Jack pulled the car over next to the curb in front of the third house from the corner, the brick rambler with white trim, birches planted in the front corner of the lot, and colorful flowers accenting the picture window flower box. He put the car in park, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared to see his kids. They never failed to show him what was important and what wasn’t. He needed the distraction and the big dose of reality.
Squeezing himself out of the car, he walked up the sidewalk to the door with the mixed feelings of dread and excitement. At the door, he hit the awkward moment; ring the bell or walk in? He felt strange just walking in; he was here at his in-laws where he’d walked in many times before, but now it was different. He didn’t belong. As he stood there trying to decide what to do, he was saved as the door flew open to shrieks of “Daddy!”
He bent over as the two pairs of arms encircled his neck. He stood up with a grunt as the kids hung on so they wouldn’t drop to the floor. “Hi guys, how are you, I missed you!”
“We missed you too, Daddy.”
“I missed you more than he did.”
“No, she didn’t.”
As the argument ensued over who had missed him more, Jack looked at Julie who stood in the hallway, watching.
“Hi, Jules.”
“Hi, Jack. Looks like you have your arms full. You’re right on time for a change. What are the plans?”
Jack absorbed the dig without reacting. “I thought I’d take these monkeys here to the Como Zoo. I think they’ve escaped. We got a call at the office to be on the lookout for two monkeys running loose in this neighborhood.”
“Did you really, Daddy?”
“Sure did. If we’re going to the zoo, you better get your monkey shoes on and get in the zoo mobile.”
The kids ran back into the house to get their things. Jack jammed his hands back into his pockets. “So, how are they doing?” he asked as his eyes moved from hers to over her shoulder to watch the kids.
Jules leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed. “They’re doing OK, but they miss you. A little confused why we’re here and you’re back at the house.” She glanced back over her shoulder. Looking back at Jack with concern, she softly said, “You look tired, Jack. Are you doing OK?”
“Yeah, I’m doing OK.” He thought, but couldn’t say, I miss you guys. “Getting into a new case, helping out a new agent. It’s the Governor bank robber case. You hear about it on the news?”
Julie nodded. They fell into the comfortable banter Jack remembered, talking about a new case, the people involved, where he thought the case was going.
The kids were hunched down at Julie’s feet making monkey noises. “Take us to the zoo,” they squeaked.
Jules took a step forward and kissed Jack on the cheek. “Happy birthday, Jack.”
“Thanks.”
Jack took a hand from each of the kids into his to walk to the car. As they walked down the sidewalk, Jack called back over his shoulder, “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be back late, we’re going to eat too much monkey food and wake you up when we get back.” Then he bent over at the waist and started walking and grunting like an ape. The kids took the cue, swung their arms, and screamed like chimpanzees.
Jack was looking forward to the afternoon. As he drove, his eight-year-old, Lynn, rambled on about the new friends they’d been playing with in grandma and grandpa’s neighborhood. Willy, six, sat quietly in the back adding details to the conversation when Lynn would let him. Neither had asked the tough question yet about what was going on between mommy and daddy, when they were moving home again, why they’d left?
A couple of miles from the zoo, rain started to pepper the windshield and forced a change in plans. The kids picked the St. Paul Children’s Museum and Jack didn’t care as long as he could spend some time with them and have some fun.
At the museum, the kids explored the exhibits. Jack followed the kids into the room with the anthill exhibit and stood off to the side with other parents as the kids put on the ant costumes and climbed through the tunnels of the kid-sized anthill. There were chambers with ants, their enemies, eggs, and tunnels to educate the kids. Lynn and Willy popped up on one side and waved before ducking back in to climb around. Jack felt content and almost normal as he watched and listened to his kids play. It was hard to believe that when the day was over he wasn’t taking them home.
Lynn ran up and grabbed his hand. “Come on, Dad, Willy wants to show you something.” She dragged him over to the anthill entrance, dropped to the ground, and scampered in. Jack lowered himself to his hands and knees with a groan. “Come on, Dad,” pleaded a voice from inside. “Hurry up.”
“I’m coming,” Jack said. He started crawling in on his elbows and knees, anxious to play with the kids and see what they had to show him. He reached the dead end of the tunnel where Lynn and Willy were impatiently waiting.
“Dad, isn’t this cool?” Willy asked. This is where the ants keep their food.
Jack patiently listened, lying on his side, while he was educated on the eating and food storage habit of ants.
“Dad, you have to see the eggs,” Willy said.
“Yeah, Dad, turn around and we’ll take you over there,” Lynn said.
“Easier said than done, kids. This tunnel’s more for ants your size.” Jack tried to turn around, but the tunnel was too narrow. His knees and elbows were sore from the carpet. The kids were impatient and were trying to squeeze by and hurry him out. He tried another move to get out and hit his head. His pulse quickened and he started to breathe harder. His throat shrunk and he gasped and started to sweat. He pushed the kids roughly back into the end of the tunnel. “Wait a minute,” he said a little too loudly.
Jack closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing. He’d had claustrophobic attacks before, but it had been a while. He lay still and tried not to think of where he was.
“Dad, are you OK?” Lynn asked.
“Yeah,” Jack responded. “Just a minute. Don’t move. I have to back out of here.” He lay there without moving for a few more seconds before he slowly backed out of the tunnel. Once out, he pushed himself up onto his knees and took a deep breath. The kids slowly crawled out and looked at him, not sure how to act.
“Come here, guys, give me a birthday hug.” Jack was on his knees with two ants hanging on his neck, wishing it could always be like this.
“I think it’s time for us to go get some people food and celebrate my birthday with some cake before I take you back to Mom.”