Water Boy

 

Water Boy

Simon was kicking his legs against the carseat as he waited for his dad to open the door. How long did that take anyway? Finally, Gregory opened the door, and Simon jumped to his feet, but his father’s body blocked him from jumping out. 

“What?” he asked.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to unbuckle yourself? Huh?” Gregory asked, sighing as he buttoned up Simon’s coat and ruffled up his hair. “Maybe I need to buy a lock for his seatbelt,” Gregory mumbled to himself.

Simon grinned and jumped into Gregory’s arms. “Do! Do! Do! That would be fun to get out of!”

Gregory just laughed and kissed him on the forehead as he stepped back and kicked the door closed with the heel of his boot. “Come on, let’s go inside,” he said. “Evan has a kid that’s only a few years older than you. You two can play while the rest of us watch the game.”

Moaning, Simon buried his face in his dad’s shoulder. “Oh, yes, because we all know how much fun other kids are,” he mumbled. “And they just love me.”

“Yet, I still do,” Gregory whispered, sitting Simon down as he took his hand (much to Simon’s frustration) and led him toward the door, where he knocked. 

The door opened a second later by a man a little older than his dad. “I was wondering if you’d gotten lost on your way here,” he said, grinning at Gregory before dropping his gaze to Simon. “And you must be Simon.”

Simon smirked. “Well, I’m not your doormat, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said, and Gregory gave his hand a quick squeeze of warning. “Sorry, sir,” he grumbled. “I mean, yes, nice to meet you.”

Evan laughed and motioned them inside. “You’re sure he’s only four, Gregory?” he asked, shaking his head. “He acts a lot older.”

Gregory laughed as he helped Simon out of his coat. “Oh, trust me, I know. Where’s Killian?”

Glancing around, Evan sighed. “Probably in the kitchen, sneaking food,” he said. “Give me a second. The other guys are already in the living room, if you want to say hi.” With that, Evan hurried to find his son.

Simon instinctively moved a little closer to his dad, hoping he wouldn’t take Evan up on the offer to leave the room. Instead, Gregory placed his hand on the top of his head. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to just run off.”

Blushing, Simon ducked his head and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Before either of them could say anything else, Evan reentered the room, a young boy trailing behind him. “This is my son, Killian,” Evan said, giving the boy a small shove forward and toward Gregory and Simon. “Killian, this is Gregory and his son, Simon.”

They both studied each other but said nothing as they both crossed their arms and stared the other one down. Simon could feel his dad’s hand on his head tugging lightly on his hair, but he ignored him.

“Muss ich mit ihm spielen?” (Do I have to play with him?) Simon grumbled, glancing up at Gregory.

“Ja,” his dad said, giving him a slight smile. “Don’t give me that look; you’re going to have fun; I’m sure of it.”

“Like the time you were sure you could figure out how to make pancakes?” Simon asked, grinning at him. “Ah… yes, I can still remember the lovely smoky smell they had.”

“Knock it off, Kiddo,” Gregory said. “Or I know what you’re going to have for breakfast tomorrow.”

“You can do whatever kids like doing there days.” Killian opened his mouth, but Evan shot him a look. “Now.”

“Fine!” Killian grumbled, throwing up his hands. “It’s not enough that you won’t let me eat yet?!” Without warning, he grabbed Simon’s arm and moved to pull him down the hallway, but he never got that far. 

Simon quickly twisted out of his grip, grabbed the boy’s arm and brought him to his knees. “Don’t touch me,” he growled before letting him up. 

Gregory cleared his throat and gave Evan a small smile. “Yeah, I think they’re going to get along great.” Simon shot him a glare at that as Killian scrambled back to his feet and marched down the hallway.

Reluctantly, Simon followed after him. Once they were out of sight, the older boy turned back toward Simon. “You can go find your own entertainment, because you’re not using any of my toys.”

Stepping closer to the much taller boy, Simon glared up at him. “You know what? Fine! I don’t care to play with barbies and ponies anyway.” With that, Simon spun around, fighting the urge to punch the boy, knowing his dad wouldn’t be too happy with him if he did.

Instead, he marched back down the hallway, hoping to find his dad and convince him that they really should go home. But when Simon stepped quietly into the living room, he realized that might be harder than he’d hoped.

