Bunny was suddenly by my side. I held Derek, breathing hard, about to turn him upside down. My body shook, and I hoisted him up, my strength magnified by the threat. But before I could turn him, Bunny put his hands on Derek’s neck and head.
There was a soft, clear clattering sound as the candy fell out and rolled over the floor. A moment later, Derek drew a gasping, shuddering breath and released it with a sob.
I held him with all my might, falling to the floor with my baby safe and alive in my arms. We both cried. The relief and fear poured out of me in waves, and Derek clung to me, crying and pressing his small, warm face to me. His tears soaked into my robe, and mine fell into his hair, and I had never felt so raw, so absolutely terrified, and so incredibly grateful.
When I got a tenuous hold on my feelings, and Derek stopped crying but still didn’t let go, I looked up at Bunny, who stood a few steps away, looking worried.
“I’m sorry,” he said at once, bringing his hands up. “I didn’t know… I knew something was wrong, of course, but I wasn’t sure what. I’m such an idiot, Alice. Please, forgive me. I’ll leave. I’m sorry. You won’t have to see me again.”
Numb and confused, I watched as he turned. He walked back to the patio doors, hunched and dejected, and I cocked my head to the side.
It was good, wasn’t it? I had wanted him to leave from the start. Well, not the start, exactly, but close enough. And now, he would be gone, and I would never see him again. He would never play with Derek, or eat cereal with him, or make him laugh, or save his life…
And those heavenly abs would never grace my ordinary kitchen again, piped in a small, hysterical voice that had better shut up.
Bunny’s foot was over the threshold when I finally got a grip over my voice.
“Wait!” I said, croaking through my tight throat. “Wait, please!”
He turned, and his face was so open, so full of hope, that I couldn’t help but smile.
“You can’t go,” I told him, shaking my head. “You saved him! If not for you, I… I don’t…”
I started sobbing again, fresh tears flowing when I realized what would be happening right that moment if Bunny hadn’t saved Derek. I would be holding my son’s body and trying to summon an ambulance, already knowing there was no hope.
Bunny hopped over. In exactly two long, perfectly balanced hops, he was by my side, his furry arms around me, warm body pressing into my back. His breath was in my hair. We hugged like this, Derek in my arms, and I in Bunny’s arms, and for a sweet, weightless moment I let myself stop thinking.
I let the tension flow out under the pressure of his warm touch and simply enjoyed it. Being held. Taken care off.
Finally not alone with the responsibilities of being a parent.
And then Derek stirred in my arms, looked at me with red-rimmed eyes, and grinned.
“Luc won’t believe what happened when I tell him! Can I wear my superhero cape, mom? I couldn’t breathe for five minutes and I’m still alive!”
I sighed, letting him go when he started struggling against my grip. There was Derek. As long as he couldn’t see the injury, he wouldn’t be upset for long. I would have to tuck my fear, hysteria, and feral relief back into its hiding place at the bottom of my soul and be normal again.
“First, it wasn’t five minutes, more like a half,” I told him sternly. “And don’t you ever try anything like this again, do you understand? Not to show off. Not to prove anything. You could have died, Derek.”
He nodded solemnly, his grin disappearing for a moment.
“I know, mum,” he said, only a hint of impatience in his voice. “But I will tell him it was six minutes, and he’d better believe me! So the cape?”
I relented, leaning my head against Bunny, who was still behind me, his lean bulk lending me strength.
“Fine, wear the cape. But put on something sensible underneath. And no more hard candy today!”
Derek threw an anxious look at the box of candy and nodded, swallowing.
“I don’t think I like them anymore, mom,” he said quietly.
So at least he had some sense, I thought, watching as he whizzed out of the room. Soon, I heard his loud stomping on the stairs when he raced to his room to get dressed.
“He’s going to stay until tomorrow with my sister, Carol, and her family,” I told Bunny, getting up with regret.
But the ordeal was over, and boundaries had to be reestablished. I had no reason to get all cuddly with a furry bunny-model hybrid.
“Lucas is Carol’s eldest and Derek’s hero. He’s eight. So obviously, Derek wants to brag to him about almost dying, as young boys tend to do.”
