Wyatt was looking through the cupboards when he heard noises out in the hall. There was the thumping of two sets of little feet and then two high, anxious voices conferring.
As the voices and the footsteps got closer, Wyatt eyed the kitchen door. Two little heads poked around the corner then ducked back. Wyatt heard them whispering to each other.
"See? He isn't gone. He's still here," Riley whispered to DJ.
Wyatt wondered if they saw that his room and his bed were empty and got worried. "Yes, I'm still here," he confirmed to them loudly. "And I'm hungry. You guys hungry?"
The boys came around the corner saying yes, and Wyatt saw that they were already dressed.
"What's for breakfast, guys?" Wyatt asked as he poured himself some coffee and got glasses for the boys.
"We don't know yet. Aunt Debbie knows," Riley told him.
"She's getting ready right now. I think the three of us are in charge of breakfast," Wyatt informed them. "What do we put in these glasses? Milk or juice?"
"Good morning, boys," Aunt Deb said as she came into the kitchen and came over to kiss the boys on the head.
"You're all dressed up," Riley noticed as he looked up at her. She was wearing makeup and a nice outfit, not the usual jeans and a polo shirt in a pastel color, what Wyatt called the Aunt Deb uniform.
"I wanted to dress up for my flight and for seeing my Tom again. Wendy is driving me to the airport pretty soon," she told them and looked out the window toward the front. Wendy was one of the ladies that Wyatt had met on his whirlwind tour of the neighborhood the day before.
"You have time for a cup of coffee, right?" Wyatt asked getting ready to pour her a cup.
"Not even that. Wendy is going to be here any second now. I just have time to hug these two boys." She got on one knee and hugged both boys at once. "I'm going to miss you a lot, but I know Uncle Wyatt is going to take good care of you."
"We miss you," Riley said effusively before she was even out the door.
"Me too," DJ added more shyly while hiding his face in her shoulder.
They heard honking outside and the boys ran ahead while Wyatt went to get Aunt Deb's small suitcase.
"Give Tom our best and we'll FaceTime with you whenever you have time," Wyatt said as they went out the front door.
There was more kissing and hugging before Aunt Deb drove off with Wendy.
"She has chickens and she gave us Easter eggs," Riley told Wyatt as they went back inside.
"If she gave you Easter eggs, I think that means she has Easter bunnies," Wyatt told him.
Riley gasped but DJ shook his head. "Uncle Wyatt is just being silly, Ry."
"I know," Riley protested, but he wasn't sure who to believe.
"What do we do about breakfast?" Wyatt asked when they all went inside with Barney scampering ahead of them.
"We only know how to make cereal. What do you know how to make, Uncle Wyatt?" Riley asked him.
"Cereal," Wyatt told him. "Let's see what kind we have."
He opened the cupboard where he had seen boxes of cereal. There were two kinds and both were healthy, not the kind he and Lloyd had stuffed their faces with when they were kids.
He took the boxes down and had the kids choose, not that he saw much of a difference. There were some bananas and he sliced them into their cereals. He had some vague idea that parents were supposed to do that.
"We can go shopping today. You'll show me the town, and we'll get some frozen waffles and things like that. OK?" Wyatt said as he poured milk into all their bowls.
"Yay," Riley said while DJ just smiled.
They were all doing the breakfast dishes together when DJ looked up at Wyatt several times without saying anything.