As it turned out, his dad wasn’t even in there. But there were three other men Simon had never met before but guessed worked with his dad… wherever he worked these days. Two of them sat on the couch, while one of them stood, all watching the football game playing on the TV.

“Whatcha doing?” Simon asked, moving up right behind the man who was standing.

The man jumped, and a few chips fell off his plate, then he quickly turned toward Simon. “What the… Where did you come from?” he asked, frowning as he glanced around the living room. “Evan! Do you have another one of those little maggots?”

Someone sighed as they entered through the door behind Simon. “First off, don’t call Killian a maggot, and no, this is Simon.”

“My maggot,” Gregory said, and Simon felt his dad behind him, even before he felt his ruffle up his hair.

The man squinted at them. “I didn’t know you had a son, Gregory,” he said, then his eyes grew wide. “He’s not… he’s not going to watch the game with us, is he?” Simon really didn’t like the sneer the man sent down his way.

“Of course not!” Gregory said, laughing. “He’s not going to watch the game; he doesn’t even like football.” Simon glanced up at his dad. He’d never not wanted him somewhere nearby before. And Simon didn’t like the thought that his dad didn’t want him around him now.

“Why don’t you two play in Killian’s room while we watch the game?” Evan suggested, looking down at Simon. “He’s got plenty of toys to share.”

Yeah, that he doesn’t want to share, Simon thought, glancing behind Evan to where Killian stood glaring at him. It was obvious he’d heard what Evan had said too. “But…” Simon started, but his dad gave him a small shake of the head to stop him. 

“Killian,” Evan said, turning around. “Show Simon to your room and be nice to him.”

“Fine!” Killian huffed again, this time marching up the stairs.

“Go on,” Gregory said, smiling down at Simon as he nodded toward the stairs. “I doubt Killian bites, and even if he does, I’m sure you can take care of yourself. You’ll have more fun up there anyway.”

“Why do you hate so much?” Simon grumbled, and the chuckle he received just made his shoulders drop. He wasn’t so sure it wasn’t true as he reluctantly made his way after the other boy up the stairs.

They went to the end of the hallway and entered the older boy’s bedroom. “I can’t believe I got stuck babysitting you,” Killian grumbled, flopping onto his bed as he crossed his arms and shot a glare toward Simon. “I didn’t even do anything!”

Simon shot a glare back at him. “I don’t need a babysitter,” he said. “I can take care of myself.”

“Without wetting yourself first?” Killian scoffed, tossing one of his stuffed animals at Simon, who quickly caught the dog and threw it back at him. 

He snorted. “Yeah, I’m the one who needs a babysitter, while our dads watch a stupid football game…” Simon trailed off, and a grin broke across his face. “You want to have a little fun, Killian?” 

Without waiting for Killian to respond, Simon went over to the window and opened it. Then he climbed part of the way out of it, twisting around so he could see up toward the roof.

“What are you doing?!” Killian cried, jumping to his feet and hurrying over to the window. “Are you trying to get us into trouble?”

“If I wanted you to get into trouble, trust me, I’d have much more fun with it,” Simon said before pulling himself back inside. “I was just trying to see where the TV dish was on your roof.”

Killian frowned at him. “Why?”

Rolling his eyes, Simon let out a long sigh. “Were you not even listening to a word I had to say?” he asked, shaking his head. “What are the old fogies doing downstairs?”

“Watching the game?” Killian said, squinting at Simon as if he wasn’t sure if that was the right answer or not.

Simon’s grin grew wider. “Yes, and what do you think would happen if they weren’t able to finish that game?” Killian’s eyes widened, and Simon laughed before grabbing the older boy’s arm and yanking him out of the bedroom.

They slipped out the back door and headed to the side of the house. “What are we doing out here?” Killian whispered. “Are you going to get us both into trouble?”

Simon laughed. “No, because that would require them catching us first,” he said. “Now come on, do you know where the garden hose is?”

“Why are we doing this?” Killian asked as he reluctantly led the way to wherever they kept the garden hose in February. “What do you want with a garden hose? And how is it going to help us stop the stupid game?”

“Just watch and learn, little grasshopper,” Simon said, smirking as he glanced up at the roof where the satellite dish was sitting. Once they had the garden hose out, they the hooked it up, and Simon proceeded to set it up so that it was pointing toward the dish.

He changed the hose head until the water that would come out would be like rain. 

