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Barbara was hiding something.
Walter could see it in the way she went about with their usual routine, from caring for the babies to getting ready for a hospital shift, with a smile on her face that she tried to hide.
“What’s that smile for?” he’d ask.
“Oh, no reason,” she’d reply.
And then the next time he saw her, she’d have her features schooled into a more neutral expression.
He’d mention to NotEnriqué, “Barbara seems happier than usual, don’t you think?”
“She’s probably just glad she can get more than an hour of sleep at a time.”
Which made sense, he supposed, only NotEnriqué went on to add, “Chill boss, you got nothing to worry about.”
Nomura was only marginally more helpful when he texted her.
Is Barbara mad at me?
Are you serious? She’s gushing about you constantly it’s disgusting
She’s acting like she’s hiding something from me.
Let the woman have secrets. It’s nothing bad
She told you?
maybe 😈
Everything seemed to come to a head when Toby Domzalski showed up one Saturday evening that had been suspiciously blocked out on the calendar.
“Yo Mr. S!” he yelled, barging in as if he lived there. Barbara not only didn’t mind, but seemed to welcome the behavior, so he tolerated it.
Walter glared at him from over the book he was reading. “Evening,” he greeted, keeping his voice even. The children he’d been reading to all turned to look at Toby as he walked into the living room. Well, most of them. One of them started smacking the book. As it was just a board book, Walter handed it over with no further thought. “What brings you here?” he asked.
“Babysitting duty. You,” Toby said, pointing at him, “have to go get ready.”
“For what?”
“Duh, your night out.”
“Where in Arcadia am I supposed to go out to like this?”
At Walter’s continued silence, Toby’s eyes suddenly grew wide. “Oh, you don’t know yet. Got it.”
Even Toby knew what was going on?
“Just get cleaned up. Dress up a little, but keep it casual, you know? Nothing with baby puke on it.”
“That won’t be a problem,” he drawled as he stood up, transferring the one child that had been in his lap to being carried in his arms. He passed off the little girl to Toby as he walked past him to go upstairs. “You might want to be careful though, she’s due for spitting up on someone.”
“Aw, you wouldn’t spit up on your big brother Toby would you?” Walter heard Toby cooing at the babies as he went upstairs to find something decent to wear. Apparently, he needed it.
---
When Barbara returned home from work, she breezed into their bedroom. “Hi sweetie,” she said before brushing a quick kiss on his cheek and heading straight to her dresser. “Ready to go?”
“I don’t know. No one has told me what I should be getting ready for.” He’d washed up and changed into a clean pair of trousers and a button-up shirt, but he wasn’t sure how much was required beyond that.
She retrieved a small bundle from the top drawer and looked him over. “Your jacket would be okay. Or the sweater I got for you. No tie, unless you want to.”
“So you’re not going to tell me either,” he guessed as she left the room again.
Barbara paused outside the bathroom door. “I can tell you it’s a date. Any more than that will ruin the surprise.” She winked at him and went into the bathroom.
---
“Remind me again why I’m the one loading these into the car?” Walter asked.
NotEnriqué was standing by the kitchen doorway, digging something out of his ear with his pinky. “Cuz I’m too short. Can’t carry ‘em.”
Walter sighed and pulled a zippered, insulated tote bag out of the refrigerator and carried it to the back seat of the car, parked in the closed garage, where it joined a canvas tote that was also zippered shut. When he re-entered the house to wait for Barbara, NotEnriqué had joined Toby with entertaining the babies. They had pulled out a bucket of soft foam blocks and over half were already either on the floor or being piled into a vary shaky tower.
“Did you even wash your hands?” Walter asked.
“Uh, duh,” Toby said.
“Not you, him.” He nodded in NotEnriqué’s direction.
He shrugged. “Eh, technically.”
“How reassuring.”
Walter heard the click of the lock on the upstairs bathroom. Instantly, he turned to watch Barbara emerge and come down the stairs. She was wearing a sweater dress and leggings, her red hair in a single braid hanging over one shoulder. With pearl studs and no other jewelry but her utilitarian watch, she simultaneously appeared elegant and comfortable. Walter moved to stand at the bottom of the stairs, meeting her halfway.
“Perhaps I should put on a tie,” he said as she descended. "I feel dreadfully under dressed."
“Oh you,” she said with a laugh. She stopped on the bottom step, making them almost even in height, and smoothed his zippered cardigan across his chest. “You look wonderful Walt.” She rested one hand on his shoulder and moved the other to the back of his neck, gently pulling him closer. He followed her cue and tilted his head to kiss her soft, warm mouth.
“You look stunning,” he murmured against her lips as he started to pull away.
“You always say that,” she whispered back.
“It’s always true."
The moment was interrupted by fake gagging noises coming from the living room. Walter shot a glare at NotEnriqué, who was the source.
“What is it?” Toby was hissing at him. “What are they talking about? Wait.” He looked up at them and asked, loud enough that Barbara could probably hear him, “Do I even want to know?”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just go.”
"I couldn't agree more."
Walter walked with her to the garage door where she put on a pair of--
“Sneakers?” he asked.
“Mm-hm. We’re past sunset, right?.”
He looked at his watch. “Twelve minutes ago.”
“Perfect. Let’s go.”
