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It was the early hours of the morning, but Erik was still wide awake, scrolling through endless Amazon suggestions, looking for the perfect gifts. It was going to be their first together as a family, and Christine had graciously (and perhaps stupidly) told Erik that he could be in charge of preparing the Easter basket for Gustave.
Erik and Christine had been married for less than a year but they were in the process of filing the papers so that Erik could adopt her little boy, something Raoul had readily agreed to. Although five year old Gustave would think the Easter bunny had brought the basket, Erik wanted to do right by him with this responsibility that Christine had entrusted him with. He had never imagined that one day he would be a father, let alone married—this was not a task he took lightly.
He looked through the items he’d put in the cart, satisfied that he’d picked well, when suddenly an idea occurred to him. Biting his lip, his heart beating a little faster, he quickly typed a few keywords into the search bar, scrolling until he found what he was looking for. He added the extra items and confirmed the order. Now all he had to do was wait, which was the worst part.
The items ordered, he crawled into bed next to his sleeping wife, pulling her close and placing a soft kiss to her cheek. She smiled in her sleep, shifting slightly and sighing happily. Perhaps the waiting would not be so terrible—he would find ways to pass the time.
But the second worst part of the online order was the moment of panic when Christine got to the door first after the boxes were delivered.
“Is this the uh, stuff?” Christine asked cheerfully as she brought the three boxes inside while Erik scrambled to grab them from her.
No amount of refreshing his app to view the tracking had given him any advantage when Christine had happened to be closer to the door when the bell was rung.
“Yes yes, I’ll take them, don’t open it!” he begged, holding his arms out.
She smiled, handing him the boxes. He was taking this Easter basket business so seriously and it warmed her heart. Raoul had never.
“Once you get it wrapped up in the cellophane, put it on his place at the table so that he sees it first thing on Easter morning,” she reminded him.
He nodded.
“If you need help with anything, let me know,” she added softly. When she had first brought up the idea a few weeks ago, he had confessed to her that he had never received an Easter basket, ever. It was a thought that had stuck with her ever since—she had so many happy memories of receiving an Easter basket as a child, and it made her wonder how many other good things she took for granted in her life that Erik had never experienced.
“I know how to put eggs in a basket, Christine,” he said, fidgeting. “I do not require assistance.”
“Okay,” she chuckled at his insistence. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said seriously, bustling out of the room and into his little workshop, quickly closing the door behind him.
The next hour and a half was spent putting the basket together, carefully and artfully arranging every little item. He’d spent time looking up Google images of Easter baskets, judging each of them on practicality and aesthetic appeal, and he thought he had a decent idea of what to do.
His task finally finished, he slunk out of the room and locked the door behind him. Christine was there waiting, curious.
“What’s it look like?” she asked.
He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
“You’ll see it tomorrow,” he said firmly.
“Erik! I want to see it now,” she pouted, pushing at him a little.
“Tomorrow,” he murmured, reaching his arms low around her and lifting her up as she squealed a little. He began kissing her neck as she giggled, carrying her away from the locked room.
“Erik!” She laughed, clinging to him as he took her to the bedroom. “I have to go pick up Gustave from preschool!”
“I’ll be fast,” he promised in a whisper.
She didn’t ask about the basket again, not when she was otherwise occupied, not as she hastily pulled her clothes back into order as she rushed out the door to pick up her son from school, not when the three of them sat down to dinner together, not even after Erik had helped Gustave get ready for bed, tucking him in after a story and turning out the lights. She didn’t mention the basket as she fell into bed after a shower, cuddling close to Erik as he read a book.
Erik woke in the middle of the night as he always did—old habits died hard, it seemed. He still wasn’t used to sharing a bed, a life, with someone else, and he was accustomed to sleeping and rising at any hour he pleased, sometimes starting the day at two in the morning and then going back to sleep in the afternoon. He was trying to stick to a more conventional schedule now, for Christine’s sake, trying to go back sleep after waking in the night instead of getting up. But tonight he did get up, taking advantage of his ingrained habit to put Gustave’s easter basket on the table before sliding into bed once more.