Bunny looked at me uncertainly. He stood up with me, and now I had to tip my head back to look at his gorgeous face. It was hot in the kitchen with him standing so close, but I didn’t feel like moving away just yet.
It was the choking, I knew. I was still shaken, vulnerable, and in desperate need of comfort. And he was right there.
Just a bit more, I told myself, shushing the nagging voice of responsibility. He saved Derek. He’s a good guy. And I need this.
“I know,” he said, shuffling from foot to foot. “I sort of… know a lot about you. I’m sorry I hadn’t told you earlier. But there is so much to say, and I don’t know how to explain most of it, or I do, but the words don’t seem right, and I just… Ugh.”
His ears drooped in defeat, and he hung his head low. I turned my head to look at his face. He looked defeated and just so, so young. Whatever he said, I couldn’t be angry with him.
“How did you do that?” I asked gently. “How did you make the candy just… pop out like that?”
He sighed deeply and looked at me from under his dark, long lashes, amber eyes glimmering.
“I am Easter Bunny, Alice,” he said with a wry smile, his nose twitching. “You can see me. You saw when I changed. I can do a lot of stuff like this. It’s magic, but I need to know what to do to use it. That’s why I only acted when you told me what it was. Should have known he was choking. I have so much to learn.”
“Hey,” I said, laying my hand on his warm, furry cheek. “Stop saying that. You saved my son when I couldn’t. You saved his life. I can never thank you enough. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you a hundred times.”
His cheek grew warmer under my hand, and Bunny turned his eyes away, as if suddenly embarrassed. Then he pressed his face into my hand with a sigh. His breath fanned my temple, and I smelled a whiff of the sugary cereal.
We stood like that for a few heartbeats, and my heart swelled with something soft and fragile. It beat faster in my chest, and I watched Bunny with parted lips, trying to decipher what it was I felt.
Probably still relief after the choking accident, I quickly decided. Adrenaline was leaving my body, making me shaky and emotional.
“It’s very kind of you to say so,” he said after a while, his voice subdued. “So maybe you won’t be angry when I ask you.”
“Ask me?” I frowned, confused. “What do you want to ask me?”
“SUPER-DEREK IS COMING! ALL CRIMINALS SHAKE IN FEAR!”
My dear son, who almost died fifteen minutes ago, was back to normal. I sighed but couldn’t hold back a smile.
“Hide, quickly!”
I grabbed Bunny’s hand and tugged him behind the kitchen island where we both crouched, so close, our knees were pressed against each other, his warm hand still in mine. I gave him a mischievous look and pursed my lips, trying to tell him with my eyes not to move.
I didn’t have to. Bunny was motionless, staring at me as if transfixed, his breathing fast but quiet.
“I WILL FIND YOU WITH MY SUPER-NOSE! ALL BADDIES WILL GO TO JAIL!”
Derek’s screams were getting closer. He knew all my hiding places by now, since I could only squeeze into so many spaces in the house, especially when I had little time. I muffled a giggle, still looking at Bunny, whose hand became hot in mine.
I grinned, drawing my eyebrows up when Derek entered the kitchen, sniffing loudly to show us his super nose in action. Bunny squeezed my hand, shuffling quietly closer.
Suddenly, we were nose to nose, his leg pushed between mine, my inner thigh pressing against his knee. This close, his smell was overwhelming, and I gasped softly, surprised.
He smelled like nostalgia.
There was a strong note of cut grass overlaid with the cloying, dreamy scent of cotton candy. There were more things underneath, and I closed my eyes, trying to pin down the smells that I knew by heart. They called out to me from other times, long forgotten and buried under the weight of responsibility.
Cheap chocolate, the kind that left a sweet aftertaste in your mouth for hours. My mother’s face powder, an exotic, dry smell that meant safety and cuddles. Milk and cookies. The smell of raw honey from grandpa’s hives when he spun it in the extractor. The broken off pieces of the honeycomb grandpa would give me and Carol to chew when we were kids.
I opened my eyes in shock and looked at Bunny with confusion and something that was like fear, only it didn’t make me want to run.
It drew me nearer.
“What are you…” I started, uncertain.
“FOUND YOU!” Super-Derek screamed right above us. “You are going to jail!”
