AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They both look over at me, and I swear I can see the faintest layer of sweat bead on Noah’s forehead.
“Voices?”
“Yeah, whenever we read a story, Dad does voices for the characters. They’re really funny. You can do it, too!”
“Ha. Well, okay. It’s fine with me.”
I smile at Noah, opening the floor to him. This is your chance, dude. Say yes.
“We started doing it ages ago. Something to make the stories more fun, I guess, but it’s been a while. Elijah, do I really have to do the voices?”
Noah pleads with his son, his image in danger of being tarnished by a good time.
Elijah responds by doing his best impression of his dad, furrowed brow and all. “Yes.”
Throwing his hands up, Noah sighs. “Ugh, fine. Go brush your teeth.”
They playfully stare each other down, and then Elijah is darting to the bathroom across the hall. He only takes a few minutes, and when Elijah returns, Noah and I have transformed his bedroom into the perfect bedtime story theater.
Rotating lights shaped like rockets and stars circle the room and blink red, white, and blue. The timer counts them down for thirty minutes, and Noah flicks on the humidifier on Elijah’s nightstand, creating a pleasant white noise.
“Woo!”
Elijah leaps into his bed, bouncing high, and then crawls under his Avengers bedspread and waits expectantly for his story. I can’t help but smile.
“All right, all right. Settle down. Now, I’ll leave the final decision to you, but we can do either The Scorpion and The Frog or The Book With No Pictures.”
Noah holds out the books, and I have a feeling I know which one Elijah will choose. I’m familiar with both stories, and there’s only one that guarantees Noah will wind up making the funniest noises.
“Dad, this is a no-brainer. Of course, The Book With No Pictures.”
“I thought maybe you’d like to take it easy on your old man. I can dream, I guess.”
Both Elijah and I laugh, and Noah slides the other choice back onto the bookshelf. Sitting down at the foot of Elijah’s bed, Noah crosses his ankle over his knee and gets comfortable.
I plop down on the floor, my legs crisscrossed.
I look up at Elijah. “Which parts am I supposed to read?”
“Just do every other page, like how we read in class sometimes.” Elijah nods excitedly.
I smile over at Noah, who’s shaking his head. “Sounds good.”
With an exaggerated clearing of his throat, Noah cracks open the book and begins reading.
The story is over in a few minutes, but nothing will ever be quite as funny as hearing me and Noah struggle to read the book in turns.
When we’re forced to recite the two pages of silly sounds, including my personal favorite, “gla-wackeroo,” we all burst out laughing, and it takes a good couple of minutes before we finally stop.
“That was the best! Thanks, Dad.”
Elijah gives Noah a huge hug, and my heart warms. This. This is why I love my job.
“Anytime, bud. Sorry I’ve been busy. I’ll try to make sure I’m at least here for this.”
Noah ruffles Elijah’s hair and then directs him back onto his pillow.
“Now get some rest, or I’ll sell all your toys.”
