
"I'll see you in the morning," he said. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Ben answered. The call ended and Ben pushed the car back to its normal speed. He was almost home and was watching the sun begin its descent into the horizon. It was beautiful, but they were calling for a little storm tonight. He could see it there in the distance. The weather-man had announced that it should blow right by, but the storm had the potential to come to a halt over the town. "Nothing but a little rain," Ben said. "Nothing but a little rain."
