Chapter 119: The Best Kind of Night

Hunter spent the evening as he usually did after his talk with his daddy, and the routine of the night drove the anxiety-filled thoughts of the next day from the front of his mind.  Though he was anxious to see his mommy, he was also anxious about seeing her, so following the usual routine was a perfect antidote to his worries.

Plus—and most importantly—his daddy had made everything make sense to Hunter.  He would be able to go see his mommy and talk to her.  He would be able to stay with her if he wanted.  He would be able to come home with his daddy if he wanted.  And his daddy was going with him, and that meant that he was going to be safe and sound.  All Hunter had needed to do after he understood that was to follow his daddy’s lead.  And his daddy had led them through their night—just as he always did.

In Hunter’s mind, he and his daddy had the best kind of night.  They spent it mostly alone—though Batanya was there too, as always.  After their talk, they finished their practice together, and Hunter liked swinging his sword that his daddy had made for him.  He especially liked to copy his daddy’s moves just right because he knew that his daddy was a great warrior, and he felt that his daddy was proud of him.  He felt proud too that night when his daddy just smiled and smiled at him as they practiced.

After their practice, his daddy always made him a little snack since dinner was later.  Tonight he’d cut up some yummy cheese and made cracker sandwiches, which were Hunter’s favorite snack, and he’d also given him a little cup of Dr. Pepper, which Hunter usually only got on special occasions or when he was fishing with Uncle Jason.

Then his daddy and he had gotten on their coats, and his daddy had flown him real fast to their workshop since it was so cold outside.  His daddy had called Bubba during their snack, and he’d turned on the heater inside so that they could be warm.  Odin had followed them there, but his fur had kept him warm.

His daddy had looked at the pieces of wood that Hunter had sanded earlier that day and had told him that they were done perfectly. Again, Hunter had felt really proud.  But—then again—that was how his daddy always made him feel.  No one else could or had ever done that before.

Then his daddy had asked him to show how the pieces should all fit together to make the bottom of the chair they were working on for Emma’s desk, and he’d been able to figure it out without his daddy helping!  Then they’d gotten to work at putting the chair together with the pretty cherry wood that he had chosen all by himself.  His daddy said it smelled really good.  Hunter couldn’t really smell as good as his daddy could, but he knew that Emma could smell real good.  That was one of the reasons he’d picked that wood for her—that and because it made pretty things like some of the pieces of furniture his daddy had made for Aunt Sookie and him.

After about two hours, they’d made almost the whole chair already!  And they were both hungry.  His daddy had gotten him a big bowl of soup and they sat down at the table together.  As always, his daddy ate his blood while he was eating his food, and they talked more about Godric crawling and the stuff he’d learned that day.

He’d also told his daddy about how he beat Uncle Lala and Uncle Jesus at a game of Clue earlier that day.  It was the first time he’d ever won, and he was really happy that he could do it.  He told his daddy about having to keep his shields up tight during the whole game because sometimes Uncle Lala would think about the cards he had.  Hunter was even prouder that he’d not heard a single thing from their heads the whole game long, and his daddy was real proud of that too.

Hunter had smiled as his daddy had taken a drink of his TruBlood food.  The secret thing that Hunter had done that day with Uncle Lala and Tara was to do some shopping for his daddy.  He had already figured out just what he wanted to get his daddy for Father’s Day, and it was going to be the first year that his daddy was his actual Daddy, so he was real excited for it―even though Uncle Lala said it was still about five months away.  Still, Hunter wanted to order the gift he’d thought of.  He was getting his daddy a big mug that he could drink his food from every night.  It said “World’s Best Daddy” on it, and Hunter figured that was absolutely right!

Hunter had giggled and his daddy had asked him what was going on, but Hunter said it was a secret thing, and his daddy had understood—just like always.  His daddy let him have secret things when he needed them.  His daddy had just winked at him and kept right on eating his blood.

Then his daddy had watched him do his homework for the night, which was really easy, but his daddy had helped him on the one he had trouble with.  Then they sat in their favorite chair and watched a movie, and Sissy had come in and watched it too.  Hunter loved rocking with his daddy more than anything else, and it was a movie about Scooby Doo, so they got to laugh a lot too.

His daddy had tucked him in after finishing a story about Thor, the god of thunder.  In the story, Thor had lost his hammer, and he had to disguise himself like Freya—who was a girl—to get it back.  Loki, who was always a trouble-maker in his daddy’s stories, also disguised himself as a lady.  The way his daddy had told the story had kept Hunter giggling throughout, especially when his daddy had done an impression of a lady’s voice.

Hunter liked Thor a lot because he carried a hammer, and his daddy also had a mallet-style hammer that made him look like Thor when he was using it—at least, that’s what Hunter figured.  Thor was married to a beautiful goddess named Sif, and since she had golden hair, just like Aunt Sookie, Hunter figured his daddy was even more like Thor than ever.

Hunter had smiled when he thought of his aunt Sookie.  He’d asked his daddy if he’d be able to see her too, and his daddy had said yes!  And that meant both his daddy and he would get to see her.

Hunter was really happy about that.  His aunt Sookie’s head was really, really nice to him, and he loved her even though he’d only met her a couple of times.  And she loved his daddy a lot too, and that meant his daddy would be happy as well, and Hunter liked thinking about his daddy being happier.

As his daddy had watched over him, Hunter had fallen asleep happy and cozy, despite the cold temperature outside.  Odin was cuddled in next to him, and Cat was there too.

Hunter dreamed of Thor and Loki and their antics as they were trying to get Thor’s hammer back.  In his dreams, Thor looked just like daddy, and for some reason Loki looked just like Sissy.

Yes—Hunter’s evening was perfect in his eyes.

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