Elias could not remember ever taking his cubs out for lunch before. He did eat with them, but in the safety of their home or around his wife, parents, grandparents or other relatives. But never alone. Perhaps, that was his first mistake today. The second was choosing an establishment so polished that even the walls seemed to glare at anyone who dared breathe too loudly.
He should have known that they were in the wrong place when the head waiter stared at the cubs stiffly, before leading them to a table draped in white linen. This establishment was the kind of place where forks were arranged like soldiers and silence was expected to reign.
Eli was already skeptical of his father's sudden burst of paternal enthusiasm and Ali, who arrived with a milkshake already in hand, was very eager to start the lunch feast. She sat across from her father, swinging her legs in the kids chair.
