“Yeah, we’re not doing it,” Cole said, shaking his head as they looked at the group of men grinning before glancing back out the window at the large backyard covered in Easter eggs, chocolate, and the typical Bradford Easter goodies that could only be considered a minefield at this point.

“Is there something wrong?” his father asked, blinking innocently as Cole stood there, thinking about the empty shaving cream cans, glitter bottles, glue bottles, egg cartons, and paint cans that he’d found as he narrowed his eyes on his father.

“April Fool’s,” he simply said, daring his father and uncles to try and lie to him, because they weren’t falling for this.

Not this time.

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“You can sit on my lap if you want, Mikey,” Cole offered as Mikey moved to climb back into the van, carrying a bag white plastic bag filled with what he could only hope was junk food, and before she could take his cousin up on his offer, Sebastian reached over with a heavy sigh, grabbed her by the arm and with a quick yank, had her back on his lap where she belonged.

He ignored his cousin’s glare and Mikey’s mumbled, “I feel so used,” and shifted her on his lap so that he could see what lovely treats she was going to share with him. As he opened the bag and took a peak, he couldn’t help but wonder when she was going to learn. While the rest of them had quickly devoured their snacks seconds after purchasing them, Mikey had taken her time, checked out the sports magazines, and when she’d finished buying the snacks that he was going to have to help himself to, she’d sat on the stone wall that ran across the back of the gas station, rolling her baseball between her hands and-

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