The Easter Egg Hunt (4 page)

“No
problem.”
 
He smiled.  They
each took a cart and he couldn’t believe all the things she starting putting in
the cart, including real eggs to boil and dye!  “How many people are you
expecting at this party, Megan?” he asked.  “You’ve got enough here to
fill at least a hundred baskets!”

“I’m
only doing sixty-five this year, but they will be generous,” she said. 
Mr. Palmer gave me the same amount of money as last year and said to spend it. 
I am making the family baskets much nicer, and hiding more eggs for the
children, and the luncheon will be plentiful.”

Megan
also put a few things for their grandchildren into the seat area of her
bascart, and Noah was surprised at her restraint when it came to the candy she
planned to put in their Easter baskets.  She also picked out cute little
dresses for the girls to wear on Easter and an appropriate little outfit for
their three month old grandson.  Noah was relieved when she was finally
ready to check out.  The cashier looked at them like they were crazy, but
started the arduous job of ringing up each item.  It was amazing how much
Meggie could pack into two bascarts.  She paid for the items for the
Easter Egg Hunt out of her work money, which she kept separate, and smiled at
Noah when he insisted on paying for the grandkids’ Easter gifts.

It
took them some time to unload the bags into their vehicles and Noah glanced at
his watch and said, “Let’s go to Dawson’s and eat dinner, Meggie.  I’m
hungry and don’t want to wait while we cook something to eat.”

“Fine
by me.  I want to stop by Julie Ann’s and drop off the dresses and the
outfit for the baby so she can make sure they will fit the kids.”

“Sounds
good to me.  You want me to follow you, or…”

“No.
 
I’ll follow you, Noah,” she said
firmly.  It was their normal way.  She hated having him behind her
watching every little thing she did.  It would be just her luck to slide
through a traffic light on yellow and leave him behind, or even worse, forget
to use a turn signal, or coast through a stop sign, or fail to yield when he
thought she should.  They had completely different styles of driving; the
only difference, Noah spanked when he felt she was too reckless.

Dawson’s
was busy, as usual, but they didn’t have to wait too long, and of course Noah
refused to sit at the bar to wait.  They were both driving, and didn’t
take chances with other people’s lives.  Fortunately for her bottom, Noah
asked for a booth instead of a table.  The chairs had wooden seats, but
the booths were padded and much easier to sit upon, and her bottom was really
sore after sitting all day long for the conference. 

They
relaxed and enjoyed their dinner and Noah laughed when she told him about the
conference and the man who ran it.  “Did you learn anything worthwhile at
all?  Or were you too busy looking at the guys mismatched shoes and
clothes?”

“It
was hard to concentrate on anything else, honestly,” she confessed, her blue
eyes sparkling.  “The man was speaking about organization and tending to
the little details, and here he was wearing two different black shoes and
pinstriped pants and coat, but from two different suits!  It sort of was ‘do
as I say, not as I do.’  You should have heard Milly at lunch today. 
She had all of us laughing so hard we could barely eat.”

“Poor
guy probably didn’t have a clue.”

“He
didn’t…!
 
That is what made it so
funny.”

They
finished eating and then drove to their daughter and son-in-law’s home.  Noah
got the clothing from the bag and he and Megan went to the door and rang the
bell.  As soon as Jeff opened the door and told them to come inside it was
obvious to Megan that something was wrong.  The two little girls came
running with squeals of ‘Gramma! Grampa!’”

“I’ll
go and tell Jules you’re here,” Jeff said quietly, and Megan looked at Noah who
raised one eyebrow questioningly even as he was picking up the three-year-old
to give her a big squeeze.

“Are
these for us, Gramma?” Rachel, who was five years old, asked hopefully.

“Why,
yes they are!” Megan laughed.  “This one is yours; do you like it?”

“Yes,
Gramma!” she said, excited.  “I love yellow!”

