Chris sighed heavily and scratched his head, messing up his short dark blond hair. His green eyes skimmed the boxes and books stashed on the closet shelf. “They’ve got to be here somewhere,” he muttered to himself. He’d promised JD he’d dig up out his old yearbook so that the Kid could see what Buck looked like in high school. Chris smiled in spite of himself, knowing full well that Buck would wreak some sort of twisted revenge for the betrayal. He didn’t mind though; seeing JD’s reaction to Buck in a ruffled tux would be more than enough to make up for anything Buck might think up to get back at him.
A burst of laughter from the front of the house distracted him from his mission for a brief moment and he held his breath, releasing it slowly when there was no bang or crash. Sometimes he wondered how his home ever managed to survive any of Team Seven’s antics. He’d never imagined that something as simple as a barbecue would mean he’d have to replace three lamps in his living room.
Turning back to his task, his gaze landed on a plain white box in the far corner of the closet. Underneath the box, sat a half a dozen old yearbooks. Stretching, Chris latched onto the books and pulled, jumping back with a curse as they slipped out of his grasp and fell to the floor, taking the box with them. It landed upside down with a dull thud. Quickly Chris gathered the yearbooks and stacked them to the side. He reached for the box, trying to flip it over without spilling the contents but the lid caught on the carpet and a cascade of papers littered the closet floor.
Heeding the pain in his knee, Chris plopped down on the floor instead of staying in a kneeling position. He grabbed a handful of paper and started to toss them into the box when a flash of pink and red caught his eye. Curiously he pulled the colored paper from the others and froze as he realized what he held in his hand. His throat went dry, and he found it impossible to swallow as hot tears suddenly blurred his vision.
Gently he ran his fingers over the awkward edges of the unevenly cut red paper heart. A smaller pink heart was glued side ways in the middle of it. He could feel the gold glitter coming off on his rough fingers, but it was the hand written message that held his breath prisoner. Across the top of the heart, in neat print, was written “Happy Valentine’s Day” while below it was scrawled “Love you Daddy,” in purple crayon. Chris’ memories flared. He could hear Adam’s contagious giggle, and see Sarah’s warm smile. He could feel Adam’s tiny arms locked around his neck in a tight squeeze.
One dry sob brought Chris back to his room and for a moment, loneliness consumed him, the emptiness of the room burdening him with a dark despair. But before he could lose himself in the enormity of his feelings, a sudden shout of “watch out” sounded from the living room followed immediately by a crash and after a brief moment of silence…laughter. Chris listened, letting the laughter mend his wounds. Then taking a deep breath, he wiped a hand over his face, gently placed the papers and homemade valentine back into the plain white box and got to his feet. He paused, running his hand over the box lid. “I love you too.” He whispered softly. Another round of laughter echoed in the other room as he placed the box back in it’s place on the shelf. He scooped up the yearbooks and closed the closet door.
When he turned around, Vin was leaning against the room’s doorframe. “You find whatever it was you needed?”
Chris chuckled lightly. “Yeah, yeah I did.” He shook his head at his own realization, then followed Vin out into the hall. “So are you going to tell me who broke what this time?”
The End
