The Arcade
Chapter 30

The week practically flew by. Before Cosmo knew it, it was Saturday afternoon. Rosemary had fixed a small lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, which Joe inhaled with gusto. Cosmo ate his lunch slowly – almost mechanically.

“Cosmo, honey – what’s wrong? Aren’t you feeling well?” Rosemary asked.

Looking up from his soup, Cosmo said “I’m fine, mom – why?”

“Well for starters, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup are one of your favorite things to eat, but you look like you’d rather be eating something else.” Rosemary observed.

“Huh? Oh. It’s nothing. I was just thinking of Theo, and how cool it would be if he was coming with me and dad to replace a tree.” Cosmo said.

Reaching over and patting her son’s hand, Rosemary smiled. “We’ll just make sure to get some good snapshots for Theo, and after the party, your dad can take you and your friends over to his house to see him.”

Cosmo’s eyes widened. “You mean he’s-?”

With a big smile, Rosemary replied “Surprise!”

Looking at his dad, Cosmo asked “Did you know about this, too?”

“Yup.” Joe replied around a mouthful of grilled cheese. “I’d have told you, but your mom threatened to cut off my supply of Christmas apple pies. I couldn’t have that, you know.”

“Pies, huh?” Looking at his mom, Cosmo said “That’s dirty pool, mom.”

“I use only the gifts God gave me, sweetie. Now, you boys better get going and replace us a tree.”

As Joe and Cosmo got their things together and headed out to the car, they could hear Rosemary’s voice calling after them “Remember to keep it under eight feet!”

It only took them thirty minutes or so to drive far enough into the woods, and another ten until they found a promising stand of young trees. The trees were about twenty yards off the road, and since there was only about six inches of fresh powder, Cosmo and Joe wouldn’t have too much trouble getting a tree back to the car.

They found a tree that would meet with Rosemary’s approval, and Joe proceeded to cut it down with the small chainsaw he brought for the job. Cosmo held on to the tree while his father cut, and after the saw sizzled through the trunk, he gently lowered it into the snow.

They walked the tree back to the car, Joe on one side, and Cosmo on the other, enjoying the crisp winter air and the very light snow that had started to fall. It occurred to Cosmo that this was the first Christmas tree that, as far as he could recall, he and his dad had ever cut down.

“Dad?” He asked.

“Yeah, son?” Joe replied.

“Why haven’t we ever done this before?”

Joe thought for a moment. “Ya know, Cosmo – I really don’t know. I mean, it isn’t as if there weren’t Christmases that we couldn’t. I guess you just never really expressed an interest.” Joe barked a small chuckle. “I guess things take on a different meaning when you get to go back and do them over, huh?”

Cosmo agreed. “Yeah, I guess so.” Then he looked at Joe. “Was it like this when Sal came to you? That is, did you see things – appreciate things – differently?”

Joe smiled, and then replied “Oh, you bet I did! You won’t believe me when I tell you this, but I used to have a really bad temper – and your mom and I argued an awful lot in those first couple of years we dated.” Then, more quietly, he added, “I often wonder how in the world she put up with me, or why she put up with me. After all, it wasn’t as if I was the only guy on campus.”

Cosmo looked at Joe and said, “I just can’t believe that you were ever the grumpy sort. You’re way too mellow. In fact, I can’t ever recall you raising your voice, even when I drove the car through the garage door.”

Joe stopped in his tracks and looked sharply at his son. “You what?”

“Uhhh…” Cosmo fumbled. “Well, it probably won’t happen now, but in my other past, when I was sixteen, you were teaching me to drive. On this particular day, you let me actually go solo, more or less. You were standing in the driveway, and I remember you saying to me ‘Okay Slick, show me what you’ve learned.’

“So I started the car, promptly put it into what I thought was ‘reverse’, looked over my right shoulder, and drove straight through the garage door. I remember that when I got out of the car, you were standing there with your hands in your pockets with your head down, shaking your head.”

Cosmo looked over at his dad to replace that his eyes were squeezed shut and his shoulders were shaking.

“Dad, it’s not funny! I thought you were going to kill me!”

Joe threw his head back and roared with laughter, and Cosmo couldn’t help but join in. The two walked the rest of the way to the car laughing, with Joe occasionally inserting his impression of tires squealing followed by a crash, only to laugh harder.

Some time later, after they had gotten the tree fastened to the roof of the car and were on their way back, Joe and Cosmo were still smiling and giggling. When they were nearly home, Joe asked his son, “So, do you remember how your mother reacted?”

“Yeah.” Cosmo began, lip twitching. “She brought you a cup of coffee, and then asked what part of the driving test that covered.”

“Your mother, the straight man. Another one of the many reasons I love that woman.” Joe chuckled.

“Hah-ha, laugh riot.” Cosmo deadpanned. “You two should take it on the road.”

Joe continued to chuckle the rest of the way home.