A prompt a week - 22. Peter's Morning - Prompt 354

“Steven, hurry up or you are going to be late for school.” Peter yelled up the staircase as he headed back into the kitchen. “Damn, where did I put the vitamins?”

“Dad, have you seen my sneaker?”

Peter shook his head and looked at the ceiling before he shouted back to his son. “Where did you have them last?”

“I don’t know. I came home took them off.”

“Where were you?”

“Umm …”

“Steven, this is not a guessing game. Where were you when you took off your sneakers?”

Peter walked back to the staircase and looked up to find his fifteen year old son standing there in his socks scratching his head.

“It was in the living room. I told Tommy I had scuffed the side of them and needed to clean them.”

“So did you clean them or leave them in the living room?”

“Um …”

Peter sighed. Sometimes living with his son was like living with the absent minded professor, you just never knew what he was going to forget next.

Peter strode into the living room, dropped to his knees and looked under the table and the couch to see if he could find the missing sneaker. Sure enough he found it half shoved under the couch along with a dirty plate and a half finished glass of juice.

“Don’t kill the boy. Don’t kill the boy,” he muttered to himself as he collected the dirty dishes and picked up the sneaker.

Peter walked back to the stairs only to find Steven was no longer standing there.

“I found your missing sneaker. I also found all your dirty dishes.”

“Thanks, Dad. Just put the dishes in the sink. I am going to wear my shoes instead.”

Peter rolled his eyes and squeezed the sneaker in his hand. “Sometimes, I swear that boy isn’t going to make sixteen.” Peter set the sneaker by Steven’s book bag in the kitchen. He wandered to the sink and placed the dirty dishes in there and filled the cup with hot soapy water. As he turned he spotted the bottle of vitamin pills he was looking for earlier and smiled. As shook one out, he heard the unmistakable sound of the bus blowing its horn.

“Steven, your bus is here now. Forget everything and get down here.”

“I can’t find my homework,” Steven’s voice wavered.

Peter bit his lip from saying negative. He knew his son was missing the bus because the homework assignment had to be there, it was the big project he had been working on most of last night. Steven’s teacher had even called to remind both Peter and Nick about it.

“Alright just calm down. I’ll wave the bus off and help you find it.”

“Pop is going to be so mad.”

Peter shook his head as he walked to the front door. Nick had left for work an hour ago, so he wasn’t going to have to deal with Steven’s forgetfulness. He waved to the driver of the bus.

“Is Steven alright?” The older driver stood in the doorway of the bus in front of the house.

“He is running late. Go on Dennis. I’ll take him in. “

Dennis waved and climbed back into his seat, and closed the door.

It was one of the advantages of living in a small town. The bus driver went to the houses not the corners, but that still didn’t help if your son wasn’t ready for the bus on time. Peter watched the bus pull off and knew he would be late to work.

As he stood there watching the bus turn the corner he spied his neighbor, Max, hammering a large stake into the ground. A few moments later he walked back over with a giant stork carrying a baby in blue. The blanket was a birth announcement.

“Hey Max. Lisa had the baby?” Peter wandered over to the neighbor’s front yard, leaving his front door open.

“Yeah early this morning,” Max paused trying to cover a yawn, “and by early I mean at one am.”

“Congrats.”

“Thanks. I promised her that I would get the sign up. Max junior weighs nine pounds and six ounces.“ Max pointed proudly to the information that was on the sign.

“Big baby.”

Max smiled. “I’m going to grab some sleep. Got to go back for Lisa later today.”

“They can’t be releasing her yet?” Peter stared at Max.

“They might. Just going to be ready.”

“Dad. I found it!” Steven’s voice echoed out the front door.

“I got to go. Steven missed the bus because he had to find his project.”

“Your son is great, but I wonder if he would lose his head if it wasn’t attached.”

Peter laughed and just nodded. He hurried back just as van pulled up in front of Max’s. As he prepared to go into the house Steven walked up to the front door.

“Wow. Look at all the balloons. What is happening with Mr. and Mrs. Dander?”

Peter paused and looked back only to see the driver removing a second large balloon bouquet. “Mrs. Dander had the baby last night. The balloons must be part of the stuff people are sending as congratulations.”

“Neat.”

“I’ll give you neat. Do you have the project you and Pop worked on?”

“Yes Dad. We had to create an ad for something. We designed one for a new car.”

“Leave it to you two to create a new type of car.” Peter smiled as he watched the joy on his son’s face.

“Well, I like cars.”

“I know. Go grab your stuff and I’ll drive you to school.”

“Thanks Dad.” Steven leaned over and hugged his father.

“Yeah, yeah. Grab one of the breakfast bars and a bottle of water too.”

“Okay,” Steven ran back to the kitchen as Peter gathered his briefcase and the keys to the car. He was going to be late but at least Steven would have his project for school.