The Easter Egg Hunt (7 page)

“Not
yet,” she sighed, and then said, “I need to get busy, honey, but thank you for
this.  I feel completely rejuvenated now.”

“I
feel lazy,” he admitted.

“Then
take a nap if you wish.”
 
She
leaned over to kiss him before jumping out of bed and picking up her clothing
from the floor to put it in the laundry hamper before dressing in sweats. 
She left her feet bare and went down to the kitchen to bake her Easter Bunny
cake.  While it was baking, she put together a fruit salad that needed to
be in the refrigerator overnight before it was served.  After that was
done she busied herself dusting the dining room and the living room, and then
she ran her Swifter over the hard wood floors.  The house wasn’t really
dirty, but with the children coming, she wanted to make sure there wasn’t dust
everywhere, and she wanted to make a good impression on Carrie.  It was
the first time their son was bringing home someone he considered special, and
she was positive there would be a wedding in the not too distant future. 
She wanted to like the girl Jacob chose.  Hopefully she would fit into
their family.

Megan
took her cake out of the oven to let it cool, and then went outside to take
care of one other matter that needed attention.  What had seemed the
perfect idea a few days ago was probably going to ensure a sore bottom, but it
was Easter!  She returned to the house, and mixed up some icing for her
cake.  She took a small portion and tinted it pink, and another bit she
made green, and she got out candies to use for the eyes, nose, mouth, and
whiskers.

Megan
worked steadily and by the time she was finished decorating the cake she was
pleased with the results.  Noah came into the kitchen as she was loading
the dishwasher.  “I fell asleep!” he admitted with a sheepish expression. 
“Is there anything left to do?” he wanted to know.

“We
need to hide the girls’ baskets and hide the eggs.  I don’t think there
will be time after services to get it all done.  They normally come here
right after instead of going home.”

“Inside?”
he asked.

“I
think that works best, Noah,” she nodded.  They had fun, putting eggs
around the house for Rachel and Natalie to hunt, and even a few that Daddy,
Mommy, and Uncle Jeff would have to help them find.  Noah and Megan were
careful to count the real eggs to make sure they were all found.  Those
would only be used for decoration since they were sitting out all night. 
Megan already had other eggs boiled and peeled, and waiting to be deviled
tomorrow after sunrise services.  They decided where to hide the Easter
Baskets for everyone and wrote out a treasure hunt with clues to help the girls
find their basket.  The girls enjoyed that last year, and Jeff and Julie
Ann had fun helping them figure out the clues. 

Noah
had to admit that his wife knew how to make even the simplest of things a lot
of fun.  He knew she would be at her happiest tomorrow, even though she
hadn’t said one word about the minimum of candy in the baskets.  Tomorrow
would be soon enough to learn what she was up to, and she was up to something. 
He knew his Meggie well.

Sunrise
Services were beautiful and the music wonderful and uplifting.  Megan was
in a wonderful mood and when the girls wanted to ride with Grampa and Gramma,
they agreed, provided it was all right with Mommy and Daddy.  Car seats
were transferred so the girls would be legal as well as safe, and Jeff and
Julie Ann followed them home, with little David tucked safely in his seat. 
All three of the children were wearing their new Easter finery, and Megan
thought them adorable and advised Noah she wanted a lot of pictures.  He
promised.

When
they arrived home, it was to find Jacob and Carrie already there.  Carrie
looked very nervous as Jake introduced her and Megan took an immediate like to
her.  Carrie was pretty and when she looked at Jacob her eyes were full of
love.  They bantered back and forth, and Carrie pitched in to help the
little girls find the eggs. 

Noah
was pleased to see Megan smiling at Carrie and getting along with her, and
Julie Ann seemed to relax more with each moment as Carrie quickly made friends
with Rachel and Natalie, and she seemed at ease holding the baby, too. 
Jacob caught his Dad’s eye and smiled, giving him a thumbs up that things were
going well. 