“I
know you do,” Megan agreed solemnly, and Noah was amazed how she kept all of
those important little details in her head.  She knew Rachel loved yellow,
and pink was Natalie’s favorite color, and her new dress was pink!  Rachel
was jumping up and down in excitement and Noah remembered when Julie Ann used
to do the same thing.  Where is David?” Megan asked.  “Sleeping?” 
She crossed the room to see him sleeping soundly in the bassinet that Jeff and
Julie Ann moved from room to room.

Rachel
brought Grampa a book to read to them, and Noah settled on the sofa with the
girls.

“Hi,
Mom and Dad,” Julie said as she walked into the room.  It was obvious she’d
been crying and the look on Jeff’s face said he was not pleased with his wife. 
“I see you are spoiling the grandkids again?” she smiled.

“They
need something special to wear for Easter!” Megan insisted.  “You
are
coming to the Easter Egg Hunt?” She
looked at them expectantly.

“Of
course we are, Mom,” Julie answered.  “The girls are excited about coming.” 
She checked the sizes on the dresses and nodded, and then smiled when she saw
the size on David’s outfit.  “You did great, Mom!  Davey is growing
so fast and needs all new things again!  This is perfect.  Thanks so
much; you too, Dad!”

“Your
Mom did all the sizes and colors; I just did the easy part and took out my
billfold.” Noah grinned.  He hated seeing his daughter so upset.  “Why
the long face, honey?  Is something wrong?”

Julie
shook her head no, but Rachel spoke up and said, “Daddy spanked Mommy!”

“Rachel!”
Julie gasped, clearly startled.  She looked at Jeff accusingly and then
ran from the room.  A door slammed, and it woke David, who started crying.

“Rachel,
I thought I asked you to keep an eye on David and only call me if he woke up?”
Jeff spoke quietly.

“He
didn’t wake up, Daddy, and I came to tell you that,” she explained.  “Did
I do something bad?” She was on the verge of tears.

“Mommy
is just embarrassed, Rachel.  Remember what we told you about privacy? 
That when a door is closed, you should knock because whoever is inside might
want privacy?”  When she nodded, he said, “Mommy and I were private then,
honey.  Sometimes adults need to have a conversation they don’t want to
share with others, especially with children.  The next time I tell you to
stay in the same room with David, I expect you to do that.  Understand?” 
She nodded, and he hugged her.  “Don’t worry about Mommy.  She’s not
upset with you.”
 
He reassured her
with a smile. 

Megan
had already picked up the baby and was trying to quiet him.  Noah said
quietly, “Meggie, why don’t you have the girls show you where David’s diapers
are?  He must need a change…?”  Megan nodded, well aware that Noah
was going to have a word with their son-in-law.

“Will
 
you come and show Gramma where all of
David’s things are?” she asked the girls and they eagerly led the way to the
nursery upstairs.

“I
know what you’re thinking, Noah, and you can just stuff it,” Jeff growled,
running a hand through what would have been his hair if he didn’t keep it
buzzed so short.  “Jules deserved a spanking, and the lines she is going
to write.  She drives that van like she is on a Kamikaze mission! 
She’s had three speeding tickets in the last five months!  I warned her
the last time that I would paddle her if it happened again, and she hid it from
me.  The only reason I found out was because the paper boy came to collect
and she was in the shower and I didn’t have anything the kid could change, so I
got in Jules’ purse, and found it.  Damn, she had the kids with her, too! 
I kept my promise, but I guess I should have waited until the kids were down
for the night, but Natalie is such a light sleeper… I figured putting on a
video for them would keep them down here and entertained while I kept my
promise to Jules.”  He frowned, “I hate it that Rachel knows I spanked
Jules, but I can’t let her get away with that, Noah!”  He had a sheen of
tears in his eyes as he looked at the older man, “I swear it’s the first time I
put a hand to her…!”

“And
that is why she got the second and third ticket.  You should have spanked
her butt the first time, and put a stop to it right then,” Noah said quietly.

“You
think so?” Jeff asked, clearly surprised at his father-in-law’s words.

“I
know so.  Did you take off your belt this time?”

“No!”
Jeff was startled.

“I
would have.”

“Jules
acted like I was killing her with my hand; she’d scream the house down if I
took off my belt,” he stated.

