1
Ronan
June…
For the first time in a long time, Ronan O’Mara couldn’t make up his mind. His life view was more black and white, rather than the many shades of grey his husband, Tennyson, preferred. Unfortunately, this was a decision Ronan was going to have to make on his own. Thankfully, neither black nor white nor grey factored into the equation.
Pink or purple?
Purple or pink?
“Daddy?” Everly sighed, rolling her eyes as if Ronan were a greater disappointment than the last Marvel movie. “I thought you picked the green skirt like an hour ago.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Everly had picked a pink skirt five minutes after walking into the store.
Ronan snickered. He appreciated his daughter’s sense of exaggeration, which she, of course, got from him. “I thought it was a little too Wicked Witch of the West.”
Father and daughter stood in front of a dressing mirror at Black Cats, Bats, and Broomsticks, Salem’s costume shop, run by witches, for witches. The Salem Witches Dead Run was a week away. The fun run fundraiser was to benefit Everly, Aurora, and Wolf’s Class of 2037. The year made Ronan feel older than dirt.
Everly looked as if she were considering the matter. Her blue eyes, identical to Ronan’s own, moved back and forth between the pink, purple, and green tutus her father had been admiring. “You’re right. The green definitely gives Elphie vibes. I think alot of people are gonna dress like her for the Witches Dead Run. I just hope they don’t all try to sing “Defying Gravity,” like they did at the movie theater sing-along.” The six-year-old cringed, as if she’d just eaten a lemon.
“That was seriously awful,” Ronan agreed.
“Youwere the worst singer of them all!” Everly threw her hands in the air.
Ronan’s eyes widened in mock horror. He knew damn well he sang in the key of rabid badger. Hell, that was half the fun. Wasn’t it a father’s job to embarrass his kids at every turn? Ronan slapped a dramatic hand against his chest. “Howverydare you! I have the voice of an angel!”
“Yeah, Lucifer!” Jude called from one row over.
Ronan burst out laughing. Jude had a point. “Have you picked a costume yet?”
“I sure have! I’m Sooooper Jude!” Jude’s voice boomed through the store. He bounced over to Ronan dressed in a bright red tutu with a matching red cape. “I’m gonna have Tennyson sew a giant ‘J’ on the back.”
“Me too!” Wolf called, as he ran toward Everly. “I’m Wonder Wolf!” The little boy howled in his outfit that perfectly matched his father. “I want a ‘W’ on my cape.”
Ronan knew Ten would be overjoyed to help Jude and Wolfie with their fun run costumes. He held up the pink and purple tutus for Jude to see. “Which one?”
“Everly’s wearing pink, so you can be all matchy-matchy together, like me and Wolf.” Jude and Wolf high-fived each other.
Ronan shimmied into the pink skirt and admired himself in the mirror. “What do you think, Little Miss? Do you want to twin with me?” The reason he hadn’t picked pink in the first place was because he was afraid Everly wouldn’t want him to wear the same color.
“Hold on!” Everly dashed away from Ronan.
“I knew it,” Ronan muttered loud enough for Jude to hear him. “I’m an embarrassment to my daughter.” He was about to pull off the tutu when Everly ran back toward him. In her hands were two neon pink wigs.
“Try this on.” Everly handed him the larger of the two, before trying on her own. The wigs were long and curly. Everly’s reached the center of her back.
Ronan’s heart soared. He tried on the wig and burst out laughing at the effect. “Holy shit, I look amazeballs!”
“Right!” Everly agreed. “We’re a perfect team now!”
“Team Pretty in Pink.” Ronan ran his hands through the soft synthetic hair.
“You’re gonna need some tape or wig glue to keep that on during the race,” Jude said. “We don’t want it flying off and blinding other runners.”
“Or maybe I do!” Ronan waggled his eyebrows, sounding diabolical. “If I’m gonna win this race, I’ll need to employ booby traps like Data inThe Goonies.”
“Ronan, for the tenth time, the fun run isn’t arace. That’s why they put the word ‘fun’ in the title. It’s supposed to be afunway to raise money for the school.”
“Winningisfun!” Ronan proclaimed. He was willing to die on this hill, which was a distinct possibility, considering the fact that the only recent thing Ronan had run, was out of Cheetos. Ever since Jude ended up in the hospital after tearing a ligament playing basketball, and was nearly the victim of a serial killer, he and Jude had let their fitness regimens slide.