Megan
announced that dinner was ready and she smiled when she saw the table. 
Carrie offered to help and Megan asked her to set the table.  “The table
looks beautiful, Carrie, thank you,” she smiled, pleased that she’d used one of
the decorations from the living room as a centerpiece. 

The
food was delicious and everyone had to laugh when Rachel wanted to know if
Grampa was up all night hiding eggs and baskets all over the world.  Julie
Ann finally explained that the real Easter Bunny was too busy to go everywhere
at the same time, so he had lots of helpers.  Grampa was a helper for the party
at Gramma’s work because the real Easter Bunny was so busy.  Rachel seemed
to accept the explanation and ate the rest of her fruit salad. 

Once
the dishwasher was loaded and the leftovers put away Noah announced it was time
to search for Easter Baskets.  He gave the children their clues and a
glance at his wife told him to be prepared for whatever mischief she was up to. 
She was smirking and biting her lower lip nervously.  Yes, Meggie was
going to be bottom up before the day was over.

Megan
giggled as the kids, with Jeff and Julie Ann in tow, went from room to room,
searching for clues.  Finally they found their baskets, but there was
another clue inside the baskets. 

Julie
Ann read the clue and looked at her mother with wide eyes. “Mooooom!  What
did you do?”

“You
said ‘not so much candy’, so I didn’t get much candy.” Megan smiled.

“Come
on, Mommy!” Rachel called.  “Let’s go look.”

“I’m
afraid to go and look,” Julie Ann admitted, looking at her Mom once again.

Jake
was openly laughing.  “What is it, Mom?”

Megan
smiled smugly.  “Your sister said ‘no candy bunnies’, so I got real ones
instead,” she announced, and then laughed when she heard the little girls
exclaiming in delight.

“You
have guts, Mom.  Jules is going to be royally pissed.”

“You
bought real bunnies for the girls, Meggie?” Noah asked, surprised.  He
should have known she’d do something outrageous to teach Julie Ann a lesson,
and the girls were already in love with their pets.  It would break their
hearts if Julie Ann said ‘no’ to keeping them!  It was unfair of Meg to
put Julie Ann in that position.

“Rabbits,
Mom?” Julie Ann asked.  “What am I supposed to do with them?”

“They
are cute and gentle, and see how nicely the girls are holding them?” Megan
smiled again.

“I
can build a hutch for them, Jules,” Jeff said calmly.  “The neighbors
three doors down have rabbits.  I raised them in 4-H.  It will be
fun.  The girls can learn how to take care of them, and keep them tame.”

“I
don’t want them in the house!” she snapped.

“Why
not, Mommy?” Rachel asked tearfully.  “They’re so soft and pretty. 
Gramma, what is her name?” she wanted to know.

“You
get to name her, honey,” Megan said with a smile.

“You
did this because I said no chocolate bunnies!” Julie Ann accused.

“Well,
it is Easter, and I wanted to give the girls a bunny!”

“They
make stuffed ones, Mom!” Julie said, ignoring her brother, who was laughing his
butt off.

“You
told me that the girls had enough stuffed animals, remember?” Megan reminded
her.

“Dad!”
she wailed.

“The
girls love their new pets.  I’ll come over and help you build that hutch,
Jeff,” he said, keeping a straight face with difficulty.  Leave it to his
wife to make her point.  Next year Julie Ann would let her Mom enjoy
Easter and just toss the candy she didn’t want the children to have.

“This
is just the best Easter ever,” Rachel said happily.  “Grampa is the Easter
Bunny and we have real bunnies for pets!  I just
LOVE
Easter!  Don’t you, Mommy?” she asked and Megan couldn’t
help giggling at the look of horror on her daughter’s pretty face.

