Free The Easter Egg Hunt by Joannie Kay

Chapter One
     
    Noah
was surprised when he walked inside the house and on into the kitchen. 
There was no sign of Megan, and nothing on the stove top or in the oven. 
He frowned; he’d had a long day at work and missed lunch, and it was already an
hour past their normal time to eat dinner.  Where was Megan?  Why
didn’t she have something ready to eat?  The rule was that whoever got
home first put something together for dinner, and the other one cleaned up
after.  She was probably on the Internet… again.  Frustrated, he went
to find Megan.
    She
wasn’t in their home office, so he went upstairs, wondering if she was ill. 
Meggie suffered from migraines occasionally, but apparently not today.  Where the heck was she? he growled to
himself.  Finally, he heard her sweet voice, singing, “Here Comes Peter
Cottontail…” and Noah actually stopped in the hallway and lightly rested his
head on the wall, mentally counting to ten.  It was the perfect topper to
a lousy day, and he’d bet a whole dollar that he was going to have to march
into Megan’s craft room and turn her over his knee and give her a super hard
spanking.  Just what he needed to
make the day perfect!   It was no small wonder there was no dinner
ready to eat!  Resolutely he pulled himself together and headed for the
small bedroom she claimed as her craft/sewing room.
    “Oh,
Noah!  You’re home early, honey!  How was your day?” she asked as
innocently as possible, her blue eyes wide as she glanced at him, and then
quickly darted to her work table. 
    Noah
knew exactly what she was looking for.  He smelled the chocolate as soon
as he walked into the room.  “My day was a bitch, and I’m not early; I’m
late.”   He smiled at her as he
walked over to give her a kiss hello.  Megan gave him her cheek instead of
her mouth.  “Hmmmm.  Valentine’s Day is barely over and all the
Easter Candy is out, right?” He stated what was obvious to him.
    “I
found the cutest little plastic eggs today, Noah!  Look at these!” she
said excitedly, pulling out a bag with eggs in the form of soccer, baseball,
and basketballs.  Won’t the older boys love these?” she asked.  “I
found some cute Barbie ones for the girls, too, and…”
    “You’re
in charge of the Easter Egg Hunt again this year?” Noah asked, and then added, “What
a stupid question!  Who else would they ask?”  His wife loved Easter;
it was her favorite-most Holiday of the year!
    “You
know how much I enjoy Easter, Noah!”   She pouted.
    “I
know, but under the circumstances I thought that you might take a pass this
year and let someone else take over…?”
    “Noooooo! 
I couldn’t do that!  It’s a tradition!” she said with enthusiasm.
    “You
have already hit the candy, haven’t you?  More specifically, the chocolate
candy.”
    “Just
a couple of pieces.”   She knew
better than lie to him.  “Ohhhhhh, look at the time!”   Her blue eyes went wide as she realized
it was after seven.  “I forgot to cook!” she mumbled.  “You must be
hungry!”
    “I
am hungry,” Noah admitted, and then said, “But, dinner will wait.  I want
to see the bag, Meggie.”
    “What
bag?” she asked, again with the too innocent expression in her blue eyes.
    “The
bag you’ve been eating candy from.”
    “Oh,
don’t be silly, Noah!  I’ve only had a couple of small pieces…! Let’s go
down and I’ll fix pasta and a salad.  That won’t take too long.”
    “Megan
Martson, I am not playing games here.  The candy bag, now!” he said
firmly.
    She
made a face and folded her arms across her chest.  “I’m not a child, Noah,
and if I want a piece of candy…”
    “Candy
is full of sugar, Meg.  You are a diabetic.  You can’t eat the stuff,
and if you’ve been eating chocolate, you are tempting a migraine.  We go
through this every year when all the Easter Candy hits the store shelves. 
Now, show me the bag or I’ll spank you and then you will