Page 43 of Schooling Little Sage

“Not sure, but fingers crossed, little butterfly.” I mussed his curls.

“Well”—Becky reappeared carrying two boxes—“something came, here you go.”

“Thanks, Becky,” I said and Sage waved at her. As we rounded the corner to our apartment I waited for Sage to notice who was there waiting, only Dempsey beat him to it.

“Sage!” He squealed and came running over and hugged him. “We brought dinner to eat with you.”

“Yay! Maybe I can try on my costume for you if it’s in those big boxes Daddy has.”

I unlocked the door and the boys ran inside. Burke headed for the dining table while I sat the boxes down then walked away. Those tiny huffs I heard made me chuckle. Burke and I took our time, setting the food out while the boys sat on the couch staring at the packages.

“The suspense is killing them,” Burke whispered.

“I know. Should we eat first or let them open them?”

“The Daddy on one shoulder says they need to eat first, but the Daddy on the other says to stop teasing them,” Burke said. “Daddy dilemma.”

“Indeed, but my inner Daddy’s mirroring yours. Alright, food can wait, let’s give them their prezzies.” We handed them each a box, easy to decipher which, given one was addressed to me and the other to Burke.

“I got a box too, Daddy?” Dempsey asked him.

“Looks that way, little sprite, open it and see what’s inside.”

They tore the tape off and yanked out the contents. “Daddy, it’s my costume!” Sage shouted.

“Daddy, it’s mine too!” Dempsey squealed. “Can we try them on?”

“Let’s have dinner first, then you boys can model them afterward, okay?” Burke said. Their dual sighs were comical.

“Okay, Daddy.”

I’d never seen packages set down so slowly in my life. Their faces bore the cutest matching pouts. The two-second walk to the dining table took half a minute as they dragged their feet. Goddess, I wish I’d filmed this. It was taking all the control I had not to burst into laughter and Burke wasn’t much better off than I was.

“Are you boys excited for the Halloween party?” I asked, aiming to lighten their moods.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“What faces are you carving on your pumpkins?” Burke asked them.

“Umm…” Sage concentrated hard even though I knew his answer. “Turtle power!” That livened him up.

“What about you, Dempsey?”

“I wanna do a sprite fairy but they’re hard so I’m gonna do a mushroom house for them.”

“That sounds lovely.” In the short time we’d been friends with them I learned that Dempsey was as obsessed with fairies as my boy was with Ninja Turtles. Peppier now, the boys chatted about the upcoming party while they ate.

“All done, Daddy,” Sage held his hands up.

“That you are. Let’s get you two wiped down so you can model your new costumes.”

“Yay!” They cheered, hands in the air waiting on their Daddies to wipe them.

All clean, it was time to get them dressed. “Grab your boxes, boys.” They almost took each other out sprinting across the room. “Careful, won’t be any fun to wind up in the infirmary. Burke, feel free to use the playroom to change Dempsey. I’ll take Sage into our room.”

I’d no sooner shut the door then my boy stripped down and stood before me in nothing but his birthday suit.

“Um, Sage, you need to keep your boxers on.”