“Okay,” Simon said, moving toward the window while Killian stood next to the knob to turn the water on. He scrambled up the side of the wall until he could see inside the living room. “Turn it on.”

Simon waited until the signal on the TV went out before telling Killian to shut it off again. They did it several times before the men got up and headed toward the door. “Oh, no! They’re coming!” Simon yelled. “Run for it!” 

Giggling, the two of them ran around the side of the house toward the back at the same time as the men came out the front. Unfortunately for them both, Killian forgot to turn the water off before they bolted inside and upstairs to Killian’s bedroom.

Killian threw himself onto his bed, and Simon sat beside him. “They’re going to know we did it!” he cried. But before Simon could respond, the water was shut off, and the front door slammed shut again.

“Simon Lee Winfield,” Gregory yelled from downstairs. “Get yourself down here, now!” 

Wincing, Simon shoved himself to his feet and stood up straight. “Well, I’d better go see what he wants.” With that, he headed out of Killian’s room and toward the stairs. “Yes, father?” Simon said, slowly making his way down the stairs. “Is something wrong?” 

His dad narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms but said nothing until Simon reached the bottom step.

“Would you happen to know something about Young… Evan’s garden hose spraying water at the satellite dish so we’re not able to watch the game?” Gregory asked, frowning down at him.

“You weren’t able to watch the game because of a little water? How could I know that something like that would happen?” Simon asked, giving them all a very innocent look, one which only his father wasn’t fooled by.

Without warning, Gregory bent down and slung Simon over his shoulder. “Evan, can we use your guest room?” 

“Um… sure,” Evan said as Gregory haled Simon toward it.

“Dad! I didn’t do anything!” Simon cried, squirming to get free, but Gregory wasn’t about to let him go. He stepped into the guest room and closed the door behind them, then he tossed Simon onto the bed, before he started to pace.

“Okay,” Gregory said, shaking his head at Simon. “Why did you do it? And don’t you dare say that you didn’t.”

Simon swallowed and ducked his head as he pulled his knees up to his chest. “I was bored.”

“Bored?” Gregory repeated as he came to a stop in front of the bed. “Really? And was that any reason to ruin the good time everyone else was having?”

Keeping his gaze on the ground, Simon shook his head. “No, sir.”

“Then why’d you really do it?” Gregory asked, his voice softening as he knelt in front of Simon. “Come on, Kiddo. I know I can tell when you’re lying to me; you’re not that good at it yet.”

Rubbing his nose, Simon glanced up at his dad. “Why didn’t you want me around? Did I do something?”

Gregory blinked before he stood and sat on the edge of the bed. “Simon, come here,” he said, patting his lap. “Now.”

Simon hesitated a second before scrambling over to him and climbing onto his lab. “What?” he mumbled, looking down at his hands instead of his dad. “I was just asking you a question.”

“Not everyone likes little kids hanging around all the time, Kiddo,” Gregory said, taking Simon’s face and forcing him to look up at him. “It had nothing to do with me not wanting you around.”

“So… you didn’t just want to get away from me?” Simon whispered, looking intently up at Gregory. “You didn’t want to… leave?”

“Is that what this is about?” Gregory asked, and Simon dropped his gaze again. “Ah… Kiddo. I told you this before, and I’ll tell it to you over and over again until you get it: your mother leaving wasn’t your fault, and I’m never going to leave you. I promise.” 

Gregory kissed him on the top of the head as he wrapped his arms around him and stood up. “But that doesn’t mean you can misbehave like this,” he said, placing Simon on his hip. “Come on, we’re going home, and you’re going to bed.”

Simon’s eyes grew wide. “What? But… but it’s only two!” he cried. “I’ll never be able to sleep this early.”

Smirking, Gregory carried him out of the guest room. “I didn’t say you had to sleep, Kiddo, just go to bed. Now… head out to the car. I’ll be there in a second after I say goodbye.” He placed Simon on the ground next to the front door. “I’ll be ten seconds.”

Sniffing, Simon turned and headed outside. He hadn’t gone far when he heard someone say his name, and he turned back to see Killian standing in the doorway. “You’re alright, kid,” he said, with a wink before stepping out of Gregory’s way and heading back inside the house.

Oddly enough, as he climbed into the car and his dad buckled him up, Simon realized he was in trouble, but he very well might have just made a friend.