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"You got it. How about you, Decker?"
"Six," he said. "I went for a run this morning."
"Just make sure his comes with plenty of maple syrup," Joel drawled.
"The syrup bottles are on the tables. You can go crazy," Chloe returned.
"Hi, Decker," Leo said, coming up behind Chloe. "Are you having pancakes? Can I eat with you?"
"Sure," he said.
"I told you I'd eat with you in a few minutes," Chloe told Leo. "I'm almost done here."
"But I'm hungry, and Decker said I can eat with him."
"You said you didn't want anything two minutes ago," Chloe reminded her son.
"I wasn't hungry then," Leo said.
"It's fine," he told her. "Leo can join us, right, Joel?"
"Of course," Joel said.
"I'm almost done," Chloe said, as Leo ran around the serving buffet. "My replacement should be here in five minutes."
"We'll be fine," he told her, taking two plates from her hand, one for himself with a large stack of pancakes and one for Leo with just one.
They made their way over to a table inside the hall where Leo slid into a chair next to him, putting him in the middle between Joel and Leo. "Maybe you want to sit next to Leo," he said to Joel.
"It doesn't matter," Joel said, grabbing the syrup bottle. He put a small amount on his pancakes and then handed it to Decker.
He doused his stack in syrup and then poured a small amount on Leo's pancake.
As Leo grabbed it with his hands, he said, "Hold on a sec." He cut up the pancake and handed Leo the fork. "Better use this or your hands will get sticky."
"I'm going to hunt for Easter eggs after this," Leo told him, as he ate. "Can you help me, Decker?"
"I have a feeling the hunt is only for kids."
"But what if I don't find any eggs?" Leo asked, worry in his gaze.
"You will. You found lots of rocks yesterday at the beach. You're an excellent hunter."
Leo's face brightened. "You're right. I bet I'll find a lot of eggs."
"I'm sure." He glanced over at Joel, who had pulled out his phone and was reading an email. Frowning, he wanted to suggest Joel be more present with the child of the woman he was in a relationship with, but it wasn't his business.
He finished his pancakes while Leo told him all about his friend's turtle who got lost in a pond. The kid was quite a storyteller. As he wiped his mouth, he glanced at Joel, who was sending a text.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"More questions and concerns," Joel said with annoyance.
"Can they wait until Monday? Work-life balance, remember?"
"That's what I told them," Joel replied. "But my father wants to chat later, which never seems like a good idea."
While he knew Joel's father could be a headache, he also envied Joel for still having his dad. He would have loved to run a few problems past his own father. He would have liked to have had a relationship with his dad as two adults, but they'd never had that chance.