********************

Megan
changed David’s diaper and he quieted right down.  She put the girls to
playing in their bedroom, and then went to check on Julie Ann.  She tapped
on the door and ignored the ‘Go away’ from within.  “I will not ‘go away’,
young lady,” she said as she entered the bedroom. “ You sit up and talk to
me right now.  What happened, and don’t tell me ‘nothing’.  I want
the truth.”

“I
got a speeding ticket and Jeff spanked me,” Julie replied.

“You’re
not fidgeting so he didn’t spank you that hard,” Megan stated matter-of-factly. 
She knew the signs well, and sitting on a soft mattress would hurt… a lot… if
she’d just been spanked for speeding!

“It
hurt, Mom,” Julie insisted.

“It
hurt your pride more than your bottom.”
 
Megan smiled at her.  “If Jeff didn’t take off his belt,
then you are one lucky lady.  Speeding is dangerous.  Oh, gosh, Julie
Ann…!
 
Please tell me you didn’t
have my babies in the van with you at the time…?”  The look of guilt in
her daughter’s eyes was all the answer she needed.  “Julie Ann!”  She
gave her a meaningful look and then asked, “Just how fast were you driving?”

“You
don’t want to know, Mom.  Believe me, I heard enough about it from Jeff. 
And I am mortified that Rachel knows!”

“Jeff
talked to her and he handled it beautifully.  Now you need to tell Jeff
you are sorry and promise us all it won’t happen again.”

“I
will not tell him I am sorry; he needs to apologize to me!” she huffed.  “I’m
not like you, Mom.  I won’t tolerate my husband spanking me!”  When
Julie saw the look on her Mother’s face she felt awful.  “I’m sorry, Mom. 
I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You
know…?” Megan was embarrassed.

“Sure.
Both Jake and I knew when we were still living at
 
home,” she admitted.

“Then
you should know that if I’d been caught speeding I wouldn’t be able to sit
right now.  Your Dad would have used his belt to make certain of that…
Because he loves me.  And Jeff loves you.  I think the reason you are
pouting right now, young lady, is because Jeff stopped spanking much too soon!”

“Mom!”
Julie was shocked.

“I’m
serious, Julie Ann.  You are a mother now, and those babies need you. 
Speeding is not an option, do you hear me?  If you want to be treated as a
grown woman, then be responsible.  If you don’t want your husband to spank
you, then stop doing stupid things.”  Megan got to her feet and left the
room.  She checked on the little girls and once satisfied they were
playing well together, she went downstairs, carrying little David.  He was
hungry and she went to the kitchen and took a bottle from the fridge and heated
it to room temperature.  She went to the living room and took a seat in
the rocking chair, unconcerned with interrupting Noah and Jeff.

Noah
saw his wife’s red cheeks and was positive she’d had words with their daughter,
but at this point it was hard to tell if she was upset with Julie Ann or with
Jeff.  He was going to say something but Julie Ann came into the room
right then and went to give Jeff a hug.  “I’m sorry, Jeff,” she said. 
“I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“I
promise I’ll spank you again if it does, Jules, and I’ll use my belt, too,” he
promised in return.

Julie
smiled ruefully.  “You’ve been talking to Dad, haven’t you?”

“Yes,
I have,” he admitted.  “I love you, Jules, and it would kill me and the
kids to lose you!  Please don’t put me through that…!”
 
He had tears in his eyes.

“I’m
sorry.  I get so rushed, and I don’t think.  I’ll do better,” she
promised.

“And
you will not hide any more tickets from me, either,” he warned.

“No,
I won’t,” she agreed.  “Am I forgiven?” she asked.

“Of
course you are forgiven, but you are still going to write every last one of the
lines I gave you.”

“I
don’t have time for that, Jeff!” she protested.

“Not
long or hard enough,” Megan whispered, pretending to be talking to the baby.

“You’ll
write the lines and have them done before the weekend, Jules, or I’ll spank you
again, a lot longer and harder.”
 
He
nodded at his mother-in-law for the suggestion.