Page 24 of Snowballing

Thank God he hasn’t started on coffee yet. Then I’d feel old.

“Yeah?”

“Can we go to the Burlington Mall today?”

I scoffed. “Already spending that Christmas money you don’t know if you have or not yet?”

“Well, it’s just…” Oh sweet Jesus, what is it now? “-there’s a Pokemon event today-”

“On Christmas?! Don’t those people have any-”

“There’re cute holiday-themed Pokemon, Dad. And there’s two new shinies!”

Shinies. The color variants. At least he wasn’t collecting phone numbers…yet. And it was just the one jockstrap so far. I had like forty-one, not that I had counted.

I would definitely be supportive of anything that kept him a kid a little longer, including an addictive semi-virtual phone game centered on pocket monsters from before he was born.

“And the mall is where they are?”

“You know they’re everywhere, Dad. It’s just nicer to play indoors.”

“Where it isn’t freezing?”

“Yeah, and where there’s an Auntie Anne’s, and bathrooms, and some guys from school said they’d be there.”

Shit. Maybe it was about a boy.

“Sounds like a plan, then. You ready to open your presents?”

* * *

The mall was packed. No surprise there. But it was hard to stress, with the bright decorations and the cheerful music.

Trey had found his friends. It seemed like some of them were there for Pokemon as well, though I thought I recognized one or two of them from hockey practice.

He was off somewhere now. I didn’t spy on him or anything, but a dad needed peace of mind. There was a hidden app on his phone if I needed to find him or there was an emergency. It even worked if the phone was off. Otherwise, with this many people here, I would’ve been a little less free regarding surveillance. I took the opportunity to people-watch and peruse the gay romance shelves at the bookstore. It had been a while since I’d read anything.

The blurb for Rings of Lust, a book about Olympic gymnasts, stoked my libido - I’d always had a thing for that sport - and I grabbed another called Lucky Match. Its escort service plotline intrigued me, considering the events of the last week.

I parked my butt in the food court, but not before grabbing a pretzel - what can I say? Trey had a good idea - and pulled out Lucky Match. The author had the same name as my sister-in-law. I’d have to ask if she had read it.

I hadn’t realized I was a hundred or so pages in - I was hooked! - when my phone dinged. It was Nancy, letting me know that she and Sam were home and settled in. My eye caught on the number from her previous text, so I replied I was happy to hear they were home, wished her and Sam a Merry Christmas, and tapped the number she had sent me.

She had said he was staying in town for Christmas.

Eli: Hi Gareth, my neighbor Nancy gave me your number. She suggested you might be interested in watching my kid.

Eli: Being a manny? I’m sorry, I’m new at this.

Eli: Also, Merry Christmas!

I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

Gareth: Are you new at texting too? J/k.

Gareth: Manny is fine. Babysitter makes the kids feel like a baby.

Gareth: Guardian works too.