Page 36 of Penalty Kill

“Yeah!” they cheered in perfect unison. I smiled and led them up to their playroom where they had a coloring table. Sometimes I wondered if they rehearsed their synchronization or if it was just a twin thing.

I got out a stack of colored paper and fanned it out so they could pick. “We’ll each make one so he has lots to read.”

They got excited about that, and Milo picked red while Finn picked green. I took a yellow paper and set out the box of markers and stickers so they could decorate them.

Milo folded his in half, almost, and handed it to me. “Can you write for me?”

“Of course.” I took the card and waited. “What do you want it to say?”

“I want ‘Go Fury’ on the outside and ‘I love you’ on the inside.” He handed me a purple marker and pointed. “Use this color.”

It took a lot of effort not to tear up. He was so sweet. He knew exactly what his dad would need to hear. “Do you want bubble letters so you can color them in?”

He smiled and bobbed his head repeatedly. “Yeah!”

I did my best, struggling to remember how to make each letter. It had been years, if not more than a decade since I last did this, but it seemed like a good idea when I thought of it. The Y’s were a little funky, but it was a decent effort.

“There you go. I left room so you can sign the bottom. Do you want me to help you?” The boys were getting better at writing their names, but I still wanted to offer.

He opened the card and picked up a blue marker. With slow, purposeful strokes, he made a capital M then hesitated.

“I,” Finn told him calmly.

Milo drew the next letter then the L on his own. His eyes met mine, and his tongue was peeking out of his mouth, his sign of concentration.

“Good job! One more letter.”

He stared down and said his name slowly before drawing a large O.

“Perfect!” I held up my hand and he high-fived me with pride on his face.

He shuffled through the sticker box while Finn happily scribbled on the front of his card.

“What are you drawing?” I asked

“The arena. Here’s the ice and the puck and the people and there’s Dad.” He pointed at a block figure.

“That’s great. He’s going to love it.”

“Will you write for me too?” He didn’t take a break from his drawing.

“Yeah, when you’re done I’ll write whatever you want.”

While I was waiting for him, I made my card, writing ‘Good Luck’ on the front. I drew a stack of pancakes on the inside and said if they won their games, we’d have a pancake party when he got back. It was cheesy, but a construction paper card didn’t really call for deep thoughts.

I added a few silly stickers and then got up to look around for an envelope or a way to wrap them so it would be a surprise. There were probably proper envelopes in his office, but I didn’t feel right going in there. I took two pieces of black paper and taped them together so we could drop our cards in there and he couldn’t see through.

“I’m done,” Milo called and handed me his card. I smiled at the mismatched letters of blue, pink, green, and every other color he could find.

“He’s going to love it.”

I sat next to Finn while Milo went off to play with cars on the course we designed.

“Can you help me with my name?” Finn asked in a small voice.

“Sure.” He opened the card and poised his marker right in the center. I didn’t correct him. I loved seeing what they did naturally. “Okay, do you know the first letter?”

He nodded and drew a lower-case f then immediately drew the i. “We both have I’s second.”