by Carol Rose
With an “oof” and a faint shriek, the teen in the suit stumbled back as Drake yanked him down.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered urgently into the spot where he thought the kid’s ear was. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“What!” The voice from inside the bunny head was naturally a little muffled.
His voice still lowered, Drake said, “I’ll give you a hundred bucks for the bunny suit.”
“What?” The muffled voice sounded intrigued now.
“One hundred bucks and I’ll be the bunny,” Drake said with determination.
* * *
Molly looked up from gathering the scattered Easter basket decorations from the tables in the gazebo, seeing her Easter Bunny—at last—in the middle of the group of kids. He was bent down to give a bunny kiss to one small child while another older kid tugged at his white, fluffy bunny tail. Reaching back to pat the tail-tugger, the bunny drew both toward the egg hunt area. Since the ribbon had been lowered, opening the hunt a few minutes before, there were children throughout the Easter egg hunt area, most clutching baskets with bedraggled ribbons, askew on motley baskets. Looking at the baskets the kids had decorated for themselves, the wrecked decoration area made total sense.
Stuff was everywhere. Green fluffs of plastic “grass” littered the tables and bolts of ribbon lie unraveled across the surfaces. Here and there, construction paper had been cut into fragments as some children had made flowers to attach to their baskets.
Molly had never felt so tired. The last few weeks had been rough and that wasn’t in any way due to this picnic bash….
She missed Drake. Before they dove into their sexual relationship, they’d been the best of friends, kidding and laughing together. Yes, the blog had been an issue. Molly hadn’t wanted to play the heavy about not supplying him with home improvement content, but she’d wanted him to stop pretending. She’d thought he’d feel better about himself and the blog if he stopped claiming knowledge he didn’t actually have. But she’d never actually have ratted him out to his bosses, no matter what she’d threatened. She just thought he’d learn about basic home improvement.
Then everything had gone to hell. She and Drake started having raunchy, very satisfying sex that threatened to reveal her secret love for him…and then he’d won The Bloggie. That had thrown her into a tailspin for sure.
She had no idea if he heard her when she’d gone to his house that night, saying he had to give it back.
Sinking into one of the white plastic chairs that were scattered around the tables, she pushed her hair back from her eyes and wondered how soon she could go home. A quick glance at her wrist watch revealed that it was only eleven o’clock. Not even noon. She felt like she’d been here a dozen hours, despite only having come at ten that morning.
Happy voices mingled with laughter and the hum of adults chatting. It seemed like everything was going well. Even the buffet foods seemed like a hit, the grown-ups not accompanying children in the egg hunt were lined up at the tables, gulping it down with enthusiasm.
Molly smiled as she watched her Easter Bunny walking toward the egg hunt area, a small child attached to either paw. When she’d interview the teenager currently wearing the suit, she hadn’t been hopeful. Earlier, he seemed to fulfill her doubts. He hadn’t mingled with the children when he first got there, hanging over by the buffet.
Then right before the egg hunt area opened, he’d waded into the middle of the group of kids and started being the perfect Easter Bunny. He’d posed for photos, standing next to smiling children as several adults clicked away and she couldn’t count the number of kids she’d seen him hug. It was strange, after his initially seeming withdrawn.
Cartoon characters were never supposed to speak—voices couldn’t be matched and this way kids got to imagine the voice they expected. Molly wondered if she should go be his aide since he was now surrounded by excited kids, but she decided no. He was doing great without her.
Leaving the gazebo, she checked that everything was running smoothly in the buffet line and then she walked over to the egg hunt, drawn by the children’s laughter. This bunny was a great hit. She definitely needed to hire him to work all her parties.
That made her think about the weeks and months ahead—with no Drake in her life—and suddenly she felt like bursting into tears.
How was she going to make it until three that afternoon when everyone would leave and she could cry in peace?
* * *
From inside the bunny costume, Drake could only see what was right in front of him, the bunny head having see-through netting for the dark part of the eyes. He was familiar with the limitations, having worn it before, but he guessed that the kid who’d worn first this morning had recently eaten a cheeseburger with onions.
Wearing the big bunny head and the extra-large feet, he clomped along beside his accompanying children. For the past two hours, he’d been the best big stuffed toy he could be…all the while turning over possibilities in his head. Exactly how as he going to make a move on Molly?
The picnic was massively important to her, he knew. He couldn’t mess that up for her.
He’d just have to wait.
Patiently walking around, hugging little kids and having his tail pulled for the hundredth time, Drake found himself eventually kind of enjoying himself. His work involved crafting the right words, but the bunny was speechless. Wordless. Drake began to find it a little…freeing.
At first he walked through the Easter Egg area, with various kids clinging to his paws. They took turns, not always equably. He found himself stepping in to hug and pat a disappointed paw-clinger after someone else had shoved him aside. Even the older kids kept coming by to throw their arm over the man-sized rabbit for a photo of them nibbling on his carrot.
Drake was always careful to keep it at chest level to avoid any inappropriate teen gestures.
Here and there, making sure everything was going well, Molly seemed to be in the background. She picked up little children that had gotten knocked over by other kids, she continued checking back and forth with the caterers—who were now packing up—and she organized whatever needed organizing.
