A set of small hands reached up and the little guy attached to them stared at me with watery eyes. He had the hardest time accepting that I had to first put my things down before picking him up. With a fistful of my pant leg gathered in his hand to steady himself, he followed me over to the counter where I placed my keys, a few pieces of mail, and my suit jacket. This was the warm greeting he always gave when I came home from work and I found myself looking forward to it every day.
With my hands free, I stooped to take him into my arms. The second I did, a big grin spread across his face, showing off two teeth on the top and two on the bottom as his pacifier clattered to the tiled floor. Gentle pats hit both sides of my face as he gurgled a few syllables.
A sound from the living room led me in that direction, carrying Anthony with me as I left the kitchen.
“Is that mommy in there?” I asked him.
He gave a big nod.
“Good. Let’s go get her.”
Turning the corner, the sound of my steps no longer echoed throughout the house as I made it onto carpet. There, on all fours with her head and arm underneath the couch, was Sam. Whatever she was searching for, she looked good doing it.
“Now that’s what I call a greeting.”
She laughed when she heard my voice, but continued to fumble around under the couch. “Hello to you, too, and quit being nasty.”
I tilted my head to the side for a better view. “You can’t have all that in my face and expect me not to say something.”
Her laughter filled the room again as the boy and I watched, staring intently for two totally different reasons. I’m sure seeing Sam made him think of snacks and hugs and whatnot. Me? Not so much. Hugs weren’t exactly what came to mind.
“Ha! Found ‘em,” she announced, hopping up with her keys in hand. She dangled them triumphantly in my face, although I had no idea what was going on.
“Congratulations?”
She rolled her eyes at me with a grin. “Your son here is a menace to society.” Before going on, she landed a kiss on my lips and lightly pinched Anthony’s cheek. He smiled and rested his head on my shoulder, popping his thumb into his mouth in place of the pacifier he’d lost.
“Thanks to him, I’ve spent the last hour looking for my keys.”
“Nah… you have zero proof he did it,” I rebutted, defending my son despite fully believing he was responsible. He’d done the same thing to me about a week ago. I was ready to leave for work, only to find that my keys were missing. That time Sam and I found them in the back of his toy dump-truck. Since he started walking a few weeks back, things have been coming up missing left and right.
“No, no, no… don’t let that cute face fool you. The little booger stole them, and then hid them, because he enjoys seeing me search all over the house like a crazy person.”
As if he knew he was in the hot-seat, Anthony reached for his mom and she gladly accepted the tight squeeze he gave her neck, making sure he knew she wasn’t really upset. With my arms now free, I could greet my wife properly, grabbing her, pulling her close as she eased our little boy over to her hip. I sought a kiss and she gave me what I was after.
There was a high-pitched giggle and a screech off to my left as the kiss with Sam deepened, keeping it PG since we wouldn’t be getting any alone time until later tonight.
“I think he’s watching us,” Sam said breathily as her lips moved with mine.
“Let him. The boy has to learn from somewhere.”
She shoved me away a few inches when she burst out laughing. “Get your hormones in check! What’re you gonna do when our guests get here? Three whole days of no… contact.”