The next morning they were awoken bright and early by little Gustave pounding on their door. They joined him a minute later in the hallway, Erik ruffling his hair and yawning as he shrugged on his robe, Christine still stretching as she tied up her dressing gown—there would be time to dress later, before they left for the egg hunt at the community center.
“What did the Easter bunny leave you?” Christine asked, her voice excited but still sleepy.
Gustave ran to the kitchen and gasped.
“Mama look! Erik look!” He clapped his hands excitedly.
Christine gasped when she saw it, too.
The Easter basket was almost as tall as Gustave. It contained a large cardboard backing, to which Erik had attached all number of little items. Gustave was running in circling sand squealing.
“Oh, Erik,” Christine breathed, looking at it closer. “That’s amazing.”
The basket itself was covered in images of Baby Shark—inexplicably, still the child’s favorite song despite Erik’s best attempts to introduce him to Mozart and Puccini. Nestled in the sparkling blue Easter grass were a number of big plastic eggs, some filled with play-doh, some with candies. There was a squishy plush shark, a giant chocolate rabbit, a little set of Easter stamps with an activity book and markers, a picture book about a chicken, a package of marshmallow Peeps, a bag of jelly beans, a box of animal crackers, a frog shaped plush that could clip onto a backpack, a push pop with a pastel bunny on top, and a baseball and catcher’s mitt, all wrapped up in clear cellophane with rainbow ribbons tied at the top, cascading down the front of it.
Gustave eagerly opened it, hugging the shark as he delighted in each item he pulled out of the basket. Christine felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, overwhelmed by how much Erik was willing to do for her—their—son.
“That’s not all the bunny brought,” Erik murmured to her.
She looked at him in surprise, uncertain at what else there could possibly be that he hadn’t already put in the basket.
Erik pulled a small pink wicker basket from behind his back, handing it to Christine.
“For you,” he said.
She blinked, slowly taking it from him.
“You got me something?” she asked in disbelief.
“Open it.”
She pulled away the opaque pink cellophane to reveal a basket full of red rose petals, and resting on them was a jewelry box. She could hardly believe it. When she opened the box, she did start to cry, just a little. It was a necklace on a fine, delicate chain, and the charm at the end was shaped like a swan and paved with little diamonds.
“Erik—!”
“Happy Easter, Christine,” he said tenderly, wiping away the tears on her cheeks.
“Um—I got you something, too—“ she said awkwardly. “Hold on—“
She opened one of the kitchen cabinets to produce a basket which she sheepishly handed to Erik.
“It’s for me?” he asked, not quite understanding.
“Yeah!” She laughed, wiping away the rest of her tears. “When you told me you never had one, I thought, why not? So I made you a traditional basket. Had I known you were getting me diamonds I would have gotten more than just chocolate…” she trailed off, embarrassed.
Erik was unable to form words. His very first Easter basket. His breath stuck in his throat. He placed the basket on the table and left the room.
Christine hesitated, unsure of if she’d offended him somehow. Gustave was still playing with his new toys, not noticing anything else. But a moment later Erik returned, this time with his cellphone, and he took several photos of his Easter basket before opening it, taking more photos of each item inside.
A big chocolate bunny, a box of gourmet chocolate truffles, a bag of wine flavored jelly beans, a small bag of spicy Cheetos, a crème egg, egg shaped peanut butter cups—each one documented so the memory would last forever. But he knew that even without the photos, he would remember this moment as long as he lived.
He pulled Christine into a tight hug which she readily returned.
“Thank you,” he whispered, finally regaining his voice. “Thank you.”
“Okay,” she said when he pulled back from her at last. “How about after breakfast we get dressed for egg hunt, how does that sound?”
“Egg hunt!” Gustave sprang up, ready to go.
“Not yet!” Christine laughed. “Breakfast first. But we can have chocolate for breakfast. Just this once, though! Only for Easter!”
“Yeah!” Gustave cried. “Chocolate breakfast, chocolate breakfast!”
It was their first Easter as a family, and it was one they would never forget.