Everyone
went over to Jeff and Julie Ann’s home and the men worked outside to build a
hutch.  Jeff had building materials leftover from several projects around
the house and within a few hours they had a nice hutch for the new bunnies to
live in.  Megan had already purchased enough supplies to keep the animals
in style for quite a while, and Jeff was impressed that she knew what they
needed.  Megan explained that she also raised rabbits when she was a
child. 

Julie
Ann gave her Mom a hug before they left and whispered, “I surrender, Mom. 
You just do Easter any way you please from now on.”

“I
plan to.” Megan winked and then kissed everyone goodbye before they left. 
She also took the time to tell Carrie that she was welcome any time, and whispered
in Jacob’s ear that she thought Carrie was just perfect for him.  He gave
Megan a big squeeze, and an emotional, ‘Thanks, Mom.’  Easter was perfect,
she sighed… but it wasn’t over yet.  She still had to deal with Noah.

Noah
noticed how quiet Meggie was on the way home.  She was chewing her lower
lip, and it was easy to see she felt guilty.  “That was some surprise for
the girls, Megan,” he said.

“Yes…
They loved the bunnies, didn’t they?”
 
She smiled as she recalled their squeals of pleasure.

“Oh
yes, and you had fun pulling one on Julie Ann, didn’t you?” he asking with a
knowing look in his eyes.

“I
know I shouldn’t have done that without asking her first, but Easter is once a
year.  There is no harm in one chocolate bunny on Easter!  I felt
like the girls were being cheated!” she explained.

“And
you felt you were being cheated,” he added.

She
nodded, tears springing to her eyes.  “I’m horrid at times, Noah,” she
confessed.

Noah
didn’t want to spank Megan, mostly because he felt she was right, and because
Julie Ann deserved a lesson, but if he didn’t spank his wife she was going to
wallow in guilt until she did something outrageous to earn a spanking.  He
pulled his car into the garage and then said firmly, “Get out of the car and go
upstairs and wait for me, Megan.  You need a spanking.”

When
she didn’t argue, but hurried to do as he said, Noah realized he was right. 
He followed a bit more slowly.  He really hated spanking her when he didn’t
feel she’d earned a spanking.  He would get rid of her guilt and then make
the rest of her day special. 

Megan
knew Noah would spank the moment she came up with the idea to buy each of the
girls a real bunny rabbit for Easter.  She wasn’t going to fuss now that
it was time to face the consequences.  She was nearly undressed and
reaching for her nightgown when Noah walked into the room.  He sat on the
bed, and when he motioned for her to come to him, she went without arguing. 
The first spank was little more than a tap… as was the second.  “Noah?”
she questioned.

“Do
you know why you are being spanked?” he asked.

“Because
I gave the girls pets without asking first.  Because I just had to make my
point; I was awful,” she said.

He
spanked a bit harder.  “No, that is not why you are being spanked. 
Think again,” he ordered.

“I
honestly don’t know,” she admitted.

“You
are being spanked so you won’t feel so darn guilty for teaching Julie Ann a
lesson.  She has no right to spoil Easter for you.”

“Do
you really mean that?” Megan asked hopefully.

“Frankly,
I think you handled it well.  You did as she asked, and found another way
to make Easter special for the girls.  You didn’t argue with her… and you
didn’t give the girls too much candy.”

“Then
why are you spanking me?”
 
She
gasped when he spanked again and then again.

“Because
you are wallowing in guilt, and if I don’t spank you, you’ll get into the
chocolate candy stashed in the bottom drawer in the kitchen and then I’ll have
to make sure you can’t sit for a week.”

“No,
I won’t!” she promised.

“No,
you won’t,” he agreed.  “You let go of the guilt now, young lady,” he said
firmly, and then gave her another ten hard spanks on her bare fanny.  “Well,
is that enough, Meggie?” he wanted to know.

“Yes,
honey, please hold me now,” she whispered.

Noah
helped her up and held her close.  “Would you like to make love with the
Easter Bunny?” he asked teasingly.

“Of
course I would, Noah!  I love my Easter Bunny.”

The End.