Barbara drove them, continuing to keep a tight lip on where they were going. Instead, they engaged in updating each other about their day, occasional flirtatious banter sneaking in, while admiring the scenery as dusk continued to fall. They were driving through woods when Barbara pulled over in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. He’d been rather distracted and hadn’t been keeping track of where they were going.
“What are we doing out here?” he asked as she turned off the car.
“We have a little hike first. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’m just wondering what on earth you’re planning.”
She smiled and got out of the car. “You’ll just have to wait and see. Grab a bag,” she said before closing the car door.
He obliged, taking the heavier, insulated bag. Barbara led him toward the treeline, where they were greeted by Aaarrrggh.
“Is there anyone who doesn’t know what’s going on tonight?” Walter asked rhetorically as they set out into the woods, Aaarrrgghh leading the way.
“Dictatious,” Aaarrrgghh replied.
“Nancy?” Walter asked.
“It was kind of her idea,” Barbara said.
He sighed.
“Hey.” She moved closer and switched her bag to her other hand so she could hold him by his elbow. “We don’t have to do it like this. I wanted to surprise you, but if you’re not having fun, then it’s not worth it.”
“No!” he exclaimed. “I do want you to surprise me.”
“But?” she prompted, hearing the unspoken word.
They all stopped walking. Now that they were all standing there in the moonlit forest, Barbara rubbing gentle circles on his arm with her thumb and Aaarrrgghh standing over them as a silent sentry, he knew, intellectually, that there was nothing for him to worry about. But there was still a part of him, ancient and cowardly, that hated not knowing what was coming. He glanced at Aaarrrgghh. How was he supposed to voice that to Barbara, let alone with him there?
“Would it help if I gave you a hint?” she asked.
“Maybe.”
“Okay. Um…” She looked at Aaarrrgghh, as if he would have an answer all ready for her. He just shrugged. “Well, everyone said that it sounds like something you’d really enjoy. The tricky part is getting you there without being seen. That’s why we’re going to this…event? From the back.”
“Explored with Wingman,” Aaarrrgghh added. “Found good spot.”
“That’s why he’s leading us the rest of the way. I know where we’re going, but I don’t think I could find it coming from this direction. Once we get there, Aaarrrgghh will leave and we’ll settle in and just…watch. And if you hate it, or get bored, we’ll leave.”
“What if you get bored?” Walter asked.
“I’ll take a nap.”
“Not scary,” Aaarrrgghh said.
“Nomura said it might not be your favorite…version, but the idea is sound.”
“Dare I ask what kind of version she thinks I prefer?”
“She said this probably wasn’t depressing enough for you.”
“Sounds like her.”
“Feel better?” Aaarrrgghh asked.
He was about to return that with a biting remark when he realized that he was feeling better, actually. “Let’s just go. Lead on.”
Aaarrrgghh turned and continued on the path through the forest that was invisible to the other two.
“You sure?” Barbara whispered as they followed.
“I’m all right,” he reassured her. “I trust you.”
They continued walking through the darkening forest, Barbara getting out a flashlight for herself, for several minutes before Walter could hear a sound that slowly started to build.
“What is that noise?” he asked as it became increasingly obvious that they were walking towards the sound, not away from it.
“Crowd,” Aaarrrgghh replied. “Can’t see us.”
“If you’re sure.”
Finally, the trees started to clear and Aaarrrgghh stepped to one side before gesturing the other two forward. Barbara look the lead and led him to the top of a rise that looked down on one of Arcadia’s parks on the edge of town, tucked away among some steep cliffs. An amphitheater was nestled into a bowl down below them, all lit up and decked out for some sort of performance. He couldn’t read any of the signs from this distance, but the scenery and props suggested Mediterranean architecture. The stands facing the stage were largely full, the source of the noise he and Aaarrrgghh could hear as they approached.
“Barbara, is this a play?” he asked.
“Got it in one.” He heard her bag drop on the ground and in just another moment, Barbara was next to him again. “What do you think?”
“It’s a fantastic view,” he said. Rather high up and heavily favoring stage left, but he’d been in balcony boxes with worse views. “How’s the sound?”
“We accounted for that. Toby says that the sound system on the far side of the stage points at that cliff,” she said, pointing at a smooth rockface opposite the bowl from them, “and gets reflected up this way. I’ve been assured we have the perfect acoustics right here. And even if we don’t, I brought a back-up.”
She set something in his hand. Walter looked down to see what she had given him and, in the light of the nearly-full moon, he was easily able to read the title on the small paperback book, ‘ Much Ado About Nothing.’
“There’s food for a picnic in your bag. Don’t worry, I got it from the deli. My bag has a blanket and a whole bunch of LED candles in case the moon isn’t bright enough.”
“How long have you been planning this?” he asked.
“Three and a half months. Remember when Nancy was telling us about sneaking into the drive-in theater back in the fifties? That’s what gave me the idea.”
Walter put down the bag of food and enveloped Barbara in a hug.
“You like it?” she asked.
He couldn’t speak, could barely think. Barbara had planned all this out just so he could attend a play. Him. She wanted to attend a play with him and she made it work. They stood there for what was probably several minutes, arms wrapped around each other, while Walter collected himself.
Finally, he managed to whisper in her ear, “It’s perfect.”