He had to bite his cheek once again to keep from laughing.“Thank you,” he said when the threat of laughter abated.
Petey nodded to him.“Thank yous are good too.You are a very big boy.Did you know?”
He nodded.“I did know.I ate all the food growing up.”
“S’ghettis?”Petey asked.
“Burgies?”
“Nugs?”
Tori grinned wide.“Mashed tatoes?”
“Yes, to all of those.And more.”He’d been a bottomless pit as a teenager.And of course, when he’d started playing professionally he’d had a huge calorie count.
“More.”Tori’s eyes went wide.“Broccies too?”
Peter wrinkled his nose.“Ew!Broccies!”
“Broccies… oh!Yeah, I eat broccoli too.It’s really good with cheese sauce.”
Tori shook her head.“No.Broccies is nas-TY.”
“Nope.They’re good.And cheese sauce is really good.”
She wrinkled her nose, glancing at Ian as he came in with the walker.
“See?Even your dad likes broccoli.”
She collapsed onto the floor, so dramatic.“No…”
Petey started giggling.
He grinned.“Absolutely.The greener the better.All those little trees taste soooo yummy.”
Ian got in on it.“Absolutely.Trees are de-lic-i-ous.”
“Ack.Ack.Ack.”Tori rolled around the floor, and Petey laughed so hard he farted.
That made JP laugh, too, cackling.
“Petey!Your butt laughed at me!”
Ian howled with laughter then, cracking up.
Who knew kids could be so funny?
Ian got the walker over eventually, setting it up in front of him.
“Thanks, Chou.”He hauled himself up and used the walker to support himself as he walked from Petey’s room to the main bedroom.
It didn’t look like he remembered.The white walls were a deep blue now, and there was a little sitting area and bookshelves to one side.The bed had a new headboard with tons of pillows.
It was Ian’s now.
He sighed as he eased himself down onto the bed.
“Let me help you settle, and then I’ll get you a drink.I have a remote for the TV and the headboard.”