He wondered if anyone else noticed her smile getting more and more strained. Thankfully, the event seemed to be winding down.
Waving goodbye to one of the final groups of children, Drake felt himself growing jumpy inside the bunny costume. This was the time. No little kids to distress, there weren’t even many adults—just six or seven still picking things up—in the garden.
Despite wracking his brain, Drake hadn’t been able to come up with an amazing, stunning declaration of his love—that wouldn’t jeopardize the picnic gig for her.
Pretty much, he just had one plan.
He was going to pick Molly up and carry her off. That way she’d have to listen to him.
Waving his paw at another departing group, he circled around to where Molly stood talking to one of the Women’s League officials.
“I think everything went off very well, Molly,” the older woman said, her pastel suit and pumps still lovely in the shifting afternoon son. “You did a marvelous job.”
Molly’s smile was tired as she brushed a hand through her short hair. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
Drake walked up next to them—there was an exhilarating anonymity in wearing the suit, he decided. Shuffling closer, he snuggled up next to Molly.
Still talking to the woman, she cast him a doubtful smile when he put his bunny arm around her.
“Yes, I particularly liked the basket building station in the gazebo.” The older woman had turned to gesture toward the structure.
At that moment, Drake struck. He bent over and picked Molly up.
“Oh!” The older woman started laughing as she saw Molly over his bunny shoulder. “My, what a strong bunny you have.”
“Yes,” Molly said cheerfully, wiggling as she hissed to Drake. “Put me down, you idiot.”
Drake just shook his h
uge cartoon character head.
“I said, put me down!”
“Oh, don’t worry about me!” The woman giggled behind her hand. “I’ll just run off. See you later.”
“Listen, Ben or Christopher—whatever your name is—put me down!” From her perch on his shoulder, Molly waved at the departing Women’s Leaguer. “Goodbye, Mrs. Sharpton! I’ll talk to you later.”
Without giving her a chance to wiggle out of his grip, Drake turned and carried a protesting Molly into the utility tent.
“What the hell!”
He set her down on her feet as gently as he could.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Drake dropped to one knee—holding his arm out to block her from leaving the tent. “Yes.”
He reached up and grabbed the bunny head by one ear, lifting it off his head.
“Yes, Molly. I have lost my mind.”
Molly stopped struggling to get past him, taking a step back into the small tent.
“Drake! What are you doing here? And why are you wearing my Easter bunny suit?” She backed up until she stood against the serviceable table there. “What are you doing here?”
Putting the bunny head down, he said, “I had to see you and…and apologize.”
“Apologize? For what?” She seemed startled and shocked and…tearful? Molly was crying?
“Don’t cry, Sweetheart.” He yanked his paws off and reached out to take her hand.
“What are you apologizing for?”
“I’ve been a fool, Molly. All these years, fooling myself that I just wanted to be your friend, that I was satisfied being friends with you.”
She snuffled the moisture he could see in her eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Drake—still on one knee—scooted forward. “I know we were just kids, but ever since you ended things in high school—“
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She rolled her eyes.
“No, Molly. I’m serious. I-I held back all these years because you seemed—“ He stopped. If ever there was a time for total honesty, this was it. “No. I held back because I was afraid I’d lose out even on being your friend. I-it hurt being rejected by you and I was too much of a scaredy cat to run the risk of that happening again. Even after we had—“
Drake paused to draw a tight breath. “Even after we had unbelievable, blow-my-socks-off, when-can-we-please-do-it-again sex. I was still trying not to get my heart trampled. I’ve been a baby.”
He saw that Molly was staring at him with uncomprehending eyes.
“I’ve realized that I love you, Molly. I can’t live without you. Please, please, marry me.”
Looking like she had sustained a shock, she stumbled over to a nearby plastic lawn chair and collapsed into it.
Gesturing at the bunny head, she said, “What’s with the suit?”
“I had to get in here,” Drake admitted. “You wouldn’t return any of my calls. You didn’t answer your door. I even went over to Cheryl’s this morning to find you.”
“Cheryl?”
He raised a reassuring hand—which looked funny without it’s paw covering. “She didn’t tell me anything, I finally realized what today was. And I came here. I saw the kid in the suit. I dragged him into the bushes and bribed him to let me have the suit. Are you going to answer my proposal?”
“I don’t know.” She wiped at her cheek, saying finally in a laughing voice. “Really? You want me to take a proposal from an Easter Bunny seriously?”
With a surge of relief, Drake straightened from his position on his knee and went to stand in front of her, pulling her up from the chair. “Yes. Yes, I want you to take my proposal seriously.”
Molly laughed uncertainly. “Drake, you’re such an idiot.”
“Well? Even idiots deserve an answer to their proposals.”
“Yes. I’ve been in love with you for the last two years. I’ll marry you.”
After a breathless, soul-searing kiss, she came up for air, pushing back a little, she grinned and said, “After all, there’s no bunny, but you for me.”
Drake dropped another lingering kiss on her mouth.
“Let’s agree. No more bunny jokes for now.”
LOOK FOR THE NEXT NOVEL IN THE HOLIDAY SERIES BY CAROL ROSE:
Thankfully Yours
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