drabblewriter

The dresses had started life as a matching set - tiny, delicate things covered with lace and frills, one pink and one blue. Now, halfway between home and the park, the pink one's hem is soaked in mud, and Melody is on her knees in tears.

“Oh, shh, darling, it's all right,” Wes coos as he swoops in to pick up his daughter from where she's fallen and nestles her into his arms, uncaring of the filth that spreads onto his own clothes.

“Are you hurt?” Hobbie asks, hovering anxiously at his side.

The tiny blonde head shakes, then buries itself in Wes's shoulder.

“You said we'd be in trouble if we got our new dresses dirty,” the other little girl says from around their feet. “Is Melody in trouble?”

“Sarah, be nice to your sister,” the men say together.

Sarah pouts as Melody raises her still-tear-streaked face to stick out her tongue at her twin.

Wes chuckles. “There, you'll all right.” He gently wipes the little girl's face clean with the edge of his sleeve. “It was an accident. No one's in trouble.” In retrospect, today might not have been the best day to wear their fancy new clothes anyway.

“But do we have to go home now?” Melody asks, turned wide, pleading eyes back on her dads.

Wes glances over at Hobbie then down at himself. “Well...I don't think so.” He sets Melody back on the ground. “Daddy is dirty now, too, so we match at least.”

“You're an embarrassment and a disgrace,” Hobbie deadpans, leaning over to give him a kiss, “and you're passing all your least desirable traits onto our children.”

“Ew, gross!” the girls cry as one and take off running toward the park.

“Careful!” Hobbie yells after them as Wes takes his hand.

“They'll be fine, love. We're almost there anyway.”

A few minutes later, the men make it to the park where a small crowd is waiting. Melody and Sarah are among them and hurriedly beckon their dads forward.

“Hurry, you're gonna miss it!” Sarah yells.

As they reach the group, a man steps out in front holding a microphone. “Happy Easter!” he calls. “Welcome to the fifth annual community egg hunt! Are you ready to get started!?”

An affirmative roar goes up from all the kids present, who immediately start pushing toward the front of the crowd. Sarah is jumping up and down like she absolutely cannot contain herself.

“Now, let's see...” the man continues, surveying the kids. “I think we have enough eggs hidden in the park for each of you to find three. Take three eggs only, and leave the rest for someone else, okay? Can you do that?” The kids agree, and the man puts on a big grin. “All right then! Let's not make you wait any longer. And - go!”

Like a shot, the kids are off. Wes watches as Sarah immediately dashes to a nearby picnic table and retrieves from beneath it a bright yellow plastic egg she's apparently had her eye on since she arrived. Then she's disappearing around the picnic shelter in search of more loot, Hobbie quick-stepping after to keep her in sight.

Wes turns his attention to Melody. He finds her reaching for a blue egg in a thick tuft of grass glowing next to the pen that takes up a large part of the park and is home to a trio of white-tailed deer. The little girl is distracted from her prize as she realizes one of the animals is standing near the fence watching her and deviates toward it. The deer pricks up its ears in alarm at her approach and an instant later is bolting away. Wes prepares himself to step in and offer comfort, but Melody only looks mildly put-out, turning back to retrieve the egg and wandering off again.

She finds another egg tucked next to a leg of the swing set. Then she stands looking around the park, frowning. Wedge follows her gaze, sees the other kids poring over the park, scouring it for eggs. Hobbie and Melody wave from the basketball court. He doesn't see any more eggs.

Oh god, his daughter is having trouble finding a third egg.

Wes sets his vision into overdrive, scanning every bit of his surroundings. He has to help. He has to do this for her.

Ah! There!

“Melody, let's look over here, hmm?” he says, edging toward a loose-based light pole in an area devoid of other people.

Melody follows him, eyes wide and trusting, and searches for several agonizing moments before finally spotting the pink orb tucked nearly out of sight.

“Daddy, look!” she brandishes it triumphantly.

“Good job!” Wes holds up his hand, and she high-fives him with a grin that makes his heart melt.

“Found your three eggs?” Hobbie's voice asks as the the family comes back together.

"Yep!" Melody affirms.

She and Sarah plop down in the grass and start opening them. Jelly beans, chocolate coins, and small toys are their treasures.

“Dads, look!” Melody is holding up a tiny toy spaceship, but before either of them can reply, a little boy is approaching.

“Hey, trade me your spaceship for this stupid doll,” he demands.

Hobbie tenses to intervene, but Wes waylays him with a hand on his arm just as Sarah says, “No way! She likes spaceships!”

“Yeah, I like spaceships!”

Clearly bewildered by this unexpectedly united reply, the boy leaves without another word.

Wes grins with pride and knows Hobbie is mirroring him.

Of course she likes spaceships. It's only right with parents like hers, even if she's still too young to understand their story.