"Daddy!" six year old Garrett cried, launching forward to hug his dad.

               "Hey buddy," Mr. Grimaldi said, kissing his head. "Where are your friends?"

               "Over there, daddy," Garrett said, grabbing his father's hand and dragging him over to where the other boys were sitting with their dads.

               "Hey, Grimaldi," Mr. Riku greeted. "I got lucky with the school's Father's Day picnic this year. Akira's is in the morning, and Kaito's is later in the afternoon, so I don't have to split my time and leave either of them alone."

               "That's awesome," Mr. Grimaldi said, sitting down and letting Garrett crawl into his lap. Garrett looked content once his father hooked an arm around him.

               He turned to his dad, beaming a smile and signing out "Happy Father's Day". Mr. Grimaldi smiled and kissed his head again, signing back "I love you".

               "Hey, where are you going, dad?" Chester asked as Mr. Waymire started to get up.

               "Work," Mr. Waymire said, nodding at the time.

               Chester grabbed his dad's arm and tugged him back down so he was sitting. "No! Stay here. You don't have to go back to work. Just take a long lunch break, daddy."

               Mr. Waymire stared at Chester for a moment before sitting back down, texting on his phone for a moment, and then silencing it and shoving it in his pocket. Chester looked extremely pleased, and sat so he was leaning against his father.

               "Dad, look, I made you a card," Akira said, holding it out to his dad. He looked proud of himself. "I spelled out every word all by myself!"

               "Wow, thank you Akira," Mr. Riku said, reading through the card. "Awesome spelling, Kira! I love this card." He hugged his son.

               "I made you a card too, daddy. But mommy said to save it for Sunday," Garrett said.

               "Was it supposed to be a surprise?" Mr. Grimaldi asked.

               Garrett furrowed his brow. "Oops."

               Mr. Grimaldi laughed. "That's okay. I'll pretend I'm surprised so mommy doesn't know you told me early."

               Garrett hugged his father tightly, nuzzling his head against his chest. "I love you, daddy."

               "I love you too, Gar," Mr. Grimaldi said, hugging Garrett tightly, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky to have a son like Garrett.

                                                                                          *

               Six year old Silas peeked into the living room. His dad, Luke, sat on the couch with a beer in hand and the TV on.

               "Dad?" Silas asked, coming into the room, holding out a slip of paper. "My teacher gave this to me. She said she needs to know if you're comin' to the Father's Day picnic."

               Luke snatched the paper from Silas and crumbled it in his hands. "I already told you I ain't going to your stupid picnic. And you're gonna keep bothering me about it? You know how lucky you are, kid? How many of your friends have a dad in their life, huh? Ain't many of them around here, I'll tell you that. Most of them bummed off after they bust a fucking nut in some whore. And you wanna sit here whining 'cause you got a dad too busy going to work to come to your stupid fucking picnic? Ask me again and I'll knock your damn teeth out to shut you up. Whiny little bitch boy."

               Silas pulled his shoulders back, trying to look taller and tougher. "I don't care if you come. She just kept askin' me to get you to sign yes or no. She's the whiny little bitch, not me."

               "Move," Luke said, shoving him out of the way. "Can't see the TV."

               "Piss off, Silas," his mother, Eliza, said as she came into the room. "Don't need a fuckass bum like him. Father's Day is the stupidest shit out there, just a way to make money off cards."

               "I know that," Silas said, but hunched down a little because he'd been trying to save money to get a card. Aw, how stupid was he? His dad would just throw it out and be pissed it didn't have any money in it. Silas was so stupid. So damn stupid.

               "Then quit bothering us," Eliza said, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room. "Go away. Bug someone else."

               Silas left the house and sat on the sidewalk, hugging his knees to his chest. Just a stupid day. The stupidest shit out there. He didn't need his dad to come to the picnic. Screw it, he didn't need to go to school at all that day.

               "Stupid," Silas mumbled, and he didn't know if he meant himself or Father's Day.

                                                                           ***

               "Here, dad," I said, tossing him a pack of buns. "Are the burgers almost ready?"

               "Almost, Garrett," dad assured as he caught the buns. "Thanks. Want to help me finish cooking them?"

               "Sure thing!" I said, stepping up next to him.

               He let me help him finish cooking the burgers, and we plated them together. I helped dad carry them over to the table where the others were sitting.

               We'd decided to host our own Father's Day picnic this weekend. We'd invited my friends and their dads to join us.

               "Is Silas coming?" Akira asked as I sat with him and Jack.

               "Why would he? Him celebrating Father's Day is about as useful as me celebrating Mother's Day," Jack said, and winced when Akira elbowed him in the ribs.

               "He has Ray," Akira said.

               "They're coming," I said. "I'm waiting for the shitshow between Jack's dad and Ray, but they are coming. They were just running a little late."

               "What did you get your dad?" Akira asked.

               "I got him some seeds for his garden, and a gift card to his favorite restaurant. He said we'll go together this week," I said.

               "Oh, nice. Kaito and I split the cost of a watch my dad really wanted," Akira said. "He's got it on right now. He loved it. I think he loved it even more because we split the gift."

               "My dad gave me fireworks," Jack said. "Told me I could put on a show when we do a fire tonight."

               "Uh...you're supposed to be getting him a gift," Akira said.

               "I am the gift," Jack said. "Me and the gift card I gave him."

               "Silas!" I called as he and Ray came around to the backyard. I waved them over and they approached the table.

               "Sorry we're late. Silas took allergy medicine that knocked him out," Ray said.

               Silas blushed a little and glared. "If we had to be outside all day, I needed something. I couldn't stop sneezing."

               "You just wanted an excuse to take a nap," Ray said.

               "I wanted to stop sneezin'," Silas grumbled, and sat down next to me.

               "Yea, well, we made it in time for the food at least. I'm going to sit with the other exhausted adults who have to deal with teenagers," Ray said, and turned to go to the other table.

               "Ray!" Silas said.

               Ray paused and turned around. He noticed the nervous look on Silas's face, and waited patiently for him to continue.

               "Here. Before I bend it and shit," Silas said, looking away and holding out a card to Ray.

               Ray took the card and opened it, reading through it. His expression softened and he pulled Silas to his feet, hugging him tightly. Silas hugged him back, and I smiled as I watched them.

               Ray kissed Silas's head and nudged him away. "Punk ass kid."

               "Asshole," Silas said.

               "Yea, yea, you and your filthy mouth and lack of respect for adults. I love you, punk ass," Ray said.

               "Love you too. I guess," Silas mumbled, blushing a little.

               Ray looked back down at the card and smiled a little. He put his hand on Silas's shoulder before heading towards the table the adults were gathered at, the card held carefully in his hands.

               Oh, man, that was freaking touching. I got up and went over to where my dad was trying to get napkins without letting of them blow away.

               "Need something, Gar?" he asked.

               "Just this," I said, and hugged him. He hugged me back, like he always did, like he always would. Sometimes I took it for granted just how much my parents loved me. "I love you, dad."

               "I love you too, Garrett," dad said, abandoning the napkins so I could have his full attention.

               I was so lucky to have the parents that I had. To grow up constantly reminded how loved I was. I beamed at my dad, who beamed right back at me.

               "Thanks for everything you do," I said.

               "Thanks for being the best kid ever," he said, ruffling my hair.

               We hugged again before I went back over to my friends. I put a hand on Silas's back and kissed his cheek.

               "Ray seems to really appreciate that card," I said.

               Ray had set it in his lap, and put was careful to eat his food over his plate so it didn't spill onto the card. Silas blushed a little and shrugged.

               "It's only the second one I ever got him on today," Silas said. "He still has the one from last year. It's just a card."

               "It means a lot to him," I said. "And seeing you give it to him reminded me to let my dad know how much I appreciate him. So, thank you."

               "He...does more for me than my bum ass dad ever did," Silas said. "He ain't my dad. Just my uncle. But it's a good day. You know, to thank him." He glanced over at Ray. "I said we didn't have to come here if he didn't want to. Said I'd come and just hang out with you on my own. But he insisted on coming together."

               "That's because he loves you," I said, the smile coming back to my face at my words. "And you deserve that."

               He did. He deserved to be love by an adult. To have family who cared about him. And I was so grateful I was lucky enough to have that my entire life. I loved my parents every day, but days like this reminded me not to take that for granted, and to make sure I let them know more often how much I appreciated them.

               "I think today's gonna be a good day," Silas said.

               "I think you're right," I said, taking his hand under the table.

               A day to celebrate the men who sacrificed so much for us, and gave us so much love and encouragement. Silas was smiling a little, and I caught it even as he tried to turn his head away. Even Jack and Akira were arguing over who's dad was better.

               We were all really lucky kids. I gestured at them to get up, and the four of us made our way over to the other table to sit next to our dads, who all seemed happy to have us join them. Ray teased Silas about how he was a messy eater, Mr. Waymire gave some of his food to Jack, Mr. Riku showed Akira the way his new watch looked in the sunlight, and my dad put an arm around my shoulders and signed "I love you" to me.

               A good day. Definitely.

               "Happy Father's day," I said, shifting closer to my dad and smiling at my friends and their families.